Star Wars - [New Jedi Order 15] - [Force Heretic 01] - Remnant (by Sean Williams & Shane Dix)

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Star Wars
New Jedi Order
Force Heretic I - Remnant
Sean Williams and Shane Dix
With the New Republic shattered and a Yuuzhan Vong conquest looming, it is up to Luke, Leia, and
their loved ones to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. . . .
There are three ways to defeat your enemy. The first, and most obvious, is to better him in a trial of
force. The best, way is to have him destroy himself. . . The middle way is to destroy your enemy from
within. Judicious application of the middle way shall make your blows more effective if you later take the
way of force. From the middle way it is also possible to push your enemy onto the path of
self-destruction.
-UUEG TCHING of Kitel Phard, Fifty-fourth Emperor of Atrisia
PROLOGUE
Saba Sebatyne knew the moment she emerged from hyperspace that Barab I was burning. Where the
planet normally displayed a cloudy, gray face lit by the glow of its primary, a sullen red dwarf, her
infrared sensitive eyes now saw a fiery inferno. Smoke billowed high into the planet's atmosphere as the
surface below boiled in outrage at some recent violation.
Wanting to suppress the dread welling up inside of her, wanting to deny what she was seeing, Saba
banked her X-wing into a steep dive toward the surface so she could take a closer look.
This couldn't be happening, she told herself. There had to be someone left alive down there, surely.
But her monitors were empty. There were no ships in orbit; no transmission sources; no signs of life.
"This iz Saba Sebatyne," she spoke into the comm unit. "If anyone can hear this broadcast, please
respond. Anyone."
Silence was her only answer, scratched with static.
She shook her flattened, leathery head, hoping in vain to lose the vision, the thought, the truth. So many
worlds had fallen since the Yuuzhan Vong had first invaded the galaxy-but not Barab I. While a part of
her had always known it was a possibility, she hadn't really imagined that it would ever actually happen to
her homeworld.
She clicked the comm to try again-not because she seriously expected a response, but because there
seemed nothing else to do.
"Reswa?" Her voice broke on the emotions rising at the thought that her hatchmate might have perished in
those cruel fires. It was for Reswa she had been returning to her home planet in the first place. Her
hatchmate was to embark on her coming-of-age ritual shenbit bone-crusher hunt, and she had asked
Saba to be her witness in this. It was an honor to be asked, and a rejection of the invitation was regarded
as highly insulting-especially when the one asking was a close family member.
Family .. . the word had never sounded so empty as it did now. Friends, family-they were all gone.
Nothing could have survived the flames that now ravaged her homeworld. And the closer she came to
the surface of the planet, the more horror she saw. Alater-ka Spaceport was a smoldering crater; the
shenbit reserves were now nothing but bubbling lava plains; the Shaka-ka memorial was sliding
inexorably into a steaming sea . ..
She guided her X-wing through the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the ship buffeted by the upthrust of
hot gases rising from the smoking ruins of her homeworld.
"This one should have been here," she whispered. It was a foolish notion, she knew. Even had she been
here she wouldn't have made any difference to the-
All thoughts ceased.
She saw them.
Slipping around the limb of the planet, a small contingent of coralskippers-four in all-were breaking from
low orbit, where they had been out of her scanning range. They were escorting a ship the likes of which
she'd never seen before a huge, vaguely ovoid mass, its movement slow as it labored against the pull of
Barab I's gravity. It reminded Saba of a bloated balloon ready to burst.
Whatever the ship was, it and its escorts were all that remained insystem of the attack fleet that had
destroyed her world. A mopping-up squadron, perhaps. Whatever. It didn't matter. If there had been a
hundred Yuuzhan Vong battle cruisers out there, her response would have been the same .. .
She allowed the grief inside her to rise unfettered, feeling it blossom into a rage that felt perfectly
satisfying, immediately easing her emotional pain. That pain, she knew, could be eased still further by
action.
Gritting her razor-sharp teeth, Saba veered off to intercept the coralskippers. They didn't see her at first,
clearly assuming that all resistance had been quashed. She was able to get in close before they realized
she was even there. Only when she was practically on top of them did the skips break formation, three of
them peeling away to come about on an attack vector. It was too late for the skip closest to the
balloonlike ship she emptied a round of laserfire into it, crying out in rage as she did so. She didn't really
expect such a crude attack to achieve anything except to get their attention, so was surprised when the
coralskipper exploded in a violent flash of crimson that flung shards of the craft far and wide.
