Chapter 13: Year 6 Part 5-FlightNotes:This chapter is out much later than what I had hoped. I combination of mild writers block and bad weather causing work scheduling issues caused this work to be out a week late to what I had originally hoped. But I gotta say I am really happy with how this chapter ended up. Hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextThe carnage was horrific. The smell of plasma and burning flesh was almost overwhelming to the senses. Not a soul was spared. Even the youngest of Nightbrothers that were little more than children had been shot down, their blaster wounds still smoking. The elderly seemed to have attempted to shield the youngest of the village, their bodies either laying near or draped over the youngest Nightbrothers. There were a few faces that Cal recognized, though he knew none of their names.
Every building or structure not carved out of rock was burning or already burned. Many of the ropes used to hold up several structures in the village had snapped from the fire, leaving said structures unstable at best, or already collapsed at worst. The structures that couldn't be burned were peppered with blaster burns.
It was clear that the Nightbrothers had attempted to put up a fight, with many bodies still holding their weapons with death grips. They must have been overwhelmed by an enemy with better quality and more advanced equipment.
What made it even more unsettling to Cal was the fact that there were only Nightbrother bodies, no bodies belonging to whomever had committed the slaughter. That either meant that the perpetrators either gathered up their dead or hadn't been delivered any casualties. The latter option being a far scarer thought.
"Is anyone still alive?" He called out into the ruined settlement in native Dathomirian. Cal wasn't expecting a response, nor did he get one, but that didn't stop him from letting out a frustrated yell.
"It has happened again." His companions' dangerously low voice brought Cal out of his stupor. Turning his attention to the Nightsister. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
Merrin was on her knees cradling in her lap the head of the youngest of the Nightbrothers, looking to have only been around seven or eight years old. One of his arms had been blasted off at the shoulder by blaster fire, along with one of his feet. His other arm clenched around a small flint knife that the boy had probably crafted himself. The boy's face still held the defiant snarl he died with, though his lifeless eyes sucked out all the aggression the expression had probably once held.
The Nightsister that now cradled the boy's corpse looked both parts devastated and furious. She was practically radiating pure anger, glaring daggers at the ground ahead while her teeth were bared in rage at the galaxy. Tears streaming down her face, going unnoticed. "It has happened again." She repeated herself, as her magick started to swirl around her, seemingly responding to her emotional state.
In an instant Merrin's head whipped around to Cal. "Who could have done this?"
"I-I don't know." He didn't. Who would lay waste to a people that hadn't done anything? What was the aim of such a slaughter? For what purpose had they come here to commit genocide?
Cal's eyes scanned the village ruins looking for any kind of clue to answer these questions. Near one of the warrior's bodies a small polished white object caught the Jedi's eye. Nothing on Dathomir was even close to being such a clear and bright white, at least nothing he'd ever seen.
Approaching the object that was partially buried in the debris, what Cal saw gave him flashbacks. Flashbacks of white armored troopers, former friends, hunting him down in the cold steel corridors of the Albedo Brave, gunning Cal's mentor as if they had all but forgotten the many hard fought battles they had lived through together. The flashbacks were so vivid that Cal had first thought them to be an echo, but they wern't. The object in question was a shattered piece of white plastoid armor plating, almost identical to what the Republic clone troopers had worn.
One of the reasons Cal's senses had been drawn to the shattered armor piece outside of it's bright white color was that it was radiating a strong force connection, an echo. Much easier to feel considering how recent the memory held within must be.
Whether it was a good idea to tap into said echo, he wasn't sure. There was little doubt that this echo was associated with what had transpired here. But he didn't really want to witness the slaughter of a village, especially not through the eyes of one committing the slaughter. And what if he discovered something even worse, what if the Republic was guilty of this? What would that mean for everything, his past, his loyalties, his future, and his relation with Merrin? How would this echo shake his already damaged galaxy view? He wasn't sure.
But if he ignored it, would that be fair to Merrin? He had a means of discovering who had committed this crime to her people. It would be as simple as reaching down and glancing a touch against this broken armor, and Cal could answer many of Merrin's questions. And even if he decided to ignore such a chance, it was highly probable that they would discover the answer eventually considering the perpetrators probably haven't left the mountain.
Taking a glance back at the Nightsister, Merrin seemed to have gotten up leaving the boy's corpse laid gently across the ground, it's eys now shut. She seemed to be looking for something, probably clues, while tears continued to flow freely. Merrin has gone through so much in the last few weeks, gone through some much in her short life. Was it really fair of him to withhold clues from her just because he was scared?
Making up his mind Cal crouched down to take the plastoid into his hand. The echo was clear, and strong. The young Jedi was given the senses of a trooper in familiar white armor. Standing among many more of the same troopers as they laid waste to the Nightbrothers. Brother after brother was gunned down with little a thought outside of aiming and keeping track of any that got too close. Out of the corner of the soldier's vision was a red and black blur. All of a sudden his vision went black as a large mass impacted into the soldier's helmet. The echo ended. The shattered piece of plastoid must have been a part of the helmet that had been shattered.
What baffled Cal most about what the echo had shared with him was the troopers themselves. Their armor and weaponry, though similar, was different to that the clone army had used. That didn't rule them out as being Republic troopers, but there was something that did tell Cal that they were not clones. The heights of the armored troopers. Clone troopers all had the same DNA, and ate the same rations as they grew up. This meant clone troopers all had near identical heights, only differing a millimeter at most. The troopers in the echo memories varied in height greatly, many being several inches taller or shorter than the troopers next to them.
"What did you learn." The Nightsister's voice asked from directly behind him. Startled, he hadn't heard her approach, he turned. She looked at him with a sad curiosity, her tears stopped, though the wet streaks they left behind were still apparent. "What did your Force show you?"
"Soldiers, dressed in white armor. I don't recognize who they are. But I might know how to figure it out."
[Break]
The Jedi had guessed that these soldiers had to have some kind of base of operations. Their best guess is that these white armored troopers worked out of their landing ship, or atleast near it. Attacking the ship for information or to strand them on Dathomir wasn't an option. Cal Kestis nor Merrin had any idea of the enemy's numbers, and if troopers became stranded that would only mean the two of them would have to deal with them for longer.
Cal Kestis' idea seemed simple enough. The mountain was practically crawling with trooper patrols. These patrols must have set up smaller outposts around this large mountain. After all not all these patrols could be based at the landing ship. These outposts might offer less information than the main base, but they would also offer less resistance. If they were lucky maybe they could get the information they were seeking without even getting caught. In and out with no one the wiser.
Merrin was the first to spot one of these patrol outposts. A large canvas tent surrounded by simple fortifications, with a few metal containers stacked up next to some of the fortifications. Only a few guards, what looked like a low rank commander, and a few construction droids in the process of building a more permanent building.
The commander seemed to be carrying a rectangular device that Cal Kestis called a data pad. This pad was what could possibly hold information on these invaders purposes for coming to Dathomir. Stealing the data pad was as simple as her Jedi using his Force to cause a distraction by toppling over a few metal crates near one of the droids. When the commander put down the data pad to run over and yell at the droid. All the while an invisible Merrin whisked away the forgotten device.
The two of them were long gone by the time the commander discovered the loss. He would probably assume an animal had stolen it.
As soon as they were away she had handed the pad over to the young Jedi. The Nightsister had little experience with such things while Cal had at least some experience with similar items, though that experience may have grown a little rusty considering how long he had been stranded on her planet. As she watched the Nightsister noticed that Cal Kestis became increasingly confused with whatever information was on the data pad.
"Does it tell you who they are, who they work for, why they are on our planet?"
Cal Kestis gave a slow nod, his eyes never leaving the glass screen, before he spoke. "It does, but that's the confusing part. They are troopers for the Galactic Empire."
Merrin had to think about that for a moment, racking her brain for any knowledge she might have on such an empire. She had none. "Forgive me but I do not believe I have ever heard of a Galactic Empire, and you have never mentioned them before. I recall only the Republic for which you and your order were aligned as well as a Confederacy."
"I haven't heard of them either." He looked just as confused as she felt. "As for why they are here it says they are looking for Zeffo artifacts in and around the temple at the peak of the mountain. Under direct orders from the emperor himself."
"They committed slaughter upon my village because they wanted ancient pottery!? They attempted to erase my people so they could have access to artifacts of an already erased people!" She could feel her magic rising in anger. This empire, whomever they were, had no rights to anything on Dathomir, but saw fit to not only steal from the planet but gun down it's inhabitants at the same time.
"Says something about these Zeffo being a race of powerful force wielders. The emperor is looking for artifacts related to that." Cal Kestis continued, probably hoping in vain that this small addition of information would distract the Nightsister from her rage.
