Star Wars (Legends):The Eternal Conflict. Book:2

Chapter 24 (Only Hope)

Location: Naberrie Lake house on the planet Naboo.

"It's not good news!" Said Jaina, as she placed one hand on her lower back, providing much needed support for her growing belly.

The whole Skywalker/Solo clan, along with the Knights of balance, Vestara and Dena, were gathered around the large table in the third storey's dining hall. Lando lay on a couch in the hall's foyer not 20 feet away, but he might as well have been in another galaxy.

"Tionne was able to find only one reference to Veradun in the archives and it was in connection to a Darth Malgus... I've never heard of him before, but according to Tionne, Malgus was a nasty piece of work.

"Yes.. He was. "Confirmed Luke. "In fact I was the one who found the ancient Sith archives that documented his rampage of terror throughout the old republic."

"Ok? But how did this... Malgus, turn into ship?" Asked Ben.

Jaina answered:
"Well, Lando told us that Ship... Or Veradun... Or Malgus... Or whatever...This whole time it was a Sith Holocron!"

Vestara shook her head: "I've touched Sith Holocrons... I've felt them, through the force. Ship was different. He wasn't just an advanced recording. He left a wake in the force that only a living person could!"

Everyone couldn't help noticing that her helmet had not returned with her from Calrissian's lair. When she had knelt before Lando and put her life in his hands, she had in a sense been baptized in fire. She had freely and openly recognized her many transgressions, and had come to somewhat of a truce with her dark past.

She realized she could not outrun it, nor hide from it under a mask or a pseudonym. Shadree had served her purpose in leading Vestara as close to redemption as she would ever get. She was no longer a Sith, but the dark side would forever flow through her veins, as would the light....

Balance, in its purist form.

Jaina nodded in agreement at her observations: "These aren't your typical farm boy holocrons."

Luke raised an eyebrow at that.

"Sorry Uncle Luke... There is nothing wrong with farm boys..." Jaina quickly added.

Across the room from him, Dena shared the smallest of knowing grins with him. He slowly blinked his eyes at her in response.

"...My point is, this is holocronic technology on a level we have never dealt with before. And this... Malgus Holocron is not alone. Lando helped Malgus recover several others.

For Ben it started to make sense: "Those Sith Droids that attacked the Queen Mother on Bastion!"

Jaina nodded: "Yes! That was them."

Han was seated at the table with a glass of Corellian Whiskey in his hand. Up until this point in the conversation/briefing, he had been staring into the translucent golden liquid, with an intensity that suggested the solution to the galaxy's problems lay somewhere at the bottom of that particular glass.

But this part of the conversation dragged his attention away from his liquid hope and back on to his daughter's report.

It was this part of the briefing that made his blood boil:

"Problem is, those Sith Droids aren't droids any more! They're Living Breathing Sith!" He all but shouted.

At that moment, It took every ounce of his self restraint not to walk into the next room and fill Lando full of blaster bolts.
Yes! Lando had lost his family! Yes! Lando had alway seemed to get the short end of the stick!
But there was some things Han just couldn't swallow. Lando's little crusade had put his Granddaughter's life in danger! Ben had almost Died! Hell! He had almost lost Leia and Jaina... And... And the baby... BECAUSE OF THAT IDIOT!