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Jedi Headquarters, Imperial City, Coruscant
The images on the datachip were rather disturbing. Valdemar chose to make artwork out of the Jedi bodies, often twisting them into unnatural positions. One particular holo caught his eye - it was the one of Lanelle Caine, who was perhaps less...mangled than the rest. She was moved into a sitting position, with one eye open, the other shut. Luke frowned, unable to comprehend the meaning of it. Moving down the list, he found the missing holo Kyp had mentioned. There should have been one of Helaine Trillium, Master Caine's apprentice. Kyp theorized that the apprentice had somehow managed to escape, which would be an interesting story, if it could ever be learned. Luke wasn't sure what to think of the missing holo. It had probably simply been lost. Or she had been killed in such a way that there was nothing to holograph. Luke shook his head from that line of thought. He glanced at Lanelle Caine's holo again, realizing there was something vaguely familiar about her. Mara, who had taken an interest in what they were doing, stood behind Luke, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Something wrong?"
Luke shook his head. "It's nothing... where did you say you found this datachip, Kyp?"
"In one of Palpatine's store rooms in the lower levels of Coruscant," Kyp replied. "Why?"
"Did you find anything else?" Luke asked, studying his former apprentice's face carefully.
"Just the prophecy of the Chosen One, and a few ruined artifacts. Why?" Kyp repeated, returning Luke's intent stare.
Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure." Guided suddenly by the Force, Luke asked, "Is that what you were looking for - the Prophecy?"
Kyp opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the ringing of the door annunciator. Leia answered the door, allowing Miranda and whom Luke assumed to be her man of the week to enter. The man wore the typical muscle shirt, but carried himself slightly different than the others. Definitely with more dignity.
Miranda smiled brightly. "Hello, Master Skywalker! This is his Highness, Prince Armand." She winked at her friend. "Armand, that's Master Skywalker, his wife Mara Jade, Leia and Han Solo, Kyp Durron." She pointed to each person. "And a few people I don't recognize."
"Thanks for the formal introduction, Miranda," Armand said dryly, with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Your Highness," Claria said, shock evident in her voice. "I hardly recognized you."
Armand's dark brown eyes widened. "Lady Claria, Father." He bowed formally at the waist. "What brings you to Coruscant?"
"Your message," Richard replied. "The situation with New Naboo concerns me. Plus, I wanted to meet my cousins."
Miranda coughed and elbowed Armand. Nodding to her, he turned his attention back to his father. "I am glad you are here, Father." He turned to Luke. "I don't mean to be rude... but is there a place we can speak privately, Master Skywalker?"
Luke studied the young man for a moment. His outward appearance was calm, but a sense of urgency, concern, and even underlying fear leaked out of him through the Force. Concerned, Luke rose to his feet and nodded. "Certainly, follow me." He started walking towards the kitchen. "Excuse us," he said to the others in the room.
Armand followed Luke into the kitchen, waiting until the door slid shut and they were both seated before finally speaking to the Jedi Master. Keeping his tone of voice barely above a whisper, Armand described in detail what had happened at the Old Jedi Temple. Luke was relieved that Lainey, Anakin, and Julie were safe, and would be okay. Luke was deeply concerned about Kyp's apprentice's involvement, particularly because he had been assumed dead. Even more alarming was the fact that "Valdemar" had now directly attacked the Jedi.
When Armand mentioned Lainey's injury, Luke winced. Not only were stomach wounds among the most painful, it was particular eerie since that was how her former Master had been killed. Luke froze, suddenly realizing where he had seen the Jedi Master Lanelle Caine before. He had seen her death, through the eyes of her apprentice. Closing his eyes for a moment, Luke thought it was impossible, and yet, it was the only thing that made sense. Lainey had obviously had training before, and she didn't learn it from either him or Kyp. There was so much they didn't know about the Old Republic Jedi. Never expecting to learn more than he already had, Luke had gotten used to the idea that he would only be able to lead the Jedi from Force guidance alone. That was how he had established the New Order.
If Lainey really was a Knight of the Old Order, her input would be invaluable. Lainey's history, or rather Helaine's, gave him mixed feelings. She would be able to answer many of the questions he still had. She could probably shed some light on the prophecy of the Chosen One... but would her answer be favorable?
Realizing he was once again flying into uncharted territory, Luke veered off of that line of thought. As much as he wanted to speak with Lainey, he needed to talk with his Jedi first. They needed to know what was going on on Mantooine. Deciding to call a meeting of the Masters and Knights, Luke thanked Armand and went back into the living room to ask everyone to leave, due to urgent information he just received.
***
Later that evening
A lone figure stood in front of the Jedi Headquarters building, hidden partially in shadows. His instructions were clear: Bring Corran Horn to Mantooine. The former Corsec detective would be leaving to interrogate his prisoners soon, and when Horn did, Laman would be ready for him. A humorless smile wormed its way across his lips. Once they had Horn, Skywalker would go after his long time friend. And once Skywalker fell, the rest of the Jedi would follow.
***
The soft sound of tapping keys drew Helaine out of her sedative induced sleep. The searing pain in her stomach had been reduced to a slight ache, bordering on severe itch. She felt like she had run a thousand-kilometer marathon without pausing for a break. Groaning slightly, she rolled onto her side, carefully opening one blue eye. Night had fallen since she had fought in the temple. The only light illuminating her small infirmary room came from a lap datapad, resting on Master Horn's knees. He stared intently at the screen, then raised his head to look at her, and she quickly shut her eye, feigning sleep. Feeling his eyes on her, she rolled over again, facing the opposite direction. The intense desire she'd had to speak with him had dissolved into fear of speaking to him, of acknowledging the world around her. It was the fear akin to waking up from a good dream when things are finally going your way. She feared if she touched the world around her, it would collapse into darkness.
