The Jedi trio started their trip into the Jundland Wastes. They had enough supplies -including food, a power generator, and firewood- to last a few days for their trip.

"We're heading towards 'The Wound' of the Jundland Wastes? Isn't that near the center?" Aang asked.

"Uh, yeah." Exar answered.

"So are 'The Needles.' We need to find them, I suppose?" Aang asked.

"Maybe. I honestly forgot about those."

"How come you don't have a map?"

"I tried leaving this place, the memories, behind."

"The better question is," Jo intervened, "Why weren't we dropped off at the Needles?"

"Well, Exar didn't remember the exact location, and I only just refreshed my memory about the Wastes. If I did remember, we definitely would've landed closer."

"You wouldn't have wanted to." Exar said. "Something else I just remembered. The Tuskens have camps along the rims of The Wound; and personally, I've had enough of them for one lifetime."

"You had your base where Tuskens did?" Aang asked.

"Our base was in the formation; we thought the Tusken camps made the perfect cover. No one would want to get near them."

"So we can just walk for a little bit, then signal for us to be picked up, to be dropped off closer to the Wound, but not near the camps?" Jo suggested.

'That would be easier.' Exar thought, slowing his step. He was tempted to take the easier path, but he also wanted enough time to make things up. "I think. . . we should walk the distance."

"W- What?!" Jo exclaimed. "Well I hope you brought stuff to clean the sand out of my parts with."

"I sense there's more to your reasoning." Aang said, ignoring Jo.

"Still tryin' to probe me?" Exar asked, but without a hostile tone, which surprised Aang.

"Well, I'm naturally curious."

Exar, Aang, and Jo traversed the outskirts of the Wastes. Their path started out smooth, only being surrounded by rocky terrain; less than an hour into their trek, the ground itself started becoming more rough and sharp.

No one talked that whole slot of time, so Aang began wondering why they were taking a long way. "There is a reason you're having us take the long way, right?"

"Yeah I was just thinking," Jo said, "You left this place to do missions and stuff, so I'm assuming you also returned on ships. I'm just wondering: if a ship was ever destroyed, was there ever a backup plan to get back? Like an extra storage of ships?"

"We had a hidden collection of speeders, yes, but all of the fuel is dried up at this point."

'They kept them pre fueled? They must have gone out often.' Aang thought. "When did this organization go out of business?"

That question stopped Exar in his tracks. Aang then felt a strongly uneasy shift in Exar's emotions. "Okay I feel like that crossed a boundary; I retract the question."

Exar started moving again, but only slowly. After a moment, Exar said, "We need to make for higher ground. What we're looking for is not down here."

They diverted from their path and began climbing rocks to keep above the surface.

It had reached nighttime. The crew set up their camp, which was only a campfire. They ate some of their rationed food and just sat silently around the fire. Jo was rejuvenating himself with the power generator; he was never used to being on missions that took this long.

"What brought you here?" Aang asked Exar.

"I sensed you two were in danger."

"We could've handled the Tuskens just fine. I was about to-"

"Not from them." Exar paused. "I foresaw you two facing Erk. If you would have survived what I'd seen, I do not know."

"Curious: what were you doing while you were away?" Jo asked.

"I was taken to Kamino to help deal with the cloning situation. We were able to pack everything as evidence, but then Erk showed up. It seemed like he wasn't expecting so many to be there; we outnumbered and outpowered him, and he fled. But then he told me that my kind were in danger."

"That brought you here?" Jo asked.

"Well. . . no. I thought he meant Dathomir II." Exar clarified. "I thought he was going to finish them off for good, and that I was about to be responsible again."

' 'Again,' he said.' Aang mentally noted.

Exar continued. "So once we finished, we went to Dathomir II to -I don't know- set a trap for him, I guess. Before we left, I told the Masters about the condition my people were in; and I guess the Lieutenant Governor overheard. When we got to Dathomir II, supply ships arrived as well. They were able to eat properly." As Exar went on, Aang noticed Exar and his body language were beginning to lighten up. He thought that indicated a happy ending to this story. At least, this part of it. "We got medical supplies, so they were able to heal."

