Denon's sun shone brightly on the side of its namesake planet that harbored the Jedi Temple; yet it could have been raining for all of the Temple's inhabitants cared, for their emotions were a collective storm of raging turmoil and despair.
On the roof of the Temple rested a funeral pyre upon which Luke Skywalker's prepared body was laid. In attendance were all of the Jedi Masters, Jaina Solo, her parents, Ben Skywalker (who stood next to his surviving parent, Mara) Lando Calrissian, Wedge Antilles, and a few other Rebel Alliance veterans and several Jedi Knights.
Around the roof of the Temple floated HoloNet vidcams from various public news stations throughout the galaxy; no reporters were there to comment. Instead, the vidcams simply recorded Luke Skywalker's funeral in silence for the respect that the galaxy owed him for all that he had done for the Rebellion and the two governments that sprung from it.
At the head of the pyre was a raised podium; stepping up to it was the New Jedi Order's first Grand Master, Jacen Solo.
Jacen cleared his throat, restraining himself from breaking down into another sobbing fit.
"Today," Jacen began, his tone slightly trembling, "we all gather for the funeral of the New Jedi Order's previous leader, Luke Skywalker. But Master Skywalker was more than that; he was a hero to the galaxy. He had dedicated his life to fighting the tyrannical forces that sought to oppress trillions of beings, like the Galactic Empire and the Yuuzhan Vong. But even more than that, Luke Skywalker was a beloved friend; he was a brother, a husband, a father... an uncle.
"And he passed away as such; when he left us, he did it fighting one of the most implacable enemies that the Jedi Order had ever fought. And I think that is how he would want to be remembered for all of the hard work that he put into making this galaxy a free place, and for the love that he brought to all of us.
"In the wake of his death, Master Skywalker left me in charge as Grand Master of the Order, a duty that I seek to uphold and serve to the best of my abilities. I make it my personal vow to never let that duty down in the memory of my uncle; so long as I live and breathe, I will lead this Order to where I believe the Force wants us to go; and I know for a fact that Uncle Luke wouldn't have it any other way."
Jacen then looked down at Luke's corpse, tears now forming in his eyes just as they were in the eyes of everyone gathered.
"Uncle Luke... we will all miss you."
With that, Jacen fell silent and hesitant as he prepared to do what had been planned to do.
He soon lifted up a hand to create a small fireball and then cast it down toward the pyre. It started to burn in an instant, and all watched as Luke Skywalker's body gradually burned away into ash.
.
A week later, Jacen entered Cal Omas's office to find that not only was the Chief of State sitting behind his desk, but he already had a guest.
The guest looked back to find Jacen standing there and stood up with Omas so they could both face the Jedi Order's latest Grand Master.
"Grand Master Solo," Omas said in an even tone and expression, "I wish to offer my sincerest condolences over your uncle's loss. I don't think I need to say that he was a great man and that he will be missed for a long time, but I feel that I have to anyway."
Jacen nodded patiently. "Thank you, Chief Omas."
"I'm sure you remember Kurlen Flennic of the Imperial Remnant," Omas said as he waved a hand to the other guest. "The last time you two met, he was a Moff in Grand Admiral Pellaeon's Council. As you may or may not be aware, Mister Flennic is now Head of State of the Empire."
As Omas spoke, Flennic walked over to Jacen and shook his hand.
"I'm very sorry about what happened to your uncle," Flennic said.
Jacen didn't respond even as the handshake ended. But after it did, he said, "Well, thank you for dropping the charges against me for Admiral Pellaeon's death."
"Well, after we found that the vidcam recordings had been faked and that the real culprit was this Garis Boric," Flennic said, "we also found ourselves surprised that you were telling us the truth about Boric being able to use Fallanassi illusions."
Jacen nodded. "I feel deep regret for Garis's loss. He was my greatest failure, one that will make me feel as if I could never live up to being an able Grand Master of the Jedi."
"Oh," Flennic said.
"So what was it that you wanted to see me about?" Jacen asked.
"Grand Master Solo," Omas said, "Head of State Flennic and I were thinking about reopening talks about uniting the Galactic Alliance and the Imperial Remnant into one government again; in light of our combined efforts against these One Sith over Korriban, we feel that a unified government is more of a good idea than ever before. So we want your input."
"We can begin talking now," Jacen said.
Omas waved a hand to one of the other guest seats. Wordlessly, Jacen took it while Flennic sat down next to him.
When they were done talking less than an hour later, with everything agreed and worked out, Jacen and Flennic stood up and began to take their leave from Omas's office.
"You seem changed, Head of State Flennic," Jacen said as they walked down the corridor leading to the turbolift up ahead. "I remember you being more... well, to be frank, being more of an asshole back when we first met."
"Well, you've obviously changed as well," Flennic commented neutrally.
"Thank you," Jacen said. "I kind of had to, after all."
"Same here," Flennic replied. "After the Yuuzhan Vong War came to its end, my attitudes regarding Admiral Pellaeon changed, and he was able to convince me that uniting the Empire with the GA was a good idea."
