Chapter XXXIII: A Calm Before the Storm

Merrin - Ordel, the remains of the Mantis

''What were we supposed to do?''

''I don't know ... not getting Cere almost killed?!''

''Watch your next words very carefully, Greez, or there will be an actual death today!''

''Come on, princess. I know this is getting emotional ... ''

''Oh, look's who's talking. The second - no third Empire cheerleader is giving her opinion!''

''Excuse me, Lateron?''

Merrin had no idea how long they've been arguing. For the last hour or two, she had to endure a constant stream of petty arguments and heated words while she and Cal tended to Cere's grievous wounds. There wasn't much that they could've done though, arguments or no arguments. This Grand Inquisitor managed to cut Cere's arms off cleanly, leaving only her upper limbs and a lot of hellish scars behind, scars that marked his victory over the former Jedi for all time to come.

''You should go out there and calm then, Cal. They're listening to you.''

Cal didn't respond to Merrin's whisper, his eyes soley fixated on the unconscious Cere.

''Cal - I ... can we talk for a second?''

At that, he tilted his head towards Merrin, a downtrodden expression claiming his visage.

''When I believed you dead, we were devasted. We griefed, we ... we lost part of ourselves.''

''Merrin? I don't think that that's helping right - ''

''Listen,'' Merrin raised her hands and shushed him ''please. We were hurt. One night, you where there - and then you were gone. Just like that, whipped away without a chance to say goodbye.''

Her voice fluctuated more than she'd like in such a peculiar situation, but her emotions couldn't be helped. It was the truth and as always, the truth hurt.

''But still,'' Merrin resumed after a deep sigh ''we pressed on, Cal. No matter what happened, we didn't cower before the Empire. We might not have been as successful as we hoped, but we didn't stop. All I'm asking of you right now is that you too can't stop. We'll get through this, as always ... but we can't give up and bunker down. Not now. Not after all that time.''

''Time,'' Cal lamented ''I'm really starting to get annoyed by that entire concept. A day. A year. It's ... ''

''Utterly confusing. But this is the Force. You know that ... Jedi Knight.''

She wanted to add that she didn't like it. But that was a discussion best had for when they were finally off of Ordel.

''I better go and face the music, huh?''

''There's nothing we can do here except be there when she wakes up. Until then ... ''

Merrin's eyes darted towards the room's semi-functioning door.

''Alright,'' Cal said under wide breath as he strolled over to the exit ''and Merrin? Thanks.''

''Always.''

As Cal left, Merrin gawked at Cere. From a physical standpoint, Merrin knew that she'd be fine, minus the obvious lack of arms. She also knew that although she'd be sad, she wouldn't be heavily traumatized by this loss, her hardened skin a result of both her upbringing and her past tutelage under the Jedi. No, Merrin was afraid that the sum of everything that has happened and will probably keep happening will eventually be too much for the woman. Their path was one of chaos, it was simply the truth. But when was too much simply too much for Cere?

When it was too much for Merrin as well?

Merrin was a fighter, she'd never deny such. And every life she took, every time she cast her magick it was in remembrance of her coven. Mother, sisters - their names an eternal battle shout that she'd carry with them until death. But truthfully, Merrin wasn't eager to meet death. Ordel. Nar Shaddaa. The galaxy clearly had so many wonders in store. There had to be more to this than dying at the end of some Storm Troopers blaster, Merrin reflected darkly.

''M-Merrin ... '' muttered Cere quaintly as her eyes fluttered open.

''Cere!''

Cal - Ordel, the remains of the Mantis

At least from a visual standpoint, this could've been some sort of a hilarious holovid comedy.

You had the grumpy Lateron uncle trying to one-up the Dowutin aunt, followed by an angry human sister whose sharp wit was squarely directed at her new human and Lasat friends, both of them seemingly at the edge of their nerves and this close to a total breakdown - a real knee-jerker, to be sure. Though he would've wished to laugh at that, Cal knew that this situation was everything except funny.

''I forgot. All Imperials are bad,'' quipped Richard in a sarcastic manner, his eyes pointed at Relor in an accusing way that easily got his point across.

''Want me to lie to you? That's more your style,'' answered Relor with a drilling undertone.

''Great, you've surrounded yourself with children, Greez. How fitting,'' spluttered Trilla in her usual brusque manner, her every word managing to bring the room's temperature down even more than Cal would've believed possible.

Force preserve me.

