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 XXI
-Lothal-
Hera and the rest of her crew were in the middle of helping the citizens of Lothal carry much needed supplies into their homes when several Imperial transports appeared in their airspace. The Twi'lek was alarmed by the sight of their massive transports and she immediately signaled to the others to sound the alarms. In honestly, she had been expecting the Empire to launch a counter-attack, but she didn't expect them to come this soon.
"Zeb, get the others out of here!" she shouted while the rest of the rebel fighters grabbed their weapons.
"What about you?" the Lasat called back.
"We'll buy you guys time, now go!"
The transports touched down and began unloading row after row of clone troopers, while three individual ships landed beside them to reveal three Inquisitors jumping off. Hera cursed under her breath when she realized the Empire clearly wanted to take Lothal back by Force if they felt the need to send three Inquisitors to do so.
"Form a defensive position and don't let them break through no matter what!"
The others listened to her orders and took up positions behind barricades and makeshift barriers. Hera ducked as plasma shots began flying over her head, then took several Stormtroopers out with well-aimed shots of her own. The size of the army was massive, there was no way they were going to be able to defend this place for long. Yet something within the Twi'lek told her not to give up, not after what they had been through to free the planet from Imperial control, not after what Ezra had done to give them the chance they needed.
Ahsoka and Sabine were still away on their mission to search for their missing companion as well.
"Kannan, I really wish you were here right now."
Entiran looked around the plaza they had landed in and scoffed under his helmet. While he understood the important Lothal held to the Empire, was it really necessary for Lord Vader to send three Inquisitors to reclaim the planet? The people of Lothal look like they can barely lift a weapon, save for the group of rebel fighters currently firing at them from their makeshift base.
"Pitiful aren't they?" Tajjizez said, standing next to the human male with her arms crossed.
"Can you blame them for trying?" Entiran replied, calmly walking forward as Stormtroopers rushed past.
"Let's just wrap this up so we can go back for dinner," Kul'nenu said, twirling her lightsaber in her hand repeatedly.
Entiran and Tajjizez turned to look at the Twi'lek Inquisitor and sighed at the same time. While they weren't on terrible terms with the Fifth Sister, the Twil'lek's reputation for always having an appetite clearly got on their nerves from time to time. This was one of those incidents where they wished Lord Vader had paired them with another Inquisitor who was more tolerable.
"We've been given orders to only engage if we see a Jedi. The Stormtroopers are more than enough to deal with these rats," Entiran said.
Back aboard the Mantis which had finally taken off from Tatooine, Cere was tending to an unconscious Trilla in the back, leaving Cal and Merrin to figure things out in the front of the ship. After deliberating for a very long time, the Jedi Knight decided it would be best to listen to Master Yoda's advice and have the Nightsister train him in the dark side of the Force. If he could learn to control both light and dark, then perhaps he wouldn't fear Vader anymore.
"Cal, you are sure about this?" Merrin asked for the tenth time as they sat facing each other on the floor of the Mantis.
"Yes. It's the only way I can stop these nightmares," he said confidently.
Merrin raised her hands to gather energy between them.
"I will do my best to teach you about the dark side, but since I am not a Jedi, I do not know how successful I will be."
Fearless emerald met hesitant amber as Cal gave a nod of his head, a small sign that he trusted the Nightsister with more than just his life now. He gently reached a hand out, resting his palm against her face. Merrin looked at him with a smile as she leaned into his touch. Since the whole ordeal with saving him inside the limbo world of the Force, the Nightsister felt a deeper connection with the Jedi than she dared admit.
"I trust you. You saved my life more than once," he murmured.
"Then let us begin," Merrin replied with a smile.
Waving her hands in front of her as she chanted, Merrin gathered some energy between her palms and then pressed them into Cal's hands, pushing the energy into his body so he could experience what it was like to wield magick from the dark side. Anticipating a surge of raw power to flow through his body, Cal was pleasantly surprised to discover that Merrin's magick was warm, almost like a fire in the middle of a cold night. Every part of him was touched by her magick, wrapping around like a cocoon.