"How do we get them to leave Dathomir?" She wanted them dead or gone as soon as possible. These imperial troopers had no right to be here, and their emperor had no claim on the artifacts within the temple. Merrin herself had little need or care for said artifacts, but she knew theft when she saw it, and couldn't allow the murder of the Nightbrothers to go answered.
Cal swiped through the data pad a few times and paused to read something before answering. "Says here that this is a small operation. A non priority. We could probably just mess up some of their equipment and personnel and they'll leave. Once they figure out Dathomir is more dangerous than they expected they'll probably leave for good. If that doesn't work we could probably destroy the temple and everything inside."
"That will do."
[Break]
Over the next couple of days Cal and Merrin started disrupting imperial operations on the mountain. Destroying equipment while making it look like either a malfunctioning droid or wildlife were to blame. Making whole guard patrols go missing. And helping the wild beasts of the mountain making a nuisance and danger of themselves.
Cal had made it clear to Merrin that they would only attack actual troopers, and wouldn't harm any of the non-combat personnel on the mountain. He didn't view the engineers and other workers as guilty of the destruction of the village, at least not as guilty as the troopers were. Merrin had tried arguing otherwise, but he could tell she was reluctant to argue with him.
He guessed the Nightsister probably wasn't feeling completely sure where they stood as friends or whatever they were, he wasn't really sure. Honestly they hadn't had much time to discuss that subject. Right after they had returned to the moment they were thrust into a whole new problem before they had time to start picking up the pieces of the last issue.
When would they get a chance to start fixing their relationship? Would they ever get that chance? And if they did, would their relationship ever truly be repaired, could they return to being friends after all that had happened between them over the last many weeks? Cal didn't know, wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Truthfully the whole subject intimidated him. For all the Jedi Order's teachings of controlling one's own feelings, they had failed to teach this young Jedi how to handle romantic feelings, or friendly relations. Perhaps they had believed that limiting his contact with others outside of the order would prevent such needs.
Honestly Cal was a little relieved that he had something to distract his mind and thoughts from such thoughts. He just wished that the destruction wasn't hurting his friend so much.
Merrin wasn't handling the destruction of her brothers so well. She had always given the impression that she cared little for the village, and at first that is exactly what Cal had believed. But after living with her for so long he figured out the truth. The Nightsister had visited the village almost daily to both manage them and help sort out issues. Yes she believed that her own problems outweighed her brothers' issues, but that is what she had been taught as a Nightsister. But she still viewed them as her people, her subjects that she had charge over, and had to protect. She blamed herself for their slaughter, he could tell. It didn't help that the massacre of the Nightbrothers reminded her of her own sister's slaughter. Cal had heard her mumbling so while she had been half asleep the night before.
Merrin wasn't grieving the Nightbrothers, at least not outwardly. She instead channeled her emotions about the whole ordeal through anger, and the pursuit to rid her planet of these invaders.
And the two of them were, in his opinion, doing an adamant job. By the end of their second day disrupting imperial progress the imperials had doubled the size of patrols across the mountain to try and prevent their troopers from disappearing due to, what they believed to be, dangerous wildlife. By day four patrols had been restricted to only around the main imperial base camp as well as the worksights around the temple at the peak. It wouldn't be long until the empire called it quotes on this whole project of theirs, he was sure.
Nightsister Merrin was less pleased with the progress, and probably wouldn't be satisfied until the imperials were gone. On multiple occasions Cal had to talk her out of raising her sisters from their burial pods to attack the imperials. Though the idea of Merrin using the dead as a weapon concerned him, it wasn't his main issue with the idea. The young Jedi was worried that if word reached the higher ups of these imperials that the undead attacked their soldiers that they would send reinforcements aiming to figure out what had raised the dead. After all they were here looking for force related artifacts.
At the current moment the Jedi and Nightsister pier are attempting to disappear another guard patrol. The patrol in question was half a dozen troopers, four standard and two that had armor similar to clone scout trooper armor, only without the camo. These scout troopers wielded high grade riot shock batons and blaster pistols.
Normally when the two of them set out to stop a patrol, Merrin would magically influence the local dangerous wildlife to attack. This usually resulted in the patrol either being run off with a few casualties or completely killed off. This time that wasn't an option. The imperial trooper patrols have done a good job at killing most of the dangerous creatures near the peak of the mountain, so there wern't any Nydaks or Bane Back Spiders nearby for Merrin to influence. This left the two of them to deal with the patrol. Not the most difficult task. All they had to do was kill them all before the troopers got a chance to report the attack.
The plan was simple. Cal and Merrin would ambush them from above as the patrol walked below a cliff edge. Merrin would deal with the two scouts from range with her blasts of ichor, while he pounced atop the four blaster wielders. If all went as planned Cal would land right as Merrin's first few blasts of ichor would hit the scout troopers, and the ambush would last only a few moments longer as he worked to end the troopers.
To make things easier, the regular troopers tended to keep distance from the scout troopers. It gave an impression that the two groups didn't get along all too well, but he couldn't be sure.
The first signs the troopers got that something was wrong was the large mass dropping into their vision from above, accompanied with the sounds of the scouts cries of surprise and pain and the sound and sight of a blue lightsaber being armed.
Two swift slashes of the Jedi's weapon later and three of the four troopers and been cut down. The fourth trooper only had time to aim his weapon before an invisible weight slammed into him, taking him over the cliffs edge.
Turning towards the scouts Cal wasn't surprised to see their bodies laying on the ground motionless. Their armor and the skin underneath still smoking and hissing from the burning green ichor that had ended them.
"We are finished here." Merrins calm voice came from a cloud of green magick that started to appear only a few meters ahead of him. Cal would have been startled by her sudden appearance if he hadn't already gotten mostly used to her silent teleportation.
"Not until we get rid of the bodies. We can't have them finding dead troopers with plasma cuts and mysterious burns.
With a nod of affirmation the Nightsister turned towards the bodies. Summoning her powers Merrin compelled the planet to swallow the bodies and all traces of the attack deep into the planet's crust. When the influence of magick faded from Merrin's eyes, she turned back towards the Jedi. "Satisfied?"
"Yes"
As they made to leave Cal heard the shuffling of rocks and sand behind them. Still on an adrenaline filled edge from the ambush just a few moments earlier Cal turned at once.
The trooper that he had sent over a cliff edge had just finished crawling back up. He must have caught a hold of the cliff wall on his way down and climbed his way back up. The trooper was currently in the process of aiming his weapon at Merrin's back. With a pull of a trigger a bolt of plasma was sent flying.
Cal acted, his mind racing through all the options he had available in that split second. He could try grabbing hold of Merrin and pulling her from the bolt's path? That wouldn't work, the bolt was too fast, it would hit the Nightsister before he even made it to her. He could Force stasis the bolt of plasma? But would that even work? He had never tried that power on such a small fast moving object before, and he hardly wanted to test his abilities with Merrin's safely as collateral. A force push to shove her to safety? No, with their current positioning she would go flying over a cliffside. And a Force pull would only pull her further into the deadly plasmas's path. Jumping in the way wouldn't work either, he couldn't move fast enough.
He wouldn't be able to do it. Wouldn't be able to stop this. To save Merrin from the fate of burning energy and gas boring a hole through her chest. Cal was too weak to save that which he loved. Just like what had happened with Master Jaro Tapal. He would watch again, helpless, as another person he cared for deeply was cut down by blaster fire. Because Cal had failed her.
What could he do? He did the only thing he could do at that moment. He screamed. "NO!"
Everything went slow. Or more accurately Cal sped up, both his physical speed and perception went into overdrive. He was sprinting towards Merrin at an inhuman speed. Taking a glance at the red plasma bolt racing through the air, what he saw wasn't good.
Though he was faster, the bolt still outspeed him. Though only by a fraction. Cal did have a head start, being closer to the Nightsister than the plasma bolt. This race of life or death would be close.
Every muscle in his body, every ounce of his energy was directed into saving the last daughter of Dathomir. His body and mind, already strained by this new use of the Force screamed at him in revolt. Cal's muscles ripping at the strain and bursting from the energy forced into them by the supernatural Force.
But he couldn't stop, nor slow. The killing blow was starting to gain ground.
When he finally made it within reach of Merrin, the bolt was only inches from her. He grasped ahold of her and violently yanked her towards him.
The Force speed ended just as the Nightsister's scream rang out.
Merrin's scream would haunt the young Jedi till the end of time, this he knew. Cal's heart dropped into despair. Had he failed to save her?
When he felt movement in his arms Cal was brought out of his despair filled thoughts.
Merrin was alive, and in his arms. Though she was gravely injured. The plasma that was originally going to hit her strait in the stomach had instead heavily grazed the right side of her stomach. A debilitating and painful wound, but not fatal.
The pain from the deep burn had rendered the Nightsister unconscious. And at a quick glance the skin seemed to have been mostly cauterized. Before Cal would allow himself to examine the damage any further, first he had to deal with the trooper that had done this to Merrin.
