This story is set seven months after the events of Dark Tide: Ruin. Because this contains many spoilers, do not read this unless you have already read the book. (or at least don't mind NJO spoilers...)

These characters and situations belong to Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money was made off of this, as it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Do not repost anywhere without the permission of the author!

The Errant Venture loomed like a predator about to jump on its prey above the planet of Selonia in the Corellian system. Booster Terrik, the owner of this imposing Impstar Deuce, was a "retired" smuggler who loved rubbing his ownership of the massive vessel in the New Republic military’s collective faces.
But not anymore. Over the past seven standard months since the destruction of Ithor, the EV had intermittently housed one of the most talked about refugees of the whole incident...Corran Horn. Several years back, Horn had married Terrik’s daughter, Mirax. Together they had two children, Valin and Jysella.
Granted, Booster never got along with Corran particularly well, but the Ithorian incident quite frankly turned his stomach. Although Corran had insisted that Skywalker had done the right thing in disassociating him with the Jedi, Booster didn’t buy it. "The NR can gripe about smugglers all they want," Booster thought, "but they can’t ever accuse them of abandoning one of their own in a time of crisis.
And to Booster, that’s precisely what the Jedi had done to Corran, and to his family. And it was exactly what had gotten Booster and his Errant Venture into this mess in the first place.
"Sir," a Twi’lek at the control panel called, "the Pulsar Skate has just docked with us."
Booster nodded at his employee. "Ven, you have control of the bridge until I return."
"Yes sir," he replied, prompting Booster to turn on his heels and exit the deck of the ship. "Being the father-in-law of such a high profile refugee is going to be the death of me yet," he thought to himself.

* * * * *

In the cabin of the Pulsar Skate, Corran Horn gently maneuvered the ship to the floor of the EV’s freighter hold. Mirax Terrik, sitting in the copilot’s seat, tossed her long brown hair as she turned her sparkling brown eyes on her husband.
After Ithor, Corran had been disassociated with the Jedi and had returned with her and their family to their home planet of Corellia. There, he had spent a great deal of time in Jedi meditation and with his grandfather, Rostek Horn. The time back with his grandfather had proven to be the most helpful for Corran’s psychological wounds, but the Jedi still harbored a certain sense of defeat concerning recent events. Rostek had encouraged Corran to get back into the battle despite his mental pain, and insisted that this alone would be the best medicine for Corran’s troubles. And that was why they were here now, with the children back on Corellia, on the Errant Venture once again.
"Corran," Mirax called softly, looking slightly concerned, "are you going to be okay?"
Corran ruffled his short dyed-blonde hair with his left hand then lowered it, running it through a newly grown goatee. "Yeah," he muttered at last, standing up from the pilot’s seat and stretching. "Sure." Corran then lowered his arms, running his right hand down to his waist, feeling the cool metallic hilt of his lightsaber. Till just recently, Corran had abandoned wearing the thing. He didn’t feel worthy of it...and in truth, he still didn’t.
Mirax stood up next to him, putting her arms around his neck. "You’ll be fine," she said, smiling at him reassuringly.
He smiled back at her, looking her face over with his brilliant green eyes. "You know it’s dangerous to be involved with a rogue Jedi," he quipped.
Her smile broadened, and she gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Rogues are the ones I love best," she replied. "Besides, Luke Skywalker approved this thing himself," she countered. "With or without Skywalker and the gang, you are still a Jedi, Corran Horn."
He nodded slowly, relishing hearing his name from her for one of the last times in a very indefinite future. "You are right," he admitted.
"And when am I ever not?" she teased.
"Ah," he said, a little mischief playing through his face, "Wife scores one hundred points, husband scores zero."
They laughed together for a few moments, then suddenly Corran turned deadly serious. Mirax frowned at him, wishing she could just once analyze his thoughts like Master Skywalker might. This time, she wouldn’t have to wonder what he was thinking. "Corran Horn’s name is marred," he said, voice growing softer but gaining an edge to it, "but hopefully someday he will be redeemed. Until then, Keiran Halcyon will fight his battles for him."

* * * * *

Corran and Mirax exited the Pulsar Skate and followed Booster to his office without so much as a hello. Booster tapped the sensor at the door of his office, which scanned his biochemistry, identified him, and allowed him admittance. Mirax followed Booster in, with Corran close behind.
Corran’s sense of warning went off a second later than he’d hoped it would. He took an involuntary step back, and stared at the big man seated in front of Booster’s desk.
As Corran stood there dumbfounded, Booster casually took his seat behind his desk and Mirax turned to face him, a questioning look on her face.
Corran gulped, realizing his mouth had gone dry. He wanted to say something, but with his head spinning he didn’t have the clearness of mind to come up with anything.
The seated Jedi must have sensed this, and shot Corran a smile. "It’s been a long time, Corran."
Corran shook his head, still in disbelief. "Ganner, what are you doing here? No one outside of this is supposed to know what’s going on."
"Which is why Master Skywalker sent me. I’m going with you."
Corran shot Booster a betrayed look. Booster shrugged it off. "Don’t blame me. Mirax told me only a few hours ago he’d be arriving shortly before you would."
Corran shook his head again, even more adamantly. "He can’t go with me," he insisted, looking back and forth between all three parties in the room. "What if something happens to me out there? What if I screw up again..."
"Sit down, Corran," Mirax said soothingly. He looked over at her with a certain amount of terror radiating from his piercing green eyes.
He sank into the chair next to Ganner, his gaze remaining on Mirax and turning more inquisitive than alarmed.
"Until you get your confidence back..." she started.
Something that felt like a trickle of anger jolted through Corran, and he sat up straight, shooting an accusing look at Ganner. "Master Skywalker sent you to keep an eye on me, didn’t he?"
"CORRAN!" Mirax said, adding an edge to her voice. He shifted his gaze back at her, frustration rolling off him. "I requested someone to go with you, NOT Skywalker. He has every confidence in your place among the Jedi and what you can do, as do I. But he’s not married to you, and I am. I understand your concern about Ganner going with you into the Unknown Regions and wherever else, but I don’t want you going out there alone. I’d like to have you back after all of this."
Corran nodded, seeming to accept her explanation. Some of the weariness in his body seemed to dissolve as he refocused on the task at hand. "All right," he said, shaking his head and adding a half-grin to his face. "What would I do without you?"
She sat down in the seat next to him and smiled. "We’ll talk about that later," she said, taking his left hand in her right and squeezing it a little.
Corran looked back over at Ganner, smiling apologetically. "Can we start this over?"
Ganner nodded, returning the smile. "Sure thing."
Corran let go of Mirax’s hand and extended his left hand for Ganner to shake. "Nice to see you again," Corran said.
"Same to you, Corran...or rather nice to meet you, Keiran. Mirax didn’t tell you I’d be here because she figured you might not come after finding out," he explained, releasing Corran’s hand.
Corran chuckled. "Smart girl," he responded. Corran then turned to Booster. "Is everything set for the kids to come in?"
Booster nodded. "Karrde picked them up from Corellia two hours ago."
Corran grimaced. He didn’t particularly care for Karrde shuttling his children to the EV, but the alternative was worse. Mirax and the kids had been bombarded by Holonet reporters since the incident, and he just couldn’t deal with them being hammered with questions on the way to the Skate. But he didn’t want them alone on Corellia either, even if he did trust his Grandfather. On the EV he felt they’d at least have some protection. The Holonet ships wouldn’t dare come near the Deuce, especially since Booster had finally gotten irritated with them and told them he’d have no qualms shooting each and every one of them down.
Mirax must have read his mind. "Karrde will get them here safely. Besides, if I’m going to trust him with your life, I might as well trust him with our children."
"Point taken. Ganner, have you been briefed?"
The other Jedi shook his head. "No. All I know is that we are looking for information about the Vong in the Unknown Regions."
"Right. Shada and Mirax are going to visit an old friend of Karrde’s who has a wealth of datacards to search his library while the rest of us take the EV...compliments of Booster of course...to the Remnant to dig up more clues about the Outbound Flight Mission."
Ganner looked quizzically at Corran. "I thought the OFM was an excuse to exterminate some of the Jedi."
"Maybe. Probably. But I doubt the Jedi were that gullible. They had a galaxy-a specific destination that had been defined-that they were headed for. I’m certain their mission initially had a definite purpose, even though Palpatine made that purpose their destruction. After the OFM was destroyed, he must have assumed that whatever threat the Jedi perceived in that galaxy would be taken care of when Thrawn returned to the Unknown Regions. From what the Chiss told Mara back during the issue over the Camaas Document, Palpatine was wrong."
"And if our Unknown galaxy does happen to be that of the Vong?" Ganner asked.
"Then you and I, my friend, will be taking a trip to the other side."

