As the Millennium Falcon cruised through hyperspace in the Peshvit Nebula, Han and Leia sat in the pilot and copilot seats respectively with a fair amount of anxiety and uncertainty to stave off whatever boredom would have overcome them had the stakes they were facing not been so high.
"How much longer before our next dropout?" Leia asked.
Han checked the chronometer on his console. "Less than six minutes."
"You think this'll be it?"
"If it is, we gotta hope we don't drop out into a system with a huge gravity well. Otherwise, we'll probably be blasted into atoms by however many ships those Sith got. And with all the interference from this nebula's gases, we won't even be able to send out a transmission to the Knights."
"You know, Han, that's one of the things I love about: your eternal optimism."
He gave her his trademark grin. "Well, one of us has gotta be optimistic."
"You think I'm not?"
His grin dropped into a frown. "No. But at this point, I don't need the Force to know what you're thinkin'."
She nodded. "I hope Luke can find some peace with Jaina, wherever they're going."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he will, Leia. I'm sure he will."
She gave him a weak smile as he slid his hand off her shoulder, and they turned back to look out through the forward viewport. Still, despite Han's words, the doubt niggled in Leia's mind as she wondered if her brother could really forgive her daughter for killing his wife. She still remembered when Luke said to her that he had truly believed that Jaina was far too gone to be saved after Mara died, and Leia could never forget how heartbroken she was by that. But if Luke was willing to take Jaina along on this mission to defeat this Abeloth entity, then perhaps there was more truth to Han's words than even he imagined.
But just as Leia reached some measure of internal peace as to that matter, the Falcon was abruptly pulled out of hyperspace and into a system where, several thousand kilometers ahead, a small fleet of ChaseMasterX frigates and a slew of other ship models floated within the purple gaseous space around them. And Leia's heart seized with fear as she felt so many dark presences through the Force within several of those vessels.
Immediately, Han spun the Falcon around and began racing away from what was no doubt the Sith fleet even as the YT-1300's sensors indicated a squadron of fighters being launched from one of the ChaseMasters.
"We're caught in an interdiction field!" Han hurriedly explained without taking his eyes away from the forward viewport. He didn't need to explain that they had to rocket out of that field before they could jump to hyperspace, and that was assuming that whichever of those ships that had cut off their immediate means of escape didn't move from its initial position.
Leia could only hope that the Sith were arrogant enough to think that it would only take a single squadron of starfighters to take out the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo at its helm.
. . .
It had not been long since the last sparring class had been finished for the day, so Ben was free to stand at one of the viewports of the Shikkar's Edge and watch as, in the far distance, he could just barely make out the specks that represented the Millennium Falcon and the Sith starfighters that were chasing it.
Of course, the only reason that he knew that it was the Falcon being chased was because as soon as it had dropped out of hyperspace, he could feel the presence of his Aunt Leia and the much fainter presence of Uncle Han. And while he stood and watched as the space around the YT-1300 and its pursuing fighters lit up with laser bolts, Ben wasn't quite sure what to feel about the peril that his aunt and uncle faced right then.
"I sense some doubt in you, Ben."
He looked over to his right and saw the speaker, Vestara, standing there, having freshly changed out of her sweaty clothes from the now-done class and into a clean but identical black jumpsuit. She joined him in staring out the viewport at the chase.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
"My aunt and uncle are on that ship," he answered without taking his eyes away from the pursuit.
"Oh. So how does that make you feel?"
"I don't know. Honestly." His tone was neutral, a stark contrast to his current feelings.
"I can feel that. You care for them, don't you?"
"I liked Aunt Leia and Uncle Han. They were always nice to me. I always liked seeing them whenever they visited the Temples on Ossus and Shedu Maad."
"But?"
Ben sighed. "They're part of my past now, my Jedi past, short though it may have been, and I gotta remember that. It helps, though, when I remind myself that they're the parents of my mother's murderer, and that they never doubted for a moment that Jaina could be pulled away, even after she killed Mom. But even with that in mind, I still have to make myself remember that they're on the side of the Jedi, and the Jedi must be destroyed. I understand that, but even so, at the same time-"
He was cut off from saying anymore as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"But they're still your family," she said sympathetically.
