Jaina cried for only two minutes over Tahiri as Jag hugged and consoled her. By the end of those two minutes, however, the Gilad Pellaeon started to shake.
"We're under attack!" Jag practically shouted. "Jaina, what's going on?"
She sniffled before she answered. "You... you were under... Sith control, Jag. You'd... allied yourself... with Belok Rhal... against Mirta."
"We gotta get to the bridge!" Jag said.
"You go," she said. "Let me be."
Jag looked at his wife with concern. "I'm so sorry, Jaina." He then stood up and hurried to the bridge, allowing Jaina to continue to weep for Tahiri.
Once Jag reached the bridge, he called out to one of the comm officers, "Patch me through to Mirta Gev!"
"Sir?" that officer asked. His look of confusion was also shared by Admiral Vitor Reige, who stood close to the command chair.
"You heard me!"
A moment later, the officer said, "Channel open, sir."
"Mirta Gev, this is Jagged Fel!" he said. "Call off your forces and I'll call off mine!"
"Came to your senses, huh, Fel?" Mirta's voice replied. Her voice sounded bitter, as if she lost something, or someone, particularly important today; maybe both, Jag thought.
"I was under Sith influence," Jag explained. "Jaina and a friend of ours, Tahiri, saved me."
"How do I know you're still not under Sith influence?" Mirta asked.
Jag rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll call off my forces first." He looked to Reige. "Admiral, call for a ceasefire immediately."
Reige hesitated, but ultimately nodded and relayed Jag's order.
When the remaining TIE ships, Rhal-aligned Bes'uliiks, and Star Destroyers broke off their engagements, it was only a few seconds before all of Mirta's forces fell silent in their fire.
Mirta's voice soon returned to the frequency. "We'll settle the terms of peace on one of the Destroyers that still has a functioning hangar bay, Fel."
"Agreed. Will the Trebalask suffice?" Jag asked.
"It'll do," Mirta answered evenly. She then ended the communication.
Jag looked at Reige and said, "I'll be taking an escape pod to the Trebalask."
"Wait, sir," Reige said. "What's this that you were under Sith influence?"
"Remember those two communications officers you saw leave here with me before the hangar bay got closed off?" Jag asked. "You know, before the barrier was destroyed?"
"Yeah?" Reige asked.
"They had me under some powerful mind-control, but don't worry, Jaina and Tahiri took care of that, as I said," Jag clarified.
"We had Sith infiltrators?" Reige asked in shock.
"I'll explain it at all to you after I'm done with Mirta," he said. "You have the bridge, Admiral." Jag then left Reige wondering who else aboard his bridge, or in his Empire, was a Sith infiltrator.
"I'm not a Sith, sir," the comm officer who obeyed Jag said earnestly.
Reige looked at him with annoyance. "Thank you, that's very helpful," he said facetiously.
. . .
One Week Later
In the Solos' reclaimed apartment on Coruscant, Han and Leia watched as Perre Needmo reported on probably the best news to come out since Jacen's apparent return from the dead months before.
"In the aftermath of Chief of State Daala's death," Needmo said, "her Chief of Staff Wynn Dorvan has officially been sworn in as her replacement for what would have remained of her term in office. As of this morning, the peace treaty between Chief Dorvan and Hapan Queen Mother Allana Djo has been finalized, with Chief Dorvan denouncing Chief Daala's actions as morally unjustifiable and even illegal.
"One of the biggest terms in the treaty, and probably the most controversial among the public, was for allowing the Jedi Order to return to the space occupied by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, which, of course, includes Coruscant. Construction of a new Jedi Temple has already begun as the members of the Jedi Order have relocated from the Hapes Consortium back to the worlds of Coruscant and Ossus.
"In similar news, the peace treaty between the Imperial Remnant and the nation of Mandalore has also been finalized, with Head of State Jagged Fel and Mandalore Mirta Gev agreeing to cease hostilities. Head of State Fel has even offered to give reparations to the nation of Mandalore, even though many Imperial citizens, especially those among the Moff Council, believe this to be an unnecessary gesture considering the damage that the Mandalorians had wrought upon the Remnant's territories.
