Chapter 21

(Venator: Alpha)
Inside the ship's turbolift, Rex wondered what Jaina's plan was. 'Given that she's the General's granddaughter. It will probably be something daring and unusual,' the captain thought while waiting for the lift to stop.

Minutes later, Rex exited onto the bridge and went to the holo-table where Jaina stood.

"Would you mind telling me why we had to leave the battlefield in a hurry?" he asked puzzledly.

"I figured out how to end the battle and save our fleet," Jaina answered seriously as the Venator exited from Hyperspace and found itself outside the asteroid belt, not too far from the battlefield.

"Alright, take us into these coordinates," Jaina told the crew as she sent them the location.

"So, our target is a large asteroid?" Rex asked after seeing the location on the map.

"Correct, but it's not just one large asteroid. It's two," Jaina replied as she highlighted the area that showed Rex the floating pieces of rock. "As for why we're going there, we are about to get some major backup."

Rex wondered what she meant by that. But Jaina didn't say any more as she went over to the viewport, where she stood still and closed her eyes.

Reaching out with the Force, Jaina began to search. At first, there was nothing but silence.

"Miss Solo, we've arrived at the coordinates," one of the B1 officer droids told her.

"Very good, have the gunners target both asteroids. Turbolasers only," she told him while keeping her eyes closed. Outside in space, the ship's turrets swiveled as they aimed at their targets.

"Cannons are locked on," announced one of the droids.

"Good, fire at will," Jaina replied.

Sensing what was happening outside, Jaina could feel the impact of the attacks on the asteroids. They created powerful tremors across the large objects. This, in turn, caused a reaction from inside the asteroids.

Sensing this, Jania ordered the gunners to ceasefire. Once they did, silence followed. Rex was about to ask what was happening, but Jaina raised her hand to stop him.

"Captain, Miss Solo. Our scanners are picking up signs of life coming from the asteroids," the B1 told them.

"Good, contact Jacen and the others. Tell them to be ready and out of the way," she replied, then readied herself for what was coming.

"You heard her; send the message," Rex told the droids.

He then turned back to Jaina. "I hope you know what you're doing, kid."

"I do, Captain," she told him with a cocky grin.

And when he saw what was coming, Rex smiled back at her.

(Space)
Dodging plasma shots was becoming routine for Jacen as he maneuvered his fighter from left to right across the battlefield, blasting another skip into pieces. "All right, who's…uh, what's that?" he said when his astromech interrupted to relay a message from Jaina's ship.

"Could you repeat that?" he asked.

Seeing the message on the screen before him, Jacen blinked in surprise, then decided to follow his sister's plan, and he opened the comm channel to his parents and the fleet.

"This is Jacen Solo. All ships are ordered to get out of the battlefield. Jaina's plan is about to begin," he said aloud, then repeated to make sure everyone heard him.

"We heard you, Jacen. All ships fall back," Kota replied as the droid fighters returned to their ships.

"Jacen, we are sending you the coordinates for the rendezvous. Relay this to the fleet," Leia told her son, who acknowledged this and sent the data to the others.

Veering away from the battle, the Falcon, Lando, and the other fighters with them headed for the fleet as they started to rise above the battlefield.

(Miid Ro'ik: Dynasty)
Vak's mood had slightly changed, believing victory was at hand as the enemy gathered in one area. While the warship that destroyed the Miid Ro'ik had escaped before, he knew that capturing the Jeedai on those ships would compensate for the loss.

"Begin targeting their engines, but only to disable the Jeedai's vessels!" the Commander ordered. But before this could happen, the enemy fighters started to fall back to their warships, who ascended above them.

"What is this, some kind of new tactic?" Vak asked as he looked at the crew. After a brief silence, one officer spoke up. "Sir, the warship from before has returned. And it's brought two large objects with it,"

Wondering what this meant, Vak looked to see the ship's return. And behind it were not two objects but rather large creatures that reminded the Commander of Ambistaffs. Only these were slugs as long as many Miid Ro'iks from head to tail. The sight of these creatures was quite expected for the Commander at first. But this soon changed as he realized what was going to happen.

"Order our forces to attack those creatures. Bring them down!" he yelled.

"But what of the Jeedai Commander?" one of the lower Vong asked from his station.

"DO NOT QUESTION MY ORDERS!" Vak retorted as he came over and strangled the lower Vong til the life from his body was gone. Dropping the body, Vak returned to watch the attack.

(Space)
Jaina's plan was working. She watched the two Spaceslugs her crew had awakened follow them to the battlefield. The slugs immediately became the focus of the Yuuzhan Vong, who began to attack them.

