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"I'm sure he'll grow up into a fine Jedi Knight… years and years from now." ―Cha Niathal [src]

Ben Skywalker was a Human male Jedi Knight from Coruscant, active mostly during the Second Galactic Civil War and the period afterward. He was the son of former Emperor's Hand and Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker and legendary Rebel hero and Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker, the grandson of the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala, the cousin of Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo, and the ancestor of Cade, Kol and Nat Skywalker. Ben was born amidst the turmoil of the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War, where an extra-galactic species known as the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, laying waste to dozens of worlds. As both of his parents were Jedi, they were unable to spend time with him as they fought in the war, so Skywalker was taken care of by his aunt and uncle, former Rebel heroes Han and Leia Solo. He was subsequently moved to the Shelter in the Maw, where many other young Jedi apprentices stayed. The Yuuzhan Vong were eventually repelled and a ceasefire was negotiated, but young Skywalker felt the pain of war through the Force, overwhelming him and causing him to close himself off from the Force for several years.

In 35 ABY, Skywalker, now eight years old, became involved in another galactic crisis. The Killik species had recently been discovered in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, when a group of Jedi Knights heard their telepathic call and followed it to the Unknown Regions. Skywalker became partially joined to the Gorog Killik nest and formed an owner-pet relationship with one of the Gorog Killiks, who was actually trying to turn him against his mother. However, Ben's parents discovered the Killik's plan and captured it. During this time, Skywalker was taken under the wing of his cousin Jacen Solo, who became his informal Jedi Master. Solo, who had just returned to the New Jedi Order after a five-year journey to learn more about the Force, was able to help Skywalker open himself up to the Force gradually, as Skywalker was still apprehensive about the Force and needed years to become fully adjusted to the Force. With Solo's guidance, Skywalker was able to grow confident in his usage of the Force and become a powerful Jedi.

Five years later, the planet of Corellia and the other planets in the Corellian system seceded from the Galactic Alliance, sparking great civil unrest, terrorist attacks, and eventually, the Second Galactic Civil War. During this time, Skywalker joined the Galactic Alliance Guard, a secret police force designed to combat Corellian terrorism, which was led by Jacen Solo. The GAG controversially began interning Corellians on Coruscant, an action which greatly worried his parents. Skywalker was increasingly used on violent missions, including the assassination of Corellian politician Dur Gejjen. Meanwhile, Jacen Solo had fallen to the dark side of the Force under the tutelage of Sith Lady Lumiya, taking the Sith name Darth Caedus. Caedus eventually took over the Galactic Alliance before killing Mara Jade Skywalker. Skywalker correctly believed that Caedus was the killer and attempted to kill Caedus several times, including in a heated battle over Kashyyyk. He decided to legitimately investigate with his friend in the GAG, Lon Shevu, and was able to prove that Caedus had murdered his mother. Eventually Caedus himself was eliminated in a lightsaber duel, and the Second Galactic Civil War ended.

In 43 ABY, Luke Skywalker was exiled from Coruscant by new Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala for failing to prevent Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side, until he could prove the causes of Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side. By that time, anti-Jedi sentiment had risen greatly, especially due to an unexplained madness among young Jedi. Skywalker accompanied his father into exile, where the two visited several Force-based organizations with whom Solo had studied during his five-year sojourn—first the Baran Do, where they discovered a secret sect of monks known as the Hidden Ones, then the secretive Aing-Tii, and then the Mind Walkers in a mysterious space station known as Sinkhole Station. While at the station, the two were attacked by a group of Sith, but the two were able to escape. However, Ben and his father continued to cross paths with the Sith, and after a heated encounter on Dathomir, Ben and his father formed an unprecedented alliance with the Sith in order to defeat Abeloth, the supernatural being who was spreading insanity among the Jedi, and allegedly among young Sith apprentices as well. During this alliance, Ben formed a close relationship with the young Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. Eventually, the Sith betrayed their Jedi allies, though Ben and Luke were able to escape and defeat Abeloth, ending the psychosis. Subsequently, Ben and Luke stayed behind with a few Sith to learn more about Abeloth's origins. After further exploration of Abeloth's planet, Ben, Luke, and Vestara faced off against Abeloth and the Sith once again on Pydyr, severing the alliance as the Skywalkers and Vestara continued their hunt for Abeloth. To Luke's dismay, Ben and Vestara's bond continued to grow despite Vestara's multiple betrayals, eventually evolving into a romantic relationship after Vestara was forced to kill her father and turned to the light side.

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Biography Edit

"I'm just afraid of placing an extra one on his shoulders. Suppose I named him Obi-Wan, as a salute to my old master? Would he think that means that I want him to grow up to be a Jedi? Would he think he had to live up to Ben's reputation?" ―Luke Skywalker [src]

In the year 25 ABY, the galaxy was invaded by a previously-unknown extra-galactic species, the Yuuzhan Vong.[10] Although the reigning galactic government, the New Republic, attempted to resist and repel the invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong carved a swath through the New Republic's defenses. In their invasion of the galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong took to using a variety of creatures native to their own galaxy.[11] One of these bioweapons used by the Yuuzhan Vong in their war waged against the galaxy was the coomb spore, a microorganism engineered by Yuuzhan Vong agent Nom Anor. Anor was an advance scout sent into the galaxy before the main invasion force, and he tested his spores on a group of one hundred New Republic diplomats on the planet Monor II with great success. Only one survived—former Imperial spy and Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker.[12]

Using her affinity for the Force and a cure found in the tears of a Fosh ex-Jedi named Vergere, Mara Jade Skywalker was able to hold off the deadly effects of the spores, surviving while all the others infected died.[10] Married to her former enemy in the First Galactic Civil War, Rebel hero and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker six years prior,[13] the couple had yet to have their first child. Since the spores worked by breaking down the molecular structure of its victim, Mara Jade believed that it was impossible for her to have a child, as the spores would surely induce miscarriage. However, one year after the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Mara Jade Skywalker felt something growing inside of her. At first, she thought it was a recurrence of her disease, but she sensed the essence of her husband Luke inside of it. To her shock, despite the disease, Mara Jade Skywalker was pregnant.[14]

Upon the discovery of her pregnancy, Mara Jade was greatly worried for her unborn baby, believing that the disease could cause mutations in her child. But Luke Skywalker managed to calm her down and assuage her fears, and the two agreed to keep the child's existence a secret.[14] Later in the year 26 ABY, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker were on an artificial beach on the New Republic capital of Coruscant. Meanwhile, anti-Jedi sentiment among the citizens of the New Republic was growing more prevalent, exacerbated by an offer extended by the Yuuzhan Vong—kill all the Jedi, and the invaders would halt their assault on the Jedi. While the offer was turned down by the New Republic, the galaxy was becoming more and more dangerous for the Jedi Knights. The Skywalkers were on the Coruscant beach when they were informed by Jedi Master Kenth Hamner of an arrest warrant put out on the Skywalkers by New Republic Head of State Borsk Fey'lya for disobeying an order.[2]

While on the beach, she suddenly felt weak and slipped into unconsciousness. She awoke under the care of an MD-10 medical droid and felt her disease attacking her unborn baby. However, the Skywalkers were forced to flee Coruscant due to the warrant and stayed aboard the Errant Venture, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer owned by former smuggler Booster Terrik which was being used as a makeshift Jedi academy for hiding Jedi students. The Skywalkers immediately sought medical care once aboard the Star Destroyer, and Mara Jade's condition was rapidly worsening. Her coomb spore disease had returned, stronger than ever before, and Mara Jade expended all her energy, keeping it from attacking her womb at the cost of her own health. The Skywalkers were unsure how to handle the situation; the Skywalkers surmised that Jedi healer Cilghal would be able to induce labor, but Mara believed it would kill them both. Desperate, Skywalker attacked the disease with the dark side of the Force, but was stopped by Mara. Skywalker then fought the disease with the light side of the Force, vanquishing the disease, and Mara went into labor. Despite the disease's attack on her body, Mara Jade Skywalker gave birth to a baby boy on the Errant Venture. The Skywalkers would name the boy Ben, after Luke Skywalker's Jedi Master, Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. After Ben's birth, the Skywalkers were notified by Borsk Fey'lya that they would be allowed to return to Coruscant, and the arrest warrant had been lifted.[2]

Yuuzhan Vong War (26 ABY–29 ABY) Edit

Kidnapping plot Edit

Han Solo: "You need to catch the starferry Byrt. C-3PO is aboard with your package." Leia Organa Solo: "It's my fault. Viqi Shesh ambushed us in the docking bay, and I was so furious—" Mara Jade Skywalker: "Leia, don't worry. We'll get him back." ―Han and Leia Solo inform Mara Jade Skywalker of Ben's kidnapping[src]

From the moment of his birth, the infant Skywalker was kept close to his parents due to their concerns for his safety. During this time, Skywalker was looked after by a nanny droid named Nanna. Shortly after his birth Skywalker accompanied his mother and father to Bilbringi, where his parents and a fellow Jedi, the Barabel Saba Sebatyne, watched an important meeting between New Republic representatives Han and Leia Organa Solo and the recently-captured Nom Anor. While the meeting was going on, the infant Ben stayed in his mother's starship, Jade Shadow, accompanied by his cousin Jaina Solo and New Republic scientist and Skywalker family friend Danni Quee. Anor was set free once the meeting was concluded, and Skywalker and his parents returned to his birthplace, the Errant Venture. While aboard the Venture, Skywalker broke out into an uncontrollable fit of crying which his parents could not ease. However, when his aunt Leia Organa Solo asked to hold him, to Luke and Mara Jade's surprise, the infant calmed down almost instantly.[15]

Skywalker remained aboard the Errant Venture while his parents were away during the New Republic victory at Talfaglio, and he was returned to Luke and Mara Jade after the battle. The infant was later taken to stay with his aunt and uncle, Han and Leia Solo, in their home on Coruscant. Little did his family know, a plot had been formulated by the Yuuzhan Vong to kidnap Ben Skywalker, with traitorous New Republic Senator Viqi Shesh as the kidnapper. Shesh initially attempted to take Skywalker in his aunt and uncle's home, but her plan was foiled. A short time later, Coruscant was attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong. Amidst the chaos of the battle, Shesh made a desperate second attempt to kidnap Skywalker. The Solos were confronted by Shesh in a Coruscant docking bay, but the Solos did not allow their nephew to fall into Shesh's hands. They placed the infant under the care of their protocol droid, C-3PO, entrusting Ben's safety to him while they tried to apprehend Shesh. However, in the confusion, C-3PO was swept aboard a starferry named the Byrt, with Skywalker still in its arms.[15]

Once the Solos realized that Skywalker had ended up on the Byrt, they quickly alerted Ben's parents. Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker promptly set out in their X-Wing starfighters, hoping to catch up to the ferry and retrieve their child. At the same time, Shesh notified the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force of Skywalker's presence aboard the Byrt. The Yuuzhan Vong reached the Byrt first and began searching the vessel for Skywalker. Fortunately for Skywalker, family friend Lando Calrissian and a squad of YVH droids boarded the ship afterward and attacked the Yuuzhan Vong. C-3PO made his way to the starferry's escape pod bay in the hope of fleeing the craft with his charge intact, but Shesh and her warriors kept up their pursuit. The chaos of the skirmish aboard the Byrt upset Skywalker, who began wailing loudly despite C-3PO's best efforts to calm him. Shesh, hiding from Calrissian's advancing YVH droids across the corridor, heard Skywalker's cries and investigated. Panicked, C-3PO stowed Skywalker in a locker and entered an escape pod in Bay 14, from which he used his vocal functions to simulate the sounds of a crying Human infant. Shesh and her warriors fell for the bait and charged into the escape pod, hurling C-3PO back out into the bay. Before Shesh could realize her error, the protocol droid ejected the pod into space and retrieved Skywalker from the locker. Skywalker was taken safely out of the battlezone, although Coruscant was abandoned to the Yuuzhan Vong.[15]

Moving around Edit

"Do you think Leia will baby-sit for us?"

