I finally beat the game and was thinking, what if Trilla wasn't killed by Vader in the end? What if Cal managed to save her in time? Thus, the birth of this story came about XD (I blame my muse once again)

Summary: Cal Kestis managed to escape Fortress Inquisitorius with Cere and a redeemed Trilla. With the Holocron destroyed to prevent the Empire from tracking down the Force-sensitive children, Cal and his crew begin searching for alternate ways to weaken the Empire. Yet Cal is not safe, for Emperor Palpatine has tasked Darth Vader with bringing him back...with the intention of turning him into his new Inquisitor.

Rating: T

Setting: AU (divergence from main storyline in the game)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Star Wars franchise aside from my own plot.

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Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order: Redemption

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Chapter XV

Cal's brows furrowed together in confusion when both Trilla and Cere mentioned the name Starkiller. Surely that can't be the actual name of the person inside the tank right? What kind of parents would name their kid Starkiller? Cal didn't have much memories of his parents since he was brought to the Temple at a very young age, but he was glad his parents didn't name him something as crazy as Starkiller.

"Who is he exactly?" he heard himself asking.

"No one knows his true identity, only that he's supposed to be Vader's personal apprentice. The only reason why I know of his existence is because he was born on Kashyyk. To think he's being cloned on Kamino..." Cere trailed off as she went back to studying the tanks.

Reassured by Merrin she was feeling a lot better, Cal wandered around the room looking at the various tanks. Some contained half-formed bodies, others were too grotesque to even mention. It was clear this cloning process wasn't going as smoothly as one would hope. He turned towards the left and spotted the remains of what looked like a lightsaber lying on the workbench.

Boop?

"Yea. I can probably try," Cal said to BD.

He walked over to the shattered hilt and wrapped his hand around it. The moment his fingers touched the smooth metal, images flooded his mind, knocking him off balance by the sheer intensity behind the memories and what they wanted him to see. The other three noticed Cal going on his knees and rushed over, spotting him holding the broken lightsaber as his eyes were closed.

After several tense moments have passed, Cal opened his eyes and gasped quietly, shakily getting onto his feet.

"What did you see?" Cere inquired, steadying him with a hand.

"Glimpses...this person was taken from Kashyyk when he was young by Vader...his parents were both Jedi Knights who fled to Kashyyk after falling in love. Vader discovered his strong connection to the Force and took him in after murdering his parents as part of the Purge. The images are overwhelming...but he became Vader's apprentice...and was somehow betrayed by the Sith Lord who killed him."

The images were still vivid within Cal's head as he held a hand against his temple.

"So the one I met back the Fortress..." Trilla murmured, mainly to herself.

"The perfected clone of the original Starkiller," Cal finished for her.

"If we can figure out how to turn this Starkiller against Vader, it may help in giving us a chance to fight back against the Empire."

Cal shook his head a few times to clear the images from his head.

"I think I can help with that," he said.

All eyes in the room gave him their undivided attention.

"The original Starkiller was in love with a former Imperial officer named Juno Eclipse. If we can find her, we might be able to convince this clone to turn on Vader," Cal informed, recalling that particularly intimate scene shared between Starkiller and Eclipse.

His eyes flickered over briefly towards Merrin.

Footsteps outside the door alarmed everyone as they all scrambled to hide in whatever place they could find. The door slid open with a low hiss to reveal an elegant figure with an elongated neck walking inside. Cal peered over the table he was hiding behind to get a better look, and was drawn in by the alien's graceful walk. BD was just about to make a comment when Cal slapped a hand on top of the droid, the shook his head as a gesture of silence.

The Kaminoan pressed several buttons on the control panel, and a smaller section ejected itself to reveal a tube of liquid nestled within. Looking around to ensure it was alone in the room, the alien took the vial of liquid and was just about to destroy it when the door opened yet again.

"Taun We, what are you doing?" the second Kaminoan chastised.

"We cannot allow this continue further Lama Su. What if the Sith has an entire army of Force-sensitive clones under his command? That will be the end of the world as we know it," Taun We answered.