The explosion had the unexpected effect of clearing her mind. The skip must have been already
damaged, its dovin basal disabled from recent battle with the Bara-bels. Such a simple victory, so soon in
the battle, startled her. Perhaps, she thought, she hadn't expected victory at all. She had simply gone into
the fight expecting to die- no, wanting to die. Her people were dead, and so deep down she reasoned
that she should be, too.
Now she was in a fix-and one she might not be able to get herself out of. Two of the remaining skips
were coming at her from behind, unleashing streams of molten plasma in her direction. She didn't want to
die, and her reflexes agreed. She avoided the fate of her fellow Bara-bels by rolling her X-wing and
skewing down and around her attackers. Some of the plasma reached its target, however, instantly
depleting her shields.
She didn't have time to check if the skip had stayed on her tail. Her R2 unit tootled an urgent warning off
to her port side another skip was coming in fast. She pulled up sharply, rocking unsteadily in her cockpit
as plasma balls flickered past. Saba winced. That last shot must have sheared a millimeter of paint from
her wing.
She barely had time to thank her droid for the heads-up before the first two skips returned to make
another pass at her. It was too much, she knew; if she remained on the defensive like this, then sooner or
later they were going to get her-and out in the open, she had no choice but to be defensive.
With this in mind, she moved her X-wing nearer to the larger Yuuzhan Vong craft. She kept her flying
tight, swooping in close to the massive, bulbous vessel, feeling the craft's dovin basals tugging at her
shields. They weren't as effective as the dovin basals on the other ships she'd come across in action;
these no doubt had a different purpose, although she couldn't guess what that might be.
Sweeping under the belly of the thing, confident that she was safe on at least one side, Saba gave pursuit
to the . skip whose buddy she had destroyed. It tried to shake her by swerving abruptly from side to
side, but she was able to stay on it long enough to get a bead on its dovin basal. When her target-lock
flashed, Saba loosed one of her torpedoes. She had done this enough times to sense when she'd fired a
good shot, and the second her finger squeezed the trigger, she knew she had the skip beaten. The
torpedo detonated on target, effectively downing the skip's defenses and allowing her to blast the rocky
craft into oblivion with a hail of laserfire. She called out in delight as the coralskipper fell apart in a stutter
of explosions.
She was quick to bring her emotions into check, however, when she banked her X-wing to come back
around and once again saw her planet burning. This was not a time for celebrating, she reminded herself.
Another warning from her droid. This time she didn't even pause to check where the attack was coming
from; she just rolled her X-wing in toward the main ship. The surface of the thing seemed to move in
strange and subtle undulations as she passed near it-almost like a sac filled with water-although at all
times it remained as rough as the exterior of the coralskippers. She noticed something else, too huge
tentacles that unfurled from the stern of the craft, flailing around as though reaching for Saba's ship.
"What iz this?" she said aloud, not really expecting a reply. Nevertheless, the R2 unit behind her tootled a
response. She didn't need to check her translator to know that the droid didn't have enough information
to be able to give her a proper answer.
She kept herself close in to the huge ship, veering constantly to avoid the writhing tentacles. She swung
around the underside of the vessel when one of the skips came in too close and risked taking a couple of
potshots at her. She avoided the attack easily enough, and the plasma shot harmlessly into the space
away from the balloon-ship. The skips wouldn't fire if she stood between them and their charge.
What iz it? she asked herself again. And why were the skips being so careful around it? It had no
defenses to speak of, except for the small escort of coralskippers, and its only weapon seemed to be the
tentacles that constantly lashed out at her. If there was anything else, then why didn't they use it?
There was no time to dwell upon the matter, though, Time was running out for her. She couldn't stay
defensive indefinitely. Others from the fleet would soon be making their way back to assist their
comrades, she was sure.
She pitched the X-wing again, jinking to avoid one of the tentacles while at the same time spraying a
cover of laserfire at one of the incoming skips. The shots were easily absorbed by the dovin basal's black
hole, but it was enough to make the pilot swerve out of her way. That bought her a few valuable seconds
to get herself into a better position. She pulled her fighte r up into a backward arc, coming around the top
of the massive saclike vessel and down onto the skip that had just swung past. She didn't wait to get the
dovin basal properly in her sights this time; she simply fired. The torpedo detonated too soon to be of any
use. Saba silently cursed her rashness; a wasted shot!
There was no time to bemoan her luck. She quickly brought her ship around again to pursue the lucky
skip. It released blazing plasma from its side cannons. A handful of the globules struck her forward
shields. The ship shuddered under the impact, and she snarled as her R2 unit reported a further 12
percent depletion to her shields. Determined, Saba went after the skip, doggedly tailing it around the
body of the larger vessel and keeping its dovin basal at all times in targeting reticle. Finally, with a lock on
her target, she went to depress the firing trigger. At that moment the remaining skip crested the top of the
main craft, loosing a volley of plasma. She brought the X-wing sharply around, heading directly for the
incoming skip, her forward shields taking the full brunt of the hot plasma and being reduced still further as
a result.
