AN: Sorry this is late, but the scheduled date to update coincided with Eid, the Muslim celebration of the end of our holy month of Ramadan. It pretty much means I spent a lot of time cooking and spending time with the fam. My apologies for not notifying you all in advance.

Part Five
Chapter Forty: Cal

There were times in the last five years where Ahsoka felt like her work building the Rebellion seemed fruitless. Slow going as things were, even with Vader's help, Diya's network, Barriss' outreach, and the thousands of rebellion cells, contacts, and sympathizers, it felt like she did a lot of work for little reward. And while she didn't doubt Vader's ability to destroy Sidious with his mind and heart set to it, Ahsoka sometimes questioned the necessity or the effectiveness of the Rebel Alliance. She definitely doubted its magnitude.

But after five years, she was finally seeing the work she'd put in over the years amount to something more tangible with the construction of their first consolidated Rebel Alliance base. An official headquarters.

They were still careful. Only abandoning the old protocol of keeping the cells isolated for their most stable and trusted cells while keeping the rest in the shadows until they were stronger. But now things seemed a lot more real. Now she was sure that it wouldn't be very long before they could officially wage the Emperor's war.

"It's something. Isn't it?" Bail asked, coming to stand next to her from where she was observing workers in their hanger. "To finally have something tangible after all these years of work."

"Yeah. It is," Ahsoka replied.

While she and Bail were close colleagues as it pertained to Rebellion work, Ahsoka didn't have the same personal closeness and friendship with him as she had with his wife. Mostly because her friendship with Bail had to maintain the precarious balance that came with your subordinate being your acquaintance. Part of High Command thought she was too young and too inexperienced to lead the Rebellion. Bail generally defended her and her choices, even if he would disagree with her in private. But she couldn't afford to show any weakness before him that he might inadvertently mention to those he was close to and might use it in the case against her. Not to mention, he didn't need to be accused of having a bias toward her.

"Have you decided? About Mandalore?" he asked.

Ahsoka sighed. "I'm going to see what they have to offer."

Weeks ago, insurgents on Mandalore reached out to the rebellion with what they claimed was valuable information about a top-secret Imperial project. There was always a fair amount of caution when a planet reached out to them with what they claimed was classified Imperial information, but Mandalore was a special case. A long history of civil war, regime changes, terrorist groups, and betrayal. When the Empire rose, they declared Mandalore a hostile planet. The Mandalorian civil war was brought to a swift end by the Empire's brutal newly appointed governor, forcing the Mandalorians fighters to put their differences aside and go into hiding. Lately, there had been whispers of rebellion rising again on the planet. Still, no one forgot how volatile and, frankly, wishy-washy the planet could be depending on its interests. Against the Empire today, sure. But it was possible they'd be against the rebellion in the next. Mandalore was only loyal to Mandalore.

"Rex is arranging transport for me," Ahsoka added.

"And what's your contact's opinion about all this?"

"They think I should exercise a very healthy amount of caution."

Ahsoka was severely understating Vader's opinion. He'd all but tried to forbid her to go, saying that any classified information on an Imperial project that Mandalore thought they had he could find a way to access. Ahsoka argued that was only true if it wasn't a project Palpatine was keeping secret from him.

"They don't think you should go at all," Bail said bluntly.

"Pretty much."

"Did they have any idea what Mandalore's intel might be?"

"Hard to know. They've got a lot of Imperial clearance, but the Emperor's paranoid. No telling what things they don't know."

They both watched a ship dock into the bustling hanger, a stark contrast to the supply ships that continued to come in. Ahsoka assumed it would be her transport to Mandalore.

Finally, Bail said, "I suppose what really matters is whether or not you're sure about this."

"Mandalore was the last mission the Council approved for me before everything went to hell," Ahsoka stated. "They sent a company of the 501st ahead since they were docked on Coruscant, and I was going to follow. Bo-Katan was expecting me. I told her I'd help her and her people, and I never went."

"Through no fault of your own, my young friend."

"I know. I still feel guilty that I wasn't able to help when I promised I would. I feel like I at least owe them this now that I'm in a position to go. It feels right," Ahsoka finished, sensing Rex come up behind her.

"Your transport to Mandalore's here. We're all set to leave when you're ready."

"Thanks, Rex," Ahsoka said, starting to leave.