"I suspect she'll be very happy to." ―Mara Jade Skywalker and Luke Skywalker discuss leaving Ben with Leia and Han Solo [src]

After the fall of Coruscant, the infant Skywalker was kept for several days in a Jedi stronghold called Eclipse Station, hidden on the Deep Core planet of the same name. Soon afterward, he was reunited with the rest of his family on the planet Hapes. Ben's family had gathered there to pay their last respects to Ben's cousin Anakin Solo, who had been killed while fighting in a Jedi assault on the Yuuzhan Vong–controlled planet of Myrkr. With the Skywalker family together once more, Mara Jade Skywalker resumed motherly duties for Ben.[16]

A few days later, the scattered New Republic forces led by General Wedge Antilles were able to carve out a foothold on the planet Borleias, which had been used as a staging point for the attack on Coruscant. The Skywalker family, Ben included, went to the planet and stayed in the military garrison established by the New Republic on still-contested Borleias. Mara Jade Skywalker had fully committed herself to staying with and raising Ben—not only to be able to spend time with her newborn child, but to protect him after Viqi Shesh's ill-fated kidnapping attempt. During the Borleias occupation, Ben was carried by his mother everywhere she went, an arrangement that Luke Skywalker saw as irrational.[17]

Thirty-seven days into the Borleias occupation, Skywalker's parents left him with his Aunt Leia and Uncle Han once again, departing to the Yuuzhan Vong–controlled Coruscant to combat an evil sensed on the planet. Believing that Ben wasn't safe on occupied Borleias, the Solos transported Ben to the Shelter, a space station situated in the perilous black hole cluster known as the Maw. The Shelter, under the care of Jedi Masters Kam and Tionne Solusar, had been used as a praxeum for Jedi younglings since the original Praxeum on Yavin 4 was attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong–sympathizing Peace Brigade in 26 ABY.[17] Although Luke and Mara Jade were focused on combating the evil on Coruscant, they greatly missed Ben while they were apart.[18]

The end of the war Edit

"Ben will be fine. I saw him fine." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

After the crushing defeat and loss of Coruscant, the New Republic underwent a political metamorphosis. During the Fall of Coruscant, New Republic Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya was killed when he detonated a bomb in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.[15] Elections to select a new Chief of State were held in 28 ABY, with New Republic Advisory Councilman Cal Omas winning in a landslide. The war with the Yuuzhan Vong continued on, with the New Republic—once the defenders of the Core—now trying to take it back. In 28 ABY, the New Republic won a massive victory over the newly-christened Yuuzhan Vong Empire in the Battle of Ebaq 9, resulting in the loss of half the Yuuzhan Vong fleet and the death of Yuuzhan Vong Warmaster Tsavong Lah.[19] Following the battle, Omas realized that a new government would be needed if the galaxy was to survive the horrors of the Yuuzhan Vong War. A massive reorganization ensued, and the new federal system was named the Galactic Alliance.[20]

In 29 ABY, the Galactic Alliance military forces began a great push toward Coruscant, toward taking back the Core and defeating the extra-galactic invaders once and for all. One of the keys to the Alliance war effort was the sentient planet Zonama Sekot—the seed of the original Yuuzhan Vong planet, Yuuzhan'tar, that had made its way to Ben's galaxy. Luke Skywalker was able to ascertain the location of said planet, landing on it with Mara Jade and several other Jedi. While on Zonama Sekot, Luke revealed his visions of Ben's future to Mara, assuring her that he would make it through the war safely.[4]

Eventually, Luke Skywalker led the Galactic Alliance forces to a victory at Coruscant, killing Yuuzhan Vong Supreme Overlord Shimrra and his master Onimi. At long last, the Yuuzhan Vong threat had been defeated. With the risk to the Jedi over, the Errant Venture brought the Jedi younglings from the Shelter to Zonama Sekot, with Ben among them. There, Ben was reunited with his parents for the first time in two years. With his parents, Ben attended the Conclave on Zonama Sekot, a post-war Jedi meeting to discuss future directions for the Order. During Ben's short time on Zonama Sekot, he formed an attachment to the living planet, and it upset him when he had to depart. The war was over, and Ben finally was together with his family.[4]

Dark Nest Crisis (35–36 ABY) Edit

A new threat Edit

"Gorog's no assassin! She's my best friend." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

Slowly but surely, the galaxy worked to rebuild itself after the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War. However, the Skywalker family had another problem to deal with: Ben. Due to the anguish that he felt in the Force during the Yuuzhan Vong War, Ben closed himself off from the Force, hiding his presence from his family and friends. Ben would explain this by asserting that he wanted to "do things the hard way", like his non–Force-sensitive uncle Han Solo. However, despite wanting to be cut off from the Force, Ben would still sometimes have Force-induced visions and dreams, frightening the young boy. Thus, even though he was of age, Ben did not attend the Jedi Praxeum on Ossus. By the year 35 ABY, Ben had grown into a mischievous child and was often looked after by Nanna when his parents were away on Jedi business. Ben often impressed his parents with his sheer mechanical aptitude, occasionally tricking Nanna into shutting down.[5]

In 35 ABY, a group of Jedi Knights consisting of Jaina Solo, the Chadra-Fan Tekli, the Twi'lek Alema Rar, Zekk, the Barabel Tesar Sebatyne, the Wookiee Lowbacca, and Tahiri Veila heard a mysterious call through the Force and simultaneously departed to the Unknown Regions to find the source. After discovering the group's departure, Ben accompanied his parents and Tesar's mother, Saba Sebatyne, in a mission to find the missing Knights. In their search, they came across the Colony, a group of nests of the insectoid Killik species, which had been lost for millennia. The Colony had been in a border dispute with the Chiss Ascendancy, the portion of the galaxy ruled by the Chiss species. There, Ben's cousin Jacen Solo, who—while on a five-year journey to learn more of the Force—had also heard the call, discovered the source: Raynar Thul, a Jedi Knight who had been lost eight years before on the mission to Myrkr that had claimed Anakin Solo's life.[5]

The Skywalkers later found that the rogue Jedi Knights had been partially assimilated into one of the Killik nests, as well as the truth about Thul: he had become UnuThul, the leader of the Unu nest. While Ben and his family were on Yoggoy, one of the Colony-affiliated planets, the Skywalkers were attacked by hostile blue-black colored Killiks, a type previously unknown to the rest of the Colony. These were in fact Gorog Killiks, part of the so-called Dark Nest, a shadowy influence which was able to hide its presence and its malign influence from the rest of the Colony. After the skirmish, the Skywalkers met with the AWOL Jedi, who asserted that the Killiks were innocent victims in their border struggle with the Chiss. As the Jedi finally returned to Alliance space with Tesar, Tekli, Veila, and Jacen in tow, a Gorog assassin stowed away on the Jade Shadow.[5]

While the Gorog assassin was hiding aboard the Jade Shadow, Ben came across the insect and became friends with it. Ben saw the Killik as his "pet", but kept its presence a secret from his parents for fear that they would take the Gorog away from him. Ben formed a bond with the Killik, to the point where he was able to understand the Killik. The Killik had its own agenda, however—to undermine Ben's relationship with his mother and ultimately turn him against her. Nevertheless, Luke and Mara became alerted that something strange was happening when a large amount of gelmeat went missing, seemingly more than the child could eat himself. The Skywalkers finally discovered the Killik stowaway itself some time later. Saba Sebatyne, who had stayed behind in Colony space, was attacked and badly injured by a Joiner Dark Jedi named Welk, who had disappeared from known space after kidnapping Raynar Thul on the Myrkr mission eight years before. Sebatyne was gravely wounded, but survived and realized that Gorog Killiks may have sneaked aboard the Jade Shadow. Sebatyne revealed this to Leia Organa Solo, who relayed the information to Mara on Ossus. Mara was stunned by the news and immediately rushed into Ben's room and forced Ben to confess that he had been hiding the Killik. While Mara and Ben argued, the Killik attacked, injuring her, but was in turn wounded in the thorax by Mara's lightsaber. Mara, irate at Ben's disobedience, ordered him to go explain his actions to his father.[5]

In the meantime, Alema Rar, one of the Jedi who had originally ventured into the Colony space, had become a Joiner to the Gorog nest. Under the influence of the Gorog, she unsuccessfully attacked Leia Organa Solo and was stunned, drugged, and brought to Ossus for an examination. Under the eye of resident Jedi healer Cilghal, she was examined side-by-side with Ben's incapacitated Gorog friend. The experiments performed on her revealed much about the mental bond shared by Joiners. Once the tests ended, Rar found a way to escape, bringing the Gorog along with her. Ben was present at the time of Rar's escape with the Gorog and was greatly saddened by the loss of his friend. As Rar and the Gorog sped away from Ossus in a stolen skiff, Ben received a final message from the Killik, who said that she wanted Ben to be happy. When he told Luke of the Gorog's message, Luke realized that Ben had become part-Joiner, as he could not have felt it through the Force. Ben's parents departed soon after to return to Colony space, leaving Ben alone once more in the Ossus Jedi Praxeum. Ben was initially depressed when he heard that his parents were leaving, but he quickly cheered up when his cousin Jacen Solo promised to stay with him on Ossus in Luke and Mara's absence.[5]

Regaining his connection to the Force Edit

"You're not married, and you had a baby! You guys are going to be in so much trouble." ―Ben to Jacen and Tenel Ka after seeing Allana [src]

