Trial of the Spirit

[Lilla Syrin]

Firing manoeuvring thrusters, the Negotiator touched down lightly on the landing pad, one of several dotting the proximity to the Senate. They’d been granted permission to touch down here, as opposed to the adjacent spaceport. It shared space with three shuttles, each with all hatches open, already accepting the stream of personnel that funnelled from the senatorial offices.

Badreau and Lilla ran down the boarding ramp of the Negotiator and pounded into the building, Lilla’s Jedi robes streaming behind her as she ran.

Inside they heard a cry through the slowly panicking crowd and turned to see an officer waving to get their attention. Following the man, they hastened through corridors and a transport tube before arriving at the office of the Senator.

Taking in the plush meeting area and wide window with a single glance, Badreau walked straight up to the desk of the Senator. Romu was surrounded by military brass, an even mix of both fleet and ground force uniforms evident. She looked up to acknowledge the two newcomers.

“You got here in time. Good,” Romu said.

“Alisia, Lilla,” Badreau said, indicating both herself and her second-in-command. “Any progress?”

A fleet officer - an admiral, Badreau noted – turned to face her. “The fuse is the only realistic route we have into the device, given time constraints. We can tell it started a countdown as soon as it reached the building, but it is hardwired into what we can only presume is the device’s detonation circuits. Our team is trying to separate the fuse from the device to render it inert, but they have been unsuccessful so far. If they cannot defuse the trigger, the device will activate as the fuse is removed. We don’t know the effects of the device and can only speculate an assessment of its magnitude.”

“How long until detonation?” asked Lilla.

The Admiral glanced at a datapad in his hand. “Four minutes, 40 seconds.”

“Madam Senator,” said Badreau forcefully, expecting resistance. “We must leave now.”

“There is no more time, Madam Senator,” said another officer, a high-ranking general.

Romu scrolled through a report in her screen. “How many have we evacuated so far?” she asked.

“Nearly 60%. Madam Senator, we knew we would not get everyone out in time,” the general said. “I must insist we leave now.”

“How many local politicians have evacuated?” she persisted.

“We believe they have all left. Madam Senator, I am sorry, but I must evacuate you now, with the Chiefs of Staff." The general nodded to two soldiers who were standing to one side. With determined purpose, they pushed through the crowd and, firmly grabbing the Senator, began marching her from behind the desk.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Romu gave a strangled cry of anger but quickly relaxed and accepted the inevitable. Her Senatorial Guard had performed this drill enough to make her realize she had no option. Sensing her acquiescence, the soldiers released their grip of her arms but stayed close. Seeing the Senator was ready to leave, Badreau and Lilla led the way to the landing pad, where all but one shuttle had departed.

Soldiers surrounded the remaining vessel, forcing the milling crowd to form orderly queues before being permitted to board. By the time the Jedi, Senator and officers reached the Negotiator, a sense of very real urgency sank into even Romu, and they all boarded the White Star at a flat run.

Inside, crew quickly directed the senatorial personnel to temporary quarters, but they allowed Romu to go to the bridge. As she ran to her captain’s chair, Badreau shouted the order to leave.

“Get us out of here!”

The violent motion of the Negotiator, attitude thrusters straining to vault its mass skywards, was dampened down by the drive, but Lilla still had to take a step back to steady herself. The helmsmen held the ship on a flatter trajectory than normal, trading altitude for simply putting as much distance between the ship and the building without having to fight gravity.

“Time to detonation?” called Badreau.

An officer dutifully summoned the holographic display, charting their progress across a three-dimensional map of the surrounding terrain. A counter on the right-hand side of the screen registered 33 seconds and began ticking at what seemed an impossibly fast rate.

Senator Romu, standing at Lilla’s shoulder, whispered what the bridge crew where thinking. “We’re not going to make it, are we?”

Hopelessly outclassed, the bomb disposal team worked hard on the fuse until the last second. The three members had volunteered to stay until the end, knowing that the building could never be fully evacuated in time. The regular staff had left as soon as the threat had been revealed, and the docking bay was eerily quiet. In his last moments, the leader of the team, had time for one last cliché.

“Been a pleasure working with you guys.”

The fuse counted down to zero. Within a micro-second, the weapon detonated.

The bomb weapon turned in upon itself and a blinding white light expanded from the capsule, vaporising all matter within fifty metres. The bomb-disposal team, along with a sizeable part of the loading bay, simply ceased to exist.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla opened her eyes and looked up at the underside of her station. Beyond that, she saw a sky darkened by rapidly thinning clouds. ‘That’s not right,’ she thought. A heavy weight lay across her abdomen, but a pain in the small of her back made her consider remaining immobile for the moment.

