New chapter up. Thanks for readying. We get to see some interaction with her family this time. Enjoy.
Theron paced back and forth on the landing pad on Coruscant, waiting, not very patiently, for the shuttle containing his daughter.
Vala had been missing, presumed dead, for more than two months, then suddenly reappeared on Balmorra. She was uninjured when she walked into the Balmorran resistance camp, though the Republic soldiers stationed there said she seemed tired and mentally drained.
Theron had been devastated when he had been visited by a Major Chase Trillo, commanding officer of one of the teams sent to Balmorra to help liberate the planet from the Empire, saying Vala had been left behind in the Balmorran arms factory when it was taken by the Empire.
Official records indicated all the Jedi who had volunteered to help evacuate the facility had been killed in action. Trillo had said Vala, in particular, had bravely stood between the final transport and the opposition, which included two Sith. He assumed she had been killed.
Though they did not have any confirmation, the Republic was considering Vala dead. Shortly after the visit from Trillo, Theron had called his mother. If anyone could confirm the death of a Jedi, it would be Satele. She was close to her granddaughter, close enough to be able to sense if she was still alive.
Satele had given him hope, confirming she had not felt her granddaughter's death, though knowing Vala was still alive was almost worse than confirming her death. If she were alive, it meant she was a prisoner. The Empire was not gentle with its prisoners. Particularly Jedi.
Theron watched as a shuttle slowly landed. Once settled, he approached the ramp as it was lowered and Vala emerged. She saw her father and rushed into his arms. Jedi or not, she was still his little girl.
Theron felt her tremble and heard a soft sob as he held her, a spike of anger forming in the back of his mind. What did those Imperial bastards do to her? Vala was young, but still a full Jedi. Jedi did not react this way, unless something bad had happened. She had been oddly silent since her reappearance, only saying a handful of words to the medical officials on Balmorra.
Theron pulled away from her, holding her out at arm's length and looked her over. She looked okay. She wasn't any skinnier than he'd remembered and she seemed alert and healthy, though Jedi were usually fairly good at hiding emotional trauma. He noticed her sob had not resulted in any actual tears.
"Are you alright? What happened? What did they do to you?" He asked, aware he was talking too fast and asking too many questions for her to reply. "Ya know what, forget all that for now. Let's get you to the medcenter and have you checked out."
Vala only nodded, allowing her father to wrap his arm around her shoulders and quietly escort her to the senate tower's medical facility. Nothing was said as they walked.
They entered the medcenter to find Jace Malcom waiting. Vala rushed over to him as soon as she saw him, hugging her grandfather as fiercely as she had her father.
Theron didn't have the greatest relationship with his biological father, thanks mostly to his mother. Satele hadn't told Jace she was pregnant when she ended their relationship. She'd opted to have her baby alone, leaving the child in the care of her old master. Jace had found out about Theron by accident during a joint SIS, Jedi, military mission. Though they both tried, their familial bond was not a strong one, until Vala was born.
The day Theron brought Vala over to meet her grandfather as a tiny baby, he'd seen a whole new side to Jace. The older man, who was known for being a hardass and a highly decorated warhorse, had bonded with the little girl at first sight, moving into the role of grandfather almost seamlessly. He became one of the most important people in Vala's life, even after she officially joined the Jedi. Vala was his granddaughter and he wouldn't let anyone forget it.
"Thank the Force you're alive." Jace said. "What happened to you?"
Considering how long she had been in Imperial custody, the Supreme Chancellor wanted Vala to be debriefed by her people, not the Jedi, for fear she had let slip something top secret and didn't want the Jedi to shield her from them. Why the chancellor thought this, Theron had no idea, since Vala was too young and new to the role of Jedi Knight to be privileged to such information. Fortunately, having a top SIS agent as a father, the supreme commander as a grandfather and the Jedi grandmaster as a grandmother, the chancellor had caved and was allowing Vala's interview to be conducted by her family.
"You can ask all your questions once I've confirmed she is healthy and not a threat to this facility, Commander." Doctor Hogan said as he approached us. Hogan was the head doctor on Coruscant. "You can never tell what the Empire might have implanted in her or if it's even her to begin with. Forgive me, but I don't trust Balmorran medical technology. Please have a seat on the table, my dear."
Vala carefully sat on the medical table. "They didn't do anything to me." She said, speaking for the first time.
"That you know of." Jace replied. "You can start your exam, doc, but we can talk at the same time."
"As you like." Hogan said, starting to scan Vala from top to bottom.
"Do you know where you were being held?" Theron asked.
"I'm not sure, but it was very dark and stormy there. I only ever saw the outside once."