Masana was the first to spot him. She gazed at him in a pleading way while she tilted her head quickly to the others, signaling Cal that he should do something for this to stop. And from the way Greez's small frame was seemingly about to charge at Trilla, Cal could more than certainly understand Masana's quiet yet quick appeal to him.

''Alright, let's just calm ourselves for a moment there,'' Cal declared loudly and equally boldly as he stepped between Trilla and Greez.

''We're serenity personified,'' ushered Trilla under huffed breath as she turned around and stepped next to Masana.

''Yeah. Just peachy,'' added Greez in a slickly way as he walked to the site, leaving Cal in the middle of their exchanged glares as everyone seemingly waited for him to say something. And somehow, that managed to freak Cal out towards no ends. Why they thought that he had any idea what to say was quite frankly beyond him. He wasn't a leader - he certainly wasn't trained as one. It wasn't that long ago that he was nothing but another scrapper trying to make a living wage amongst the dirt of Bracca.

And yet somehow, weaseling his way out of such situations seemed to become more commonplace for him by the day. Maybe there was some hope for him after all?

''Cere's doing fine, by the way. Given the circumstances,'' stated Cal in a calming manner as he let his lingering eyesight wander from person to person.

Greez was the first to pip up. Pushing one of his many thumbs into Cal's stomach, he gritted his teeth before he raised his sharp voice:

''How about ... oh, I don't know. Not losing any arms to begin with?'' at that, his eyes jumped over to Trilla and Masana, hurling untold accusations at the both of them at a speed that would put even Greez's blaster pistol to shame.

''Alternatively, we can double - no, multiply the number of arms lost should you not change your tone in this instant, Greez,'' was Trilla's only reply as she took one step forward, her voice carrying the same ice-cold precision she too used on her lightsaber.

Cal was quick to intervene though. Raising the palm of his hand in her direction, Cal stopped Trilla dead in her tracks while he did the same with Greez. Cal could understand both of their currents moods, at least from whatever rationality he had left. What he couldn't understand though were Trilla's childish threats and Greez's constant attempt at riling each and every one of them up. Ensuring that the twitches in his face wouldn't show his current displeasure, he took a deep breath before he uplifted his voice again.

''Both of you, that's quite enough,'' Cal said in a commanding manner ''we don't need to tear each other to shreds if we already have the Empire on our back'' he continued promptly and without wavering once.

''About that. How about a quick reminder that the Grand Inquisitor himself is out to get us?'' pushed Masana quickly into the ring as if to underline Cal's statement ere a telling glare was directed towards Trilla.

And then there was that, Cal thought darkly.

''Isn't that the root of our current problems though? You know ... the Force?'' remarked Greez in obvious distaste.

''It's also our only way out of this, currently,'' added Masana in a defusing manner, her rational and calming speech serving as a stark contrast to Greez's and Trilla's furious antics.

''She's right'' Cal answered truthfully as he started to appreciate the Dowutin's presence more and more.

Whether they liked it or not, they needed the Force. But the Force itself would bring them no assured victory. They'd need a plan.

''No matter what happened, we still need to get a ship, just as we still need to deal with the Empire. I understand that everyone is on edge, honestly, I do. As am I, obviously. But we can't tear each other apart like that. There'll time for that later.''

His words seemed to have the intended effect. Though he was still given plenty of glares, eventually everyone seemed to back off from each other, even if it was only temporary. They needed to keep a calm head now, especially with Cere down for the count. Speaking of - ignoring the emotional aspect of it for a second, Cere's wounds had a tactical repercussion as well. Cere was a gifted Jedi, one that easily managed to go toe on toe with multiple enemies as the Fortress Inquisitorius has proven. With both Merrin and Cere fighting with the others, he wouldn't have had any problem sending them on their own to get one of those fabled ancient ships. But without Cere? He trusted Merrin more than anything else but he also knew that missions like that could end in a thousand ways, most of them soley negatively. There simply were too many variables to consider and Cal honestly didn't like throwing her into the unknown like that. At least not without Cere as a backup.

''We should hatch out the details of our respective plans. Obviously, with Cere out for the count, you'll be lacking in muscles, right?'' Cal asked as he looked towards Richard's direction.

''You can say that again,'' Richard groaned as he tilted his head towards Trilla.

Cal silently thanked the Force as Trilla didn't rise to Richard's bait. He merely nodded and continued to speak.

