Chapter 24

The Resurrection – the edge of the Pantora System

The holotable hummed to life as Caloc stood in his temporary quarters aboard the Resurrection. The blue lights flickered across its surface, casting shadows against the dark walls. Eventually, they solidified into a shape of a girl, no more than fourteen. She was a Jedi, obvious by the maroon robes that she wore, but clearly too young to be a padawan. Around her right shoulder was a short sash with a native Togrutan pattern printed on it, and the under robes were a dark brown.

He grinned at her. "You know that every time I see you lately, you have on a new outfit. Sick of the youngling ones?"

"I'm trying something out.", she giggled and rolled her eyes, then twirled in a tight circle to show him the entire uniform, "What do you think?"

"Looks great, Ahsoka. The colour certainly suits you. Blue would be better.", his smile widened at her chagrin, then dimmed a little as he got serious, "How have you been, really?"

She looked tired. Her montrals were drooping and her shoulder's sagged. "We got back from our excursion yesterday. I'm still training with the clan, but Master Plo has been helping me in the Library. I'd actually like seeing some of the places I've seen in those books. I hate being stuck in the Library."

"I'll see what I can do when I get back.", he nodded, mentally noting an escape plan in his future. "Is Plo a good teacher?"

"Not as good as you are, but we have a strong bond. He might be one of my closest friends here right now.", Ahsoka answered. While Caloc had been trapped in the Temple, he had been helping Ashoka with her youngling training while also doing his own studies. She had proven a proficient student, and was well on her way to beating the youngling Trials before she was supposed to take them.

Now he had something difficult to ask her. "Ahsoka, I wish this was just a social call, but I have a favour to ask."

"What kind of favour?", she had the look on her face that she usually wore whenever he tried a new acrobatic move, "Nothing too dangerous, right?"

"No.", he smiled, "We have no communications on Pantora. The terrorist seems to have found a way to block all satellite transmissions. There are only a few opportunities to contact anyone outside the system, and that requires someone to physically pilot a ship out of the system. We're trying to call in some help, but I need you to take over a secret project of mine."

She raised a curious eyebrow. "Sounds suspicious. Okay. Tell me more."

He hesitated. Honestly, what he had been doing was not only against the Order's traditions, but also directly against the Council's expressed orders. But he swallowed that down, staring the tiny hologram in the eyes. "I need you to contact my sister. When I was on Menach, I discovered that she is Force sensitive. Lately, I have been… training her."

A loud tut-tut came from Ahsoka… and a shudder through the Force turned his attention to the door behind him. He spun, saw who it was, and turned back to the Togruta, "I have to go. Stay safe, little sister."

"I will.", Ahsoka answered, and he knew she meant it as both that she would be safe, and that she would train his sister, "You're the one that needs to be safe, Caloc."

He flicked off the transmission and turned back to the person in the door. "Can I help you, Master Fisto?"

The Nautolaun Jedi nodded slowly, his tentacles bobbing up and down with his head movements, "You can start by telling me exactly what you meant by 'training' your little sister. It is my belief that was against the Council's wishes. You should have just left her abilities to fade."

Caloc took a deep breath, and began explaining how he and his Master, during their trip to Menach, had discovered that Anikos Tiac was Force sensitive. Kit only nodded through that. It had been stated before the Council. He continued on, explaining his plea to the Council for them to allow his sister to train with them. How they had said no. He explained the secret message from his parents, begging for him to give them answers on how to stop his sister from trying again and again to use the Force. To stop the nightmares she had been having. That was when Kit stepped in.

"What kind of nightmares?", he asked.

"Surprisingly real ones.", Caloc answered. "She saw a lake, peaceful and calm, but suddenly it was being burned by a barrage of birds, she called them 'vultures', because they reminded her of the lava scavengers on Menach. She heard voices crying out, but no one ever answered because of a huge wall surrounding the lake."

Kit connected the dots in his head immediately, "And that was exactly what happen to Dac City on Mon Calamari. They were attacked by Vulture Droids and Hyena Bombers, and we couldn't help them because of the Senate."