* * * * *

Later the next day, a small passenger ship landed in the EV, with Booster, Corran, and Mirax watching not far from it. The ship’s engine cut off, and the hatch opened only a minute or so afterwards. First off the ship was Talon Karrde, a suave looking man with a goatee and short hair that showed a fair amount of gray. Following him was Valin Horn, a twelve year old with intent hazel eyes and long brown hair that came down just below his chin. Of Corran’s two children, Valin had taken the last few months the hardest. Valin had been studying at the Jedi Academy when Ithor fell, and Corran, as well as Luke Skywalker, felt it would be best to pull him out until things settled down quite a bit. Valin was not too pleased with this decision. Not only was he adamant that his father had done nothing wrong, he felt that the Jedi had abandoned them. A result of being around Booster Terrik too much, Corran decided.
About that time Jysella darted down the plank, her long hair flowing behind her as she dashed for Corran. Corran leaned over and scooped her up, kissing her on the nose.
She grinned mischievously, eyes sparkling.
"How’s my girl?" Corran asked her.
"I got to play dress up all the way here," she blurted.
"She took a liking to my things," said a tall slender woman who Corran had not seen getting off the shuttle after his daughter’s entrance.
"Shada Du’kal," he said, extending his free hand.
The tall woman smiled. "Guilty as charged," she responded, shaking his hand.
Corran shook Karrde’s hand as well. "Your boy makes a good pilot," Karrde told Corran and Mirax. "Flew the ship some."
Corran chuckled. "Taught him everything he knows about the flying art."
Valin’s grin broadened. "Someday I wanna be a Rogue just like Dad was."
"Me too, me too," Jysella chimed in.
Corran just smiled. He had decided about one month into the Ithor incident that every man who is in a valley should have about two kids who still looked up to him no matter what he’d done. They were some of the best therapy.
"All right, all right," Booster cut in, clearly a little miffed that Corran was the center of attention, "let’s get some food and finalize our arrangements. I’m sure you kids especially are hungry."
Jysella nodded emphatically, and Valin responded with a "Sure thing, Granddad."
"Okay, then let’s go."

* * * * *

Corran pressed his lightsaber against the Yuuzhan Vong’s stomach. The lightsaber hissed. Ardent light poured from the Vong’s mouth a second before he vomited black blood. Then it happened, the same as it always did. As the Vong warrior collapsed, his face morphed into the face of Elegos A’kla, his violet eyes pleading for Corran to have mercy.
Corran jolted up from the bed, sitting up straight. From the burning in his throat, he surmised he’d been screaming again. Feeling Mirax touch his right hand softly and caress his arm confirmed that he indeed had, and in the process he’d woken her up as well.
"Same dream?" she asked softly.
He nodded numbly, a little sweat rolling down from his forehead. He wiped it off with his left hand.
"Lay back down," she urged him.
He shook his head, grabbing a robe on the bedpost next to him, standing up and putting it on, tying the cord. "It’s no good, the dream will just come back. I’m gonna go take a walk," he told her, sliding some slippers on.
"Then I’m coming with you," she said, standing up and putting on her own robe and slippers.
"Mirax, you don’t have to..."
"Horn, this is my last night with you for a while. I’ll not spend it alone."
He nodded. "All right. No use arguing with you anyway."
She smiled softly, coming over hugging him. "You got that right. Just promise me one thing?" she asked, releasing him and taking his right hand in her left.
"Hmm?"
"Whatever this thing is that’s eating you, will you talk to Ganner about it?"
Corran’s eyes glazed a little as he led her out of their sleeping quarters into the hall. "There’s not much to tell him. No more than I’ve already told you."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "I might be great at solving the kids’ problems, but I’m no ace when it comes to Jedi problems. You say you danced on the Dark Side, and maybe you did. But it seems to me any Jedi who can admit they might have used the Dark Side and feel so guilty about it isn’t playing for keeps. But I don’t have your and the kids’ gift with the Force. I can’t always understand it. Ganner can. So talk to him, all right?"
Corran stopped walking and Mirax did the same. She turned and took his other hand, looking into his eyes. "Please?"
He nodded slowly. "It’s a deal."

* * * * *

The next morning, when it was still fairly early, Corran and Mirax entered docking bay 13 on the EV, where Shada’s shuttle the Lioness sat. Shada, who already stood there by the ship waiting, smiled at them. "Good morning," she said to them both. "Ship’s warmed up whenever you are ready."
Corran, who carried a sleeping Jysella, replied, "Thanks. I’ve got a little cargo that needs to be strapped in first."
"Sure, go right ahead. I’ve got to go make sure Karrde has finalized the arrangements. I’ll be right back," she explained. Seeing Corran and Mirax acknowledge her, she headed out of the area.
Corran watched her leave, and grinned, turning back to Mirax. "Couldn’t miss that goodbye kiss, I guess."
Mirax shot him a not-too-convincing scolding look. "You know that’s never been confirmed."
"Yeah, and Karrde’s never denied it either."
Mirax gave him a lopsided smile. "That’s true enough. Now, let’s get Jysella on board," she said, turning for the shuttle’s open hatchway.
Corran followed, and Mirax lead him into the ship’s cabin, where he gently settled his daughter into a passenger’s seat and buckled her in. She stirred a little, reaching out for him with her left hand. He touched it softly, tenderly leading it back to a resting position on her lap. After seeing she was settled, he gave her arm a soft pat, and nodded to Mirax that she was all right.
Corran headed out of the cabin, followed by Mirax, who set her carry bag in the cargo hold and then followed him down the gangway.
"I’m gonna miss her," he said, nodding to the ship.
"She’ll miss you too. Are you sure Valin will be okay here with you?"
"Sure. Your Father likes it when the kids are around anyway, and I’d hate to deprive him of his grandfatherly duties completely on this mission."
Mirax made a face. "He wasn’t that mad you decided Jysella should go with me."
"Tell that to the dinner table he left a fist-mark in."
She giggled, turning to face the shuttle. "He just thinks you believe he can’t take care of her."
Corran wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned against him. "I know better. He did a fine job with you."
She turned slightly, kissing him on the cheek. "Don’t ever let him hear you say that. You’ll never hear the end of it."
He smiled, relishing the feel of her body against his. "I know. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d have one up on me though. Took him forever to stop reminding me how he successfully inserted the family into Corellia."
Well, Corran dear," Mirax said hesitantly, "I’d better get on that shuttle. Shada will return soon and I don’t want Jysella waking up alone either."
"All right," he said, releasing her. She turned to face him.
"I’ll see you when we rendezvous in a month. Until then, and even while you possibly will be venturing into Vong territory, I want you to hang on to something for me."
With that, she reached around her neck and released the clasp that held a chain together around it. She pulled the chain up, revealing a medallion, the Jedi-credit that Corran had given her when he proposed.
He frowned. "Mirax, I want you to keep that," he said, extending his right hand to touch the medallion.
"I will," she replied. "You’ll give it back to me when you return. This was your good luck charm in the past, and if its got any power left in it, you’ll need it more than I will. Besides, you need it to remind you who you are, Corran, and where you’ve come from."
He accepted the medallion, fastening the chain around his neck and dropping the medallion under his shirt. "Thanks for the encouragement," he told her.
"For you, anytime," she responded, smiling.
He enfolded her in an embrace, and she kissed him long and full on the lips, sending a jolt of heat through him. He tightened his embrace, returning her kiss. Finally, their lips parted, and she slowly and softly pulled away from him.
"Mirax, I love you so much," he said.
"I love you too," she replied, giving his right hand one last squeeze then letting it go. "I’ll see you soon."

Copyright 2001 by CMH.

[ 07-10-2006 12:33 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]

--------------------

This story is set seven months after the events of Dark Tide: Ruin. Because this contains many spoilers, do not read this unless you have already read the book. (or you don't mind spoilers, as already mentioned.)

These characters and situations belong to Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money was made off of this, as it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Do not repost anywhere without the permission of the author!

