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 XXIV

Entiran was expecting the battle to end rather quickly now that they managed to exhaust Ahsoka, instead he found himself facing off against two more Jedi and someone who appeared to be of Zabrak origin standing in front of the Togruta. Of course the Sixth Brother recognized the former Second Sister right away, which meant the person beside her had to be the traitor Jedi Cal Kestis, the one she and Masana failed to kill or bring back alive to the Fortress.

The position of First was going to be his if he could bring all three of them back to Lord Vader.

"More pests have shown up, just what we needed," Tajjizez muttered from his right side.

"Nothing ever goes our way anymore," Kul'nenu added.

"It's three on three now. Pick a target and go all out. We need to bring them back to the Fortress alive if possible."

Without waiting for the other two to respond, Entiran launched himself at Trilla, the latter having suspected he would go for her and immediately parried the blow with her lightsaber.

The Twi'lek shared a look with the Togruta Inquisitor and both of them charged at the remaining Jedi and his partner who were protecting Ahsoka.

Merrin was the first to react as she conjured up a barrier to block the lightsaber blows, shocking the two Inquisitors as they clearly weren't expecting that to happen. Using the chance since they were caught off-guard, Cal reached out through the Force and pushed the two of them away from where they were standing.

Both Sisters quickly flipped to regain their balance.

"A Nightsister?! How can this be?" the Ninth Sister hissed.

"I thought Count Dooku had them all killed?" the Fifth Sister added.

"I survived," Merrin said, throwing blasts of ichor at the two Inquisitors.

Cal ran forward with his lightsaber ignited on both ends, splitting the weapon down the middle to engage both Inquisitors at the same time. With Merrin providing support from afar, the Jedi Knight knew he had the advantage over the two Sisters. The Twi'lek Inquisitor snarled and swung her lightsaber sideways, but Cal merely side-stepped and gave her a harsh kick to the abdomen, then spun around and impaled her through the stomach with one of his weapons. Switching to a reverse grip on his other lightsaber, Cal swung it skyward, splitting the Inquisitor's helmet right in half to reveal her furious expression.

"You! How dare a mere insect like you destroy my helmet!" she shrieked, raising her lightsaber to strike from above.

Merrin landed between the two and raised another barrier just in time. The Ninth Sister snarled angrily and began striking haphazardly at the barrier from various angles. Cal caught sight of the Fifth Sister approaching from the right with her lightsaber flying in an arc in front. Quickly connecting his lightsabers in the middle, the Jedi Knight sent the weapon flying high above their heads.

The Fifth Sister reached a hand out to call it back through the Force, but Cal countered by pulling on it as well. The two were equally locked in a power struggle until Merrin's ichor blast broke the Inquisitor's concentration. The lightsaber slapped into Cal's hand and he grunted, forcing his Psychometry down to prevent the memories of the weapon from overwhelming him like the incident with Trilla's inside the vault on Bogano.

Thrusting a hand out before the Fifth Sister could react, Cal threw her against the wall using the Force. Merrin's footing began to slip as the Ninth Sister continued her frenzied attack, and the Nightsister was starting to grow exhausted as the lightsaber continued battering against her barrier. With the Fifth Sister knocked unconscious thanks to the power behind his push, Cal turned to face the Ninth Sister.

He rested a hand on Merrin's shoulder, and the Nightsister lowered the barrier just as the Ninth Sister came in for another strike. Cal calmly stepped in front of Merrin and raised his arm. Immediately the Inquisitor clawed at her neck as she struggled to take in breaths of air.

"Give it up," Cal said calmly.

Trilla leaped backwards to avoid another blow from Entiran as the Sixth Brother aimed for her abdomen. This time she was prepared for his attacks and tricks, after all they had once been sparring partners back at the Fortress. They were trained together by the Grand Inquisitor and from time to time, Lord Vader himself, though Trilla was always the one who came out on top.

"Tired already?" she taunted, circling the Inquisitor.

"Weakness is something we do not show, surely you remember this dear sister."

Trilla narrowed her eyes.

"I am not your dear sister anymore," she hissed.

"Have you forgotten the times you-"

"Shut up!" Trilla screamed, swinging her lightsaber at the Sixth Brother.

Entiran chuckled and easily blocked her blow. Grabbing her wrist with his right hand, Entiran twisted harshly to force Trilla's grip on her weapon to slacken. Having anticipated this move, Trilla used her free hand to land a sharp blow to the Sixth Brother's stomach. Entiran let out a small gasp and the former Inquisitor quickly brought her knee up, slamming it into the former's nether region.

