Worst day EVAR. So far.

The trip back to Coruscant is uneventful. Talk about what just happened centers around how Master Skywalker might take this (Kyp opines that his reaction will involve a lot of brooding), about vacations, and about Severan’s goals. Ree worries that he surrendered too easily, and wonders whether he wants something on Coruscant.

On their arrival, Kyp reports to the Council, as a kindness to the poor people who really don’t want to face Luke Skywalker over his father's cloned body. The characters go their separate ways for a day or so while they wait on the Council’s conclusions. Heading to her room for a lie-down, Ree finds a letter from a toy company asking permission to make action figures of the characters. There are plenty of toys already (Oola collects them) but these action figures would be of the real people, not the actors from the movie. She delivers the note to Master Roon, who is again in charge of their PR now that he's rid of Dalt, and thinks no more of it.

That night, she's awakened by a massive surge in the Force from the direction of Luke Skywalker’s rooms. She meets Kyp there and they discover that Luke is gone, his window open. Severan, meanwhile, now claims to be Luke. Looks like someone got body-switched while he wasn’t paying attention. Poor Luke. I swear he exists so that the universe can punch him in the face. He's now inhabiting the cloned body of his father. Needless to say, this disturbs pretty much everyone who knows him, since it's fairly obvious that no good can possibly come of this.

The Council does their best to play this down, but time is short before the universe at large realizes there’s something wrong. They have to retrieve Skywalker's body before Severan does something...unfortunate with it. The Starwind’s crew is assigned Muunilinst, a financial capital of the galaxy where the Telliks have resources. It’s located on the border of Imperial space, so they take their Empire-infiltrating disguises with them.

Oola quickly learns that Severan himself is controlling stockholder in Sienar Enterprises--the company that manufactured TIE fighters for the Empire. Sienar is currently preparing a major demonstration of a new product. Rumor has it that they're premiering a new ship. Some of the crew prepare to sneak into the compound to learn more, but before they can make a move, they spot Imperial infiltrators already in place. Then Oola calls them back. She has more information and they need to meet before they decide what to do.

Rumor is right. Oola's research shows that Sienar has perfected a cloaking device, and has built an entire line of warships--fighters, light warships, and heavy cruisers--utilizing this technology. They were, in fact, designed by Dalt. Dalt having given them a communicator, they place a call to him. He enthuses over his 'babies,' explaining that his design also included Force-stealth capabilities and ablative armor. The capital ships, furthermore, are equipped with climate control weaponry, which he refers to as 'weather dominators.’ He also designed personal ablative armor with self-contained environment for post-weather dominated invasion. Finally, he says he never got around to perfecting the weapon, but he at one point worked on a design for a Force-suppressing gun.

But there's more. While still unclear regarding Severan's movements, Oola does know for certain that the Imperial Remnant wants these ships...and the mission to steal them is operating under the orders of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

The demonstration is in an hour, which doesn't leave them enough time to react adequately to that revelation. However, they obviously can't allow the Empire to get their hands on these ships. This calls for a new plan. Oola disables the print-reader at the entrance to the prep area, and the Force-users mind-whammy their way past the guards. Z supplies them with ion charges to disable the three fighters there, then they plan to fly the Starwind up and dock with the capital ship to steal it before anyone else does. It goes smoothly, but once they get in, Zann changes the plan. He wants no trace left of the schematics for these things, so he suggests they steal two fighters, destroy the other one, then head up to dock with the capital ship.

Oola, meanwhile, is in the system, deleting the schematics and doing surveillanc. She realizes that the Empire already has gotten to the capital ship. The place is awash in storm troopers. After she gets the Starwind up there, the easiest route becomes nabbing some storm trooper armor and heading to the bridge to incapacitate the bridge crew. Then they lock the ship down and run off with it.

Again, all goes smoothly...except that a Star Destroyer arrives just as they're clearing orbit. Having an idea just who might be on that ship, they get the frakking hell out of there. The Star Destroyer pursues. Dalt, on the comm link (“My babies are coming home?” freaky bastard), suggests they drop one of the fighters in the other ship’s path and detonate it. When Oola expresses her disbelief, he explains that he built bombs into the fighters so they could be used as mines (that son of a bitch, you know he was planning to use pilots as strategic explosives). This they do, forcing the Star Destroyer to hitch up in order to avoid the blast.