"But speaking of the Moff Council, the free speech policy that Head of State Fel enacted early in his administration has allowed the Imperial public to speak out against and criticize not only him but the rest of the Moff Council. The subject of that criticism? For having been fooled by Belok Rhal and a rumored clandestine group of Sith into dragging the Imperial Remnant into what has been called a pointless war in the first place.
"Supporting this criticism is the fact that the Moff Council unanimously agreed to allow Head of State Fel to so quickly invite Mr. Rhal and his forces in a rebellion against Mirta Gev and her forces. As well, Mandalore Gev's own statement that she, too, had been manipulated by Rhal into believing that it was the Imperial Remnant, not him, who killed her grandfather, Boba Fett, gives obvious credence to all of this criticism. As for the remaining Mandalorians who followed Mr. Rhal, Mandalore Gev has claimed that they have all been outcast from mainstream Mandalorian society and are told to never return to Mandalore or any of its sectors; failure to abide by this exile will result in death warrants being issued for any and all violators.
"Following his peace settlement with Mandalore Gev, Jagged Fel has announced that he will begin a series of amendments to the Imperial charter that will allow it to become even more democratic. How so? It will be to the point that once a Head of State has come to the end of his or her term and a new one is elected, so will a new group of Moffs, allowing the previous ones to retire.
"As for the rumors of Sith, all three of the major galactic powers, the Galactic Alliance, the Imperial Remnant, and the Hapes Consortium, have pooled several of their own capital ships to investigate a planet in Wild Space known as Kesh. However, after a thorough search of the planet, there are no signs of sentient life present, though there are traces of previous occupation that all three powers have refused to disclose to the public. In spite of the absence of any Sith on Kesh, all three search parties have said that this will not stop them from looking into any other evidence of this organization elsewhere in the galaxy."
It was then that Leia turned the viewscreen off.
"It's almost time," she said to Han.
He nodded as he and his wife stood up from their couch and headed over to the dining room.
"Food almost ready, Threepio?" Han asked.
"As you can see, Master Solo," the protocol droid said as he spread his arms at the table before him, "the food is most certainly ready."
Indeed, an array of various, delectable foods ready to be served to several people was hot and ready for consumption.
A knock on the door to the apartment unit followed; Han went to answer it.
Upon opening the door, he hugged his daughter Jaina and said, "Hey, how ya doin' kid?"
Jaina's smile was bittersweet when she pulled out of the embrace. "Holdin' up."
Han nodded. "Good to hear." Obviously, Tahiri's death was still on her mind, but right now, he didn't want to see his daughter break down. He shook Jag's hand and said, "Here's hoping that your reforms will make the Empire a little more tolerable."
"I hope so, too, sir," Jag replied promptly.
Once they were inside, Jacen, Danni, and Allana, who wore a blonde wig for a disguise, all embraced Han just as Jaina and Jag both hugged Leia.
"Glad you could pull yourself outta your duties for a while, Your Majesty," Han said as he gave Allana a playful punch on the shoulder.
"I'm glad, too, Grandpa," Allana said.
Once Jacen, Danni, and Allana were past, Luke was the last to enter. The smile that Han's brother-in-law gave was warm and genuine, but it didn't cover the worry that was in his eyes for the only person in the family who couldn't show up.
Ben.
Han nodded and reflected Luke's smile. "Nice of you to show up, kid."
"Thanks, Han," he replied. "So shall we start?"
"Hey, Leia, can we start eating?" Han called back.
"As soon as you boys join!" Leia replied.
"Let's not keep 'em waiting then," Han said.
He let Luke join him before he whispered in his ear, "We'll find him, Luke. I promise you that."
"I know we will," Luke whispered back.
Without further ado, the two men took their seats at the table and the whole family started eating.