FORSAKEN - Target: Zero

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Elynn floated in a forcefield with her hands and feet shackled. The cell in the brig of the Talon Strike had been designed to restrain Force-users, rendering their abilities useless. She had resigned herself to try to conquer her fears by meditating, or at least fight off the unsettling conditions created by being immobile for a long stretch of time. Her solace came from Kogo-Leeto's escape. She trusted her friend had found refuge among their underground contacts.

Elynn's plan had been to broadcast the location of the KX-security droid to Military Intelligence and slip away while the gangsters confronted them during the raid. Instead, the Inquisitorius showed up and she ended up living the nightmare that had haunted her for the last five years. But Elynn knew the real horror waited at the end of the trip.

Elynn opened her eyes to the sound of the door. The Grand Inquisitor came in. He studied the girl in silence, savoring the fear he sensed inside her.

The Grand Inquisitor studied the girl in silence for a few moments. "So, you are the famous Jedi who was hiding in Coruscant. You must've been so young when the order fell; probably just appointed a Master. And yet, you managed to remain hidden literally under our noses for such an impressively long time."

"Where are you taking me?" Elynn said.

"Ah, she speaks. We're going to meet one of my Masters. He's going to interrogate you... and if you're lucky, he'll offer you to join us."

"You really think I'm going to become an Inquisitor?"

"Why not? It's better than being dead. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Is that what happened to you? You were once a Jedi who fell to the dark side and betrayed everything you once stood for rather than live in hiding?"

"You mean continuing to support an obsolete orthodoxy in the face of their obvious failures?"

"The Jedi Order was not perfect, but it stood for—"

"Peace? Justice? Order? What? Aside from following the light side, what did they do? Create a clone army? Plunge the galaxy into a war against those who saw the Republic for the corrupt government it had become? Help in the creation of the Empire? And where are they now? Hiding in some remote planet? Severing their connection to the Force? They're certainly not standing for much of anything these days."

Elynn hated to admit it, but the Grand Inquisitor made a good point. "Some of us are."

"And look at you know. You would have been better off forgetting all that idealistic Jedi nonsense, disconnecting from the Force, and making a good living as a slicer in a nice apartment on the surface of Coruscant."

"Better than turning into a murderous monster, helping to plunge the galaxy further into despair."

The Grand Inquisitor found the comment amusing. "How curious. That's how most people remember the Jedi. These people you claim to fight for, they're the ones who gladly reported your brethren to us without a second thought."

"And yet, I'll continue to fight for their freedom."

"Because you've been brainwashed."

"Because it is the right thing to do." Elynn held his stare.

The Grand Inquisitor shook his head. "You're still young. But things are never as simple or as clear as we want them to be. The universe is a messy place. It cannot be neatly divided into light and dark, good and bad, right or wrong—everything is a compromise."

"Is that what you did? You compromised your soul?"

"I carried out my sworn duty."

His frankness caught Elynn by surprise. "What do you want from me? Why are you here?"