Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, in this chapter we will conclude the finale. And after this chapter, we will get into my original plotline.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 11- Rescue
Calvin continues checking over the systems as the Lambda class shuttle is nearing the end of its hyperspace run. Boba is following close behind in the Slave I.
"Just a few minutes until the end of our hyperspace run," Calvin says.
"Moff Gideon is mine. Got it?" Bo-Katan says to remind everyone.
"He's ex-ISB. He's got a lot of information. I need him alive," Cara says.
"I don't care what happens to him as long as he surrenders to me," Bo-Katan says.
Boba calls over the commlink. "Prepare to exit hyperspace," he says.
"Copy that. Get the hell out of there as soon as they clear us to dock. And your shots have to look convincing, Fett," Calvin responds.
"Power up those shields, Adams. I'll put on a good show," Boba replies.
"Watch out for their laser cannons," Calvin warns.
"Don't worry about me. Just be careful in there," Boba says.
Bo-Katan, acting as copilot, says, "Exiting hyperspace in three, two, one." She then pulls back on the hyperspace throttle, and the shuttle drops out of hyperspace. Moments later, Slave I drops out of hyperspace behind them, and Boba starts firing at them.
Calvin flies the shuttle towards the cruiser up ahead. As he approaches, he contacts the cruiser and says, "This is Lambda shuttle 2743. Requesting emergency docking." When he doesn't get an immediate answer, he calls out again, "Repeat, requesting emergency docking. We are under attack."
A female controller finally responds, "Copy, Lambda shuttle. Request received." However, only a few seconds later, she calls again and says, "Stay clear of launch tube. Deploying fighter squadron."
Everyone looks at each other, realizing their plan is already not going to plan, and knowing this is going to make it more difficult for Boba. Within just moments, they see the first TIE fighter flying out of the ship, followed about ten seconds later by another.
Calvin holds his course, heading straight for the launch tube. As he gets closer, the female controller comes back on the commlink, saying, "Request denied! Please clear launch tube until fighters deploy!"
"Negative! We cannot wait! We under attack and our engines are failing! We must dock immediately!" Calvin responds, hoping this will sound convincing.
Calvin holds course as the first two fighters pull in behind Slave I and start firing. Boba keeps pursuing them until they are almost to the launch tube before he finally pulls away. Calvin folds up the wings, holding the shuttle steady as he flies right up the launch tube and into the hangar.
Outside, Boba flies over the ship, avoiding laser fire and destroying the two TIEs on his tail before jumping to hyperspace.
Inside the shuttle, Calvin lowers the boarding ramp. He quickly readies his HK416, loading a grenade into the attached grenade launcher.
Outside stormtroopers start yelling for them to get the shuttle out of the launch tube. However, as two stormtroopers rush up, Calvin whips out his P226 pistol and dispatches each of them with a single shot. He then holsters his pistol and charges out of the shuttle, HK416 raised. The four women follow close behind as Calvin starts firing, sticking to 3 round bursts, killing a stormtrooper with every burst. As he and the four women take out most of the stormtroopers in sight, Calvin switches to the grenade launcher and fires the grenade at one of the waiting TIEs, destroying the cockpit.
Calvin and the four women quickly separate. Calvin heads for a lift to take him to the upper decks while the four women head down a corridor.
As Calvin rides up the lift, he replaces the now empty 30 round magazine with another magazine, and then loads an M576 grenade into his grenade launcher. He then raises it, ready to fire as soon as the lift doors open.
The lift dings, and then the doors open. Immediately, Calvin sees two stormtroopers on the other side, and he guns them down instantly with two 3-round bursts.
Calvin moves swiftly past their bodies, heading down the hallway. About 6 more stormtroopers start heading towards him down the hallway, but he quickly fires his grenade launcher. The grenade bursts apart, the pellets inside shooting out in all directions and killing the stormtroopers. Calvin then pulls out a normal grenade, pulls the pin, and hurls it down the hallway. It explodes almost at the other end of the hallway, Calvin hoping that the explosion will draw attention to him.
