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Chapter 6

Haunted

„Don't open your eyes. Feel the Force flow around you." A soothing voice of a young Twi'lek Consular sounded across the meditation chamber. „Reach out to your surroundings, influence it."

Padawans of all shapes and sizes sat on the padded floor of the chamber, deep in trance. Learning to conquer their emotions, to learn to tap into their potential. In the middle stood the Twi'lek female, instructing their students.

On the window sill sat a short, hooded figure, staring off into the woods beyond, contemplatively. The Twi'lek cautiously approached it, and politely prodded to get it's attention. The sleek person only flinched slightly, barely registering that something happened. The Jedi instructor tried to get it's attention again, to no avail. Irritated, the Twi'lek clenched her teeth and delivered a sharp, hard elbow to the ribs, eliciting a squeak from the figure and revealing it to be the avian Jedi and the other instructor in this class, Lilian.

Lilian gave her fellow teacher an asking stare, getting a stern look in return from the angry woman.

„Master Cheurum, perhaps you'd like to add something?" The Twi'lek said bitterly.

Lilian realised she had phased out during a class she and her friend, Malaya, were supposed to hold. She didn't pay attention to what was happening and had to think of something quickly. She looked at a chrono on the wall, and decided she could call it quits for the day.

„No, you've covered it all, Master Aseca. The class is over for today." Lilian said. „Remember to practice every day, every time you're not doing anything."

Padawans quietly collected their things and left the chamber in an orderly fashion.

„Lily, what is wrong with you?" Malaya asked her friend, concerned.

And she had every right to be concerned. Ever since Kaidan disappeared, Lilian was miserable. Her thoughts were always somewhere else, thinking back on the times they have had or wondering where is her friend now.

„Nothing. It's nothing." Lilian dismissed Malaya's concerns. „I'm just exhausted. Lots of saber training with Padawans lately."

Malaya gave the hawkess a suspicious stare. „Nuh-uh, you're not fooling me Lil. You keep doing that phasing out thing. Spill your guts now or I'll get them myself back in the dorm." She tried to convince her friend.

„Fine, we'll talk back at the dorm. I need a moment for myself." Lilian agreed. „I'll see you later."

„Well, if you say so. I'm here for you, sister. Remember." The Twi'lek tried to comfort her friend.

Lilian gave her a weak smile in return and left the chamber, heading outside. Malaya was her only female friend in the Temple. They had always shared everything between the two of them. Lilian even told her how she fell in love with Kaidan and described in detail their every sex, which was probably the most interesting thing that has ever happened in the Temple. She would tell her everything later, but now she needs a moment alone.

Wandering the halls in a slowly paced walk, she tried to clear her mind, but even in spite of a lifetime of Jedi training, she couldn't keep painful thoughts away.

Only once has she lost someone so close to her, and even now it still hurt, the memories coming back to her.

---

„Mommy, I don't want to go." A little girl pleads with her mother, tears running down her snow-white cheeks, clenching her parent's hand tightly.

The spaceport is full of people, leaving and arriving at the nightmareish Sith capital of Dromund Kaas. Those who arrive rarely do it on heir own volition. Those who leave wish they never have to come back here. Menacing statues of tall, hooded men loom over the spacious halls of the port, creating an aura of uneasiness. People pass by a mother with a child, crying loudly, barely even paying attention to the tragedy playing out before their very eyes.

„It's allright honey, Mommy is still here. Everything will be allright" The mother says, barely restraining herself from sobbing, heartbroken over having to leave her own and only child. Save her from the cruel world she was born to. „You'll see, it will be great where you're going. And Mommy and Daddy will join you soon. I promise."

She knew she would never see her daughter again, but she had to comfort her, give her hope. She knelt and hugged her daughter tightly. Oh, what she wouldn't give to just stay like that forever.

A third person approached the pair, a tall, black panther. „Sorry to interrupt your good-byes, but I really oughtta take off soon. Plus, Imps get twitchy around crying kids." The man, a smuggled hired to take a child off-planet, said nervously. „You, u, sure you don't wanna come along?"

The woman stood up. „No. I have to stay here and face the consequences," She said. „If I leave, then the Empire will hunt me and Lily untill they kill me. If she goes alone, they won't follow her. My husband is already making preparations. We'll stay here so she can escape.

„Wow that's... That's pretty brave of you lady. And stupid if you ask me," The man replied, troubled, then continued, „But hey, it's your money. I'm gonna go prep the ship for launch, you say your last goodbyes and meet me upstairs."

The woman nodded and knelt again to face her little daughter. She was a little calmed down now, sobbing quietly.