While under the care of his cousin Jacen, Ben slowly opened himself up to the Force. Ben started to use the Force in a limited form but was only comfortable using the Force around Jacen. Thus, Jacen became Ben's unofficial Jedi Master as Ben explored his relationship with the Force. In 36 ABY, while alongside his cousin, Jacen received a message from his friend, Hapan Queen Mother and former Jedi Knight Tenel Ka Djo, asking him to meet with her in secret on the planet Hapes. Jacen decided to allow Ben to come with him, although Djo did not know that he would be accompanying Jacen. Since the meeting was supposed to be in secret, Ben and Jacen sneaked into the Hapan Fountain Palace, the residence of the Queen Mother. Despite their best efforts to avoid detection, they were discovered by DD-11A, a YVH droid in the Queen Mother's services. Upon learning of Jacen and Ben's identities, DD-11A took them to Djo. When they reached the Queen Mother's chambers, Jacen told Ben to remain outside with DD-11A. However, Ben used his mechanical skills to deactivate the droid and entered Djo's chambers. Upon meeting the Queen Mother, Ben met her newborn daughter and learned that Jacen was the father. However, when Ben revealed his desire to inform Han and Leia about their new granddaughter, Djo insisted that Ben keep her existence secret.[21]

Suddenly, DD-11A, having been reactivated, alerted them to an insect infestation in the ceiling. Using his partial immersion into the Killik hive-mind, Skywalker sensed that the insects that DD-11A had detected were of Gorog. Through the hive-mind, he learned that the Gorog were intent on killing Jacen and Djo's child. Panicked, Skywalker ran toward a hidden escape tunnel that he had sensed, hoping to escape the Palace. However, Djo and Jacen would not allow him to leave through the tunnel, as they believed that the escape tunnel would lead them into a Gorog trap. At that moment, the Gorog broke through the ceiling, attacking the group. DD-11A sprang into action to defend them, but Skywalker, who was in Djo's Force grasp, thrashed about, screaming at the droid not to kill the Gorog. To stop Ben's flailing and shouting, Jacen used the Force to pinch down on the boy's carotid arteries in his neck, putting Ben into a deep sleep. In a frenzied battle, the group—with Djo's child in tow—was able to escape the ambush. Jacen used a memory rub on his cousin to eliminate any of Ben's recollections about seeing the new baby, and the two continued with their planned camping trip to Endor, where they visited Moon Falls.[21] When Ben's father later confronted him about the memory rub, Jacen claimed that he had done so in order to erase the traumatic memory of a gorax attack on an Ewok village, which infuriated the Jedi Master.[22]

Meanwhile, on the Killik world of Woteba, Han Solo and Ben's father Luke Skywalker were taken prisoner by the Colony. The two were being held by UnuThul, formerly Raynar Thul, in an attempt to make Luke and Han become Joiners. At the same time, Saba Sebatyne and Leia Organa Solo were taken captive by Galactic Alliance Admiral Nek Bwua'tu aboard the Victory I-class Star Destroyer Admiral Ackbar. Bwua'tu had impounded their ship, the Millennium Falcon, in the Utegetu Nebula for breaking the Alliance blockade placed on the region. This caused widespread debate amongst the Jedi ranks, with Jedi arguing over whether they should risk the possibility of war to save Han and Luke. On Ossus with Jacen, Ben witnessed one such argument between several Jedi and received a assurance from Jacen, his cousin Jaina Solo, and Zekk that none of the prisoners were in any danger whatsoever. During their discussion, which included Ben describing their trip to Moon Falls on Endor, Jacen had to repeatedly mind-rub Ben to keep him from remembering the incident on Hapes.[21]

The Swarm War Edit

"Does Ben really need to be part of this?"

"Sorry, but I think he does. Now that Jacen has convinced him that it's safe to open himself to the Force, Ben will have to make the same decision as everyone else." ―Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker regarding the choice of whether to stay in the Jedi Order [src]

By 36 ABY, the conflict that would be dubbed the Swarm War had broken out between a coalition consisting of the Jedi, the Galactic Alliance, and the Chiss Ascendancy against the Dark Nest and the Colony. The issues concerning the Jedi Order's role in the conflict caused a rift in the Order, with one side led by Jedi Master Corran Horn arguing that the Jedi should support the Galactic Alliance on the issue, and another side led by Master Kyp Durron contending that the Jedi should keep their own counsel on the matter. On Ossus, Ben Skywalker was present at a meeting of the Jedi Order called by Luke Skywalker, where he directly addressed the division in the Order, asking every member of the Jedi Order to rethink their commitment to the Jedi. Luke asked the Jedi to place the good of the Order over all else, and to obey the directions chosen by their superiors. If one had different loyalties or priorities ahead of the Order, Luke asked them to leave the Jedi Order.[22]

After the meeting, several of the Masters came together to discuss what just occurred. Feeling that they would be out of place in the discussion, Han Solo offered to let Ben work on the Millennium Falcon with him, a prospect that excited the boy. However, Master Kenth Hamner asked Solo to stay with them, which disappointed Ben, due to the fact that he would not be able to test his mechanical abilities on his uncle's starship. Dejected, Ben returned home with his droid Nanna.[22]

Across the galaxy, in the Unknown Regions, the Swarm War raged on. Skirmishes at Thyferra and Sarm culminated in the devastating Battle of Tenupe. In the battle, a Galactic Alliance force led by Gilad Pellaeon and Nek Bwua'tu fought alongside the Jedi and the Chiss Ascendancy, which was led into battle by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano and Captain Jagged Fel. In the climactic battle, the Allied force defeated the Dark Nest–influenced Colony forces, causing the death of millions. Luke Skywalker personally dueled and slew Dark Nest Queen Lomi Plo, and Jedi Knight–turned–Dark Nest Joiner Alema Rar—having ascended to the position of Gorog Night Herald—was presumably killed. The Swarm War was finally over.[22]

Second Galactic Civil War (40 ABY–41 ABY) Edit

Mission to Adumar Edit

"What we just did makes us spies." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

Over the next several years, Ben Skywalker continued to train with Jacen Solo, becoming his apprentice. However, he was not a true Jedi, as he had not completed any of the Academy tests.[23] By 40 ABY, Skywalker had grown into a teenager, strong in the Force, and would accompany his older cousin on many dangerous missions. Ben had progressed slowly and cautiously, but had grown to be more open and trusting of the Force, which Jacen Solo surmised would keep him from giving in to the temptations of the dark side or hormone rushes typical for Human teenagers. Skywalker had become a precocious, bright, and inventive boy, one that was largely obedient to Solo. In 40 ABY, Skywalker traveled with Solo on a covert mission to the world of Adumar to investigate whether the Dammant Killers missile-manufacturing plant was selling arms to planets that had become close to rebellion in the few years between 36 ABY and 40 ABY. The two posed as Jedi investigators checking up on the plant for the Galactic Alliance, and were nervously guided through the facility by Adumari Dammant Killers employee Testan ke Harran. Solo and Skywalker exploited Jedi mystique to intimidate Harran and the plant workers. On their tour, the adept Jedi felt uneasiness through the Force pertaining to a section of a wall. Astonishing Harran, Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and cut through the wall, revealing a secret section of the plant containing missiles that had not been reported to the Galactic Alliance.[1]

Their secret exposed, a force of twenty guards came out to confront the Jedi. The confrontation resulted in a firefight between Jacen Solo and the guards, with Solo holding off the Adumari while Ben relayed the report on the unreported missiles back to the Galactic Alliance. Their mission complete, Solo and Skywalker escaped the plant itself by hitching a ride on the top of a turbolift car, using Skywalker's grapnel hook to get a grip on the building—pulling them outside—and subsequently using a series of Force acrobatics to escape. Upon escaping the plant, they soon found themselves in the streets of the Adumari city of Cartann, with an Adumari fighter in hot pursuit. They were able to use the Force to destroy the fighter, ending the immediate danger. After transmitting evidence of the Dammant Killers' crime to the Galactic Alliance, Skywalker and Solo boarded an armored Lambda-class shuttle and returned to Coruscant.[1]

Operation Roundabout Edit

"Anakin Solo's dead. He died when I was little."

"Yes, I did die, and I became a ghost, and I was eventually drawn here to inhabit this mutated clone body, where I could help my ancestors, the Corellians."

"That's not a clone body, it's a droid body."

"You're wrong, little cousin. Or you're deliberately trying to confuse me. I suspect the latter. You're here to sabotage this station, aren't you? To destroy it, so the Corellians can never enjoy freedom and independence?"

"Boy, have they got you programmed." ―Ben Skywalker and Anakin Sal-Solo [src]

After returning to Coruscant, Solo and Skywalker were assigned a mission by Luke Skywalker: destroy or disable the ancient moon-sized space station Centerpoint Station. The operation was motivated by intelligence indicating that the Corellian government was making military preparations to bolster their political moves toward independence—secretly constructing an assault fleet and also attempting to render Centerpoint Station operational once again. More generally, the strike was conceived as a show of force—a means of eliminating the problem of Corellia's stridently anti-Coruscant government and discouraging dissent and unrest within the Alliance. The mission was dubbed "Operation Roundabout". Solo and Skywalker would comprise one of five Jedi teams on Operation Roundabout, Team Mynock, with the objective of destroying or disabling Centerpoint. The other four teams—Team Slashrat, Team Purella, Team Tauntaun, and Team Womp Rat—would work toward other objectives designed to end anti–Galactic Alliance dissent in the Corellian system.[1]

Solo and Skywalker were to be assisted in their mission by a Galactic Alliance spy, Toval Seyah, who possessed an intricate knowledge in Centerpoint Station's layout and workings. Seyah put them through several simulated scenarios, designed to prepare them for facing a Corellian Security Force outfit in an effort to reach the station's main control room and ultimately destroy the station. Skywalker, however, repeatedly failed these simulations, causing Solo to doubt whether Skywalker should take part in the mission. Finally, the two Jedi and Seyah took a shuttle to Centerpoint Station, but Seyah and Solo were quickly separated from Skywalker. Solo was caught in an anti-Jedi trap baited by Thrackan Sal-Solo, Solo's relative and the Head of State of Corellia, who had ordered that Centerpoint Station be reactivated. Skywalker was left alone and had to try to complete the mission by himself. Despite his fear of being alone on a dangerous mission, Skywalker stayed committed to the objective. Determined, Skywalker set out for the station's repulsor control chamber.[1]

Using his smaller size and his skill in stealth, Skywalker was able to sneak past CorSec checkpoints and guard stations to get closer to his destination. However, while sneaking around inside the station, Skywalker surmised that the only reason that he was forced to move so slowly and deliberately was because the enemy knew they were facing Jedi. Thinking that he didn't have to be a Jedi at that particular moment, he removed his Jedi robe, took all his Jedi accoutrements off, and dashed toward his destination. While sprinting toward the chamber, Skywalker was stopped by a security guard, who denied him entrance to the chamber. Skywalker responded by tricking the man, telling him that his father was in the chamber and that Skywalker wanted to make sure he was all right. He then darted off, the guard reluctantly allowing him to pass. Having tricked the guard into letting him pass, Skywalker continued his approach to the repulsor control chamber. However, he ran into a group of two CorSec officers and a combat droid guarding the entrance. At first, Skywalker tried to guilt them into letting him through, but when that failed, Skywalker attacked them, destroying the droid and escaping into the control room as the agents sealed the door.[1]

