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 XXIII

"Hera!"

Ahsoka reached out through the Force at the last moment and yanked Hera out of the grasp of the Inquisitor. The Twi'lek was startled at first, but used the chance to fire off blasts from her weapon. The Togruta placed her in a safer spot away from their reach. Once her friend was out of harm's way, Ahsoka spun around with her lightsabers. The Sixth Brother parried her blow. The Fifth and Ninth Sisters attempted to attack from behind, but Ahsoka stopped them with the Force, the strain evident on her face as her legs began slipping backwards from the deadlock.

"Give up. You're struggling to face all three of us," the Sixth Brother taunted.

"Never," Ahsoka spat.

Her grip was starting to slip.

She had to find a way out of this situation and fast.

Cal and his group were brought inside the palace of Alderaan where they met with Bail Organa's wife Breha. The group were also introduced to the couple's daughter Leia Organa. The little girl was five years old and could walk steadily on her feet when they met her, and Cere was instantly smitten with the young princess. Even Cal found himself smiling as he bent to extend a hand out to her.

"Hi there," he said with a warm smile.

Leia shyly hid behind her mother's leg, peering over and giving the Jedi Knight an embarrassed smile of her own.

"Leia, these people are what we call Jedi, a group of peacekeepers wrongfully targeted by the Empire for their own agenda. You must remember, the Jedi are our friends and allies," Bail Organa said to his daughter.

Now Leia looked up at Cal in wonder as she slowly approached him.

"You are a Jedi?" she asked shyly.

"I am," Cal replied, gently patting her on the head.

A strong pull from the Force indicated to Cal that Leia was a Force-sensitive herself, something that caught him off guard since there had never been any reactions like this. Was Bail and Breha aware of this?

"Will you keep me safe?" Leia asked.

Her question snapped Cal out of his thoughts as he gently stroked her cheek with one hand.

"Of course. It's our job as Jedi," he promised.

Leia giggled and ran back to her mother's side as the Queen picked her daughter up for her nap. Cere and Trilla followed after the Queen to discuss private matters, leaving Cal alone with the Senator.

"Your daughter...are you aware she is Force-sensitive?" Cal asked as Bail started walking down the opposite corridor.

Bail's unfazed expression informed Cal the latter was aware of the fact.

"Cal, what I am about to tell you, you must not tell anyone else or Leia's life will be in danger. Do I have your word?" he said, his tone becoming much more serious.

"On my honor as a Jedi Knight, you have my word."

Bail brought Cal to a secluded room of the palace that served as his personal study. BD-1 curiously poked his head over Cal's shoulder and jumped off, then began scanning everything while the two sat down in the seats provided.

"Leia is the daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala," Bail revealed.

The Jedi Knight was shocked by this.

"Your reaction shows you are somehow aware of the relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala."

"I have...this ability. I can sense the Force Echo left behind by objects if I touch it, and I discovered the relationship between the two after touching Vader's lightsaber," Cal explained as best he could.

"So you know of Vader's true identity then."

"Yes. He's Anakin Skywalker. I just...never knew he had a daughter."

"Twins. Leia has a twin brother named Luke. I was there when Padme gave birth to them prior to her death," Bail said, standing up to stare out the window.

Twins?

Then that meant there were two Force-sensitive children out there.

If Vader knew of this...he would no doubt try to either bring his children over to the Dark Side, or kill them before they have a chance to become Jedi. There had to be something he could do to help safeguard their future. Training Leia in the ways of the Force was out of the question. The moment the Inquisitorius got hold of there being a Force-sensitive on Alderaan, war would no doubt be brought to their doorsteps yet again.

She was no different from the children on the Holocron.

He should let the Force decide her fate.

"Is she...aware of her true heritage?" Cal asked, looking at a portrait of the Organa family on Bail's desk.

"No. Breha and I have agreed not to tell her until she came of age. Leia deserves to have a normal childhood as much as possible. We will not burden her by revealing her true lineage as the daughter of a Jedi Knight and a former Queen of Naboo."

