Chapter 10

(Tatooine)

The Falcon emerged from hyperspace, as it headed towards the distant brown and tan looking planet with its two suns nearby.

Seeing his home planet brought back many memories for Luke. Some were good and others bad, as they entered the atmosphere.

Flying down towards the vast deserts, the Falcon kept above the flats of dirt and sand for awhile, until arriving at its destination, a homestead out in the middle of the flat lands. Luke recognized it as the place where he was raised by his late uncle Owen and aunt Beru. He had not been here since their deaths, 27 years ago.

Once the Falcon touched down, Luke walked down the ramp with the others. He felt the familiar, yet annoying heat of Tatooine's warm weather. Looking around at what had been his former home brought back many feelings for him. Foremost was the memory of coming back here only to find it burning, as he found the remains of his family. It was one of the darkest moments in his life.

Leia, Han and Mara noticed this as they saw Luke stare at his former home. Before they could say anything, two people emerged the homestead and walked toward them. One was an elderly man with dark gray hair, wearing tan attire. The other was a woman near the same age with short hair, dressed in dark brown robes.

Luke recognized two as Jula and Silya Darklighter, the uncle and aunt of his old friend Biggs Darklighter who had had joined the Rebellion long ago and flew alongside him during the attack on the first Death Star. During that fight, Biggs had been killed, trying to destroy the battle station. Following this, he was honored as a hero who gave his life for the galaxy.

"Well this a surprise," Jula said first, looking at the group. He recognized Luke first, having not seen him since he was a younger man.

"We heard your ship approach and were cautious at first, but are glad to see it's you Luke," Silya said next, offering him a smile.

"Thank you Silya, Jula. Sorry to drop in unannounced," Luke replied a calmly.

"Nonsense, you're always welcome here. As are your family and friends, too. Now please, come inside," the woman gestured as everyone followed them down into their home.

(Myrkr)

Inside his private chamber of the Worldship, Kar was thinking of what to say when both Nom Anor and Priest Harrar arrived. Like most warriors of his race, the commander enjoyed a challenge. But this one was going to be different, as he knew that insulting or harming a member of the priest caste was look down upon by the Gods.

Kar knew that he was going to have to be careful how he handled this. A few moments later the doors opened as not two, but three of his race entered the chamber. Offering a bow to the Priest and the Executor as a sign of respect to them, Kar then turned to the third individual.

"And who is this?" he asked.

"I am Khalee Lah, of Domain Lah," the Vong answered and offered a bow to the commander, who accepted it.

"The Warmaster asked him to accompany me here to oversee the capture of the Jeedai twins," Harrar said to the commander.

Harrar was dressed in robes which identified him as a member of the Priest Caste. He was a worshiper of the Trickster goddess Yun-Harla, one of the many gods that the Yuuzhan Vong worship.

Kar gestured for Harrar and Nom Anor to sit. Khalee Lah chose to stand instead, as he stood behind his eminence. Kar followed suit as he sat down in front of the three.

"Commander Kar, why was I not informed of the enemy attack during my pursuit of the Jeedai twins?" Nom Anor asked, as he sneered at the commander.

Harrar sat quietly waiting to hear the explanation.

"Executor, you were busy with your mission, and I believed that my forces could handle the infidels that dared to attack us," answered Kar.

"And how did that go? I understand that a great number of Coralskippers and Yorik-vec Cruisers were destroyed during the battle. And you only manged to destroy one of their warships," Nom Anor replied, then continued. " I've also been informed that there are no survivors onboard the remains of those ships."

Kar felt a surge of anger starting to build up within him, and he clenched his fists. "You are one to make accusations! Your pursuit of the Jeedai resulted in the destruction of the Voxyn and their escape, so you can not blame this on me!"

"I can actually, as you are in charge of this system and the Worldship, Commander!" Nom Anor spat angrily, then he lunged forward and tackled Kar. This resulted in a struggle between the two.

Khalee watched as the two Vong fought each other using their sharp claw like fingernails and whatever weapons were on them. After a few minutes, Harrar stood up and shouted, "ENOUGH OF THIS!" The two stopped and looked at him.

"It seems that both of you are to blame for what transpired, and as it slipped your minds, the Warmaster wanted the Jeedai twins to sacrifice for our victory in capturing Coruscant!" he stated first, then continued. "In order to make up for this, you two will accompany me and warrior Lah to recapture the Jeedai."

"His eminence is right. Either we locate our prey, or the Warmaster may choose to sacrifice you two instead!" Khalee added with a smug grin.

Both looked at each other as they grumbled in their language. "Fine, we can settle our matters later Commander."

"I understand, let us be on our way!" Kar sneered as he followed them to Harrar's ship.

(Guardian)

After searching for twenty minutes, Ahsoka was unable to find Padme. Worried, Ahsoka reached out with the Force. She found the woman was in an officer's quarters, in the upper levels.

She arrived on the level within minutes, then walked over to the quarters and knocked on the doors. There was silence at first, until Ahsoka pushed the button to her right and the door opened. Inside, Padme was sitting at a desk, looking quiet with her thoughts.

"I had a feeling that you would find me," Padme said with a sad look.

