Thanks to some Force-healing on her own part, Jedi Knight Nelani Dinn had emerged from her bacta recuperation earlier than would have been possible had she been a non-Force-user and was thus able to make it to the Temple's hangar bay with the rest of the Jedi who returned to Shedu Maad. Still, the wound that she had sustained in the duel with that one Sith felt tender, but not as bad as the psychological blow that she had received from when she had to lay there, bleeding, and watch helplessly as all those Jedi children were slaughtered in that bunker before the remaining eighteen were taken away.

A part of Nelani wondered if it would have been better had she died like Masters Hamner, Cilghal, and all those other Jedi who perished fighting those Sith just before the latter made it into the bunker that Nelani had been tasked by Master Tionne to safeguard; that way, she wouldn't have to live with the trauma and guilt of having to go on in the face of her failure. But the part of her that was even remotely glad that she was still alive reminded her that, had she not kept herself from dying out in that bunker via the Force, she wouldn't have been able to send out that distress signal, weakened though she was from the blood loss, to let the Jedi who were off-planet know about what had happened here after the Sith's ChaseMasters left the Maad system.

Before she made it to the Temple's hangar, though, Nelani stopped by in the medbay and looked down tearfully at the still form of Tionne Solusar on one of the beds. She was still in her coma and was subsequently on life-support; Nelani hoped that whoever replaced Cilghal could be at least half as good as she was in helping Tionne.

Not sure as to whether or not the comatose Jedi could hear her, Nelani gingerly grabbed her hand and whispered, "I'm sorry, Master Solusar. I'm sorry I failed the children. I'm so sorry I failed them." She inhaled sharply before she continued with, "If I have to die trying, I'll get them back. It may not be a help to the younglings who... who died, but... I hope it'll be something, Master."

That was all she said—all she could have said—before she turned and left the 'bay to join the other Jedi.

When she got there, she waited in muted anticipation for what they all came there for: what the Grand Master of their Order had to say to them.

Taking a place along a catwalk above so that he could properly address those below, Luke Skywalker said with a well Force-projected voice, "We have suffered a grave loss here lately. Though the Jedi who had defended the Temple had done their best before falling to the hands of the Sith, our enemies still prevailed, and in doing so, had killed many younglings. They had also taken nineteen of our own."

Nelani repressed a scoff; she would hardly count Vestara Khai as one of their own. After her last conversation with that girl, it was clear that she was a Sith through and through. But now was not the time to correct the Grand Master.

"Because my son was among those taken," Master Skywalker continued, "many of you would believe that I would be among the party to look for him... you would be incorrect in assuming that."

Gasps of shock rippled throughout the Jedi congregation; Nelani simply looked up at Master Skywalker in silent confusion.

"As much as I would want to be part of the rescue party for the Jedi children who were taken," the Grand Master went on, "it is my duty as head of this Order to do what must be done. And that is to eliminate a grave threat that I have been made aware of by the late UnuThul of the Killik Colony to exist in the Maw Cluster, an entity known as Abeloth."

As Master Skywalker went on to explain this Abeloth, a notion struck Nelani: who was this man above her, who would refuse to do what was right and go and rescue his son instead of go off to chase some monster in the Maw that may not even exist? That wouldn't be what the real Luke Skywalker would do; he would save the boy that was part of his lineage and thus safeguard it. This man had to be... an imposter. Yes, he had to be an imposter, and all those who would follow this imposter had to be fakes, too. Nelani knew then that it was her responsibility to jump up to that catwalk and kill that imposter, to expose him for the good of the Jedi Order, and...

Nelani shook her head of that notion; she didn't know where it came from. A Jedi's duty, especially the duty of the Grand Master, was to do what was best for the Order overall, even if that meant placing his own personal interests aside. And Nelani knew that, in the wake of the tragedy that befell the Temple mere days ago, it was the right thing for Master Skywalker to do, however much that meant it was killing him inside to not go after Ben.