"Can you feel it?" Merrin asked, noticing the peaceful look on Cal's face.
"Yea. It's warm like a fire. Is this how you always feel when you use your magick?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Only when I'm at peace. When I'm angry, it feels more like a raging inferno that you can't control."
Cal wasn't sure if he ever wanted to experience or even know how it feels to be burnt by a raging inferno.
"Concentrate. Reach out to it," Merrin instructed.
Picturing himself standing atop the grassy plains of Bogano, Cal concentrated the power within into a visible ball of pure energy which hovered in front of him. Once that ball was visible to the naked eye, the Jedi Knight extended his right out outwards and grasped it. A wave of emotions smacked him right in the gut and Cal grunted, dropping the orb as a gasp escaped his lips.
"I don't think I can do this Merrin," he said, opening his eyes to look at her.
"You fear it. What the power can do if you control it," she replied calmly.
"Fear leads to the dark side," he recited automatically.
Merrin lowered her hands and touched her forehead to Cal's.
"You are thinking like a Jedi. Do not let your past training influence you. Everyone has emotions, it is a natural part of being human. I have fear as well, but I do not let it control my powers or emotions. You do not need to fear that which should not be feared. Do you fear using the light side?"
"Of course not," he said without hesitation.
The Nightsister gave a nod of her head.
"Then do not fear," she repeated.
Cal closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Merrin instructed him.
The Inquisitors grew increasingly frustrated at the rebels who were putting up a decent fight to prevent them from moving forward into the city. If they didn't do something, this mission will either result in a failure or become a nuisance to the Empire. None of the three want to face Vader's wrath, but they didn't want to have to explain themselves to the Emperor either.
"Shall we go and end this?" Entiran drawled, walking forward as he drew his lightsaber.
Both the Togruta and Twi'lek Inquisitors grinned, showing off their pointed fangs as the trio ignited their weapons. Upon seeing the three of them advancing towards the barricade, the rebels concentrated their fire on them, though the shots were easily deflected.
"Retreat towards the back!" they heard a voice shout.
Reaching out through the Force, Entiran pulled one of the rebels towards him and casually cut the struggling native in half with one swing of his lightsaber.
"This will be faster than we thought," Tajjizez said.
Entiran raised a hand as he felt a strong disturb in the Force at that moment. The other two sensed it as well and immediately took on a defensive position just as a figure leaped out from a ship flying overhead.
Ahsoka was glad she managed to make it back to Lothal in time to help fight off the Inquisitors who were attacking the city. After picking up the distress signal sent by Chopper from Hera's ship, she and Sabine rushed back to help their friends. They made it back to Lothal and Ahsoka dropped herself off the ship, falling down towards the ground with her lightsabers ready.
The Inquisitors weren't hard to miss with their tell-tale robes of the Empire and the insignia etched into their armor. The Togruta Jedi could sense three of them, and one was of the same race as her.
Flipping in the air gracefully to slow her fall as she neared the ground, Ahsoka landed on her her feet and one hand as she looked up with a smirk at the Inquisitors.
"Jedi. This will be fun," one of them said as they formed a triangle around her.
"Ahsoka!" Hera's voice came from behind one of the barricades.
"I got this! You help the others escape to safety!"
Knowing the Twi'lek would do just that, Ahsoka focused her attention on the three Inquisitors as they circled her like prey. This was the first time she faced three, which meant she couldn't leave any openings for them to attack. Switching to her more comfortable style of the Shien reverse grip, Ahsoka wait for the first Inquisitor to strike.
"White lightsabers. Interesting, that's a color I've never seen before. It will make a fine addition to my collection," one of the females said.
"Your obsession with toys knows no limits, Fifth Sister."
"I can say the same about your eating habits my dear Ninth Sister."
Fifth and Ninth.
Those were pretty high ranks.
Which meant the remaining Inquisitor was either lower than the two or in between them.
"Can we focus on the task at hand?" the male Inquisitor said in a clipped voice.