A tentacle whipped after her, snaking through the vacuum to strike. Instinctively, she pushed the nose of
her ship down, leaving the coralskipper behind her to plunge broadside into the thick and unyielding
appendage, effectively stripping half the craft's hull from nose to tail and causing it to spin out of control.
Saba pursued it, pounding the damaged skip with laserfire, not stopping until it disintegrated into a ball of
vapor.
An exclamation of joy died in her throat when, a split second later, she saw the remaining skip abruptly
emerge' from the vapor cloud of its fallen comrade. Saba moved easily enough to avoid it, missing the
craft by about five meters. She swung her X-wing smoothly and deftly, a confidence returning in her that
had been missing since the battle had begun. Now that she had reduced the odds, she felt she had a
much better chance of survival. All she had to do was stay focused-and be mindful of those tentacles!
The skip tried to lead her away from the main craft. She didn't mind anymore. With only the one skip
remaining, she no longer felt the need to use the huge vessel as a shield. Without the others around to
trouble her, she could take this last one out with little difficulty.
She chased the skip for several thousand kilometers out from the tentacled vessel, waiting for a decent
shot. The skip opened up with its plasma cannons, filling the space in its wake with streams of molten
plasma that rained down upon Saba's X-wing.
Her R2 unit whistled a warning her shields were totally depleted. It didn't matter; Saba had to stay on
target until the opening came. When it did, she stutterfired at the skip's dovin basal and launched a single
torpedo. A perfect shot, she knew-the instinct confirmed a moment later when the dovin basal
overloaded and the skip was left defenseless. The alien pilot attempted desperately to evade Saba's
pursuit. But it was no use. She depressed the firing button of her laser guns, and watched in satisfaction
as the bolts made their way into the rear of the enemy craft, quickly tearing it apart with a blinding flash.
Saba found herself wanting to laugh out loud at the victory. It was an emotion empty of joy, containing
only bitterness and grief. What was victory when her planet hung burning behind her and her people were
dead?
She hissed savagely as she brought her X-wing around to attack the remaining Yuuzhan Vong vessel. It
swelled before her like a hideous, living moon-a target almost impossible to miss. She didn't bother with
her targeting computer. She simply aimed and fired, releasing her three remaining torpedoes into the huge
ship with grim
satisfaction.
They sank easily into the hide of the craft. Three detonations occurred in quick succession, deep within
its belly. A rent appeared in its side, outgassing fire. The tentacles flailed crazily, as if in pain.
"For this one's home," she whispered. "For this one's people."
She banked for a final pass to finish off the ship, he heart racing as she thrilled at the thought of her
impending revenge on the enemy. It was a moment she would savor for many years to come, even as she
grieved for those she had lost.
Laser bolts peppered the side of the craft, widening the rent and creating numerous new ones. To Saba's
surpris and disappointment, however, the ship didn't explodi Instead, the sac burst from top to bottom,
stretching lik a fruit left too long in the sun. From the tear poured strange translucent gel, followed by
what appeared to b a thousand six-pointed stars.
Stars? She relaxed her grip on the laser cannon trigger. How could that be? There were thousands of
them, tumbling into space, glinting in infrared starlight. They couldn't be weapons, or the strange ship
would have deployed them earlier. They couldn't be bounty, either, for nothing of value on Barab I
matched those peculiar shapes. . .
She reduced speed, coming in cautiously for a better look. Her R2 unit plucked one star at random from
the jumbled mass and brought it up on her display. A sickening sensation flowered in her gut as she saw
just what the points of the "stars" were.
Two arms, two legs, a head, and a tail.
Nothing of value. . .
The thought rang in her mind as the horror of what had happened sank in. The Yuuzhan Vong didn't
value metals or jewels. Their biological sciences had no use for Barab I's usual bounty. They did,
however, take captives- and they had to transport them somehow.
My people!
Saba watched helplessly as the ship continued to spill its contents into the cold vacuum of space. Her
entire being shuddered to a grief that burned more intensely than the fires raging on the planet below. Her
last thought before tears obscured her vision was a despairing, soul-tearing cry
What have I done?
Part One
Intersection
Three Months Later
"I say we fight on!"
The voice echoed through the vast, domed hall that was serving as a replacement for the Grand
Convocation Chamber on Coruscant, where the Senate had previously met. With Coruscant currently in
the hands of the Yuu-zhan Vong, Mon Calamari had been selected as a temporary capital and now
played host to the representatives of the Galactic Alliance-a group much smaller than a full meeting of the
Senate had once been, before the Yuu-zhan Vong invasion, but still several hundred strong.