She closed her eyes again to connect with the Force. To calm her, and allow her to focus and remember. The countdown on the screen. The Senator’s comment on the inevitability of their situation. Then a resounding smack on the hull of the Negotiator as a shock wave struck it with ruinous force. She remembered one of the Minbari crew shouting something about losing one of the wings. The ship had lurched at that point, and suddenly they were all looking at a looming mountain range growing ever larger in the viewport.

The captain rattled off commands and suggestions to the crew until the last moment and they, to their credit, had obeyed. Everything had been tried. Lilla, with little to offer, had braced herself and the Senator. She remembered rock flashing past the viewport at incredible speed and then nothing else. She hurt all over and pulled the Force to her, performing a quick and simple Force Healing Meditation.

Raising her head, Lilla looked down at the weight trapping her.

“Ah,” she said, realising what it was. “Madam Senator? Are you alright?”

The Senator moaned, giving the indication that she was at least alive. Lilla studied what was left of the bridge. Towards the viewport, hunks of metal plating and crushed parts of the ship’s superstructure twisted around one another. She held little hope for the two helmsmen stationed there. Above her was sky, and it continued towards the back of the bridge. Lilla dimly realised the bridge was no longer part of the Negotiator’s hull. At some point during the crash, the two had parted company.

Movement to her right caused her to stir, and she saw a blackened and scarred Badreau struggling to sit upright, clutching her side as she did so.

“Lilla,” she said, wincing in pain. “You still with us?”

“Never left,” she paused. “And the Senator is alive too.”

“Can you move?” Badreau asked as she lay back to a prone position. Romu’s stirrings indicated consciousness too.

Lilla moved her extremities one by one to see if anything had stopped working or been torn off. The pain was ebbing and she decided she was more or less intact. Helping Romu, Lilla sat up and strength started to return to her limbs.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

After checking the Senator for breaks and then resting her to one side, Lilla began to fish around in his robes for the small first aid pack all Jedi carried. Pulling out a small syringe from the brown case, she began administering it to Romu, hoping to remove any pain, before repeating the procedure for Badreau. She saw immediately that the Captain was far worse off than the Senator.

And Lilla’s abilities at Force Healing were rudimentary at best. Pain relief was the extent to which she was confident intervening.

“How are you?” she asked.

Badreau suppressed a groan as she shifted position. “I don’t think it’s good. That helps,” she said, nodding at the syringe in Lilla’s hand.

“Did anyone else make it?” asked Lilla finally.

“I don’t know,” said Badreau grimly, after a pause. “I think most bridge crew were sucked out of that,” she said, weakly gesturing to the open ceiling. “Or are buried under that,” indicating the crushed forward section. “Either way, I don’t give much hope.”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Standing, Lilla leaned against what remained of her station. Looking towards the rear of the bridge, she saw mountains and little else. He was also aware of her captain’s injuries.

“You should look for survivors,” she heard her say.

“I can’t. Your injuries–” she started.

“There will be others in the crew worse off than me. I have the Senator here to help me. We have to get a commlink working – they’ll send a shuttle.” She paused for a moment before steeling herself to continue. “When it arrives, I don’t want to report that we are the only survivors.”

Lilla was not sure whether it was loyalty to her captain, a growing bond between the two of them or a Jedi notion to not leave a wounded comrade but she found herself disagreeing with her captain and began to shake her head.

But she was a Jedi – and the needs of the many always outweighed the requirements of the one. Regardless of the one. Her master would be reminding her on the Code’s perspective on attachments if he were here.

“Be back in thirty minutes,” the captain said flatly, mustering enough strength and determination in her voice so Lilla would not mistake her authority and the direct command.

Lilla nodded and began to pick her way carefully from the bridge.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Outside, the air seemed burnt, the stench of ozone thick in her nostrils. She scanned the area but her senses were blocked by mountains on all sides. The thin vegetation at the foot of the towering rock faces was either burning or already blackened. What she had taken for clouds earlier was actually thick smoke. It seemed the sky itself had caught fire. What remained of the senator’s offices, she could not tell. The bridge of the Negotiator had indeed separated from the main hull, and its ruin had come to rest a quarter of the way up the mountain.

Looking down, she saw scattered wreckage, though nothing large enough to be the main hull. Lilla guessed that lay beyond one of the mountains around her, though whether it would be behind the bridge or in front, she could not guess.

Seeing a large fragment of armour plating a few hundred metres from her, perhaps from the drive systems, Lilla began a climb down toward it. She was grateful they had not ended up higher in the mountain ranges, where treacherous terrain and thin oxygen would have added to her difficulties.