After they refuse to respond to a hail, the Star Destroyer hijacks communications so Thrawn can inform them that he is aware of is a Sith fleet running out of Thule, heading toward the Core, and he wants these ships in order to confront that fleet. The crew is unwilling to engage him in conversation, so Z snags the comm, yells "Blue balls!" at him and then shuts off the signal with a war yodel.

Oola answers the second hail. Clearly irked, Thrawn insists that he means no harm to the Republic, and as a gesture of good faith, he is willing to turn over the prisoner he captured, stepping aside to show them a bound Luke Skywalker. Thrawn seems aware that this is not, in fact, Skywalker, whom he has met and was never so obnoxious (they wonder what Severan must’ve said to him to get Thrawn to even mention it). Ree answers, this time, saying that she'll carry word to the Republic. Thrawn tells them to contact the Imperial Remnant when they decide they wish to speak with him, then breaks off.

They arrive at Coruscant, where the Jedi inform them that the Thule fleet took Bimmisaari while they were en route. Asked how he's doing, Luke casually informs them that the body is not altogether unaware—a statement that makes the Council just as nervous as it does the crew. Way to drop a bombshell, Master Skywalker. The Senate, recovering from a momentary fugue state at the news of his survival, agrees to open communications with Thrawn, sending the Starwind to meet him not too far from Corellia to retrieve Skywalker/Severan.

Thrawn welcomes them quite cordially, in fact, even offering them a meal before turning over Skywalker's body. He points out the headband which, he says, represses a being's sentience, keeping them at an infantile level of mental faculties, and warns that while it can be removed safely, it will subsequently self-destruct. He suggests they not tinker with it without removing it, since doing so will fry the wearer’s neural system...and they want to keep Luke's body intact.

And oh, he knows who they are. No convenient anonymity for Oola or Zann from this man. He comments approvingly on the crew's efficiency, making a few comments that let them know he’s been following their exploits quite closely. “A fool,” he remarks in the tone of a cryptic warning, “might believe that you’re more dangerous than Skywalker.” His reaction to mention of SARR hints at recognition of the droid's name. On their way back, Zann (who, guess what, worked under the man in the old Imperial days) says that the Grand Admiral was attempting to be reassuring, but polite as he is, Thrawn is more than mildly terrifying.

But the crew figures the Senate can worry about that. They turn Severan in Luke's body over to the Jedi Council. Debate ensues regarding disposal of the various elements. Severan can’t be allowed back into Anakin's body, but no one is enthusiastic about putting him elsewhere. They end up depositing him in one of those Force crystals the crew keeps finding. Luke, meanwhile, isn't altogether certain he wants to go back to his body just now. This does exactly nothing to reassure anyone. Even the Council members look truly nervous about the idea. Kedrihm'Val points out that if this clone is in fact sentient, it's not a good act for a Force-user to continue inhabiting his body and repressing his mind. Of course, it takes him a moment to realize the problem at hand: if Anakin's clone is sentient, then there’s serious concern about ‘who’ the clone is, especially if he’s been influenced by the people who've been in there already (to wit, a genetically engineered Sith baby and Luke Skywalker).

Luke ends up back in his own body. What happened to the clone, they're not certain yet. Other things came up.

First, they learn that while they were gone, the Republic let Dalt onto the new ship. Fifteen techs follow his every move within the system, but while Dalt could cut off his own foot with his lightsaber, he's frankly frightening when he has technology in his hands. So this is worrisome. With Dalt backing them up, the characters start rummaging around. The bays are full of fighters, the armories stocked with the ablative armor and weaponry, crew quarters prepared...these ships were obviously ready to go to war, not just prepped for a demonstration. They suspect that Sienar still has ties with the Empire (and this, in turn, may well mean that Thrawn was already aware of Thule; it’s his kind of perfect timing). The Force-jamming capabilities turn out to be crude—nothing more than containers of ysalamiri goo. Dalt scorns it. His original plans involved some sort of technological focusing of the ysalamiri anti-Force aura, but Sienar didn't have the ability to pull that off. Still, they’re functional. Those "anti-Force-user" weapons, on the other hand, are nothing but net-launchers wrapped around globes containing baby ysalamiri.

Dalt wants to go with them to face the Thule fleet. He's quite serious, pointing out that much of the Sith fleet’s weaponry is of his design. When they object, he tells them, "Just give me a cortex bomb and a lightsaber." Having had this conversation among themselves last time he asked to go with them (when they came to the conclusion that Dalt would probably find a way to use a cortex bomb as a weapon), the crew expresses their opinion of this idea. In Oola's words, "I've seen you with a lightsaber. I'd be more worried about the cortex bomb." Dalt is speechless, and just possibly a little bit flattered.