"So it seems 'Erk' inadvertently saved your people." Aang said encouragingly.

"I feel like my mind cleared when I saw the healing process take root. It was then I realized Erk meant that my people, my Jedi team were the ones being threatened. So we headed here."

As enlightened as Aang was with this revelation, he couldn't ignore the massive guilt that it seemed Exar was still carrying. "What happened?" He asked soberly.

And the happier mood disappeared. Exar knew immediately what the new subject was, but was hesitant to answer. Although after everything that's happened, he felt they deserved to know. He couldn't bring himself to say anything for a good, long few minutes.

"I left." He said. "I didn't belong there, so I left. I left it all behind. I was gone for months; I wasn't pursued, nay hunted. I did feel some remorse, but I felt peace. Probably the only peace I'll ever know. Months later, I. . . I was found. Erk, before he became a traitor, found me." Exar wasn't sure how to give it to them slowly.

"You two, caught up?" Aang asked.

"There wasn't much to catch up on." Exar said, balling a fist to his mouth. He decided to just give it to them straight; he sucked in a breath and blurted, "My desertion apparently led to my clan's entire, massacre." He paused again. "I'm one of only four survivors. If I didn't leave, I could've, maybe saved a few more; maybe even prevented the attack in the first place."

'Well there's not much comfort I can give there, except maybe-' Aang thought, "We're all cursed with the burden of war, guilt, and everything that comes with it. But there's nothing we can do about it, except follow our masters' teachings. All is as the Force wills it; we are one with the Force, and the Force is with us. Trust in the Force, and we rise from the darkness." Aang put a hand on Exar's shoulder. "You will know peace again."

Exar lightly brushed Aang's hand off his shoulder, but didn't respond. Aang leaned back, thought for a moment, then asked, "Who are the other two?"

"Whose side are they on?" Jo asked.

"Last I checked, they were on the right side; but at that time, so was Erk." Exar replied.

"Who are they?" Aang repeated.

"Kaiyah Lomax and Becky Pahley. I don't remember much about them, but they were good friends."

"How come you don't remember much? All this can't have happened so long ago." Aang persisted with questions.

"After I received the news, I wasn't able to sleep well; most of the time, not at all. I was haunted by the apparent consequences of my decision. I just, had to do whatever I could to forget."

"And it worked?" Aang wondered.

"Mostly." Exar said, regretfully. "Some things don't want to be forgotten."

"Some things aren't meant to be forgotten." Aang told him.

"You've definitely come a long way." Jo reassured Exar as he unplugged his power generator.

"Yeah." Exar said, not sounding very comforted. He laid down, his head resting on a supply bag.

"What's up now?" Aang asked, putting out the fire.

"Nothing." Exar replied nonchalantly. "After being indirectly responsible for my peoples' genocide, I'm on a mission to directly kill one of the few survivors."

That gave Aang something to think about as he fell asleep.

The Republic team and Neeyutnee joined Ben Solo in the latest Naboo council meeting to discuss an alliance with the Republic.

"It has come to my attention that my son may launching an offensive front on the Republic capital, Coruscant." He said, causing some quiet commotion.

"His son?"

"His name is Jayko."

"I believe he is trying to involve me in, whatever mess he is trying to create." Ben continued. "I also believe the way to most efficiently dispose of the problem is to. . . is to form an alliance with the Republic."

Vifi Jago stood up and complained. "If an enemy is rising, siding with the Republic will only paint a big target on Naboo."

"You doubt my abilities?" Ben asked her.

"Eh. . . no, my King." She said, lowering her head.

"Do you believe I could resolve the matter and prevent a war? Any of you?" Ben asked. No one could say anything; no one could even think of a response.

"The bond between father and son is sacred, and is not to be forsaken." Ephraim spoke up. "I can't speak for everyone in this room, but I would advise you to follow your instinct and your heart; do what you think is right, and trust in the Force."

Quia leaned in and whispered into Viran's ear. "Is he a Jedi?"

"He's Force-sensitive, but he's not really the type."

Quia hummed. Though there was something about that sentence that concerned her, like an implication that Viran didn't even notice he implied. "He sure talks like one." She muttered.