The two female Inquisitors scoffed under their helmets but turned to Ahsoka. One of the females launched at her from behind, and Ahsoka responded by whirling around with her lightsaber to block the blow. The other female took the chance to attack from the front, hoping to catch the Togruta off-guard but she was able to sense the incoming attack and used the Force to stop the Ninth Sister in her tracks.
Ahsoka silently praised herself for her increased skills.
"She's strong in the Force," the Ninth Sister said, struggling to break free from Ahsoka's hold.
The Sixth Brother countered with his own Force hold, shattering Ahsoka's grip on the Ninth Sister as the Fifth Sister continued pressing downward with her lightsaber. Bringing her right hand up, Ahsoka slammed the hilt of her lightsaber into the Fifth Sister's ribs, knocking the breath out of the Inquisitor as she stumbled backwards away from the Togruta.
"You'll pay for that!" her companion hissed, jumping into the air.
Again she stopped the Ninth Sister through the Force and ducked just as the only male Inquisitor sent his lightsaber spinning her way. She lifted the blade of her right lightsaber to deflect the weapon back. Throwing the Ninth Sister to the side, Ahsoka focused her attention on the male and leaped towards him. His lightsaber came swinging her way, forcing the Togruta to block with both her blades.
"I can see why Lord Vader wants you brought back alive, Ahsoka Tano."
The Togruta Jedi wasn't surprised the Inquisitors knew who she was.
Being the former Padawan of the Sith Lord Vader must have earned her something of a reputation among the Inquisitorius.
"Shame. If only we could be allies," the Sixth Brother said, noticing the Fifth and Ninth Sisters sneaking up from behind.
Thanks to her montrals which allowed her to perceive her surroundings through a form of echolocation, Ahsoka was able to come up with a plan. Utilizing the trick she had used against the Seventh Sister, the Togruta switched off the Sixth Brother's lightsaber through the Force, shocking the latter as he clearly hadn't been expecting that. With the split second advantage that she had, Ahsoka spun around the Inquisitor until she was positioned behind.
"I'll never go back with you," she hissed, then Force pushed the Inquisitor into the blades of his two comrades.
Unable to stop themselves due to the momentum of their launch, the only thing the two female Inquisitors could do were to switch off their lightsabers to prevent impaling their fellow comrade.
The three collide into one pile on the ground and Ahsoka quickly used the Force to bind them with a piece of wire lying on the ground.
"Glad you got here in time," Hera said after the Togruta Jedi subdued the three Inquisitors.
"I don't know how I managed to do that," Ahsoka said wearily, leaning against her friend for support.
Neither noticed the discarded lightsaber of the Sixth Brother being called back to its master's side through the Force.
"Focus," Merrin gently encouraged, stroking Cal's face with one hand as the Jedi Knight gave an exasperated sigh.
"I'm trying but it's not getting me anywhere!" he said in a frustrated tone.
The Nightsister unfolded her legs and stood up from the ground.
"Maybe we should take a break. You've been going at this for a while now," she suggested.
Cal couldn't agree more as he stood up himself to stretch his stiff limbs.
Maybe they could get something to eat in the kitchen since they were still not close to landing at Alderaan.
The two of them walked out of the room they were meditating in just as Greez came lumbering towards them.
"We're about to land in Alderaan. Come on guys," the Lateron said.
Both of them headed to the front where they saw Trilla sitting on the sofa with a apologetic look on her face. Cal could only hope whatever happened on the surface of Tatooine was behind them.
"Hey Trilla," he said with a smile.
"Cal, I want to apologize for what happened on Tatooine...I don't know what came over me," she said quietly.
"It's fine. I'm not mad at you," Cal responded.
Trilla looked at her hands and fidgeted with them nervously.
"Cal...if I fall back into the dark side again...I want you to strike me down," she said, lifting her head to meet his gaze.
To be continued...
I've decided to do weekly updates instead of daily ones XD
Daily ones sap my brain juices like no tomorrow =3=
Next chapter will be coming next week!
See you until then!
Celsius Fate~