Vestara was sparring with Luke. Her quartz white blase danced elegantly against Luke's green blade. Luke noticed that her skills in lightsaber combat–especially without relying on the Force–were improving. The new medicine that Cilghal had prescribed to Vestara–not a higher dose, but rather a new kind–was working wonderfully.

They found their ways to their starting stances. They saluted lightsabers, then extinguished them. Luke found himself panting a little, while Vestara seemed to only be getting started. "Not bad. You had me on the defensive for the last bit of sparring. You're doing great." Luke remarked.

Vestara nodded. "Thanks, Master." She was unlearning the lightsaber techniques she had picked up with her Sith Tribe. She found herself relying less on the Force in combat.

"A little thing to work on," Luke walked over to her, "You're holding the hilt too tight." He gestured with his own hilt. "Keep it loose, but maintain a stable grip. It'll be faster to move around, and to switch grips if the time ever comes." He demonstrated with the lightsaber as he explained.

Vestara tried it out quickly with her own lightsaber. Luke smiled briefly. "Alright, now let's see how you do well with someone closer to your age." He said, looking over at Ben-who was eating breakfast.

Ben nearly choked on his food, and coughed it out. "What?" He exclaimed.

"The best part is that he's recently weakened." Luke continued.

Vestara laughed. "You're mine, Ben!" She taunted, pointing her lightsaber at her boyfriend.

Luke went to the sidelines with a big smirk. "But dad, I haven't finished eating." Ben complained.

"Good. You'll have something to look forward to after sparring."

"Come on, Ben! If you're not scared." Vestara purposefully sounded taunting.

Luke gave his son a glance. "You gonna let your girl talk to you like that?"

Ben thought about that. "Yes." He returned to his plate.

"Are you worried you'll lose to a girl?" Vestara mocked.

Ben's head jerked up from his food. "He accepts your challenge!" Luke called.

"Wha- no! I don't!"

Luke used the Force to throw Ben's food away. "See? He's not eating anymore." Luke continued. Ben gave a curt snarl, punched the ground, and got his lightsaber out. "Oh, you'll regret this, Ves." He went over to her.

Vestara flashed Ben her usual beautiful smile. Ben immediately got distracted. He began grinning like an idiot as he gazed upon her beauty. That was all Vestara needed. She lunged at him with her lightsaber. Ben immediately snapped out of his trance, and rolled out of the way. Vestara quickly recovered, and brought her blade up again, but Ben blocked it with his own. "Hah! Got you!" He remarked.

Vestara smirked, then used the Force to flick the side of Ben's cheek. Ben bit back an expletive in response to the the brief stinging, and held his ground, not allowing the distraction his girlfriend sought.

Luke watched as the blade-lock broke, and the 2 continued sparring again. He was surprised that his son improved throughout the spar, and soon was able to not be distracted by Vestara's seductive and offensive distractions. One such offensive distraction had Vestara trip Ben's right leg with the Force. He fell on his back, and Luke could sense his son's embarrassment. But Ben didn't let it show. He leapt back to his feet, and they continued sparring.

At one point, Vestara kissed his son on the lips. Luke noticed Ben's hand jerk slightly. He knew that his son nearly gave in to his opponent's distraction by pulling her face closer by the cheek, especially after doing so well at this point. Instead, Ben quickly broke the kiss, and continued defending himself. Luke watched as their feet danced against the ground, and as their blades danced against each other.

Pretty soon, Luke felt Ben and Vestara become connected. Their movements became synchronized. It seemed as though they were the only ones in the universe. Through the Force, Luke confirmed that they had joined. It reminded him of his unity in the Force with his late wife, Mara Jade, and the unity in the Force that Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin had. It brought tears to his eyes.

Just then, something broke the synchronization! Vestara gave a pained shriek as her legs gave out from under her! She collapsed in a pained mass, and Ben rushed to her side. Luke snapped back to reality, and rushed down the hill. The new pain killers wore off sooner than the last.


Vestara was on a hovergurney again. Legal, powerful pain killers were being pumped into her body. Cilghal took new tests, but they matched the same results as Vestara's last check. Luke couldn't bury his fears any longer. "This must be something from the Yuuzhan Vong! It isn't Abeloth because we'd sense her faint presence. It has to be an unknown ailment that doesn't appear in any records, just like the coomb spores." He explained.

Cilghal grabbed his shoulder gently. "Grand Master Skywalker, it can't be. There's no Yuuzhan Vong activity anywhere near the Hapes Consortium, and the rest are on Zonama Sekot."

Ben was comforting his girlfriend as best as he could. He kissed her forehead, and smoothed out her light brown hair. He looked up from her. "I thought they agreed to relinquish their warrior past."

"Not everyone was on board with the idea, and there's still Yuuzhan Vong activity in the Outer Rim." Luke corrected.