"Because of the import of this mission to hunt down and most likely kill Abeloth," the Grand Master was saying, "I believe it prudent to take all of the Jedi Masters as well as a number of advanced Knights with me to the Maw. With our combined might, we would have the best chance of eliminating this entity. As for the children, I will assign this task to the appropriate Jedi in due time. In one hour, I will have a list of those who will go after our captured younglings; I will be in my office to answer any questions until then.

"I know all of this seems very sudden, and many, if not all, of you will think it peculiar that I and several other Jedi will be going after a mysterious Force-entity whose existence is dubious at best. And I suspect that many of you think it prudent that this should be a time of mourning over our fallen. But I believe that the threat that Abeloth represents is very real; and even if she isn't, one thing I know for sure is that the younglings will need to be rescued, and that must be done as soon as possible. So, again, I will be in my office for exactly one hour after the end of this announcement for any of you to see me. That is all."

. . .

Seated on the sofa of his dorm in the Temple, Jacen looked at the Jedi role-call on his datapad and saw, as Luke announced, that all of the remaining Masters who weren't either captured or comatose (as was the case for the Masters Solusar) were to come with the Grand Master to the Maw to confront and defeat this entity known as Abeloth. Those Masters were Kyp Durron, Kyle Katarn, Octa Ramis, Tresina Lobi, and K'Kruhk, and each Master, including Luke himself, was aided by a Knight, including Seff Hellin, Doran Sarkin-Tainer, Jaden Korr, the male Yuzzem Barratk'l, female Duros Ohali Soroc, and Yantahar Bwua'tu, the nephew of none other than Galactic Alliance Admiral Nek Bwua'tu. As for the Jedi Knights who would be rescuing the captured younglings, they consisted of a male Kaleesh Knight named Zrendak Felds, who had accepted the role of leading Knight, Nelani Dinn, and ten others whom Jacen didn't know personally. However, he saw that Han and Leia would be joining the mission to save the younglings, so he expected them to stop by his dorm to say goodbye to him and Jaina before they went.

Jacen sighed with a feeling of helplessness. He should be out there, either saving the children or helping Luke defeat this Abeloth, instead of wasting away in here guarding his newly pregnant and reformed sister, who sat on a bunk with a thin mattress over it in a Force-repressing cage over in one corner of Jacen's living area. This wasn't doing either him or Jaina any good right now, even if this was placing her unborn child well out of confronting Abeloth or the Sith. But orders were orders, and Jacen wasn't going to disobey them again.

"Now that's the thinking of a soldier," Jaina spoke up. "Not so much of a Jedi. Believe me, I'd know."

Jacen looked at her; he wasn't surprised that she was able to glean his thoughts via their twin bond. "You don't think I should obey Uncle Luke's orders?" A part of him was starting to wonder if his sister's reformation was a Sith ruse and that this was her way of manipulating him into releasing her from captivity.

"Nothing of the kind," Jaina answered evenly. "Besides, I mean what I say. Judicar is behind me now; and I am ready to pay the price for my crimes. Still, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..."

"Yes?" Jacen asked warily.

"Our friends, Jacen... they got memorials, right? I mean Tekli, Tesar, Lowie... Zekk?"

Jacen's lips thinned. "You want to see them again." It wasn't a question.

She nodded anyway. "Do you think... Uncle Luke would mind? Think I'm even allowed?"

Jacen's eyes shifted as he thought about it. When he looked back at Jaina, he said, "Prison inmates are given certain privileges as rewards for good behavior, if I'm not mistaken. If anyone asks, I'll tell 'em that I think you earned it."

A sad smile spread across Jaina's face, which, while still paled and withered from her extensive use of the dark side of the Force, was beginning to clear up somewhat.

Several minutes later, as they walked past herds of Jedi who either gave Jaina the evil eye or avoided contact with her entirely, the Solo twins made it down to the archives; no one bothered asking why she was given this amount of freedom.

There, in the archive room, Jaina was seated on a bench opposite the holoprojector that was programmed to display the names, images, and biographies of Jedi who had died. The list went back as far as several thousand years and was updated up to the point of the Jedi who had perished during the Chiss War, all thanks to Tionne Solusar's studious record-keeping.

