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.
Note: IF YOU DID NOT PLAY THE GAME/BEAT THE GAME/BUY THE GAME, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! TURN BACK IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED!
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Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order: Redemption
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Chapter I
"Avenge us!" Trilla said as Vader prepared to stab her through the abdomen with his lightsaber.
Unwilling to see Cere lose her Padawan yet again and despite the injuries he sustained in their fight earlier, Cal mustered up enough strength to yank Trilla out of the way at the last second, just before the red glow of the lightsaber could pierce through her body. Momentarily stunned by what just happened, the only thing Trilla could do was stare at Cal in shock.
"Run!" he shouted, pushing her and Cere through the doorway.
Vader was hot on their trail as the trio staggered their way towards the flooded corridors of the underwater fortress. Cal could feel his breath growing faint as exhaustion neared its limit but drew strength from the Force to keep himself going. They were going to get out of the fortress and live, live and rebuild the Jedi Order so they can take on the Empire. Cere wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him run, her apprentice following behind uncertainly.
"You cannot escape this place," Vader declared as he closed in on them.
Cere grabbed Trilla's hand at that moment and looked her in the eyes.
"Protect him," she said, taking up her apprentice's lightsaber before jumping towards Vader.
The Sith Lord easily parried and knocked aside the former Jedi Master with ease, then turned his attention towards the fallen Inquisitor and Jedi fugitive.
Cal launched himself forward with his weapon in hand and parried several blows with the Sith Lord. Vader gained the upper-hand and staggered Cal backwards, then prepared to swing his saber when BD-1 hopped onto the Sith's back and proceeded to shock him. Momentarily immobilized by this, Vader grabbed the little droid with one hand, but that distraction gave Cal a chance to impale the Sith with his lightsaber. Vader saw through the attack and easily knocked him to the ground, then did the same with Trilla. With his lightsaber out of reach, Cal used the Force in a bid to call it back to his hand, only for Vader to pull in the opposite direction.
"Surrender the Holocron," Vader repeated as Cal looked at him.
"I'll never give it to you!" he said defiantly.
"We shall see," the Sith Lord merely said as he ignited the weapon, then proceeded to use the Force to impale Cal through the abdomen with it.
Cal grunted in pain as his lightsaber seared through his skin, his hands pulling on the hilt until the weapon switched off and BD-1 hopped over to where he was.
At that moment the double-bladed lightsaber of Trilla came swirling through the air as Cere reappeared from behind the Sith Lord, she slammed the weapon downward but Vader easily blocked it with one hand.
"I won't let you take those children," she hissed.
The two exchanged blow after blow, with Cere being pushed back until Vader sent her flying with a upward strike from his weapon.
"You would have made an excellent Inquisitor," Vader taunted, sensing the anger and darkness within Cere's heart.
"No! She's stronger than that!" Cal declared, realizing what Vader was trying to do.
Calling upon the Dark Side of the force for the second time in her life, Cere leaped between the trio and tried to crush Vader with the Force.
Cal's eyes widened in shock when he saw what was happening.
"No! Cere! You have a choice!" he shouted, praying she'd hear him through her anger.
"Master!" Trilla screamed.
Their combined voices broke through the veil of hate clouding Cere's mind and she gasped, staring at her hands in shock while recalling what she had just done. Vader took this chance to knock her out with a Force throw. Cal and Trilla scrambled to Cere's side and the former noticed a weakened panel of glass. He reached out through the Force and gave a pull, watching as the glass cracked to flood the entire corridor with water. With Vader distracted to prevent himself from drowning, Cal and Trilla pulled an unconscious Cere through the broken window and began swimming towards the surface.
With only one breather on hand, Cal gave it to Cere and the two tried their hardest to make it towards the surface.
The last thing Cal remembered was a figure diving down into the water to retrieve them as darkness overtook him.
Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, was not pleased with how things were turning out. When the Second Sister had contacted him in regards to the holocron containing the list of Force-sensitive children, the Sith Lord was pleased with the Inquisitor's progress. She managed to redeem herself after the failed blunder on Bracca, where she and the Ninth Sister allowed the Jedi fugitive to escape.
