I, Jedi

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 23:

Corran sets to work trying to repair Mara’s ship when he feels the children scream through the Force. Heading back into the Grand Hall, he and the others find Streen in the midst of a wild wind. Once they stop him and he’s back to his senses, the old man explains that he thought he was fighting the dark man.

That night, Exar Kun comes to Corran and taunts him. He thinks Corran’s maturity makes him more ripe for conquest. Corran tells him there’s nothing he wants from Kun. Kun shows him the Invidious with Leonia Tavira aboard it. A man in gray armor is with her and seems to be the one directing her. Further, a bier upon which lies Mirax is there, too. Exar Kun can give Corran all of these things.

All he has to do is kill Luke Skywalker.

Corran will not accept that. Exar Kun doesn’t understand that life creates the Force. Everytime he destroys, he diminishes his own power. It’s already been affected by the death of Gantoris and the destruction of Carida. Kun tells him he cannot lecture him about the Dark Side of the Force. Corran reminds him that a doctor doesn’t have to contract a disease in order to cure it.

Kun goes away before showing him an image of Mirax laying there for ages, slowly aging before crumbling into ashes.

Corran laughs because he knows how to defeat Kun now.

Before he has the chance to warn Leia Organa Solo about Kun’s attempt to influence the other students, a Mon Calamari shows up warning her about a threat to her youngest child and she prepares to leave.

He asks for a moment of her time and warns her not to leave her children here with a Sith Lord trying to dominate everyone. Leia doesn’t think that they will be any safer facing Imperial assassins on Anoth. Corran asks if she really trusts all of Luke’s trainees and she says she doesn’t but she does trust him. Her husband doesn’t trust easily and he told her that she could trust Keiran Halcyon.

As president of the New Republic, she’s got some influence and knows perfectly well who he really is.

He asks to be allowed to pilot her at least. She refuses because she thinks he really wants something else. Corran explains that he believes the apprentices who’ve had some touch to the dark side in the past are the most vulnerable which includes Streen, Brakiss and Kam. They can’t exclude anyone from planning how to battle Kun or else he would know they’ve figured out how he is able to manipulate them.

When Kun tried to trick him last night, Corran was able to get a good read on him. He has the ability to influence the minds of those he knows well. He’s going to try to use that to affect Kun who will probably be relying on Streen for the time being.

Leia warns him not to change who’s in charge lest Kun notice that, too.

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• Leia was still Minister of State when she was on Yavin IV, not the president yet. And the high office is called Chief of State, not president, anyway.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 24;

Corran is working on Mara’s ship when he sees large numbers of flying predators headed toward the temple. The alarms are sounded by R2. Corran jumps into the ship and flies so fast, he overshoots the Temple. He uses the ship’s weapons to shoot down as many of the things as he can before landing.

Kam tells him that there was an attack on Master Skywalker. His niece and nephew seem to be able to communicate with Luke and have confirmed that Exar Kun is causing the problem. Corran urges him to wait until tomorrow to plan strategy for dealing with him.

Gilghal seems to think it doesn’t matter if Exar Kun can hear them plotting. Corran watches through the Force as a black thread connects Streen to Exar Kun. He sends concepts of strength and unity through the Force. Kun’s contempt comes back.

Corran explains that they must be united and to fight the darkness with light. The key is to confront Kun on their schedule, not his. They will use Streen to guard Luke’s body. Streen fears failing, but Corran assures him he will not.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 25:

Corran flies down to the obsidian temple and starts setting charges. Exar Kun appears and reminds him that his offer is not so generous this time. Corran maintains that he is evicting Kun from the temple. He’s figured out Kun cannot affect the physical world.

Kun proves him wrong by melting the charges and tossing Corran to and fro across the temple. He gives an image of Mirax blaming him for abandoning her while he played Jedi, sacrificing the children they should be having. Corran’s father is disappointed that he married the daughter of the man who hired the bounty hunter that killed him. Other images of his mother, Lujayne Forge, his unborn child confront him about his failures.

Lost in despair, Corran knows he’s failed. Then Mara Jade shows up and taunts Kun for being so pathetic. She knew real Dark Lords of the Sith who would never resort to lying ghosts and crying babies.

Even Isard would have had him analyzed and she wasn’t Force-sensitive. Vader would have just thought him quaint. And, as for his powers, the Emperor killed the Jedi so he would certainly see Kun as a failure.

Kun is about to attack again when he realizes that Skywalker has been left vulnerable again with Streen guarding him and leaves. Corran asks Mara to help him up.

They get back to her original ship and her new one by sunset. She sets his arm and gives him a datacard with information about Mirax. That’s why she’d come here and she could sense him tangling with Exar Kun from orbit.

She’s already warned the temple to expect him to arrive in need of medical care. He wants to see if Luke is okay. She pauses and tells him Luke is and that Kun is gone.

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• I’m going to assume Mara sensed Luke’s condition and Kun’s departure through the Force because they sure didn’t have time to contact the temple for all of that.

• Did Booster Terrik really hire Bossk to kill Hal? That’s never really come up before….do we know who hired Bossk?

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 26:

Corran is put into a bacta tank to heal his various injuries. During this time, Han Solo had gone after Kyp Durron, brought him back and then Luke took Kyp and Cilghal out to destroy the Sun Crusher and help Mon Mothma. Mara Jade stays for a short time before leaving, too.