Roaring in pain from the burns of plasma attacks, the first slug surged forward at the nearest Vong ships, opened its massive jaws, and brought them down, crushing the living ships with its strong teeth. As it did this, the second slug used its head to bash into the first of the Miid Ro'iks, which broke apart, and numerous Vong warriors and crew floated into the vacuum of space.

The Vong ships, who had hurled the Asteroids at Eclipse, changed their targets to the Spaceslugs. But this did little good as the large pieces of rocks made the creatures more angry, and they soon came after these ships.

Seeing this from his warship, Vak watched with horror as the two creatures ate and destroyed his forces. Then, the dreaded moment came when one of the slugs came upon his ship like a storm and soon was swallowed up in an abyss of destruction.

As the Slugs continued their attacks on the Yuuzhan Vong, the fleet above them used this opportunity to jump into lightspeed, leaving behind Eclipse for good.

(Mon Cala Cruiser)
Once the Falcon landed and powered down in the hanger bay, Han, Leia, Luke, Mara, and R2 exited the ship, where they found Anakin and Kira waiting for them. Upon seeing their son, Han and Leia ran to embrace him. Anakin held on to his parents for a bit, then let them go as his uncle and aunt hugged him next.

"We're glad to see you again, Anakin. And I'm sure you have much to tell us, but first, could you tell us where Ben is?" Mara asked in a gentle tone.

"Of course, I'll take you to him," her nephew answered, then left with Luke, Mara, and R2.

This left the Solos and Kira alone, but only briefly, as the other fighters landed nearby. One of the ships was Jacen's, who exited his fighter and rejoined his parents, who were happy to see him again.

"So, kiddo, do you know where we can find Ahsoka Tano? We have some questions we want answered," Han asked his son.

"She's right over there, but before you meet her, who's that behind you guys?" Jacen replied as he noticed Kira.

"This is Kira Nara. She's a new friend of ours we met on Tatooine. Kira, this is our oldest son, Jacen Solo," Leia answered as she introduced the two. Kira offered her hand, which Jacen accepted.

Before Leia could tell her son more about Kira, the four heard footsteps as Lando approached them.

"Han, Leia. Cilghal wanted me to inform you or Luke about those lost during the evacuation."

Upon hearing this, the four followed Lando to the Medical Bay next.

Meanwhile, Luke's group arrived at the room that Anakin led them to. Inside, they found Threepio sitting beside a bed where Ben was resting.

"Master Luke, Mistress Mara. Artoo, it's so good to see you again," the golden droid exclaimed as he stood to greet them.

"Thanks, Threepio. We're glad you made it too," Luke said to his old droid, then joined Mara as she picked up her son and held him carefully. Seeing their son again brought joy to the Skywalkers as they held each other for a bit.

"We didn't get the chance to say this before, but thank you for protecting Ben on Coruscant during the attack," Mara told Threepio as several tears ran down her face.

"Of course, Mistress Mara. I'm always available when you need me."

"Good to know that Ben will have a babysitter in the future," Anakin joked as he recalled how the droid used to watch him and his siblings as kids. Then, he asked his uncle a question. "So, do you know where we are going next?"

"We are heading to a rendezvous that we had set up in the event Eclipse was found. Until then, we can relax and hopefully get some answers about this ship and the fleet,"

Anakin knew that would come up, but before he could reply, his commlink went off.

"Anakin, I'm here in the medical bay. Your parents and Jacen have arrived to check on those from Eclipse," the voice of Tahiri said from his link.

"I copy; I'll be right there," he told her, then looked at his uncle and aunt, who told him they would be there later.

But for now, they needed some alone time with Ben. Luke asked the droids to go with Anakin if he or the others needed them. Once alone, Luke and Mara sat on the bed, enjoying this time with their son.

(Coruscant)
Descending into the lower levels on a transport, groups of Yuuzhan Vong warriors searched for survivors who had not escaped during their assault on the planet.

This group had been searching for hours on the upper levels, where they had found many to sacrifice. And now they were heading downward into the lowest levels.

The pilot of the living craft found a landing pad sticking out to the left. Once it landed, the warriors left and headed

for a sealed door, which they broke open with their weapons.

Once inside, the group found nothing but an abandoned security checkpoint. Behind the checkpoint were the doors to a turbolift; above it, lights flashed, which indicated that the lift was coming up.

Seeing this, the warriors slashed through the checkpoint and surrounded the lift entry as they waited for it to open. Minutes later, the lift arrived, and the doors opened. The Vong saw a cloaked figure before them, whose face was hidden. But this individual had a weapon that the warriors knew of A lightsaber.

"JEEDAI! KILL HIM!" The leader of the warriors shouted as they attacked. But the figure responded by activating his saber, in which a red blade came out and proceeded to attack the aliens.