Inside the control room at last, Skywalker looked for the main control console. What he found instead was Anakin Sal-Solo, a droid that had been programmed by Thrackan Sal-Solo to believe that it was Skywalker's late cousin Anakin Solo, who had been dead for nearly fifteen years. Anakin Sal-Solo believed he was Anakin Solo's spirit inhabiting a mutated clone body, with one purpose: to serve the Corellians. In reality, Anakin Solo had used Centerpoint Station years before in the Yuuzhan Vong War, and the Corellian teams trying to get the station operational again needed Solo's biometric signature to use it again. So, Anakin Sal-Solo was built to utilize the late Jedi's fingerprints and brain waves, in the hopes that Centerpoint would respond. Seeing as Anakin Sal-Solo was the only thing standing in the way of Skywalker carrying out his mission, Skywalker attempted to use a holocam to take Sal-Solo's picture and show it to him, proving that he was actually a droid. Sal-Solo pulled it away, examining it to make sure it was not a blaster disguised as a holocam. Eventually Skywalker was able to convince Sal-Solo that he was not Anakin Solo. Skywalker felt guilty for telling the droid that it was not Solo, but nevertheless ordered the droid to use its knowledge of the repulsor system to destroy the station. However, the droid refused to take the lives of those aboard, but promised Skywalker that he would not allow it to be reactivated by the Corellians, although it would mean the droid's eventual destruction. Skywalker and the droid shared a tearful farewell, and Skywalker departed the chamber. Solo and Skywalker then escaped the station along with Seyah.[1]

After the mission had concluded, Skywalker refused to talk about what had happened. He only related the events to his father and wasn't able to bring himself to accept congratulations or speak to anyone else. Thereafter, Skywalker would have a guilty look in his eyes when reminded of the operation, remembering his encounter with and subsequent destruction of Anakin Sal-Solo.[1]

Attack on Toryaz Station Edit

"We should all go there together, to Corellia. Us and Jacen and Jaina. And we should hammer on Thrackan Sal-Solo until he admits what he did, and lock him away so he doesn't do it anymore." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

After Operation Roundabout, a peace conference was held on Toryaz Station, a space station near Kuat's moon Ronay. The Galactic Alliance, led by Gilad Pellaeon, met with Five World Prime Minister Aidel Saxan, who represented the five worlds of the Corellian system. The meeting was held to negotiate the return of the planet Tralus to the Five Worlds government, after it had been captured by Galactic Alliance Admiral Matric Klauskin during Operation Roundabout. Luke Skywalker led a contingent of Jedi to protect the diplomats, and Ben Skywalker was among them. The first meeting between the two sides lasted for four hours, with neither side reaching a conclusion. The diplomats and their Jedi guardians then retired for the night.[1]

While Skywalker and the rest slept, the station came under attack by a mysterious black-armored commando force, catching them unaware. The Jedi quickly moved to try and fight them off, but Skywalker was not able to partake in the battle. To protect him, Jacen Solo flipped Skywalker's bed over as he slept, covering him with it to shield him from their mysterious attackers. Despite their best efforts to save the diplomats, Aidel Saxan was killed with a blaster bolt to the chest. However, they were able to save Gilad Pellaeon from any harm. The motive for the attack was unknown, but Han Solo hypothesized that it was aimed at Jacen Solo, as retaliation for Operation Roundabout. Upon hearing this theory, Skywalker became frightened, since if the commandos were after Solo because of Centerpoint, they would also be after him.[1]

After the attack, Skywalker was pulled aside by his parents for a discussion over his thoughts on the matter. While conversing with them, Skywalker suggested that they, as a family, go to Corellia and imprison Thrackan Sal-Solo because he thought that it could stop a future war with Corellia. That proposal was rejected by Luke Skywalker, who believed that if Corellia truly wanted independence, they should have it. Ben disagreed, stating that according to Jacen Solo, the secession of Corellia would cause unrest. His parents went on to tell him to watch out for people who said that they know the right answer on an issue, referencing his constant agreeing with Jacen Solo. Afterward, Skywalker related to them that sometimes he hated being a Jedi, a feeling that his father had as well.[1]

Strange disturbances Edit

"While Jacen and I were arguing about procedure, you were doing what a Jedi should—being mindful of the Force." ―Nelani Dinn commends Ben Skywalker after the incident with Ordith Huarr [src]

While investigating the scene of the assault, Jacen Solo discovered tassels with inscriptions written upon them in different languages. While trying to decode the message, Solo was referred to the world of Lorrd, a repository of academic information. In the hopes that the scholars of Lorrd could translate the message, Solo traveled to the planet, bringing Skywalker along with him. Solo contacted the Jedi assigned to Lorrd, Nelani Dinn, telling her about the tassels and asking her to find someone able to decode them. Upon landing in Lorrd City and meeting Dinn, they were pointed to Dr. Heilan Rotham, a linguist who specialized in the field of tactile writing and recording methods. The three Jedi traveled together to Dr. Rotham's office, who succeeded in translating the first inscription. But before Rotham could continue her work, Dinn was called away by an emergency transmission. Leaving Rotham with the tassels, Skywalker and Solo went off to accompany Dinn on her duty.[1]

The Jedi trio raced to the Lorrd City Spaceport but were faced with an odd situation upon arriving; a Galactic Civil War veteran named Ordith Huarr was aboard an old Y-wing starfighter, and was threatening to launch missiles at housing districts unless he could speak with a Jedi. Dinn tried to reason with Huarr, who believed that he had seen and spoken to a Force ghost of his late wife. Although Dinn tried to convince Huarr to disarm himself, Solo decided to use the Force to disable the Y-wing and end the threat. While Dinn admonished Solo for using such extreme methods, Skywalker examined the Y-wing. Skywalker felt a surge of despair and determination from Huarr, and screamed for the other two Jedi and Lorrd Security Force agents to get away from the vehicle. Huarr then fired the missiles, destroying the starfighter but leveling the building in front of him. Skywalker was shell-shocked afterward, but cheered up when he was informed that there were no casualties in the explosion. As a reward for his actions, Solo let Skywalker have the rest of that day to himself.[1]

While enjoying his day off in the spaceport, Skywalker found a shuttle that matched one that had been seen escaping Toryaz Station after the earlier attack. Skywalker checked the spaceport's registry and found that the shuttle belonged to a Commenor native named Brisha Syo, who was not present at the time. Skywalker reported the suspicious nature of the shuttle to Lorrd Security Force Lieutenant Neav Samran and placed a tracking device on the shuttle's hull in case Syo sneaked aboard and discreetly left. Skywalker returned to Dr. Rotham's office after finding the shuttle, entering just as Rotham revealed her translations of the tassels. Once Rotham was finished, Skywalker told Dinn and Solo of the shuttle's discovery.[1]

Skywalker was awoken the next day by Solo, who informed them that another situation that required Jedi assistance had been reported. After getting up and retrieving his equipment, Skywalker, Solo, and Dinn went to the Lorrd Academy for Aquatic Studies. Inside, a man had strapped explosives between himself and a hostage named Serom Haxan, and was holding a large group of beings against their will. Solo went up to speak with the man, who identified himself as Doctor Movac Arisster, a professor at the University of Pangalactic Cultural Studies. Arisster believed that he had met with deceased Old Republic era Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, who instructed him to get the attention of the Jedi. Arisster was stricken with cancer and had little time left to live and therefore wanted to live on after his death by defeating a Jedi. He intended to accomplish this by denying the Jedi a happy ending, stopping the Jedi from saving his hostages. Solo tried to negotiate with Arisster, but found it impossible. Solo used the Force to detonate the explosives, killing Haxan and Arisster, but saving the rest of the captives. After the incident, Skywalker and Dinn argued with Solo over his methods, with Skywalker telling Solo that he had done wrong.[1]

These odd encounters continued to occur, as the day after the trio of Jedi had to save the kidnapped daughter of a prominent businesswoman, who was being held in steam tunnels beneath the School of Conceptual Design. She was rescued after Skywalker crawled through a steam pipe and dropping into the kidnapped girl's chamber, defending it against all comers until Solo, Dinn, and the security forces could storm and secure the tunnels. The kidnapping's mastermind, who died during the attack, was a frustrated radical who wanted to replace Lorrd's planetary government. His surviving allies stated that the girl appeared to him in a dream and recommended the kidnapping. Later that same day, a man named Borth Pazz, dressed in Jedi-style robes and wielding a nonfunctional lightsaber stolen from a museum, climbed to the top of a building and threatened to leap to his death unless he was admitted to the Jedi Order. Solo climbed to the summit to speak with the man, who had no Force capabilities whatsoever, and allowed the man to jump. Skywalker and Dinn used the Force to slow the man's fall, leaving him with only a broken ankle. As the man was carted off by medical personnel, Skywalker received a transmission from Lieutenant Samran, who informed the Jedi that Brisha Syo had been found and taken into custody.[1]

The Home Edit

"You're not my mother."

"Good. Then it won't be a family crime to cut you down." ―Ben Skywalker and the phantom of his mother [src]

The Jedi trio went directly to the jailhouse where Syo was being kept by LSF forces and proceeded to interrogate her. Syo quickly and readily admitted to her involvement with the odd disturbances that had been occurring on Lorrd, and revealed her Force-sensitivity. Syo stated that she heard the thoughts of people planning evil deeds through the Force, and she told those people that their victory would be greater if they defeated the Jedi. She also admitted that she was present during the events at Toryaz Station but denied that she was actually involved in the assault. She related that she was watching Jacen Solo and came to Lorrd to follow and test him. She then invited the Jedi to her home, a planetoid in a star system in the vicinity of Bimmiel. Skywalker warned that it was a trap, but Solo decided to accept her invitation. Skywalker reluctantly decided to accompany him and Dinn.[1]

The Jedi and Syo traveled to her home, which was a former mining station that was once inhabited by a species of mynock-like sentients. Over time, the species learned to wield the Force and permeated the caverns with dark side energy. The species eventually went extinct, and a mining operation was set up on the asteroids. The director, a Force-sensitive, realized the power of the dark side energy in the planetoid and would become Sith Lord Darth Vectivus. After telling Vectivus' story, Syo revealed her true reason for leading them to her home; in the caverns, where the dark side power was greater and more focused, there was a Sith Lord, and Syo did not think she should face him alone. Upon learning this, the three Jedi accompanied Syo on a turbolift on its way down to the bottom level of the habitat, but Skywalker suddenly felt himself being grabbed by the collar and hurled out of the lift and into the darkness of the caverns.[1]

Ben found himself floating in the minimal gravity of the lower levels, with Dinn alongside him, and Syo and Solo nowhere in sight. Skywalker and Dinn were then suddenly attacked by a swarm of mynocks, but quickly realized that the mynocks were nothing more than projections of the Force, although they were still dangerous. After fending off the mynocks, Skywalker found that Dinn was gone; in her place was his mother, Mara Jade Skywalker. Skywalker was forced to duel with his mother, who was strangely hostile to him, but realized that she was just another Force projection like the mynocks. Skywalker was bested by the apparition of his mother, and found himself once again hurtling through the caverns.[1]