But when he looked up there was a slight problem. The trooper was nowhere to be seen. He must have run, and was on his way to report of Cal and Merrin's existence.
[Break]
When Merrin began to regain her consciousness, the first thing she noticed was the great searing pain originating from the right side of her body. It felt as if her skin was being boiled off. On instinct she used her magicks to calm the pain, allowing the Nightsister to think and register the world around her.
Using her magick exhausted her greatly. She must be more injured than she had first believed. But what had happened? Merrin hardly remembers anything after killing that trooper patrol.
"Merrin!" She registered the relieved voice of her Jedi off to her side.
Opening her eyes she registered that they were in a cave. A cave she recognized. It was the cave they had been living out of after returning to the mountain. Their old home was too close to the peak and temple to be safe.
Soon Cal Kastis' half worried and half relieved face appeared above her. "You're awake. How are you feeling? Are you okay? What am I saying? You got shot, of course you aren't okay!"
"I was shot?" Her left arm instinctively moved to hold the area of her body that she could feel had taken the damage. She winced when her hand made contact with the bandaged up burn. It seems her spell to numb her pain had been weaker than she had intended.
"Yes, you were." Cal Kestis said before looking away from her gaze. Before he did she registered hints of guilt morphing onto his face. "O-one of the troopers I thought I had taken care of shot you. I'm sorry Merrin. I'm so sorry." Though his face was mostly hidden from her, Merrin still noticed the few drops of water that started to run down his cheek. "This is all my fault."
Gently, the Nightsister reached up with her right hand to move the young Jedi's full face and gaze back into view. The muscle movement irritated her blaster wound, but she would not allow the pain to register on her face. Ever so lightly she brushed away the Jedi's tears with her thumb. "I am all right, my Jedi. You need not worry about me."
He didn't respond immediately, instead Cal Kestis moved his own hand to take hers. With care, he pulled her hand away from his cheek and started caressing the inner part of her palm with his thumb. "I always will." At that very moment Merrin was convinced that there was no better feeling than having Cal Kestis' calloused fingers move across her skin, while listening to him speak while putting such love and care into his soft voice.
Reluctantly Merrin lowered her hand back to her side. Using her hands to push herself up to survey the damage to her body, her bandaged wound once again retaliated with a shot of pain that had the Nightsister close her eyes involuntarily. When the pain subsided she opened her eyes. Merrin was dressed in only her boots, pants, and undershirt. The undershirt pulled up past the stomach to allow access to her damaged side. Cal Kestis must have removed her robe so he could patch her up.
Her current state of clothing was by no means indecent, but it probably was the most skin she had shown to anyone, including Ilyana. That along with the very idea of Cal Kestis undressing her made a slight shade of pink dust the Nightsister's face.
Cal had expertly wrapped the bandage around her waist. Where the plasma wound was there was a slight lump under the bandaging, indicating to Merrin that there was some kind of patch or cloth placed over her wound. The bandage was not a simple cloth that would be found and used on Dathomir. It was a more advanced medical wrap, probably from one of the medical kits they had stolen from the invaders.
"I cleaned the wound and applied a large bacta patch, before wrapping it up in the bandage. Let me know if anything feels wrong."
"It feels fine." Merrin assured him before lowering herself back down. "What happened to the one who shot me?"
"He got away. I'm sorry Merrin." He whispered, seemingly ashamed. "He's already reported back to his superiors. Cal Kestis turned to grab something behind him before turning back towards her holding the data pad they had stolen a little while back.
Luckily for them the data pad was still receiving updates from the landing ship on orders and troop movement among other things. It had allowed them to both keep on their toes, as well as learn more about why the invaders were on Dathomir. They learned that Project Auger was an archaeological project to excavate powerful artifacts pertaining to an ancient race known as the Zeffo. The project was led to ruins believed to be of Zeffo origin on Dathomir from information gathered at other Zeffo ruins on a planet also named Zeffo. She wasn't sure if the planet was named after the ancient alien race or vise versa, not that it really mattered.
"According to this that in light of the reports of a Jedi sighting that Project Auger is being placed under the supervision of the Imperial Inquisition and the second and ninth Inquisitors along with each of their personal details of Purge Troopers are on their way to Dathomir to hunt the unidentified Jedi, me."
"It seems you Jedi have more enemies than I had thought. I do not like the sound of these Jedi hunters coming after us." Merrin eyed her Jei with worry. She had only just gotten Cal Kestis back. The idea of him being hunted down by this unknown inquisition was far from a pleasant thought.
"Neither do I, and with you injured I'm stumped on what we should do."
"We must leave the mountain." Cal Kestis did little to hide his look of surprise at her words. He apparently had thought she would refuse to leave her mountain. The Nightsister was indeed reluctant to leave her home, as well as the resting place of her sisters and Ilyana, but she was in no state to fight, and she refused to let her Jedi take on these Jedi hunters alone. "Only temporarily. We will return when I have recovered. In my current state I seem to be having trouble casting even a simple spell." Her spell to relieve her pain was suppose to be relatively simple, yet when she had cast it on herself the potency had been well below what would be expected.
The sound of ships descending through the atmosphere near the mountain garnered the attention of Cal and Merrin. Cal took a few steps towards the exit of the cave to get a look. He spotted two starships making their way to the mountain. One was a landing craft similar to the one the troopers first used to land on the mountain, only half the size and painted a deep black. The other was what looked to be a starfighter unlike any Cal had ever seen, with a similarly black paint job. "Those must be my hunters."
"We leave as soon as we are able." Merrin spoke from further within the cave.
[Break]
It would only be a day until Merrin deemed herself able to move well enough and rested well enough to make the trip down the mountain and away from these Jedi hunters. Teleporting down wasn't much of an option. In her current fatigued and injured state Merrin had little control over her magicks and could only accomplish the simplest of spells. This took her teleportation spell, a highly advanced technique, of the table of options. They would have to make the trip slowly on foot and down the easiest most used and easily traversed paths.
They only carried with them Cal's lightsaber and duskblade, Merrin's talisman, a medical kit, some water, and for some reason Cal still carried with him those six short range comlinks that he had gotten from the escape pod all those years ago. He really only carried around those comlinks now for sentimental reasons. What little else they had was left in the cave.
With the help of the data pad and Force granted luck the Nightsister Jedi pair were able to make it about halfway down the mountain without running into any patrols, or so they thought.
Going unnoticed by either of them a trooper dressed in all black armor and wielding an electrostaff had sighted them a short time ago and was currently following them while relaying his current position.After doing so the purge trooper took little time closing the distance, intending to ambush the two.
Cal finally noticed the stalker when they were only a meters apart, hearing both the shuffle of sand as well as the low screeching and crackling of the electrostaff electrical arks. Turning around, weapon brandished and lit, he put himself between the attacker and Merrin.
The first strike of the staff came at Cal's left side. The blow was blocked with great difficulty due to the weight behind the strike and Cal only had one hand to defend with. Not allowing the Jedi any time to recover the trooper swung the other end of his staff at Cal's right side.
Deciding that blocking the blow head on would be too risky, and get him nowhere, Cal elected to parry the blow over his head. His skillfully performed parry was followed up by a firm kick into the trooper's breastplate.
Cal had hoped to knock the trooper off his feet, but the kick only accomplished pushing the trooper back and staggering him momentarily. That short moment was all that Cal needed. With a powerful downward strike at the Purge trooper's left shoulder blade the short bout of combat was ended with the Jedi's enemy cut almost in two.
Within moments a worried Nightsister was upon him, checking him over for any damage. "Are you unharmed?"
"I'm fine Merrin. We need to get moving before more of them show up."
As if on cue the black small black landing craft that Cal had sighted only a day before was sighted and heard by the Jedi and Nightsister pair. "We must go!"
Outrunning a starship on foot was a feat no Jedi or Nightsister could accomplish, especially when one of them was injured, and could at most accomplish short bursts of speed. Flying over the couple's heads the two watched as the landing crafts bay doors opened mid flight. A dark figure dressed in all black with a helmet that obscured her face jumped down from the landing craft, directly in front of the fleeing pair, a strange looking lightsaber hilt strapped to her belt.
"Hello There." An unsettlingly amused tone came from the figure as she spoke. "Where do you two think you are going? You know, I'm quite surprised to see that there really is a Jedi here, let alone in the company of a Nightsister."
"Leave Dathomir! You are not welcome here!" Merrin defiantly shouted at this new threat.
"I would love to leave this deathtrap of a planet, but first I'm going to need you to hand over your friend."
"Never!"
"A pity." Her tone of voice made it clear that she felt that the Nightsister's refusal was amusing, and far from being seen as a pity. The inquisitor's double blades were lit, revealing a crimson red plasma blade that felt rather fitting considering the planet they were on. "The hard way it is then."