After finishing treatment, Corran goes to Luke and explains he has to leave. He isn’t getting much out of this. Luke’s teaching style did not create the team that they should have been before they battled Exar Kun. Further, he disagrees with the small amount of penance Kyp had to do. For a young man who destroyed billions of people, facing his demons in a Sith temple and burying the Sun Crusher is not enough. That Luke would make this man an exalted Jedi Knight is a smack in the face to his victims. Their relatives would certainly think so.

When he was in CorSec, there were criminals who he felt were remorseful and could be redeemed. That didn’t mean he released them from any further judgment. Luke reminds him that he killed many on the Death Star and while he served the reborn Emperor.

Corran thinks that destroying the Death Star was self-defense. It was a military installation, after all. Though he did kill many while he served the Emperor, he also saved a great many more. In that case, he chose the least of many evils.

Punishment for a crime proves that all are bound by the same consequences for violating their social contract, it deters others from doing the same and establishes the moral authority of the Jedi.

Luke argues that compassion must be present, too. And they shouldn’t forget that Kyp was under Exar Kun’s control. Corran counters that Kyp may have been influenced by Kun, but wasn’t controlled by him. If he had been, Luke would be dead. But Kun spent days trying to get others to kill him rather than Kyp who could very well have done so had he wanted to.

Luke believes his CorSec training has made Corran too suspicious; Corran thinks Luke is too trusting. He points out that Obi-Wan and Yoda took a lot of risk having Luke raised on Tatooine with the name Skywalker. They had to have known that the Imperials would notice him eventually, especially once he applied to the Imperial Academy on Carida.

They trained him to be a weapon, not telling him who his father was so that he would not be vulnerable. Though Vader ended up finding out the truth and telling Luke, it only served to make Luke believe his father wanted redemption when no one else believed he was capable of it. So now that Luke defied the odds, saved his father when everything he’d been trained to believe flew in the face of it, he tries to do it with everyone else, too.

Luke points out that, if Corran leaves here, thinking there are more options than light and dark, he will be vulnerable to the dark side. Corran points out how, in CorSec, he had to restrain himself from beating domestic violence suspects, accepting bribes, even hunting down the bounty hunter who killed his father to say nothing of the Imperial officer who let him go. Corran may not have gone to the dark side and come back with Luke’s impressions, but he’s seen enough darkness in his life to know he can resist it.

He reminds Luke that he has certainly earned the title of Jedi Master but that doesn’t mean he is the perfect teacher with his first training class. In fact, he’s done reasonably well with most of his students, so he shouldn’t consider himself a failure. It’s simply that his methods are not helpful for Corran.

Besides, he’s a Corellian Jedi and he needs to find his own path. Luke reminds him that he’ll need to wait until a ship arrives to take him away. That’s when R2 shows up, bleating that an Imperial Star Destroyer is in orbit. Corran isn’t as concerned as Luke is, explaining that the SD is his ride.

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• At one point, Corran refers to Tatooine as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s homeworld. At the time this book was written, it was believed that was true – probably based upon Obi-Wan’s information in the novelization of Return of the Jedi – however, we really don’t know where his homeworld was.

• While there certainly was an Imperial Academy on Carida, was that really the same academy Luke was applying to? I thought that he was going to some random flight school that Biggs was attending?

• It’s doubtful that most Imperials knew Darth Vader had been Anakin Skywalker, so Luke’s name on an application likely wouldn’t have been noticed.

• I agree wholeheartedly with Corran that Kyp’s actions are well beyond an errant Jedi manipulated by a Dark Lord of the Sith. That the New Republic would brush his crimes under the rug because his only targets were Imperials is suspect enough; that Luke would accept him back after a couple of tests is even more worrisome. However, I disagree with Corran’s excuses about Luke helping the Emperor in Dark Empire. That actually is an example of ends-justifies-the-means that they were arguing about in chapter 15.

• Corran’s father, Hal, was killed by the bounty hunter, Bossk, who was captured but then the Imperial-CorSec liason officer, Kirtan Loor, released him. We learned this in the X-Wing books.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 27:

The Star Destroyer is the Errant Venture which belongs to Corran’s father-in-law, the smuggler Booster Terrik. Corran takes Mara’s repaired Headhunter up to the ship where Booster has him land a considerable walking distance from his office.

Booster’s people try to give him a hard time but they’re easier to dismiss than Booster himself who grabs Corran and demands to know what he’s done with Mirax. In his office, Booster wants to know how long she’s been missing and why Corran didn’t tell him.

Corran explains he only knew Mirax was alive, not where she was. He listened to everyone’s opinion and decided not tell Booster. He also thinks it’s interesting that Booster didn’t try to contact him for the past ten weeks either, not even Wedge, which says to him that Booster knew Mirax was working to track the Invids.

Booster admits he was angry to find out that Mirax was missing and Corran was here playing Jedi instead. He remembers Corellian Jedi and wondered if Corran’s priorities had changed.

Through Mara Jade’s datacard, Corran has learned that Mirax was on Nal Hutta brokering an item for a client. She might have been planning to use that deal to establish credibility with the Invids. Booster wants to go there right away, but Corran reminds him that Mirax was probably captured there, resulting in the Invids leaving the system anyway. They have to find Invidious but they have to be careful because Tavira has Force-sensitives working for her. They’ll know if Booster or Corran come looking for them.