"That's what I thought!", Caloc nodded at him, "During each nightmare, she would have… episodes. Things levitate around her, slamming into the walls. Eventually, I managed build a subspace frequency to secretly contact her, and we began her meditation training."

"And how is that going?", Kit asked, honestly curious. Long distant training would be difficult, as usually a teacher would train their apprentice using a Force bond to feel what they felt. "How is it training without that bond?"

This was where Caloc was worried. "Honestly? It's going really well. Somehow, Anikos and I have… not a bond but something else similar to one. I'm still training her in the basics, but I can't do that while we are here."

Kit frowned. "This is why the Council trains us against attachments, Caloc. Even with the people of Pantora crying out, your mind is conflicted, focussed on her, on your friends, on Ahsoka too. You need to be in the moment. Something I learned back when I was an apprentice was underwater meditation. As a padawan, I too had a chaotic mind. Both my own teacher and Master Yoda attempted to quiet it, but it was only when the Librarian, Restelly Quist, gave me a book that taught an ancient technique that I finally opened myself to the Force fully. That is why when I can, I meditate underwater. Same with my padawan, Nahdar. I learnt about that in the book, from Jedi passed on."

Caloc frowned, "I understand, Master Fisto. I promise I won't let my anxieties stop me from focussing."

"Be sure you do not, Padawan Tiac.", the knight placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Now if you have no more communications to send, we are returning to the trauma zone. Be sure that you are ready to help."

Aayla watched as the five bodies were loaded into the medical examiner's speeder. Honestly, it would take some time before the three dead terrorists could be looked into, but she was more concerned about the two Pantoran soldiers being loaded up too. The soldiers had been guarding one of the quieter entrances to the mall, and the terrorists had cut them down when they entered the area. Her gut twisted with guilt as she looked at them. She walked over to where the lieutenant was talking to some of the local enforcers.

"…is why we need to be using plain clothes officers to circulate each of the entryways.", she trailed off as she saw the Twi'lek approach.

One of the soldiers turned to see what the woman was looking at, and grinned as he saw Aayla, "Back off, little lady. There's a club down the street that seems more your speed. I can see you there later, if you like."

Aayla rolled her eyes at the man's intended meaning, but ignored him. Apparently, Chan Lawell was not about to let her men talk to her that way, even if Aayla was used to men treating her like she was nothing. She leapt forward, grabbing the man by his collar. He went flying across the cobble stones, and the lieutenant was on top of him immediately, her blaster jabbed into the man's throat.

"That woman not only outranks you, Ducklin, but she could also take you out easier than a reek attacking a tooka.", she frowned, and a quiet slither was heard behind her tongue, "So make sure that you respect her."

"Yes sir.", the man straightened and gulped nervously, his eyes glued to the pistol, "I… I will. I p…promise."

"Be sure of it.", Chan answered, standing up and brushing a long lock of her blonde hair behind ear. She turned back to look at the Jedi, smiling as though nothing had happened, "You seem strangely paranoid, Jedi. What's your name again? I struggle to remember names when I'm being shot at."

"Aayla.", the Jedi extended her hand to the woman, "And to answer your question, lieutenant, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on those battle droids. They seemed to come out of nowhere."

"Call me Telle.", the woman looked up, tracing her hands along each building. "Lieutenant sounds far to formal when I'm not in uniform. As for your question, I am thinking that they would be waiting in the underground sewers until they were remotely activated."

"Which suggests someone watching from an elevated position, facing across the market.", Aayla spun around the market.

The Lieutenant nodded, following her gaze.

"So, do you want to search the buildings, or the sewers first, Telle?", Aayla tried out the woman's preferred name as she said it, liking how it sounded.

"I think that maybe we should check the buildings.", Telle answered, "As one of your fellow Jedi likes to say, 'It's better to cut off the head of a serpent than chase it's tail.'"

That caught Aayla's attention. Only one Jedi she knew of had ever said that. And she had been helping him train for the past six months.