With a remote in hand, and Jacen standing behind her, Jaina first went through the Jedi Knights who died during the Mission to Myrkr of the Yuuzhan Vong War. Ulaha Kore was first, as she had given her life so that the other Jedi, including Jaina and Jacen, could get aboard the Vong worldship Baanu Raas so that they could start their successful but costly mission of exterminating the Jedi-killing voxyn and their queen. Then came the others: Eryl Besa, Jovan Drark, and the Hara sisters Krasov and Bela. When Jaina got to the image of her and Jacen's younger brother, Anakin, Jacen placed his natural hand on her shoulder in comfort.

Right then, he wanted to tell her about Anakin Sal-Solo, the droid aboard the now-destroyed Centerpoint Station who had their Anakin's memories and personality as a child. But when he thought about it, he realized that maybe it was better that she didn't know about that; he imagined that it would only make it harder for her to cope right now.

And that was to say nothing about the fact that Jacen had seen Anakin's spirit, albeit with it flickering in and out of this plane of existence, when he was investigating the Errant Venture for what Jaina had done there.

"I talked to him," Jaina said.

Jacen looked down at her in askance.

When she looked over her shoulder and up at him, Jaina said, "On Kashyyyk. When I took his lightsaber so I could use it to activate Centerpoint. I talked to Anakin."

Jacen's mouth dropped slightly in surprise. He wanted to ask Jaina if his spirit flicked in and out of focus like it did for him, but all he could ask was, "What did he say?"

"He said that deep down, even I had my doubts if the dark side was really for me. That I wasn't being who I was supposed to, essentially. In retrospect, I suppose he was right. It didn't stop me from tasking his lightsaber, from fighting Jaden Korr, and going to Centerpoint, but in the end, Anakin turned out... well, now that I think about it some more, I guess it's still up in the air as to whether or not he was right about me."

Jacen wanted to assure Jaina that Anakin was, indeed, right about her, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Because when he thought about it himself, he wondered how much good that would really do for her psyche; it wouldn't change the fact of her predicament, of what she would have to face after her baby was born, and that would always be on her mind no matter what he said to her. So he remained silent.

After a moment, Jaina turned back and they went through more members of the Mission to Myrkr. Next came Ganner Rhysode, who died defending Jacen on Yuuzhan Vong-occupied Coruscant to allow him and Vergere to escape back to the New Republic. Then came Tekli, who, even after being turned to the dark side by Gorog, was still memorialized. When it came to Zekk, Jaina spent as much time looking at his image as she did with Anakin's before moving on to Tesar Sebatyne. She could only look at him for a few seconds before bringing herself to look at the image of his mother, Saba, whom Jaina had killed in cold blood for maiming Lowbacca on Hlest. Jaina spent a quarter of a minute looking at Saba before switching back to Tesar to regard him for just as much time. Lowbacca was next, and at his image, Jaina's head dropped in a particular bit of sadness she had yet to fully feel, and Jacen's grip on her shoulder tightened.

Jaina had felt Lowie's death as clearly as her brother just before they fought on Coruscant, after she killed the World Brain and the scientists and Shapers who tended it. Jacen could read through their Force-bond that she felt particularly ashamed to have used the Wookiee's demise as a would-be method of distraction just before she tried to kill her brother. And that was because not only was Lowie a good childhood friend of the twins, but it was him being maimed by Saba that cemented Jaina's path to the dark side, and there was nothing she could do to take either her actions—killing Saba, using Lowie's death as a distraction—back.

Alema Rar was the penultimate member of the Mission to Myrkr to have been listed as having died. Jacen felt as clearly as Jaina that if the Twi'lek's dark descent and subsequent death wasn't the most tragic thing to happen out of the Myrkr survivors, then it would either by Jaina herself or the final one to be listed: Tahiri Veila.