He wants Booster to use his contacts to find out where the Invid crews are. He also wants help getting on and off of Corellia.

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• What does Booster know about Corellian Jedi that is unflattering?

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 28:

It turns out that Rogue Squadron hadn’t been able to provide documentation to get their pilots onto Coruscant as good as what Booster’s people are able to give to Corran.

On the ship, he also finds someone willing to provide him passage to Corellia which he finds has changed over the past six years. The Diktat has changed CorSec into a peacekeeping service rather than one devoted to solving crimes.

He is taken to his grandfather’s estate which is now surrounded by a gate. The house he grew up in and his grandfather’s modest home is no longer there, replaced by a huge structure. He announces himself as Keiran Halcyon and is ultimately let in. Rostek Horn greets his grandson warily, then takes him to the garden where he spends a great deal of time and which is swept for intelligence devices regularly.

He explains that those in authority felt that the information Horn knew was dangerous and a fire destroyed both his home and Corran’s. Unfortunately, the data Rostek had was not in the houses, but in computer systems all over Corellia that only he could decrypt. A few bits of information being released along with identifiable Horn flower hybrids was enough to convince the Diktat that Rostek was a treasure to be honored, so they built him this house and filled it with listening devices. The staff is supposed to report to minor officials but they were culled from lists sliced into by Rostek himself so they are loyal to him.

In fact, often his deliveries have more read into them than he intends, but he finds he can often affect the opinions of others based upon a carefully worded note accompanied by a flower.

The fact that Corran is here and using the Halcyon name leads Rostek to believe that he wants the information he’s held in check for him for 50 years. He’s stored the Halcyon legacy among the living.

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• Of course, Rostek could not have had this information for 50 years, but we’ve covered that.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 29:

Rostek has managed to digitize data and insert it into the genetic material of his plants. In fact, many of the plants he sends to the politician here contain the data relevant to them. Corran brings him up to speed on what his life has been like over lunch. They speak of Corran in the third person as if Keiran Halcyon had known him as a child. Afterwards, they dig in Rostek’s garden while the old man tells his grandson about Nejaa Halcyon.

Like his grandson, Nejaa couldn’t use telekinesis but he could absorb energy. He left for the Clone Wars when his son, Valin, was ten-years old, promising to come back. He actually survived the wars but was killed before he could return home. A Caamasi Jedi named Ylenic It’kla brought his possessions home. No body as Jedi Masters fade away upon death and no lightsaber since the Galactic Museum had asked for it. Corran confirms he has it now.

Rostek had known Nejaa’s wife, Scerra, because she’d lived nearby. Halcyon would often accompany him on cases and found he could help victims and help subdue criminals. The chest is underneath the dung pile where Rostek had buried it in a storm cellar. He’s married Halcyon’s widow and adopted their son, telling them he’d destroyed the things It’kla had brought back, but couldn’t bring himself to actually do so.

He doesn’t know how Nejaa died as It’kla didn’t provide details. He’ll let Corran look at the contents privately.

The chest contains clothing preserved in plastic, ancient tools and utensils, some coins and static holograms of Nejaa and his Jedi friends, others, such as Jan Dodonna and Bail Organa, a Caamasi who must be Ylenic It’kla, as well as his grandmother, Scerra, and his father.

He mourns the loss of the family he was supposed to have because of the Empire. He keeps the holograms and the Jedi robes before sealing the chest and hiding it. He has a renewed respect for what Rostek did and says he would like to spend the afternoon with him.

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• The chapter mentions that Nejaa died after the Clone Wars but before the Empire. We know that isn’t true, which leads us to believe that he was killed in the purges right after the wars were over.

• Corran found his grandfather’s lightsaber in the Galactic Museum in The Krytos Trap.

• The Caamasi Jedi Ylenic It’kla was mentioned in Labyrinth of Evil, Rebel Dawn and The Force Unleashed. After the Clone Wars, he lived on Alderaan and became an advisor to Bail Organa. He was one of those who helped with the formation of the Rebel Alliance.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 30:

Corran and his grandfather go to one of Coronet City’s most expensive restaurants and to an exclusive club. Rostek regales his grandson with stories of Booster Terrik before he was sent to Kessel, how Jorj Car’das took over for him and then Talon Karrde took over from there.

This encounter, dealing with his grandfather as one adult to another, helps quell some of the discomfort he’s felt since dealing with Exar Kun.

That night, he has a dream/vision of Ylenic It’kla and a Jedi General standing with him, but he realizes that he is not himself in this dream. The three of them fight three dark Jedi who resist the urges of the familiar Jedi General to return to the light.

In the role of his grandfather, Corran fights only to die just as Nejaa Halcyon did. He awakens realizing that he has been wasting time trying to be a Jedi. He should have been investigating his wife’s disappearance by hunting down the Invids.

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• Wow, brief mention of Jorj Car’das here. When last we saw him in Choices of One, he was piloting a shuttle ferrying Thrawn and the Emperor. He said he was dying and was persuaded by Thrawn to go search out the family of the the pilot who was killed while serving whats-his-name. Car’das told Thrawn then that he was turning his organization over to Talon Karrde.

