General Nute shook himself into consciousness, the pain from his fall still making his body sore. He looked around the bridge. All of his command staff were starting to recover. He looked over at the command consoles and saw Captain Plutt taking assessment of what had happened since they were unconscious. General Nute walked over to Plutt, attempting to shake off the pain.

"Status report, Captain," Nute said in a tired voice.

"Yes, sir," said Captain Plutt as he worked the console. He pressed a handful of buttons before answering. "A single escape pod has been jettisoned. That must have been Tosan leaving the ship, sir, because all of the crew is accounted for. The Republic Cruiser has just exited the hanger and is making an attempt to land on the planet."

"Fire on that ship at once, Captain!"

The Republic Cruiser started to fumble as laser bolts erupted all around it. Solin and Keira had to hold onto the wall of the cockpit in order to keep their footing.

"We're under attack, sir!" the pilot exclaimed. "Shall I attempt to retreat?"

"No, we must do everything in our power to land on Ord Mantell!" Solin shouted back. "We've got to get King Mobbs off the planet as soon as possible. Keep flying, Captain!"

"Yes, sir!"

The pilot returned to the ship's controls. She yelled for the shields to be put up to their full power, but her co-pilot told her the shields had been damaged as soon as they were hit by the barrage of laser bolts. She nodded wordlessly at him and instead focused on dodging the attacks.

Solin was impressed with the pilot's abilities. Had she been a Jedi, she would have been formidable in space combat, he noted. He was about to compliment her when a particularly nasty shake of the ship caused him and Keira to fall to the ground and an alarm to start blaring.

"What's happened?" demanded Keira as she got back to her feet with difficulty.

"The starboard engine has been destroyed!" the pilot groaned. "I've lost control of the starboard side of the ship! It's still flyable, but it will be difficult to land."

"Do your best!" Solin shouted back.

"I will, sir!"

The pilot then manhandled the ship as laser bolts continued to fly around it. Impressively, the pilot was able to navigate the ship enough to avoid any more hits before entering Ord Mantell's atmosphere, where the laser bolts stopped firing on the ship. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for the pilot.

"Sir, it's going to be a rough landing!" she exclaimed. "I don't know if we'll all make it out of here alive. With the starboard engine gone, landing's gonna be much harder!"

"May the Force be with us," Solin muttered. "Do what you can for us, Captain."

"Yes, sir! It's been an honor serving with you, Master Jedi!"

With that, the pilot resumed her attempt to land the ship as safely as possible. This was no easy feat as the ship rocked violently as she lowered it and it seemed incapable of slowing down. As they got closer to the ground, they were able to see the Ord Mantell Royal Palace in the distance, but had no time to admire its beauty. Finally, the pilot flicked a switch, which shut down all of the ship's power in an attempt to slow it down.

"Brace yourselves!" she shouted.

Solin and Keira glanced at one another and nodded before they shut their eyes and lost themselves in the Force. Seconds later, they heard a large crashing sound as the ship made contact with the ground and erupted in an explosion. They felt themselves flying away from the ship and lost consciousness before they could react.

Tosan pressed the button to send a message to his master. While he waited, he kneeled in front of the communicator. Within seconds, he sensed his master's presence flicker onto the screen.

"Rise, my apprentice," Lord Nacluv said.

Tosan obeyed the request and looked at his master, whose face was hidden beneath his hood as it always was.

"You have news?" Nacluv demanded.

"My Lord, I was unable to kill the Jedi, but I was able to subdue them in order to escape the ship before they could do anything to me," Tosan said in a flat tone.

"I see," Nacluv replied. Tosan was surprised to not hear anger in his master's tone. "Yet I sense you were injured in your confrontation with the Jedi. What happened?"

"The Apprentice is a worthy lightsaber opponent. She was able to kick my weapon away when I had attacked her master. I tried to attack them with the Dark Side, but they were too much for me. I don't know what happened, Master, but a powerful Force wave erupted when they approached me."

Lord Nacluv considered this for a moment before replying.

"Solin has indeed grown strong in the Force during our time apart," he mused. "If what you described to me is true, he must've used the Force to block that lightning attack and the power was greater than either of you expected, which is why it erupted in the wave."

"Forgive me, Master," Tosan said in shame, lowering his head.

"Luckily for you, my young apprentice, there is nothing to forgive," Nacluv said. "I should have known sending you against two Jedi on your own was foolish. But no matter, no matter. I shall deal with the Jedi myself. It's high time Solin and I have our reunion. I have waited a long time for it."

Tosan looked up at Nacluv, who looked amused.

"What do you need me to do, Master?"

"Resume your public role, Tosan," Nacluv replied. "For now, leave the Jedi to me. I shall contact you if I require anything from you, but rest assured that I will arrive at the Royal Palace soon to handle Solin and his apprentice. No doubt that's where they've gone if they weren't killed in that ship General Nute was able to fire upon. Now go, Tosan. You will need to play your part well in order for our plans to succeed."

"Yes, my Master," Tosan said, taking a knee again as the hologram of Nacluv faded.