"Ahsoka," Bail called.

Ahsoka turned back to him and raised an eye marking in askance.

"Be careful. May the Force be with you."

Ahsoka smiled. "May it be with you as well," she said before leaving with Rex. "So, who's my ride."

"A team your intelligence made contact with about a year ago. They've got a lot of experience getting in and out of Imperial entanglements," Rex said. "They were the group that infiltrated the Inquisitor base on Nur a few years back? You know about it."

Ahsoka paused mid-step at that. Knew about it? Of course, she did. That incident happened not long after she and Vader finally came to temporary agreement about their actions toward the Jedi. A small group, consisting of two Jedi, had discovered a hidden Jedi holocron of all the known Force-sensitive children in the galaxy before the Order had fallen. Vader desired to keep it out the Emperor's hands as much as he wanted to keep it out the Jedi's, who presumably wanted to begin the work of rebuilding the Jedi Order. Ahsoka, to Vader's shock, agreed. Long story short, the Jedi managed to escape Vader with the holocron after he killed the Ninth sister. She and Vader had apprehensively waited for months to hear whispers and rumors of the well-intentioned but incredibly reckless training of new Jedi and the rising of a new order. Nothing had ever come of it that they knew.

"Jedi?" Ahsoka asked evenly.

"Look. I know you've got some vendetta against the Jedi—"

"It's not a vendetta. Vader has a vendetta. I just prefer to keep my distance from them," Ahsoka cut in. Rex didn't at all look convinced.

"Regardless, it's going to be dangerous getting onto Mandalore and back out. And this group has a lot of experience doing that. If they can dodge Inquisitors for this long and escape Vader, they can definitely get us in and out of Mandalore before anyone notices you're there," Rex pointed out.

Ahsoka didn't have an argument against that as she and Rex stepped off the lift and walked into the hanger toward the newly docked ship. Standing at the bottom near the ramp were a group of five people. A young human male with reddish-brown hair with a droid sitting on his shoulder and a lightsaber attached to his belt, only just concealed by his poncho. A human female with brown skin, dark eyes, and short hair, cut and cropped just an inch or two long. A pale human woman with white hair. A Latero male. And…

"Obi-wan," Ahsoka stated.

He turned to her from where he was communicating with an excited Artoo and said, "You must have gotten rusty over the years if you didn't sense me as soon as I landed."

Surprised by his teasing, but not displeased, Ahsoka said, "Or maybe you've just gotten better at hiding yourself, old man."

He smiled a little at her and then said, "It's good to see you doing well, Ahsoka."

"Good to see you too."

And she meant that. Her initial anger at Obi-wan had long settled at the slow realization that he had been hurt by this entire mess as much as she had. Her words to him had been sincere and true, but it hadn't been fair to take her anger out on him and then ignore him. Especially so after she'd given Barriss a second chance. They had all been caught between a rock and a hard place during the war. Besides, Obi-wan had never been as outwardly and openly vocal about things as she and Anakin had been back when they were all Jedi. Outwardly, he would have pretended to stand with the Council at her trial but all the while been plotting with Padmé on how to get Ahsoka out of prison and smuggle her off the planet if worse came to worst. And he would have told Anakin at the very last minute so he wouldn't have blown the plan with his paranoia and overprotectiveness. It was the kind of duplicity that would make him a great spy if he were ever looking for a change in profession.

"Knight Ahsoka Tano," said the brown-skinned human woman.

"I apologize. But have we met before?" Ahsoka asked politely, falling easily into the role of Rebellion leader.

"No," the woman assured with a laugh. "But your reputation in the Order precedes you. About as much as your master's did."

"Yeah…" Ahsoka said a little bashful. She had become a bit of a troublemaker toward the end.

"I'm Cere. And this is Merrin, Captain Greez, and Cal," the woman said, pointing to the pale woman, the Latero, and the human male, respectively. "You already know Obi-wan." The little droid on Cal's shoulder made a series of indignant beeps that caused Cere to laugh. "And, of course, how could I forget about BD-1."

"Great to meet you and all," Greez cut in and then looked at Rex, "But you told me it would just be you and the Fulcrum. Not both of you and another Jedi. It's going to be a tight fit as it is.

"Good thing Fulcrum is me," Ahsoka said.

