Chapter 51: Trying to Catch Ghosts

After these words were spoken, she performed a backward somersault out of their transport. She closed her eyes and opened herself to the Force, ignoring the pain that came with it. In moments, she had fallen to the altitude of the cultist speeder that was pursuing them and elegantly sliced off one of their stabilizers. She then kicked off their ship, propelling herself towards the ledge where the snipers were hidden. Somersaulting through the air, she blocked one sniper shot while another missed her entirely. She landed on her feet and spun around to distribute the force of impact while simultaneously cutting a large blaster in half.

The duration of her fall had only been a few seconds, but the backlash from relying on the force to do so caused her to almost keel over. Lucky the snipers were thoroughly terrified after waiting for her death-defying leap and failed to sense her weakness. It didn't take much energy for her to shoot out two stun bolts; however, the Jedi’s expression grew grim as protective armor diffused her attack. Fearing she may need to take drastic measures, Rey was stunted to witness one cultist start to spasm while the other shouted, “Jedi filth, you can't stop the return of the Empire. The True Emperor will rule all.”

This list then began to spasm like his campaign, and both soon grew still. To avoid being taken hostage and interrogated, they had both taken position pills. Rey was a bit disappointed at the loss of two possible leads, though she was also somewhat relieved she hadn't been forced to fight. She felt if she pushed herself any harder, it would probably result in her being bedbound if not comatose. The Jedi slumped onto the floor and breathed deeply as her brain throbbed with pain. Even when uninjured, leaping out of a moving speeder took a great deal of focus and a firm connection with the force. In her current state, she was satisfied to have not passed out immediately, though she knew she would have to deal with the consequences for the rest of the day at least.

Rey grew stiff as a speeder arrived beside the platform and began to hover. If the other craft of cultists had returned, she was truly in no state to face them. Her worries were alleviated as a voice projected through the speaker announced, “This is the Allied Security Force of the Concord of Curasuant. Do not move and cooperate with interrogations.”

A group of three agents landed on the platform and quickly arrived before the cultists' bodies. A Rodian officer with blue-green skin and the brightest epaulets of anyone present approached the Jedi and knelt by her. In a rather high-pitched voice, he inquired, “Master Jedi, are you alright.”

Rey let out a breath and tried to mask her pain, “I'm fine, just a little worn out.” Her gaze became stern and serious as she asked, “Is my aid alright? Her name is Emi. She was piloting a speeder.”

The rodian nodded and responded, “We identified her with facial recognition. She's being interviewed right now.”

The Jedi let out a relieved sigh and then asked, “And the cultists.”

The officer shook his head and informed her, “We had them surrounded, but they chose to launch a kamikaze attack. We managed to mitigate injuries, but there were no survivors.”

Rey’s brain worked as fast as it could, and she asked, “There were two cultists in the speeder with Emi; they should have been knocked out.”

The Rodian shook his head again as his subordinates began to carry the bodies of the cultists away, “We had them in custody, but there were explosives planted inside their necks. These were remotely activated, and we couldn't trace the signal that triggered them.”

Rey muttered a few words she could not use in front of Fama and rubbed her head, “So that's it, we have no leads then.”

The Security Officer seemed a bit awkward at this and responded hurriedly, “We still have some evidence. We have their weapons, their speeders, and even their clothes. If we trace their origins, we may uncover a connection.”

Feeling a bit glum, Rey inquired, “And did that work with the cultists from last night.” The Rodian stammered a bit, and the Jedi held up a hand to stop him. She got to her feet stiffly and stated, “I have a few leads myself that I need to look into further. For now, I need some painkillers and rest.”

She was quickly brought aboard the Security Force’s ship and was seen by their medic. After taking some medicine, her physical pain was reduced, but her mental pain persisted. Rey was used to working through injuries and considered her current state not ideal but manageable. Emi was brought to her quickly, and they were escorted back to her room. Here, the Jedi elected to take a nap to recover what energy she could before having to be at her first political engagement.

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Rey’s sleep was sound, but she was haunted by a dream where she was viewing the cultists through a lens. She was just about to see where they were going when the scene started to start and went dark. It was infuriating, and it felt like all the answers she needed were just a hair's width away. When the Jedi was finally woken, she was relieved and also found her check was being poked firmly. She quickly locked onto the figure of her Padawan and grumbled, “Arnt you supposed to be in your room.”

The child raised her eyebrows and shot back, “Aren't you supposed to be investigating the Dark Apostoils.” The Jedi’s eyes warned the girl her nonsense would not be tolerated, so she changed tactics and quickly added, “Emi said you guys were attacked; I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Rey let out a sigh as she sat up, rubbing her eyes, glad that her headache had slightly dissipated. Eyeing the Mirialan, whose expression had become full of worry, she decided to be merciful, “Fine, but you're still grounded to our suit.” Raising an eyebrow as she got up, the Jedi inquired, “Have you been meditating.”