Using Force Speed the inquisitor was upon Cal within a blink of an eye, aiming a downward strike at the young Jedi. The powerful blow was only narrowly blocked by the young Jedi. The two became locked in a competition of power. Only having one hand to push back against his opponents two made it only a matter of time until Cal's block failed and he would be cut down by the vermilion blade.
Suddenly the inquisitor jumped back, dodging out of the way of a blast of green ichor that Merrin had aimed at the inquisitor's head.
"That's no fun." The inquisitor said with a hint of amusement as she shook her head. "Two against one. Do you mind if I even the playing field?" with a press of a button on her helmet and a few whispered words the landing craft descended to the ground only a short distance behind the inquisitor. The landing craft's bay doors opened once again to reveal half a dozen purge troopers.
At the sight Cal's heart dropped. To his and Merrin's left was a cliff, to their right a wall of stone, in front of them was certain death. They could run back, but there was little chance they both could get away. "Merrin, you need to run." He spoke to his companion, keeping his eyes locked with the opponents ahead.
"I will not run, leaving you to your death." Her certain and defiant tone gave no room for argument, but that wouldn't stop the Jedi from trying to argue.
"Merrin plea-" The sound of another starship's engines cut off the Jedi's words. Everyone turned to see a lightly armed and uniquely designed starship rapidly approaching. The ship fired both of it's forward mounted laser cannons at the black landing ship. The landing ship without its shielding active and only lightly armored stood no chance at such a close ranged shot. It immediately exploded, sending the purge troopers descending it's bay doors flying in all directions. The inquisitor, being further away from the exploding ship was only thrown a few feet and knocked off her feet. The attacking starship slowed down and brought it's right starboard side to the edge of the cliff. A door opened revealing an older looking human woman with blaster in hand. "We're here to help."
"Who are you?!"
"No time. Jump on."
Surveying the situation Merrin and him were currently in. The inquisitor was recovering from the aftermath of the explosion, and even a few of the surviving purge troopers were also regaining their footing.
An affirmative nod from Merrin was all the encouragement Cal needed. Deactivating his weapon and latching it onto his belt, Cal used his one arm to throw Merrin over onto his shoulder before he sprinted towards salvation, and jumped onto the strangers ship. Within a few seconds the starboard door was closed and the starship was zooming out of Dathomir's atmosphere.
Notes:Next Chapter: Chapter 14-The Quest-Bogano
The force ability that Cal used to save Merrin was Force Speed, a common force ability among trained force users. Trilla uses it a lot during her boss fights in Fallen Order. In the game Cal unlocked his Force Stasis ability in an attempt to save Master Jaro Tapal by suing it to slow the attacking clones (Or at least I think that's the first instance of him using the ability). I thought it would be fitting if Cal unlocked another force ability trying to save Merrin.
Chapter 14: The Quest-BoganoNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextIt is only when the ship is safely flying through hyperspace does Cal Kestis as well as the stranger calm down. Merrin, still being carried over the young Jedi's shoulder, can feel as his muscles relax. Merrin might have been offended or even angered at anyone carrying her in such a manner if it weren't for the fact that the offending party was her Jedi, and that he held the Nightsister in such a gentle manner, deliberately avoiding holding her by or around the waist to avoid touching or agitating her blaster burn.
Though she can't see it, as she is faced the wrong way, she can hear the approach of another set of feet that neither belong to Cal Kestis or the stranger. "Okay, put the lady down and grab some seat." The new male voice asks, presumably to Cal Kestis, in a hesitant, slightly confused manner. To emphasize the new stranger's words, Merrin teetered her body slightly.
After only the briefest of hesitation, Cal Kestis set the Nightsister down onto the ground. Having her weight put back onto her feet agitated Merrin's burn under her bandages, causing to inhale suddenly at the pain.
Cal Kestis' hand was on her shoulder instantly, slight panic in his low whisper into her ear. "Merrin, I'm sorry. Are you okay? Was I too rough carrying you?"
His concern for her never failed to warm the Nightsister's heart, causing a well hidden smile to appear. "I am unharmed, thank you."
With that small exchange, Merrin turned her attention towards their two savers. The first of the two was an older human female, with black hair, dark brown skin, and brown eyes, much like Merrin's own eyes. The other stranger was an alien species that she did not recognize. Not surprising since she had only ever seen Dathomirians and a handful of humans before this. She wasn't sure what gender it was, as she had no references, and had no reason to believe that this alien's species had the same gender identifiers as humans or Dathomirians. Even the masculen voice from earlier could be misleading. Though for now, until proven otherwise, Merrin would assume this alien to be male. He was much shorter than the average human or Dathomirian, with a slightly bigger head, light green skin, and an extra pair of arms under the first pair.
The human woman eyed her and the Jedi with an expression of seriousness, a woman on a mission. Though Merrin noted there wasn't any hostility or anger to be found in the women's face. The alien on the other hand eyed the two newcomers, in particular the Nightsister, with a weary expression, or at least it looked weary to Merrin. She wasn't sure if alien specie's expressions translated the same as her own. She had much to learn.
The first to break the short lived silence is Cal Kestis. "Thanks for the help, but who are you people?"
The woman is the first to answer the question, it would seem that she was the one in charge, or that at least haw Merrin perceived it. "My name is Cere Junda," she says before motioning towards the alien and continuing, "and this is my captain, Greez Dritus."
The alien, Greez Dritus, speaks up next. ""How you doing." He greets, "now the Mantis is my ship, but you better pay attention to this lady here"
The one called Cere Junda speaks next, "So, who are you two?"
The question was directed more towards Cal Kestis, but that does not stop Merrin from being the first to answer the human woman. ""He is Cal Kestis the Jedi. I am the Nightsister, Merrin."
Almost immediately the alien Greez Dritus gave a surprised gasp. "Your one of those witches!"
"A Nightsister." Merrin and Cal Kestis reply in unison, Merrin with an undertone of annoyance, also sending a glare at the offending Greez Dritus, before adding, "Your fear is unnecessary." The glare seemed to do the trick in quieting the green skinned man.
"Who were those people back there? Why were they hunting Jedi?" Cere asked.
"An Imperial Inquisitor. She's a force user hunting Jedi survivors, and now that sh-" Cere Junda answered before being cut off by Cal Kestis.
"What do you mean Jedi survivors? Survivors of what? And what is this empire, and those imperials?" The young Jedi asked. Merrin had not actually noticed it until her Jedi companion had mentioned it, but she had to admit that using the phrase 'Jedi survivor' was interesting, and seemingly concerning to Cal Kestis.
Both Cere Junda and Greez Dritus exchanged a look of confusion, laced with concern before tuning back to the Nightsister and Jedi duo.
The alien was first to speak, asking; "Kid, how-how long were you living on Dathomir?"
It took a while for the Jedi to answer, whether it was just him trying to gather the answer, or something more Merrin wasn't sure. Finally he answered with a faint, "Six, almost seven years, I think." His voice barely going above a whisper. A slight panic was starting to settle into Cal Kestis' face, almost as if his mind was connecting the pieces of the puzzle that Merrin wasn't.
While Greez Dritus remained confused, an understanding seemed to come to the older woman's face. Cere Junta's face morphed into something that troubled Merrin. The expression was too similar to the faces of past Nightsister's that had seen the worst of what Dathomir had to offer, emotionally devastated by the planet they called home. It was a face Merrin knew well, after all before her Light came into her life it became an almost constant expression while she had been burying her sisters. Whoever this older human woman was, she had witnessed, maybe even experienced something that had tromitized her. And whatever had scarred her, was associated with the phrase 'Jedi survivors' from what Merrin could gather.
Almost as soon as Merrin had spotted the emotions in Cere Junda's expression, they were hidden away, replaced with a look of understanding, and a gentle sadness. "It might be wise if we moved over to the couch for what I'm about to tell you."
They would not make it that far, because as soon as the woman's words were spoken, Cal Kestis' face fell, becoming expressionless, as if anticipating something. He made no movement towards the couch. Merrin noticed with concern that her Jedi's body was trembling, and his eyes started to dart around the room, looking at nothing in particular.
Without thinking, Merrin reached out to try to comfort him, to still his trembling body. As soon as her tattooed hand brushed against his shoulder Cal Kestis' trembling halted. Relief washed over Merrin until she looked up to see the expression of horror that the young Jedi was sporting as he looked at no one in particular. What has scared him so much, what conclusion has he come to, that she had yet to understand?
Before the Nightsister could start to try and figure out what horrific conclusion Cal Kestis had come to, he spoke. "W-what happened on the Albedo Bra- when the clones tried to kill use, did kill Master Tap- that wasn't isolated?" His expression and tone, when he asked Cere Junda this, was desperate, pleading with the older women to tell him that he was wrong. Hoping that his conclusion was wrong.
A simple, sad, shake of the older woman's head was the answer that was given.