• Additionally, Corran recognizes the Jedi General, but cannot think of his name, even though he knows the name of one of the dark Jedi, Nikkos Tyris.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 31:

Using the pseudonym Jenos Idanian, Corran leaves Corellia. Rostek had thought of Booster’s credentials as being marginally adequate and gotten his grandson this one instead. They do some tinkering with his background to make him somewhat attractive to pirates, though Rostek admits the real Idanian was a small-time crook that Hal almost got about 20 years ago.

He’s gotten the death warrants out on Corran removed and assures Corran that Imperial sympathizers here on Corellia live in the past, longing for the golden years of Moff Vorru and that any CorSec officials who know Corran is a rebel think too highly of Hal to try to go after him.

Corran is sorry he spent so much time in Jedi training, but Rostek doesn’t think he should dimish that. He also included some information on Jorj Car’das who disappeared about as long ago as Jenos Idanian.

Corran gives him Nejaa’s lightsaber because very few pirates wear them and because he’s not really a Jedi Knight. On board the shuttle taking him to the luxury liner Idanian is booked for, he contemplates all of this while ignoring the chatter of an enthusiastic young man named Keevy who has memorized all of Rogue Squadron’s names and profiles, but has never met any of them.

The shuttle to the luxury liner is attacked by pirates supported by Invidious. Corran uses the Force to deal with the boarding party before having Keevy come with him to the cockpit.

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• Jenos Idanian was the name Han Solo tried to deposit funds under the name of back in The Paradise Snare.

• Not sure why Corran would be interested in information about Jorj Car’das but I suppose it couldn’t hurt.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 32:

The Invidious is jamming their comms so they can’t call for help. He has one of the attendants use the scan recorders and then prepares to pilot the ship out. TIEs come out after them, ordering them to stop.

Corran treats the shuttle like a fighter and gets away, letting Keevy do the honors of taking them to hyperspace. They head to Elshandruu Pica where Rogue Squadron once saw action.

Corran thinks Errant Venture will likely be there because Booster fancies Kina Margath. He sends off a message to Errant Venture right before approaching it. They are welcomed aboard and Keevy is excited to be on such a legendary ship.

Booster explains that Mara Jade is here with Lando Calrissian who seems to be trying to break the bank here. He hopes Mara isn’t helping him, but Corran doesn’t think so. They talk about sending Keevy down to talk to Lando about the Death Star mission.

Mara appears, wearing some of Lando’s clothing. Apparently, he has taken to getting rid of her clothing, trying to provide her with things he wishes she’d wear so she’s started raising his closet. They are in business together, but that’s it.

She asks about Luke and he indicates that he was rather hard on him before he left. They have a discussion over whether or not Luke overemphasizes the dangers of the dark side. He looks for evil to be blatant, whereas, a lot of times, it’s just plain.

She agrees in general but she can’t really overemphasize the Emperor’s use of the dark side. He also mentions he left because he needs to see Kyp Durron get some justice. That, and go after Mirax. He has a datacard on Jorj Car’das whom she asked about while he was undergoing a bacta dip.

She tells him she’s heard nothing knew on Mirax but that the situation on Nal Hutta has changed. Corran knows that, but he will at least be able to narrow his search.

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• Elshandruu Pica was in The Bacta War, as was Kima Margath

• When did Mara ask Corran about Jorj Car’das? Chapter 26 had Corran’s bacta treatments and there was nothing in there about that conversation.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 33:

Booster has had the scan recordings taken from the shuttle during the pirate attack and identifies it as the Backstab which was part of a pirate gang operated by Jacon Nive. They’d been largely destroyed by Imperial and the remnants are known as the Survivors. They are part of the Invids now. They are basing themselves out of the fourth planet in the Khuiumin system. It might be the new Invid base.

Booster wants to fly in and threaten them with the Venture if they don’t give up Mirax. Corran isn’t sure they know where she is, but they might be a way to find her. Booster points out that these guys are tough, so going in and asking questions might not help. Corran suggests he bring Niva a welcoming present to soften him up.

The planet is called Courkrus and Corran flies toward the city of Vlarynya. They don’t report what’s really happened to the shuttle lest it blow his cover. However, Booster sends a message to Rostek to explain what’s going on.

When Corran gets there, the pirates haul him off to their bosses. Jacon Nive is there along with a woman – Tyresi Gurtt - with close cropped dark hair and eyes, along with a mechanical hand with no synthflesh on it. Another man, Remart Sasyru, is tall and handsome.

Still using the Idanian ID, Corran explains he was impressed with their operation and, since he had to use the shuttle to escape, he thought he’d make it a gift in exchange for being allowed to join them. He claims to have shot one of the pirates who boarded, but left the other – a man named Biril – with friends.

Nive thinks they might have a place in Rock Squadron but warns Idanian that they don’t prey on each other here.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 34:

Corran is taken to Nakk Kech who leads Rock Squadron. He doesn’t think much of the place where they are billeted, but Kech points out the only place he has to be tough is in the cockpit.

Kech takes him to two battered tri-fighters and tries Corran out on one. He’s suitably imporessed enough to let Corran in on a simple mission coming up. They hit a ship that contains a passenger who had been captain of one of the two Star Destroyers responsible for wiping out much of the original pirate gang.