The idea works. Within seconds, a number of stormtroopers rush in from other hallways. Calvin takes cover behind a protrusion from the wall, firing his carbine at the approaching stormtroopers. He empties his magazine, killing eight stormtroopers before his magazine empties. Seeing three more stormtroopers rushing down the hallway towards him, he slings his HK416 onto his back and draws his lightsabers. Stepping out of cover, he ignites his lightsabers and stabs one of them through the heart of one of the stormtroopers. He quickly pulls his saber back out before kicking the body to the ground and slashing his sabers upwards in an X, carving up the front of another stormtrooper. As that trooper's body falls, Calvin lunges forwards and beheads the last stormtrooper.
Calvin stalks towards the lift, lightsabers held at his side, but at the ready. As he reaches the lift, it opens, revealing four stormtroopers inside. With two fluid slashes, he cuts two of them in half, then stabs his sabers through the chests of the other two. Calvin then steps into the lift and presses a button to take him up, stowing his lightsabers away as he does so.
The lift reaches the top of its ascent seconds later and the doors open. Hearing stormtroopers' voices, he dashes in that direction, removing his HK416 from his back and loading a new magazine into the carbine.
Calvin rounds a corner, and finds himself face to face with at least ten stormtroopers. Calvin fires his HK416, squeezing off a twelve round burst as he swings it from side to side, gunning down three stormtroopers. He then ducks back for cover, popping back out to fire two three round bursts, killing two troopers.
Then, the lift near him opens, revealing Cara, Fennec, Koska, and Bo-Katan. Cara starts firing her repeating blaster as the other three fan out, firing their blasters as well. They quickly gun down the remaining stormtroopers in the hallway.
"Let's move," Calvin says. He returns his HK416 to his belt and redraws his lightsabers, not wanting to risk his bullets breaking a window on the bridge.
Calvin ignites his sabers as he leads the charge onto the bridge. Calvin cuts down the two stormtroopers just inside the entrance as the four women fan out, firing their blasters at anyone who shoots back, which is everyone. Within moments, everyone on the bridge is dead.
Koska walks over to a console and pull something out of it. "Weapons are disabled," she calls out.
Bo-Katan looks around the bridge for a moment before she says, with a bit of apprehension, "Where's Gideon?"
Calvin is quiet for a few moments before he says, "I'm gonna go meet Djarin at the brig. Make sure he's okay."
Calvin dashes out of the bridge, heading straight for the lift. He presses the button and waits impatiently for the doors to open. As soon as he enters the lift and the doors close, he presses the button corresponding to the floor that he knows the brig is on.
After a minute, the lift comes to a stop and the doors open. Calvin ignites his lightsaber as he walks out of the lift, heading in the direction of the brig.
However, as Calvin finally rounds the corner to reach the brig, he sees something he wasn't sure he was expecting. Gideon, with his hands bound, and Din leading him while carrying Grogu. As he watches, Din crouches down and picks up the Darksaber.
"You beat him?" Calvin asks.
"Yes, he did," Gideon says. He's trying to sound frustrated, but Calvin thinks he can hear a tone of satisfaction mixed in there.
Calvin looks at Din as he deactivates his lightsabers and returns them to his belt. "Are you alright?" he asks.
"I'm fine," Din replies.
Calvin is quiet for a few moments before saying, "We'd better get back to the bridge." Din nods in response, and the two head for the lift, yet some doubt continues to nag at Calvin.
They enter the lift and take it up to the bridge. Exiting the lift, Calvin leads Din and Gideon onto the bridge, Din still holding the glowing Darksaber.
As they enter the bridge, Bo-Katan turns to them. She looks at Din and Gideon and asks, "What happened?"
"He brought him in alive, that's what happened," Cara says triumphantly as she walks over to Din. She smiles at Grogu as she says, "And now the New Republic is gonna have to double the payment."
"That's not what she's talking about," Gideon says. He looks at Bo-Katan and says, "Why don't you kill him now and take it?"
Cara pushes Gideon to the ground, while Calvin looks from Gideon to Bo-Katan. This is what he was afraid of when he saw Din holding the Darksaber. Of course, it couldn't be helped, but this is going to introduce conflict into their little team.
Gideon smirks at Din and says, "It's yours now."
"What is?" Din asks, confused.