"Ephraim believes there are enough Jedi to help things; he's dedicated to helping in the areas that Jedi don't."

Neeyutnee said, concurring with Ephraim, "A bond is a wonderful thing, but it can also cause destruction. I would suggest you to seek council from Jedi; advice from impartial and neutral minds would be most helpful."

Ben shot Viran and Bolen a questioning glance.

"I think you've had all the advice you need." Viran said, gesturing to the people around him.

"And what does my council think? Aye! Should I pay the Republic a visit?"

Everyone thought hard for a minute, then three of them raised their hands, proclaiming, "Aye!"

Ben sat and slumped back into his seat. How to deal with his renegade son was not something he ever thought he'd have to think about. He was strong in the Force; but if he had truly gone dark, he knew he'd have to consider putting him down. There was further conversation commencing, but the noise was drowned out in Ben's head.

The Republic team went back outside to head back to their ships. Bolen caught the others' attention before they left. "I realize in retrospect, you probably didn't need to come along. I was just paranoid, expecting some dark twist; so, I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"If these rumors end up coming through, it won't have been for nothing." Ephraim said. "Maybe the Force showed you that helmet so this chain of events would happen, causing Solo to join the Republic."

"Yeah," Quia concurred. "Maybe now because of it, we can stop something serious before it starts."

"But how will the Senate react to having former-Kylo-Ren involved?"

Ben showed up with a servant, who was carrying a simple bag of supplies. "Oh we know the reaction will be negative." He said. "But that's another reason I should come along. I want to smear Kylo Ren's reputation, and build upon the one my grandmother left behind."

"Grandmother?" Quia inquired.

"Queen Padmé Amidala."

Quia internally recoiled. "Caraya's soul!" She muttered. "Queen Amidala married Darth Vader?!" She exclaimed.

Everyone else sighed, externally and mentally.

Bolen contacted Calista for her updated status. She summed up her review of the events from Kamino to Dathomir II.

"You saved a lot of people, then." Bolen comforted, sensing some discomfort. "What's up?"

"It's. . . nothing important. It's, trivial."

"That's right! You're not much of a Zabrak fan." Bolen remembered. Calista had been subject to much violence caused by that species, and it imprinted a negative image into her. Throughout the years, Bolen had to try to drive the negative mentality out. Especially with her being Lieutenant-governor, she had to be unbiased.

"Not exactly the case." Calista said. "This mission has opened my mind; but now, a lot is flashing through my head. I don't know what I think anymore."

"Then, whenever you can, head back to Coruscant. Your scientists could have some updates, and the current Senate case is apparently developing quite interestingly."

"Naboo's ghost case?"

"That's been put on hold for the Coruscant invasion case. It seems like a lot of people are voting for immediate action to build a defense army of ships. Garm Bel Iblis himself is vouching for it."

"Representatives from Corellia would certainly have a persuasive voice in that area."

"And if the both governors backed it up, we could help quickly mount a powerful defense."

"Well alright then." Calista exhaled. 'This is a lot to think about.' She thought. "I'll get on it." She said, closing the call.

Bolen put his communicator away, then spoke to Viran who had been eavesdropping. "I'm sure you don't mean to spy on me? That's technically treason." He said with just a hint of sarcasm.

Viran held back a small scoff. "But what if the people are tired?" He asked, getting to the point.

"Tired?"

"Tired of war. I like to stay on the positive side; but let's face it, this galaxy's seen nothing but war for nearly half a century. When will we decide there's just been enough?"

"There's no decision about it. There will always be evil, and people to act on its behalf. It's as absolute as the Force itself. One side can't exist without another."

"Yes, there is always evil; but come on, why is it we resort to war whenever there's any hint of evil around?"

"Not always. There were three decades of peace between the Empire's death and the war with the First Order. The New Republic was ignorant of the First Order, and the then capital Hosnian Prime paid for it. We're not going to remain ignorant this time."

Viran sighed. "It seems like as long as there are Jedi and Sith around, there will never be any everlasting peace."