Cal Kestis did not cry out in grief, nor did he scream out in frustration, and he did not grow angry either. The young Jedi began to hyperventilate, his lungs drawing in as much air as possible but gaining relief from none of it. No matter how much air his panicked swallowed up, it would not help him. He was on the ground on his knees in seconds. His legs no longer having the strength needed to hold him up. His body was shaking uncontrollably with no sign of recovery. His singular hand wrapped around his chest for some illusion of comfort it could offer.
The image of this powerful warrior that was also her friend, the person she loved, in such a state of disarray and weakness was terrifying to the young Nightsister.
Merrin was on the ground next to the panicked Cal Kestis within moments. Gently she took his hand into one of her own, while her other hand cupped his face to coax him into looking at her. Merrin whispered tenderly into his ear, reminding the Jedi of her presence, telling him to just breath.
All the while Cere Junda and Greez Dritus stood off to the side, looking on with concern. Merrin was grateful the two had decided not to crowd the panicking Jedi, and allowed the Nightsister to handle it.
After a few minutes, Cal Kestis began to calm enough for Merrin to move him. Turning to the human women Merrin lightly asked, "Is there somewhere here that I can take him?"
Grezz Dritus is the first to respond, pointing to a hallway near the back of the room they were currently in. "At the end of the hallway is a room with an empty bunk, the engine room. Take the kid there."
"Thank you."
Slowly but surely she gets Cal Kestis to stand and allow her to move him to the back of the ship, the pain from Merrin's blaster burn forgotten for the moment.
Before the two of them had made it out of the room Cal stopped. "How many…?" His voice was heavy, fearful as he asked the human women. Though the question was left incomplete it was obvious what he was asking; 'How many Jedi are left?'.
"I wish I knew." With his question answered the young Jedi let Merrin lead him the rest of the way to the back of the ship.
[Break]
Cere and Greez, previously the only members of the Mantis. It had been like that for a little over two years. Two years of retracing the steps of the Jedi Master Eno Cordova, trying to find the holocron that he had hidden away. Two years of looking for a surviving Jedi to gain access to the vault that held that holocron. In those two years the two of them had many close calls, and many almost successes. Cere would be listening into Imperial Inquisition com channels and would use those to locate surviving Jedi. But every time the Mantis crew would be too late, losing the surviving Jedi to the inquisition, either to death or capture.
For two years Cere had watched as over a dozen Jedi had been cut down, because she had been too late to action, or her plans had failed. Cere had been so close to calling it quits. Whether that means re-establishing her connection to the force to open the vault herself, or find some other way to rebuild her lost order, she wasn't sure.
But when Cere had been on the verge of giving up, and it had been months since the last rumors of a surviving Jedi, a Jedi had been found sighted on Dathomir of all planets. The Mantis hadn't been close to the Dathomirian system at the time, but it was the first led in months, and Cere would be damned if she didn't try saving a fellow Jedi who needed her help.
It was a Force given miracle that the Mantis crew had swooped in and saved the Jedi and companion in the nick of time. Any later and it would have been too late.
After trying to find another Jedi purge survivor for two years, Cere hadn't known what to expect when she finally succeeded, but it certainly wasn't this.
The Jedi's name was Cal Kestis. He was young, most definitely a padawan before the purge, not unusual. Many of the Jedi survivors had been padawans. Cal was also covered in scars, a lot of scars. She had only seen his face and arm, but that was enough to tell that he was practically painted in scars. Another thing was the fact that Cal was missing a majority of his left arm, most probably severely limiting his combat capabilities. He was wearing strange clothing, that was probably Dathomirian in origin.
None of those were too strange, Cere supposed. Dathomir is a notoriously dangerous planet, it only made sense that Cal had been affected by it in such a deep way.
What was strange and concerning was everything else. Cal Kestis seemed to have little to no knowledge of the Jedi purge, or of the rise of the empire.
Would the kid even be able to accomplish the quest for the holocron, when the wounds of the purge were so recent for him? Would he be emotionally capable? Would he be physically capable, considering his missing arm? Would he be spiritually capable considering he had been stranded on a planet like Dathomir for so long? It was no secret among the Jedi that Dathomir had a very strong presence in the dark side of the Force. Had the planet tainted him? Had the planet's inhabitants tainted him?
That's another thing that concerns Cere greatly, his companion the Nightsister. It was well known that the Nightsisters of Dathomir were practitioners of a special kind of dark side force abilities. Nightsisters were known to be greedy, dangerous, and served only their coven's interests. Cere wouldn't just assume the worst of the girl just because she was a Nightsister, but it would be foolish to not be cautious of her intentions.
At the very least Merrin seemed to genuinely care about Cal Kestis. It was no small comfort to see someone care so deeply for the well being of one of her fellow Jedi. It wouldn't be hard to assume that Cal also cared deeply for the Nightsister. But that in itself was a potential problem. Though it was too early to tell if that potential problem turned out to be true. Cere would have to get to know the two knew crew members more before she could come to any conclusions.
For now Cere was just happy to have finally accomplished something, that they could move forward on securing the holocron, and that the Mantis will feel a little less empty now.
Around an hour after the Jedi and Nightsister disappeared to the back of the ship, Merrin reappeared without Cal. Greez was currently in the pilot's seat, so it was just Cere and Merrin the new resident Nightsister.
"He has fallen asleep." Merrin's calm tone, coupled with her stoic expression took the former Jedi by surprise.
The Nightsister seemed considerably different than before, when she had been around Cal. Around the young Jedi, Merrin had been more expressive. She had shown clear relief at being rescued, confusion at her and Greez, and fear when she had seen Cal's breakdown. Now all that emotion was gone, or more accurately, hidden away. Cere supposed it could have been due the adrenaline from the Nightsister's near death experience having finally run its course, or that the two of them were practically still strangers. But Cere's experience was telling her that that wasn't the case.
"That's… good." Cere breathed a sigh, "How is he taking it? I know it must be hard for him, having only just found out."
The Nightsister took a second to think before answering, but not before taking a seat on the couch a few feet away from the older woman. "It is difficult for him. While stranded on Dathomir he had long hoped that he would one day be saved and reunite with his old Order." Cere noticed slight change in Merrin's stoic expression, if Cere didn't know any better she would have called it fear. But as soon as it was noticed the expressionless stoic mask had returned. "Learning that such a thing is no longer possible and that the Jedi are no more has damaged him." A pregnant pause. "If you do not mind me asking, where is this ship headed?"
"An uncharted planet called Bogano. It doesn't show up on any imperial maps, so we should be safe there for a time."
"And this planet, what color is its sun?" That's a rather odd question, and definitely wasn't what Cere had expected for a question.
"Bogana has two suns, both yellow, and doesn't have a night cycle because of how the planet rotates around the suns." This information seemed to intrigue or fascinate the Nightsister, but she didn't ask anything else about the subject. "Is that all the questions you have?"
"I have more questions, yes, but it would be best to ask them when Cal Kestis is awake. So you do not have to repeat yourself. Also I believe that Cal Kestis has more questions than I… But I do have one more question for you at the moment." Merrin paused, seemingly waiting for a refusal or confirmation, when she got neither the Nightsister continued. "Are you a Jedi?"
"I was." It was a simple answer.
At Cere's words the feeling of the room and Nightsister changed. Merrin's expression and poster remained untouched, but everything just felt a little colder and Merrin's brown gaze seemed to pierce just a little bit deeper. With a curt nod Merrin got off the couch and retreated to the back of the ship, presumably back to the engine room where Cal was.
[Break]
From what Merrin had been told, and then relayed to Cal, it would take around three days of hyperspace travel to reach the uncharted planet of Bogano. The whole of the first day was silent across the majority of the small luxury craft that was the Mantis. Outside of the hyperdrive occasional buzz, the infrequent sound of feet walking across the metal floor, or the rare hushed whispers of a conversation there wasn't so much to be heard.
Merrin was, every few hours, leaving the engine rooms to traverse the small ship. Though she would always return to the engine room after a few minutes. Sometimes she would get food for herself and Cal before returning to her grieving Jedi. On one occasion she had even started a small conversation with Greez, asking him a few questions about hyperspace travel.
Cere mostly chose to stay on the ship's com station, monitoring imperial channels. Though she would sometimes take a break from sitting down for hours on end by checking up on the two newest members of the crew.
Greez for his part spent his time or silently playing cards by himself. Though he would discreetly vacate the area whenever the new resident Nightsister came around. Though at one point when he had been up in the cockpit, she had cornered him and started asking about hyperspace travel. The Latero was certain that that conversation was one of the scariest moments of his life so far, up there with the time he had first fled the Brood and he only escaped by flying into an asteroid field.