Meanwhile, Syo revealed to Solo that she was actually Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith. She also told Solo that his former mentor, Vergere, was a Sith as well and had sacrificed herself to make sure that Solo would become a Dark Lord of the Sith. Dinn intervened, having overheard the conversation, and tried to convince Solo that Lumiya was lying, to no avail. Solo yielded to Lumiya's views, and a concerned Dinn tried to attack Lumiya. The duel raged until Solo stopped it and turned on Dinn, spurred on by a Force vision of Luke Skywalker dying if Dinn was left alive. A battle ensued, ending when Solo ran Dinn through with his lightsaber, killing the Jedi. After the fight, Solo bowed to Lumiya and pledged to learn the ways of the Sith. On his way out of the caverns, Solo picked up a groggy and disoriented Skywalker and memory-rubbed him, making him forget the events at the Home. Confused, Skywalker asked about Dinn and Lumiya's whereabouts. Solo lied to Skywalker, saying that Dinn was killed by Force phantoms and that Lumiya died of her injuries.[1]

Civil unrest Edit

"I can feel a threat, but it's a long way away. Like a really bad storm coming." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

A short time after returning from the Home, Skywalker and Solo met with Cal Omas, the Galactic Alliance Chief of State, and Cha Niathal in the Galactic Senate building on Coruscant. By then, the events of Operation Roundabout had become a major news event, being discussed in news outlets all across the galaxy. Skywalker, however, was disappointed by the lack of publicity given to his actions during the raid on Centerpoint. Solo, citing the increase of support for Corellia among Galactic Alliance constituents, asked Omas to declare war on Corellia, since he believed that war was inevitable anyway. After hearing the argument presented by Solo, Omas refused his request, fearing that the Galactic Alliance might transform into a government akin to the Galactic Empire. After the conversation, Skywalker questioned why the conflict was happening in the first place, since both Omas and Han Solo were afraid of the Galactic Alliance becoming a tyrannical government, but were on different sides. On their way out of the Senate building, Skywalker witnessed a protest by Corellian citizens of Coruscant, rallying against the treatment of Corellia by the Galactic Alliance.[7]

Later that day, Corellian terrorists bombed the Elite Hotel on Coruscant. As a form of revenge, Coruscant natives vandalized the Corellian Sanctuary, a resting place for the dead created by exiled Corellians. In the aftermath of the bomb, Solo gave Skywalker a study task to occupy him in his absence: to visit the sites of the bombing and the attack on the Corellian Sanctuary and to sense what he could of the people and events surrounding them. Skywalker first visited the Sanctuary, which he believed to be one of the saddest places he had ever been to. At the Sanctuary he met a Corellian boy named Barit Saiy, who explained to him the Corellian side of the conflict and the reasons for the terrorist attack. After finishing his task for the day, Skywalker took a trip to the Fleet Command Center, where Cha Niathal gave him a tour of the facilities.[7]

The visit to the Fleet Command Center did not take as much time as Skywalker expected, and he was still curious about desperately curious about state of the Corellians that he had encountered on his study task earlier. Thus, Skywalker went to Galactic City's Corellian Quarter, which he found in a state of chaos. A Coruscant Security Force unit was in the area, warning disgruntled residents that the water supply had become contaminated, leaving half of Galactic City without water. The CSF detachment quickly became surrounded by angry crowds, ready to explode into violence at any moment. One particular Coruscanti mob had gathered in front of the Corellian embassy, shouting epithets and throwing objects at the building. The CSF unit was forced to use dispersal gas to quell the crowd, which had devolved into violence between the Coruscanti and the Corellians. Amidst the sea of people, Skywalker caught sight of his acquaintance Barit Saiy, who had produced a blaster and was aiming it at one of the CSF officers. Eyes burning from exposure to the gas, Skywalker was able to deflect Saiy's blaster bolt and prevent an escalation of violence.[7]

Skywalker went back to Jacen Solo's apartment, still suffering from the effects of the dispersal gas. He was then visited by his parents, who were quite worried upon hearing of his brush with the rioters. They were soon followed by Jacen Solo and his parents. Due to Luke Skywalker and Han Solo being on two opposite sides in the conflict between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia, Skywalker bore witness to a heated argument between the two friends. Mara Jade Skywalker was disgusted by the confrontation and quickly pulled Ben away from his father and uncle. Afterward, Skywalker returned to the Corellian Quarter, with one objective in mind; to find Barit Saiy and ask what made him see Coruscanti as his enemy. Skywalker tracked down Saiy, who said that the Corellians and the Coruscanti were truly at war. Saiy refused to apologize for trying to shoot the CSF officer and departed after thanking Skywalker for not turning him in.[7]

The Galactic Alliance Guard Edit

"This is horrible." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

In the wake of the terrorist attacks that shook Coruscant, Cal Omas and Coruscanti Senator G'vli G'Sil had an idea: a secret police force active on Coruscant, utilized to counter Corellian terrorist activity. Leadership of the secret police was initially offered to Mara Jade Skywalker due to her previous exploits as an Emperor's Hand. Jade declined because the thought of a Jedi running a secret police force troubled her, so leadership was instead given to Jacen Solo. The organization was named the Galactic Alliance Guard, with Solo as a colonel and placed in charge of the 967 Commando squad. The 967 Commando, a unit of elite shock troopers mostly made up of volunteers from the CSF's Anti-Terrorist Unit, specialized in siege busting and personnel retrieval. Solo brought Ben Skywalker into the fold as well, and the two Jedi and the 967 Commando immediately went to work.[7]

The era of the Galactic Alliance Guard started with a routine raid into the Corellian district of Galactic City. Skywalker accompanied Solo and the 967 Commando on the raid, which was designed to search Corellian-owned property for potential threats to Coruscant security. They quickly found what they were looking for—military-level explosives which had not been assembled and readied for an attack. HoloNet reporters were soon at the scene, which worried Skywalker since it meant that his father would hear of the events. Solo told Skywalker that he shouldn't regret anything he had done and asked him whether he was ashamed of any of his actions. Skywalker replied by stating that he regretted not telling Solo of Barit Saiy's attempt to shoot the CSF officer, and he then went off to assist another GAG squad in wrenching open the doors of an apartment building. In the raid, no one was injured, and all the detained Corellians were alive and well.[7]

After the raid was finished, GAG headquarters was visited by Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, who had heard news of the events and were worried about Ben's condition. Mara Skywalker was shocked by Ben's military-like mannerisms, as being around the adult males of the GAG had caused him to imitate them without knowing. Skywalker had indeed formed a bond with the GAG members during his time with them. However, Solo's increasingly dark actions had drawn the attention of Luke Skywalker and several other Jedi, who were concerned for Ben due to the great influence that Solo had on him. Even Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo's own sister, recommended to Luke Skywalker that he find another teacher for Ben. In the meantime, Skywalker continued serving in the GAG. He was stationed with Jacen Solo and the 967 Commando at a vehicle checkpoint in the lower levels of Galactic City, this time in a neighborhood that was not Corellian. This was justified by one of the highest ranking GAG members, Captain Lon Shevu, by saying that not all threats to domestic security were Corellian. Shevu then announced their reason for being there; their Customs and Immigrations department received a tip-off about three Corellian agents and a bounty hunter they had made contact with, and the CSF had tracked their location.[7]

The GAG force first tried to coax their targets out of their hiding place peacefully, but were responded to with blasterfire. They then entered the building by force, with Skywalker serving as a "sniffer" using the Force to detect unforeseen traps and to ascertain the exact location of their targets. The Corellian agents and the bounty hunter were swiftly captured and taken into custody. Afterward, Solo asked about the identity of Barit Saiy as the Corellian who tried to shoot the CSF officer. Skywalker was conflicted about turning in his friend, but ultimately decided to be loyal to Solo and give him Saiy's name. The bounty hunter who was detained was named Ailyn Habuur, and Skywalker was present at her interrogation. She refused to divulge any information, and was eventually left with one of the GAG's best intelligence operatives, Heol Girdun. Skywalker then noticed Barit Saiy amongst the Corellians that had been arrested over the night, and was unnerved by Saiy's intense loathing of Skywalker for turning him in.[7]

Jacen Solo was approached the next day by Luke and Mara Skywalker, who were concerned about how Skywalker's Force abilities were being used in the service of the Galactic Alliance Guard. They asked Solo to end Skywalker's involvement in the GAG and to stop teaching Skywalker. The interrogation of Ailyn Habuur continued later that day, this time administered by Jacen Solo himself. The questioning turned into torture by way of Solo slamming Habuur's head into a desk with the Force. As Skywalker looked on, Shevu entered the interrogation chamber with Girdun and tried to heal Habuur, but to no avail; Habuur had died. Skywalker was shocked after seeing Habuur's dead body, but upon examination of Habuur's datapad he discovered that Habuur's objective was to kill Han Solo.[7]

Skywalker returned to his father's apartment as previously requested, where they asked him to stop working with the Galactic Alliance Guard and end his master-apprentice relationship with Jacen Solo. Skywalker defended his duty in the Guard, and when Luke asked him to return to the Jedi Academy for training, Skywalker refused, stating that he would prefer to stay in the GAG for a little while longer before training at the Academy. Skywalker returned to GAG headquarters, where he got word of reported suspicious activity near the World Brain, a Yuuzhan Vong device designed to manage the planet's ecosystem while it was under Yuuzhan Vong rule. Skywalker, Solo, and the 967 Commando went to the area where the activity was taking place, where they found a group of Corellian protesters. Skywalker used the Force to survey the area and felt dangerous weapons in the vicinity. It pointed to a nearby apartment building, which Skywalker and the GAG squad forcibly entered. They met resistance, leaving Skywalker with no choice but to kill the two men inside. Although they found the weapons—several missile launchers—Skywalker was regretful and emotionally pained that he had killed the two men. After contemplating his actions, Skywalker reluctantly decided to tell his parents that he had killed the two men.[7]

Duel at the Temple Edit

"If Jacen is training you so well, prove it." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

Due to his misgivings about letting Skywalker learn under Jacen Solo, Luke Skywalker invited Skywalker to have a training duel with him in the Jedi Temple Sparring Arena, in the hopes that Skywalker would realize that he needed more intensive training at the Jedi Academy. Moreover, it was a test to see if Skywalker would give into anger upon losing a competition. Although Skywalker did not want to partake in the duel, he agreed. It was the first time father and son would duel with live blades, an event that Skywalker's mother dreaded. Skywalker entered the arena wearing a modified set of Yuuzhan Vong vonduun crab armor, but was ordered by his father to remove it and fight without protection. Despite his confusion over being told to take off his armor, Skywalker was determined to present himself well, to set aside his anxiety and prove to his father that he was worthy of the trust being put in him by the Jedi Order. Before they fought, Luke Skywalker asked him to leave the GAG, but he refused, saying that Jacen Solo and the Galactic Alliance needed him. Luke Skywalker commenced the duel but did not activate his lightsaber, daring his son to force him to turn it on.[23]

