This story occurs immediately after the events of Dark Tide: Ruin. Because this contains many spoilers, do not read this unless you have already read the book. 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 Palleon 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 Palleon 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 lead 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 Ca'boath. 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 rendevous 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 who 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 dumfounded.
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."