He nodded as tears started to form in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Ben," she said. "This must be hard for you. I couldn't imagine turning my back on my own family because they were on the opposite side of what was truly right."
He looked at her through his tear-blurred vision. "And there's nothing I can do to help them... even if I wasn't committed to the Tribe."
She patted him on the shoulder before she pulled him into a hug. "We're your new family now, Ben," Vestara said. "Don't you forget that."
"I won't," Ben said. "I won't."
Her victorious smile was hidden from his view, and he was much too inured in his own catharsis to feel her satisfaction through the Force.
. . .
While Master K'Kruhk had returned to the room that had told him of Sinkhole Station's indeterminate demise in an effort to find out when exactly that demise would take place, Kyle Katarn had taken position in another sensor room to see if there were any ships that might drop out into this system for any reason. It seemed like a long-shot that that may happen, as neither he nor any of the other Jedi with him imagined that they would encounter another soul—whether it was Abeloth, any of these Mind Walkers, or, somehow, anyone from the Lost Tribe of the Sith—but Kyle thought that it would be a somewhat productive thing to do, and no one else objected.
As for all of the other Jedi who had accompanied Luke Skywalker to this station, they sat in a loose circle around him and the Solo twins as they Mind Walked to this realm beyond shadows that Jacen had mentioned. It had only been a few hours and, so far, nothing had happened; every now and then, though, Tresina Lobi would take it upon herself to feed water and bits of food rations into the three Mind Walkers before her, as her Force-senses attuned her to their physiological needs. Thankfully, she didn't have to change any of them as if they were infants; it seemed that whatever they were doing, they were metabolizing the fluid and nutrients given to them in a remarkably efficient way to the point that they weren't producing any waste.
Either that, or Tresina was just feeding them that well, Kyp Durron thought idly.
"She doesn't deserve to be here," Octa Ramis said from Kyp's left.
Everyone, including Kyp, looked at her in askance.
"We all know it," Octa continued. "Master Skywalker is being, quite frankly, too lenient on Jaina. She should be rotting in a prison cell; I don't care if she's pregnant."
Shocked gasps rippled among the Knights while Kyp and Tresina levelled slightly aghast expressions at their fellow Jedi Master.
"I understand your view, Octa," Tresina said calmly and patiently, "but that doesn't mean that the child should have to suffer whatever punishment that Jaina would face for her actions."
"I didn't say the baby had to suffer with her, that's not what I meant," Octa said defensively. "What I'm saying is that Jaina here should be incarcerated and only given exactly what she needs for her baby to grow up fine, but after it's born... well, I just hope the kid gets a decent Jedi Master to teach her. Or him."
"You really don't think Jaina's worthy of a chance at redemption, Octa?" Kyp asked.
"I haven't made that clear, Kyp?" Octa retorted.
"Well, why should Jaina suffer for her crimes when she's repentant?" he asked. "I was repentant after Carida and after Exar Kun's influence was banished from my being. And look at me now."
"You're different, Kyp," Octa said. "You were just a scared and confused teenager, ripe for the spirit of a long-dead ancient Sith to influence." She directed her gaze at the Mind Walking woman. "Jaina was a full-grown adult who damn well knew what she was doing when she killed all those scientists on Coruscant and especially on the Errant Venture."
"You forget that she was influenced by Lumiya," Kyp pointed out, "just like I was with Exar Kun."
"But you forget that even after Lumiya died, Jaina, as Darth Judicar, still tried to use Centerpoint Station to destroy Shedu Maad," Octa reminded him. "That's what she was there for, and, again, that was well after Lumiya died. If it hadn't been for Jacen, Judicar may very well have succeeded, even with that battle against the Chiss going on there. It's not exactly like she would have had a change of heart otherwise."
"Jaina is genuinely repentant now," Tresina stated. "This isn't simply a matter of her being kowtowed into submission like on Centerpoint or her only trying to delay the inevitable when she betrayed the Lost Tribe to us and the Galactic Alliance. I can feel it, and I'm sure you can, too, Octa."
"Oh, I can feel it alright," the other female Master replied in a tone that seemed mocking. Then, more seriously, she added, "But that doesn't change what happened, and we all know, deep down, that the Jaina Solo who became Darth Judicar is still there somewhere. It's the same Jaina Solo who killed thousands of innocent people on the Venture and at least several dozen beings on Coruscant, including Yuuzhan Vong who didn't deserve what was coming to them, and that's saying something!"