It did not take long, however, for her to realise that many of the crew might be stranded in just such a place. So long as they were not badly injured, she hoped they would be tough enough to survive for at least a little while.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

It took Lilla several minutes to reach her target, but he was rewarded with sounds of movement from behind the wreckage that towered above her. It was from the rear section of the Negotiator, she could tell now, where it had broken away from the core of the drive. Trying not to think of injured crew lying too close to the ship’s fusion reactor, she limped round the wreckage, peering inside. He immediately saw a line of bodies in a shattered corridor, all arranged in a neat row. She did not know whether they were unconscious or dead but her heart lightened as someone had obviously placed them thus.

A groan of supreme effort sounded just beyond the prone crew, and Lilla called out. A pause hung between her and the unknown crew member, then a hesitant voice returned to her.

“Lilla?”

A surge of relief swept through her as she recognised the light tone, and he redoubled her efforts to clamber through the twisted supports framing the corridor.

It was the technical officer.

Lilla found the young woman just beyond what had once been a junction that split service panels around the drive system. Looking at her, she thought she looked a real mess. She favoured her left arm and her trousers were soaked through with blood. Her face, normally so delicate and precise in its features, had a deep cut running across the back of her head and blood dripped from her skull. Still, she had been trying to force open a wedged door with brute force. In spite of the situation, Lilla could not help but admire her comrade’s fortitude and resilience.

“Help me,” she said simply, then went back to straining on the door. “I heard movement inside.”

Lilla cast his eye about, seeing the door was open by an inch or so – either jammed that way or moved through the young officer’s incredible efforts.

Lilla put her hands to the door and called upon the Force to supplement her strength. Gradually, an inch at a time, it yielded to her efforts. Finally, a pair of hands from the other side gripped the edge of the door and aided her. The work easier now, the door was soon forced open, and they looked inside to see a darkened chamber crushed to a third of its original size. On the floor were three crew members. The first looked up as the others began to move slowly.

“I thank you,” he said to both of them.

They both crouched down to inspect his injuries. “Are you hurt?” Lilla asked.

“Nothing major, I think. I believe, at least, I will live.” He winced as he stood. “Help me with the others. I think they will live but a little light would help the diagnosis.”

Between them, Lilla and the two more able-bodied crew members dragged the wounded third to where the others had been lined up. She told Lilla some had perished while others might not recover without assistance, as she finally sat down to rest and let the Jedi tend her injuries.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla saw her left arm was bruised and a wide, nasty slash across her shin was quickly bound up. No lasting damage would result. Lilla was far more concerned with her head wound but consoled herself that it might not be critical as she was still conscious. Her task finished, she suddenly remembered her rendezvous with Badreau back in the bridge section.

“We have to go – a shuttle should be coming for us. The captain is setting up a commlink,” she said to the two crew.

The male officer smiled at the news that his captain was still alive but refused to go with Lilla and the technician. “I have to stay here. They will need me,” he said, indicating the prone crew members.

Lilla shook her head. “You are in no state to survive the cold for long.”

“They will survive a great deal shorter than that if I am not around. Besides, I’ll make a fire. It will keep us warm and serve as a beacon.”

“Now go, both of you,” the man said. “The captain will need you.”

Lilla put a hand on his shoulder and said, “I’ll get a shuttle sent down to you. All of you.”

“I know you will. I have my duties here. Go and attend to yours.”

Nodding once, Lilla stood up and began the march back up the mountain.

As they approached the wrecked bridge section, Lilla saw Romu leaning over Badreau. The captain was lying very still now, and Romu looked up as Lilla and the young officer approached.

“Your friend managed to get through, eventually. A shuttle is on its way. I think she needs help very soon…” said Romu.

Lilla crouched by her captain, Romu stepping back to give them room. Badreau faded in and out of consciousness, probably from the strain of getting a communications link working. Looking over her superior’s broken body, Lilla wondered what she should do next.

She still had her duty to perform and a mission to accomplish – but without Alisia’s guidance and support? Surely the chain of command would have to be informed of her injuries so a senior replacement could be sent to support the Senator in this time of dire need. But what if no replacement was conveniently nearby? Lilla did not have the faintest clue how to advise a Senator. She had many years of political experience and was probably twice her age. What contribution could she possibly make?

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Romu broke through Lilla’s thoughts. “How did you get on?” she asked.

This, at least, was something she could answer. “Didn’t find the main hull, if it is still in one piece. But there are injured crew down there,” she said, pointing back to the wreckage.

“Shuttles will be scouring the area soon. They’ll be okay.” The Senator faced Lilla. “I carried a beacon outside to direct the shuttle. Make sure it keeps transmitting until they arrive. We cannot spare a second’s delay. I need to get to a secure location as quickly as possible.”

It slowly dawned on Lilla what that meant. “We can gather the survivors in the shuttle that’s coming now,” she ventured. Romu shook her head and was about to respond when Lilla felt a hand on her leg. He looked down to see Badreau grasping her, an unwavering expression on her face, and she crouched to hear her words.