Fama’s face lit up with excitement, though she concealed this, knowing her Master may change her mind if she depressed too much happiness. The girl nodded quickly and responded, “Of course I have.” The Master looked at the Padawan, her eyes conveying that she doubted the girls honestly. Fama crossed her arms at this and retorted, “Relay. There’s nothing else to do here anyways.” She then offered in an impish voice, “If you send me back to the daycare, I'll be less likely to cause trouble.”

Rey rolled her own eyes at this and shot back, “I thought you didn't want to go to daycare.”

Fama pouted at this and countered, “I was premature in my judgment. It was actually very educational.”

The Jedi sighed and remarked, “You must be so bored.”

The girl's innocent disguise melted away, and she hugged her Master pitifully, “Please, I've meditated for hours. I caught that cultist, didn't I? That's what Jedi are supposed to do. Why am I being punished?”

Rey pried the girl off her and retorted, “You're still a padawan, and bringing a weapon to that event was illegal. You're lucky you just got away with a grounding.” Fama dodged Rey's arms and grabbed onto her again, causing the Jedi to rub her brow in frustration. The clock told her she didn't have much time, and she had to wonder if the girl hadn't planned this out as an ambush. Rey let out a sigh and added, “You're still grounded today and tomorrow. After that, you can go back to the daycare.”

Fama let go and jumped up with excitement, blurting loudly and happily, “Thank you, Master.”

Rey sighed and waved dismissively, “Enough, I need to change.” She began to worry that she was being too lenient on the girl and added, “But I expect you to double your training for the rest of the week.”

The padawan deflated at this, but after doing a quick calculation, she smiled sweetly and nodded, “Of course, I'll do my best.” Rey nodded and disgruntledly headed to the room's walk-in closet, where her outfit was waiting. She heard Fama jump on her bed and call, “I think I had a vision.”

Rey eyed her formal outfit and felt like cursing; she responded to her padawan with all the courtesy she could muster, “Realy, what was it like.”

Being a force-sensitive child, Fama had had visions most of her life, but most of them were out of her control and controversial. Mostly, her glimpses came while she was asleep in the form of vivid dreams, and only in hindsight did they actually make any sense. Looking back on her own life, Rey could relate to this but had always considered her own visions as merely deja vu before her formal training. Although Fama had made great connections in her own training, it was hard to say if her visions were real or simple illusions brought about by her own imagination. Rey didn't want to discourage the girl from trying but also took everything with a grain of salt.

Fama took in a breath and began to speak, “It happened while I was meditating. It was like I was suddenly back at the ball when the Dark Apostoles attacked. It felt like I was in a dream and just reliving everything…” She paused to contemplate, then went on, “But when they fled, I wanted to follow them, and suddenly I did. I was like a bird following them, and I saw them retreat to speeders.” On the bed, she was kicking her legs off the side of it, her hands flat on her stomach as she continued, “It wasn’t like I was flying, more teleporting from one vantage point to another, but everything feels blurry now like a dream. I followed them for a while, and I felt we were getting close to their base when suddenly…”

The girl grew hesitant, and Rey called out, “ Just tell me what you felt; no need to be afraid.”

The girl found her courage and confessed, “I suddenly felt very cold… I felt the Dark Side.” Speaking more glumly now, she went on, “The vision started to go dark, and I kept pushing but began to feel colder. It was suffocating.” In a lost voice, she finished, “I really tried to follow them, but I got scared, and then everything went black.” Rey exited the closest dressed neatly while the girl looked over and asked, “Master, did I do something wrong.”

Seeing the worry in the girl's eye, Rey sat by her and spoke soothingly, “That's the dangerous thing about visions. Unless you know how to control them, they can take you to dark places.” She rubbed her girl's arm and added, “They might also be full of falsehoods. Rather than seeing the past, you might have just been seeing what you wanted to see.”

Fama looked to her Master's and asked, “Then how do I know what's real. How can I control it?”

Ray smiled softly, “Visions are mysterious, even though I don't always know what my visions mean.” She stroked Fama’s cheek caringly and added, “As for controlling visions, it starts by controlling yourself.” Fama seemed happy to hear this, and Rey pulled her hand away, adding, “You did nothing wrong. Just be careful in the future. A vision may be tempting, but if it leads to the dark side, you must break it off in the future.” Fairly and seriously, she finished, “The Dark Side will try to tempt and trick you, but it will never bring fulfillment. In the end, you’ll just be trying to catch ghosts.”