Chapter 17

(Yuuzhan Vong Priest ship)
Nom Anor and Kar walked side by side as they entered the bridge. Then asked the officers if any of their forces had sighted the Jeedai since they left Myrkr two days ago. Both were annoyed at having to work together, but given what was at stake they had no choice

"Commander Kar, Executor Anor, I regret to inform you both that we have not sighted the Jeedai anywhere," one of the bridge officers said to them.

"Are you saying they have just vanished like shadows?" Kar asked in an annoyed tone. Before the officer could reply, someone else entered the bridge which got their attention

"The Jeedai have not vanished, Commander Kar, they have gone back to their secret base," the newcomer said.

This individual was Vergere, a bird-like alien who wore dark brown robes. Her head was unusual looking, with long feathers that resembled like hair.

"And how do you know of this, Vergere?" Kar questioned.

"That is simple. Since their academy on Yavin 4 was destroyed, the Jeedai have gone into hiding. This is the same location that Nom Anor tried to get them to reveal, or he would have destroyed the refugees at Talfaglio."

As Vergere explained all of this, she looked at the Executor, who was annoyed at being reminded of that failure.

"Second, this base has been a secret known only to those the Jedi trust. However, someone who's good at getting secrets was able to learn the location of the base!"

Nom Anor was able to figure out who Vergere was speaking of. "Vigi Shesh the former senator of Kuat," he said with a wicked look.

"Yes, one of her agents was able to learn the location of the base. It's on a planet in the Deep Core, called Eclipse," Vegere revealed.

"Since we know where it is, we must go there ourselves."

"No Commander, a task force has already been sent," Vergere stated to him, then continued. "But there is another way to capture the Jeedai, one that Vigi Shesh has come up with."

"And what is that?" Nom Anor asked, then listened as Vergere told him and Kar about Shesh's plan.

"I see, yes that might work. So we are to wait until the Solos get word of what's going on, then we will make our move to capture them," Kar said as he clenched his hands.

"For once I agree with you, Commander," Nom Anor said as he turned to the bridge crew and told them of their new destination.

As the two were focused on this, Vergere left the bridge and returned to her own chambers, where she pulled out a circular device that allowed her to speak with her contact. Appearing before her was a holographic image of a woman wrapped in dark clothing. Her mouth was covered with machinery, but her eyes were visible.

"Lady Lumiya," Vergere said to the image who replied back.

"Vergere, what is the status of your mission?" the woman responded using the machinery to speak.

"It was a failure. Jacen Solo escaped from the Worldship with the other Jedi, who destroyed the Voyxn Queen and nest."

"I see. Do you know how they escaped?" Lumiya asked with one of her eyebrows raised.

"It was due to the appearance of four strangers. Two of them seemed to be Jedi as they had lightsabers. But one of them used a technique that is mostly performed by those trained in the ways of the Sith," Vergere said.

This got Lumiya's attention. As far as she knew, there wasn't anyone trained in the ways of the old Sith Order, except herself and Vergere. And she didn't count those on Korriban as true Sith, as they had their own philosophy.

The bird-like alien told Lumiya about what the individual looked like and how he destroyed the Voxyn nest and groups of Yuuzhan Vong.

"Hmm, this is most interesting. Tell me, were you able to sense how powerful this stranger was?" Lumiya inquired
"I did, and I would say he rivals yourself, Luke Skywalker, and his wife Mara Jade," Vergere answered back.

Hearing this made the cyborg woman's eyes go wide in shock.

"If that's the case... I will look into who he is, maybe there's some record of him that Lord Vader or The Emperor hid away." Lumiya felt that her late master would have something on this stranger.

"Very well, I shall continue with my task as we had discussed, I will contact you again soon," Vergere stated and the transmission ended.

Once alone in her chambers. Vergere wondered herself as to who that stranger and his companions were. And where they had come from.