“We have to get the Senator to a safe location. That’s our priority. That’s our mission.” The effort of this clearly pained her and she closed her eyes, relaxing her grip on the Jedi.

“Alisia!”

Badreau slowly opened her eyes to look straight at Lilla, and he saw the determined set of her jaw.

“What do you think is happening, right now?” she asked, looking to press her point. When Lilla did not answer immediately, she grabbed her again and forced the Jedi to look at her once more. “Think!”

Taking a breath, Lilla considered the situation. “Well, there will be those who want to retaliate. Theyll want to attack anyone they see as responsible. But they won’t do that without orders.”

“Until I made contact, they were presuming the Senator was dead. The news she is still alive has not reached everywhere yet. The politicians, those who survived, have been scattered during the evacuation and so, right now, no one knows who is in charge. It will only take one lone admiral or even captain to get the idea that retaliation must take place quickly – and we then have a war on our hands.”

Lilla nodded but Badreau did not let her go. “Do you understand?” she said through her pain.

“Yes,” Lilla finally said, though she thought of the brave crew just a little distance away who might not survive a night in these mountains. “Where are we taking the Senator?”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

“A shuttle is being sent down from a destroyer in orbit. From there, I imagine she will want to go to a command post. They may fear further attacks.”

“We need to report back as well,” Lilla said.

“Now you are thinking. Yes, damn straight we have to report in. Or, rather, you do.” The whine of a craft’s engines caused her to glance up as a shuttle bearing Republic Remnant markings began a landing cycle just a few yards away from them. “Listen to me, Lilla,” Badreau said, ensuring her attention was focussed only on the captain. “I don’t know how long I can stay conscious, and I think I am going to be out of things for a while. Everything rides on what happens next; I cannot overstate that enough. You are now the conduit between Romu and the Republic senate. You are also going to have to take a lot of tough decisions on your own. Remember what you have been taught. Be true to the Jedi and the Rangers.”

As she closed her eyes once more, Lilla noticed that Badreau’s breathing was becoming ragged. She had to strain to hear her next words over the noise of the settling shuttle. “I think this is going to get worse before it gets better.”

Lilla did not have the chance to ask Badreau what she meant, as her captain lapsed into unconsciousness.

Immediately the area began swarming with people in uniform, first taking Senator Romu aboard the shuttle, then bringing a stretcher for Badreau. Lilla followed the technician to the small craft, turning to look once more at the strewn wreckage of the Negotiator below them before ducking inside.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

The shuttle was uncomfortable, even for those who were not injured. Lilla endured the short voyage well enough as the shuttle closed distance with its mother ship she was thankful that Badreau had slipped into unconsciousness earlier. Though she remained alert, Lilla was engaged in meditative techniques, as paramedics on board tended the remainder of those that boarded.

Though forced to inaction, Lilla marshalled her mental reserves, preparing herself for the next challenge however out of depth she personally felt. Lilla was Jedi and as the Code dictated, she represented all Jedi now. She was determined not to fail.

Senator Romu had no such training and she chomped at the bit, impatient at wasting more time before she could resume her role as leader of her planet. Frustrated, she ordered the shuttle’s pilot to hook a communications link into the emergency bands and, from the flood of chatter, she began to piece together what had happened and the extent of the damage. At first glance, it looked to be total.

The destroyer loomed in the shuttle’s forward viewport where all the passengers could see it. The pilot exchanged call signs and approach vectors with the flight controllers and then lined the shuttle up with the massive warship. Flying around the front superstructure in a long sweeping manoeuvre, the shuttle began the slow approach to the red-lit docking bay in the nose of the ship. Flashing guide lights mounted on pylons extending from the sheer face of the prow gave visual aid to the pilot as he gently coaxed the shuttle forward to the open port.

Unbuckling herself before the shuttle had finished its docking sequence, Senator Romu impatiently waited for the co-pilot to lead them forward. She only gained a measure of self-control when they reached the bridge and were able to put their feet down solidly on the deck.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

The captain was a tall, dark-skinned man with severe features but a calm and friendly voice. He strode up to the group as soon as they entered the ship’s bridge.

“Madam Senator, are you alright?” he asked with genuine concern.

“I’m alive but a lot of good people died today,” she answered briskly. “You must take me to the capital planet. Best speed, Captain.”

“Of course.” He turned to face his crew. “You heard the Senator. Maximum burn.”

“Jump point, aye,” came the automatic response.

He turned back to Romu. “One more thing, Captain,” she said. “I need access to secure channel communications. I presume they are still up?”

“A little scrambled but that should diminish as we move away from the system,” he said. “Here, Madam Senator. You can use my office.” The Captain ushered her to an alcove towards the rear of the bridge which housed all the systems the captain needed. Settling herself down, the Senator began to tap into the high priority communications network.

