Ford and Five-U watched in awkward silence as Plagueis simply stood still, eyes closed for several minutes with absolutely no expression on his face. Only the droids' sensors in their photoreceptors could tell them that he was still breathing. As for Sidious's spirit, he had disappeared back into the Dagger of Mortis once Plagueis closed his eyes.

"What do you think's going on?" Five-U asked his captain.

"My guess is some kind of internal battle between them that's going on in the Force right now," Ford answered.

Five-U was silent for a moment before he spoke. "I can never understand this supernatural Force thing, you know."

"There is a science behind it, in case you forgot," Ford said. "I worked with this guy for three and a half decades on scientific research regarding midi-chlorians so that he could be immortal."

"Right, the symbionts that tie living beings with the Force, got it," Five-U said. "So how do you know when this internal battle is going to end?"

"I don't," Ford said.

"So we could pretty much be standing here until that body of his dies of hunger and/or dehydration, right?" Five-U inquired.

"That could very well be the case," Ford said neutrally.

"So why the hell are we even still standing here, wasting time?" Five-U asked.

Before Ford could reply, Plagueis suddenly moved and looked back at the droids before lowering his eyes back upon the Dagger of Mortis in his hands.

"That's why," Ford answered smugly. He then spoke to Plagueis. "Are you all right, my Master?"

"Better than all right, Ford," Plagueis said, momentarily lifting his eyes from the Dagger to regard the droids with a maniacal grin on his face. "I have finally gained vengeance on my apprentice for what he did to me." He appeared almost euphoric over having defeated his former apprentice. He looked back with intensity upon the weapon in his hands before looking back up to the droids. "We must go. The Dagger has shown me where I am to finally end Abeloth." With that, he turned back the way he and the droids came, and the latter two followed him instantly.

.

When Team Jacen's Imperial shuttle next appeared from technowitch Cilghal's reality, the three of them found, via their sensors, that they were in the exact same system that they left when it seemed that they couldn't beat the Killik-Chiss fleet. Now that fleet was absent, most likely having disappeared through hyperspace to continue their conquest of the galaxy.

Jacen turned the ship around to the general direction that the enemy fleet could have gone. "Onimi, can you figure out where the Killiks and Chiss could have gone?"

After a few moments, Onimi looked back up to Jacen with defeat in his voice. "No. We must have been gone too long."

"Damn," Jacen muttered, hanging his head against the console.

"So much for learning about that Force-repellent on the nano-spiders," Onimi commented dryly.

Then Jacen perked up with widened eyes before looking over to the Yuuzhan Vong next to him. "Wait, Nommy, you were part of the Killik hive mind for a few moments, right?"

Nom Anor nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Then if you were part of it even for a brief while, then you must have known where they would have went next, right?" Jacen asked.

Nom Anor's eyes widened in realization. "Yes, I did! And now that you brought it up, I'm starting to remember." He then put a hand to his face as he tried to recall.

"Think, Nommy, think!" Jacen said. "Where could they have gone?"

Then Nom Anor looked worried as he looked back at Jacen. "Coruscant."

"Straight for the heart of the Galactic Alliance?" Onimi asked in disbelief. "Wouldn't it be smarter for them to attack other planets in and around their space first to gather up resources before they just go in, guns blazing, for the seat of the government?"

Nom Anor shook his head. "Not with what they can do now. You saw how easily they got into my head, and they nearly got the both of you, too! Somehow, I doubt assimilating billions, maybe even trillions, of people will be that difficult for the Killiks and their Joiners just through telepathy."

"Well, that's a comforting thought, no pun intended," Onimi said sarcastically.

"How'd they get that kind of power?" Jacen said. "How are they not relying on Killik pheromones anymore?"

"They're still relying on the pheromones," Nom Anor explained. "In fact, they used them to assimilate the Chiss in the Csilla system. But now their queen has managed to summon enough telepathic power to instantly bring three trillion people under the mind of Thuruht."

"Three trillion?" Jacen asked in disbelief. "If she has that kind of power, then why was it so hard for her to assimilate me and Onimi?"

"I don't know exactly," Nom Anor said. "But I think it had something to do with Onimi's own telepathic abilities, and a moment of weakness on the part of their queen."

"Weakness?" Jacen inquired. Then it occurred to him. The voice of a little girl saying, Daddy, in his head just before Thuruht took over Nom Anor's mind and tried to take over his and Onimi's minds.

"Yes, I don't know what caused it exactly," Nom Anor said.

"It's fine," Jacen said hurriedly. "We just need to get to Coruscant immediately."

"We won't make it in time!" Nom Anor exclaimed. "When we get there, the Killiks will be stronger than ever, with the entire Coruscant Defense Force, and maybe the entire Galactic Alliance Defense Force, within their hive mind! Not only will they have greater numbers, but strong telepathic and Force abilities. You and Onimi won't be able to counter that!"

Jacen was silent for a moment before he said, "You're absolutely right. Which is why we're gonna have to bring down the entire hive mind."

"What are we gonna do even if you could withstand that power?" Nom Anor asked. "We won't have enough nano-spiders against them!"

"We won't have to rely on them," Jacen countered. "We need something to attack their telepathy and bring their entire hive mind down."

"What do you suggest then?" Nom Anor asked.

Jacen then sat back in his chair and thought about it, putting his right thumb and forefinger beneath his chin. A couple moments later, he snapped his fingers in realization. "I got it!" He looked at both Onimi and Nom Anor. "We got to the Jedi Order!"

"And how are they going to help us?" Onimi asked.

"Mind-meld," Jacen said. "Onimi, plot us some coordinates for Shedu Maad. We're gonna take down the Killiks."