The Unifying Force

by James Luceno

  "And we thought you just wanted to give us another hyperspace comm antenna," Han said in astonishment.

  Killik Twilight had once hung outside Leia's bedroom in House

  Organa on Alderaan. At the time of the planet's destruction by the Death Star, the moss-painting had been presumed destroyed, but in fact it had been returning to Alderaan as part of a traveling museum exhibit. Hidden within the painting's moisture-control apparatus was the key to a vital Rebel Alliance spy code, which had continued to be used in the post-Galactic Civil War years to communicate with agents deep inside Imperial-held territory. Four years after the Battle of Endor, when the painting had suddenly surfaced and been put up for auction on Tatooine, Han and Leia—recently married—had attempted to retrieve it. After changing hands several times, however, Ob Khaddor's apocryphal work had ended up aboard the Chimaera, in the possession of none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn, whose collection of priceless artworks was already extensive.

  Aside from being an emotional link to Leia's childhood with her adoptive parents, the painting had added significance for both her and Han. Khaddor's execution of the Killiks left their reaction to the approaching darkness open to interpretation. Where Leia had seen the Killiks as running from the darkness, Han saw the insectoid race as turning toward the storm. He had interpreted the painting as an admonition that darkness could be defeated by meeting it squarely and shattering it with light, and when Leia had ultimately accepted Han's view, it had allowed her to reconcile her ongoing confliction over the fact that Anakin Skywalker, her actual father, and Darth Vader had been one and the same person. In turn, the reconciliation had allowed her to emerge from the shadow of the Sith Lord, and decide to have children. "Gilad," Leia said at last, "I can't tell you how much this means

  to me."

  Pellaeon smiled. "It is one of the few pieces of Thrawn's collection that survived, and I thought that you of all people should have it."

  Han put one arm around Leia's shoulders, and extended the other to Pellaeon. "I know just where to hang it," he told Leia as he was pumping the admiral's hand.

  Leia raised her eyes to his. "Hang it? Han, we don't even have a

  home. Unless you mean—

  He nodded. "Our cozy cabin space on the Falcon. Right over the

  bunk."

  Jade Shadow was the last ship to launch from Zonama Sekot, with Mara, Luke, Ben, and R2-D2 aboard. Mara took the craft to a distance of three hundred thousand kilometers, then cut the sublight engines and swung her about to face the living world. Luke ducked into the cockpit, leading Ben by his tiny hand, with the astromech trailing slightly behind. No sooner had Mara swiveled her chair around than Ben climbed into her lap.

  "Won't be long now," she said.

  Luke nodded and sat down. "I'll comm them."

  Seven weeks had passed since the surrender. For all intents and purposes the transfer of the Yuuzhan Vong had been completed, though several dozen remained on Coruscant, and fighting continued in some of the more remote star systems. Their presence lingered also in the form of countless dovin basal mines, and in the refugees that crowded nearly every spaceport, and most tragically of all in husks of the worlds the invaders had crisped, poisoned, and altered beyond recognition.

  A reply to Luke's holotransmission finally arrived. He had left the comm unit in Danni's care, but it was a diminutive and noisy image of Magister Jabitha that resolved above the cockpit's projector, and the voice of Sekot who spoke through her.

  "Farewell, Skywalker," Sekot said. "With the Jedi in the known regions and myself in the unknown, we may eventually succeed in making this galaxy whole."

  "We'll do our part, Sekot," Luke said. "We're greatly indebted to you."

  "There can be no debt when we serve to the same design, Skywalker. May the Force be with you."

  "And with you, Sekot."

  Gazing at something outside the holofield, Jabitha said, "I give you to your comrades," and shortly an image of Harrar appeared.

  "I leave today by airship for the far side of the planet," the priest said. "It will be interesting to see what becomes of my people. Our challenge will be to keep from giving vent to the warrior instincts we cultivated over the generations, and refrain from making war on ourselves, as we did during the transit of the intergalactic void."

  "That transit brought you home," Luke said. The priest returned a tentative nod. "When all Yuuzhan Vong have accepted that, then our circle will be closed. I hope that you will

  visit us, Master Jedi."