Still standing by the entrance of the bridge, the technical officer leaned over to Lilla and whispered, “What do we do?”

Lilla was not completely certain of the answer herself. “We wait,” she said quietly after a moment’s thought. “We desperately need to contact the Grand Master, but I think it would be well if we do so when he can give us orders in private. We also need to watch, very carefully, what this Senator does next. Keep your eyes and ears open.”

Lilla nodded as the captain walked back to them. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Just get us to our destination, Captain,” Lilla said. “Fast. The fate of billions rest on this.”

If the captain thought Lilla was overstating things, he did not show it. For his part, Lilla found herself impressed with the way the whole crew were coping with the virtual decapitation of not only their military command, but the entire planetary government. They were part of the Republic, but star systems tended to manage their own military affairs in times of peace.

Though she could sense a deep shock within the crew, they attended their duties with a renewed diligence.

Under full thrust, the ship left the shadow of the planet’s gravity well and opened a stable jump point that would get them to their destination. They all felt the lurch as the ship approached the inter-dimensional vortex, accelerating to match the velocities of shock waves and currents in hyperspace.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

The technical officer stood, alert, as Lilla sat down at a communications relay behind her. She had instructed her to make sure no one was eavesdropping. No doubt someone, somewhere, would be monitoring her communications, but Lilla hoped the Jedi security protocols she used would at least slow them down.

Badreau had been taken to the emergency centre of the largest hospital. That comforted her, as she knew it contained some of the best doctors in the galaxy. Her condition was deemed critical from the one communication Lilla received from the staff there, and though they had promised to give her regular updates, she had doubts about receiving them promptly while in the high security command centre.

And all the time, Lilla had one eye over her shoulder, expecting a high-ranking Jedi to waltz in and take over from her.

Not that she would have minded. Part of her would have welcomed it. But only part.

Official chatter had indicated she was the person with the greatest level of intelligence and, by the time she brought any newcomer fully up to speed, the situation could have escalated to a point it could be brought back from.

Lilla suspected that whoever was found ‘responsible’ for the bombing would actually be innocent. Her job was to find out who was going to frame the fall-guy and not only avert a war, but bring the real miscreants to justice.

Though concerned about her captain, Lilla knew Badreau would want her focussed on the situation at hand. Given its magnitude, she felt lost and desperately wished Badreau could be there, as he was certain she would instinctively know what to do. For all her Jedi training at the hands of the best tutors, she simply did not feel prepared for this moment. The technical oficer’s presence, however, was some comfort and infinitely better than being alone.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

As it turned out, Lilla’s worries about eavesdroppers were made moot by Romu’s elevated voice rising from the main computer desk on the other side of the hub. Her commands, questions, and general shouting would drown out anything Lilla said or heard. The communications staff had managed to put the Senator in contact with a few politicians who had either escaped the destruction or who were not present. She also had direct links to fleets across her star system.

“I am not ordering a war,” she said. “Yes, I know I need the approval of the Senate…Damn it man, who do you think you are talking to?” There was another pause as she listened to the private channel. “It doesn’t matter. I am hereby giving the order to mobilise our entire fleet – even though that doesn’t include the full arsenal of the Republic Remnant. Senator, don’t try me on this.”

“My seat of office has been destroyed, and I damn well got blasted out of the sky myself. If this is a prelude to further action, my people need to be ready, even if the Republic won’t support or defend one of their own.”

Lilla knew Romu was a moderate, but Lilla also knew her government had been dealt a grievous blow this day. Listening to the Senator, Lilla knew she would not escalate things without further provocation, but she was still a target and when things got this close to a knife-edge, it didn’t take a lot to fall off it.

“Senator, if you bring that proposal up, you can be sure I will veto it,” Romu said after another pause. “I am not standing down. We need a show of strength against whoever perpetrated this attack before they get any more ideas or become emboldened by it. I’m moving my fleets to their borders. Yes, you know whose borders. Preliminary intelligence tell us the package originated from their space. No that’s not convenient, it’s simply a fact.”

She listened again, taking a breath in an attempt to calm herself. “It is important to remember that we are by no means crippled – and even more important that our enemies are aware of that,” she said. “They have struck at the heart of my government, but we still have an effective governing body. Tell your people to remain on the side-lines if they’ll not commit. Those responsible for this tragic situation will be brought to justice. That is a promise.”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

The hours ticked by slowly as the Romu stumbled around for sufficient evidence to accuse someone and for a definite target to strike back at. Lilla and Nadocot (the technical officer) were granted cramped quarters attached to the Support Centre, but they were at least grateful for an unlocked communications link which had been transferred to them – as much to give the senator privacy as them, Lilla presumed.