"Viran," Bolen said somberly, "evil lurks everywhere. Wherever it goes, it brings consequences. Now that we're involved, there will always be dark consequences to every choice we make. We are not surrendering to the dark side. If they want war, they'll get it. The light will come victorious, and we'll make sure they know it this time."

Viran sighed, "Nothing happens the same way that many times. This Republic we have is dwarfed in comparison. We've never been more structurally vulnerable."

"Viran, why have you just taken a complete one-eighty all of a sudden?"

"I wasn't all that confident in the first place. With these sudden rumors, I thought the bad guys also had a small army and that we'd have a chance, but I was still uncertain. So I continued to think about it: if they want to assault Coruscant, it's safe to assume they have a big-enough army to do so. We may be in above our heads, and it could be too late for us."

Bolen truly listened, and understood. Viran had brought up some valid points. Was it too late for the Republic? Is it the dark side's turn to win? Bolen didn't know much, but he was confident in one thing. "I may not be the ideal Jedi, but I know it's time like these when we need to trust the Force the most."

Viran sighed again, rubbing his face. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The fire in which Aang, Exar, and Jo slept around was put out. Tatooine's three moons were setting, and the heat would soon be upon them. As would the incoming Tusken Raider squad. They approached the trio slowly, their weapons drawn out and aimed at them. The leader signaled the others to fire their weapons.

Jo's internal sensor went off; he instantly snapped awake, drew his blaster and shot down a few of them. Aang and Exar followed suit and finished the rest of them off.

Exar looked to the horizon and saw the rising suns. "Heck of a wake up call." He mumbled. "We should get moving. We should arrive at our destination before the scorch of noon."

"These guys didn't come on foot, did they?" Aang asked.

They looked over in the distance and saw some speeders. Exar had finally decided he'd rather ride the rest of the distance. As they were packing their belongings onto the speeders, Aang approached Exar and asked him out of respect and empathy, "Are you entirely alright with this?"

"What? Using the bikes? Sure."

"No. The mission. I personally use killing only as a last resort, so I'm open to other options."

"Not like we'd be able to kill him if we tried." Exar muttered.

"If that's true, then we don't need to kill him, only capture him." Jo said.

Aang sided with Jo. Something Exar said disturbed him though, so he asked about that. "If you don't believe we can kill this guy -who will want to kill us- then, what, are we on a suicide mission?"

That briefly stumped Exar. ". . . I, my mind is still a bit foggy in that area."

"You mean you don't have a plan?" Jo summed up.

"Can't really kill him; it'd be harder to capture him. So, yes, I don't know what to do."

"I mean we could just call the ships and cave the whole place in. Guaranteed to kill him, and guaranteed one less Sith out there." Jo suggested.

"We're not destroying my home!" Exar exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Jo.

"Hold on now, hear him out. He's in an underground labyrinth or something. That plan does seem to be the one with the most efficient outcome; not to mention the only plan at the moment."

"There is more to that place than you understand." Exar said simply.

"Then you can tell us on the way." Aang told him firmly, crossing one pair of arms, and resting the other pair on his hips.

"I don't feel like explaining why I don't want you guys destroying my home."

"Kashyyyk is your home; the Jedi is your home. You ran from this place for a reason."

"You haven't fully let go, have you?" Jo chimed in.

Aang sensed the more calm and composed Exar being replaced with the more familiar side he knew, but it's not like he was going back to square one; Exar was still a reserved, occasionally over-emotional guy, but Aang still sensed some resolve. He sensed Exar's mind was a little more clear, like any emotions he felt weren't without reason.

"It's like suggesting we destroy the Jedi Temple." Exar argued.

Aang and Jo couldn't much argue against it, except, "Well, this place we're going to isn't being used."

Exar boarded a speeder and gave them a questioning look. "Is it?"

Aang and Jo just boarded their speeders and followed Exar forward.

The Master used the Force, slowly juggling some Shah-tezh pieces in the air. Three of one color, and one of the other. He had his strategies played out with these game pieces. He looked over at the other strategic sets he'd set up, representing other occurring events. Everything was playing out well so far.

"Your move, Jedi." He said.