It was late on the second day when Cal finally exited the engine room, with Merrin not far behind. He felt emotionally exhausted to say the least. Learning that the order that he had long wished to reunite with had been destroyed ever since his stranding on Dathomir had drained the young Jedi emotionally. All he wanted to do was lie down and pretend that it all wasn't real, that all of this was a bad dream. That he would wake up and find himself back on Dathomir in the home he had shared with the Nightsister. But that wasn't going to happen. The Jedi Order was gone, and what was left of the order was apparently scattered and being hunted.
As much as Cal wanted to hide away from the whole of the galaxy at that moment, he knew it was time he started having questions of his answered.
Greez is in the kitchen when Cal and Merrin enter the living space. "Hay kid, it's good to see you up and moving."
"H-hi Greez, is Cere free? We were, uh, hoping to ask her some questions."
"Sure, she's monereting the com station at the moment. Nothin' important I don't thin-"
"I'm finished for the moment. Are you doing alright Cal, Merrin?" Cere said as she exited the cockpit and entered into the living area of the ship.
"As best as I can under the circumstances." Cal said before Merrin gave an agreeing node of her head.
"Good… that's good. How about we all take a seat. You can ask your questions and we can talk about what comes next." The older woman suggested with a gentle smile as she moved towards Greez's prized couch to take a seat. When Cal and Merrin took their seats the former Jedi did not fail to notice how close the two newcommers were physically. Their knees and shoulders only hairs apart.
Cal is the first to speak. "It's funny, I have so many questions, but I don't know where to start. I-I guess I wanna know how it happened, the fall of the Order I mean. I guessed that the clones turned on use, but how? Why?" Though his expression and voice gave the illusion of calm, his eyes were desperate and scared. It was clear to the rest of the crew that Cal was far from calm at that very moment.
"We were turned against all at once. Thousands of Jedi died across the galaxy in only a few short hours, many dying before they knew what was happening. Few of us survived the initial purge, even less of us survived the next few years. The empire hunts us today, calling us traitors for attempting the assasination of Chancellor Palpatine, the event that supposedly kicked off the purge in the first place."
"Is it true?"
"No!" the uncertain pause, "... at least I don't think it's true." Cere said with a little less certainty.
"The Temple?" Cal asked with hesitation, fearful as to what could have transpired there. Because unlike the Jedi in the field, the Jedi at the temple were far from any massive clone battalions.
"I don't know. Destroyed or captured most likely. All I know is that the Jedi that were there are gone."
"The younglings too?" At Cal Kestis' question, Merrin notes a range of emotions that ever so briefly pass over the older woman's face; grief, pain, fear, guilt, but most prominently regret. But as soon as the are noticed the emotions disappear replaced by a great sadness accompanied with a node as an answer. "The CIS? The war?"
"Gone and ended shortly after the purge. It's leaders are mostly dead, but a few are in hiding or still fighting the empire."
"The Republic?"
"Became the Empire immediately following the purge. Chancellor Palpatine became Emperor Palpatine and the senate lost much of its power."
"Why?" Though Cal did not state what the 'why' was referring to it wasn't a hard guess. He wasn't asking why the Republic became the Empire, why the Chancellor became Emperor, why the clones turned on the Jedi, or why the Temple was most likely empty or gone. The young Jedi was asking why to all of those at once. As if there was a single answer to all those questions and more.
"The Sith." Cere said dauntingly.
Before Cal is given the chance to really think about what that answer ment, Merrin spoke up for the first time. "What are these "Sith"? I do not believe I have heard of them."
"The ancient enemy of the Jedi. We thought they had died out. It was only a handful of years before the Clone Wars that it was discovered that that wasn't the case." Cere's answer seemed to satisfy the Nightsister as she didn't choose to further her questioning, though he would bet that Merrin would later ask him for more detail concerning the Sith. Though he was fairly sure that Cere would know more on the subject.
"Merrin told me you used to be a Jedi."
"Yes"
"Do I know you?" Cal asked as he began to look at the older woman, as if he was trying to match her face with faces in his past memory.
"No. But I knew your master, Jaro Tapal. He was a true guardian of the Republic." Cere's words spoke with true sincerity though they were a bit somber.
"He was a Hero." Cal agreed, though his tone was much more somber than the older woman's was.
A pause, before Merrin spoke up. "What intentions do you have with us? We are grateful that you saved Cal Kestis and I, but for what purposes are you taking us to an uncharted planet? Do you intend for us to hide there?" Cal whensed at the accusing tone that Merrin directed at Cere, but the former Jedi seemed unfazed by it. The young Jedi had an idea as to why the Nightsister was hostile towards Cere.
"We are done hiding. On Bogano there is a vault. I believe that vault holds the key to rebuilding the Jedi Order. But it requires someone strong in the Force to pass it's test." Cal couldn't believe his ears. Just two days ago he had learned that the Jedi Order was no more, and now he was hearing that such a loss could be mended. The order could be rebuilt.
"Since you are not a Jedi anymore that is why you need Cal Kestis to open this vault for you." Merrin's conclusion got a firm node from Cere.
"I know you two don't trust me. And I'm not really sure I trust you. But we have a common enemy, and a common cause. This plan could lead to the rebuilding of the Jedi order."
Before Merrin could say anything, and before Cere could continue, Cal responded. "I'll do it." The hope and desperation in his voice stopped any potential refusal from the Nightsister.
[Break]
Merrin had been meditating in the engine with her Jedi only a few feet away tinkering with his lightsaber when Greez Dritus' voice was heard through the Mantis' speakers. "We're comin' up on our destination."
The Nightsister was quick to get up and start moving towards the front of the ship, Cal Kestis only a second behind. She was eager to get a glimpse of this planet the Mantis was about to arrive at. Merrin had never had the chance to view Dathomir from orbit let alone seeing a whole different planet from orbit. The prospect of seeing a sun that was not an intimidating deep red was also exciting. She would finally get the chance to experience what Ilyana had always wanted to do, but was never given the chance. Merrin would experience it and more for her fallen love.
By the time the Jedi and Nightsister duo had made it to the cockpit, Cere was already there making small talk with the captain.
Cal Kestis had informed her that Greez Dritus was a member of the alien species known as a Latero, that came from the planet Lateron. When she had asked for further details on these Latero the Jedi said he did not know much more than that on the species, claiming that they were not often found off their homeworld.
When the captain noticed their presence in the cockpit he ceased his small talk with the former Jedi and turned to address the newcomers. "We'll be coming out of hyperspace any second now, and Bogana should be right in front of us. The vault is near the equator of the planet. Gonna land not too far from it."
"Weather?" Cal Kestis inquired.
The Latero took a second to think about the young man's question before answering. "Should be clear skies. Doesn't rain too often where we are landing. Ain' to hot or cold either."
The answer given seemed to satisfy Cal Kestis. Before anyone else was given a chance to talk or ask a question the Mantis left hyperspace.
The first thing Merrin noticed was the color green. If Dathomir was all red, then Bogano was all green. Because from what Merrin could see the whole of the planet's surface was green. The only things that were not green were the white clouds of the planet and the few areas of the surface that seemed to reflect light. Merrin guessed that it was water that was causing such phenomena.
Merrin started to notice light bleeding out from the sides of the planet, and once the ship started to slowly circle the planet she realized what was causing it. A beautiful golden yellow sun started to reveal itself from behind the green planet. She had known that Cal Kestis nor Ilyana had been lying to her when they had told her of suns of different colors, but she had never thought she would actually get a chance to see such objects of space. Now, with the celestial body right in front of her and the Nightsister could still hardly believe it.
"It's golden…" She whispered in amazement to herself.
Cal Kestis, standing next to Merrin, must have heard her because a second later he started tapping her shoulder to get the Nightsister's attention before pointing at something out the right side cockpit window. Following the direction his finger was pointed in, Merrin's breath caught when she saw what he was pointing at.
It was the second sun of the planet. It was also yellow, but different. It was smaller, and much lighter in tone than the large golden one. It was almost white, and with the light glow it gave off it had an almost silvery effect around its edges.
Bogano, the planet of suns of gold and silver. The very sight of it all would have brought a tear to the Nightsister's eye if she were not in the company of others. She would reveal such emotions and weaknesses to her Light, and to him only.
Merrin only noticed that the Mantis was rapidly approaching the planet when the smaller sun had been eclipsed by the planet that was steadily growing in size.
Even though they had yet to breach the atmosphere of Bogano Merrin could already feel the magick radiating off the planet. The energy of it all was different. To the Nightsister it felt weird, not uncomfortable or unnatural, just weird. Dathomir's magick is intricate, and yet Merrin knew it well. Bogano's magick feels more simplistic, and yet she couldn't figure it out. It both scared the Nightsister and fascinated her.
When they had left Dathomir into hyperspace and Merrin had first been without the planet's subtle magick influence in the background of her senses, it had unnerved her greatly, but she had easily distracted herself by focusing on her Jedi's state of emotion. But now that she once again could feel the magick presence of a planet, even if unfamiliar, it was more than a little comforting.