''I must admit, I have no idea what you guys can do with a blaster,'' Cal's eyes darted between Relor and Richard ere he continued ''but I'm hoping that you won't meet much resistance. Richard, does that collector of yours have any notable security?''

''Not really. Some cheap security droids and that's it. Being friends with the Empire is enough security, even If I hate to admit it. Only a fool would target the Empire's allies.''

''That's just great'' groaned Relor as he managed to point out the irony of Richard's statement with only such few words ''but yeah, I know my way around a blaster. As you ... probably remember from Nar Shaddaa'' he added quickly in an awkward way.

Cal didn't want to think about that right now. Force or no Force, standing next to someone that actively tried to kill you was still something Cal had to get used to.

You'd think that I wouldn't mind, given who's traveling with me.

''Right,'' Cal coughed pointedly at that ''and I know Merrin's skillset. But I also know that Greez isn't much of a marksman and I hope I'm not overstepping any bounds here but Richard, you don't look like a gunslinger to me.''

''Don't worry, I'll take that as a compliment'' Richard stated in a nonchalant manner ''the days where I had to use my blaster are long gone, it's true. Fatherhood and politics usually don't mix well with gunplay, ignoring the odd exceptions, of course.''

There were a lot of things that surprised Cal about Richard. Right now, he didn't know what surprised him more, however: the fact that he used to have a blaster back in his golden days or that he just casually mentioned fatherhood.

''I ... well, alright. To sum up: Relor and Merrin are on the offensive, with you and Greez being able to jump in should the need arise. Still don't like those odds, not with the Empire around.''

He spun around and looked at both Masana and Trilla.

One of them would have to join them, there wasn't any doubt about that. And yet, whoever joined them naturally couldn't help Cal at the temple. On the one hand, you had Masana. She was the calmest one around - which was an attribute that was more than needed right about now. Masana would've been the perfect ironclad stone within a violent current if it wasn't for one thing: Cal needed her more than the other group would need her. It was Masana that was connected with this strange Force entity that seemed to claim ownership of Ordel's temple. If they were to destroy it once and for all, Cal would need her by his side.

Which meant sending the seemingly erratic Trilla with the others. Cal was well aware of the fact that Trilla was a professional, one that would put the mission before any personal squabbles when it came to it. Yet he had no idea how current situations would influence her. Cere. The holocron she found. Her new companions - wasn't it his goal to eliminate as many variables as possible? Because right it now it felt as if he was only adding to this equation of chaos. Still, what choice did he have? And just like that, Cal ushered a sentence that conjured up immediate reactions from the others:

''Alright. Trilla will help you get the ship while Masana and I will deal with the Empire.''

''What? You'll need me when you face the Grand Inquisitor!'' Trilla stated half assured of herself and half enraged by Cal's suggestion.

''Yeah. Great,'' whispered Greez without much second thought.

''I ... alright,'' groaned Relor as his wary eyes refused to left Trilla.

''She'll be useful. Thanks,'' added Richard in an honest manner that seemed to surprise both Cal and Trilla.

''Right, come on people!'' Cal clapped vigorously with his hands ''time to come up with some plans!''

Masana - Ordel, the remains of the Mantis

''You know, I've crashed a lot of parties in my life. But those people back there? Not the most vivid of crowds, eh?''

Masana and Cal entered the room opposite of Cere and Merrin. Making sure that the door to the cabin was locked firmly behind them, Masana finally decided to let go of a deafening grown that she kept inside of her for far too long.

''They are ... well. You know.''

''I get it, Kestis. One year, emotional, and so on - I got that. Still don't like the glorified daycare session going on back there. Force be damned, maybe I'm just getting too old for this.''

''Oh come on. Aren't you an eternal fountain of youth, Masana?''

At that Masana actually had to laugh out loud. She liked Kestis, she had to admit. He had a certain way with words, a tongue that not many could claim to own. Yet Masana also realized that Cal was young - too young to deal with any of that going on right outside of that door. How the Jedi could ever force children to fight in the Clone Wars was beyond her. Even if some like Cal turned out alright in the end.

Those that lived, anyway.

''Obviously. Though I'm losing quite some nerve thanks to ... anyone. Trilla. The Lateron. That human. Shit, how do you do that? Are you drunk the entire day or what?''

''They aren't so bad ... right?''

''Right,'' added Masana quickly in a way that hopefully sounded as neutral as possible.

Cal placed himself on the bunk bed as Masana leaned onto the table across of it.