They responded to the call to fight in the fashion preferred by their individual species. There were
whistles, grunts, shrieks, and subsonic rumbles. Some waved appendages; others stamped their feet. And
others still, Leia Organa Solo among them, remained silent. She stood completely motionless, gently
extending herself into the Force to feel it crackle and flare from the conflicting emotions of those gathered
around her.
The speaker, a sour-faced Sullustan by the name of Niuk Niuv, paced the floor with an energy that
belied his size. Clearly agitated by the sudden commotion, he lifted one hand to his ear to indicate his
discomfort, while the other attempted to motion the crowd to silence. Even with his audio dampeners in
place, the level of noise around the hall still hurt his sensitive ears.
"We have them on the back foot," he said, his large black eyes roaming the assembly. "They are
overextended and ill prepared to defend themselves. They didn't expect to have to defend themselves so
late in the game-which is precisely why we must drive home this advantage! To ignore the opportunity we
have been given would be like putting our collective head back on the chopping block!"
"And who took it off the block in the first place?" The call came from the far side of the chamber. Leia
immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Thuv Shinev of the Tion Hegemony.
Niuk Niuv's face contorted into a fleshy snarl. "That is irrelevant," he said irritably.
"Really?" Shinev bellowed. "I wouldn't have thought so. Too long have some among us treated the Jedi
with contempt and suspicion. If we do have the chance now, finally, to force the Yuuzhan Vong back,
then we should at least acknowledge their opinions on the subject!"
"If you think it necessary/then by all means thank them," the Sullustan retaliated. "I'm not saying they don't
j deserve that. But to do anything less than strike back at the Yuuzhan Vong would be madness, no
matter what the Jedi say! We must prove to the Vong that we cannot be subjugated and will not tolerate
their oppression! I They have done enough. It is time for us to show them who this galaxy really belongs
to! We must strike back hard, and we must do it now."
A scattered cheer rose up among the Senators. It was loud, but not as deafening as Leia had feared it
might be. After so many crushing defeats, most of the representatives remained uncertain that the
Yuuzhan Vong could be rolled back as easily as Niuk Niuv stated. But the willingness to try was
undeniable.
As Leia's gaze swept the crowd, she caught the tall, long-faced figure of Kenth Hamner on the far side of
the chamber. From the scowl on the Jedi Master's face, Leia felt sure he was about to speak out against
Niuk Niuv. But it was another who voiced their concerns.
"What if you're right?" Leia identified Releqy A'Kla, daughter of Camaasi Senator Elegos A'Kla, who
had been ritually murdered by the Yuuzhan Vong's Corrj-mander Shedao Shai in the early days of the
war. Since she had already served in his stead during his absence, her people had voted her into her
father's position for the duration of the crisis. "What if we can beat them?"
"Then we win!" Niuk Niuv's big, round eyes were bright with anticipated glory.
"But at what cost?" A'Kla's fine, golden down shivered with intense emotion. "The Yuuzhan Vong fight to
the death, Senator. Admiral Ackbar used this very fact against them at Ebaq Nine. I don't think you truly
realize what this means."
"I realize," the Sullustan said. "And I realize that it is not our responsibility. If the positions were reversed,
they would undoubtedly do the same to us."
"I'm sorry, but my people cannot support such extermination under any circumstances," she said. She
brought her long, three-fingered hands up to her chest. "We are pacifists, Senator. We do not wish such
horrors on our consciences."
"And I respect your people's ethics," Niuk Niuv replied. Turning from her to address the entire chamber,
he continued "If there was an alternative, then I would consider it. But in the absence of any such
alternative, I am not prepared to sit back with my neck out waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to bring an
amphistaff down upon it!"
Another cheer rippled around the room.
"It's all very good for the pacifists to argue about compassion and restraint, but it is they who will benefit
from the ultimate peace that ive will bring about with our actions!" Niuv faced Releqy A'Kla once again.
"What good is pacifism if you are dead, Senator?"
Releqy A'Kla sank back into her chair, blinking in dismay.
"We will crush the Yuuzhan Vong," Niuk Niuv concluded to the Galactic Alliance representatives
gathered, punching a fist into the air. "And we will send their remains back where they came from!"
The cheer was louder this time. Leia's fellow Alder-aanian, Chief of State Cal Omas, said nothing. It
would have been pointless at this stage, with the majority now so evidently behind Niuk Niuv's
sentiments.