He appreciates the larger cockpit but misses Whistler. When they reach the Galaxy’s Chance, a liner run by a rival of Booster’s that has managed to earn the latter’s ire by painting it bright red, Corran notes that a private yacht enters the system, too, escorted by Headhunters.

The yacht heads off but the escort comes after Corran and his new squadmates. Corran does his best not to kill any of them. He tells Nive that the other pilots are just doing their jobs and may back off in the future if they know they won’t be killed. Nive likes the lack of bloodthirstiness he brings to the squadron and hopes it passes to the others.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 35:

Corran starts working on training his squadron on Vlarnya where he gets a pleasant small-town feel. After getting in a fight with Remart in a local Cantina, he bonds with his Shistavenan wingmate, Caet, who explains the man is a bully and got voted out of Rock Squadron and into the Bolt Squadron. She suspects that the Bolts are tired of him, too.

He’d preyed on her vulnerabilities and used them against her. She was glad to see him gone. Corran sympathizes with her. Caet notices that he is hiding pain, too. Corran admits he is missing his lover but alters the story to make it look like he has a profitable reason to fly with the Invids.

She tells him the best way is to get aboard the Invidious. He can either move up by becoming a member of the Bolts, as they get noticed, or taking advantage of Admiral Tavira’s appetite for men. He knows that he has to get aboard that ship so asks Caet what they can do to make him a Bolt.

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• During the cantina fight, there are some funny moments when Corran tosses up joke after joke about Corellians.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 36:

The Khuiumin Survivors are not the only Invid-related pirates that are utilized by Tavira so Corran and Caet’s plan to get him into the Bolts takes time. Rock Squadron gets about one mission per month. They haven’t run into the Rogues yet, but they have tangled with Y-Wings in an engagement that cost them Captain Kech.

Tavira had taken off early because she’d gotten word that one of her other gangs encounter three Republic cruisers and managed to get there in advance. Corran knows she could only have gotten that information from the Force adept helping her.

Tavira decides to hit Xa Fel and includes the Rocks in the squadrons sent to the Invidious for the jump. Corran has been working with them, helping them to minimize damage and fatalities. He always couches his instructions in what is profitable for them and secretly vows to make Remart pay for killing locals on landspeeders just for the fun of it.

When the Invidious is pulled out of hyperspace early, Corran sees that anl Interdictor Cruiser is waiting for them. A Mon Cal Star Cruiser and a Star Destroyer is with it….along with Rogue Squadron.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 37:

Corran tells his fighters to use ion cannons on the Y-Wings, leave the X-Wings alone. Captain Gurtt questions this and he explains to her that they need to get out of this system. They should be backing out of the gravity well so that Invidious can escape, not fighting Rogue Squadron.

He uses the Force to tap Tycho Celchu’s mind and try to give him an impression of Corran’s presence. It doesn’t work well. Corran tries to avoid fighting his comrades but they don’t make it easy. He’s pursued by Gavin, then Ooryl. The latter ends up EVing with Corran wishing he could use the Force to help him.

Then Tycho comes after him and he has to resort to using one of his friend’s strategies to avoid being vaped before he lands on the Invidious.

Admiral Tavira herself approaches the pilots, elevating Captain Gurtt because of the strategy that saved them. Gurtt volunteers that Idanian came up with it. Tavira decides that Idanian should be moved to the Bolts, something that Remart is unhappy with. After all, the Bolts vote on their members.

Tavira announces the vote and they all agree. She further has them vote on making Idanian captain of the squadron which they also all agree to. She despises democracy, but finds value in this kind of unanimity. Warning Corran not to give her reason to question her decision, she walks away. He notes that Remart doesn’t look happy. It is him who is likely to get Tavira’s attention if he doesn’t watch it.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 38:

Most of the Bolts accept Corran but Remart and a couple of others aren’t so conciliatory. Corran puts all three of them in one flight and hopes to have the chance to toss them at the Rogues or one of Cracken’s A-Wing squadrons.

It’s not Jedi-like but he has other things to worry about right now. He examines the Xa Fel raid and finds out that the Republic hadn’t been waiting for them. It turns out they were taking action against Kuat Drive Yards because the officials had ignored orders to stop polluting the planet. Not much had been done during the Thrawn and Emperor campaigns, but now the New Republic was intent on enforcing them.

This means that her Force-sensitive advisors can only read threats to her and Invidious, not the future in general. He tries to find some way to use this to an advantage as time passes.

Tavira has the squadrons brought in for debriefing and the Survivors are last. Corran is there with Nive, Tavira and one of her advisors. She asks about his impressions of the battle, noting that one of her advisors felt a presence there. She asks if he has ever heard of a Jedi Knight.

Corran fills his mind with images of holodramas and news sources, hoping that the Force adept will get the wrong impression. He says he studied the Jedi as a child, not knowing how dangerous it was. He knows the New Republic has more Jedi and that one blew up Carida. Then he claims that the X-Wing who tailed him at Xa Fel must have been Luke Starkiller or Biggs Skywalker or whatever his name is. After all, the Jedi blew up the Death Star with a proton torpedo and the other pilot shot a couple, too.

Tavira is impressed that he has linked the Jedi with Rogue Squadron. She wants him to spearhead a new assault in a few weeks and hopes he’s up to the challenge.

