The YT-2400 going by the name Faux Harla dropped out of hyperspace and into the Maad system. It began its sublight travel through the icy corridors of the system to reach the planet that served as the Jedi Order's home base.

In the cockpit of the Harla, where Jaina Solo Fel and her husband Jag sat in the pilot and copilot seats respectively, Jaina's commlink beeped at her belt. She unhooked it and activated it. "Master Fel here."

"Jaina, good," Luke's voice came on the other end of the line. "Did you bring this month's worth of foodstuffs for the academy?"

"Of course we did, Uncle Luke," Jaina answered, confused as to why her uncle would personally call her up to check on whether or not she and Jag brought the food that the Order needed.

"Excellent," Luke commented curtly. "After you bring the food down, I have another assignment for you. I'll brief you after the supplies are offloaded from the Faux Harla."

Jaina masked her annoyance over the assignments that came back-to-back these days. "On our way. Master Fel out." She signed off and replaced the commlink to her belt.

.

After the foodstuffs were offloaded from the Harla, Jaina and Jag were met in the academy's hangar bay by Luke, Han, Leia, Allana, and a Chiss who Jag instantly recognized.

"Ambassador Chaf'orm'bintrano," Jag greeted formally in Basic for the sake of the others around him and Formbi. He promptly shook the Chiss's hand. "It's good to finally meet you."

"I can honestly say I reciprocate the feeling, Jagged," Formbi replied, finally pulling away from the handshake. "In spite of the dishonor that you brought upon your family, I have heard quite a few good things about your tenure as Head of State of the Imperial Remnant." His tone was matter-of-fact.

"Well, thank you," Jag replied with a nod.

"So what's this about, Master Skywalker?" Jaina asked her uncle.

Luke managed to briefly explain what Formbi informed him of the Chiss's current problems with the Killiks in the Reo system before stating, "The team that we sent to retrieve Raynar three months ago never reported in since, nor did they return at all. While your mother will act as negotiator between the Ascendancy and the nest of Thuruht, I need you, Jaina, to go with Jag and find out where that team disappeared to. You'll start by retracing their hyperspace jumps from when they first left the Coruscant system to accomplish their mission."

"How could we do that?" Jaina asked. "It's been three months since they've been dispatched. I doubt Jag and I could retrace their steps after so long a time gap. And besides, last I heard, the Galactic Alliance still banned the Order from Coruscant."

"Infiltrate Coruscant," Luke said outright. "From there, hack into their databanks to determine where the Jedi team left the system."

Formbi raised an eyebrow at this. "You know, while my culture maybe vastly different from that of the Galactic Alliance, isn't hacking into the Alliance's databanks without their permission illegal?"

"Not when you're still unofficially friends with the Alliance's current Chief of State," Luke replied before turning back to the Fels.

"Wynn Dorvan is allowing you to do this?" Formbi inquired.

Luke nodded. "He's still on good terms with the Order, and his authority will be what'll allow Jaina and Jag to sneak onto Coruscant no problem."

"But you haven't contacted him yet," Formbi pointed out.

"I will soon enough, and I know, without a doubt, that he'll agree after I explain the predicament," Luke said. "Trust me, when it comes to the possibility that the Killiks may come back into power, Wynn won't refuse Jaina or Jag." He turned back to the aforementioned couple. "Hacking into the databanks won't be difficult either; I already called in Talon Karrde to have you two meet up with Zakarisz Ghent in the Western District of Coruscant after you've infiltrated the planet. So don't keep him waiting; you're dismissed."

Jaina and Jag nodded as they turned back to the Faux Harla and reentered their vessel to take back off into the skies while the others went their separate ways; Formbi began walking back to his shuttle where his guards waited, Luke began returning to the Jedi Temple proper to return to his duties, and the Solos were heading for the Millennium Falcon.

"Ready to meet the bugs again, Han?" Leia teased as she, her husband, and Allana walked to the Falcon.

"Ecstatic," Han replied sarcastically. "How 'bout you, Allana? You ready to learn more about negotiation from debates with a civilization of insects?"

"Oh, I'm so excited," Allana said, mirroring her grandfather's sarcasm.

Soon, after everyone boarded their vessels, they took off, heading out of the hangar bay and into the ice-filled space of the Maad system above.

.

On the world of Barga, Ben Skywalker, inconspicuous with his civilian clothes, T-visor shades, blue-dyed hair, and cosmetics that disguised his true face, sat in a table with an umbrella posted on the tabletop to protect his form from the world's hot parent star. He scrutinized the scene before him as he sipped on his vanilla smoothie, looking out among the various different people who were enjoying themselves and having a good time as they either swam or played games on the sandy land.

Sometimes, Ben had to remind himself that he wasn't here on vacation; the Jedi Order was too busy for any one of their members to be on a world like Barga and having fun like most other people at this time. No, he was here to track down at least one surviving member of the Lost Tribe of the Sith, and he knew exactly who she was.

Vestara Khai.

He watched as Vestara played some volleyball off in the distance playing volleyball with several people, as if she wasn't a Sith who, mere months earlier, nearly killed Allana and betrayed him and the Order for the last time. She seemed pretty convincing as a mere teenage girl having the time of her life in the setting.

Somehow, his dad trusted him to go after her and take her in, dead or alive, back into the Jedi Order's custody on Shedu Maad. After all the times that Ben fell for her, and had even ended up in a relationship with her in spite of her treachery and lies, it was a wonder why Luke didn't even hesitate to to send Ben after Vestara. Since that time, Ben thought that because he swore off trusting Vestara ever again, Luke, in turn, trusted him to do the right thing in apprehending the Sith girl by any means necessary; just short of using the dark side, of course.

It was also quite a wonder how Vestara didn't even seem to notice or recognize him through the Force, especially after all the time they'd been together and the intimacy they developed during the hunt for Abeloth. Sure, Ben still kept that useful skill that his hated late cousin, Jacen Solo, a.k.a. Darth Caedus, taught him just before he killed his mom; teaching Ben how to conceal him in the Force even from the people closest to him was one of the few good things that Jacen ever did for him as a Sith.

After several minutes, the game that Vestara was playing had finished, and she decided to leave the beach in a casual manner. Ben took his last sip from the smoothie, threw the empty cup in the garbage bin nearby, and got up from his seat to follow Vestara.