Across from her, Leia saw Hamner's scowl deepen as he shook his head and slipped silently from the
huge hall.
"Finally, we are vindicated."
In a room not far from the domed hall in which the Senators met, a gathering of Jedi Knights and Masters
looked similarly reduced in numbers but was no less passionate. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker had called
the meeting to discuss strategies for the coming stages of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Waxarn Kel,
the current speaker, paced in front of the gathering like a caged howlrunner. His face and hairless scalp
were pink with fresh scars, indicating just how close he had come to being another victim of the Yuuzhan
Vong anti-Jedi vendetta.
"Explain," Luke said. He sat on the stage at the front of the chamber, one knee raised to support the
elbow of his right arm, and that hand supporting his chin. The unnatural coolness of the hand's artificial
skin against his jaw helped keep his head clear.
Kel looked up at him with a frown. "Do I really need to?" he asked with a mix of irritation and surprise.
Then, to the rest of the Jedi, he said, "We've been slandered, hunted, and butchered from one side of the
galaxy to the other. We became the scapegoat for everything the New Republic brought upon itself
because of its complacency and inability to act. We told them things they didn't want to hear, and what
was our reward? We were damned for it, that's what. But now we have been vindicated. The trap on
Ebaq Nine and the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vorig have shown that we are a force to be reckoned with.
Vergere's sacrifice will not be in vain."
"I hadn't realized that our fight was with the survivors of the New Republic," said Kyp Durron, leaning in
flight uniform against one of the chamber's fluted walls, arms folded across his chest. "I thought our battle
was with the Yuuzhan Vong."
"It is." Kel regarded Kyp with some annoyance. "The Yuuzhan Vong are our enemy-not just of every
peaceful citizen of the galaxy, but of the Jedi in particular. That's been the frustrating thing about this war.
The New Republic has thwarted our every attempt to defend ourselves. If it wasn't the Peace Brigade
actually trapping us and selling us over, it was idiots like Borsk Fey'lya holding us back. Well, now we're
free to act, and we can show them just what we are capable of doing!"
"I presume you have something in mind." Kyp's expression was neutral, but Luke sensed a cautious
interest lurking behind it-like that of someone poking at a bug's nest with a stick to see what might
emerge.
"Of course," Kel said. "We strike, and we strike hard."
"The Yuuzhan Vong?"
"Of course the Yuuzhan Vong!" Kel's eyes flashed anger. "We must act to ensure that public opinion
doesn't turn against us once again."
"How might it do that, Waxarn?" Luke asked. Kel glanced back up at Luke. The Master could feel the
scarred young Jedi Knight consciously bringing his
emotions into line.
"I fear it could happen all to easily, Master," he said, bowing slightly. "Unless we act decisively to reaffirm
our usefulness and goodwill, to prove beyond the slightest doubt that the war can only be won with our
assistance, then we risk looking weak. Or worse, looking as if our loyalty to the Galactic Alliance is
weak."
Luke smiled sagely. "Surely our loyalty is to peace."
"First and foremost, yes, Master," Kel put in quickly.
"But you have to be strong to protect peace from those who would destroy it. Sometimes it is necessary
to fightin order to bring an end to fighting. Isn't that the way
of the Jedi?"
Is it? Luke asked himself as he pondered the words of the young man before him. Luke himself had
acted more than once on the philosophy espoused by "Waxarn Kel and those like him. The cry had been
taken up several times throughout the war with the Yuuzhan Vong by those tempted to take the
seemingly easy route through the dark side rather than brave the ambiguities of the Force.
Luke didn't think Kel had fallen to the dark side, though. There was none of the anger and hatred in the
young man that Luke could sense in a handful of others presently around him. They remained quiet,
allowing Kel to speak their words for them. But it wasn't difficult for Luke to read their feelings. So many
had been hurt by the Yuuzhan Vong and the Peace Brigaders that desiring retribution was, perhaps, only
natural. Natural wasn't necessarily right, though, and part of Luke's job was to ensure that those in his
charge weren't led astray. None of the Jedi in the room had yet fallen to the dark side, and for that he
was thankful. Some of them had taken a wrong turning here and there, just as some were being tempted
to do now. But Luke had faith in all of them-even those who disagreed vehemently with his own opinions.
He was sure that the collective wisdom of the Jedi, their strong belief in the healing, sustaining energies of
the Force, would gradually assuage the grief they all felt for loved ones who had died in the war-as well
as for themselves.
Luke straightened and dropped down onto the floor of the room to face Waxarn Kel. Once considered
handsome, he was now scarred almost beyond recognition. And it was from this that Luke felt the man's
emotions stemmed. Every time Kel looked in the mirror, he would be reminded of what the war had
done to him and those he loved, and his anger and hatred would grow.