Try as he might, Skywalker was not able to make his father activate his lightsaber. His father easily evaded Skywalker's lightsaber attacks, despite Skywalker using all the tricks that he could to force his father to use his lightsaber, including playing dead after taking a particularly nasty fall. After his playing dead attempt failed, Skywalker let up on his attacks, citing his discouragement caused by not being able to make his father use his lightsaber. His father tried to use Skywalker's poor sparring skills as a reason to quit the Galactic Alliance Guard and focus on his training at the Jedi Temple, but Skywalker refused. Luke Skywalker then revealed his fears that Lumiya was going to strike at the Jedi through Ben and that the Jedi Order needed Skywalker more than the GAG and Solo did. However, Skywalker defended Solo and his training and was presented with a challenge; instead of forcing him to activate his lightsaber, Luke wanted Skywalker to make him move one foot. Again Skywalker failed, when his father used the Force to fling Skywalker's lightsaber across the room. His father dropped his lightsaber to the ground, and when Skywalker picked it up and examined it, he found that Luke couldn't activate it as the lightsaber lacked a power cell.[23]

After the duel, Luke Skywalker tried to convince Skywalker that he needed more training and that he had given a pitiful performance. Skywalker refused, and when his father told him that he needed a real Jedi Master, Skywalker told him to simply make Solo a Jedi Master. Skywalker went to leave as he had a GAG raid later on in the day, but before he departed he told his father that he could use more sparring. After Skywalker left, his mother and father discussed their surprise at Skywalker's calmness and his lack of anger and fear. However, Luke Skywalker still thought that Skywalker needed to be separated from Jacen Solo and brought back to the Jedi Temple for training as his sparring skills were not up to par. Luke also recoiled at the suggestion to make Solo a Jedi Master on the basis of his great understanding of the Force.[23]

Battle of Hapes Edit

"This is Jedi Ben Skywalker with an urgent warning for the Hapan Royal Navy. Ducha Galney is a verified traitor coming to launch a sneak attack on the Queen Mother. Repeat urgent warning: Ducha Galney is a traitor. Take all precautions." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

Meanwhile in the Hapes Consortium, the mother of Solo's child, the Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo, was the target of a failed assassination attempt. This immediately piqued the attention of Solo, who went to the Hapes Consortium with Skywalker in the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Anakin Solo to investigate. Skywalker was sent down to the planet Hapes by Solo and returned to the Anakin Solo accompanied by Tenel Ka Djo, Djo's aide Lady Galney, the security droid DD-11A, and Solo's daughter, Allana. Since Solo suspected that Galney was behind the assassination attempt due to her closeness to Djo, Solo ordered Skywalker to escort Lady Galney back to her quarters and keep a close eye on her during her inspection.[23]

In the wake of the assassination attempt, Djo sent two Jedi Knights, Jaina Solo and Zekk, to the moon of Terephon to ask the moon's Ducha to mobilize her fleet. Upon landing on the moon and visiting the Ducha's place of residence, they were attacked and contact with them was lost. After losing contact with the Jedi, Skywalker accompanied GAG Junior Lieutenant Beta Ioli, Chief Petty Officer Tanogo, and their gunner Gim Sorzo on the skiff Rover to Terephon to find out what happened to Jaina Solo and Zekk. They landed on the moon, quickly finding Solo and Zekk, who were still alive. They warned that the Ducha was behind both the attack on them and the assassination attempt. They then learned that the Ducha was sending her fleet to Hapes to attack the Queen Mother's fleet, and despite an order from Jacen Solo to take the Rover and go to Roqoo Depot, they instead went to Hapes to warn Djo and the Hapan Royal Navy. The Rover beat the Ducha's fleet to Hapes, where Skywalker broadcast an emergency warning to Djo and the Royal Navy.[23]

After broadcasting the emergency warning message to the Hapan Royal Navy, the Rover came under attack by one of the Ducha's ships. The Rover was badly damaged, and Skywalker was forced to go extravehicular. As there were only four EV suits for the six beings aboard the skiff, Tanogo and Ioli volunteered to stay behind on the Rover and keep broadcasting the message despite the threat of death. Although Skywalker was reluctant to leave Ioli and Tanogo behind, Junior Lieutenant Ioli ordered him to get off the Rover while he still could. Skywalker, Jaina Solo, Zekk, and Sorzo escaped the Rover, and right as they entered the vacuum of space, the turbolasers of the Ducha's attacking ship destroyed the Rover. After a short time floating in space, Skywalker and the others were picked up by Han Solo and the badly damaged Millennium Falcon, which was under fire from the Anakin Solo. Leia and Han Solo had recently been declared as criminals by the Galactic Alliance, and once aboard the ship Skywalker attempted to arrest his uncle for his perceived crimes against the Galactic Alliance.[23]

Solo and the others aboard the Millennium Falcon were incredulous that Skywalker would try to arrest Han Solo after he had just saved them, and Zekk quickly convinced Skywalker to pursue the matter later, as the damaged Falcon was leaking pressure at a dangerous rate. However, as it seemed that the pressure leak was too much for Solo to handle, Skywalker tried to convince Solo to let him comm the Anakin Solo and tell Jacen Solo that they were surrendering and that he would bring Han Solo in to the authorities. His offer was rejected by everyone aboard and, continuing his efforts to apprehend Han Solo, tried to stop the others from repairing the Falcon. When Jaina Solo stopped him, he pulled out his lightsaber. Zekk immediately moved to restrain Skywalker, and the two wrestled over Skywalker's activated weapon. Skywalker dealt a blow to Zekk's abdomen in the ensuing fight, and a surprised and angered Jaina Solo removed the lightsaber from Skywalker's possession. Meanwhile the Millennium Falcon's pressure leak had been largely contained and the ship restored to operational condition, but since the number of passengers on the ship was over capacity Skywalker, Sorzo, Zekk, and Jaina Solo were forced to leave the ship via escape pod. They were then brought aboard the Anakin Solo, where Skywalker described his actions to the horror of Djo and his parents. Skywalker was reprimanded by his parents and given a lecture about how he was in the wrong about trying to arrest his uncle.[23]

Ziost Edit

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. For my fourteenth birthday, I killed a little girl." ―Ben Skywalker after leaving Kiara behind on Ziost [src]

After the events at Hapes, Skywalker returned to the Jedi Temple to train. One day while practicing his lightsaber skills with a remote, he met a girl who introduced herself as Seha Dorvald. While they had a banal discussion relating to practice techniques, Dorvald discreetly gave him a card, which contained a secret message from Jacen Solo when scanned. In the message, Solo gave Skywalker a mission: go to Almania's moon Drewwa and retrieve an artifact called the Amulet of Kalara, which was in a display case in the Almanian planetary offices of the Tendrando Arms arms company. According to Solo, the Amulet of Kalara, when activated, would make the being using it invisible in the Force. Evidently, Dorvald was working together with Solo and would also assist Skywalker in getting out of the Jedi Temple inconspicuously. Skywalker exited the Temple through an emergency door which had had its emergency alarm disabled by Dorvald. Skywalker then got transport to a minor spaceport about four hundred kilometers away from the Jedi Temple and boarded a shuttle destined for Drewwa.[24]

Skywalker landed on Drewwa and immediately went to a local dining establishment for some breakfast. He ordered caf and one of his favorite delicacies, kruffy pot pie, but upon attempting to pay with his credcard he was notified that the special banking account set up for his mission did not work. Skywalker tried accessing the account at several different banks, but each time the banking machines could not find his account. Hungry and without funds, Skywalker resorted to stealing money from a bystander and using it to purchase his food, despite his reservations about thievery. Having had his meal, Skywalker set out for the Crossroutes Business Habitat, a large office building where Tendrando Arms rented several floors. The Amulet was on the 215th floor, and wanting to obtain the artifact unobserved, Skywalker took the building's turbolift to the 216th floor, which was owned by a consulting firm called Lyster Innovations. He successfully tricked Lyster's greeter, Gilthor Breen, into leaving his job, giving him free space to open a viewport and climb outside. Once outside he descended to the 215th floor after momentarily losing his grip on his climbing equipment. Having successfully gotten onto the 215th floor without being detected, Skywalker raced to the Amulet's display case only to find that the Amulet was not there. In its place, he found a note from a man named Faskus of Ziost, which explained that he had taken the artifact.[24]

Skywalker decided to go to Ziost to track the Amulet of Kalara down, but didn't have a means of transportation since the planet Ziost did not appear in any public database. Since his money-stealing technique had improved and he had become more receptive to thieving, Skywalker made up his mind that he would steal a ship and go to Ziost. He found an unattended Y-wing starfighter in a spaceport and, pretending he was a trainee working there, stole an R2-series astromech droid by punching out a spaceport employee. Along with the droid named Shaker, he took the Y-wing and flew to Ziost. Soon after landing on the planet and exiting his Y-wing, the starfighter was destroyed by an unknown vehicle. The thought of dying alone on Ziost without any mode of transportation disheartened Skywalker, but he soon overcame his anguish and resigned himself to his mission. He also decided to find and take revenge on the people who had destroyed his starfighter and stranded him on Ziost.[24]

Skywalker spent a night with Shaker in Ziost's dark forest but spotted smoke rising above the trees, a sign that other beings were on the planet. He went toward the source of the smoke and found a camp belonging to Faskus, who was present with the Amulet of Kalara draped around his neck. Skywalker sneaked up behind him and overpowered Faskus. After the scuffle, Skywalker noticed a young girl, Faskus' daughter, watching in horror. The girl tried to defend her father by throwing her toys and various objects at Skywalker, who was trying to treat Faskus' injury. Faskus was still strong enough to explain his story to Skywalker. He worked as a courier, who was given the Amulet by a Bothan named Byalfin Dyur, who instructed him to leave the Amulet in a Ziost cave. When he brought it to the cave, he saw a TIE fighter firing on his YT-2400 light freighter, the Blacktooth, with his daughter still inside. He raced to the camp to save his daughter but was hit in the abdomen by a shard of durasteel, mortally wounding him. With his life slipping away, Faskus entrusted his daughter, named Kiara's care to Skywalker.[24]

Skywalker decided to leave Kiara behind, as she would consume more resources and slow him and Shaker down on their quest to find a way off Ziost. However, his overwhelming guilt about leaving a young girl alone on a hostile world prompted him to return to the camp. After helping Kiara bury her father, he brought her along. After a few days trekking through the woods, Shaker detected a faint ion trail of the type produced by a TIE fighter. Skywalker realized that whoever destroyed the Y-wing and the Blacktooth was following them. Nevertheless, the three pushed on, coming to rest at an abandoned settlement. Shaker alerted Skywalker that his datapad had sent an unprompted comm signal, leading Skywalker to believe that the datapad was a tracking device which the owner of the TIE fighter was using to follow their movements. Skywalker checked all of the objects on his belt for a tracking device and found it inside his belt pouch. Skywalker scanned the skies for the TIE fighter and saw it speeding toward them. Skywalker was able to get Shaker and Kiara to cover as the TIE strafed the ruins and used the Force to hurl a boulder at the TIE, damaging it. None of the group were injured by the TIE's attack.[24]