''Anyways, it's going to be you and me against the Empire. You okay with that?''

Good question. Was she okay with that? She didn't doubt that they'd be able to deal with the Storm Troopers or whatever the Empire send ontop of that mountain. Even a couple of Purge Troopers would probably be nothing out of the realms of possibility, not if they were smart about it. But the fact still remained that the Grand Inquisitor was somewhere out there - and if she had to guess, he was probably in a bad mood after Trilla managed to get the upper hand against him.

''We can do this. I've got a problem, though'' at that, Masana revealed the two broken pieces of her lightsaber.

''Damn. Are the Kyber Crystals okay at least?''

''Yeah, luckily. But the rest ... I mean, if you want me to beat them to death with lifeless metal, I can do that. Not really my style though, not anymore.''

''Right. Don't worry. See, my lightsaber - '' Cal pulled it from his belt swiftly ''it's really just two of them combined into one. Worst case you'll get one half and we'll manage somehow.''

Masana had to express her admiration at that with an eager whistle. She knew that Kestis wasn't all that bad when it came to lightsaber combat - hell, she herself had to come to terms with that grim reality back on Kashyyyk. But there was a difference between knowing your way around a blade and switching combat styles on the go as Cal did. One bladed attacks, a double blade, and two blades at once - that took more than mere training. That right there was what Masana called a sure case of natural affinity.

''Tapal really taught you well, kid. With the saber, I mean. I've seen what you can do ... the way you shake up your attacks like it is nothing. Did he teach you that?''

''I ... sort of, I guess? During the war, our focus was really on the stances we'd need on a daily basis, that being Shi-Choo and of course Soresu against the droids and their weapons. From there, I winged my way through it, basically. I just do what feels right, if that makes any sense to you.''

It did. The Force was strong in Cal Kestis, stronger than the young Jedi perhaps realized.

''Well, you've got some real moves, Cal. There was a reason you won on top of that damn tree.''

Cal had to wince at Masana's mention of Kashyyk. And as she peered down at where once her right hand was, she too couldn't help but cringe slightly at the memory. It had to be rough on him, Masana thought. Depending on those that tried to kill him not even a year ago was something that could turn even the wisest of Jedi paranoid. Yet if there was something Masana learned over all the years, it was that the Force had one wicked sense of irony.

''Masana. I'm sorry. For everything, I mean. If I would've known how we'd eventually end up ... ''

''Don't. I mean it'' Masana raised her arms ''nobody is at fault here. We couldn't have known and I ... I wasn't myself back then.''

''Weren't you? What did you say ... something about losing yourself and a limb being nothing compared to that? Those aren't the words of an Inquisitor. For me, the sounded like someone that wanted to be nothing more than to be left alone by anyone, especially the Empire.''

''Maybe. I must admit before you pushed me down the tree, I was ... well, I wasn't at peace, obviously. But it made me think. I always knew that this entire Inquisitor business wouldn't last forever. Eventually, either the light or the dark would win ... and one way or another, we'd be out of a job. I was running out of time, Cal. As was Trilla. At least the two of us have been given a second chance.''

Vader and his master wouldn't tolerate any noteworthy rivals. Once the Jedi were gone what else would they've been supposed to do? There was no need for them and from the Empire's perspective, all of them were nothing but ticking timebombs. Of course, Palpatine would kill them eventually. Now though, she had a chance to walk her own path, once everything was said and done.

Am I truly free, though?

Though she hated to admit it, Trilla had a good point. Though the Force entity that saved her was of the light, she was still in her service. Why wasn't she spending the rest of her life being drunk in some sort of cantina? Shouldn't she have left Ordel by now? Maybe it was -

''You okay?''

Masana had to sigh. She could only nod as Cal held a part of his lightsaber in front of her. It was obviously thinner than every blade she used before, even during her time as a Jedi. Yet Masana could appreciate both the simplicity and the elegance it carried with, even if she had to get used to using a non-Inquisitorius issued blade again.

''Yeah. You know how it is. Always thinking, never resting. Thanks, I'll take good care of it.''

''Always, yet one question remains: how do we destroy the temple?''

She would've loved to have the entire answer to that. Yet she could only tell Cal what she knew - which wasn't much, sadly.

''I ... I'm not really sure. As I meditated, I saw flashes and images, nothing concrete. I know that we need to get into it, past the Empire and into its main chamber. There we should find some way to ... overload it? I don't know. All I know - no all I feel that more will be revealed once we get there.''