"How come you took off before? I thought we had planned for you to introduce yourself after the three of us had told your grand kids about our mission?"

"I was going too, but after hearing how Anakin..." She was saying, but stopped when his name came up. Even though it wasn't him, Padme was surprised to know that one of her grandsons was named after her husband or late husband as she should say

"It's because of how he acted when talking about Chewbacca's death, isn't it?" Ahsoka asked

"Yes, hearing that reminded me of how Ani was when his mother died. It was right before the Battle of Geonosis. Anakin was having nightmares about his mother, Shmi. She was in pain and felt he needed to find out what was happening. So he and I went to Tatooine where we meet his step brother Owen Lars,his girlfriend Beru and father Cliegg, who had bought Shmi to work on their Moisture Farm."

"Lars told us that Shmi had been captured by the Tusken Raiders when she was out working. After learning this, Anakin went to rescue her. But the time he arrived at their camp, she passed away from the wounds they had inflicted on her. Later when he came back with Shmi's body, Anakin told me what happened."

"And what did happen?" Ahsoka asked quietly.

Padme said nothing at first, as she recalled what happened. "...He killed all the Tusken's and blamed himself for not being able to save her in time."

A look of horror and shock came over Ahsoka at learning that her master did such a terrible act. She knew there were times when Anakin acted aggressively during certain missions, but this was something that lead one to the Dark Side.

Hearing this reminded Ahsoka of when Obi-Wan spoke of how Anakin and his mother were slaves before he became a Jedi. But he never said what became of her, as he didn't know.

Sadly, she did now, and it was a lot for her to take in. And she also understand why Padme left earlier.

"You think that your grandson could do the same thing to the Yuuzhan Vong, like what happened with Anakin and the Tuskens?"

Padme nodded in her head in reply. "...that had crossed my mind when I heard him speak of what happened at Serpendal. I was concerned that history would repeat itself again."

"But it hasn't...at least not from what I saw. Chewbacca didn't blame Anakin for leaving him behind and told him to stop thinking it was his fault," Ahsoka said first, then went over to Padme.

"I know your concerned about Anakin, but from what I saw on the Worldship, he's a strong Jedi like his grandfather, and has a kind heart and soul. Just like you and his mother. So please don't start worrying about things like this," the Jedi woman said kindly.

Taking in her friend's words, Padme knew that Ahsoka was right. She shouldn't worry as that won't help anyone, especially when she hasn't even meet her family yet.

"Thank you Ahsoka...(sigh) I'm glad to know that there's someone among our group that I can confide in," she said to her friend with a smile.

"Of course. Anytime you need to talk, you can come to me," Ahsoka replied with a sincere look.

"If it's okay with you, I would like to meet with my family tomorrow. Today's been a long day for me and I could use some rest."

Ahsoka understood this, and she left to tell Starkiller and Chewbacca about the new plan.

(Darklighter Homestead)

The Skywalkers, Solos and the young boy Dab Hantaq whom Leia had rescued, sat in the dining room as they ate some of the stew their hosts made for dinner, while talking with them about recent events.

"So with Coruscant now in the Yuuzhan Vong's control, what will happen to the New Republic?" asked Silya, as she looked at Leia

"I'm not sure. Many of the senators were able to escape during the battle, but it's unknown what happened to the military officers," she responded with a saddened look.

Hearing this made the two worry about their son, Gavin Darklighter. He was an officer in the New Republic Navy and Luke, Leia and Han had known him for many years.

"I'm sure that Gavin got away safely. He's a fighter after all," Han added trying to reassure them, which made the two feel better as they continued to eat.

"What about your Jedi, are they safe Luke?" Jula inquired.

"For the time being yes, but with the Vong in control of the Core, I may need to find a new base for my students to hide."

The conversation that went quiet after this as they continued to eat for a while. During these talks, Luke and Mara told Jula and Silya about their newborn son. They were happy to hear this, knowing that a good thing had occurred during these dark times.

Once dinner was done, Han asked if he could borrow the Darklighter's landspeeder to go into Mos Eisly and get the parts he needed. Both said that was fine and asked him to pick up some supplies they needed. Leia added that she would go with him.

The two decided to head there tomorrow as it had gotten dark. Han and Leia slept in the Falcon with Dab. The Darklighters offered Luke his old room, which he shared with Mara and R2. The soldiers took the garage and slept on makeshift beds.

For the Skywalkers and Solo's, today had been a day of loss, as the government they worked so hard to build was in ruins.

Hopefully tomorrow would be a new day for them.

(Author's Note)

Wow, I can't believe were already at Chapter 10 of this story. I want to thank those for following this story.

In the upcoming chapters: Padme will meet her grandchildren and they will learn the origins of how she and Anakin Skywalker meet.

The time travelers will learn about the horror's of the Yuuzhan Vong's war and begin to plan on how save the Galaxy.

Also in case anyone is wondering. Grand Admiral Thrawn won't appear til much later on in the story. But I am planning on writing a side story that will focus on what he's doing before joining the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong.

I hope to get the first chapter up in the future. Til then I ask everyone to please be patience.

Til then. May the Force be with You all.