"You're the Fulcrum," Cal said, voicing everyone's surprise.

"Yes."

"But you're…" Cal trailed off.

"Young?" Ahsoka asked. She got that one a lot. She was younger than all of High Command, in fact, by ten years at least.

"A Jedi," Cal said as BeeDee climbed off Cal's shoulder and made his way over to Ahsoka.

"I renounced the Jedi way a long time ago. For personal reasons. You can just call me Ahsoka." She said as she knelt down to pet Beedee. "But if you insist on formalities, Fulcrum is fine. Most people just call me General." Before anyone could ask her questions about that, she stood back up with Beedee on her arm and began to make her way up the ramp to the ship. "Ready to go?" she asked, and then turned back to look at the group. "Or was there anything I can do to accommodate you before we leave?"

"Aren't you a bossy one?" Greez said as he followed behind Rex back into the ship.

"I've earned it over the years," Ahsoka replied.

"Still cocky as always. Good to know some things don't change," Obi-wan said as everyone climbed into the ship.

"But speaking of something that did change, when did you decide to get off Tatooine and rejoin the rest of the galaxy?" Ahsoka asked as she sat in the communal area of the ship.

"A very long story that involved my companions visiting Tatooine in search of kyber crystals and nearly having their ship destroyed by Jawas," Obi-wan said lightly.

"Kyber crystals on Tatooine?" Ahsoka asked. "Now, that's a story I have to hear."

"No," said Greez from the cockpit as he got them ready for takeoff. "It's really not."

Beedee made a noise of disagreement as he jumped from Ahsoka's lap and went to talk to Artoo.

"Yes," Merrin agreed with the droid, amusement flitting in her eyes despite her passive expression. "It really is. And we have a long way to Mandalore."

While Obi-wan recounted the story of how he met his new companions, Ahsoka observed him. Getting off Tatooine had definitely done him some good. He didn't seem as worn down and weary as he had when she'd visited him a little over five years ago. Less lost and with a stronger sense of direction and determination to do something rather than sit off to the side. Ahsoka wasn't sure what it was about the group he'd helped that convinced him to leave his solitude. And while she was happy about whatever it was that had, she couldn't help but be a little upset that she hadn't been able to. Then again, she'd been in just as bad a place mentally as Obi-wan had at the time. Them taking more time apart had probably been for the best.

"Well, certainly looks like you haven't lost your penchant for getting up to trouble," Ahsoka said once he was finished. Then she stood and said, "If you all will excuse me. Unfortunately, my work doesn't stop even during a hyperspace journey."

Ahsoka left the communal space and settled into a little nook in some kind of tool room at the back of the ship, getting the distinct feeling that she was the subject of conversation right now. Of course, she was. Jedi didn't just renounce the Jedi way often. Not without turning to the dark side usually.

Barely half an hour later, she heard someone come into the room and looked up in time to see Cal starting to back out the room.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't know you were in here. I just came to…" He glanced at the workbench. "Anyway… I'll leave you to your work."

"You're a mechanic?" Ahsoka asked, using the tone she used on the twins when they were afraid she might disapprove of something they were doing when she was really just curious to see what they were up to.

"Not really… I mean, I know my way around machines. I used to work in a junkyard on Bracca, but I wouldn't call myself a mechanic," Cal replied with a shrug. "I just tinker with things sometimes."

Ahsoka cracked a small smile, Cal's statement reminding her of Vader. Tinkering with things was one of the habits he hadn't abandoned from his former life, and he'd passed it down to Luke, especially, and Leia. Almost all their visits to Vader consisted of the three tinkering on some machine or another. Whether that was Artoo's maintenance ("Who are you letting maintain Artoo on a regular basis, Ahsoka? Clearly, they have no idea what they're doing. Why would they mess with the circuitry for him to use his rocket boosters?" "Artoo has rocket boosters!" "Don't let your father give you any ideas. I can ground you." "Mama, you never let us have any fun.") or modifying their juvenile speeder bikes ("Vader, they're not supposed to be that fast. They're juvenile bikes for a reason." "Juvenile for non-force-sensitive children with slow reflexes."). When they weren't with Vader, Ahsoka frequently found the twins had taken apart an electronic and modified it, mostly for harmless pranks on the Alderaanian palace staff. After they'd accidently fried the motherboard on one of her datapads in their tinkering, Ahsoka made sure to keep her important electronics well hidden from them.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Ahsoka said, "Please. Feel free to tinker. I don't mind."