The Jedi Knight nodded his head in agreement.

"You do not wish to train her in the ways of the Jedi do you?" Bail inquired, arching an eyebrow at the ginger-haired Knight.

"No. It's safer for her to remain unaware of her heritage and lineage as a Force-sensitive. If the Empire got hold of this, war will be brought on Alderaan's doorstep. I don't wish to be responsible for throwing this planet back into war because I wish to train your daughter as a Jedi," Cal replied, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

Bail Organa rested a hand on the Knight's shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. Cal had a feeling the Senator was grateful for his decision in not training Leia as a Jedi. Cal wasn't sure if he was even ready to handle having a Padawan since he was newly Knighted himself by Cere. His understanding and training was far from being finished, not to mention the internal struggle with the Dark Side of the Force and Merrin's teachings.

"Cere has told me you are here to lend aid to the resistance. Truth is, the Resistance is still in its early stages. We do not have enough fighters nor pilots on our end to truly put up a battle with the Empire. The recent siege of Lothal has freed the planet from-"

Their conversation was interrupted by an urgent call coming from the Mantis which came through BD-1.

"Sorry about this," Cal apologized.

The bipedal droid hopped onto the table.

"Greez? What's wrong?"

"I picked up a urgent distress call from Lothal! It seems the Empire has sent three Inquisitors and a fleet of Stormtroopers to reclaim the planet! The rebels are under attack and request assistance!" the Lateron's frantic voice informed.

"Lothal is a very important planet in the galaxy. We must not let the Empire reclaim it, not after the troubles we went through to help liberate it," Organa said.

"We're on our way back," Cal replied.

"I'll get the Mantis ready. Tell Cere and Trilla to return if they're not with you!"

Greez ended the call.

Cal got up from the chair and started heading towards the door when he felt a strong surge of emotions nearly overwhelming him. Pausing at the frame of the door to steady himself, the Jedi Knight flinched slightly after closing his eyes. The emotions were coming from Merrin, a mixture of sadness and anger. Something must have happened for her to feel this way. Yet the most important question that crossed Cal's mind at that moment was how he was experiencing this.

Did Merrin saving him within the limbo world of the Force somehow connect them together on a deeper level?

Beep-boop?

Emerald orbs opened back up to find BD-1 staring up at him worriedly.

"Hey buddy, I'm alright."

Boop?

"Yea. Just a weird feeling is all," he replied.

BD-1 hopped back onto Cal's back as the duo exited the study. Cal began running towards the entrance and nearly bumped into Cere after rounding a corner that led back towards the gates of the palace.

"Cal! What's going on?" Cere steadied the Knight.

"Got a call from Greez. Lothal is under attack by the Inquisitors and Empire again. Someone sent a distress signal out for help," Cal said rapidly.

"The Mantis isn't powerful enough to repel an entire invading army of Stormtroopers," Cere said.

"We can't let the Empire retake the planet again!"

Cere knew the Jedi Knight was right. The Mantis may not have the firepower required to repel an invading fleet, but they could at least wreak havoc on the ground and lend aid to the rebels. Beside her, Trilla clenched her hands together in anticipation.

"Go. Do what you must. I'll try and contact the Wookies on Kashyyk for aid."

Ahsoka grunted in pain as the Sixth Brother sent her hurling into a nearby building after catching her off-guard. Her back made impact with the hard plaster and the Togruta could feel several bones breaking in the process. Her vision was starting to blur from exhaustion while her hands were growing tired from holding her lightsabers. Hera and the other rebels managed to escape thanks to her buying them time.

Now it was just her all alone.

"You grow tired. Lay down your lightsaber and join us as an Inquisitor," the Sixth Brother said, standing over the fallen Togruta.

"Never!" Ahsoka hissed defiantly.

The Fifth and Ninth Sisters watched from afar at the exchange between the two. Normally the Fifth Sister would have been in charge, given her higher rank over the other two, but Lord Vader had granted the Sixth Brother permission to be the leader of the mission this time, thus she was forced to obey his orders.