(Darklighter Homestead)
In his old room, Luke and Mara sat with Leia as they talked about the recent events they learned about today.

"First we learn that the kids succeeded in their mission and are safe. Second, a Jedi Master of the old order has reached out to help us, after decades in hiding. I can't decide which of the two is more shocking," Leia wondered.

"For me, it's learning about Master K'Kruhk. A part of me is glad to hear this, but I'm also cautious given my previous experiences," Luke said to her.

"I can see why, but given the message we saw, I don't think Kira's master is like Joruus C'baoth. Not to mention that he said that Yoda appeared before him. And last time I checked, your old teacher only visits those for a reason," Mara brought up.

Taking in his wife's words. Luke knew she had a point. Yoda's visit was a key factor, as those of the old order would have known him.

"I agree, but there's also that other matter that concerns me."

"What other matter?" asked Leia with a concerned look.

"When you and Han were gone. Luke and I felt a powerful dark presence in the Force. Which is something we hadn't sensed since-" Mara was saying but stopped as Leia knew who she was referring to.

"Vader or the Emperor," Leia said, and both Luke and Mara nodded yes to her.

"We meditated after this, trying to figure out what caused it. But nothing came to us. Which means we may have sensed a new problem, or something else," Luke stated thoughtfully.

Hearing this, made Leia wonder what it could mean. But before she could ask. Luke held up his hand as he heard something approaching.

"Sounds like a ship," he said quietly.

Going back outside. Luke, Leia, and Mara found Han watching a ship land next to the Falcon and Kira's Y-Wing. The ship was a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter that was created by Corellian Engineering Corporation.

Unlike the Falcon, which had a circular design, this ship had a blocky angular look with two engines on its sides. The ship had a dark blue color scheme with yellow stripes on its sides.

As it powered down, the front section opened and Riku stepped out with Artoo following him.

"Sorry, it took me a while to get here. I had to load up all of my stock in this old relic," Riku said to Han and Leia as they approached him.

"That's okay Riku, we-wait, you said all of your stock? Are you planning on leaving?" Han asked with a puzzled look.

"You heard right, the time has come for me to get off this rock."

"But why now, after so many years here?" his friend wondered.

"Well, before the Yuuzhan Vong showed up, I planned to use the money I saved to go live on a nice planet after living here for decades," he explained first, then continued.

"But when I heard about the terrible things those monsters did, it made me reconsider staying here. However, seeing you again today reminded me of how you helped me out long ago. And now, I feel that I should do the same."

Riku then turned to Leia with a serious look. "Ms. Solo, I wish to offer my services in the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong."

Leia was taken aback by this. But she could tell from Riku's expression that he was serious. She took a few moments to think this over, then she spoke to him.

"Riku, we would be grateful in accepting your help. You've proven that we can trust you, after what happened earlier in town," she exclaimed with a sincere smile.

"Thank you, Ms Solo. You won't regret this. Also, I brought what you got from my shop earlier." He shook her hand first, then gestured to the ship behind him.

After hearing this, Han congratulated Riku, then walked up the ramp to bring the speeder down, while Leia introduced Riku to Luke and Mara.

Like before, he was honored to meet the leader of the Jedi Order along with his wife. Both welcomed him as they thanked Riku for bringing Artoo back.

As everyone stood around chatting, Kira was in her Y-Wing, speaking with her contact.

"How did the meeting go?"

"I showed Skywalker the message. And he was hesitant to accept this at first. But I sense he wants to meet with Master K'Kruhk," Kira responded to a holographic image of a hooded individual.

"Not surprising. Has he asked about yourself yet?"

Kira shook her head. "Not yet, he's been preoccupied with other matters. However, Master Skywalker has asked me to accompany him and his family to meet the other Jedi."

"Good to hear, contact me after you've spoken to them," the figure said as the call ended.

After this, Kira exited her ship. As she went to help the Skywalkers, Solos, and their new friend in fixing the Falcon.