Two weeks later, Corran was abruptly jolted from his sleep by the shaking of the Errant Venture. He got up, dressed, and hurriedly made his way to the command bridge where Booster already stood throwing orders around. He spotted Corran and glared at him.
"I knew this was a bad idea bringing my Deuce into Bastion. The EV apparently scared the sithspit out of the controlling Moff here and so he decided to land her with a dose of ion cannon beams. Fortunately, Karrde managed to calm him down long enough to contact Admiral Pelleaon and confirm our intentions were not hostile."
"So what are we waiting for now?" Corran asked.
"Apparently the Moff only agreed to stop firing on us, and he refuses to let us land."
"Not a lot of good for us," Corran observed.
About that time, Karrde entered the deck with Ganner not far behind him.
"Oh good, Corran, you’re already here," Ganner said.
Corran arched an eyebrow. "Why do I not like the sound of that?"
"You shouldn’t. The Moff doesn’t want Booster to land the EV anywhere near his area of control. He’s also not too thrilled with two Jedi landing on his planet and looking through his files, so I’m going to have to go with you and screen everything you do and report that to the Moff."
"So he can call off the search at any time?" Corran quizzed. "Wonderful."
"We can contact Pelleaon again and try to override the Moff, but that could take a couple of weeks, and we don’t have that long. Besides, there’s no guarantee it will do us any good in the first place," Karrde explained.
"All right, we’ll go on his conditions. The last thing I want is a Moff mad at me."
"Good call. I’ll let him know we are on our way then," Karrde stated. "We should probably leave before he changes his mind again."
"We’ll leave here in an hour then. Is that good for you Ganner?"
"Sure Corran. I’ll just need to get a few things together."
"Right. And don’t forget that you’ll have to call me Keiran on the surface."
Ganner nodded, then turned, leaving the deck. Karrde followed him out. Corran looked over at Booster. "Have you seen Valin this morning?"
"No, I believe he’s still in his room. I’m surprised he’s not up yet."
"He is," Corran said.
"How do you..." Booster started. "Oh nevermind. A Jedi thing I’m sure. Are you leaving him here?"
"I have to. Wouldn’t do any good to have Corran Horn’s son hanging with a man roughly his age and stature. Someone will figure it out."
"Right," Booster agreed. "He’ll be safe here."
"I know," Corran said. "I’ll report to you if anything changes when we reach the surface."
Booster acknowledged, and Corran headed off the command deck to the living area, where he found Valin in his room, sitting cross-legged on the floor. He had his eyes closed, but when Corran entered, he opened them and looked over at him questioningly. "You’re leaving, aren’t you? And I’m staying on the EV?"
Corran sat down on the floor next to Valin, and patted him on the knee. "It won’t be for long, and you’ll be safer here."
Valin frowned. "I’m tired of being protected from it all."
"From what?" Corran asked.
"Everything. Protected from the Ithor incident, protected from scrutiny at the Jedi Academy and the media...and now this. I want to go with you," Valin insisted. "I want to be known as Valin Horn, the son of Corran Horn. I want to make my contribution to your redemption. I can help you look through those files, and I want them to know another Horn is helping to defeat the Vong."
Corran bit his lower lip. "I don’t know Valin, this is risky. If you went you’ll have to refer to me as Keiran, and you’ll probably need to distance yourself from me in general. You’ll be with me of course, but you’ll have to do a lot on your own, just so things don’t look too suspicious."
"And the fact that Jysella is off with Mom while Corran Horn is supposedly off on Corellia and Valin Horn is nowhere at all won’t look a little odd? Wouldn’t it make sense that I would be on the EV with Granddad anyway? If you hide me here it will look even more suspicious if I’m found here."
"Point taken," Corran replied. 'But what if they ask him questions...' Corran thought to himself.
"I can deal with it," Valin answered aloud.
Corran arched an eyebrow at him. "You’re getting a little bit better at that than I think I like."
Valin grinned a second, then turned serious again. "I can handle it, really. You’ve made your sacrifice to defeat the Vong, let me make mine."
Corran thought about it another minute or two. "All right, you can go. I’ll have to get it cleared of course, but if this is the course you feel you should take, I won’t stand in your way."

* * * * *

About the same time, the Lioness landed on Exocron, the world that ex-smuggler Jorj Car’das resided on. Many years ago, Car’das had run the organization that Talon Karrde now controlled. For many reasons, Car’das abandoned the organization, and Talon had later taken over. Only a few years back had Karrde and Shada found Car’das on Exocron and learned the true reasons for his abandonment. On that same visit, Car’das had provided Karrde and Shada with valuable information regarding a Major Grodin Tierce and a con-artist who was posing as Grand Admiral Thrawn. That information had resulted in peace between the Empire and the New Republic. Shada only hoped Jorj Car’das’s datacard library could even be slightly as helpful in the New Republic’s dealings with the Yuuzhan Vong.
The hatch of the Lioness opened, and Shada stepped out, followed by Mirax and Jysella. After securing the hatch, Shada lead her two companions across the docking bay to meet a small man. He smiled at the two women and the child, and Shada smiled back. "Entoo Nee."
"Hello, Shada. Car’das has been looking forward to your arrival. He is waiting for you at his home even now."
"I’m sure he is," Shada replied. "Entoo Nee, meet Mirax Terrik and her little girl Jysella."
"Welcome to Exocron," Entoo Nee told the two newcomers, extending his hand. Mirax accepted. "You’ll forgive Car’das for being so anxious for Shada’s arrival, I hope."
"Certainly," Mirax said kindly. "Old friends are special. Let’s not keep him waiting any longer."
Entoo Nee led the three of them to Jorj Car’das’s home, to a place Car’das called "the conversation room." This room, with its gardens, resembled the outdoors very much, and was very beautiful to look upon. In the middle of the room, still looking very much alive, stood Jorj Car’das.
"Shada," he said, smiling. "How nice it is to see you." He approached her and gave her a hug. Then he turned his attention to Shada’s companions.
"This is..." Shada started.
"Mirax Terrik," Jorj interjected, finishing her statement.
"How did you?" Mirax asked suspiciously.
"How could I not recognize the daughter of Booster Terrik? Besides, I’m not as out of touch here as you might suspect. News of Ithor has been prevalent."
Shada winced, and Mirax just glared. "If you judge my husband and my family by the news of Ithor, then you judge us all incorrectly."
Car’das’s eyes softened, as did his voice. "I only said I heard the news, not that I accepted it as truth. The media loves smudge campaigns. As a former smuggler, I knew of Hal Horn as much as I did Booster Terrik. I didn’t know much of his son, but I knew if the son was like the father that there was more to the story than the media presented. Besides, I’ve heard of your Corran’s adventures as a Rogue and a Jedi," Car’das explained.
Mirax felt her guard go down. "I’m sure you have. I’m sorry I was so defensive."
"It is all right. You have suffered much as of late. And now you are here to help clear your husband’s name. I hope I can be of service to you."
"Have you anything on the Yuuzhan Vong, Car’das?" Shada asked.
Car’das frowned, and shook his head. "I’ve been unable to find anything. But," he added, "I’ve been unable to search my library for information related to Garqi and the Vong found there. Karrde also told me you were interested in the Outbound Flight Mission, and I am almost certain I can help you there."
"It’s better than nothing," Mirax asserted.
Car’das nodded. "Shall we get some refreshment and then journey to my library?"
Mirax nodded, and picked up her daughter.
"Certainly," Shada answered.
After some food and a little rest, Mirax and Shada joined Car’das in his large datacard library. Car’das sat down in front of a computer in the center of the room, and keyed in a sequence of things while Mirax and Shada waited quietly behind him.
Mirax felt the whole process was taking forever. Or maybe it was just that she knew what the results of this search could be. Any information at all on the Vong could be helpful to the cause, but a positive find on the Outbound Flight Mission would also mean Corran stepping back into deadly danger. Not that he hadn’t been there and back several times before, but this was different...unknown.
At last, Car’das turned around. "On Garqi, I have a detailed history. I can’t say what you will find of the Yuuzhan Vong from that, but it’s worth a shot I think. Of the Outbound Flight Mission, I have some very sketchy journal writings of a Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth. He was obviously trying to keep his writing to a minimum, and possibly the Empire had a hand in ‘editing’ it."
Mirax sighed. "Well, it’s a start."
"Wait," Car’das said, raising a hand to stop further comment. "I have one other thing you might be interested in from the Outbound Flight Mission: the coordinates of their destination...Vector Prime."