After his meeting is over, he’s glad to know he has confirmation that her advisors were Force-sensitive, but not very well trained. He is concerned that his use of the Force was detected during the battle.

He ends up in a cantina where Remart buys him a drink. He isn’t sure what to think of that until he’s told that Remart has a date with Tavira after their next outing. Corran finds the admiral attractive and would never betray Mirax, but he doesn’t like the idea of Remart with her, least of all because he would turn into a worse terror. His comrades think it’s just jealousy.

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• Starkiller was originally intended as Luke’s last name so chapter is a callback to that. However, we can also recognize it as the code name of Vader’s apprentice, Galen Marek, in The Force Unleashed.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 39:

In preparation for the new raid, they are headed to Kerilt which contains the colony Morymento that is made up of a huge segment of Caamasi refugees. Well before Corran was born and right after the Clone Wars, the planet was attacked in such a way that made it a dead world, but no one knew who ordered or carried it out. Furthur, no one knew why.

Supplies are often provided by those sympathetic to the Caamasi and more so since the death of the Emperor. This makes them prime targets for all kinds of pirate activities.

The Invids have found such a raid going on now conducted by brutal Thalassian pirates who are also known for being slavers. Corranr reaches out with the Force and finds his pilots, lands and sees Remart with his hand raised against a Caamasi.

Remart explains they found the Thalassians here and were killed per instructions. The Caamasi’s home had been looted by the Thalassians so Remart thought he’d grab their loot to take to the admiral. The Caamasi objected to this.

Corran will not let him harm the being and, when Remart presses, offers the excuse that he needs a servant. He fights Remart over the issue, finding that the jewelry is mementos of the family destroyed on Caamas. The Caamasi’s daughter wanted one particular piece back which Remart refused unless she submitted to his demands.

After the fight, he returns the jewelry and insists the Caamasi, named Elegos A’kla, does not have to be his servant. Elegos points out that it is the only way his superiors will believe his story. By protecting his benefactor, Elegos also protects his people from repercussions of this event.

Corran doesn’t want to take him away from his family and friends, but tells Elegos to meet him in an hour. If he doesn’t make it on time, Corran will understand.

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• Well, we know that Caamas was attacked right after the Clone Wars but we know that Corran had to have been born by then. We learned about the attack in Coruscant Nights #2: Streets of Shadows in whch the Empire claimed some leftover Separatist weapons did it. It was largely understood the Empire itself was responsible as the Caamasi were protesting increased taxes on the arts. What mystery could be there? Well, Mara Jade did imply there was something else beyond that in Isard’s Revenge.

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They are all taken aboard the Invidious where Corran tells everything except the fact that there was actual jewelry. He claims Remart was beating Elegos for having nothing to take. No pirate would actually give loot back to his victims so he’s pretty certain that the interrogators will not believe Remart’s side of the story.

Elegos starts to help him treat his wounds when Tavira arrives. She thinks that he resented Remart for her attentions to him and wanted to prove that he was the superior man, so he goaded Remart into fighting him.

Tavira had him executed for attacking a superior officer. She offers him the role of Remart’s replacement. Corran doesn’t really want her but she insists that she will be back in a month for his decision.

Corran doesn’t know how he’s gotten in this predicament. Giving into Tavira is the closest way to getting Mirax back, but the wrongness of it screams to him. In CorSec, there had been times when a cover story involving a wife or girlfriend just wasn’t possible and he’d ended up sleeping with someone as part of an investigation. That was before he was married.

He tells Elegos he doesn’t like the things he’s contemplating. Elegos tells him the Caamasi have a saying that, when the wind no longer calls to you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name.

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Elegos helps him to understand the ramifications of choices he makes. Even having good intentions isn’t enough if his actions turn out to harm innocents. He realizes that he has been abandoning everything he was in his pursuit of Mirax.

Just as using the dark side is wrong, so was running off and changing his name, appearance and becoming someone he was not. Leaving the Academy and fleeing to Corellia hadn’t solved the problem either. Instead of integrating the parts of himself, he was trying to keep them separate.

When they get to his hotel suite, he finds that Tavira has filled it with goods stolen with others. He tells Elegos he’s got one month to turn into her worst nightmare. The Caamasi applauds this decision as it is one his grandfather would have made.

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Elegos explains that, among his people, memories of momentous events become tangible to them. This is known as memnii. They can be shared with others, especially within the same clan.

Corran realizes that he may be related to Ylenic It’kla. Elegos confirms that he was his mother’s brother whom he knew well. The Caamasi found they could transfer these memories to Jedi, as well. Ylenic gave his nephew, Elegos, a memnis of Nejaa Halcyon. He recognizes Corran through it.

Unfortunately, his uncle died when Alderaan was destroyed. He has a memory of Nejaa Halcyon’s death, but doesn’t think he should share it with Corran just yet.

Corran thinks that they could shatter the Invid operation here which will cause Tavira to take greater risks that will eventually involve mistakes. Elegos thinks that’s a tall order for one Jedi.

Corran doesn’t even have a lightsaber with him. He can’t get instructions from the HoloNet and, considering how he left Luke Skywalker, he doesn’t think asking him for help is a good idea. He pulls up some datacards Rostek had given him titled Corellian Horticultural Digests that contain articles written by him. They also contain encrypted codes for Nejaa Halcyon’s journals and teachings. There must be lightsaber building instructions in there.