"Our only obligation to the Empire is to continue cloning and training new troops. What the Sith plan to do does not concern us."

"You have seen their destructive power."

The two Kaminoans continued arguing quietly with one another as they left the room, the vial of liquid being taken with Taun We. Only when the two aliens were truly gone from the area did the four crawl out from their hiding spots.

"So they were cloning Starkiller," Trilla said.

Cere knew it was unwise to stay any longer.

"Let's go back to the Mantis," she ordered.

"I thought we were here to lend aid to the Kaminoans?" Trilla studied her mentor's expression.

"That was just an excuse to get Greez to fly us here. The rebellion has long been quashed by the Empire. Now let's make haste before we're discovered here," Cere ushered them out the door after Merrin cloaked them from view.

-Fortress Inquisitorius-

Entiran was surprisingly in a good mood after coming out of the Grand Inquisitor's room. His leader was very much pleased with his actions back on Kashyyk, since they were able to push the freedom fighters back to the Shadowlands. The Emperor has ordered the hastening of resource gathering on the planet, which meant he was to be assigned back down there pretty soon.

"You look happy," Tajjizez remarked, leaning against the door frame as he came out of the meeting halls.

"The Grand Inquisitor praised my actions on Kashyyk. It seems the Emperor is satisfied with how things are going. I'm going to be stationed back there to oversee things," the human Inquisitor responded.

"Guess who's going to go with you," the Togruta said with a grin.

"You've been assigned to be my partner?"

"The one and only," Tajjizez answered.

Both Inquisitors started walking towards the hangars to board their ship when a group of stormtroopers rushed by, struggling to carry a stretcher between them. The commander of the platoon was walking behind the soldiers as they hurried onward towards the medical wing.

"Who is that on the stretcher?" Entiran stopped the commander.

"It is the former Ninth Sister, we managed to locate her on Kashyyk and the Emperor ordered us to bring her back Sixth Brother," the commander answered.

"Carry on," Entiran waved a hand in dismissal.

The commander gave a bow to the two Inquisitors and chased after his platoon.

"So Masana did survive after all. Shame, she's going to be so upset when she discovers I took her position," Tajjizez said casually, twirling her lightsaber over and over.

"She always relied on brute strength as opposed to using wits. I'm not surprised she didn't rise higher than Ninth."

"You can say that again," the Togruta agreed.

Everyone in the area fell silent all of a sudden, prompting the two Inquisitors to turn their heads towards the entrance. Darth Vader walked into view with his apprentice silently trailing him from behind. Entiran heard of the Sith Lord's personal apprentice and had even seen the latter on several occasions within the Fortress. This was the first time he saw the two together in the same room, and the overbearing weight of the Force was slowly pressing down on him from all sides.

"This heaviness is stifling," he whispered under his breath.

The Ninth Sister merely nodded in agreement.

The Sith Lord and his apprentice disappeared inside the interrogation room, no doubt to turn another Force-sensitive user into another Inquisitor or potential candidate.

Only when they were gone from the area did everyone resume their activities.

Greez was itching to take off from Kamino the moment the group boarded after successfully sneaking their way out of the facilities. They had several close calls with Kaminoans appearing from out of nowhere, but managed to avoid detection by ceasing all motions and noise. Merrin's magick broke the instant Cal's foot touched the ramp. He steadied the Nightsister when she began swaying, then helped her up the ramp so she could rest in the back.

"I seriously hope you found what you're looking for because I am not coming back here anytime soon," the Lateron complained to Cere.

"We did. Set a course for Alderaan captain," she said.

"Alderaan? Why are we going there of all places?" Greez started the engine and took off from the landing area.

"We're going to seek out the Rebel Alliance leaders there. I heard they want to restore the Old Republics values, perhaps we can aid them in their endeavors."

"Alderaan it is."

While Greez charted a course for them to Alderaan, Cal took the chance to used the showers. The warm water washed away the chill from Kamino as he stood under the flow of water. The images he received from the broken lightsaber belonging to Starkiller still lingered within his mind. He saw everything the apprentice went through, from watching his parents die to becoming Vader's apprentice. All the missions he was sent on to hunt the remaining Jedi...