She had been promised instructions from the Grand Master, but there was still no word. It has always been said the Jedi believe it is better to act slowly and correctly than poorly in haste. No doubt an historian from future generations would point to this moment in time as a prime example. But Lilla understood. There were too many fingers in too many pies. Too many had a little bit of the puzzle, and for as long as they wouldn’t play together, they would never be able to solve the challenge they faced.

Nadocot had tried to persuade her to get some sleep, but while she could relax physically, she found it hard to relax mentally, or even meditate, such was the expectation she felt on her shoulders. Besides, she would soon be going into action again, either as a warrior or peacemaker, depending on what the politicians decided next. She lay on a soft recliner and shuffled her feet back and forth to maintain circulation while she watched a summary of the attack on holo-feed, hoping for but not expecting any new information.

The dark-haired newscaster promised viewers the whole truth. Even so, a little of the shock registered in her tone. A screen-within-screen held steady at her right shoulder, showing the scenes of devastation, the former headquarters now a smashed and twisted pile of rubble and metal.

“We have confirmed sightings from our correspondents across the system of military personnel on a heightened state of alert,” the newscaster said in her calm and measured voice, “As well as fleets leaving ports for destinations unknown. Senator Romu, made just one public address since the attack, announcing she is working to bring a measured response to the perpetrators of this terrorist action. So far, no evidence has been produced as to the identity of the attackers."

“Lilla, you have a call,” Nadorcot said to the Jedi, penetrating the lethargy that inactivity brought to her system. “From the Jedi Council.” She gestured to the screen, and Lilla switched the console from the news channel to the communications network.

“Orders?” she asked Nordocot.

“From the Grand Master, I was told.”

They watched the digits scroll past on the screen for a few seconds before a weary looking Ithorian appeared. Lilla guessed the Grand Master had been without sleep for longer than they had.

“Padawan Lilla, good,” Shree O’Ball started. “I apologise for not getting back to you earlier but I hoped to present you with some solid information. Unfortunately, we still have nothing we can conclusively use.”

“We still don’t know who did it?” asked Lilla.

“Oh, the evidence is conclusive,” came the candid but inevitably mystical answer. “What we cannot say is that they did it. I cannot imagine for a moment this was an official action. We suspect a rogue element, a conspiracy looking to achieve a war. Or perhaps a shift in power within their own government. I am uploading information from our investigation, it adds to the data you collected about the clan, which is worthy of your consideration.”

The datacron locked into the interface next to Lilla’s screen began to flash its white light as information flowed across the gulf of space.

“I am giving you a critical mission, consisting of two parts. First, continue to play diplomat to Senator Romu. She is a good woman but she is also a consummate politician. Her planet is hurting right now and its people have a habit of demanding action, any action, when wounded. As a politician, her instincts may be to respond to their pressure. I am also certain some in her government are pressing for a military response as well.”

“You are to stop a war at all costs. We already know Romu is receiving offers of military support from other worlds. They all have vested interests in open warfare and may try to take advantage of this. I do not want a situation whereby I am forced to keep the peace across the whole of the galaxy. Do you understand?”

“We serve, and sometimes we serve best by presenting the full facts as opposed to simply following orders based upon incomplete intelligence.”

“Understood,” said Lilla. “I’ll advise Romu. I just hope I can get her to listen. Was there something else?”

“Yes. Take the information I have just transferred to you and begin your own investigation. We only have access to half of what we need here, and you may be able to uncover something at your end. Try to backtrack the bomb and see where the path truly leads. The local government did their own check using information we gave them – that is how they discovered the device before it detonated. Try to find something, anything, that leads blame away from the obvious culprits and towards the real terrorists.”

“And if the trail is genuine?” Lilla queried.

Shree O’Ball sighed. “Then war may be inevitable. Report whatever you find to me.”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla and Nadorcot looked at one another for a brief moment.

“A chance to be heroes,” said Nadorcot with a half-smile.

“Business as usual,” said Lilla with a confidence she did not entirely feel. “Come on, we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Sequestered in a tight booth on one side of the communications hub, Lilla and Nadorcot had been literally falling over one another in an attempt to backtrack investigations into the attack on their government. Lilla encountered bureaucratic resistance with her initial enquiries. But finally, she managed to negotiate access to the files she sought with a little extra effort.

Lilla found her spirits raised slightly. She now had a course of action to follow, though she still could not imagine where her investigation would lead or how to convince the Senator of her findings – she still felt too much emphasis was placed on her somewhat junior and inexperienced shoulders.

While Lilla had been navigating the treacherous waters of Republic bureaucracy, Nadorcot was interpreting the information on the data crystal transmitted by the Jedi. Sitting just to Lilla’s left in the close confines of the booth, her proximity was reassuring. At the very least, she was not alone.