When the ship started to enter the planet's atmosphere, Merrin directed her gaze away from the planet's green surface and refocused it upwards into the star filled space above. The stars and their patterns were unfamiliar to her. She wondered if any of those lights in the sky belonged to Domir, the star of Dathomir.
When the darkness of space and the lights of countless stars started to fade into the soft blue of the planet's sky, Merrin felt another wave of amazement at the sight. She had not expected a blue sky, but had thought the sky would have been yellow much like the suns that orbited the planet. It only made sense to the Nightsister that that was how it must work. After all Dathomir had a red sun, and a red colored sky. She had always assumed that the two were connected, but apparently she had been wrong. It was all so beautiful, wondrous, and beyond what Merrin could have ever imagined, and Merrin found herself thinking that she would not have it looking any other way, believing that the beauty of it all would be lost.
The ship started to slow, and before she knew it the Mantis was landed safely on Bogano. The Latero got up from his piloting seat and made his way to the ship's living space, with Cere not far behind him. A gentle tapping on her shoulder brought Merrin's attention away from the perfect blue of the planet to Cal Kestis even more perfect emerald eyes.
"Why look at the planet's landscape from in here when we could experience it out there?"
Merrin supposed there was wisdom in the young Jedi's words. With an affirmative nod, Cal Kestis swiftly took her hand and led her to the now open exit of the ship. The comfort and safety Merrin felt from that subtle gesture meant the galaxy and more to the Nightsister. She knew they had yet to have a real discussion on their relationship, feelings, and boundaries concerning them, and truth be told she was fearful of what might come about from the inevitable talk, but this gesture along with the many the young Jedi had shown her since he had returned has slowly eased the Nightsister's mind.
Thoughts on such a discussion were all but halted when the two of them exited the ship, walking down the walkway. The landscape was covered in endless green plant life. The green coloration of the planet now made more sense.
The surface before them was covered with wetlands, tall grassy mesas, and ruined structures built into said mesas. The most prominent structure was a large tower that shot up high into the sky, the structure looks strangely familiar to the temple back on Dathomir, and she was certain it wasn't a coincidence. She must bring the topic up with Cal Kestis at a later date. But for now the Nightsister was more concerned with basking in the strange magnificence of this ancient planet.
"What do you think?" Cal Kestis whispered gently into her ear. His breath's warmth brushing gently over her pale skin.
"It's wondrous. Strange, but wondrous."
[Break]
"Cere, is that structure the vault you think holds the key to rebuilding the Jedi Order?" Cal said while gesturing to the large ruined tower in the distance. The words almost feel wrong to him. It was only a few days ago when he had learned that his order had been almost nearly whipped out, with only a few scattered survivors left. Even though the young Jedi had been mourning the loss of the Order over the past few days, it didn't feel completely real.
The acknowledgment that the purge had happened and that his Order was no more sent a wave of turmoil and sorrow through the young man. Something he has sadly grown used to by this point.
Over the last few weeks Cal has gotten hit with non stop emotionally attacking events. First had been Merrin's confession and his subsequent running away. Then Merrin had found him later in the swamps and despite her usual stoic self had poured out the full extent of her emotional and mental state and weakness. Next had been the return to the mountain to find the Nightbrother village burned and inhabitants slaughtered. And most recently the knowledge that the Jedi Order was no more and had ended through mass genecide of his fellow Jedi.
The first event had been emotionally exhausting and had been a painful experience he wouldn't wish upon anyone. And each even afterwards had only gotten worse in magnitude. The destruction of his people would have and should have been the final straw; should have broken the young man. Thank the Maker for Merrin. If it weren't for the Nightsister he loved being here with him, he wasn't sure he would have built up the courage and energy to leave the Mantis' engine room. Without her he would be a broken man. She knows almost exactly what he's going through. She had lost her people, and apparently so had he. Merrin had been with him almost constantly throughout this ordeal while she was also dealing with her blaster injury. Cal couldn't be more grateful to her.
"Yes, that's the vault." Cere answered.
"What is this key that you believe is within that vault?" Merrin asked the former Jedi.
"I'll share more of my plan after Cal reaches the vault." Merrin was clearly unhappy with the not answer that Cere provided, but chose not to question the woman. "But, until then… There's someone here I think you two should meet." With that she turns and began's to make her way up the ramp back into the ship. Before she fully enters the ship she adds without turning towards the duo, "May the Force be with you."
Cal turns his green eyed gaze back towards the waiting Nightsister. "Someone we should meet? Do you think it's another Jedi?"
"No, if it were another Jedi why would Cere Junta need you to open the vault?" That makes sense, he supposed, but Cal still feels disappointed. He had hoped he could meet another Jedi besides himself.
Having been given instructions outside of "There's some I think you two should meet." the two wordlessly decide to travel in the general direction of the vault. They hadn't gotten very far when Cal started to feel a slight pull in the Force almost immediately in their direct path. It led to a slight clearing in the overgrowth where the grass and other plant life was unnaturally short in an almost perfect circle. This small clearing was only a little larger than a meter in diameter, and wasn't far from a cliff edge.
When the red head walked over and sat in the middle of the circle and took the posture of meditation, Merrin gave him a shallow amused smile with a clear question in her eyes.
"I'm sitting down to meditate." He answered the Nightsister's unasked question.
"Yes, but why have you decided to meditate here when we are supposed to be looking for someone?" She quarried, amusement evident in her voice.
"I have…" how to word it? "a feeling that's telling me to. Will you join me Merrin?" He says while scooting over a tad to make room next to him for the Nightsister. Cal knew that Merrin would have protested further if it wern't for the fact that he had offered to meditate with her. He knew very well how much Merrin enjoyed the rare occasion when he offered to meditate together.
The faintest of smiles found its way onto the Nightsister's face. A smile that meant the galaxy to this young Jedi. She didn't hesitate in joining him on the ground to meditate. It wasn't long until they both had entered a meditative state, basking in the energies of Bogano and each other.
It had been only a few minutes when Merrin's stoically toned voice was heard. "Cal Kestis, it is difficult to stay concentrated when you are tapping my knee."
"I'm not tapping your knee." Cal answered automatically, before he actually started to think about what the Nightsister had said.
Before he got a chance to open his eyes to get to the bottom of it all he heard Merrin's voice again. "It seems you are not the culprit."
When the Jedi opened his eyes Merrin was looking down at something at the ground. Following her gaze what he saw was rather unexpected given where they were. A small droid with two little feet, one of which he was using to tap on Merrin's leg to get the Nightsisters attention.
As soon as the little droid noticed the pairs of eyes on him he ceased tapping Merrin and looked up at the two of them. "Beep-be-be-beep."
"What is it?"
"A droid. My binary is a bit rusty, but I think it was introducing itself." He turned to the droid. "Hay, BD-1. I'm Cal, this is Merrin."
"Bee-beep!" it responded enthusiastically.
"Uh, yeah we're okay. We're just… looking for someone." Cal felt a little awkward. He hadn't interacted with a droid in ages, and it was finding it a little difficult to follow along as he hadn't used the droid binary language since he was still a youngling.
"Beep?"
"No. Not you. We're searching for, uh, a Jedi. I think…"
At Cal's words BD started jumping excitedly. "Beep! Be-Beep! Beep!" before running a few meters away, presumably for them to follow.
"How are you able to communicate with it?" A confused Nightsister asked.
"It speaks in binary, a droid language. Learned how to translate it when I was a youngling, I'm a bit rusty though."
"What was it saying? Am I to assume it wants to show us something?" Merrin said eyeing the cute droid wearily.
"Yes, says it can show us the way. Didn't elaborate. I think maybe the Jedi, can't be sure." Merrin seemed unconvinced.
Before they could continue BD-1 made a loud "Beep!" to get the two's attention, motioning for them to follow.
"The droid wishes for us to follow." Cal got up and gave Merrin his hand to help her up. She winced as she stood, reminding the young Jedi of the Nightsister's injury. "Merrin, you should go back to the ship. Your injury is still fresh."
"I am fine." She refused to meet Cal's gaze.
"Please don't lie to me. Don't think I haven't noticed that ever since your injury you've been having trouble with your Magick." He knew Merrin wanted to come along, but she wasn't reckless or stupid by anymeans, she just needed a little more convincing. "The burn will stop you from walking for too long, you can't climb with it, and your magick is hardly an option."
"I cannot leave you on an unknown planet by yourself." She finally met his gaze with a concerned glare.
"I'll be fine."
"This planet is a mystery to us, you cannot be certain of that."
"Hay, I survived on Dathomir, didn't I? Dathomir was a complete mystery to me when I got stranded there, I doubt Bogano is half as dangerous."