Things quickly got a lot harder for Kiara and Skywalker, as their food supply was running low and they were being routinely attacked by predatory neks. On one night, Skywalker heard strange, unexplained voices talking to him, telling him to protect Kiara. Half-asleep, Skywalker murmured that he needed to find a ship, to which the voices replied by giving him a mental picture of an odd ball-shaped organic craft. Skywalker suddenly gained the knowledge of how to find the ship, if it even existed. They spotted a ruined citadel upon a ledge and climbed up to it for shelter. But a short distance from the building Shaker stopped, communicating to Skywalker that he lacked sufficient power to move any farther. Skywalker told Shaker to shut down and that he would wake him up when he found a power source. Skywalker was attacked suddenly by a nek, which he fended off. He and Kiara camped at the citadel, where Skywalker was tormented by a dream where he was confronted by a strange creature which crawled down from the ceiling of the building. When he awoke, the voices no longer told him to protect Kiara; they told him to eat her and grow stronger. Skywalker, lean from starvation, weighed his options, coming to the conclusion that cannibalizing Kiara was the most logical choice, but refused to do so. They then set a trap for the TIE fighter, who attacked a dummy of Ben while the real Skywalker Force-threw rocks at the fighter. The trap worked, and they were able to recover power packs from the wreckage of the TIE to power Shaker. That night Skywalker heard the voices again, which he followed to find the craft he had seen in his vision. Skywalker, Kiara, and Shaker got into the craft, which Skywalker communicated with and commanded with his mind, finally departing Ziost. After leaving Ziost's atmosphere, they were attacked by Dyur's ship, the Boneyard Rendezvous, which was in orbit. However, the ship's weapons quickly destroyed the starship. Skywalker commanded the ship to bring him home to Coruscant.[24]

Assassinating Gejjen Edit

"What do you want me to do?"

"Assassinate Gejjen." ―Ben Skywalker and Jacen Solo [src]

Skywalker parted ways with Kiara and Shaker, leaving the girl and droid on Drewwa, where he entrusted Shaker to bring Kiara to someone who could care for her. Skywalker, focused on giving the Amulet of Kalara to Solo, brought the ship to the Anakin Solo, which was en route to Coruscant via the Contruum system. Solo was pleased at Skywalker's performance and was surprised and awed by the Sith ship that he had flown. Little did Skywalker know that the entire mission—the journey to Drewwa, the unexpected detour to Ziost, and the conflict with Dyur and his forces—was orchestrated by Lumiya, Solo's Sith master, in an effort to ascertain whether Skywalker was fit to be a Sith. Skywalker returned to Coruscant, and met with his mother Mara Jade at the Sanvia Vitajuice Bar. His mother was relieved that Skywalker was safe, since she had had no contact with him since he departed for Drewwa. His mother told him that she believed that Lumiya was trying to kill him based on her hypothesis that Brisha Syo was a separate person, Lumiya's daughter, and that Skywalker had killed her. Mara Jade warned him that Lumiya had connections within the Galactic Alliance Guard and that she could strike at any time. Before the two went to their family apartment, his mother asked him to leave the GAG, but Skywalker once again refused. When they returned to the Skywalker family apartment, Skywalker declined multiple requests from his father to leave the GAG. His parents finally gave in, and his mother gave him a vibroblade to pair with his lightsaber, a gift that Skywalker gladly accepted. Unbeknownst to Skywalker, the blade was tagged with a tracking device, allowing his mother to know his location at all times.[25]

Skywalker would return to work at the GAG, and after a daily briefing, he revealed his fears that Lumiya was trying to kill him. Skywalker asked Solo to teach him how to hide his presence in the Force, a power that Solo had learned on his five-year sojourn away from the Jedi Order in the years following the Yuuzhan Vong War. Solo taught Skywalker the basics of the Force power, the application of which excited him. Solo also revealed to him something else; Corellian Head of State and Thrackan Sal-Solo's successor, Dur Gejjen, was behind the attempt on Tenel Ka Djo's life. Gejjen had gotten the position after Thrackan Sal-Solo was assassinated by renowned Mandalorian bounty hunter Boba Fett, his granddaughter Mirta Gev, and Skywalker's uncle Han Solo, an assassination that was orchestrated by Gejjen. Solo gave Skywalker another mission—to assassinate Gejjen, as Solo did not want him destabilizing the Galactic Alliance's allies. Skywalker was wary of the idea at first, believing that it would only lead to further violence, but obliged. Skywalker sought advice and preparation on the concept of sniping a target and was given a tour of the GAG's intelligence headquarters by intelligence leader Heol Girdun. He was introduced to the monitoring equipment, which he used to listen in on a conversation between Gejjen and Cal Omas, where Gejjen expressed his desire to remove Jacen Solo and Cha Niathal from the political process. Gejjen went on to propose secret negotiations between the Confederation—an alliance of several systems mainly headed by Corellia—and the Galactic Alliance, to take place on Vulpter, an offer that Omas accepted.[25]

The GAG discovered that Omas was indeed going to Vulpter for the peace talks, taking a one day leave of office under the guise of a private medical matter. Also, Gejjen had rescheduled all his engagements for the day of the negotiations, giving Skywalker a one-day window to prepare. The plan was for Skywalker to shoot and kill Gejjen after he finished his meeting with Omas. With limited time, Skywalker began training for the event with GAG Lieutenant Jori Lekauf, who instructed him on sniping with a modified Karpaki Fifty ballistic sniper rifle. Although Skywalker had his doubts about killing Gejjen, but in the course of only a few hours Lekauf was able to make Skywalker into an efficient and deadly sniper. Fearing that Skywalker's red hair would make him more conspicuous, Lon Shevu had Skywalker dye his hair to disguise himself. That night, Skywalker and Lekauf went to Vulpter, under the facade of Skywalker as Lekauf's younger cousin. Shevu also came with them. They landed at Vulpter's busy Charbi City Spaceport, where they laid low as they watched the negotiations take place through a window. The talks themselves did not yield any major developments, stalling when Gejjen outlined his desire for the removal of Solo and Niathal. The meeting adjourned, and Gejjen exited through the south doors of the conference building. Skywalker moved into position, aimed, and killed Gejjen with a textbook head shot.[25]

Loss of a parent Edit

"Mom? Mom!?" ―Ben Skywalker after feeling his mother's death in the Force [src]

After firing the shot that felled Gejjen, the three GAG officers tried to discreetly exit the spaceport. However, security forces locked the port down as Vulpter authorities went about scanning each witness for ballistic residue. Thinking quickly, Lekauf took the Karpaki and went off creating a diversion, announcing that he was the one who had fired the killing shot and threatening to kill a hostage. With the attention of the security personnel successfully focused on Lekauf, Skywalker and Shevu escaped the spaceport. Lekauf bluffed his way onto a docked starship, which he detonated as Skywalker and Shevu flew away, killing himself. Skywalker wept as the two sped away, mourning the loss of his friend, all the while pleading to Shevu to go back to the spaceport and pick Lekauf back up. Skywalker and Shevu returned to the Coruscant Military Spaceport, where he was comforted by Shevu, who explained that he was the one who would detonate the ship if things went wrong. Skywalker was met outside the GAG headquarters by Mara Jade, who had an injured face. His mother was demanding to know why he had gone to Vulpter and explained that her injury was caused by a battle with Lumiya. Skywalker admitted that he had gone to Vulpter to kill Gejjen on Solo's orders, infuriating Mara Jade.[25]

After the assassination, Cal Omas returned to Coruscant from Vulpter to find himself under arrest by the GAG on the grounds of entering into secret talks with the opposition. Cha Niathal, the acting Chief of State during Omas' absence, declared her and Solo joint Chiefs of State of the Galactic Alliance. They both declared that their coup was legal and temporary and promised that there would be rapid elections following the end of the conflict. They also sealed off the Chief of State's office, proclaiming that only duly-elected representatives could sit in it. Omas was held at GAG headquarters, where Skywalker was trying to clear his head, still shocked by the assassination at Vulpter. Skywalker, curious, went toward Omas' holding area, where he overheard Solo talking with Lumiya. In the discussion, Solo expounded upon his mind-rubbing of Skywalker following the events at the Home and his further ambitions to garner more power and become sole Chief of State. Skywalker was astounded by these revelations and was left trying to think of excuses for Solo's association with Lumiya. Skywalker came to the conclusion that Solo was under some sort of Force influence from Lumiya, and raced off to warn his mother, believing that she alone was unaffected by Lumiya's influence.[25]

Skywalker met Mara Jade at a tapcafe and explained to her Solo's betrayal and the mind-rubbing, disproving her theory that Syo was Lumiya's daughter. He also described his mission to retrieve the Amulet and how he found the ship. Mara Jade revealed to Skywalker that she had also spoken to the Sith Meditation Sphere, and that she had seen it in Lumiya's possession on Coruscant's moon Hesperidium. Skywalker taught his mother how to disappear in the Force as well, to give her a better sense of when he was hiding. After the meeting with his mother, Skywalker stayed with Lon Shevu rather than face his father. He woke up in the middle of the night, hearing the telepathic call of the Sith Meditation Sphere. He went to the GAG compound and took a ship, following Lumiya and the Sith ship. He followed it into Hapan space, where his mother was busy in a skirmish with Jacen Solo on the planet Kavan. During a heated battle where Solo was nearly killed, Solo was able to stab Mara Jade with a poison dart, fatally wounding her. As one of her last acts before dying, she whispered into Skywalker's mind with the Force. Skywalker raced to Kavan and saw his mother's dead body. Jacen Solo did not admit his complicity, instead telling Skywalker that he would track down the real killer.[25]

Change of heart Edit

"With all due respect sir, you can shove that order down the nearest black hole. You're the one who turned me into a killer." ―Ben Skywalker to Darth Caedus [src]