Elegos will get right to work on that.

Meanwhile, Corran makes the rounds of the bases, familiarizing himself with the various pirate groups and how they operate. Between the Riistar’s Raiders, Shala the Hutt and the BlackStars, he has a disparate organization.

He avoids using the Force because he wants very few anomalous occurances before he’s ready to act. Before he can do that, he needs a lightsaber.

Elegos finds those instructions but finds that there are various items needed and the process takes about a month he doesn’t have. He cobbles together a great many parts from different sources and Tavira’s opulence gives him all the gems he needs. The hardest part is the power cell.

Fortunately, Elegos finds Nejaa’s instructions for building one within a couple of days, something that was more pressing during the Clone Wars. Corran removes all distractions from the room, sits with the pieces in front of him and uses the Force to bind himself and the parts together.

It takes two-and-a-half days, but he finds the silver blade that emerges a sign of the new Corran Horn. One who must act with deliberation and forethought lest he cause more problems than he means to. Elegos has used the time to create, from the fabric Tavira left behind, a green Jedi robe.

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• We learned a little about memnii in Coruscant Nights #2: Street of Shadows
  

[Jedi Cool]

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Corran begins the process of working on his fellow Survivors, not a pleasant task because

he genuinely liked some of them, including Captain Nive.

After grabbing the Star Destroyer captain who’d helped wiped them out the first time, Nive had put a coin in the man’s mouth and ejected him out of an airlock. Corran knows that Nive is uncomfortable with the things he has to do sometimes so, one night in a cantina, Corran creates the illusion of the man haunting both of them, spitting a coin out of his mouth and saying that doom is coming to Courkrus.

The story spreads quickly across Vlarynya. Corran pretends to get drunk in cantinas, then is escorted home where he is left to Elegos. He then changes into his robes and heads out.

Along the way, he finds two of the Invids giving their unwanted attentions to one of the local women, grabs one of them and smashes him into an alley wall. He catches the other one with his lightsaber hilt. When the latter goes for his blaster, Corran ignites his lightsaber. He injures them, but doesn’t kill them because he wants these two men to tell the tale and bear the scars.

He reassures the woman that no one will hurt here now and urges her to tell everyone that doom has come to those who fear justice.

The next morning, he is awakened by Caet and another comrade who tell him the story of a lightsaber-wielding newcomer to Courkrus.

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Of course, the story grows as time goes on. Rumors of a Jedi on this world are enough to spread terror as even the Empire feared them enough to wipe them out. Rewards are being offered for the Jedi’s capture.

He stalks bands of pirates for several nights, projecting images, always eluding them, sometimes confronting them. He convinces one crew to leave Courkrus, but not most of them.

Rewards for his capture increase after he invades the BlackStars’ private sanctuary. However, some of his techniques begin working against him, as Shala the Hutt begins to note. The Hutt begins more overt and violent activities, clearly inviting a challenge, which Corran accepts.

Elegos urges him to be careful. Surprise has been his ally til now, but he’s never been in Shala’s warehouse, may not be able to use the Force to muddy the minds of some of the non-humans in his gang and might be overwhelmed by their weapons.

Corran knows if he doesn’t do this, the violence will escalate. At the warehouse, the door close behind him and he is met by Shala and a 3PO droid. The droid translates that Shala has rigged the warehouse with explosives that will kill many innocents who live in the kilometer around them if the Jedi doesn’t surrender.

Corran looks around him and notices some peculiarities. Shala is either lying or he was given bad info. Corran flips his lightsaber around and uses a special feature to extend the blade, intending to sever the remote.

The lightsaber’s blade extinguishes.

Shala is surprised at this but he was also surprised to see the blade extend, so much so that he’d dropped the remote. The explosives start going off. It is clear, though, that Shala’s chief demolitions expert is using this opportunity to replace his boss. The last ones are saved for right above the Hutt.

Corran knows he’s doomed if he doesn’t do something so he absorbs all the energy and channels it into telekinesis that becomes cyclonic and moves through the top of the warehouse, projecting an image of a man in Jedi robes with an ignited lightsaber. The damage is done. The lightsaber is durable. Jedi robes are not. Corran finds himself naked and covered with cuts. He cannot be found here since no one must know that Jenos Idanian is the Jedi.

He grabs his hilt and runs out of the building, having used most of his Force reservoir to do what he’d done in the warehouse. He finds himself in a dead alley where a couple of women stop and giggle. He knows if he’s caught with the saber, it’s the end of his life and, probably, Elegos’s and, certainly, Mirax’s.

Then Elegos arrives with a blanket, chastising him for being drunk. He explains he saw the vision, assumed he might need help and can smell the distinctive scent of the burned fabric on him.

As for the other pirate gangs, many of them wonder whether or not they should stay here.

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Corran pulls out the damaged diamond, berating himself for not testing the gems first and for trying a complicated lightsaber the first time out. Elegos asked why he made one that could extend and Corran speculated his ego wanted to do as well as Gantoris. Elegos reminds him that a Sith Lord was instructing that one.

For now, Corran will have to deal with a normal-length blade. Elegos wants him to admit that walking into an ambush at Shala’s was the wrong idea. Maybe it wasn’t for a security officer or a pilot, but it was for a Jedi.