„Lily, it's time. I know you're scared, that you don't want to go. But you need to be brave now. For Mommy, for Daddy, but most importantly, for yourself." The mother said soothingly, encouraging her daughter, „Where you're going is much better than here. You'll be very happy there, I promise you. And whatever happens remember, that we'll always love you and watch over you."

Someone shouted in the direction of the pair. The woman turned to see an Imperial officer accompanied by three troopers running towards her.

„Go Lily, go!" She whispered to her daughter, urging her towards the lift.

The little girl ran into the turbolift, but hesitated to press the button. She was her mother pull out a blaster and toss a grenade. Startled, Lily activated the elevator, and could only catch a glimpse of her mother felled by blaster shots.

„MOOOOOOM!" She cried out in horror.

Then it was nothing but walls of the lift shaft untill she arrived at the Hangar, where the smuggler ran towards the elevator. He grabbed the girl, picked her up and ran towards his ship, shouting at someone to fire it's engines. He climbed the access ramp, Lily hanging over his shoulder. She saw troopers emerging from the turbolift and shooting at the ship. Then, the ramp closed and the ship lifted off. The next thing she knew she was in the cockpit with the smuggler and a Devaronian, his partner from the looks of it.

„Are they shooting?" The panther asked his companion.

„No, we're all clear, just like the she said." The Devaronian replied.

Everything outside the ship went bright as the vessel entered hyperspace, away from Dromund Kaas. From the Empire and from the Sith. The smuggled reclined in his chair and turned to face the frightened little girl. He smiled at her.

„Well, young lady, you must be pretty special for your parents to go through all this trouble to get you off-planet." He said. „The Jedi will be glad to take you off our hands."

The next thing she remembers is arrival on Tython itself.

---

Lilian stood in the main hall of the Temple, pondering on where to go next. Outside was nice at this time of the day and she would find a quiet spot to meditate. But she was in no state to center herself. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She climbed the stairs and took a turn right, to the hangar, where Rex worked.

The hawkess entered the hangar and brefly looked around it. On the far side she saw Rex and immediately started walking towards him hurriedly, walking past ship parts and mechanics.

Rex noticed her a few metres from him.

„Hey Lil, what- oof!" He gasped as Lilian embraced him tightly, buried his face in his shoulder and burst into tears. „Woah, hey, what's the matter?" He asked her, concerned and slightly embarassed. A few people turned their heads towards the pair.

Rex lead her friend to the nearest table, and gently pried her off himself, „Come, you'll get your robes all greasy," He said as he pulled a chair and set her on it, while doing the same for himself. „Take a deep breath and tell me what's on your mind."

Lilian sobbed a few times, wiped her eyes on her sleeve and took a moment to regain her composure.

„It's... It's about Kaidan. I'm scared for him," She said quietly, holding back the tears, „I just... I don't want to loose family again. And he's like family. And you too. It's not fair, it's impossible that he did it."

A tear flowed down her cheek. Rex reached with his hand and wiped if off.

„Hey, don't worry about him," Rex comforted her, „Kay is a tough bastard, he'll be fine. You'll see, he'll be back here in no time and we'll both keep nagging him to spill his guts about his adventures, like we always do." He smiled.

Lilian wanted to reciprocate with a smile, but something she felt drew her attention. Rex kept talking, but she wasn't listening, looking around the hangar. There was nothing out of order. Mechanics tinkering with engines, passengers coming and going.

„You there Lily?" Rex asked her.

„Hm? Yes, I thought I heard something." She replied half-consciously, and returned to face her friend.

„Seriously, don't think about it too much," He continued from what Lily didn't catch, „He's gonna be fine."

Lilian's attention wandered again. There it is again, she thought to herself But stronger this time. Where...

She focused her attention on a single worker, tampering with a big device in the middle of the hangar. The man noticed the hawkess' stare and gave her a wry smile. She reached out with the Force and skimmed his thoughts briefly. Bomb!

Without any consideration, Lilian jumped from her seat and streched her hands outwards, telekinetically pushing people away from the device, along with the assailant, making Rex's eyes go wide.

„FOR THE ORDER!" Shouted the assailant, as he pulled out and activated a remote detonator.

In a split second, Lilian hurriedly erected a Force barrier around the bomb, narrowly containing the blast. The bomb was quite powerful and the energy was not about to dissipate easily, nor soon. Her strength was fading quickly. She had to act fast.

„Everyone! Get out of here!" She yelled with a strained voice.

Rex was already in the middle of the crowd of people, helping them out of the hangar.

„You heard her people - move it or you'll get vaped! Quick!" He shouted trying to overcome the sounds of commotion.

Lilian was loosing strength. She didn't have time to muster enough strength or focus to fight a bomb. And it was surprisingly powerful. The hangar was almost empty now and Rex ran to her friend.

