"I'm sorry, Master Solusar," the female Weequay aide said from the bunker's comm console, "but we still can't get a signal through the jamming field." She was referring to the Jedi Temple's recent inability to contact any emergency Hapan forces from outside the Maad system, as communications were no doubt being jammed by at least one of the two ChaseMasterX frigates—vessels that were well-known to be used by the Lost Tribe of the Sith—that had entered the system mere hours before.

Tionne's slightly hopeful expression dropped into one of mild worry for a brief moment. But her face lifted into one of grim determination as she replied with, "It's okay, Oxla. The StealthXs should be able to do what they can to bring down that field."

"Yes, Master Solusar," Oxla responded. "Would you like me to keep trying anyway?"

Tionne's eyes narrowed in thought before she turned to the gathered audience behind her. Since the Temple-wide report came in of the ChaseMasters, she had shepherded a little more than half of the Jedi younglings into this bunker (while the remaining students were ushered into another bunker elsewhere by Master Hamner) that was located within the subterranean levels. And looking at the students now, she saw that even with the safety provided by the reinforced durasteel environment around them, they were all very much frightened in one degree or another.

All except, of course, for Vestara Khai—she was the only child present who retained an enthusiastic expression in her face, body language, and Force-presence.

Tionne drew her suspicious gaze away from Vestara and back to Oxla. "No. Help me with the children. Make sure they're alright; see if any of them need emotional support."

"Of course, Master Solusar," Oxla replied before she headed away in one direction of the large room to attend to a young and mewling Ithorian child.

Tionne, meanwhile, returned her attention to Vestara, whose hopeful expression was now directed at Ben Skywalker. He was seated several meters to the Sith girl's right, with multiple students who were roughly their age separating them. And while Ben himself tried to look like he wasn't noticing Ves—in that he was actively trying to look in any direction other than hers—it was clear to Tionne that he wanted to speak to her, even when he knew that he couldn't.

Tionne's lips thinned in frustration. In the pandemonium of guiding the students down here, she hadn't thought to separate Ben and Ves so that one or the other could have gone with Kenth instead of arriving here together. But since what was done was done, Tionne knew that she would have to do what she had to do very delicately, and in a way that wouldn't upset any of the students around her; after all, if they knew that Ves was a Sith instead of a former Jensaari, the fear and confusion among them might get out of control.

With a controlled exhale, Tionne stalked over to Ves and knelt down right in front of her.

"Are you okay?" the Jedi Master whispered.

Ves looked at Tionne with a wicked grin, and the latter tensed in place slightly. It was hard to believe that, at nine years old, Vestara Khai had already killed her fair share of people since Darth Judicar—it still broke Tionne's heart knowing that that used to be Jaina Solo—helped the Lost Tribe get back into space. But looking into the girl's eyes, Tionne was as sickened as she was afraid of Ves when she took into account that the adults who raised her condoned and encouraged her murderous actions. And it was knowing all of this that had convinced Tionne that the girl was to have virtually no social interaction with her peers outside of her classes... especially when it came to Ben Skywalker, who still had his own issues to work through.

In response to Tionne's question, Ves answered with, "I'm more than alright, Master." The mockery was plain in her tone.

"Well, that's... good to hear," Tionne replied, not knowing what else to say in that moment. It seemed like the younglings around Ves didn't register what she had said; apparently, they must have been so deep into their anxiety that they probably blocked out whatever the physical world presented to them. If Tionne weren't so preoccupied in gauging Ves, she would have urged those students to drop themselves into a calming meditation session; she might even do that as soon as she was sure that the girl before her wasn't going to openly announce her true nature to those around her.

Of course, a part of Tionne wondered why Ves hadn't already done that. At the moment, there was really nothing the Jedi Master could do to her; she couldn't very well take her out of this room, and, unfortunately, there just wasn't enough space in here to separate her from the rest of the students. But Tionne didn't want to probe too deeply into Ves's mental state; besides, she got what she needed from her.

It was clear, then, that Ves was simply biding her time, waiting for her father or whatever strike force was being sent from one of the two ChaseMasters to save her, if not also kill as many Jedi as they could if—not when, if—they got here. So, with that tentative and silent reassurance to herself, Tionne stood up from Ves and walked over to Ben.

When she knelt down before him, she asked him the same question that he asked Ves. His response was a flat, "I'm doing fine, Master Solusar." A shallow probe of his Force-presence didn't reveal anything of his true feelings to Tionne.