* * * * *

Only a few days before the Lioness’s rendezvous with the Errant Venture, Corran had resigned himself to the fact that they probably were not going to find any good information on the Vong at Bastion. Mirax had communicated with him recently and informed him of the discovery of Vector Prime, but other than some very vague journal entries and a tale of a strange "man" appearing on Garqi, they hadn’t gotten much new data at Car’das’s either.
But the news about Vector Prime was enough. Or was it? A few weeks ago, Corran was dead set on going into Vong space, but now that he possibly had his chance, what exactly was he going to do with it?
"Corran, snap out of it man."
"Huh?" he muttered, shaking the fuzz from his head. Slowly, reality zoomed back into focus and his senses went back to normal. He was on the floor in his room sitting crossed-legged in meditation. Across the room leaning against the doorjamb stood Ganner, who was gazing at him curiously.
"Oh, hey," Corran said at last.
"Mirax just relayed a message that she and Shada and Jysella will be back in four days."
"And?" Corran asked, sensing something else.
Ganner crossed the room and sat down on the bed in front of Corran. He leaned his elbows on his knees and sat forward. "Well, that was it."
"You came all the way here to tell me that when you could have commed me?"
"Of course not. Something is eating you, and it’s been worse since we learned of Vector Prime."
"So you want to know what’s up," Corran guessed.
"Right. I mean, I know how you felt about the Ithor event. I know you took the blame because you think in some way it was your fault. You even wonder if you weren’t walking the line between the Good Side and the Dark. I still don’t understand that though. What you did was meant for good...you wanted to save the people...why can’t you see that?"
Corran sighed, and the weariness Ganner had seen from him the day he’d disassociated from the Jedi seemed to return. "Because I did it to avenge Elegos A’kla first and foremost. I was angry, and I wanted to make sure that Vong got what I thought he deserved. Elegos would have never wanted that. I dishonored what he fought for."
"And now you’re wondering if this trip into Vong space isn’t another form of revenge, " Ganner asserted.
"Yeah," Corran responded, nodding slowly.
"First of all, nobody is perfect. Master Skywalker went over to the Dark Side to ‘save people,’ himself. He was probably wrong. But he still came back. So can you. Second, Ithor was a test of the Yuuzhan Vong’s honor. They failed. The blame was pinned on you but you fail to see that if it wasn’t you there would have been someone else later. And if the bet for Ithor had never taken place, Ithor still would have been lost to us."
"It’s not that simple and you know it," Corran growled.
"But it is. The Vong would have taken Ithor regardless of what happened in that fight. If you lost, they would have taken it. You won, and they STILL took it. You took a chance and tried to save the planet. Had the Vong been honorable, you would have succeeded. They weren’t, but had you never taken the chance we’d never know."
"But my motive was wrong Ganner. Master Skywalker joined the Emperor reborn for a good reason...at least to him."
"And you fought the Vong to save a planet."
"But Elegos would have wanted me to do things peacefully."
"When he had already tried and the Vong had proven it wasn’t possible? I don’t think so, Corran. Elegos took a gamble, just as you did. He didn’t intend it to go for nothing. He wanted the Republic to know whom they were dealing with and if it was possible for them to deal peacefully with them. Had you marched out there and tried to reason with that Vong warrior, Elegos’s sacrifice would have been in vain."
Corran gulped. "But my motive..."
"Might have been a little off. But you don’t think when Master Skywalker finally fought Vader in the throne room with the Emperor watching that his motive wasn’t a little off? He admits he lashed out in anger when Vader suggested turning Leia."
"There’s a key difference. Skywalker backed down. I didn’t. I had that warrior and I let him know it too...I killed him only after he knew he was had."
"If that was the only step over the line you took, you can pull your toes back over. That Vong was evil. There was no chance of turning him around. Had you let him go, he could still be alive and out there killing again."
"I crossed the line," Corran insisted.
"Then it’s time you learned to forgive yourself and let it go. You know what you did wrong, so don’t make that mistake again."
"That’s just it though. This trip into Vong space-what will it accomplish? I can’t go killing innocents once I get there simply because they are Vong. That would be wrong."
"So we test the vector, find out if it in fact leads to Vong space, then give it to the NR to deal with. Although I honestly think it’s time the Jedi send a couple of ambassadors in to try to reason with all the Vong and not just their warriors."
"Hmm," Corran muttered thoughtfully. "Even though our Jedi skills won’t help us that much against the Vong because we can’t feel them through the Force?"
"And even if the Force just doesn’t exist in that galaxy," Ganner added. "With or without the Force we have skills that others don’t. You’ve got your investigator skills, and I have a few tricks of my own. I say we should do this."
"All right," Corran agreed, "we will. And Ganner...thanks for listening."
Ganner stood up. "Anytime. You coming out of your room any today?" he kidded.
"Suppose I should," Corran replied. "I’ll be around in awhile."
"Okay, see you," Ganner said, turning to go."
"Ganner?" Corran called.
He turned and looked back at the older Jedi. "Yes?"
"About it being time for me to forgive myself...maybe you’re right, maybe it’s time I do just that."
As Ganner stepped out of Corran’s quarters and began to head down the corridor, Valin Horn barreled around the corner and hit Ganner full force square in the gut. Ganner was surprised that his feet went out from under him and his bottom hit the floor. Valin, meanwhile, bounced off him and landed on deck in a similar fashion.
"Yeow!" Valin exclaimed, sitting on the floor dumbfounded.
About that time Corran’s door opened, and he stepped out. "What the...???"
"Your kid came down the hall with his hyperdrive on full-force with a misguided course plot," Ganner explained, standing back up and rubbing his throbbing backside.
"Sorry about that Ganner," Valin said, grinning sheepishly.
"It’s okay, just keep that hyperdrive down a notch next time," he told him, offering a hand and helping him back up.
"I just had to get here...fast. I think I just found something real important, and it couldn’t wait a minute...I think it’ll really help us out with this whole operation..." Valin rambled, looking back and forth between Corran and Ganner.
"Woah, woah, slow down there Valin," Corran told his son. "How about you and I and Ganner take a trip to a café and talk about this calmly over some lunch?"
"Sure," Valin said, shrugging.
"All right then," Corran said, patting his son on the back. "Let’s go."

* * * * *

After taking a seat in one of the EV’s more upscale cafes and ordering some food, Corran opened up the floor for discussion. "So what is it that you found Valin? I was about to go find you myself because the jolt in the Force was so sharp."
Valin sat up straight. "The Emperor’s special files on the Outbound Flight Mission...I just hacked into them."
Not believing his ears, Corran sat there dumfounded for a minute just trying to process what he had heard. Ganner, on the other hand, spoke up at once.
"But how is that even possible? The NR Crypt Chief couldn’t even break into those files."
"Valin has one important talent that Ghent doesn’t though," Corran said at last. "How exactly did you get into those files?"
Valin shook his head. "I’m not sure. I just opened myself up to the Force, put my fingers over the keypad, and typed. Next thing I knew I was in the file."
"But if you don’t know how you got in it won’t help us much," Ganner grumbled."
"I know," Valin agreed. "I don’t know what happened. The Force just controlled my actions. I made a back-up of the file, and it eventually closed itself."
"Security precaution," Corran observed.
"Well, I found a lot of information about the threat the Jedi thought they would be facing. There’s even an account of an attack on a colony out in the Unknown Regions. The attackers sound quite a bit like the Yuuzhan Vong."
Corran rubbed his chin with his right hand and leaned his elbow on the table. "Ganner, we’ll need to take a good look at those files, but I think we should pay the Chiss a visit. If the Chiss have been attacked by the Vong before and the Vong have claimed land in the area, we might not have to go as far as we thought to face off with the Vong civilization."
"But what about Vector Prime?" Ganner asked.
"If that’s the entry point, we’ll find out. And if that’s where we have to go to meet the Vong halfway, then that’s exactly what we’ll do."
"Then why does it feel like we’ll never get that far?" Ganner questioned darkly.
Corran shook his head, and gazed over at Valin for a moment. "I can’t say. But all morning I’ve been questioning this trip into Vector Prime, and maybe Valin’s find is the solution to my dilemma. Maybe we don’t need to go through Vector Prime at all. I get the sinking feeling that the danger I’ll be facing is still in our galaxy-and that we’re still only on the tip of the asteroid in finding a peaceful solution between the New Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong."

