AN: Here's the continuation of "From The Ashes." Not so much a continuation of the trilogy as the first part in the timeline after Dawn of Chaos. This isn't a long tale, so the chapters aren't very long. If you think that they're too short of chapters, let me know and I'll revisit the break points...but I think the breaks are very natural. Also, don't pay too much attention to the chapter titles. They're not meant to be taken as "in universe" chapter names...but if you think about them as you go through the chapter you might get another chuckle or thought about things here or there. Also, this is a Jacen-only story in terms of characters you might know aside from the ones I've written about before. Please enjoy and review often :)

As always, I claim no ownership of anything Star Wars related, but there are several aspects of my own creation (ie, Encari, Eriana, Black Vornskrs,...)

Destiny's Call

The universe constantly swirls in a nexus of song and dance, following the rhythm and beat of time and energy. Utterly complex beyond any single being's perception, the universe nonetheless continues on with its never-ending tune of existence, carrying those swept along its currents and defying anyone who dared to understand it.

But the universe's indifference did not stop Jacen Solo from trying.

Lost in meditation on the balcony of the royal bedroom on Hapes, the young Jedi Master took in as much of the universe as he could. He sensed his wife, sleeping on the bed behind him. Their unborn child, resting as well. His sister, half the galaxy away, on some mission for the Jedi Order. His parents, helping Lando with some new scheme. Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara, sparring at the hidden Jedi Temple. Eriana flying a ship somewhere, still missing Jacen's company. Zonoma Sekot, doing virtually the same thing as himself, only with a greater understanding beneath it.

He could even sense Soora Bulq on Coruscant, plotting away to track down and destroy the Jedi – namely Jacen himself – and seize power over the whole galaxy.

Beyond single people, Jacen could sense so much more. Planets, as they travelled along their endless ellipses around their sun. Solar systems crawling slowly around the galactic core. The entire galaxy itself, moving within the universe and expanding its presence at a rate slower than the creep of a glacier. Everything in constant motion and completely oblivious to the finest details of movement around them.

As often as Jacen had reached into the universe, he always discovered something new to explore. As he peered into the crystalline facets of Existence, time itself found its way into Jacen's perception. Past and present events scrolling by like a holovid.

Images of the past appeared: the trials of an exiled Jedi Knight from millennia past; Darth Bane seeking more knowledge under the nose of the Jedi; the birth of Yoda; a battle among fire between Master and Apprentice; a desperate attack on the Death Star at Yavin; and the death of the last Sith Lord.

Images of his own past appeared: himself chasing crystal snakes long ago on Yavin 4 and being laughed at by his siblings; being tossed in the air as a child by Chewbacca; lightsaber training with Tenel Ka; his imprisonment with Vergere; and many more images.

The present appeared in much more detail, showing him images of his loved ones all at once, allowing him to focus on the tiniest of details around them, from his dad's lopsided smirk as he told a joke, to the gentle heartbeat of his unborn child.

The future appeared, too. Not many futures, as Jacen had learned to expect, but a single one. While the past brought him happiness, the future brought him concern and confusion. He saw his sister, alone, crying at Tahiri's funeral.

What's going on? Tahiri died a year ago.

The Jedi Temple, hiding in a place he did not recognize, appeared being bombarded by ships from above. His aunt and uncle appeared defeated, their bodies fading into the Force after a great battle.

He shouldn't know how to do that!

It was a torn and battered history of the Jedi's future threatening to end all that Jacen knew.

Seeking solace to abate his confusion, he pushed the Force ever-so-slightly, pushing past this future to a time farther away, looking for a time of peace. When he found it, it was not the peace he was looking for. While war and strife had ended, the Sith Lords ruled the galaxy, suppressing populations into obedience while hunting the Jedi to extinction.

I wish I could figure out what went wrong, Jacen thought sadly.

As soon as he made the conscious wish he knew he had made a mistake. His grasp of this newly-discovered facet of time waned, and he lost hold of it, tumbling back to reality. This loss of control did not bother him, but merely proved to him how far from true mastery over the Force he knew he was. He considered himself lucky that he was able to revisit the newly discovered facets of the Force after finding them and considered himself luckier still that every time he visited them he gained more control over them. But for tonight, he would let that one rest. Discovering new areas of the Force was not exactly revitalizing.

Reality slowly returned to Jacen, fading in as he retuned his mind to use the senses of his body instead of sensing through the Force. As his hearing returned to him, a distant, mechanical whine and erythematic thumping noise that caught him off guard.

There's nothing like that on Hapes, Jacen thought. It almost sounds like a...

"Sithspit!" Jacen shouted, rolling backward and jumping away as the giant mechanical foot of an AT-AT threatened to crush him from above. He instinctively jumped off the ground upon landing, and leapt towards the massive mechanical foot that nearly killed him, landing on the foot pad and grabbing onto the ankle of the leg.

"Where did you come from?" Jacen demanded of the clunking mechanical beast, finally being able to take a look around and calm his heart from beating its way out of his chest. Wherever he was, he was no longer on Hapes – at least not the Hapes he knew. As the mechanical foot rose to take another step, Jacen's heart sank as his eyes absorbed the landscape – the shoreline that was once lined with beautiful skyscrapers was a tattered mess of destroyed buildings. Fountain Palace was in ruins around him, and he appeared to be on the middle of seven of the great mechanical monsters as they lumbered forward through the rubble – but they were different from what Jacen remembered. The hulls looked thicker, there were laser canons lining the sides of the body, and the head looked able to extend and articulate backward.