As a result of Corran’s actions last night, though, many of the locals are harassing the pirate gang. They are afraid the Jedi will come after them soon. Corran had hoped they would see the Jedi as a protector, but it seems they would like benefactors.

Also a couple of ships Corran had fitted with hyperdrives have disappeared. Caet and another Rock Squadron member took them and ran. Tavira is limited in what local news she gets so Corran takes the opportunity to get rid of the rest of Shala’s people, including his would-be successor.

By the time she realizes Shala is gone, many other pirate gangs have been decimated by desertions. He expects her to show up and is surprised at how quickly that happens when she bursts into his room one morning.

She thinks that Luke Skywalker is on this planet. It makes sense the New Republic would use their greatest weapon, after all. In fact, she doesn’t believe the Sun Crusher has been destroyed as they obviously mean to use it against Invidious.

Corran asks if she’s sure the Republic would have the guts to use a powerful weapon like that. Tavira points out that Carida is gone and, though they are blaming it on a mere rogue child, they are lauding him as a Jedi. No one gets promoted for disobeying orders. She wants him to handle this Jedi situation now, by rallying opposition to him. She will take care of the Jedi himself. She also wants Corran to kill Nive as the man’s spirit is broken.

He spends time rallying the remaining pirate gangs to the point that even Nive gains heart. It is clear that he is going to have to have the Jedi kill Jenos Idanian, so he heads into a cantina and uses the Force to confound the minds of those there, challenging Idanian the same way he challenged Shala.

When he leaves, however, he is pursued by a small gang who don’t seem to have the same problem with his illusions that the others do. They are human, so far as he knows, but he can’t tell what they are under their hoods.

When he reaches an alley, he ignites his lightsaber, telling them they want no part of this. They ignite their sabers in return.

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Then a sixth person arrives in the alley with a green lightsaber and announces that no one needs to die. Corran recognizes Luke’s voice. The two of them handle the armored warriors quickly.

Luke says he knew if Corran had learned all he needed to learn that he would meet him here and be his ally. The timing was Ooryl’s fault. The Gand appears and explains that a Findsman knows when to look, not where. He went to Luke, told him the when, Luke knew the where, and they came now.

Corran isn’t sure he quite understands that but is glad when Luke wants the warriors bundled up. They know where Mirax is.

Back at the hotel, they strip the armor off the warriors, treat their wounds and Ooryl comes back from Luke’s ship with a cage containing a couple of furry creatures. Luke explains they are ysalamiri and how they block out the Force. Luke doesn’t have experience in interrogation so he leaves that to Corran.

Corran tells him to stay by the door and look as malevolent as he can.

He plays the good cop, playing on the silent Luke as though he has a telepathic link. The first attacker, a woman, will not betray her people. Corran understands but he points out that Tavira will think she’s been betrayed already and will likely blame them anyway.

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The attackers are Jensaarai, who train as Jedi were, even building lightsabers and training with them. These defenders wear cortosis armor which gives them some protection against all manner of weapons.

Tavira had found them on the world of Yumfla after deposing a petty Imperial governor. She manipulated the Jensaarai into helping them lest she destroy the people of Yumfla.

When Mirax came hunting the Invids, they’d grabbed her at Nal Hutta. Tavira wanted to kill her but their leader, the Saarai-kaar convinced her to keep Mirax alive in the old palace of the governor on Susevfi. Corran knows they have to get there soon, but cannot risk the change of heart in this Jensaarai being detected. It’s decided to leave them here with an ysalamiri watched over by Jacon Nive.

They explain to him what they are and what they are about to do. He agrees to a new life in exchange for watching the Jensaaarai. They send two messages out. One to Cracken letting him know they’ve found Invidious’s location but leave that with Nive so Cracken won’t show up early and alert Tavira.

The other is to Booster with even less detail.

Elegos insists on coming with them and is getting along quite well with Ooryl. They bring some ysalamiri in the hopes that the Jensaarai aboard the Invidious won’t sense them coming.

However, it’s hard for them to be without it, especially Luke. He tells Corran the Force wasn’t talked about in his home. Corran says he knew his grandfather had known one but they didn’t talk about that either.

He apologizes for letting his expectations of the Academy get in the way of his learning. Luke knows he didn’t make it easy for him. Corran also mentions that he’s still not happy about Kyp Durron and that Luke should be careful because the Imperials are speading it around that the New Republic had him destroy Carida. Many people will believe that.

Luke reminds him that it’s really not differing from giving Jacob Nive a new life. Kyp is under a life sentence now if he’s going to dedicate himself to being a Jedi. They talk about the dreams they had growing up and the things they never thought they’d do. Luke compliments him on the lightsaber.

Corran asks where they cross the line from defending others to attacking an Imperial stronghold. Luke tells him they are defending Mirax’s life and the lives of Tavira’s future victims. They warn who they can, but, but in the end, they may have to kill.

On the darkened streets of Yumfla, Luke, Corran, Elegos and Ooryl walk unnoticed. They find the governor’s palace and cut their way in, warning klaxons sounding. Corran extends his senses, finding Mirax in one tower.

They head there, finding her just as Exar Kun had shown Corran. Luke spots a machine keeping her comatose. He knows of a Force technique to wake her. Corran read about it, too, in his grandfather’s journals. While Luke brings her out of it, Corran bends down and kisses his wife.

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