Cue distraction number two: at this point, pretty much the entire galaxy is hit with a broadcast signal. It’s Drath Orion, signaling from Centerpoint Station. Having deciphered notes left by Severan and Darth Maul, he has figured out how to operate the station’s equipment--which he demonstrates by moving Tellus out of its orbit. The beam, he says, is in fact a potent weapon. To demonstrate its power, he destroys both Kaamino and Gammorea. “Now that I have your attention, I’m pointing this thing at the Deep Core. The galaxy—including the Republic, Empire, and Thule (I can see you from here)—has three days to turn Severan over and surrender, or I’ll fire this thing. I really don't know what that'll do," he comments, "but we'll be finding out if you don't obey me." He informs them that any attempt to approach the station without his permission will result in the same consequence, and signs off.

As Drath's signal cuts out, Thrawn signals the Jedi Council directly, announcing that he's coming through to Coruscant to meet with the heads of the Republic. Nettled, Kyp snaps, "You'd better come in slow, 'cause I might get lost on my way to telling the fleet not to shoot you out of the sky." He doesn't seem to respond well to authority.

The meeting convenes—Thrawn, Jedi Council, heads of state and military (Leia and Han are seated notably far away from the Grand Admiral), and the crew of the Starwind, who’re most familiar with Drath. And Dalt, who after all knows more about freaky technology than just about anyone. Dalt says they have little to fear. The weapon on Centerpoint generates gravity wells. Firing it into the Deep Core will do precisely squat, seeing as that whole region of space is one giant freaking gravity well that could eat the ones generated by Centerpoint for breakfast. He can, of course, reposition it, but that takes about ten minutes, giving them an initial window of time. They might win more time, he continues, if the beam could be blocked or diverted…he hesitates.

Prompted, he reveals that he has equipment that'll deflect energy beams. See, Dalt never quite trusted that the Emperor wouldn't blow up Dalt's favorite planet (that being whatever one he was on at the time), so he made certain the thing had features he could exploit. Luke can't resist a comment about exhaust ports, to which Dalt replies, “I hate you this much,” holding his hands about a foot apart (he’s wearing shackles).

Dalt hid the equipment on one of Dathomir’s moons. If someone could take him to get it, he’s fairly sure he can convert it to work on Centerpoint’s beam. Ideally, he’d like to set it up somewhere in Corellia’s solar system, since the closer to the beam’s origin, the better the effect. Han Solo volunteers to take him, and Leia says she’ll try to get Drath to agree to allowing humanitarian aid efforts to land on Tellus, which is currently being wracked with spasms related to the gravitational shift. Dalt thinks that’d do perfectly. From there, he could isolate Centerpoint's beam completely, preventing it from striking out at anything else.

The crew, meanwhile, agrees to take the stealth ship to Tellus to wait for Dalt. While they wait, they plan to look for anything that might teach them more about Centerpoint. Malina and Ja’len, their ship-jacker acquaintance, agree to go with them to lend their piloting experience.

The Republic arranges to hand Severan over, figuring it’ll distract Drath and make him more amenable to requests. Drath will be expecting them to sneak aboard that way, anway—he’d demanded that the crew transporting Severan be incompetent. Thrawn’s amused by that, commenting that it’s one of the more intelligent things he’s ever heard.

On Tellus, it doesn’t take them long to find what they’re looking for, a massive door in one of the ruins that no one has ever been able to open. It’s unlocked, now. When they enter, they’re confronted by a multi-armed droid wielding lightsabers. Z and Ree engage it. Ree takes off one of the arms, but the thing is extremely fast, putting some hurt on our intrepid heroes. Kedrihm’Val manages to use the Force to drain the thing’s energy reserves, shutting it down, but he feels resistance when he does so. This was no ordinary droid. The Jedi realize that the Force was used to make it. Perhaps the ancient Jedi left guardians…

Passing through another door, they find the room they’re looking for, guarded by several more of these lightsaber-wielding droids. Taking a gamble, Ree raises her hands and declares, “I’m Jedi!” A droid approaches her, asking, “How do we know?” She offers to accept whatever test the droid puts to her, so it quizzes her on Jedi lore. When she answers all its questions to its satisfaction, it allows them to pass.