She knew her fears were foundationless, that she should be grateful, happy even, that she was able to see the restoration of the Jedi. While she liked the feeling of the Jedi growing in the Force over descending, most of the presences were unfamiliar to her. She missed the Jedi of her time, but mostly, she missed Master Caine. Even as the thought of her former Master brought tears to her eyes, she wished she had the strength to fight. Sniffling, she rubbed her eyes, and heard footsteps heading toward her bed.
Master Horn touched her cheek, causing her to turn her head towards him, looking up at him through tear blurred eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern that succeeded only in causing her to cry harder. Shamed, she turned away from him. He rubbed her back soothingly, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.
"You must think I'm weak," she said when she finally found her voice.
He seemed shocked at the sound of her voice, but recovered quickly. "No, I don't." He squeezed her arm. "Why would you think that?"
Confused, she turned to look at him. "A Jedi knows no emotion, Master."
"In battle, yes, it would hinder your ability to fight. But having no feelings at all, hinders your ability to touch the Force." He tugged on her braid. "I'd be worried if you were unaffected by Master Caine's death."
Helaine studied his face for a moment. She thought she should argue the point further, but she wasn't sure she wanted to. Besides, she was too tired. "Okay."
Master Horn frowned, looking as though he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. Instead, he fingered her braid. "I'm surprised you kept this." He raised an eyebrow. "Was it worth the risk?"
"I don't know," Helaine replied softly. "It kept me from forgetting who I was, but I really shouldn't need a reminder, should I?" He took her hand and squeezed it, offering no other reply. She sighed and stared up at the dark ceiling. "I wanted to, you know," her voice faltered. "I wanted to give up."
"And what stopped you?" Master Horn gently prompted.
"Master Yoda," she said, keeping her eyes on the ceiling. "It was shortly after the attack on the Temple, Master Caine had been injured, and I was brooding over that. I was brooding over everything actually. Master Yoda found me in my bunk, poked at me with his gimer stick, and asked why I wasn't training with the others." She grimaced. "I asked him what the point was."
Master Horn whistled under his breath. "Not good."
"Not good at all," Helaine agreed. She closed her eyes for a moment. "His ears perked up at my answer, he leaned forward and asked, 'Point? What mean you point?' He then gave me a detailed reason of why I should be training, and how I should know all of it already. I grew impatient and asked if it had escaped his notice that the Jedi were dying, and that if Palpatine had his way, we would be completely forgotten. He told me something I'll never forget." She paused, framing the quote just right in her mind. "He said: 'Great tragedy it is, that the Jedi are dying, young Padawan, that forgotten, they will be. But an even greater tragedy would it be, if forget themselves, the Jedi did.'"
"If you cannot recognize the person in the mirror, it is time to step back and see when you stopped being yourself," Master Horn surmised.
Helaine turned to look at him. "Who said that?"
An almost wistful smile touched his lips. "My father."
"He sounds like a wise man," Helaine commented, sensing a sudden deep sadness in her Master. This time she squeezed his hand, wondering if he was allowing her to sense it to prove that those kind of feelings were okay in a Jedi, as long as they didn't consume you.
Master Horn nodded. "He was." Nudging her, he said, "I was surprised to learn you knew him."
Helaine frowned. "I did? I don't remember any Horns..."
"He was Valin Halcyon at the time."
"Oh!" Helaine exclaimed, raising up to a sitting position. "I was going to ask you about that." A small smile fought its way across her lips. "He nicknamed me Lainey, you know. Helaine or 'Padawan Trillium' was much too formal." She cocked her head. "He told me that if I ever got the opportunity to go Corellian, he'd help me find a good Master." She frowned slightly. "I don't think he meant his son."
Master Horn grinned. "Probably not."
Someone knocked on the door then, followed by a dark haired Jedi's head. The rest of his tall, muscular body followed. "Corran." He nodded to Master Horn. "Lainey, how are you feeling?"
"Okay," Helaine replied, struggling to remember the Jedi's name.
"Ganner," Master Horn greeted the young man. "What's going on?"
"You wanted to be informed when the prisoners woke up and were ready for interrogation. Master Skywalker wants me to go with you," Ganner replied.
A cold chill ran up Helaine's spine.
Sensing her sudden fear, Master Horn looked at her. "If you don't want me to go yet, I won't."
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the dark feeling that was settling in her stomach. Thinking herself paranoid, Helaine took firm hold of her emotions. "I'll be fine, you better go."
His green eyes pierced through hers for a moment, as though trying to see beyond the wall she was starting to build. Firmly, she set her shoulders, and finally, he nodded. He hugged her, squeezing her tight. "I'll be back soon."
Burying her face in his shoulders, Helaine wished she could believe him. "Okay," she said against his shoulder, pulling back, unable to look into his eyes. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Master Horn said, standing up and heading towards the door.
"Cianna will be here in a few minutes, Lainey," Ganner stated. "We didn't know if you'd be awake, so she's grabbing something to read."
Helaine wanted to say that she didn't need any company, but didn't want to be rude. In reality, she didn't want to be alone. "Thanks," she said, turning her gaze towards the door.
Master Horn gave her a brave smile before leaving, but for an instant he turned into Master Caine, leaving their apartment on Mantooine, and being quickly swallowed by the dark night.
Copyright 2002 by Luney.
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