Tahiri, who had been known to be such a sweet, talkative child, had grown into a teenager who was taken and physically and psychologically tortured by the Yuuzhan Vong into having a second personality that she had to find a way to reconcile without the help of her boyfriend, Anakin. But in the end, both Jaina, as Judicar, and Jacen had known her to have died as a Sith on Centerpoint, and only Jacen knew that she had perished in the arms of Anakin Sal-Solo. He wondered idly what she must have thought about that in her final moments.

Of course, though Tahiri was the last one on that list, they both knew that UnuThul, once known as Raynar Thul, was actually the most recent Myrkr survivor to have died. And because it had happened alongside the Sith's invasion of the Jedi Temple, there was no holoimage memorial for him. All Jacen and Jaina could do was just bow their heads in mourning for their lost friend, whom they had not considered to be all that great of a peer when they were all kids.

When Jacen and Jaina's sights returned to Tahiri's image, though, the female Solo twin said, "Do you think... do you think there's any way we can find out, Jacen?"

"Find out what?" Jacen inquired. He couldn't get a good sense of what his sister was thinking through their twin bond right then.

She looked back up at him. "If Tahiri found any peace?"

"When she died?"

Jaina nodded wordlessly.

"Well," Jacen began, "only if her spirit could come to us. But, honestly? I'm not so sure about that."

Jaina's lips thinned in mild frustration. "You've been to a lot of Force sects between the Vong War and the Killiks, Jacen. You mean to tell me you haven't found anything that we could use to communicate with the dead?"

His expression dropped in thought. Then it lifted when something came to mind and he looked back to his sister. "There might." Then his expression dropped into sadness.

"What is it?" Jaina asked.

Jacen shook his head. "I don't think I'll be allowed to take you."

"But if you were? How could we do it?"

Jacen hesitated before he responded. "There's a place in the Maw, where, of course, Uncle Luke's going that could be of help to us."

"And that is?"

"It's called Sinkhole Station. And believe it or not, it kinda looks like Centerpoint, only smaller. And there's a sect there called the Mind Walkers, some erroneously call them the Mind Drinkers, who go to a place called beyond shadows through meditation. And there, you can commune with the spirits of the dead."

Jaina was silent as she was plunged into thought. "I think Uncle Luke could benefit from that."

Jacen's eyes widened as he caught what Jaina was thinking. Maybe, just maybe, he could get some closure to Mara's death if he talked to her.

"Maybe he would," Jacen responded. "I should tell him." Then he stopped.

Through their bond, Jaina could sense what he was thinking, and she said, "You could just comm him and let him know. You don't have to go to himself and take me with you."

"Yeah," Jacen said distractedly. "Yeah, maybe I should." He then took out his commlink from his belt and brought up his uncle.

When Luke's voice asked, "Yes?" Jacen told him what he told Jaina about Sinkhole Station and the implications of what he might find should he Mind Walk.

"Then come with us, Jacen," Luke said, "and take Jaina with you."

Both twins froze in shock at what their uncle just said.

"But, Uncle Luke," Jacen replied, "you just said-"

"I said that you were to look after your sister," Luke interrupted abruptly. "That doesn't change just because you'll be leaving Shedu Maad. But after Sinkhole Station, you will return to this Temple. I don't expect either of you to join us in the hunt for Abeloth afterwards. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, it is, Uncle Luke," Jacen stammered.

"And, remember, Jacen, it's Master Skywalker during this expedition," Luke said.

"Of course, Unc- I mean, Master Skywalker."

"Then I will be joining you and Jaina aboard the Solo Quest II, and you will be part of the convoy of Jedi that will be heading to the Maw. That is all."

Again, the Solo twins froze in shock before they looked at each other.

Luke wanted Jaina to be on the same ship with him? If that wasn't a recipe for disaster, they didn't know-

Then again, they couldn't question Master Skywalker's orders, one of them thought; neither of them quite knew who. Not now. Not with everything that was at stake, according to what UnuThul told him.

"Fine," Jaina said aloud and with determination. "If he wants to be aboard with us, we'll allow it. Whatever that might bring."