Cal never mentioned the death of Master Shaak Ti to the others.

Let them continue to believe she was still alive according to the Holocron from the Archives.

He saw Starkiller going to Felucia to hunt down the Jedi Master, how gallantly Master Ti had fought until the end, choosing to sacrifice her life by throwing herself into the rancor pit than die under his hand.

The ginger-haired Knight also caught a glimpse of Master Ti's Padawan within the echo.

Did she suffer the same fate as her master or was she somehow spared?

No.

There was no way Starkiller would let Jedi live.

Shutting off the water once his skin was starting to turn red, Cal wiped himself down with a towel (Greez always took care of everything aboard the ship) and changed into a loose grey shirt with matching pants. Seriously, where does the Lateron even find the time to wash and dry clothes? Probably while they're off exploring or doing missions on whatever planet they were on.

Beep-fwee?

"Hey buddy. Just finished showering so I don't get sick," Cal said with a smile.

Fwee-trill-boop.

"Yea be glad you're a droid, you can't actually get sick like me."

Beep!

"You want to experience getting sick? Why would you even want to try that?" Cal scooped up the droid and placed him on the workbench.

BD-1's condition was starting to deteriorate from the way it was exposed to various elements.

"How about a little tune up buddy?"

Fwee!

Cal laughed and took out his welder from back when he worked on Bracca. Looking over the little droid carefully, he used the welder to fix various wires and panels that were starting to come loose from BD jumping and walking around. The noise from his work roused Merrin from her rest, and the Nightsister looked over to see what Cal was doing.

"What are you doing Cal Kestis?" she asked out loud.

He jumped into the air and quickly regained his grip on the welder, burning his finger in the process. He stuck the finger in his mouth and sucked on the wound, then turned back to a curious Merrin.

"Just giving BD a tune up," he said.

"A tune up?" she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Well droids need to be maintained if they are to remain mobile and active. If I don't tune BD from time to time, his functions will start to go away."

"All these talks about Jedi and droids are strange to me. Life was much simpler back on Dathomir."

Cal finished the tune up and placed BD on the ground so the droid could run around the front. Then he went to take a seat beside Merrin, fighting the urge to put an arm around her shoulder as he did.

"Having second thoughts about joining?" he asked with a small chuckle, reaching out to brush her hair away from her face.

"No. This life is new and refreshing to me. I've waited too long on Dathomir for a chance to avenge my sisters."

"That's good to hear."

Merrin caught his hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze.

"Cal, your nightmare from earlier, what exactly did you dream of? I heard you saying my name, Trilla's and something about us being killed by Vader."

A small sigh escaped Cal's lips upon hearing her ask about his nightmare.

"I don't really want to talk about it," he said, twisting his head away so he could avoid her gaze.

"Cal-"

Their conversation was interrupted by Trilla rushing into the back.

"We're under attack by the Haxion Brood!"

"Oh not those guys again," Cal groaned.

Ever since the attempted kidnapping back on Zeffo and being thrown into a gladiator arena for Sorc Tormo's amusement, and then being rescued by the Mantis, the Haxion Brood has been gunning for him. Apparently the bounty on a Jedi was way more enticing than the debt owed by Greez, and Cal had more than one encounter with Sorc's lackeys as they attempted to either kill or bring him back alive.

The two rushed out to the front and Cal quickly took a seat in the co-pilot chair.

"Talk to me kid," Greez said, doing his best to avoid the firing lasers coming from behind.

Emerald orbs zeroed in on the scanners and radars.

"There's two ships on our tail," he said.

"This is going to be tricky," Greez twisted the handles sharply, sending the Mantis on a sharp turn towards the right.

"Grab onto something!" Cere shouted to Merrin and Trilla.

The maneuver only served to put some distance between the Mantis and the two gunships, but the Haxion Brood quickly closed in on them and began firing.

"Can we lose them in the asteroid belt up ahead?" Cere suggested.