* * * * *

No way!" Booster growled, shifting his angry glare from Ganner to Corran to Mirax, who had only returned from Exocron the day before. "Not my ship, and not into the Chiss territory. What do you think this is Corsec? Your personal yacht?"
"Look, Booster, it’ll take us nearly four weeks to get into Chiss territory on a cargo freighter. On the EV, it’ll only take two. We don’t have to take it all the way in, but it will certainly save us some time."
"And it’ll give Corran more time to spend with me and the kids," Mirax added, looking at her Father impatiently and crossing her arms.
Booster held his hands up in surrender. "All right, all right. But this better be it for the EV and all these risks. I’d like to keep my ship in one piece."
"Daddy..." Mirax started, but Corran put his right hand on her arm and gave her a little squeeze. "That’s fair enough," he said.
Booster nodded. "Good. Now, I have some work to do..."
"We’ll see you later, Booster," Corran said.
"Yeah," Booster replied, turning on his heels and leaving.
"I’ve got some training to catch up on," Ganner asserted, "I’ll catch you two later."
"Okay, Ganner."
"Bye," Mirax said, waving.
After Ganner left, Mirax turned to look at Corran. "So, Corsec, how about we do a little catching up ourselves?"
"Hmm," Corran muttered, a grin playing across his lips. "I assume you mean a little more than just talking."
"Why?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You got any objections to that?"
"Not hardly," he responded.
"Then let’s not waste anymore time."

* * * * *

It was the same dream as usual, but this time, as the light emitted from the Vong’s opened mouth turned to black blood and the face morphed into Elegos’s, Corran no longer saw a plea for mercy in those big violet eyes.
Perplexed by the change, Corran gazed at Elegos’s facial features. No, it wasn’t mercy Elegos sought.
"If the wind no longer calls you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name."
The Vong’s body disappeared, and there in his place stood Elegos A’kla looking measuringly at Corran...and almost sympathetically.
"What?" Corran asked numbly, closing down his lightsaber.
"If the wind no longer calls you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name," Elegos repeated.
Corran shook his head, as though trying to clear confusion from it. "I don’t understand."
"You somehow think that by avoiding the Vong you’ll never be faced with the temptation of the Dark Side again. But you will face the Vong again, and there will be another confrontation. And you will decide what path to take then. I’ve known you Corran, and I know the truth you stand for and that it is truth you have always fought for. I trust you will make the right choice, and you must relearn to trust yourself in the same way."
"Why haven’t you told me this before?"
"Until now, you weren’t ready to hear it. Now you are, and your time of final confrontation will soon be at hand. The wind is still calling your name, Corran. It’s time you remember what it is."

Copyright 2001 by CMH.

--------------------

This story is set seven months after the events of Dark Tide: Ruin. Because this contains many spoilers, do not read this unless you have already read the book. (Unless, of course, you are not avoiding NJO spoilers.)

These characters and situations belong to Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money was made off of this, as it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Do not repost anywhere without the permission of the author!

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge Davina Jeffrey for all her help in writing the first lightsaber scene in this story.

Two weeks later, the EV exited hyperspace near the planet that once housed the "Hand of Thrawn," a military base that had been taken out a few years before by Mara Jade's personal ship, the Jade's Fire.
A week before, Ganner had made contact with the Chiss leader, Admiral Voss Parck. Parck was none too thrilled with having Jedi on the planet again after the fiasco with Luke and Mara, but eventually he agreed to at least listen to what they had to say. Apparently, with the Vong attacking the rest of the galaxy, Parck felt the Remnant had been neglecting him and his planet. Ganner agreed that the New Republic would, on receiving any valuable information from the Chiss, see to their protection.
Early that morning, Corran and Ganner met in the docking bay of the EV, Corran arriving last. Ganner, who already had been warming up the Lioness's engines, stood outside the ship.
"Well, we're set to go, Corran," he said. "Or should I start calling you Keiran again?"
Corran shook his head. "Not this time, Ganner. I've given this a lot of thought, and I've got to go into this as myself."
"Are you sure? You think this is what the vision was all about?"
"Yes. You might think it's risky, but it's a step I've got to take. Besides, the Chiss might not even know about Ithor. And even if they do, I've got to trust that the truth will prevail. I can't go on as Keiran Halcyon forever."
"Well, this is your mission, so you call the shots. Admiral Parck is waiting in his ship to meet us."
"Then let's not keep him waiting," Corran said.

* * * * *

After docking with Parck's small battleship, Corran and Ganner stepped off the Lioness to meet the Admiral. They were met in the docking bay by a blue-skinned Chiss named Stent. Looking the two Jedi over sternly, Stent finally said, "Welcome to our ship, the Remnant. Admiral Parck is waiting for you in his office."
"Thank you for allowing us to meet with him," Corran said casually.
"Don't thank me," Stent replied coolly. "It was not my decision. If you would follow me, I'll take you to the Admiral's office."
With that, Stent lead Corran and Ganner to a small office just beyond the docking bay. The office was sparsely decorated with a small desk and two chairs in front of it. Behind it sat another Chiss with gray hair. The Chiss was wearing a white Imperial Grand Admiral's uniform. Corran figured that since he was so far in the Unknown Regions, the Admiral didn't realize the Empire was all but dead.
"Admiral, these are the Jedi," Stent said, stepping over to the Admiral's side. "Ganner and Corran Horn," he said, adding emphasis to Corran's name. Corran tried to ignore it. Admiral Parck had no intention of letting him ignore it though.
"Corran Horn? Aren't you the Jedi that killed Ithor?" Parck said. "Surely you know my sentiments concerning Jedi who destroy. It was your Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker who destroyed my precious base down there," he said pointing to the planet below.
Corran took a deep breath. He hadn't been grilled about Ithor in a while-mostly because he avoided it. He really didn't know how to justify it yet himself, even if Elegos insisted he was not in the wrong about it. He struggled for clarity of mind...and an answer.
"Corran had nothing but the best intentions for Ithor when he faced that warrior," Ganner put in.
"Let Jedi Horn speak for himself," Parck said evenly.
"I made a bet for Ithor because I knew that many lives were at stake," Corran began. "I can't deny that in fighting that Vong warrior I wasn't seeking some revenge for my friend who was brutally killed by him. But even Jedi make mistakes..." Suddenly it hit Corran...had he been expecting himself to always make the right choice ever time all along because he was a Jedi? He was no less human just because he was a Jedi...and Ithor would have died regardless...
“So I see. But, Jedi Horn, you still lost a planet as a result of your error. How can I be sure that the same won't happen if I offer you my help?"
This wasn't going well at all. Corran's mouth was going dry. Parck wasn't going to like the answer, but he had to be truthful. "I can't guarantee it won't happen. But Ithor was a test of Vong honor. I won the duel, and in doing so, I should have saved Ithor. But Ithor was lost regardless of the conditions of the duel. And Ithor would have been taken into Vong hands without the duel for certain. There comes a time in every person's life when they must decide whether to stay inactive and save themselves or to take action and risk losing themselves in the process. I took that chance, and while I defeated the Vong warrior, I still lost. But no one can say I never tried. Now the choice is yours. You can stay inactive and perhaps protect your planet a little longer, or you can take action and tell us what you know of the Vong so we might have a chance of saving the galaxy. We'll continue to fight the Vong regardless of your decision, but should you accept our request, you can be assured no one will ever accuse you of not trying to help, just as they can never accuse me of not trying to help. So what do you say, Admiral?"
Parck looked Corran over measuringly. "Perhaps I have misjudged you, Jedi Corran Horn. And from the reports I've been hearing of you, it is likely I'm not the only one. You admit your faults, and yet you still fight the cause. The Chiss have not always made the best decisions nor have we always been perfect. But we have always taken action. We too have been misjudged, Jedi Horn. I will accept your request for information. What we know of the Yuuzhan Vong, you shall know. And I can guarantee you, it will be enough to send you on your way to further pursuing them--and hopefully defeating them."