  "In time," Luke said. "Until then you have our envoys."

  Tahiri, Danni, and Tekli crowded into the field. "Good-bye,

  Luke," they said in unison. "Good-bye, Mara. Good-bye, Ben and

  Artoo."

  Ben buried his face in Mara's chest, and R2 whimpered and

  rocked from side to side on his treaded feet.

  "Tekli, have the shapers agreed to allow you to study with them?"

  Mara asked.

  The Chadra-Fan nodded. "I'll be traveling with Harrar." "What about Danni and Tahiri?" Luke said. "Who do you think's piloting Harrar's airship?" Danni said. "Tahiri," Luke said, "I'd like you to make it a priority to locate

  Widowmaker."

  "I will, Master," she said.

  Mara looked sad. "It's not too late to change your minds and

  come with us."

  "Oh, but they have to remain here," Jabitha interrupted. "Someone is going to have to succeed me as Magister. Perhaps some

  three . . ."

  Luke smiled in understanding. "Have a safe jump." "The Ferroans have their shelters," Jabitha said, "the Yuuzhan Vong, theirs. The jump will go well."

  The transmission ended abruptly. Luke gazed out the viewport to see engines flare to life across Zonama Sekot's northern hemisphere, their intense plasma cones propelling the planet slowly, majestically, out of the cold orbit it had adopted. It struck him that the planet had never looked more enchanting. It glowed in the star-strewn blackness like some finely wrought orb of glass.

  Instinctively Luke reached out to grab hold of the console. She's leaving, a familiar voice said. "She's leaving," he repeated aloud. " 'She?' " Mara said. Luke looked at her. "Obi-Wan's words, not mine."

  The stars around Zonama Sekot's circumference appeared to withdraw, then rebound. An enduring melancholy settled over Luke like a shroud, and he experienced a sudden and profound void in the Force. A wail from Ben brought him back to himself. The child was struggling in Mara's arms, stretching out toward the viewport, as if to reach for the vanishing planet itself.

  "Don't cry, sweetie," Mara comforted him. "We'll visit someday." Luke stroked his son's head and glanced at Mara. "He's meant to be there."

  One of a handful of worlds along the Rimward edge of the invasion corridor to have survived attack or occupation, the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk looked even more lush now than it had before the war began. Many of its tall, furred denizens had served in the war as soldiers, technicians, and couriers, but most had returned to their festive planet, and had been rejoicing almost continuously since Zonama Sekot had carried the frightful enemy from known space.

  Millennium Falcon and Jade Shadow had arrived only the previous day and sat side by side on landing platform Thiss, the fire-blackened stump of an enormous wroshyr tree, close to the village of Rwookr-rorro. Having passed the night in the treetop community, the Solos and the Skywalkers, along with their faithful droids, had trekked to the massive fallen branch where a memorial for Chewbacca had been held several years earlier, though not to the day. Accompanying them were many of the Wookiees who had attended the somber remembrance, including Chewie's father, Attichitcuk; his sister, auburn-furred Kallabow; his widow, Mallatobuck, and their son, Waroo; Ralrra, who could speak Basic; and Dewlannamapia, Gorrlyn, Jowdrrl, and Dryanta.

  As on that day, fog swirled in the upper branches of the giant trees, and a cool wind stirred the leaves and kshyy vines. In homage to the late Chewbacca, a celebrated Wookiee
artisan had carved a portrait of Chewie into the trunk of one of the trees that supported the fallen branch. Han stood before the likeness, speaking as if directly to his former first mate and closest friend.

  "You can relax now, pal," he was saying. "It's finally over. We fought the good fight and won, and, for me anyway, it was you who set the tone. Your sacrifice at Sernpidal was symbolic of the whole war, with millions giving their lives to save family, friends, people they didn't know, members of species they'd never seen before, even droids. Thank you, for that, Chewie, and for giving Anakin the extra time he needed to fulfill his own destiny. I'll never forget you."

  Tears running down his cheeks, he turned to Luke, who had brought something that had been discovered by a demolition crew near the remains of the Citadel, on Coruscant.