The dark side can beckon to us from so many quarters, Luke thought.
"If we strike now," Kel said, undeterred by being eye to eye with the great Jedi Master, "we can do the
most damage. But if we wait too long, our enemies will have time to recover and-"
"Do you believe that this is why we have survived as long as we have?" Luke interrupted calmly.
"Because our enemies are weak? Did those of us who have fallen in battle do so because they were
weak?"
Kel blinked as a look of uncertainty passed over his face. "Master, I would never think that-"
"Of course not," Luke continued smoothly. "The Yuuzhan Vong are a powerful species, and they have
used our weaknesses against us just as we are learning to use theirs. No species is perfect, and no war is
won purely by strength. There are many other factors that must be considered."
Kel nodded, lowering his eyes. "Yes, Master."
Luke inwardly cringed. Kel was addressing him as a droid would its owner.
"Under my leadership," Luke said, "we have seen special combat units trained and led by the Jedi making
a decisive difference in battle-yet at the same time I refuse to allow a Jedi to stand for political office. So
do you think me weak?"
The young Jedi was shocked at the suggestion. "Master, that's not what-"
Luke tried again. "I have formed a new Jedi council and placed non-Jedi upon it," he said. "Is that the
action of a weak individual?" "No, Master."
Before Luke could speak again, he was interrupted by a low chuckle from Kyp Durron. He faced him,
lacing his hands together behind his back. "Yes, Kyp?" he said.
"Master, I know you are weak." Durron bowed formally at the waist-but with respect, not sarcasm. "As
am I." His hand lightly swept around to indicate the room. "As is everyone here. But I am proud of my
weakness, for it makes me who I am. Forgetting one's weakness is a sure recipe for disaster."
The door to the chamber opened, and Luke turned to see Kenth Hamner step into the room. Luke
nodded acknowledgment, hiding his disappointment that it wasn't Jaina. His niece was running late for the
meeting, and he I couldn't help but feel worried. The loss of Anakin, Jaina's I younger brother, struck
deep into the part of him that was all too human the part that had turned away from Master Yoda's
teaching to rescue his friends; the part that loved his wife, Mara, and his son, Ben, more deeply than
anything else in the galaxy; the part that could fully understand the need to strike back at those who had
hurt the ones he loved. He wouldn't blame himself for loving, or call it a weakness, but he would blame
himself for not meeting his duty of care. Aside from Jaina, too many of the Jedi were missing from this
meeting Tarn Azur-Jamin, Octa Ramis, Kyle Katarn, Tenel Ka, Tahiri Veila ... If they were dead, he
would feel as though he had failed each and every one of them.
Waxarn Kel had turned a faint crimson under his scars. Luke couldn't tell if Kyp Durron's point-the one
Luke himself had been trying to make-had finally hit home, or if the young man was simply embarrassed
fo r looking something of a fool in front of his colleagues. And some of those were becoming restless
again; the tension in the air was palpable. Despite the recent turnaround in the fortunes of the Jedi, there
were clearly still some who thought his leadership flawed.
"Thank you, Kyp," Luke said, reciprocating the bow. "There is more to winning this war than military
might allows. Remember that, all of you, and we may yet win it in a way that saves us from ourselves,
too."
He swung back up into his sitting position on the stage and caught Jacen's eye in the process. His
nephew, standing apart from the others at the back of the hall, nodded slightly, then turned his attention
forward as Waxarn Kel sat down and the next person stepped up to speak his mind.
"Same meat, different bantha."
Cal Omas snorted at Kenth Hamner's words. Although the Jedi physically towered over him and he
found the man's dour expression impenetrable, the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance had developed
quite a liking for Hamner in recent weeks. Unlike most politicians, Omas had an appreciation for straight
talking.
"We didn't have bantha on Alderaan." He was standing by the immense convex viewport of his office,
staring out at the view. Beneath him, the terraced walls of the floating city swept away, merging into the
mist thrown up by the mountainous waves far below. Beyond the mist there was only the tumultuous sea,
stretching out to the horizon. He'd spent a lot of time at this view, hoping for a glimpse of the planet's
legendary krakana coming to the surface. More often than not, though, he was too deep in thought to
even notice if one had.
He glanced over his shoulder to Kenth Hamner and said, "But I do know what you mean."
A murmur of assent rolled through the small group of people seated before him.
Two hours had passed since the meetings of the Senate and the Jedi. Omas had called a select group of
people together to discuss the outcomes of both meetings apart from Hamner, both Skywalkers were
there, along with Leia Organa Solo, Releqy A'Kla, and Sien Sow, the Sul-lustan Supreme Commander
of the slowly re-forming Galactic Alliance military. In other words, people he could trust-and people he
could use, in the best possible sense of the word.