* * * * *

"I don't like it, Corran," Mirax said from her perch on the bed, looking her husband over from across their quarters on the Errant Venture. "How can you believe anything the Chiss say?"
"Mirax, it's the best lead we've had. Besides, the Chiss have never been untrue to their word as far as we know. And Thrawn was never one for lies either, regardless of his station as a Grand Admiral in the Empire."
"That's true enough," Mirax agreed. "But I wish we could be more certain, and I wish I could help."
"You've already been more help to me than you could ever know," Corran said, gazing at her solemnly. "This has to be done fairly, no trickery included. Ganner and I originally discussed sending a second party in to scout, but it is extremely dangerous and we must not do anything to jeopardize our mission. The best thing you can do for me is keep your father and the Errant Venture in system so we can bust out of here if we must."
"You needn't worry about that. I'm not leaving the system without you. What are the final arrangements?"
"Well, Ganner and I are going to go in the Vong camp on Yuran 4 as ambassadors. We have already arranged to meet with the leading authorities on the camp with the help of Admiral Parck, but we were made no promises on the possible outcomes of the meeting. Although these Yuuzhan Vong are said to be less hostile and militaristic as the ones now invading us, they still have enough of the warrior background for this to be a dangerous mission. Parck even mentioned an 'honor duel' that the Vong sometimes fight with new visitors to establish their credibility. If we must fight, we will, but I am hoping this visit will allow us to tap into and further understand Vong society."
"And if it doesn't, we are back to square one."
"But at least we'll know we will have tried."
"True enough," she said, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Corran?"
"Hmm???"
"About...the honor duel...if that should happen, are you going to let Ganner fight, or are you going to take that responsibility? I know you've had that vision of Elegos, and you told me what he said. I know you'll make the right decision and I trust you fully, but I would really like to know before you leave."
Corran thought a moment. "I wish I knew the answer to that one too. I don't want to go into this thing with any preconceived ideas. I'm truly hoping the Vong will leave an honor duel out of this. If they choose to go through with an honor duel, and I have a bad feeling that they might, I'll make the decision then. Elegos did tell me there would be another confrontation and that I would face another Vong, and that prediction has already come true. I'm not going to assume just yet that I should then also pursue a fight if one occurs. I'm going to let the Force guide me to an answer, and if I must choose, I will choose based only on what the Force leads me to do. This is the only way I can be certain that I haven't crossed the line between the good side and the bad, once and for all, because once I make that decision, there is no turning back..."

* * * * *

Early the next morning on the Errant Venture, Corran Horn sauntered into the docking bay area in a deep green flight suit, carrying a helmet between his hip and right arm. He wandered over to a XJ class one-man fighter with green panels painted on it. The hatch was open and a ladder placed on the side of the ship, waiting for him to climb in.
Ah, back to the good old days, Corran thought to himself. He hadn't wanted to go in as a fighter, but considering the threat the Vong carried, he needed to go in at his best, and he could only be his best in an X-wing. Besides, impossible is what Rogues do best, he remembered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Sighing and pushing the memories aside, Corran climbed up the ladder to his X-wing and vaulted into the pilot's chair. He positioned the helmet on his head and adjusted the goggles to a comfortable position, then punched the release to lower the hatch. As Corran ran his hands across the controls, warming the fighter's engines up, he was welcomed by the familiar tooting of an R2 droid.
"Nice to see you again too, Whistler," Corran replied, grinning. "Think we can remember how to run this fighter?"
The droid blatted back harshly, the words "Speak for yourself" scrolling across the translator screen.
Corran laughed. "Let's see if Ganner is ready to go yet," he said, switching his inter-ship comm unit on. "Ganner, you with me yet?"
"I copy, Corran," came Ganner's formal reply. "I'm to your left, by the old beat up YT-1300."
Corran scanned the docking bay and spotted the other fighter. "I see you. Warmed up?"
"Just about. Give me another couple of minutes and I'll be ready to take off."
"Good. Ganner?"
"Yes, Corran?"
"This is going to sound odd, but I think we need to hold back on calling each other by name from ship to ship over the comm. I don't care about them knowing who I am, but this is standard comm frequency, and anyone could be listening."
"You're the boss. What do you suggest?"
"Well, I've been Rogue Nine, so I'll answer to Nine. What number do you want?"
"If you are going to be Nine," Ganner reasoned, "I'll be Ten."
"Sounds good," Corran stated.
"Okay, I'm ready to go," Ganner said at last.
"Good. Do you have the hyperspace route locked into your nav computer?"
"Yes, I'm all set."
"Then let's get to it," Corran said, firing up his converters and preparing to retract the landing gear of his fighter. In only a few minutes, Corran guided the fighter outside of the EV's docking bay with Ganner at his left. "Hyperspace on my mark," Corran said through the comm.
"Copy that Nine."
"Three, two, one, MARK," Corran said, pulling his hyperspace lever. The two fighters simultaneously dissolved into lightspeed as Mirax and her father watched from the deck of the Impstar Deuce.
Booster looked over at Mirax, who was staring at the place where Corran's starfighter disappeared intently.
He smiled softly at her. "He'll be back," Booster told her. "Corsec never goes away," he added kiddingly.
Mirax looked over at him and managed a smile. "Thanks, Dad."

* * * * *

In the solitude of his fighter about forty-eight hours later, Corran woke up to the tune of Whistler's wake up call. Slowly, he floated back into consciousness while Whistler continued beeping and blurping at him. "I'm awake, I'm awake," he managed groggily.
Whistler bleeped what sounded like a statement at Corran. The pilot shook his head to clear the last of the drowsiness of sleep from his brain and read the translator. "Ten minutes till reversion?" Corran muttered at the droid. "Why'd you wake me up so soon?"
The R2 unit tootled at him indifferently. Corran chuckled softly. "I told you to wake me up in enough time to let me think, not in enough time to make me panic about the whole thing."
Whistler squawked rudely at Corran, clearly put out.
"Take it easy, Whistler, just log it in your memory for the next mission that five minutes is plenty of time for me to collect my thoughts. That is if there IS a next mission," he muttered to himself.
The droid bleeped again, this time more softly in a questioning manner. Corran bit his lower lip. "I don't know, Whistler. This mission is about as indefinite as it gets. I know the Force is with me. But that doesn't mean that everything will work out in the end."
The R2 tootled a bit more, and Corran read the translation. "No, I'm not going into this with a negative view. I just need to be down to earth with this...completely realistic and ready for all possibilities. That's the only way I'll succeed."
As Corran sat and thought over what he had just said, the one-minute reversion warning began to bleep. "Okay, Whistler. Here goes nothing."
As the counter clicked down to zero, Corran felt his mouth go dry. Why did he have such a bad feeling about this? Finally, starlines faded to stars and the picture became clear. Corran's heart sank into his stomach. "Ten, report in..." he said hesitantly.
"I'm here, Nine. Please tell me I'm imagining that worldship out there."
"Negative, Ten, unless I'm in your imagination," Corran said, gulping.
As Corran stared at the Vong worldship, not knowing what to do or how to react, the Vong suddenly decided that for him. Without warning, the worldship opened on the underside and a squadron of coralskippers emerged, the "hatch" closing behind them.
"Escorts?" Ganner said hopefully.
"Either that or 12 to 2 odds. I'm not picking up any negative tremors in the Force. Then again they are Vong, so we really can't say what they are intending."
The lead coralskipper circled the two X-wings once, and his squadron members followed him. Corran and Ganner were surrounded. Corran tried to look at things positively. At least they hadn't been fired on. Yet.
Finally, the lead Vong skip positioned himself in front of the two X-wings and pointed what looked like the nose of his ship away from them, as though preparing to lead the two unfamiliar fighters to the surface of the planet below. Two of the remaining skips positioned themselves in a similar manner, only this time placing themselves directly in front of each X-wing.
Corran knew this set up well. "Ten, I believe we are to follow."
"Escorts," Ganner repeated.
"I've heard that somewhere before."
"True, Nine."
"But it's always nice to have all your bases covered. No use getting vaped for having huttpuss for brains," he observed, following the coralskippers, who were now moving forward.
"Niiiice Nine," Ganner replied sarcastically.
"Sorry, Ten. Rogue Squadron pilot personality is acting up."
Ganner chuckled. "I'm not surprised, Nine."
"They're taking us to atmosphere," Corran stated. "Better break up the comm chatter and keep our eyes and ears open. They haven't established contact so far, but they just might. I want to be ready for them if and when they do."
"I copy, Nine. Ten out till we reach the surface."