"I'm glad you see things his way," Jacen said.
.
A month later, the Galactic Alliance Star Destroyer Admiral Ackbar once again hung over Coruscant for the second attempt to unite the GA and the Imperial Remnant together. In the Ackbar's hangar bay, Omas and Flennic stood at either end of the metallic table set up for the sake of signing the Unification Agreement. On Omas's left and Flennic's right stood Jacen who was overseeing the signing, just as the Jedi Masters and several Jedi Knights stood by to witness this event.
Once both government leaders signed the Unification Agreement, they shook hands amidst a round of applause not from the separated GA and Imperial Remnant military personnel in the hangar bay, but from the combined personnel of the Alliance of the Galaxy.
And as guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy, all of the Jedi in attendance joined in on the applause.
.
A few months after the forging of the Alliance of the Galaxy, Jacen sat in the pilot seat of the Solo Quest watching the latest news from the HoloNet, grinning in triumph.
"Earlier today," the holographic visage of Chev reporter Perre Needmo said, "Corellian Prime Minister Aidel Saxan was arrested for conspiracy to murder; following the complete dismantling of Centerpoint Station, evidence was uncovered by Corellian System Security that Prime Minister Saxan was responsible for the death of Thrackan Sal-Solo several months ago.
"Specifically, a money trail had been discovered by CorSec authorities that led from Geroy Defon, a Zabrak assassin who was the prime suspect to Sal-Solo's murder, back to Prime Minister Saxan on the date of Sal-Solo's death. Defon subsequently confessed that Prime Minister Saxan had hired him to eliminate Sal-Solo. As a result of this, former Prime Minister Saxan has been sentenced to twenty years in prison on Corellia."
Jacen then turned his HoloNet transceiver off and prepared for the Quest's next jump into hyperspace; what The Perre Needmo Newshour and none of the other mainstream news stations knew was that it wasn't CorSec that was responsible for discovering the evidence against Saxan, but rather, an undercover Jedi mission carried out by Nelani Dinn and Seha Dorvald. It wouldn't do, Jacen thought when he asked Nelani and Seha to carry out this mission, for Corellia to realize that the Jedi were responsible for putting their leader in prison for murder; it might inspire a new revolt from the Corellians and lead Saxan back into power.
And even without Centerpoint on the Corellians' side, the people of the Five Worlds could still be a considerable threat to the Alliance of the Galaxy.
Jacen thought about Nelani then. Given how well she and Seha did their jobs in this mission, and Nelani's leaps-and-bounds advancement in her understanding and mastery of the Force, Jacen thought that it might be a good idea for a new Master to join the Council soon.
But he then put Nelani out of his mind. Right now, there was another lovely young lady that he had to meet, and since he hadn't taken a lot of time out given his duties as Grand Master, he knew that he had to make up for lost time.
Jacen programmed the coordinates for the system that Zonama Sekot inhabited and plunged the Solo Quest back into hyperspace. Hours later, he dropped it back out to that system, where he was given a warm Force-greeting from the living world and allowed to pilot his ship down to its surface again.
There, once he had his vessel docked, he burst out and headed toward Danni Quee's hut. When he arrived, he heard screaming from inside and headed in to find his lover lying on the organic bed with two female Ferroan nursemaids at her side.
"Jacen!" Danni said.
"I'm here, Danni," Jacen said as he hurried to join her side, moving past one of the nursemaids to kneel next to her and hold his lover's hand. "You think I wouldn't have made it?"
Danni offered him a pained smile before one of the nursemaids said, "All right, Danni, I need you to push now."
And with that, Danni screamed some more as she gave birth to her and Jacen's son.
Once the baby was born, crying, and the umbilical cord cut from his mother, the nursemaid that took him out gave the newborn boy to Jacen, who stood back up from holding Danni's hand through the childbirth. The Grand Master carefully handled his new son as he gradually quieted down to murmurs of confusion as they locked eyes.
He was so beautiful in Jacen's eyes; and he noted that they were as green as Danni's. Tiny wisps of hair coated his head at intervals, and they were as brown as a Solo's. Otherwise, he looked like an adorable, healthy baby boy with a cute button nose and fat round cheeks.
"Here," Danni said as she raised her arms up. "Let me see him."
Wordlessly, Jacen gave the baby to Danni and she looked at her son with adoring eyes. "Oh, Jacen, he's so beautiful." She cooed and cawed at him for a while before she looked back up to Jacen.
"Is it Miko then?" Danni asked.
Jacen nodded. "It is, if you want."
"I want that," Danni said. She looked back at her boy. "Miko Quee, it is then."
"Actually, you may want to consider it to be Miko Solo," Jacen said.
Danni looked at him in confusion.
Jacen knelt back again and took out a small box. He opened it up and revealed a small ring, small enough to fit any of Danni's petite fingers, with a green diamond the size of Jacen's thumb.
Danni smiled, and neither of them had to say anything.