Whatever is going on here, Jacen thought, extracting his lightsaber from his belt. I don't like it.

He spotted an entry hatch in the middle of the boxy body and reached out with the Force. He leapt toward it with the speed of a blaster bolt, ripping it open as he approached. Inside, he soared past armoured troopers to the back end of the bay, met the wall with his feet, and kicked gently and spun in mid-air so he landed with his back to the wall, lightsaber ignited defensively.

"Jedi!" Several armoured troopers shouted, scrambling for their blasters. "Kill the Jedi!"

So much for diplomacy.

Jacen quickly started hacking and slashing at the troopers, using Vaapad to mow through the helpless warriors with lethal efficiency. A minute later, the troops were all dead, and the hatch to the command section opened to reveal a cloaked figure.

"A Jedi?" The figure asked with a wicked grin that was barely visible beneath the hood. "Our intel was right. I'm going to enjoy killing the last of your kind."

"There are Jedi on Hapes?" Jacen asked. To his knowledge, Tenel Ka was the only other one, and he did not want to give her presence away. "Aside from me, that is."

"Your feigned ignorance will not protect them," the cloaked grin said. "After I kill you, the others will be slaughtered like nerfs."

A red lightsaber ignited in the man's left hand while the right swept the cloak away.

"Corran?" Jacen demanded. "What the hell are you doing?"

The Sith hesitated.

"Corran was my grandfather's name," he said. "Why do you call me by his name?"

"Your grandfather?" Jacen no longer had time to think about it as he deflected two quick slashes and had to jump backward. "Who are you?"

"Enough talking!" the Horn Sith shouted.

He charged toward Jacen and swung high, but spun in mid-swing to reverse his direction and slash low at Jacen's ankle, and followed up with several well-aimed attacks. Jacen easily deflected the blows, standing his ground with a steadfast Soresu defence that would have made Obi-Wan proud. This Horn was well-trained and fast...but Jacen was faster. The second he sensed an opening, he launched a telekinetic shockwave coupled with an emerald lightning strike that took the other man off his feet and slammed him against the cockpit wall, knocking him out cold.

One of Corran's grandchildren is a Sith Lord? What is going on here?

Jacen deactivated his lightsaber and strolled into the cockpit, stopping only long enough to take the lightsaber from Sith Horn. Upon quick examination, he recognized Horn styling, right down to the adjustable blade length.

"Status?" Jacen asked the pilots of the armoured transport. He clapped a fistful of emerald lightning on the shoulder of both pilots and they both fell into unconsciousness. He removed the left pilot from the seat and sat in the command chair, donning the headset from the commander. He quickly scrolled through various displays, finding one marked "Mission Objectives."

M7-AT-AT 7521 Lambda

Intelligence has indicated a returned Jedi presence on the planet of Hapes among the ruins of the Fountain Palace. Proceed to these coordinates and exterminate any Jedi remnants.

The date on the orders indicated a time nearly a hundred years in the future from the date Jacen remembered.

A hundred years? Jacen thought. I wonder if I'm still alive.

He shook his head and chided himself for such thoughts at such a time.

Focus, Solo, Jacen thought. These guys are hunting Jedi. You need to stop them.

Jacen grabbed the weapons controls and throttled back the speed. Immediately he felt a lurch of deceleration, and a moment later a voice rang in his ear.

"Seven-five-two-one, why are you slowing down," The voice demanded.

Jacen pressed the red PTT button on the control stick.

"Slight change in plans," Jacen said, thinking quickly. "Our master wants us to hang back and create a perimeter in case the Jedi prove more difficult to contain than expected. You can continue on as planned."

If that works, I'm going to be the luckiest...

"Negative, two-one," The voice came back. "Proceed as planned."

"Uhh...we have a reactor leak here," Jacen said, thinking even quicker than before. "Very bad, very big leak. Give us a minute to lock things down here. How are you?"

Jacen cringed with his last words, realizing he just blew his infiltration.

"Who is this? What is your command number?"

"Boring conversation anyway." Jacen tossed the headset aside and swung the head of the AT-AT toward the nearest enemy on the right. He squeezed the trigger and launched a flurry of blaster bolts and missiles that created a massive explosion within the transport. He swung to the left side and fired at the second one as his transport already started taking fire from the side cannons. Thankfully, they appeared to be much weaker than his main cannons that blew the entire transport on the left to shrapnel.

"If you're looking for Jedi," Jacen said to nobody in particular. "I'll give you one."

He reached out with the Force and used it to embrace the smouldering hull of the transport to his right. He drew upon his fury at the destruction of his new home planet and used it to launch the remains of the transport toward the one beside it. He did not wait to watch as the two remaining AT-ATs fell like dominoes. Instead, he repeated the attack to his left. Five minutes later, he took another deep breath and finally found the strength to stand up after the slaughter he just committed. If there were Jedi on his mangled version of Hapes, he wanted to find them before anyone else did...if only to reassure himself that this butchery was for something.