"The Darksaber. It belongs to you," Gideon says.
After a second, Din deactivates the Darksaber and walks up to Bo-Katan, holding out the hilt. "Now, it belongs to her."
"She can't take it. It must be won in battle. In order for her to wield the Darksaber again, she would need to defeat you in combat," Gideon says.
"I yield. It's yours," Din says.
"Oh, no," Gideon says with a chuckle, "It doesn't work that way. The Darksaber doesn't have power. The story does. Without that blade, she's a pretender to the throne."
Calvin kicks Gideon in the stomach as he says, "Oh, shut up." Gideon falls to his knees, clutching his stomach and trying to get his breath back. He then turns to Bo-Katan, looking at her sternly, and says, "I know what your goal was here, Bo, but if you try and kill him, we're gonna have a problem." As he finishes, he lays his right hand on one of his sabers to prove a point.
Bo-Katan looks back at him. It's clear she's struggling with what to do, wanting the Darksaber, but knowing he's rightfully won it, and also not wanting to piss off Calvin. However, before she can say anything further, one of the nearby consoles starts beeping warningly.
Everyone turns towards the sound, and Fennec goes to investigate. As she does, Gideon looks around and says, "Well, perhaps she'll get another crack at it."
"The ray shields have been breached. We're being boarded," Fennec says.
"How many life forms?" Bo-Katan asks.
Fennec looks towards Bo-Katan. A chill settles on Calvin as he knows what is coming, right before Fennec says, "None."
"They're back," Calvin mutters.
Gideon looks very satisfied. "You're about to face off with the dark troopers. You had your hands full with one. Let's see how well you do against a platoon," he says.
Calvin walks over to a video screen, watching as more and more dark troopers come in. There's even more than he though. At last 50.
"They're headed this way," Bo-Katan calls out, monitoring another video screen.
Cara throws Gideon to the ground as she walks over Calvin. He looks at her and says, "We're in trouble. Only Djarin and I have weapons that can really hurt them, and I don't know if the two of us will be enough. I'm good, but I'm not a Jedi. I can't block blaster bolts that well."
Calvin watches as about 20 dark troopers march towards the entrance to the bridge. He looks over to Koska and says, "Seal the blast doors!" Koska quickly does so.
Everyone can her the faint sounds of the dark troopers marching outside. Koska looks towards the door and says, "They're here."
Fennec picks up a new, heavier weapon from a fallen stormtrooper. Bo-Katan and Koska pull out their blasters as Cara hefts hers. Din readies himself with his spear as Calvin draws and ignites his lightsabers.
Then, they hear loud bangs. Like metal hitting metal. Then, they hear it again, and again. Calvin quickly realizes that it's the sound of the dark troopers trying to punch their way in.
"You have an impressive fireteam protecting you. But I think we all know, after a valiant stand, everyone in this room, even you, Adams," Gideon says, glancing at Calvin, "Will be dead…except me, and the child."
Everyone refocuses their attention on the doors. They can hear the dark troopers continuing to punch through the doors. Everyone readies themselves, ready to fend off the dark troopers once they get through the doors.
Calvin glares intently at the doors, shifting and tightening his grip on his sabers, determined to fight until one of the dark troopers kills him.
Then, an alarm starts to go off. Everyone looks around, and outside the window, they see an X-Wing flying past the bridge. However, to their greater surprise, an Su-38, an advanced variant of the Su-36, is flying off the X-Wing's right wing. Then, right as they fly past, a shuttle flies past after them.
"What's that?" Fennec asks in reference to the shuttle.
Calvin grins broadly. "That is an MC-58 Wraith stealth shuttle," he says.
"What's one doing here following those two fighters?" Cara wonders out loud.
Everyone is quiet, with those who can looking at the video feeds being shown on some of the consoles. They see the two fighters fly into the hangar, followed by the shuttle. "I think we're gonna be okay, guys," Calvin says with a wide grin.
Right then, the sounds of the dark troopers punching the door stop. Glancing to the side, Calvin sees a look of concern on Gideon's face.
Right then, Bo-Katan sees something on one of the feeds she's watching. Two cloaked and robed figures walking side by side up the hallway shown. On either side of them are four individuals dressed in Mandalorian armor, eight in total, each carrying an HK416 as they shuffle forward with their robed companions.