  It was Anakin's lightsaber, which Tahiri had dropped while helping carry Luke to the Falcon. Han and Leia hadn't planned to leave the lightsaber with Chewie, until the moment when the Falcon had put down on Thiss.

  Hefting the hilt, Han looked at gray-muzzled Ralrra. "You sure the branch won't mind."

  Aged Ralrra shook his head. [It won't.]

  Han got a two-handed grip on the handle, as one might a staff, so that the blade would point straight down. Activating it, he raised it over his head, then drove it down, almost vertically into the flattened area of the fallen limb. The tip of the energy blade struck the hardwood and began to burn through, producing a rich, fragrant smoke. And when it had burned a hole deep enough to bury four or so centimeters of the pommel itself, Han switched it off, so that the handle stuck fast in the limb.

  Luke stepped forward. "Should the need ever arise, it can be withdrawn by someone as virtuous as yourself, Chewbacca."

  One by one the rest of them advanced to cover the area with leaves and vines, then they all returned to Rwookrrorro and spent the rest of the day indulging in the feast of food and drink the Wookiees had prepared. By the time the sun was setting, the wind had picked up and the chimes were tingling without letup. Like the light, the laughter, too, was dying down, and Han noticed that Luke had become introspective.

  "You okay?" Han asked.

  Luke smiled lightly. "Just thinking that it seems like yesterday we

  set out to find a place where the you and Leia could take a vacation and Mara could cure herself of the illness Nom Anor gave her."

  Han nodded. "And the day before that when you and I met in a cantina on Tatooine."

  Luke looked at him. "You've lost a son and a best friend, and the Jedi have been reduced by half their number. But the galaxy is more unified than it has been in generations. The years since the conclusion to the Civil War seem like an unavoidable period of transition to a present that no longer rings with uncertainty."

  "There's a lot of things I'd probably do differently," Han said "but I'm not complaining. It can be a fresh start—providing I can keep your sister from getting involved in politics."

  "And providing I can keep you from adventuring," Leia interjected. Han gestured to himself in false innocence. "Hey, I don't have the time for adventuring. I've got a ship to rebuild—practically from the framework up."

  "How many rebuilds will that make?" Luke asked. Han grinned with secret knowledge. "More than you know." "Where are you going to perform this rebuild?" Mara asked. "We checked out Denon— " Leia started to say. "—but it's not for us," Han completed. "Corellia?" Luke asked. Han shook his head. "Not the place it was." "Han wants to go to the Corporate Sector," Leia said. "We're long overdue for celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary, and I know some worlds there ..." He allowed his words to trail off, shook his head, and began to smile.

  Luke and Mara traded knowing glances. "What would you say to having Mara, Ben, and me as company?" Luke said. "We're supposed to met with Kam and some of the others on Ossus, but that's not for a couple of weeks."

  "Ossus," Han said, "why that's practically next door to the CorpSec. No two ways about it, you've gotta join us."

  [We promise not to get in the way,] someone said in Shyriiwook. Han glanced to his right to see Waroo and Lowbacca approaching him.

  [Now that the war has ended,] Chewie's son continued, [Lowie and I will be assuming my father's life debt to you.]

  Han's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. "But we're going on a vacation. And we've finally managed to convince Cakhmaim and Meewalh to take one themselves."

  No one said a word until Leia broke the silence with an explosive chuckle, then out-loud laughter, which Luke, Mara, Jacen, Jaina, Ben, and the Wookiees were quick to amplify. Han tightened his lips and sent a scowl around the table. Then he, too, began to laugh, warmly and continuously, until tears were streaming down his cheeks and his sides started to ache.

  And gradually their bittesweet laughter floated from the wooden table, up past the lanterns, the wind chimes, and the thick branches from which they dangled, meandering up through the crowns of the tallest wroshyr trees and gliding weightless into the twilight sky, up, ever up into stars too numerous to count, defying the stillness of vacuum and dispersing, vectoring out across space and time, as if destined to be heard in galaxies far, far away . . .