Clearly this was not something Entiran was expecting and the sharp bouts of pain nearly sent him sprawling on the floor in tears.

Instead the human male Inquisitor fell on both his knees as his eyes teared up from the agony. Trilla stood there in a bit of a daze since she reacted on a whim and clearly didn't expect to actually pull it off. Shaking her head a few times, Trilla quickly called Entiran's lightsaber to her hand and ignited it. Calmly walking over to where he was kneeling, she stood over him with both lightsabers.

"Do it then. End me," he taunted, lifting his head slightly to look at her.

She could feel the intense glare behind the visor of his helmet.

"No. I won't give you the death you seek," Trilla said.

Cal and Merrin ran over to where she was standing, the Fifth and Ninth Sisters were out cold and tied up tightly further behind, with Ahsoka standing guard over the two Inquisitors. The remaining Stormtroopers were long gone, having been ordered to other parts of the planet by the three Inquisitors prior to their battle with the Togruta Jedi.

"Trilla! Are you alright?" Cal asked, standing beside her with a worried expression.

"I'm fine Cal," she replied without breaking eye contact with the Sixth Brother.

"What are we going to do about him?" Merrin had a dreadful feeling something was going to happen.

Before either Jedi could come up with a response, the Sixth Brother suddenly unleashed a barrage of Force Lightning from his hand. Cal shoved Trilla and Merrin out of the way, taking on the full brunt of the attack as the electricity surged through his body. The lightning immobilized the Jedi Knight as he crumpled to the ground. Having recovered from having his extremities being assaulted, the Sixth Brother took Cal's fallen lightsaber.

"Never let your guard down until you are sure your enemy is dead," he said, igniting it in preparation to end Cal's life.

-Kamino-

Starkiller piloted his personal fighter off the planet of Kamino after speaking with Lama Su. The Prime Minister had revealed everything to him, his origins and more importantly, how he was merely a clone of the original Starkiller whom Vader killed with his own hands in front of the Emperor.

This revelation shook him to his core as the clone exited the atmosphere of the watery planet.

Could he go back and face Vader the same he did previously?

More importantly, who was that white-haired woman who keeps appearing in his dreams?

There were so many missing pieces of the puzzle.

Maybe it was time for him to search for answers.

Merrin recovered quickly from the shove by Cal and spun around in time to see the Inquisitor pick up his fallen lightsaber. Sensing the former's intention, the Nightsister grabbed one of Trilla's lightsabers and launched herself forward just in time as the blade came swinging down on Cal's body.

"Who are you?!" the Sixth Brother demanded, skewering her behind his visor as their lightsabers were locked in combat together.

"A Nightsister of Dathomir," Merrin hissed, pushing the Inquisitor off her and threw several blasts of ichor for good measure.

The Inquisitor dodged two of them but the others barreled into his chest, searing through his armor and branding his skin. Twisting her hand while chanting in an unknown language, Merrin summoned vines from seemingly nowhere and had them wrap their way up the Inquisitor's entire body. Several tendrils swathed the Sixth Brother's throat and the Nightsister clenched her hand into a fist.

The vines began choking the Inquisitor, with several coils crept up the sides of his face, forcing the helmet off his head.

She only stopped upon feeling Trilla's hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her trance as her grip loosened.

"I'll handle it," Trilla said quietly.

Merrin handed the lightsaber over to Trilla and rushed over to Cal's side.

Pain.

Every part of his body was screaming in agony.

Cal groaned and opened his eyes blearily, his vision taking several moments to focus properly. That's when he noticed Merrin hovering over him with a distressed expression etched upon her face.

"Merrin?..." his voice was hoarse.

"Cal!"

He tried moving a hand but his limbs refused to listen to him.

"Just rest. You shouldn't move your body for now, not after taking on the full impact of that...lightning attack," the Nightsister said.

"W-Where am I?..."

Ahsoka came into view and held out a bowl of water which Merrin took. She gently eased him into a sitting position, then helped him tip the bowl of cool water down his parched throat.

"You're at one of the hideouts on Lothal. We brought you here after knocking out the Inquisitors, though I don't know what your friend is thinking for bringing the Sixth Brother along with us," the Togruta said, sitting down beside the two.

"Wait...what?" Cal winced when he craned his neck to peer around the corner.