“Lilla, given the depth of information provided, it seems clear that the clan is implicated in the plot,” she said after a period of silence. “It seems that clan attracted some interest from the Republic intelligence community long before this attack.”

Lilla paused for a few seconds, turning ideas over in her head. “That is good to know but not conclusive. We can prove very little, other than the facility we visited was used, at some point, to store the device. It is not a smoking blaster we are looking for – we only need to visit the ruins of the government building to find that. What we need is motive – and a good reason to indicate that the evidence has been fabricated to divert blame away from whoever was responsible.”

“Romu already has the same information we do. If we go to her with this, we have nothing else to back it up. The planet is in shock; their pride has been wounded. They are looking for someone to blame, and Romu will be under pressure to do something, anything – and that will likely be military action.”

Nadorcot shook her head, a little sadly, Lilla thought. “It seems incomprehensible to me that an entire planet can be moved to aggression without ample evidence.”

Lilla remembered that Nardocot’s preference was for hard facts, not opinions or emotions. It was in many ways a Jedi trait, but Lilla had been trained to also consider actions not driven by data.

“We have to keep searching. We won’t find an answer in the information sent to us by the Grand Master – if anything substantial was there, someone far cleverer than us would have found it.” This drew a slight smile from Nadorcot. “It may help us though, if we can uncover something else, something we are missing right now.”

“I agree,” she said simply and turned back to her station.

They both looked up as a quick rap on the wall of their booth announced the presence of a messenger.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

“I was sent to fetch you, err, Rangers,” he said. “Something has happened.”

Hurrying out of the booth to the centre of the communications hub, Lilla and Nadorcot were immediately struck by the increased activity of the personnel present. If anything, more blue uniforms rushed around. Romu was in the middle of a cluster of high-ranking officers, leaning over a display as she repeatedly asked for clarifications from an unseen voice.

A colonel stepped out from the scrum to intercept Lilla. “Rangers, we have just had news – sketchy at the moment as we are just getting information in.”

“Trouble?” Lilla asked, already fairly sure she knew the answer.

“The carrier group Endeavour is missing, presumed destroyed. They were in deep space, waiting for orders, when we lost contact. A scout has been dispatched to their location and reports signs of a battle, though no substantial wreckage has been found. The Senator is talking with the scout’s captain now.”

“You think it was a continuation of the same attack?” Lilla asked.

“Who else?” said the colonel. “I am afraid this changes everything. As their duly appointed representative, I must ask you how the Jedi intend to serve us.”

For a second, this question stumped Lilla, and her first reaction was to run to a communications terminal to reach the Grand Master. Dismissing the impulse, she pushed past the colonel and into the middle of the officers surrounding Romu.

“Sorry, Colonel, I must speak to the Senator.”

Lilla immediately sensed that her Jedi robes gave her at least a measure of authority among even admirals and generals. Her bearing and demeanour surely did not. But the Jedi were still something of a mystery, and this lent an air which few directly questioned. After all, she was the representative of the Order, assigned to the Senator.

Lilla listened to Romu’s closing words with the scout captain.

“Agreed, Captain. Widen your search and report back. But if you see any trouble… That’s right. Get yourself out of there; we will need you later. Don’t take risks. Romu out.”

If the Senator had slept since the disaster, she showed no signs of it. Lilla noted the bags under Romu’s eyes and the wrinkles of strain across her brow, but she retained a look of such raw determination, even fury, that he imagined she could go on for many hours more on pure adrenaline.

“We have just bits and pieces at the moment – literally,” she said. “The scout captain reported that while there is no wreckage, micro debris is strewn across a wide area. More to the point, residual energy scans all point to a heavy discharge of weaponry. Clearly a battle was fought there.”

“That’s it then,” said a tall admiral to Lilla’s left, her lilting voice an odd contrast to her words. “We are under attack. Madam Senator, you already have our recommendations.”

“I do. Admiral– ”

“Madam Senator, if I may,” said Lilla, interjecting. She was acutely conscious of every high-ranking officer nearby staring at her.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Romu raised her head to acknowledge Lilla, though she could sense her impatience.

“I must insist on restraint,” she began. “By the laws of the Republic, you cannot take unilateral action.”

“Actually, I have to disagree,” said the Admiral, looking down her long nose at Lilla. The authority of the Jedi was not universal among military officers after all, Lilla reflected. “Our enemies are not part of the Republic, by their own choice. They have initiated hostilities against us, and we have every right to take pre-emptive action to defend ourselves.”

Lilla pointedly turned from the Admiral to concentrate on Romu. “Madam Senator, please, you are not at war yet. We don’t know exactly what happened to the carrier group. If anyone were serious about starting a fight, would you not see attacks across our entire border, perhaps even into our space itself?”