When he arrived at Fortress Inquisitorius, he was already expecting the Second Sister to be awaiting his arrival with holocron in hand. Instead he was greeted by the Inquisitor's defeat at the hands of said Jedi and her former Master. Anger was the only emotion he felt as he drew his lightsaber, fully prepared to cut her down for her second mistake. Yet that meddling Jedi...no...Padawan had gotten in his way once more.
Now both the Second Sister and the holocron were gone.
The Emperor was not going to be pleased by this.
"My lord, you have a incoming call from the Emperor," one of the Stormtrooper commanders said as he stalked through the corridor of his ship.
He narrowly managed to escape the flooded hallway with his life intact.
"Forgive me Master, I have failed you in this mission."
Emperor Palpatine's hologram flickered in and out of view as the Sith Lord regarded his apprentice.
"Rise my apprentice. I am not displeased with what has happened. I trust you will regain the holocron from that Padawan when the time comes. For now, I have another mission for you."
Vader breathed marginally easier upon hearing his master's voice.
Palpatine normally did not forgive easily but Vader was his personal and favorite apprentice, having turned the 'Chosen One' onto the path of the dark side many years ago.
"What are your orders my master?"
"Return to me and we will discuss this in person," was all Palpatine said before the hologram faded.
"Hey! Hey wake up kid!" Greez said, standing over Cal aboard the Mantis.
A small groan escaped Cal's lips as his eyes opened groggily.
"Where am I?..." he said.
"You're safe now," Greez told him.
"Cere! Where is she!?" Cal sat up when he remembered what transpired down on the planet.
One of Greez's hands reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
"She's fine, relax kid."
"I have to see her," he got up shakily, holding one hand over the area where he was made to stab himself with his own lightsaber.
Greez indicated towards the couch near the front of the ship and Cal shakily made his way over towards her. He was pleased to see Trilla still aboard the ship, if not still dressed in her Inquisitor outfit and looking very uncomfortably out of place.
"Trilla..."
She looked up when he called her name.
"I...I'm sorry," she finally managed to say, averting her gaze towards the floor of the ship.
Cal and Cere exchanged knowing glances.
"It's alright. I'm glad to see you're back on our side," he said.
"You don't understand. They tortured me and broke my mind! All these years I've held onto the hatred I had for...for my former master and I reveled in nothing except waiting for the chance to kill you."
Cere got up from her seat and went over to stand in front of her former apprentice.
"Trilla, I never should have left you and the Younglings during the Purge. I should have remained by your side, defending you until the last second. If I weren't so weak when I was captured by the Empire...I would have never given you up to be turned into a Inquisitor. I was weak. I was afraid. I thought I was stronger but I was wrong, and that mistake led to your capture and the Younglings killed. Forgive me, for everything that's happened.
Trilla felt the weight behind her former master's words and hearing her admit her mistakes broke through the walls of hatred she had built around her heart. Tears began flowing down her face as Trilla sank to her knees, crying in Cere's embrace. Cal sat himself down beside Merrin to give the two space, and the Nightsister turned her attention to him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.
"Better...wait, you were the one who was in the water?" he suddenly recalled, eyes widening in shock.
A nod confirmed his words.
"Thanks."
"Isn't this what friends do?"
He gave a small chuckle.
"Yea, friends."
The motion caused him to wince in pain and Merrin reached over to examine the wound.
"Does it hurt?"
"Being stabbed with a lightsaber isn't exactly painless."
Her hands glowed green as magick welled within her palms, and Merrin sent a wave of healing energy over the wound.
The pain vanished the moment her hands stopped glowing.
"Wow, that's actually pretty awesome."
"Cal."
Cere interrupted the two as the Jedi Knight looked up at his master.
"The Holocron?"
Cal retrieved the Holocron from its hiding place and activated it, watching as the list of Force-sensitive children projected itself in front of their eyes.
"The next generation of Jedi..." Cere murmured.
"A hope for the Order," Cal added.
Trilla was silent as she stared at the list.
"What are you going to do?" Cere glanced at her apprentice.