The Jedi Master spared Ves another glance before she returned her gaze to Ben and asked, "How are you really, Ben?"

The boy's eyes narrowed, and Tionne felt even more chilled than when she had looked into Ves' eyes. Even after all these months, the Jedi Master was still disturbed of the amount of darkness that lurked in Ben's soul because of his experiences from the Errant Venture all the way to his final confrontation with the Sith Lady Lumiya in one of the Temple's medbays.

But even above the level of fear that Tionne had when she looked at Ben, she felt more disappointed at herself—and even a little disappointed at her husband Kam—for how they both had so far failed to help bring Ben back firmly to the light side of the Force.

"I'm not that scared, Master Solusar," Ben said, still flatly.

"Well... while I'm glad to hear how brave you are, Ben," Tionne said hesitantly, "why aren't you?"

"Because," Ben said, "I just don't feel that much fear. Not much else to it, really."

Tionne's lips thinned again. But before she could think about what to say next, her attention was drawn away to the bunker's comm console. She, Oxla, and the only other Jedi in the room—Nelani Dinn—stood up from where they were and looked over. The Weequay aide hurried over and toggled several knobs to try to get a better resolution to cut through the static.

"Tionne!" an all too-familiar voice came through; it was Kam. "Tionne, are you there?"

The Jedi Master hurried over; Oxla had the wherewithal to step out of the human's way and let her respond.

"Kam, I'm here!" Tionne said. "What is it? What's going on out there?"

Kam had been among the Jedi to have boarded one of the StealthX fighters to take on the ChaseMasters and their contingents of starfighters. Until now, Tionne hadn't thought about whether or not her husband would make it out of the battle alive; her mind had been focused more on the students currently in her care (especially Ben and Ves, but not necessarily for the same reasons as the others, obviously).

"We tried to stop 'em, Tionne!" Kam exclaimed. "We took out several of their shuttles, but a few still made it through! They're going down through Shedu Maad's atmosphere! I'm EV, so there's nothing I can do except warn you that the Sith are coming for the Temple!"

Several gasps from the younglings reminded Tionne that she should have used a headset so that only she could have heard what Kam told her. But, again, what was done was done, so she said, with grim resolve, "Thank you, Kam. We'll be ready for them. Is there anything else, dear?"

"Not at the moment," Kam replied. "Right now, I gotta hide among one of the asteroids unless I want the Sith to blow me outta the sky. When this is all over, and my suit hasn't run outta air, a Blastboat might pick me up."

"Count on it, Kam. Tionne out." She shut the frequency off and turned to head for the bunker's exit. Along the way, she waved Nelani and Oxla over so that they gathered into a small circle as far away as they could from the younglings.

"Nelani, you're the last line of defense for the students," Tionne whispered to her. "Oxla, you got your blaster?"

"Right here, Master Solusar," the Weequay responded as she patted the holster at her right hip, "though I don't know how much good it'll do if the Sith somehow get in here."

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," Tionne said. "But if it does, I hope all your shots are lucky ones."

Oxla only nodded; her grim resolve seemed to mirror Tionne and Nelani's own.

"And, Nelani," Tionne said, "whatever happens, make sure that Ben and Vestara always remain as far from each other as possible."

"Are you sure that's... never mind, Master," Nelani responded. "I'll do what I can."

Had there been more time, Tionne would have asked what objections Nelani had. But as it was, she was going to have to take the younger woman at her word. So the Jedi Master said, "Very good. May the Force be with you."

"And with you, Master Solusar," Nelani said.

Tionne couldn't look back at the younglings; even after all these years of teaching the younger students, whether it was here, Yavin 4, or Eclipse Base, she wasn't sure if she had the will to look into their eyes and either lie to them, saying that everything was going to be alright, or tell them the hard truth that what she was going to do might very well cost her her life. Because while the Force had yet to give her any premonitions that she was about to face her death, something in Tionne's gut told her that if she were to look back at the students now, before she had to go out there and fight the Sith, her will might falter.

So, even as she heard several students ask her where she was going, she didn't dare look back at any of them. Instead, she soldiered forward to the exit, paying no mind to the growing pleas coming from the children behind her.

And when she finally left and the durasteel door shut behind her, she didn't know if she felt relief or regret for not taking one last meaningful look at those who might very well be her last students.

. . .

Despite the harrowing final stretch that took them the last several thousand kilometers to Shedu Maad, as well as getting down through the planet's atmosphere, Gavar Khai's shuttle, as well as five others loaded with over six Sith Sabers apiece, touched down amidst the grassy fields outside the Jedi Temple. And with the motley collection of starfighters overhead battling against the Jedi StealthXs—which had all but lost their invisibility now that they fought in broad daylight—Khai and his Sabers wasted no time rushing from their transports to the main Temple entrance ahead.