Despite the medicine, Vestara still felt pain. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't. She sucked air in through her teeth. Ben gave her a comforting kiss, and sent her comforting thoughts through the Force. Cilghal decided that it'd be best to extract what foreign bodies she could find from the lab results.

Ben gently rubbed his girlfriend's back. "We'll figure this out, Ves."

Cilghal checked the results, but found nothing. No prokaryotic being or anything. Yet through the Force, it was dead obvious that there was a foreign body in Vestara. "What if the invader is attached to her nervous system?" Luke suggested.

Cilghal thought about it, then nodded. "That would explain why it doesn't show up in any results."

She got out a different scanner, one that's meant to scan the nervous system itself, not to display what it's doing. The Mon Calamari Jedi doctor positioned it over Vestara's legs, and activated it. It hummed for several seconds. After it clicked, Cilghal checked it over, and everyone's worst fears were confirmed.

"It seems like there's a growth in her pelvic region." Cilghal reported.

Upon hearing this, Ben's face fell, and Vestara's expression was a pained and somber look. Hoping to shed a little bit of hope, Luke needed clarification. "What kind of growth specifically?"

"It doesn't line up with cancerous growths or any other kind of cellular mutations. It is a foreign body altogether." Cilghal explained.

Ben was relieved slightly. "Can't we just strangle it with the Force?" He suggested.

Cilghal checked the scan over, and shook her head. "Yes, but no. It has embedded itself into her nervous system. We can't kill it without damaging Jedi Khai's ability to walk or more."

Not wanting to wait any longer, Luke decided that it'd be best to confront the potential source. The Yuuzhan Vong had released the coomb spores nearly 20 years ago, and they nearly took Mara from him. He wasn't going to let Ben and Vestara go through a similar trial. "I'm going to Zonama Sekot. I'll assign other Jedi to investigate Yuuzhan Vong activity in the Outer Rim." He said.

Ben looked at Vestara. He hated seeing her like this, at the mercy of a pathogen that seemed to have a will of its own. It reminded him of the terrible stories his parents told him of his mother's battle with the coomb spores. He made up his mind. "Dad, I'm coming with you."

"Figured you'd say that."


In the Council Chamber of the Jedi Temple on Shedu Maad, Luke explained his plan, and handed out assignments. "How will you find out where Zonama Sekot is?" Master Kyp Durron asked.

"Danni Quee is likely there by now, and hopefully still alive. I'll search for her presence in the Force, and pinpoint her location." Luke explained.

"Well, at least you aren't leaving because you were exiled." Master Kyle Katarn remarked.

"Yeah, but that fact makes me kinda feel bad."

This caused a bit of laughing amongst those in the Chamber. "I could have Tenel Ka exile you if that'd help." Jaina said.

Luke shook his head and smirked. "That won't be necessary, Master Fel. Oh, and I heard about what had happened with you and Jag."

Jaina nodded somberly. "I am very sorry." Luke added.

"It's alright. We both survived. And we're doing better." Jaina assured.

Leia and Han gripped Jaina's shoulders gently. A somber expression fell upon Jaina's face, which confused her parents. "What's wrong?" Han asked.

"Jag isn't taking the situation very well." Jaina simply said. She refused to elaborate further, and insisted that Luke continue with the briefing.

After Luke finished, and the assignments were handed out, he and Ben prepared the Jade Shadow for their voyage to the Unknown Regions. Ben felt a sense of duty. He was determined to not fail his girlfriend. He had already lost his mother. He didn't want to lose another family member.


Vestara saw Cilghal return from the mission briefing. "How long will they be gone?" She asked, doing her best to hold back any pained groans.

"I can't guarantee." Cilghal responded.

After a bit, her assistant, Tekli, came in with Tahiri on a hovergurney. "Master Cilghal, Jedi Veila reported similar symptoms as Jedi Khai, but in her left arm."

Cilghal gestured to an open space. "Set her right there."

Cilghal ran the same tests on her new patient. Like with Vestara, the only foreign body that was found was embedded in her nervous system right, but in the bicep. Like with Vestara, it couldn't be removed safely in any manner without risking paralysis. "Not to worry. Grand Master Skywalker has organized a mission to find the source of this mystery illness." Cilghal promised.

Tahiri looked over at her friend. "At least we're in this together." She remarked. Vestara smiled at her friend.

"Master Cilghal, is it contagious?" Vestara asked.

"Given the tests, the only way–as far as we know–to contract it is through the air. Once it's attached to its host's nervous system, it can't be contracted from the host." Cilghal explained.

That gave Vestara much hope. She also could relax, as she had thought she had gotten her friend sick, and she didn't need to worry about Ben, Luke, or any others from getting sick–at least from her.