„Lily, come on! You have to leave!" He pleaded with her.

„I... can't! If I leave, we'll... all die!" She replied, talking becoming increasingly difficult, „Go. I'll be fine."

Rex hesitated, but left when Lilian began to weaken. She could feel the blast growing weak, but so was she. Just a few more seconds... she encouraged herself.

Suddenly, she felt her strength leaving her altogether. Her body fell limp, as it was hurled against the wall by the shockwave of released blast. Her robes briefly caught fire, leaving smoldering holes in it's place.

The world started to fade and she could only remember Rex and Forzan standing over her, saying something. And then there was nothing.

The sounds of comeone talking was what woke her up. Smell of medicine and antiseptics filled her nostrils. She groaned and tried to turn around in her bed, but her body ached. Her face took on a pained grimace. And on top of all this, she felt really sick. This apparently took the attention of whoever was at her bed, as the could hear a voice calling for a doctor. She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was still foggy, but Lilian could recognise the auburn silhouette of her foxy friend standing next to her bed.

„...definitely awake. Hey Lily, you there?" Rex waved his hand in front of her face.

Lilian groaned and swatted his hand, „Put that thing away." She said in a low growl, „Where am I? What happened?"

„Well, I dunno how much do you remember, but there was an explosion," He started explaining, „You contained it for long enough to let people escape and prevent serious damage, but you got hurt in the process. You're gonna be fine, though. Just a few broken ribs, an arm here, a leg there. Superficial burns. Two weeks of kolto therapy and another two of rest and you'll be back on your feet."

„Well, young lady, I always knew you were a tough one," Said a deep voice, belonging to Master Forzan who just came in with Master Satele and a healer, „But I haven't seen anyone cover a bomb with their bare hands like that. You saved alot of people, the assailant included."

„You're a hero Lilian, and a true Jedi," Satele added, „You'll be officially bestowed a Master title once you feel better. For now, rest. You've been through alot."

„Thank you, Masters. That means alot to me." Lilian said weakly, while barely keeping herself from vomiting, „Do we know who was that man working for? Why did he do this?"

„Not yet, but we're working on it. And we have a few ideas as to who did this." Forzan said. „We were suspecting it for a while, but now we have a reason to act on our suspicions."

„What do you mean?" Rex asked.

„I understand if it saddens you, but we have reasons to believe that Kaidan was behind this attack." Said Satele, hesitantly.

Lilian felt something boil inside her. „That's absurd," She said angrily, which made her chest sting. „Kay would never do that, not even to his worst enemy." She continued, more calmly this time.

„I know sweetie, I can't believe it either. I don't believe it. But we have to act, and that's the most solid piece of evidence we have." Forzan said, calming the hawkess down, „There's still the matter of interrogating that assailant, but I doubt he'll talk. Still, we have to get Kaidan back no matter what. And because of that..." Forzan paused and put his hand on Rex's shoulder, making the fox jump slightly. „We're sending you, Rex, to hunt him down."

Rex turned his head to face his Master, surprise painted on his face. Lilian couldn't believe what she was hearing either.

„What? You mean..." Rex paused, unsure what to think.

„We want you to capture and bring back Kaidan Sarek, so he can explain his actions and face trial." Clarified Satele.

„Is this necessary?" Lilian asked, hoping to dissuade the masters from this plan, „I'm sure Kaidan will be back soon, with all the evidence needed to absolve him."

„As much as I'd like that to happen, I'm afraid this case is out of Jedi hands now," Satele explained, „An attack on public transportation system is a Republic matter and they're forcing us to act, one way to another."

„Don't worry. We'll sort it out once Kaidan is back with us." Forzan assured her, „For now, you should rest. I have to go and interrogate the prisoner. Rex, meet me there in 10 minutes. Get better soon, Lily." He nodded at Satele and left the room.

„I have duties to attend to. Rest well, Lilian." Satele departed aswell, leaving Lilian alone with Rex.

They sat in silence for a moment, looking at eachother, analysing new information.

„Do you think he did it?" Lilian asked her friend, breaking the uneasyness.

„No. I mean, I hope not." Rex said, „He's kind of unpredictable, that's a fact. But terrorism? No, that's not him. I don't like the fact I'm the one that has to find him. It feels like I'm betraying his trust." He frowned.

„I'm sure he'll understand, once you find him. If you find him." Lilian comforted him.

„Yeah..." Rex said, then hung his head down, „I'm gonna go meet Forzan now, I see you're falling asleep anyway." He smiled and got up.

Lilian smiled in response and followed Rex with her eyes untill he was out of her sight. She then plopped her head on the pillow and fell asleep almost immediately.