* * * * *

The coralskippers led Corran and Ganner to the surface, only the lead skip remaining after they broke into the atmosphere. The other coralskippers broke off and headed back to space, back to the worldship above the planet.
The coralskipper guided the two X-wings to the surface near a large building seemingly made out of mud, and then he soared off to the skies once more as well. Corran shut down his engines upon landing on the planet ground, and surveyed the area.
Like many of the worlds the Yuuzhan Vong had invaded, this world seemed colorless, and devoid of the life that it should have known. The trees were an odd sickly shade of brown, as were their leaves. The ground was covered in green grass, but the texture of it seemed to be soft and mushy. Corran wondered what the Vong now invading the galaxy would do to its planets, if these "less warlike" Yuuzhan Vong could harm this planet in such a way.
"Nine?" Ganner called through the comm.
"I read you, Ten," Corran responded through his thoughts.
"Air is breathable. Shall we proceed?"
Corran nodded. "Yes, we should. I'm preparing to open my hatch."
"Got that, Nine. "I'm already out and on the surface, switching to Jedi garb."
"Garb indeed. I'll be there in one minute," Corran said, shaking the last of his thoughts away and switching the fighter's comm unit off. "Whistler, lock down the ship as soon as I get out. If I need to make a break for it, I'll let you know."
Whistler tootled what sounded like a war cry. Corran smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Whistler bleeped a "your welcome." With that, Corran released the hatch of the X-wing and pushed it open, grabbing his travel satchel with the other hand. Once the hatch was ajar, Corran sat the satchel in his lap long enough to pull his helmet from his head. He sat the helmet in the place of the bag, and stood up, tossing the satchel over his right shoulder. He vaulted out of the X-wing, and hit the surface of the planet softly, barely feeling the pull of gravity on him. Whistler lowered the hatch of the ship behind him.
Corran sat the satchel on the ground and began to unzip his flight suit, revealing a civilian outfit beneath, the typical attire of a Jedi. He untangled himself the rest of the way from the flight suit, and folded it up, picking up the satchel and preparing to put it inside. As he unhooked the closure to the bag, someone came up behind him and touched him on the shoulder.
He turned around, nearly jumping, but avoiding the urge.
"Chill out, man, it's just me," Ganner's familiar voice explained.
Corran put his flight suit in his satchel and pulled from it his weapons belt, with lightsaber and blaster already attached. He buckled that around his hips, then pulled his dark green robe from the satchel, closing the bag. Whistler opened the hatch of the X-wing again, long enough for Corran to leave his bag in the pilot's chair. Finally, Corran wrapped the green robe around his shoulders and turned to face his companion. "Let's go," Corran told him, feeling an odd but yet comforting calm wash over him. "It's time."
The two men, now acting as ambassadors rather than fighter pilots or warriors or even Jedi, proceeded to the strange mud building, entering the one and only entrance cautiously. With Corran in the lead, they observed the inside "lobby" of the unfamiliar building. Corran felt a chill wash over him. Something seemed very odd about this place.
"Corran, there's another entrance, over there," Ganner said from behind him, pointing to a large wooden door to his left.
Corran nodded. "I see it now." With that, he stepped towards the entrance and forced himself to breathe deeply, pushing the nagging flutter of his stomach to the back of his mind. Once he approached the door, he pulled it open and stepped inside, not noticing that Ganner had suddenly disappeared from behind him until he stepped into the room.
The door slammed behind him. He turned to tell Ganner to keep it down when he realized the other was no longer behind him. Puzzled, Corran reached for what looked like a door handle and tried to push the wieldy door open. To no avail. The door had been sealed behind him.
Corran turned around once again, at last surveying the room he had stepped into. This was no government room or conference area. A chill swept over him as he realized what was about to take place. The room before him was semicircular with seating of some sort along the edges...about ten rows of tiered stadium-style seating.
An arena, Corran thought, understanding exactly what his fate was to be.
Suddenly, the center of the arena area lit up, revealing a young Vong warrior who was lacking the scars common to the Vong.
"I am Tinkara Shai, son of Shedao Shai."
Corran's heart sank further in his stomach, but he forced himself to push away the panic and relax. He thought back to his discussions with Luke Skywalker when he had been at the Jedi Academy, when he had once been so sure of the light and darkside and where the line between them lay. He thought of how he had once been so sure of his place between them and remembered how firm his belief had been that he would not cross the line. Perhaps this certainty had been his weak point, and perhaps he had indeed crossed that line. But this was his chance for redemption, and the Vong warrior before him again represented the line between the Lightside and the Dark.
"I am Corran Horn, Jedi and Ambassador."
"I know who you are, jeedai," Tinkara spat angrily, tapping his amphistaff on the ground in annoyed gesture. "You have come to bargain with this Vong colony?"
"I come in peace, in hopes of settling this conflict between us," Corran explained evenly.
"Then you come in vain. This colony is no longer under its own control, but under the control of the Supreme Prefect. There will be no bargaining."
The young Vong placed his amphistaff in what appeared to Corran to be an attack stance. Adopting a rigid defensive stance himself, Corran took his lightsaber from his belt and activated it, its silvery hue highlighting the determination etched on his face. Surprisingly enough, though, Corran felt no fear, no anxiety over the battle that was now facing him. Instead he felt only peace. Then the realization hit him. That's always been my problem, hasn't it, always thinking of what I should be feeling? My thoughts of my friend clouded my judgement and my feelings before, when I should have let what I knew in my heart guide me. Corran relaxed his stance and opened himself to the Force, allowing his body and mind to become one.
Feeling the Force penetrate every facet of his being, Corran sensed Ganner, semiconscious but still in the near vicinity. He sent out a warning for Ganner to bust out if possible and warn the others of a major threat. Ganner seemed to hear him, and sent a silent acknowledgement of Corran's request through the Force.
Hearing Corran's order through the Force, Ganner forced himself to come completely back to consciousness. He hadn't a clue how the two of them became separated, but he had a feeling it would soon become clear. He determined he couldn't have been down for more than a minute, and observed that he was now belly-down on the ground, arms sprawled out before him. His danger sense tingling, he pulled his lightsaber from beneath his robe, activated it, and rolled around on his back, using his left arm to hold himself up off the floor.
His precaution proved to be a smart one. One Vong, who appeared to have been standing behind him, pounced on him with an amphistaff. Ganner deflected him with his lightsaber, and pushed him back, giving him time to get back on his feet. The Vong attacked once again, but this time Ganner was completely ready. The Vong charged him, amphistaff horizontal as if the warrior intended to run him through.
Ganner placed his saber at level with his waist and held it parallel to the floor. With one swift stroke, he swung the blade over to his left, and then back to his right. The Vong, who was so focused on his own move, never saw the swing of the lightsaber coming. The swing severed his amphistaff, and the weapon, at least for the moment, became useless.
Shocked, the warrior halted long enough for Ganner to make his final move. Recentering his lightsaber, Ganner once again held the blade parallel to the floor, this time pushing it forward and stabbing the Vong's unprotected gut through with it.
The Vong rocked back and forth, his face contorting in pain. At last, he rocked back one final time and stumbled backward onto the floor, where he laid motionless. Not giving it another thought, Ganner closed down his saber and darted out the door of the building, heading for his X-wing. He notified his R5 unit by comm to warm the ship up and have the hatch open for him. The droid replied in the affirmative, and Ganner spotted the hatch of his X-wing, which was now in view, open. Still running as fast as he could, Ganner jumped up using the Force and vaulted into the ship. As he placed his helmet on his head and strapped in, he told his droid to talk to Whistler and have Corran's fighter ready for him. Ganner hated leaving him there, but orders were orders, and this time Ganner wasn't going to argue them or disobey them. At least not yet. As the ship finished warming up, Ganner prepared to take off.
Corran knew he had a fair chance. Even though little was known about the Vong, Corran's detecting skills from his Corsec days and what little knowledge they had of the Vong told him volumes. The Warrior before him was young and had a distinct lack of scars, which were normally worn by the Vong with pride. This lack of scars told Corran that this Vong was either not worthy or just inexperienced. Judging from the age of the Vong and his obvious anger at losing his father to a jeedai, Corran was banking on the latter, giving him an edge.
The first attack was swift however. The warrior positioned himself and made an upstrike to the right of him, which was aimed at taking Corran's face off. But Corran blocked down to the left. The Vong's move had been swift but had too much weight behind it, and the warrior had leaned in too far and was off balance. Corran's block further tipped the warrior's balance, and Corran stepped slightly to the right and raised his lightsaber at an angle connecting with the warrior's jaw, causing him to fall backwards.