Keeping their senses on high alert, the Lost Tribe contingent were wary of any potential traps that might spring out from the ground. Thankfully, none came before they reached the doorway.

Of course, Khai was smart enough to keep himself within the middle of the group instead of leading the charge, as it gave him the split second to erect a Force-shield around himself when the Saber who tried to open the door inadvertently activated a bomb that blew it up just by touching the door. That unfortunate Saber was incinerated, and he took with him four others who weren't alert enough to defend themselves from the explosion.

When the flames died down, Khai used the Force to swipe the smoke away, stepped forward through the small crowd, and turned to regard the remaining Sabers with him.

"Do not be as careless as they were!" Khai exclaimed angrily as he waved a hand at the marks of scorched earth behind him that signified where those five Sabers died. "This is the Jedi's domain now! We! Must! Be! Wary! Is that clear?!"

"Yes, Saber Khai!" all thirty of his remaining subordinate Sabers announced in unison.

After a moment, Khai nodded. Then he wordlessly retook his position back in the middle of the group and let the Sabers before him take lead into the corridor ahead.

It was only mere seconds before they must have tripped a silent alarm, for turrets lowered themselves from the corridor's ceiling and began spraying rapid bursts of laser bolts in their general direction. Naturally, all of the Sabers had their lightsabers in hand, active, and deflecting the bolts either back toward the turrets or in the floor, walls, and ceiling around them.

In the midst of his own deflections, Khai gritted his teeth in frustration when he caught, at the periphery of his heightened awareness, two more Sabers drop dead to the floor.

He didn't expect this to be easy, but he just hoped he would have enough Sabers to kill the Jedi in this Temple and take off with Vestara.

. . .

"Jedi Dinn," Vestara said from her seat in the bunker, "may I have a word with you?"

Nelani looked over from the Ishi Tiib child whom she had been calming by guiding him through a calming meditation exercise. After a moment, the Jedi Knight said, "Just give me a moment, Apprentice Khai."

"A moment," Ves replied with a tone and nod that Nelani perceived to be much too mature for her age.

Less than thirty seconds later, when Nelani was sure that the Ishi Tiib would be fine for a while, she stood up to her full height and walked over to Ves to kneel down before her.

"Yes?" Nelani asked.

"You don't agree with Master Tionne's assessment that I shouldn't speak to Ben Skywalker?" Ves asked.

Nelani held back a wince. "It doesn't matter what I think, Vestara. My orders were clear; you're not to speak to Ben. At least not now."

Ves scoffed lightly, prompting Nelani's eyebrows to drop in consternation.

"You know, I gotta say," Ves said, "I've been feeling awfully lonely down here. I'm shocked that the Jedi Order would condone this kind of child abuse; psychologically depriving me of a social life when I've done nothing wrong while in your Temple's care. This never would have happened among the..." As she trailed off, one corner of her mouth lifted knowingly. "Jensaari. Surely, don't you think it would be wise for me to... oh, what's the word I'm looking for? I apologize, I'm nine years old, sometimes big words escape me." It was obvious from her tone that she was simply playing around. "Oh, yes, I know; don't you think it would be wise for me to confer with at least one other student to, you know, share and maybe relieve some of our anxiety?"

Nelani exhaled through her nostrils. "You are, indeed, a bright child, Vestara. But we both know you have quite a way to go before you can... confer with another student here, even at this time." She deliberately kept her gaze away from Ben; at this point, whatever doubt she had as to whether or not he and Ves should be kept separate had evaporated from her mind.

Ves gave an exaggerated pout and a tilt of her head, as if she were really sad. "Would it help if I said, please?"

"No, it wouldn't," Nelani replied sternly.

Ves' expression became deadly serious then. "Then I really hope the Sith don't break in here!" she exclaimed, prompting several frightened gasps from the younger students.

"You settle down!" Nelani whispered harshly.

Ves lifted both hands to either side of her head. "Oh, I will, Jedi Dinn. I will." She lowered them back to her sides, and her expression drifted away, past Nelani's head.

The Jedi Knight allowed another silent moment to pass between her and the girl before she stood up, turned, and walked to another student.

Only then did she level a glance at Ben; and she felt her spine tingle with dread when she noticed a small smile at the corner of his mouth that looked like Ves'.