Trilla was meditating beside an unconscious Sixth Brother.

"What of the other two?" the Jedi Knight coughed after drinking too fast.

"Let's just say Hera and I sent them somewhere they'll have a hard time coming back from," Ahsoka said with a smirk.

"What was that...lightning back there?" Cal groaned.

"Force Lightning. A move forbidden by the Jedi Order. Force users like ourselves can conjure it through the Dark Side of the Force, and it inflicts severe pain on its opponents. I'm sure you felt it right? When you gallantly threw yourself in front of your two friends," Ahsoka said.

The Jedi Knight definitely felt it.

"I read that Nightsisters have their own variation of this," the Togruta turned her gaze onto Merrin.

Merrin did not say anything at first, instead choosing to send a wave of healing energy into Cal upon seeing his hand clenched over the area where Vader's lightsaber had wounded him.

"Mother Talzin used it during her battle against Count Dooku. She taught me as well but I dare not use it," the Nightsister finally said.

"Is there any way to deflect it?" the Jedi Knight asked of Ahsoka, leaning his head against Merrin's shoulder.

Ahsoka brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them as she took a deep breath in.

"Our lightsabers can deflect it. I also heard from Master Kenobi that a powerful Jedi Master can use Force deflection to return the lightning back at its progenitor, but it takes great effort and only lasts a short while. I think the only Master who has ever done this was Master Yoda when he was fighting Count Dooku during the Clone Wars."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Cal coughed into his hand.

The Togruta Jedi unhooked Cal's lightsaber from her belt and held it out to him.

"Thanks," he took his weapon back.

"I surmise you'll be bedridden until the morning. I'll go keep watch outside," Ahsoka got up and disappeared through the door.

Once Ahsoka was gone from view, Cal exhaled a small breath and gently peeled back the bacta-pads that someone had placed over his wounds.

"I really wish BD was here...I could use one of his stims," the Knight muttered.

Boop?

The bipedal droid beeped and hopped into view much to Cal's chagrin and delight.

"Hey buddy, where have you been hiding?"

Beep-beep-boop-fwee!

"Really? You must have had a hard time then."

Beep!

"I'm sorry bud. You know I care about you right?" Cal held a hand out to the droid.

BD-1 hopped onto his legs and jumped excitedly from leg to leg.

"Now how about you give me a stim for this?"

The small green canister ejected itself from the top of BD's head and Cal caught it with his hand. Merrin took the stim from him and injected it directly into his shoulder, the former sighing in relief as the medicine numbed the pain in his body. Now that he was no longer in as much agony as he was, Cal slowly eased himself back into a lying position until Merrin directed his head onto her lap.

"Thank you Cal, for what you did back there."

Her fingers gently brushed away strands of stray hair away from his face.

"You would have done the same for me."

"Yes. You are right. Traveling with you and the others have expanded my views beyond what I know of Dathomir."

Emerald orbs closed in content for a while as they sat in silence, Merrin's fingers continuously brushing his ginger locks.

"Merrin...I have a crazy idea that just came to me," he said, opening his eyes to look up at her.

"Tell me."

"Maybe we can create a new Order of Jedi...one that uses Nightsister magick and are versed in Jedi combat. I...saw what you did with the lightsaber back there, and I think it's possible for it to work."

The Nightsister became lost in thought as she contemplated what Cal had just said.

"I think it would," she said with a smile.

This time Cal maneuvered himself into a sitting position until his eyes were level with Merrin's. BD-1 recalled Cal's conversation aboard the Mantis and hopped off the Knight's lap, walking over to Trilla and perching himself on her shoulder which earned the droid a smack to the head by the former Inquisitor.

"Merrin...I-"

She silenced him with a finger.

"I know."

The Jedi Knight leaned in ever so slowly and tilted his head to the side, then quickly pressed his lips against hers before pulling away with an embarrassed expression.

"Cal, look at me."

He turned his head around in time to see Merrin sealing her lips over his own.

Both of them became lost in that sweet moment which belonged to them and them alone.

To be continued...

I promised myself I wouldn't do this but it happened anyways.

To all the readers asking I make this a Cal/Merrin story, I hope this chapter has satisfied your demands!

Also, I've decided to pair Trilla with my OC Entiran (their history with one another will be revealed in later chapters)

Until next time!

Note: As next week is Lunar New Year, I will not be updating since this is a big holiday in my culture and I want to spend some time with my family and have some personal time to myself as well xD

Celsius Fate~