Merrin's words from a while back echoed within his mind and Cal knew what he had to do to protect the next generation. Reaching for his lightsaber hanging on his belt, Cal sliced through the Holocron with a swift, upward stroke while the others said nothing in protest.
"We'll let the Force decide their fates. As for us...let's do what we can to take down or at least, weaken the Empire enough to give the future generation a fighting chance."
"Where to?" Cere inquired.
"Back to Bogano. Maybe Cordova left more clues for us to find that'll lead us on our next path," Cal said.
The whirl and hum of a lightsaber slashed through the air as Stormtroopers fell against the weapon. Blaster fire were returned to their owners and Purge Troopers toppled one after another. The only light visible in the area was the swirl of twin lightsabers as the wielder sliced their way through an entire battalion in a bid to reach the encrypted communicator lying on the other side of the door.
"Keep firing! Don't let up!"
More barrages of blaster fire converged on their target but were instantly deflected back.
With the last Stormtrooper dead at her feet, Ahsoka Tano sheathed her sabers and took a deep breath. She ran towards the door and snatched the encrypted communicator, inserted it into her own and began to broadcast a message.
"This is Ahsoka Tano, Jedi survivor, I am currently in hiding and sending this message out to any Jedi who can hear me. I will be waiting on Lothal with allies who are fighting against the Empire. If anyone can hear this, I am waiting on Lothal with allies."
Knowing she only had once chance to broadcast the message, Ahsoka yanked the communicator out and destroyed it.
The atmosphere aboard the Mantis was strange as Trilla joined the group at the kitchen for a meal. Greez decided to whip up his favorite and serve it as a welcoming party of sorts, with Cal volunteering to help him cook.
Beep! Bo-beep, BD-1 trilled as it perched on Cal's shoulder.
"Yea it's my first time, I tried."
Boop.
"I'll try harder next time, kay buddy?"
BD-1 nodded its head and hopped off Cal's back to go sit near the cockpit.
Trilla tentatively joined the group after changing into a spare outfit Cere had lying around. Cal had to admit she looked a lot less menacing without her Inquisitor outfit on. Seeing her wear normal clothes made Trilla seem more...friendly and approachable. She took a seat beside Cal and picked at the food lying on the plate.
"What's wrong? You don't like my cooking?" Greez looked sad as he picked up his fork.
"Greez!" Cere hissed.
"What? I'm just saying..."
"No. It's just...I haven't had a meal like this in a long time," Trilla finally said.
"Don't they give you food at the fortress?" Cal inquired curiously, taking a bite of his own food.
"Yes but we were separated according to rank. I was the Second Sister so naturally I had my own place...and I always ate alone."
"Oh..."
Cere cleared her throat and changed the subject.
"Trilla, how do ranks work for...Inquisitors?"
"We all serve under the Grand Inquisitor, who answers directly to Lord Vader. My rank is already really high, but I still have to listen to the First Brother if he was around. If he wasn't, then I was the one in charge," Trilla explained.
"No wonder the Ninth Sister followed you instead of giving orders," Cal murmured.
"What happened to her? I know she was sent to either bring you back or kill you on Kashyykk, but we lost contact with her."
The ginger-haired Knight rubbed the back of his neck at that moment.
"I...ran into her atop the Origin Tree and we fought. I managed to slice her hand off but she still tried attacking me. I Force pushed her off the tree and haven't seen her since."
Trilla smirked at this.
"I'm surprised you managed to take her down, she's notorious for using her brute strength in battles."
"She's not as quick as she looks," Cal replied through another bite of steak.
BD-1 started beeping furiously upfront, drawing their attention towards the cockpit as Cal went over to check on the droid.
"Hey BD, what's wrong?"
Boop! Beep fwoo-dee!
"Really!?"
"What's he saying?" Cere called out.
"He picked up a encrypted message front one of the outer rim planets controlled by the Empire."
Beep! Boop-bo beep!
"Translation?" Greez said, crossing his four arms.
Cal grabbed the droid and rushed over to the table.
"There's a Jedi survivor out there and she's waiting for us on Lothal!"
To be continued...
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Celsius Fate~