''Then we'll trust in the Force. It's going to be alright.''

Masana hoped so too. She really, really did.

Relor - Ordel, the remains of the Mantis

''And she's okay?''

''I wouldn't call it okay given duo the fact - you know - she lost both her arms but yes, she's going to be alright.''

Relor slumped back onto the floor and breathed profoundly at hearing Merrin's words. At least Cere made it through, Relor thought with some semblance of joy.

As Cal and the Dowutin left for their own room, the rest of the team decided to come up with a plan seated at what was left of the ship's former kitchen. And although Relor realized that he might be more claustrophobic than initially believed, eventually everyone found some space as they gathered around.

''And you can ... sorry, what are you going to do with the ship?'' questioned Richard as he tried to make some space for himself from Greez's army of too-close arms.

''I'm will cast a ritual of my coven to hide us from sight,'' answered Merrin truthfully.

''And that's going to work?'' added Richard quickly, throwing her a dubious glance as his words left his mouth.

''It already did once - against a place that was equally protected'' she tilted her head towards Trilla after she finished her sentence.

''Nur, right? And yet even if our visuals are distorted - what would stop the Empire from using their radars on us?'' was Trilla's only reply.

''The Mantis did ... something technological. You'd have to ask Cere about it. However, let's be realistic: if their sensors pick something up that isn't there, what would really happen?''

Relor didn't know whether he liked those odds.

''I heard that the Empire's cells weren't so bad'' quipped Greez followed by an eye-roll.

''You're right. The real suffering happens in the Imperial torture chambers.'' Trilla replied in an ice-cold way, one that was freezing enough to make Relor gulp.

This was Trilla Suduri then, Cere's former apprentice turned Imperial Jedi hunter. He didn't like her, that much didn't take much admitting from his side. The moment he met her, she did nothing else than threatening him. As one of the few people around here that wasn't gifted in the Force, Relor saw Trilla as the nutjob she visibly appeared to be. He met people like that on Nar Shaadaa, individuals that think more of themselves than they were really worth. And although their pasts were often tragic too - as Gwena had shown for example - it didn't change the fact that more often than not, they still found their way in front of Relor's scope eventually. Though not always deserving of death, Relor knew that in the end, it didn't matter how inflated your ego was: people died all the same.

And yet Cere cared for her. Though he couldn't understand why she did, Relor trusted Cere without a doubt. That didn't mean that his fingers wouldn't leave the trigger of his blaster as long as Trilla was in the same room as he, though.

''Right ... the ship?'' said Richard in a long-drawn way as he stopped the sudden silence that Trilla managed to summon.

''We get it, we leave. Sounds doable.''

''For someone that has as many muscles as you perhaps, Relor. Personally, I need something more precise'' added Greez after Relor's statement.

''It is you that'll fly us out of there. We get the ship you are most comfortable with.''

''Thanks for inviting me to a shopping trip, Merrin. You know, there is nothing more charming than hearing those words inside of the rusty remains of your old ship!'' remarked Greez with no attempt at hiding his sarcasm.

''Let's not pretend that that guy has thousands of ships at his disposal. Let's just get one big enough and leave, eh?'' said Richard before a number of nods erupted in the round.

And as everyone seemed to leave the gathering to be left with their own thoughts, Relor couldn't help but let his mind wander. It sounded easy on paper: get in, get a ship, and get out. He did worse things on Nar Shaddaa on a weekly basis. Still, somehow something inside of him seemed to do nothing more than screaming 'danger!' at him. He couldn't articulate it and yet Relor knew that something was going to happen, something that they wouldn't be able to plan for.

He really didn't like that thought.

AN:

Just something short for you to enjoy. It's mostly setting up this act's end so we've got that out of the way. And then ... I don't know yet! But we'll get there, eventually.

Right? Right.

Writer of Yore: I'm not saying that I've got things planned for Kanan/Caleb but ... maybe I do? ;) Thank you soooo much for your kind words and please enjoy the rest of the story!

I know that this is sort-of short for Tuesday's chapter. Don't worry, I'll post this act's final this week!

Is it your heart's desire to peak into madness personified? Or maybe you're just into Star Wars and general geek stuff? Well do I have a deeeal for you. Memes. ''Insightful' posts. Cal. Cal. Ca-ahl - all that and more is something that is within your very reach! Please, follow my Tumblr (link at my FF profile) and say hi!