Bo-Katan begins to feel a sense of recognition. Then, on another feed, she sees the two robed figures come around a corner, now with lightsabers drawn, taking out several dark troopers. Two of the men in Mandalorian armor race out after them, firing their weapons at another dark trooper and destroying its head.
"Jedi?" she wonders out loud, drawing Din's attention.
Calvin now sees them coming onto one of the screens he is watching. He smiles as he watches one of the men in Mandalorian armor lean over and fire a rocket from his jetpack at one of the dark troopers, destroying it. Another of them destroys one's head with his HK416.
One of the men in Mandalorian armor gets into clearer view, and Calvin's suspicions are confirmed. The markings on the suit are those of the Zulu Force. He also recognizes that they must have suspected that there might be dark troopers, because they came equipped with the necessary ammunition for their carbines. Near the end of the Galactic Civil War, when the third generation dark troopers were first created, the Alliance knew they had to find a way to destroy them besides just using lightsabers or powerful explosives. They discovered, by experimenting on a captured trooper, that while the armor of the dark troopers was extremely tough, it could be penetrated by depleted uranium rounds. So, the Alliance began manufacturing small numbers of depleted uranium rounds for the M4 and HK416. Production was shut down after the war ended, but the stockpiles were kept intact.
Calvin now watches as the two Jedi stride into a large cargo area, accompanied by the eight Zulus. Both Jedi swing their lightsabers around smoothly, blocking blaster fire and cutting down dark troopers as the Zulus destroy even more with their rockets and depleted uranium bullets. The ten of them advance through the cargo area, destroying every dark trooper in their path.
As they start to leave the cargo area, Calvin suddenly sees movement. Turning to the side, he sees Gideon now on his feet. Before he can do anything, he fires multiple shots from a blaster he must've had on him, hitting Bo-Katan multiple times and knocking her down. He then turns the blaster towards Grogu, but Din jumps in front of him, taking the bolts and protecting Grogu.
"Drop it!" Cara demands. Gideon glances from side to side, then puts the blaster under his chin, ready to kill himself, before Cara knocks it out of his hand and knocks him out.
Calvin looks at Gideon before looking back at the screen. He sees the Jedi destroy the last dark troopers on their level and enter the lift along with six Zulus. The remaining two Zulus stay behind to guard that entrance to the lift.
Outside, the dark troopers turn to face the lift, ready to engage anyone who comes out of it. Calvin watches a screen showing the lift. For several moments, there is nothing.
Then, the lift opens. Immediately, a burst of fire from the Zulus flies out, destroying the first two dark troopers. Then, the Jedi step out, lightsabers ready, and began to cut down the dark troopers one after the other while blocking their blaster bolts. The Zulus fire when they can, destroying two more dark troopers.
Finally, there's only one dark trooper left. After cutting down the second to last one, one of the Jedi reaches out and crushes the droid using the Force. The two Jedi and the Zulus look around at the destroyed troopers before walking over to the doors leading to the bridge.
Everyone is quiet for a few moments before Din says, "Open the doors."
"Are you crazy?" Fennec asks.
"Open the doors. It's okay," Calvin says.
Koska walks over to a console and presses a button to open the doors. The doors open, letting in some mist. The two Jedi walk in, their green lightsabers glowing bright. The six Zulus race in on either side of them, weapons ready, but stop and lower their weapons when they see who's on the bridge. Calvin can tell from the flags and individual markings on their armor that Lieutenant Colonel Alsakan and Colonel Lawrence are among them.
Calvin faces both Jedi, who deactivate their sabers and return them to their belts. Both of them then reach up and pull back their hoods, revealing themselves to be Luke and Kelly.
There is silence for a moment before Calvin smiles and walks towards them. "Hey, sis," he says, bring Kelly into a hug. Kelly smiles as she embraces her older brother.
"We got your message," she says.
"I assumed," Calvin says as he pulls back. He then looks at Luke and says, "Good to see you, Luke."
"You too, Calvin," Luke says.