"That does little to reassure me. But I can see the wisdom in going back to the ship." Merrin reluctantly turns to leave. "I will await your return." And with that she walked off, back towards the ship.
[Break]
Following BD-1 while also traversing the land of Bogano turns out to be an ordeal that Cal had not expected. The robot was swift, nimble, and had a short range jumper jet that allowed it to skip over most obstacles. He, by contrast, had much difficulty traversing the unfamiliar terrain.
Many times the Jedi was forced to climb vines and other plant life growing on cliff sides to continue. The difficulty in climbing up a cliff with only one arm could not be understated. Oftentimes Cal would have to jump upwards or toward his intended destination and hope that the vine or rock he intended to grab onto could support his weight. The whole process was time consuming, exhausting, and incredibly dangerous.
Another obstacle difficult for the one armed Jedi to do was traversing the pipes and metal beams that jet out of the ruins built into the mesas. Walking atop them is fine, but when forced to hang from them it became much more difficult. He would have to wrap his legs and arm around the beam or pipe and slowly shimmy his way to get anywhere. Again it was time consuming and exhausting. Luckily it was much less dangerous than the process he used to climb vines and cliffsides.
The only thing distracting the young Jedi from his exhaustion and mortal peril was the droid companion that he was following to an unknown destination. BD-1 was a pocket full of joy and curiosity that Cal hadn't encountered since his times as a youngling at the Jedi temple. One minute BD-1 would be jumping from side to side shooting off binary faster than Cal could follow, next it would be chasing local wildlife like it was a game. Conversing and interacting with the little droid was rapidly improving the redhead's mood even with the exhausting travel across the mesas.
When the two of them had made it to the inside of some ruins carved into one of the mesa they had been attacked by half a dozen burrowing creatures that were a little smaller than the average Bane Back Spider. They looked to be a cross between some kind of rodent and insect, All in all they were fairly hideous beasts, but he'd seen worse and uglier.
Fighting them was a simple enough task. All they really did was charge straight at him or burrow underground to try for a surprise attack. A simple deep cut with his weapon was enough to dispatch them. The only difficulty in the fight was the number of the creatures, as well as BD-1 trying to fight the creatures himself. The numbers while making the fight slightly more difficult was nothing Cal wasn't used to. He was well versed in fighting multiple Bane Back Spiders at once and compared to that, this was a walk in the park. Keeping BD out of danger was proving to be a pain though.
By the end of it all four of the six creatures were dead, the others fled, and BD was sporting a boosted ego after he managed to successfully zap one of the creatures into running.
"Ba-beep!"
"No, it wasn't all you." Cal laughed at the little droid's antics.
BD-1 continued to lead the Jedi through the ruins until they came upon a passageway blocked by thick wiring that would need to be cut if they were to continue. By the time Cal had noticed that the wires were live with electricity it was too late. A burst of electricity slammed into the redhead when his lightsaber cut through the wiring. He was thrown backwards onto the stone floor, hitting the back of his hard against the solid floor. His vision went blurry for a short moment and he could feel wetness on the back of his head.
"Beep? Be-boop?" BD-1 asked while gently nudging Cal to get up.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Cal lied to the droid. He wasn't really that hurt, the electricity not making it past his Dathomirian armored robes, but he wasn't in the best of shapes either. But he wasn't going to tell the joyful little droid that.
"Boop-bap!" BD declared as he jetted to the other side of Cal.
"Huh?" It said he could help, but he didn't see how the droid could. In answer BD-1 shot out a small blue object from a compartment in his head. Catching it and inspecting the item, Cal was relieved, and a little surprised to find it to be a healing stim. "A healing stim? You're full of surprises." Cal injected the stem, and almost immediately the dizziness he felt was gone, and a few moments later the wound on his head had stopped all blood flow. "That's… better. Thanks, little droid."
"Bwoo bo" BD-1 answered proudly.
When Cal got up to continue onwards he started to feel a slight tugging on his left leg, immediately followed by the feeling of something attempting to climb up. Looking down Cal's gaze locked with that of BD's visual sensors. If any droid could ever be considered cute, he was sure that BD one would be said droid. There was no resisting those eyes. "Okay, ha ha." Cal reached downward to pick the droid up and place it on his shoulder. "Here, hop on board."
A short while later in their travels they came upon their next obstacle. A zipline of sorts that hung above a pit that was so far down it was certain death if one were to fall in, Force or no Force. "That's not gonna happen."
Without prompt, BD jumped atop the zipline with a declarative "Boop!"
"Use you? I don't think so. I can't really hold onto you with one arm, now could I?"
"Bwoo-bwa-beep beep!"
"I-I guess that could work, but I'm hardly optimistic." That was putting it politely.
"Beep!"
"Coward? You're not the one that will be dangling over a pit!" Name calling was hardly called for.
"Bo-beep-bwo!"
"Okay I guess you would also be dangling over a pit too… Fine, I guess we gotta try." Cal approached the zipline pole and proceeded to climb it until he was a head hight with BD-1. He wrapped his legs around the pole to free up his hand. Reaching out he wrapped his arm around the droid so that his hand was grabbing the droid's left leg joint, his forearm was wrapped over BD's head and the rest of his arm went down the droid's right side. Cal used his shoulder muscles to support his body weight, with his head only inches from the zipline wire.
"Be-be?" The smug droid asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." And with those final words they were off, BD flying down the line with great speed and joyus 'beeps'. Within seconds they were back on solid ground, and Cal secretly hoped that he would never have to do that again.
"Beep?" The droid asked while nudging the Jedi's foot.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright."
When Cal looked up he realized how close they were to the vault. Upon the realization Cal's exhausted muscles felt a slight surge of energy. The zipline forgotten for the moment. With just another half an hour of travel they had made it to the base of the hill the vault was built atop.
A little amusing idea came to the young man as looked upon the muddy hill. "Race you there?"
When BD responded with a proud "Be-beep!!!" In challenge Cal couldn't hide the wide grin on his face.
"Whoaaa! It's on!"
BD-1 was ahead from the start with Cal following close behind. When they were but meters from the structure Cal burst forward with a Force given boost as the world around him slowed. He overtook the confident droid just in the nick of time.
"Beep-ba!" The droid protested.
"Cheated! In what way?"
"Be-be-boop!"
"Against the- against what rules?" He laughed good naturedly at the pouting BD.
When his chuckling died down he began to inspect the structure, the vault, before him. The tower was mostly hollow except for an obelisk-like structure in the middle. Embedded into the obelisk was a large tablet with symbols carved all over its surface.
For the second time that day the Jedi felt a pull in the Force. The tablet meant something, it was calling out to him. Brushing his hand over it's rough surface he felt a connection to the rock. This wasn't a tablet, but a door or sorts. Not a door to the innards of the vault, but a door to the vault.
With that realization the door began to move upwards revealing a darkened and narrow passageway. Going through the passageway Cal was brought to a large, slightly flooded, room that was way too big to have been directly behind that passageway or outer vault structure. "Amazing…"
Bd-1 Jumped off the young man's shoulder and ran to the center of the room and started to project an image into the empty space. The image of a eldrly man dressed in traditional Jedi travelers robes. "You alright, BD?"
BD-1 didn't answer, but instead started to play a sound file that went along with the projection being displayed. The man in the projection started to speak. " Well done, whoever you are. You have passed the test I left behind." What that test was Cal had no idea, maybe the door tablet thing, but he wasn't sure. "And gained access to the vault and this recording. One of many encrypted logs stored in the droid. I am master Eno Cordova." So the recorded man was a Jedi, though Cal had never heard of a Master Eno Cordova. "I may not know your name but I know your purpose. The fate of the Jedi Order lies in your hands. This… place. This… Vault is a sacred temple. Built by a vanished civilization known as the Zeffo." The same Zeffo that the empire had been digging up relics of at Dathomir, what are the chances. "Meditating here I was granted a premonition through the Force. A vision of doom. I have placed inside this Vault a Jedi holocron. Containing a list of the names and locations of young Force-sensitives throughout the galaxy." Cere was right about the Vault holding the Key to rebuilding the order. Cal was sure this could change everything. "Ahead you will find the inner chamber of the Vault but… Also another test. I can only trust this holocron to someone who has followed my path and understands. Seek out the hidden tombs of the Three Sages. And learn to perceive the mysteries of the Force as the Zeffo once did. In this droid you will find everything you need to succeed on this journey." Cal took a glance at BD next to him, still playing the recording. "Go to the Zeffo homeworld. There you will find peace in the eye of the storm. Good luck, Jedi. And may the Force be with you." And with those last few words spoken the recording ended.
Notes:Next Chapter: Chapter 15-The Quest-The Crew
Longest chapter yet! yay!!! Also expect a short Fallen Order one-shot (Not based in the Above Dathomir Universe) within the next few days that I started working on when going through some mild writers block. Hope you guys liked the chapter