Gaaten orphanage

According to legend, the Gaaten orphanage was an orphanage located in an old building in a city on the planet Gaaten, which hosted children displaced by the Clone Wars. The Force-sensitive refugee children Samil, Gee'far, and Elish lived there. During the Imperial Era, the Grand Inquisitor, leader of the Inquisitorius, snuck in at night and abducted the children, prompting a legend about a monster at the orphanage. The staff there were unsuccessful in preventing the Inquisitor's attacks, but he was ultimately repelled by Great Jedi Purge survivor Kira Vantala, who Elish had asked for help.
==Description==
The Gaaten orphanage was located in an old, derelict building in a city on the planet Gaaten. The grounds surrounding it were littered with ruins and debris from ancient buildings, and an abandoned temple lay a short distance away. Inside the orphanage was a dormitory with several bunks where the children slept and a single window overlooking the ruins below. There were also schoolrooms and staff offices.
==History==
===Haunted by the Inquisitor===
Legend held that the Gaaten orphanage was established sometime after the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBYStar Wars: Timelines to house orphaned children who had lost their families in the war. It offered accommodation and tutoring to the orphans as well as school classes. Each season, several Imperial transports arrived to drop off more orphans who were found around the galaxy and pick up children who had been chosen for adoption by a family.
Unbeknownst to the staff, the Grand Inquisitor, leader of the Imperial Inquisitorius,Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition visited the orphanage once in a while during the course of some of his field missions to kidnap children who were Force-sensitive. The Inquisitor would break in through the dormitory's window and silence his target using the Force, capturing them and taking them off-world. Several children had witnessed this happening and began circulating rumors about a monster abducting kids, but the staff dismissed them as a product of the children's overactive imagination.
===Elish's intervention===
By 4 BBY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the Grand Inquisitor's death to 4 BBY. As "The Orphanage" features the Grand Inquisitor prior to his passing, its events must take place by that year. the orphanage was managed by staff divided into night and day shifts as well as an old woman in charge of the school facilities. During this time, a Force-sensitive girl from the astronomical object Malloran named Elish was taken to the orphanage and learned of the rumors herself. She used her innate connection to the Force to calm her peers, comforting them when they were having nightmares and helping them overcome their fears of the monster. Elish succeeded in creating a positive environment in the orphanage for a season after her arrival. The orphanage was disrupted when a boy named Samil disappeared at nighttime and subsequent investigations yielded no results, sparking rumors of the monster's return. Having sensed Samil's Force sensitivity, Elish suspected it was the reason the monster had chosen him and took it upon herself to protect the fellow Force-sensitive Kessurian girl Gee'far.
From then on, she accompanied Gee'far everywhere, getting closer to her and becoming friends. Soon the Inquisitor returned, this time seen by Elish as he entered the dorm and took away Gee'far. Spotting Elish himself, the Grand Inquisitor silenced her through the Force and left before she could notify the orphanage staff. The staff took Elish's testimony seriously this time, intensifying the night staff's patrols and installing a new lock on the dorm window. Knowing that these measures would not stop the monster, Elish visited the nearby temple and prayed for another Force-sensitive person to come and protect her. Her prayers were answered in the form of former Jedi and Great Jedi Purge survivor Kira Vantala, who came to Gaaten and convinced the staff to let her stay and protect the children.
Soon afterward, Vantala sensed the Inquisitor's return to the planet, warning Elish and planning to save her. On the same night, the Inquisitor broke in the dorm again, silenced Elish, and took her away in his arms. As he was making his way through the grounds, Vantala stepped out of her hiding place and confronted him with her lightsaber drawn. The Inquisitor recognized her and dropped Elish, engaging her in a duel and using the Force to knock her lightsaber from her hands. Elish was able to return the saber to Vantala, who sliced the Inquisitor with her blade and pushed him into some ruins, forcing the wounded man to escape.
Ultimately, both the orphanage and the once great city surrounding it fell into ruins.
==Behind the scenes==
The orphanage appeared in flashbacks in "The Orphanage," a short story written by George Mann as part of the 2020 short horror anthology Dark Legends.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Gaaten locations
Category:Orphanages
Category:Unidentified locations