The Lateron took Cere's suggestion and directed his ship towards the large asteroid belt in the distance. The two gunships chased after them relentlessly, firing the entire time until a stray bolt managed to graze the side of the Mantis. Everyone inside were jostled from the impact, making Greez more desperate to shake off the attackers.

"Hang on," he said.

Guiding the ship into the asteroids, Greez weaved in and out of the rocks, dodging plasma bolts along the way. For the first time since he first set foot upon the Mantis, Cal was very grateful the Lateron was a good pilot. There were several instances where the Knight thought they would crash, only for Greez to pull off some crazy moves with the ship to avoid disaster at the last second.

"We can't shake them off at this rate," Greez said, checking the screens to show the engines were starting to overheat from the strain.

One of the gunships ended up in front of the Mantis, having somehow evaded Greez's line of sight. The other gunship was closing in from behind, and the crew realized they were trapped in a pincer attack.

"Can't you use the Force to do something?!" Greez shouted to Cal.

"My powers aren't that strong!" Cal answered, wracking his brain for a solution.

"You better pray to the Force we make it out of here in one piece!"

Suddenly, the gunship in front of them was destroyed by a barrage of missiles from another mysterious ship. Cal turned his head upward and spotted a new ship, this one had its guns trained on the Haxion Brood gunship behind. It was quickly destroyed as well, saving the Mantis as Greez slowed the ship down. Their mysterious savior hovered beside the Mantis and Cere took the chance to study the design.

"This ship looks to be of Mandalorian origin..." she said.

"I don't care where it came from or what it is, I'm just glad it showed up when it did. We're going to have to make a stop soon so I can repair the engines though," Greez was furiously pressing buttons on the panel.

Cal closed his eyes and reached out through the Force to sense whether or not their savior was friendly. Trilla noticed the ship and saw what Cal was doing, then reached out as well so she could confirm if Cal was correct.

Both of them opened their eyes simultaneously.

"What did you sense?" Cere looked at the two of them.

"I sense someone on board...a Mandalorian? And something else...another life form...not exactly human but...it reminds me of..."

"The life form is the same species as Master Yoda," Trilla finished.

Cere's eyes went wide upon hearing this.

"Impossible...Master Yoda couldn't be aboard the ship. He's hiding on Dagobah!"

"No. It's not Master Yoda...it's someone of the same species and way younger," Cal corrected.

The group didn't have much chance to consider what their next move would be because the Mandalorian's ship flew closer to their until everyone could see the bounty hunter within the cockpit. He was making a gesture with his hand and then turned the ship around before taking off towards the unknown.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Cal said.

"Is it a safe idea?" the Lateron was hesitant to do so.

"He hasn't shot us down yet so I assume he's not after us. You need to fix the engine right? Maybe he noticed the same problem and wants to show us to the nearest planet."

Greez was apprehensive about the entire thing but knew the Mantis couldn't make it to Alderaan without repairing the engines first. With no other choice, the Lateron followed after the mysterious Mandalorian ship as they headed towards the nearest planet.

"Where is he taking us?" Trilla asked, not recognizing where they were going.

Cere looked at the map.

"He's taking us to Tatooine."

To be continued...

I know The Mandalorian takes place AFTER all this has happened, but I did state multiple times that I'm playing around with the timeline of this story. Don't be surprised if people or characters who shouldn't be in the same timeline as Cal suddenly makes an appearance. I can only do so much with the going beyond the game's ending if I stick to the timeline it takes place in. This way, my imagination and creativity flows much more and I can write more scenes XD

Anyways, I found a way to introduce Baby Yoda and Mando into the story ahahahaha

I also wanna apologize if these chapters seem boring or dragged out, but I don't wanna rush from one thing to another. I want to take time to build up relationships and scenes, so don't expect every chapter to have action or fighting going on. There will be times when several chapters will just be like this one, where they travel from one planet to another and having random conversations on board the Mantis. I will show other POVs such as the new Inquisitors I put into the story to keep things going though, so don't worry about that.

See you all next chapter.

Celsius Fate~