Calvin turns to face everyone else, but focuses his attention on Din. "Din Djarin, this is my sister, Kelly Adams Skywalker, and her husband, Luke Skywalker. They're both Jedi," he says.
Din looks at both of them. They look back at Din before Luke looks over at Grogu and extends his hand. "Come, little one," he says.
Grogu doesn't move, looking between Din and the two Jedi. After a few moments, Din says, "He doesn't want to go with you."
"He does. But he wants your permission first," Kelly says in an understand tone, "He is very strong with the Force, but talent without training is nothing." She pauses, then says, "I promise you, my husband and I will do everything in our power to protect the child, but he must master his abilities if he ever wants to be safe."
"He will be safe, Djarin. I trust these two with my life, and we all have many powerful friends, some of whom are already here," Calvin says, gesturing to the six Zulus, "who will make sure Grogu is safe."
Din is motionless for a moment before he slowly walks over and picks up Grogu. Turning back to them, but still looking at Grogu, he says to Grogu, "Go on, now. That's who you belong with. He's one of your kind. I'll see you again. I promise."
Grogu reaches up and touches Din's helmet. Then, to Calvin's surprise, Din reaches up and takes his helmet off, revealing his face to Grogu. Personally, Calvin is surprised, both at the move and that Din is not what he imagined, but he keeps quiet and calm.
After a moment, Din says softly, "All right, pal. It's time to go. Don't be afraid." He then sets Grogu down. He starts to look at Luke and Kelly, but looks down when he feels Grogu grab his leg.
Then, Calvin hears a familiar beeping. He looks behind him and grins as he sees R2 roll up. Grogu turns to look at R2 and walks over to him. R2 beeps excitedly, rocking back and forth.
Luke and Kelly look up at Din, and nod at him, which Din returns. Kelly then leans down and gently picks up Grogu, holding him gently as she's held her nieces and nephew in years past. Luke then looks at Din and says, "May the Force be with you."
Calvin turns to Kelly. He pulls her into a one armed hug, saying, "I'm gonna stay with these guys and help them. You take good care of this kid. And send me updates so I can tell Djarin. I'm sure I'll bring him by to see the kid once we're done."
Kelly smiles. "I'll care for him as if he was my own," she says.
"And hopefully, you'll have one of your own soon enough," Calvin says with a grin. She rolls her eyes, but smiles back. She then turns and takes Luke's hand with her free one, and together the couple turn and walk back towards the lift, followed by R2. The Zulus follow them, each one saluting Calvin as they go, even those that technically outrank him. The Zulus follow Luke and Kelly back to the lift as Calvin walks over to Din. Together, they watch as all of them walk to the lift. The eight of them turn and look back at them for a moment before the lift closes.
Everyone stands there in silence for a moment before Calvin reaches up and places a hand on Din's shoulder. "You'll see him again, mark my words. I'll make sure of it. And when you do, you'll be proud of his progress," Calvin says.
Din just nods in response, and the two of them just stand there in silence, wondering what the future will bring.
And, I'll end there. Hope you guys liked this chapter and how I did it.
So, yes, I decided to stick with Din winning the Darksaber. He'll hold onto it for at least a little bit. However, I'm still not 100 percent decided on what to do with that part of the story.
For those wondering, the Su-38 is just an advanced version of the su-36, kind of like the Su-35 is for the Su-27. Basically, the Su-38 has more advanced avionics, a better hyperdrive, thrust vectoring, and a better ordnance capacity.
I hope you liked how I did the real rescue, aka, the team being saved from the dark troopers. I obviously decided to have Kelly accompany Luke. I decided to add in the Zulus for a little extra flair. For those wondering about them using depleted uranium rounds to destroy the troopers, there are no handheld weapons that use depleted uranium rounds, but it's incredibly good at armor penetration because it is both incendiary and self-sharpening, meaning that when the round hits something armored and the nose of the round starts to crack apart, it does so in a way that the remaining round stays sharp, which is unique among metals used for ammunition. I decided to feature depleted uranium rounds as a special ops exclusive way to deal with heavily armored targets like the dark troopers.
And so, we have come to the end of Season 2. Next chapter we will get into my original plotline, which will pick up almost immediately after the end of this chapter. Until it is up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!