From over her shoulder came the Admiral’s voice once more. Lilla had to confess, its tone was beginning to irritate her. “They may have just not found our other deep space task forces yet.”

Ignoring the admiral, Lilla pressed on. “Madam Senator, we have some good leads. We do not believe any government as a whole is responsible for these attacks. With just a little more time– ”

“I am sorry,” said Romu. “I have the safety of my planet to consider, not to mention the men and women manning ships in our defence. I might have believed a rogue camp was responsible for the bombing attack, but a military force strong enough to destroy a carrier group? That is just not believable. That was an action undertaken by the military, not a disgruntled house. Admiral!”

The admiral strode forward, positioning herself between Lilla and the Senator. Lilla swore she actually clicked her heels while standing to attention.

“Order the fleets into enemy space,” said Romu. “Make sure they understand the protocols we discussed. If this is not a prelude to an all-out war, we don’t want to start one inadvertently. Have them jump into the listed systems and show them we will not tolerate any attacks. In deference to our Jedi advisors, we will not initiate hostilities – under no circumstance should any ship open fire before it is fired upon. We just want to show our presence and prepare for blockades if needed.”

“And if they attack our fleets?” asked the Admiral.

“Then we will respond with deadly force.”

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Having run into dead-ends with the regular channels of administration, Lilla finally managed to obtain the scout ship’s analysis of the attack from one of the officers in the communications hub, something she considered an act of mercy after being passed from desk to desk via the link in her booth. The atmosphere was tense. Everyone seemed to expect war to break out at any second.

Reviewing the information, she quickly reached the same conclusions as the military. Everything pointed to an attack without provocation.

Soon after, Romu called for a meeting with her officials to discuss options. Lilla had not been invited, but no one turned her away as she seated herself among the brass. She sensed Romu’s desperation as she spoke, and the discussion clearly focussed on finding a way out of the crisis.

For five minutes Romu debated just this with two of her generals, and tempers were less than totally controlled.

“General, I know what you are saying. We have already talked about force deployment across the border, and I read your report some time ago. What we need to focus on now are the alternatives.”

“Madam Senator,” said the target of her appeal, a man in his late fifties with a gravelly voice that was used to giving orders, not debating. “I am no politician but the people are demanding action. It has been nearly forty-eight hours since the attack and we have done nothing.”

“This is not like the terrorist attacks of old, General. I think the people know that we operate on a larger stage than just one world now. Even our most advanced ships take time to cross the known galaxy.”

“With respect, Madam Senator, I don’t think they do. They want to see strong leadership and positive results – quickly. I understand you hesitate to send our men and women into battle – that is to be respected in any leader, and you would not have had my support for so long if you casually threw them into battle without due thought. But we have been over this. We have clear evidence who is behind both attacks. This demands an appropriate response.”

Lilla took the opportunity to interrupt. “Madam Senator, I counsel caution – not just as the representative of the Jedi Council, but as a citizen of the Republic. If the intelligence is to be believed, any action we take against their government at this point will provoke them into a full-scale war which neither government wants, or can support.”

The admiral that had plagued Lilla earlier, chose that time to weigh in with her view. “And if we do nothing, we invite further attack – not just from this ransgressor but any government with something to gain from our weakness.”

Lilla turned slowly round to face her. “You are advocating a war that will kill tens of thousands without knowing all the facts.”

“The facts seem clear to me,” the admiral said. “What matters is how we appear to the rest of the galaxy. If someone pushes us, we have to push back, or stand to lose everything we gain. How much more evidence do we need – there is clear and incontrovertible proof who attacked us. The general is right; we have already waited too long.”

“The foe you speak of are a divided people!” Lilla said a little too loudly as she started to lose patience. “We have never disputed who is responsible. What we contend is that the regime as a whole is not the root cause.” Lilla allowed the Force to flow through her, to calm her. “Admiral, what is their motive? They have nothing to gain.”

“You may be right in that,” said Romu, raising a hand to pacify both Lilla and the admiral. “But I have long thought they might not need a reason to take such a course of action. It is my belief that recent wars have pushed them too far. We have bottled them up in their corner of the galaxy, and it might be inevitable that they would break under the pressure of isolation and those reparations.”

She paused before continuing, weighing her words. “Why attack? There is a certain logic to it. They cannot strike the whole of the Republic at once, and though they have history with other race, our brokering if a peace that does not suit them has placed us as the new enemy.”

“Surely that strengthens our proposed course of action. It means we should contain them sooner rather than later,” said the admiral.

Romu sighed. “We cannot afford another war, for so many different reasons. We need some way to avoid it.”

Lilla sensed she’d said enough to plant a seed of doubt in the Senator’s mind.