"Oh, so it's a matter of innocent people, isn't it?" Kyp asked more spitefully than he intended. "Because what I did when I destroyed Carida under Kun's influence was alright because that was an Imperial academy, huh?"
Octa fell silent with the rest of the Jedi. No one needed to remind him of the fact that, along with all of the burgeoning Imperials that he killed using the Sun Crusher in the Carida system all those years ago, his own brother Zeth had been among them, and he didn't know about that until it was already far too late to stop.
"Kyp," Octa said, "I know how you felt about what you did. But you have to remember-"
"Remember what?" Kyp interrupted harshly. "That Jaina knew she was killing Mara, that she was actively looking to kill when she committed her atrocity on the Venture? Why should that change her state of repentance, Octa? Why should she be viewed any differently from me after what I did at Carida?"
A long, silent moment passed among the Jedi before Octa finally accused, "If it weren't Jaina Solo, you wouldn't be defending her at all."
Kyp gritted his teeth in frustration. "This has nothing to do with my history with Jaina and you know it," he growled.
"Are you really sure about that, Kyp?" Octa asked.
Kyp breathed out through his nostrils in frustration. "Quite sure, Octa," he intoned.
"Well, I'm glad you are," she replied sarcastically, "'cause I'm not too sure myself. I gotta wonder... you still in love with her, Kyp?"
His hands formed into fists as he kept them planted along his thighs.
"'Cause if you are," Octa went on mockingly, "I gotta remind ya, it didn't work out too well for all the other men in her life, who all died in one way or another because of her. Zekk, Jagged Fel, Herush Klass. You really sure you wanna stick up for Jaina when she could just as well get you killed, too?"
"Octa, stop it," Tresina interjected.
"Keep out of this, Tresina," Octa intoned.
"Octa-"
"Tresina, keep out of this," Kyp interrupted just as harshly.
Tresina fell silent, though the concern for her two fellow Masters rose in her face, body language, and Force-aura.
"Go on, Master Ramis," Kyp said in a daring tone. "You got anything more to say?"
"Yes, I do, Master Durron," Octa replied with the same tone. "I know that you and former Knight Solo have a lot in common. You both suffered tremendous loss in your lives, and you both caused a great deal in misery and suffering through your actions. Combined with the fact that she was quite a looker before all those dark wrinkles ruined her face, and I could see why you'd fallen for a woman who's, like, half your age." She shrugged. "Then again, I suppose with what she looks like now, at least I know you're not superficial."
Kyp tilted his head back as he tried to control his anger. "Whatever feelings I once had for Jaina are long past now, Octa. What I say on her behalf, I say as someone who committed my own share of crimes as a dark sider and wish to see someone who was as pennant as I was try to seek some form of redemption for her actions. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Is that what you're trying to tell me, or what you're trying to tell yourself?" Octa asked.
"Do or do not. There is no try. I firmly believe in what I say, Octa. It's only you who doesn't believe it."
Octa scoffed. "Fine. Continue to be her white knight. But I'm tellin' you, Kyp, you're making a fool's errand in defending-"
"Everyone!" Kyle announced as he rushed into the meditation room; given his distressed countenance, he didn't seem to register the tension that had developed between Kyp and Octa here. "We have StealthX fighters approaching this station! They're the same Jedi who went with the Millennium Falcon to retrieve the younglings from the Sith! I tried to contact them both via comm and through the Force, but they aren't responding. They're..."
Kyle trailed off as he looked among the Knights gathered. While Jaden Korr and Doran-Sarkin Tainer remained seated, all the other Knights present—Seff Hellin, Ohali Soroc, Barratk'l, and Yantahar Bwua'tu—stood up and regarded all of the Jedi around them with a look that was mixture of uneasiness and determination.
Then the standing Knights swiftly unhooked their lightsabers from their belts, activated them, and adopted offensive stances; all of the sitting Jedi, meanwhile, leaned away from the blades while Kyle regarded the standing Knights warily.
"You will die, imposters," Seff said.
Then he and the three other standing Knights moved to strike their fellow Jedi down.