The droids have been down here for a very long time, set by the Jedi to study and protect the machinery here. Only a few of the Jedi Council knew, they tell the crew. Perhaps Yoda was the last to keep this secret. They’re able to share a great deal of information about Centerpoint Station. Indeed, it turns out that Centerpoint’s weapon can be directed from this place, so they can lock down the targeting. What’s more, there are teleporters that allow persons to travel between this room and the station—a secret way on board! Briefly, they consider evacuating the station with them, but the droids tell them that the station will register it when the teleporters are used. While they can be used for surprise, they can’t be used for stealth.

Receiving a hail from Dalt, most of the group returns to the surface, though Oola stays below to study the machine. They agree to keep Dalt out of this room, fearing that he might learn dangerous things if he’s able to study the technology down there. While they and General Solo help Dalt set up, Oola receives a communication from the station, alerting them that Darth Maul has arrived, and has been given access to the station.

Thrawn signals the crew (hey, hold on a sec, how’d Thrawn know Maul had gotten to the station? His ship’s all super-cloaked and stuff!) and they revise plans in light of new information. Dalt tells them that from this close, he can use his equipment to turn the station’s beam back on itself, crushing the station if they wish. Solo refuses, pointing out that there are still people on board. Thrawn, who sees such casualties as an acceptable loss for destroying this weapon as well as two such dangerous enemies, is annoyed, but offers an alternative: he believes that Drath would have gathered all the people into one area near himself as hostages (Dalt agrees). Thus, chances are there’s no one near the station’s firing mechanism, if Dalt is able to focus his equipment with that much accuracy.

Dalt confirms that he can, which means they can neutralize the station’s weapons entirely. Once that happens, Thrawn will challenge the station to provide a distraction while the crew sneaks on board. Solo believes, based on what they’ve seen of Darth Maul so far, that he won’t want to stick around for such a one-sided fight, and will probably evacuate the station. Thrawn asks if the crew plans to board using the teleporters, but Kedrihm’Val suggests they activate the teleporters as a feint while the crew sneaks on board using the stealth ships. Realizing this will put them on board near Maul's Scorpion, Thrawn suggests that rather than confronting the dark Jedi, while Maul’s eyes are turned toward the teleporters and Thrawn’s ships, the crew can sneak a homing beacon on board the Scorpion…and then they can finally track the elusive Sith back to his lair.

Thus it all goes down. Entering the station, the crew is briefly held up by Severan’s Dark Side spirit. He angrily tells them that Maul smashed the crystal he was in. He seems about to make a threatening move, but Ree, Zann, and Kedrihm’Val dispel him with Force Light. He vanishes. They aren’t certain whether they destroyed him or simply drove him off. They head into the station to confront Drath and Darth Maul while SARR plants homing beacons on Darth Maul’s ship, and Maul indeed vacates rather than confront them. All the crew has to do is gather up the hapless civilians and get them to safety.

Turning on the tracking device, they’re greeted by a humongous red blur. Looking at SARR in disbelief, they ask, “How many trackers did you use?” 37, he says. He also mentions that he slipped some herbs into their food calculated to cause explosive diarrhea. Oh, SARR. SARR, by the way, turns out to have been an Imperial medical droid, converted to…well, a medical interrogation droid, I guess (torturebot, essentially), before being reprogrammed as a protocol droid and coming to work for Onna. Onna promises them he’s quite safe. Her family knows his history and he was completely and totally debugged before they began to employ him.

Thrawn comms them to ask, “Am I following an artificial sun?” by way of letting them know his crew has got the signal. When they tell him what SARR did, he replies, “You’re an efficient group. If we weren’t allies at the moment, I’d blow you out of the sky where you stand.” I suppose this is high praise from him and is, granted, sort of what they were worried about while they were on the station. But while Grand Admiral Thrawn's hallmark is pragmatism, he's not interested in shooting down the alliance he needs to confront Thule's Sith army.

Kedrihm'Val, disliking the idea but truly tired of confronting all these lightsabers with no way to deal with them, asks General Solo if it would be possible to acquire a cortosis bracer or gauntlet. Han puts on his innocent face and wonders "Why does everyone assume I know all the shady stuff?" Seeing as this wins him no particular reaction (really, does it ever?), he shrugs and answers, "Yeah, I should be able to find something."

They track the Scorpion as landing at Bimmisaari. Next episode: the Republic/Imperial alliance against the Thule fleet is still on, Severan's ghost is unaccounted for, Dalt is in the middle of technology he created, and Thrawn has something to do besides observe (which, honestly, yay! Spooky bastard sees frigging everything).

In hindsight, it might be a good thing they never got around to infiltrating the Imperial Remnant.