"I… Thanks," Cal said as he went to the workbench.

"No need to thank me. This ship is your home. If anyone should feel like they're intruding, it's me."

She went back to looking over the specs and the reports for their new rebel base, as he tinkered with something at his desk. It wasn't very long later that she picked up on a few stray emotions coming from Cal. Confusion, wonder, curiosity. Emotions that most Force users would have barely been able to pick up with Cal's sufficient shielding. But most Force users weren't Fore empaths like she was either.

"Whatever it is, you can ask," Ahsoka stated.

Cal looked up, startled. "I don't… I mean…"

Ahsoka raised her eye marking.

"You renounced the Jedi," he stated.

"Yes."

"Why?"

There was no judgment in his tone, something Ahsoka found she appreciated a lot more than she thought she would have. She supposed she'd gotten so used to the Council's or a master's disapproval back at the temple that she assumed any Jedi would disapprove similarly of her unorthodox ways.

"After everything happened," Ahsoka began, knowing Cal would know what she meant by everything, "I realized that I had to find my own way to survive in this darker galaxy. And the path that doing that took me was not one of a Jedi."

Ahsoka then unclipped her lightsaber, showing Cal her white blade.

"The white of this blade means that I have no alliance. To either the light or the dark. I only serve the Force for the sake of the good of the galaxy," she finished explaining.

"That's an interesting outlook."

"Well, it's certainly not what they taught us at the Jedi Temple," Ahsoka replied gently. She clicked off her lightsaber and extended her lightsaber to him. "Feel it for yourself."

One moment, Cal had taken the lightsaber from her hands, and the next, he'd fallen against the workbench while holding his head as though suddenly overwhelmed.

"Cal," she asked, getting up from her nook and starting to go to him.

"I'm fine. I'm… Here," Cal said, hastily handing her back her lightsaber.

"Are you okay?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah. I just…" Cal shook his head.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes in suspicion, wondering what had come over him. She'd handed him her lightsaber and then—Kriff.

"You can use psychometry," she stated.

"Yes," he admitted simply. "I've gotten a lot better at controlling it over the years, but items with strong emotional residue still overwhelm me."

"What did you see?" Ahsoka demanded evenly.

Cal avoided her gaze.

"What. Did. You. See?"

"I saw… I saw your younglings. Your kids. How afraid you were for them when the Empire first rose and how you almost fell to the dark side," he replied.

Sensing that he was holding back, Ahsoka demanded, "What else?"

"I saw their dad. I think. You were angry with him. And afraid of him. Was he part of the GAR? Did he become an Imperial even though…?"

"Yes," Ahsoka stated simply.

"Your kids. Are they the reason you renounced the Jedi?"

"Part of it." Ahsoka hoped her agitation wasn't obvious. Finally, she said, "Cal, you can't tell anyone what you saw."

"I didn't plan to," Cal said, a sincerity coming off him that put Ahsoka at ease.

At worst, it seemed he only managed to pick up a few flashes of history that could in no way give him the complete story. He obviously hadn't seen Padmé give birth. And he hadn't recognized Anakin for the Jedi he'd been or seen that he'd fallen to the dark side. She could work with the assumptions he made from what he'd gotten.

Cal was still giving her a considering look, though.

"What?"

Cal shook his head. "Nothing," he answered before leaving the room.

Ahsoka sighed. Now she'd have to keep an eye on him.

Why couldn't anything ever be simple and straightforward?

AN: Surprise to everyone who kept asking me about Obi-wan. I told you he'd be back. And he gets a lot of screen time in this part. Also, if you're not into gaming, you don't know the people that Obi-wan hitched an adventure with. They're from Star Wars: Fallen Order. I haven't played the game, but I've watched the gameplay from beginning to end, and it's awesome both as far as gameplay and story. Cal has a great character arc, and it explores his journey to becoming a Jedi Knight without the order and despite the Order's faults which he decides they can change going forward into the future. Look it up on the star wars wiki if you're interested. Or go on youtube and watch story progression videos.

Hope you ejoyed. Review, please! I appreciate all your insights!