"Why does he get to have all the fun?" Kul'nenu muttered beneath her helmet.

"Do you really want to get on Entiran's bad side?" Tajjizez replied, cocking her head at her fellow Inquisitor.

"No. Not really."

Entiran's temper was notorious throughout the Inquisitorius for being the most manipulative and foul of everyone. Those who have gotten on his bad side would wind up with a missing limb or in more severe cases, their lives. Only Tajjizez could partner with him without fearing consequences.

"So shut up and watch."

The two female Inquisitors turned their attention back to their fellow comrade and the struggling Jedi.

The Mantis exited from hyper space after jumping through various planets, something Greez would normally never do since it put a great strain on the engines. However, this time was an emergency so the Lateron made exceptions in order to get them to Lothal as fast as possible. Cal and Trilla took the chance to prepare themselves for the upcoming battle, with the former meditating to clear his mind.

Merrin watched Cal quietly from the back as the Jedi Knight opened his eyes once the meditation period was over.

"Merrin," Cal got up to go sit beside her.

"You felt it didn't you? My emotions while you were inside the palace," Merrin said.

"I did. I don't know how or why I did...but I just felt it," he whispered, staring at his hands as he spoke.

The Nightsister covered his hands with hers.

"Cal, I believe we're connected now through the Force after what happened when I saved you from Vader," she told him.

That could be a plausible explanation for why he was able to start sensing Merrin's emotions.

"Wait...does this mean you can sense mine as well?"

"Yes. I can sense all the regret you have that still lingers," the Nightsister moved her right hand upward, resting her palm gently over his heart as she felt it beating steadily.

Cal leaned in closer to the Nightsister until their lips were a mere inch apart.

"Cal..."

"We're connected on a deeper level now Merrin..."

"We are," Merrin replied in a whisper.

"I promise I'll never abandon you."

"And I will do the same, Cal Kestis."

Beep?

BD-1's impeccable timing for interrupting was starting to become rather comical and annoying for Cal as the Jedi Knight frowned at the bipedal droid. BD-1 hopped around on both feet and stared at the two. Merrin laughed softly to herself while the former picked up the droid.

"Didn't we have that conversation about interrupting?" he said with a frown.

Boop-fwee-trill-beep.

"I know buddy, but you need to stop doing that. It ruins the moment for me."

Beep-boop.

BD-1's antennas flattened against its head.

"Come on BD, I didn't mean it."

Fwee-trill.

"Alright. Let's go," Cal turned and held a hand out to Merrin.

"Are we going together?"

"Yes. We'll have the advantage with you on our side," Cal said with a smile.

The Nightsister took the offered hand and stood up just as Cere and Trilla came out from their bedrooms. Greez piloted the Mantis towards the area where the distress beacon was coming from and they could see the ground was full of dead bodies that belonged to Stormtroopers and rebels alike. Cal focused his gaze and noticed a flash of lightsabers swirling in the air.

"Over there!"

Greez twisted the handles of the Mantis and pressed the button to lower the ramp at the same time.

"You'll have to jump!"

All four gathered near the ramp while the Inquisitors fought with Ahsoka below.

"Let's go!" Cal took the first leap.

He ignited his lightsaber and used the Force to help him land on the ground between the Togruta Jedi and Inquisitors.

"Cal!" Ahsoka gasped in shock.

"We're here to help," Cal said.

Trilla, and Merrin landed beside the Jedi Knight as they faced the three Inquisitors alongside Ahsoka.

To be continued...

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

Early update for you all!

Happy New Year to my dear readers! I hope 2020 treats you all better than 2019 did!

Anyways after seeing TROS, the connection between Rey and Kylo had me thinking maybe I can incorporate that into my story with the connection between Cal and Merrin as well. I know Rey and Kylo's connection is prophesied as the only one, but for the sake of my story, Cal and Merrin have the dyad in the Force as well.

How are you all enjoying the story so far?

Celsius Fate~