(Space)
Onboard one of the Venators. Ahsoka exited the Rogue Shadow after she asked Starkiller to bring her and the other Jedi here, before setting off for Eclipse.

Kota, Padme, and Bo remained behind on the Guardian, while Juno, Chewbacca, Anakin, Tahiri, Tenal, and Alema went to one of the Mon Cala Cruisers, which Juno chose to command during the Rescue mission.

Rex had accompanied Ahsoka's group as he would use the Venator as his ship, due to his experiences with them long ago.

As they made their way to the bridge, the Jedi arrived in an different area of the hangar. There they found a large group of starfighters, all placed together in several rows. But one thing that many noticed was its design.

It was shaped like an Imperial Star Destroyer. And the compartment for the Astromech Droid was placed in front of the cockpit, instead of being behind it, like on an X-Wing. Each one was colored red and white, with a stripe of lime green in the back. The main weapons were two twin laser cannons on the top and bottom of the ship.

"What you see is the reason I had us come here," Ahsoka stated as she gestured to the ships.

"And what exactly are they?" Zekk asked.

"These are Delta-7B Aethersprite Interceptors. Or Jedi Starfighters as they were commonly known. These are my gift to the New Jedi Order," she answered with a smile.

A murmur of approval rippled through the group.

"Interesting. So these the ships used by our predecessors?" Tesar asked as he looked at one.

"That's correct. We used these during the Clone Wars. Some were even custom painted, so the Jedi could tell them apart."

Hearing that got the group excited and they began to think of what colors, they wanted for theirs.

"How long can they fly before having to be refueled?" Jania wondered.

"About five hours long, however, that also represents a problem I'm afraid." This got the attention of everyone, who looked at her.

"You see, these fighters used Hyperdrive rings to travel through Hyperspace. This allowed them to refuel during passages across the galaxy. But when disconnected, the rings often would be targeted by enemy forces."

"And I take it that you didn't bring any rings with you before coming here?" Ganner asked sarcastically, which made the others glare at him.

"That is indeed a problem if we or the other Jedi find ourselves in a jam with the Yuuzhan Vong. You won't be able to jump away to hyperspace," Lowbacca exclaimed.

Thinking about this, Jania looked at the nearest fighter. "Hmm I'm sure we can fix that problem. With the right tools and location."

"I agree, but til then, we can use this and the other ships as a means of creating a new squadron," Jacen added.

"Attention! All hands, we are about to jump to Hyperspace. Brace yourselves," Rex said over the intercom, and they felt the ship jolt forward a bit, before settling.

"Until we arrive at Eclipse. I'm going to show you all how to pilot these fighters," Ahsoka said as she climbed into the cockpit, with the others watching as she began to explain.

(Author's Note)
Hi everyone. After reading some of the comments about the story, I wanted to answer some of your questions.

So here we go.

1: Starkiller in this story is from The Force Unleashed 2, not the original as he died in the first game.

2: Padme is surprised by Han's past as a smuggler. And there are certain things about his former life that she may not like. But after hearing more from Jacen, Jania, and Anakin, she comes to accept that her son-in-law is a good person. And it will be interesting when they meet each other.

3: I know that Luke met a woman who claimed to be his mother, which turned out to be wrong. That will be addressed later on.

4: In this story, Luke, Leia, and Mara don't know who Qui-Gon or Ahsoka are. And yes I know about the Jedi Path having their entries in them, but that would ruin certain parts of the story yet to be.

5: As shown in this chapter. Vergere is a secret Sith, like in the books. I know this was a retcon which some didn't like, but it does work for this story.

6: Boba Fett will appear later on in the story. And he will be the leader of Mandalore like in the EU.

7: Kota, Ahsoka, and K'Kruhk will be surprised by how Luke's Jedi Order is different from the old one.

And that's it for my responses.

The next chapter will be up soon. Til then, stay tuned.