As the Vong began to fall back, he brought the amphistaff across in a horizontal swing. Corran moved to dodge but still caught a glancing blow on his left knee. He staggered but managed to keep his balance, the lack of cracking sounds telling him it wasn't broken. Even so, Corran could tell there was enough damage to restrict movement.
Once the blow to Corran's leg had connected, the Vong warrior pushed his weight forward, using his amphistaff to balance himself and stop his descent, finally getting himself back to a standing position. For this split second, the warrior was leaning forward on his staff, and Corran saw the next move he needed to make clearly through the Force. Gritting his teeth through the pain of pivoting on his left leg, he brought himself to face the side of the Vong warrior. Corran stopped level, swinging his lightsaber and cutting through the unsuspecting warrior at his midsection. The two halves of the Vong warrior fell to the ground and Corran heard the hiss of his lightsaber powering down, although he was unaware of having done so.
Corran stood straight, surprised and uncertain because of the ease of his success. But the Force was with him, he was sure of that now. And he would know if and when another attack would ensue. He turned to go, hoping to find Ganner, but realizing that it would be almost impossible in an arena full of stadium seats to not find at least one other Vong warrior present. Ganner would have to wait and fend for himself. There was someone else here...Corran knew that, and it didn't take a danger sense in the Force to tell him that, common sense did.
He slowly turned, scanning the semicircular room's seats, but no one seemed to be present. This couldn't be. Even back on Ithor, Shedao Shai had another Vong at his side. Corran doubted this time would be any different. And then he spotted him...up in the west side of the room, squatting as if hoping not to be spotted just yet.
Knowing he had been seen, the Yuuzhan Vong warrior rose and descended the steps, carrying with him an amphistaff. The Vong reached the arena floor and stood before Corran, gazing at him measuringly. Corran returned the gaze, making sure he had the hilt of his lightsaber ready if he needed to activate the weapon.
This Yuuzhan Vong had many scars. The skin of his face seemed to droop as though if touched, it would slide right off the bones it covered. His nose appeared to have been broken countless times, and his jaw was somewhat offset. His body likewise was marred by many scars and contortions such as a missing finger on his left hand.
Corran knew this Yuuzhan Vong was a true warrior. And this Vong might be the real reason he was pushed into this arena to begin with. Corran wasn't certain of the circumstances, but he was certain of this...the battle wasn't over yet.
"Well, jeedai," the Vong said, adding extra emphasis to the word jeedai, "You have done what I was to do. You have defeated the enemy."
"Yes. Shai's son arrived with the worldship a day before you arrived. The Prefect has taken over our planet, and brought it into his new order, an order that this colony would prefer to not be a part of. But Tinkara wanted to face you to avenge his father, and somehow he managed to trace you here. Now instead he has allowed you to kill a line of Yuuzhan Vong warriors. But that is not my concern. We left our galaxy and adapted this planet's terrain to avoid this galactic war, and because of you, we have now been forced into it regardless. You will answer to the gods because you have betrayed us to our people, jeedai."
The Vong, apparently angry, raised his amphistaff as if to stab Corran with it. But Corran was on his guard, and met the amphistaff with the silvery blade of his lightsaber. Momentarily surprised by Corran's quickness, the Vong stumbled back slightly, but regained his footing.
Again the Vong raised his amphistaff, this time swinging it down and parallel to the floor, as if to cut Corran through with it. Corran could not feel the intentions of the Vong, but he could ever so slightly see the pathways of the amphistaff. Because of this, he was able to side step the swing. The Vong swung again, this time to the other side, and this time with more force. Once again, Corran was able to avoid the swing by tracing the motion of the amphistaff.
Corran allowed the Force to flow, following each move of the amphistaff with it and no longer permitting himself and his mind to get in the way. With each swing of the staff, the warrior before Corran became more angered and more aggressive, much like the Darkside of the Force. Corran used this likeness to his advantage. In being quick and aggressive, the Vong lost out on strategy, and wouldn't see Corran's slow and methodical plan working its way into the picture.
As the Vong's strong attacks slowly began to tire him out, Corran pushed his lightsaber away from him and out more to block the amphistaff blows. In doing this, Corran forced his attacker to work in a larger circle in which he would have to establish more control of his weapon and his prey. The Vong was fairly successful at keeping control at first, keeping Corran in a small circle in the middle of the room and keeping his amphistaff fairly parallel to the floor and away from his middle. The amphistaff made brief contact with Corran's right hip, and he winced at the sudden shooting pain.
The warrior thought he'd won at last. He raised his amphistaff above his head and prepared to charge Corran, unprepared for the next move Corran knew he had to make. With one swift motion, Corran lowered his lightsaber to his waist and held it parallel to the ground. He eyed the Vong now coming at him full force, and gauged his speed, timing out when he would need to make his move. At last, he thrust the saber forward, pushing it through the midsection of his attacker.
Taken by complete surprise, the warrior released his amphistaff and allowed it to hit the arena floor. He stumbled back, and toppled on his back to the floor, life draining from him.
Corran knew the battle was finally over, the battle here and the battle within himself. He kept his lightsaber activated and walked over to the arena door, which appeared to still be tightly sealed. After only a minute, Corran was able to cut himself a hole large enough for him to squeeze through. Limping, he made his way to his X-wing.
Whistler, who had already spotted his master, opened the hatch. Corran used the Force to jump into the open hatch of the ship. He put his helmet on and lowered the hatch of the fighter as Whistler tootled something at him and the translation scrolled across the screen.
"Ganner got out," Corran acknowledged. "Good. Now let's get out of here too."
The droid whistled and affirmative. In minutes the fighter was off the surface and heading through atmosphere. "Is that worldship still out there?" Corran asked the droid as he guided the ship to space.
Whistler informed him that it was.
"Great. Leave it to the Vong to spoil a getaway."
As the atmosphere of the planet below morphed into space, Corran realized he was no longer alone. A large shuttle...a rather familiar shuttle, was firing on the worldship, attempting to hold it at bay.
"Sithspawn!!!" Corran gasped. "That's the Errant Venture!"
Corran's comm unit crackled. "Corsec, I believe you owe me something for this," Booster's voice boomed. "Get on the ship. We're busting out of here."
"I copy that, Booster. On my way."
After vaping a few persistent coralskippers, Corran maneuvered his X-wing into the docking bay of the Errant Venture.
"You in?" Booster asked over the comm.
"I'm in," Corran comfirmed.
"Then hang on. We're going to hyperspace. And don't get any ideas, Corsec, this still isn't your personal yacht."
"I copy that," Corran said, smiling to himself. While waiting for the EV to go into hyperspace, Corran reflected on the events of the day, at last feeling a sense of closure to all of his concerns over the events of Ithor. In killing the Tinkara Shai and the Vong warrior Corran had felt no statisfaction. He had killed him not in anger because he wanted revenge, but because it was necessary. Corran smiled to himself, not because of the Yuuzhan Vongs' deaths, but because he had not strayed from the Lightside...he had become stronger in it.
"Okay, Corran, we're clear in hyperspace, you can get out of your fighter," Booster said over the comm, interrupting Corran's thoughts.
"Thanks Booster," Corran responded.
"You haven't begun to cover the thanks I deserve for that one, Corsec, but your welcome anyway."
With that, Corran unstrapped and cut the engines of his fighter off. He raised the hatch of the ship, and removed his helmet. After placing it behind the seat, he vaulted over the open hatch, hitting the floor of the shuttle. "Sithspit!" he grumbled to himself, feeling pains in his right hip and left leg.
As he sent some Force energy out to each wound, he didn't notice the figure approaching him. "Corran," a sweetly familiar voice called softly from in front of him.
"Mirax," he mumbled, looking up from his wounded left leg. She reached out with both arms. He did the same, and enfolded her in a long embrace.
"How did you get here?" Corran asked her at last. "I thought I told you to stay in Chiss space."
"You'll have to thank Ganner for that one later. He wanted you two to be able to make a quick break for it in a big ship if you needed to, and he proved to be correct."
"Good guy, that Ganner."
"Indeed. Anything good happen?"
"Well, I was attacked by a young angry Vong and a seasoned Vong warrior, but I got out alive. The worldship arrived yesterday and the invaders took over the Vong colony there. Those Vong don't want to be a part of this galactic invasion. Maybe someday we'll be able to use that. Right now it's hard to say."
"So you did face the Vong again?" Mirax asked cautiously.
Corran nodded.
"And?"
"I stood on the Good Side of the Force, and I succeeded. Ithor happened, and I have to let that be in the past. Questioning what transpired will not change what happened and will no longer help me. The wind has been calling my name, and I have been afraid to listen, but it is time for Corran Horn to return to himself at last."

The End

Copyright 2001 by Carrie Harmer.

[ 07-11-2006 01:34 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]

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