Jace looked at Theron. "Dromund Kaas, maybe."
Theron nodded. "How did you escape?"
Vala hesitated for a moment, but then looked up at her father. "I didn't escape. I was let go."
"What?" Jace asked, surprised.
"I was captured from the arms factory by a Sith pureblood. I was knocked out and when I woke up, I was in a holding cell. I was moved back and forth from the holding cell to an interrogation cell and only ever spoke with one Sith. I have no idea who he was, he never gave me a name."
"What did you talk about?" Theron asked. Honestly, he could care less what was said, as long as the Sith didn't hurt Vala, but he needed to get all the information to appease the chancellor.
Vala paused, thinking. "Nothing, really. He wanted to discuss the Jedi code. He didn't seem to care about learning anything sensitive about the Republic at all. The Republic didn't even come up."
"You may have been given a truth serum. The higher level formulas can erase the memory of the interrogation." Dr. Hogan added, still working on Vala.
Vala shook her head. "No, I was never drugged beyond what I was given for my transport off Balmorra. I would have known if I had been drugged."
"And you say, the Sith just let you go? He kept you in captivity for over two months, then just let you leave?" Theorn asked, concerned. Something wasn't adding up.
"Yes." Vala replied. "One day, the Sith came to see me with the controls to my shock collar. He walked me to a waiting ship and had his apprentice take me to Balmorra. Once there, they took off the collar, returned my lightsaber and let me go less than a mile from a known resistance base."
There was an awkward pause and Dr. Hogan used it by clearing his throat. "Well, everything looks good here. I'm going to take Vala back and do a more advanced scan. If you'll follow me."
Vala and the doctor left the room, leaving Theron and Jace alone.
"I don't like this." Jace said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"As a father I want to believe nothing happened to her, but every bit of my SIS training is telling me something is off about all of this. Why would a Sith take Vala captive, only to leave her completely unharmed and let her go a couple of months later? There must be more to it. Some scheme or agenda."
"Agreed." Jace replied. "There must be an Imperial angle we're not seeing. I wonder if we can identify which Sith was holding her? It sounds like she spent time in the same room with him. She must have gotten a good look."
"That might help narrow things down. Most Sith have a certain way about them which is uniquely theirs. Even if she can't remember what happened to her, knowing the Sith involved might help us put the pieces together."
Jace sighed, pacing back and forth a few times. "I hate to say it, but until we know more, we can't let Vala have free access to anything. And we need to get the Jedi involved."
"Satele should be here later today. We'll let her get a read on Vala before we move forward."
Vala came back into the room with the doctor behind her.
"Well, I am happy to report that Vala is one hundred percent fine. Health-wise, she's suffering from a bit of exhaustion. She has no detectable implants, listening devices and the DNA scan clearly identifies her as Vala Shan." He turned to Vala. "I'd say you're extremely lucky. Most POWs don't come back to us in nearly as good of shape."
Theron approached her, pulling her into a hug. "You're staying with me until you're cleared and ready to go back to Tython. Your grandmother will be here later today to check you over. She'll be happy to see you alive. We've all been so worried."
Vala pulled away, but smiled at him. "I'm fine, Father. I wasn't harmed during my captivity, nor was I manipulated in any way. The doc just said so."
"I know." Theron said, taking a quick look at Jace. "Let's go home. We can get something to eat and get settled back in."
Vala nodded, then turned to Jace. "Coming Grandpa?"
"No, unfortunately, I have a few more things to do before I call it a day. I'll stop by later tonight, though." He pulled her into a hug. "You just get some rest. Uninjured or not, you need to take some time to wrap your head around what happened to you, okay? Trust this old man."
Vala laughed. "You're not old, Grandpa, just experienced, remember?"
Jace laughed and kissed Vala on the forehead. "Exactly right."
Theron and Vala left the medcenter and Jace waited until the door was closed before turning to the doctor.
"You're sure she hasn't been hurt? No trauma at all?" Jace asked. The Empire was known to be harsh with prisoners. Particularly young, female prisoners. If that Sith touched her in any way, he'd have his corrupt head on a platter.
Doctor gave Jace a knowing look. "As I said, she has no evidence of physical damage, in any way. I'm afraid you'll find any trauma she sustained is going to be mental or emotional. Probably both." Hogan turned and replaced his scanner on the far wall. "Sith are more known for their psychological manipulation. Overall, she was lucky."
"Understood, Doc. Thanks."
"Of course, Commander."
Jace left the medcenter. "Lucky." He said quietly to himself. Time would still tell if she were indeed as lucky as the doctor thought.
To Be Continued...