"I called you here to ask for your help." He turned now to face everyone in the room. "Because I have to
tell you, I am altogether sick of fighting."
"The Yuuzhan Vong?" Mara Jade Skywalker asked. She was sitting at the long, oval transparisteel table,
her husband standing beside her.
Omas shrugged noncommittally. "Borsk Fey'lya was bad enough. Fighting him every step of the way
used to make me want to weep. The losses we incurred because of his stupidity ..." He shook his head,
wanting to lose the memory. "He's gone now, and I had the momentary foolishness to think that it would
somehow make things easier. But I was wrong. His death has sent the Bothans on this crazy ar'krai war
of theirs, and I have one of my senior admirals arguing for an all-out push to wipe out the Yuuzhan Vong
once and for all. I take it to the Senate, and all I hear is more of the same from them. Even the Jedi-"
"Not all of us." Luke Skywalker's frown was deep, as though he'd been personally stung.
Omas respectfully inclined his head to the Jedi Master, and to A'Kla, who had stiffened in her seat.
"Forgive me," he said. "No, not all of the Jedi, and not all of the Senate, either. But there's too much
craziness out there for any real decisions to be made."
"Should I take it, then," Leia said, "that you don't approve of the final push?"
"You're asking a politician to buck the public's will?" Omas laughed lightly, humorlessly, as he returned to
his seat. He sank into it with a sigh. "The truth is, I wouldn't commit our forces to attack at the moment,
whether I wanted to or not. We've made some small progress against the Yuuzhan Vong, yes, and we
seem to be holding our own at the moment, but if we overextend we'll just be putting ourselves in their
position. Until we have enough in reserve to defend ourselves, should such a push go wrong, I'm not
prepared to authorize anything dramatic. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing what small advantages
we've gained, and maybe even ending up worse off. We need to consolidate first, then fight back."
"I wondered why Traest wasn't here for this," Hamner said. "He's not going to approve of this decision, is
he?"
"He'll have to live with it. Kre'fey is a good strategist, and he stuck by us when we needed him, but he's
not my Supreme Commander. I trust Sien on this."
Sien Sow nodded, his big, black eyes blinking. "Consolidation is the key. I'm not going to stick my neck
out until I'm sure my vibro-ax is bigger than the Vong's."
"Discretion is the better part of valor," Mara said.
"Perhaps. If I had the forces at my disposal right now, maybe I would feel differently." Sow shrugged.
Skywalker nodded. "A push would be harder to argue against, in that case. I understand. It becomes a
moral argument, then. If we do attack with intent to destroy, does that make us any better than the
Yuuzhan Vong themselves?"
There was silence around the table. Omas studied each of them in turn. Skywalker looked worried, and
his wife was watching him closely. His sister, Leia, had the tight-faced reserve he had learned meant that
she was thinking carefully about everything going on around her. Kenth Hamner and Sien Sow were
military through and through, used to arguing in terms of resources and objectives, but on less firm footing
when it came to philosophy. Senator A'Kla was the only one displaying any clear emotion. The
Camaasi's golden fur was practically
bristling with agitation.
"Yes, Releqy?" Omas knew what she was going to say before she had even opened her mouth. That was
why he had invited her to the meeting in the first place.
"I hope to speak for all of us," she said, "when I say that our ultimate objective is peace. Not just an end
to the war."
Again, a murmur of agreement swept around the table. Only Princess Leia voiced dissent. "Peace at any
cost," she said, "isn't peace." Mara was quick to back her up. "At best it would only be a temporary
cease-fire."
"We need something more permanent to base this new Galactic Alliance on apart from the defeat of an
enemy," the Princess went on. "As well as a solid infrastructure and guaranteed supplies, ships to replace
those destroyed and open hyperspace lanes, we need security and order, and-"
"What we need," Sien Sow cut in, "is Coruscant back. It's a symbol of our authority, and without it
everything we attempt is undermined."
"All valid points," Omas said, acknowledging his Supreme Commander with a curt nod. "But I fear we're
reaching for stars when we've barely managed to get out of the gutter. Keeping things together on a daily
basis, let alone rebuilding what we've lost or fighting back, is my most pressing concern at the moment.
The subspace networks and HoloNet itself are a mess. Do you have any idea how hard it will be to put
things back together when we don't even know which bit is doing what anymore? Half the pieces can no
longer even talk to each other."
"It's not as though people haven't been trying," Leia began.