After returning to Coruscant, Skywalker attended the funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker. The event was plagued by problems from the start; before the funeral was to begin, Han and Leia Organa Solo, who tried to attend, were accosted by a Galactic Alliance Guard unit, who attempted to arrest them. Also, as Saba Sebatyne gave her eulogy, Jacen Solo caused a stir by entering and sitting directly next to Luke and Ben Skywalker. No one knew that Solo was the true slayer of Mara Jade Skywalker or that he had become a full Sith Lord following the duel, taking the Sith name Darth Caedus. Meanwhile, the Galactic Alliance's conflict with the Confederation had erupted into all-out war. The Confederation began a push to the Core, and Commenorian and Hutt forces attempted to occupy Balmorra. Shortly before Caedus and the Galactic Alliance Fourth Fleet engaged the Confederation at Balmorra, Skywalker confronted Caedus, asking whether he was the killer of Mara Jade due to his being on Kavan at the time. Caedus swiftly denied it but failed to convince Skywalker. Skywalker demanded that Caedus reveal the name of the guilty party and accused Caedus of trying to take over the Jedi Order. Caedus responded by playing Skywalker an audio recording of Cal Omas stating that he wanted Luke Skywalker out of the way. Skywalker stayed determined to find his mother's killer and feigned belief that Omas was behind the death of Mara Jade Skywalker.[26]

Skywalker went to Omas' residence, where he was under house arrest. He defeated the CSF security detail guarding Omas and afterward had a brief engagement with a security droid. After destroying the droid, Skywalker ended up staring down the barrel of Omas' blaster pistol, although Skywalker swiftly disarmed him. Omas was suicidal and had rigged a thermal detonator to explode should his heart stop beating. Skywalker revealed that he sought to avenge his mother's death, but did not believe that Omas was behind the killing. Skywalker and Omas deduced that the recording was faked by a GAG officer named Jonat, and Skywalker revealed that he believed Caedus was the killer, informing Omas of Caedus' dealing with Lumiya. Knowing that he didn't have much time until Coruscant Security breached his prison, Omas grabbed his fallen blaster and started firing wildly at Skywalker, intentionally missing, and yelling that Skywalker was going to kill him. As CSF agents swarmed into Omas' home, Omas threw himself on Skywalker's activated lightsaber, fatally wounding himself. With his last breath, Omas asked Skywalker to forgive him.[26]

Since the only person who knew the true circumstances of Omas' death was Skywalker, it was commonly believed that he had been the one to kill Omas. Meanwhile, the Galactic Alliance forces led by Darth Caedus, along with Jedi assistance commanded by Luke Skywalker, fought a major battle at Kuat. The Jedi were no longer willing to have Caedus command them, and when word reached Luke Skywalker that Omas was dead and that Skywalker was the presumed killer, Luke Skywalker informed Caedus that they would no longer support him. Caedus responded by ordering the deaths of Jedi hostages on Ossus and the occupation of the Jedi Temple. Skywalker, having left Coruscant after Omas' death, navigated the fire of battle, landed in the Anakin Solo and met with Caedus. Skywalker pretended that he was Omas' killer and asked that Caedus take him back as his apprentice. He was initially unsuccessful, but Caedus obliged when Skywalker told him that his father had asked him to meet him on Kashyyyk, where the Jedi purportedly were asking the Wookiees not to lend assistance to the Galactic Alliance.[26]

Skywalker vs. Caedus Edit

"This kill is mine." ―Ben Skywalker [src]

Unbeknownst to Caedus, Skywalker warned Jaina Solo and Zekk, who were on Ossus, of Caedus' ordering of a GAG battalion to kill the Jedi at the Ossus Academy. Although several Jedi were killed and Kam and Tionne Solusar were gravely injured, the GAG force was defeated. The Galactic Alliance Fifth Fleet, the Anakin Solo included, traveled to Kashyyyk, where they found the native Wookiee fleet unprepared. Although Skywalker cautioned Caedus to avoid violence while dealing with the Wookiees, Caedus maintained that he was there to capture the rogue Jedi and his parents. Caedus demanded to Kashyyyk's leaders that they relinquish the Solos, but they claimed that they were not on the planet. Unsatisfied, Caedus ordered his subordinates to open fire on the planet. Caedus ordered Skywalker to be at his side as Kashyyyk's forests burned, while a lone squadron of Wookiee Owool Interceptors approached the Anakin Solo. One of the pilots was the Wookiee Jedi Lowbacca, who launched a single shadow bomb at the Anakin's bridge. Skywalker attempted to strike Caedus down in the confusion, but by sheer serendipity the bomb exploded as Skywalker moved to attack and sent them both to the ground. Caedus quickly rose and struck Skywalker with a bolt of Force lightning, incapacitating him and preventing him from being able to kill Caedus.[26]

Caedus imprisoned Skywalker after the attack and placed him in the Embrace of Pain. The Embrace of Pain was a rack-like torture device made by the Yuuzhan Vong, which had been used by Vergere on Caedus after he was captured on Myrkr. The Embrace of Pain had played a crucial part in Caedus' descent into the dark side, and Caedus intended to use it to turn Skywalker into a Sith. Through it all Skywalker continued to accuse Caedus of killing Mara Jade Skywalker, and Caedus continued to deny it. Caedus then tried to break Skywalker's will; he told Skywalker that his father Luke Skywalker had been shot down and killed in battle. This however was not true; Luke Skywalker had indeed been shot down, but not killed. Skywalker refused to believe that his father was dead, and was able to feel his father, alive, aboard the Anakin Solo. Skywalker warned Caedus that his father was alive and was coming for him, but Caedus did not believe him, thinking it was all a ruse. Suddenly, Luke Skywalker appeared behind Caedus and attacked him. The two dueled, as Skywalker watched in agony from the Embrace of Pain.[26]

As the battle raged on, Skywalker used the Force to summon a vibrodagger off the floor and struggled to cut himself free of the Embrace of Pain's tendrils. By then Luke Skywalker had trapped Caedus in another torture rack and was moving in to land the killing blow. Skywalker, still in the Embrace of Pain, began shouting to his father that he deserved to cut down Caedus, distracting his father and inadvertently buying Caedus time to get free. Caedus stood up to attack but was stabbed in the back by Skywalker's vibrodagger, puncturing a lung and barely missing his heart. Skywalker justified it by saying that Caedus had killed Mara Jade, but Luke Skywalker revealed that he believed Alema Rar was the true killer. Caedus fled the scene, and the Skywalkers escaped the Anakin Solo.[26]

Battle on the Anakin Solo Edit

"The Corellians just used Centerpoint Station to destroy elements of the Second Fleet. They also tried to kill Jacen. Now, thinking the way Jacen does, the way we must, it's inconceivable that he would not make an all-out effort to capture the station and have in his possession the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. We're not going to let the Corellians have it, and we're not going to let Jacen have it. We're going to destroy it… probably at the same time Jacen mounts his operation to capture it." ―Luke Skywalker [src]

The events at Kuat and Kashyyyk prompted the Jedi to withdraw support for Caedus and the Galactic Alliance, forming the military resistance movement called the Jedi Coalition. The Coalition set up an outpost on Endor, where Skywalker stayed following the duel with Caedus on the Anakin Solo. Staying on Endor gave Skywalker time to think, and he realized that Caedus was trying to turn him to the dark side the same way Palpatine turned Anakin Skywalker; to make it so that Caedus was the only person Skywalker had. Skywalker related this to his father, who wholeheartedly agreed with him. Later, Skywalker confronted his father, saying that his father was miserable and telling him that he needed to get over Mara Jade Skywalker's death. Impressed by Skywalker's emotional maturity, Luke Skywalker declared him a Jedi Knight and ready to build his own lightsaber. Meanwhile, in other parts of the galaxy, the new Five World Prime Minister after the death of Gejjen, Sadras Koyan, ordered the firing of a newly repaired Centerpoint Station. The firing of the massive station destroyed much of the Galactic Alliance Second Fleet and nearly killed Darth Caedus.[27]

Feeling that Centerpoint Station needed to be completely neutralized as a threat, Luke Skywalker planned a final attack on the station. Jedi Master Kyp Durron and Toval Seyah would lead an assault on Centerpoint Station itself in an effort to destroy it, while Ben and Luke Skywalker, Saba Sebatyne, Han and Leia Solo, and their friend Iella Wessiri Antilles would attack the Anakin Solo, where Darth Caedus was holding the Chume'da Allana in an attempt to secure Hapan cooperation. The Jedi infiltrated the Anakin, where they split up; the Skywalkers and Sebatyne went to fight Caedus, while the Solos and Antilles went off to free Allana. The Jedi met heavy resistance on their push toward Caedus, while the Solos and Antilles easily reached Allana's quarters and freed her. The Skywalkers and Sebatyne reached the bridge of the Anakin Solo, where they confronted Caedus. However they did not get the opportunity to battle him head-on, as Caedus set his YVH security droids on the Jedi. While Caedus watched the fight unfold, he felt Allana's joy at being rescued through the Force and ran off to find his daughter. The Jedi were able to fend off the droids and escape, while the Solos and Antilles returned Allana to her mother Tenel Ka Djo. Meanwhile at Centerpoint, the station was destroyed when a technician named Rikel tried to fire the station's weapon and destroy Coruscant. Unbeknownst to him, Seyah had changed all the station's coordinates to the center of the station itself, causing Centerpoint to destroy itself when Rikel pressed the button.[27]

Investigations Edit

"Good man. We'll make a CSF detective of you yet." ―Lon Shevu [src]

The war continued to rage on into the year 41 ABY, and Skywalker was still tormented by his mother's death. Despite his father's proclamation that Alema Rar, now deceased, was Mara Jade's killer, Skywalker still believed that Darth Caedus was his mother's killer. After spending time contemplating his mother's death, he revealed his theories abut the circumstances of Mara Jade's death to his cousin Jaina Solo and Leia Solo. He hypothesized that his mother became so enraged upon learning of his experiences in the Galactic Alliance Guard that she attacked Caedus, who killed her. Skywalker was determined to discover the exact circumstances of Mara Jade's death and declared so to them. Skywalker decided to start by going to Coruscant and talking to his friend Shevu, and he entered Shevu's apartment to find it devoid of many personal items, something which confused Skywalker. Shevu concurred that Caedus was likely Mara Jade's killer, and Skywalker asked him for help in his investigation. Shevu agreed, stating that his closeness to Caedus would grant them inside information and more importantly, that Caedus trusted him.[8]

Skywalker and Shevu started their investigation by going to Mara Jade's place of death, Kavan, and examining the area where she was killed. They carried their search into the water tunnels where Mara Jade's body had been found, where Skywalker saw his mother's Force ghost. The Force ghost of Mara Jade tore out strands of hair from her head, leading Skywalker to believe that finding his mother's hair would lead him to the answer. Skywalker and Shevu went back to Coruscant to examine Caedus' StealthX starfighter for Mara Jade's hair, as finding some would all but confirm that Caedus was the guilty party. However, actually getting to Caedus' starfighter undetected posed a problem. Nevertheless, the two circumvented this difficulty by asking Cha Niathal to give them unabated access to the starfighter, under the guise that they were only performing a compulsory service check, and to use a Coruscant Security Force droid to examine Caedus' starfighter, so Caedus would not be able to sense that Shevu and Skywalker had been in the StealthX. Niathal obliged, setting all the pieces in place.[8]

Skywalker and Shevu waited until Caedus left on the Anakin Solo to go to Fondor and went to the Galactic Alliance fleet hangar where the StealthX