"I know, I know," he said. "You and Han have put in a lot of effort, and so has Mara. Marrab, too, is
doing his best-"
"Gron Marrab?" Mara interrupted. "Surely there must be someone better for the job than that."
"Well, he's a Mon Cal, so he's local," Omas said, unable to help feeling defensive. "And besides, it's not
as if I have much choice. That's my point, really. I don't have any choices. The intelligence community
was routed when Coruscant fell, just like the Senate. All we have in its place is a lot of fine effort, but
nothing coordinated. There are at least six chains of command out there, all feeding through to different
people by different means. They don't talk to each other; I'd be surprised if there aren't still more that
won't talk to me.
"And that's when they can talk," he went on. "There are parts of this galaxy as big as the Core that we
haven't heard from for months. We don't know if this silence is self-imposed or due to infrastructure
collapse. We don't know if it's a technical problem or deliberate sabotage. All we do know is that the
communications we once took for granted have fallen into disrepair along with everything else."
"And in the absence of communications," Luke put in, "ferment breeds."
"Precisely," Omas said. "It's pointless to win a war only to watch the Galactic Alliance fall apart around
us afterward."
"Then what is it you want, exactly?" Mara asked. "I presume it has something to do with us, otherwise
we wouldn't be here."
"I need a group of people committed to bringing things back together," Omas said passionately. "A
mobile task force traveling from place to place-reconnecting the dots, if you like. Familiar, trustworthy
faces, symbols of peace and prosperity. That kind of thing. I thought of Master Skywalker first, of
course. And Leia, too. A New Republic presence will certainly help things along." "That's 'Galactic
Alliance' now, Cal," Leia said. "Yes, of course. That's going to take some getting used to." He continued
"The task force doesn't need specialist technical expertise to repair the networks where they're down;
you can call for that sort of help if needed, when the problem has been isolated. Just in case it's a military
problem, I'll provide a squadron or two for protection- but you shouldn't need anything more than that.
You're not there to intimidate, but to communicate. Open up the black spots, whatever it takes, and bring
them back into the fold. At least let them know we're paying attention, anyway."
He paused to allow others to comment. When no one did, he said, "Well, what do you think?"
Leia was the first to respond, nodding slowly and thoughtfully. "In principle, I think it's a good idea," she
said. "And I'm sure Han will agree, too."
Omas offered a faint smile in appreciation. "I was hoping this would be the case," he said. "The Falcon
would make a great support vessel."
"And you don't really have many to spare," Leia said. "I understand."
Omas glanced at Luke and was surprised to see the Jedi Master frowning. That threw the Chief of State
for a moment. What wasn't there to like about his plan? It gave the Jedi a chance to reestablish their
peacekeeping role in the galaxy while at the same time tying them ever closer to the Galactic Alliance. If
the mission was a success-and there was no reason Omas could see why it wouldn't be-then no one in
the Senate would be able to argue about the worth of the Jedi again.
"Luke?" Mara prompted, also catching her husband's frown.
The Jedi Master remained silent for a while longer, as though mulling over everything Omas had just said.
When he did speak, it was slowly, choosing each word with care.
"This would solve only half the problem," he said. "No matter how well we did our job, it would still leave
rhe Yuuzhan Vong. That's a problem that isn't going to go away, no matter how much you stifle the
agitators. But what if I told you I could solve your military problem and the moral problem in one
operation?"
"I'd be interested, naturally," Omas said, then lifted his thin shoulders and spread his arms in a
supplicating gesture. "But^ow?"
"The Imperial Remnant," Sow said, answering for the Jedi Master.
Luke looked at the Supreme Commander, nodding. "The Empire."
"They turned us down," Leia said. "Pellaeon said that he had no interest in joining forces. As far as they're
concerned, they've been holding their own perfectly well against the Yuuzhan Vong."
"And at that point, we weren't," Luke said. "But now that we're starting to hit back, they might change
their mind."
"Well, it would certainly solve the military problem," Omas said. "It would also legitimize the name of our
new government."
"The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances," A'Kla said. "Exactly. There's not much meaning to it if entire
chunks of the galaxy won't join."
Omas folded his hands before him, returning his attention to Luke. "You're proposing a diplomatic
mission, Master Sky walker?"
摘要：

StarWarsNewJediOrderForceHereticI-RemnantSeanWilliamsandShaneDixWiththeNewRepublicshatteredandaYuuzhanVongconquestlooming,itisuptoLuke,Leia,andtheirlovedonestosnatchvictoryfromthejawsofdefeat....Therearethreewaystodefeatyourenemy.Thefirst,andmostobvious,istobetterhiminatrialofforce.Thebest,wayistoha...

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