All credit to respective owners.
-Y.A.R.N.
Cere had been the last to accompany everyone to the run down temple despite technically being the de facto 'Jedi Master' and most experienced Jedi. Seeing Cal and Xavier both sitting still as statues, she decided it was high time she joined them and went to see what she would have to face. Having come to terms with Trilla and her own 'changed perspective' when it came to The Force, she honestly didn't know who she would see at the Temple. She closed her eyes and sat down, reaching for the force and taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyes and looked around, she saw she was on Bogano, the temple looming in the distance while she was in the middle of one of the open training areas. She carefully turned, sensing for any disturbances when a ripple in the force caught her attention.
She turned to see a Lasat dressed in the armor of most Jedi generals in the clone wars and a lightsaber at his belt she had only ever seen one other person use; she knew who he was and couldn't help but be baffled.
"Jaro Tapal?" She murmured, a bit confused as to why he was here.
"Cere Junda." He replied, dipping his head in a nod.
"How..." Cere wondered.
"This place is a nexus of The Force, at one time it was purely light, then darkness came and seeped in, forming a balance and shroud to those who reside here. The marks left by the ancient Jedi who once resided here allows for those of us who have passed to more easily reach out to the living." Jaro Tapal replied.
"Why are you here?" She asked, "Why are you not with Cal?"
Jaro Tapal shook his head, "He has already put me to rest. He knows that I am with him, no matter what path he chooses. But I wanted to speak to you about him and how recently you seem to be at odds with him. You already managed to face your guilt over your fallen padawan and cutting yourself off from the force, so this will suffice."
Cere didn't want to beat around the bush when it came to this subject, it would only waste time. She knew that the current disagreement with Cal had to do with Cal's recent attitude to The Force and how it had been more than heretical and completely unorthodox. She was fine with that, her faith in the teachings had already been shaken enough for her to admit to needing a change. The Jedi's failing had made them lose everything, so rebuilding anew to make something more wasn't impossible. But as to how it was supposed to be built was he biggest hang up, especially with Cal's newfound philosophy.
To even brush against The Dark Side of The Force...
The sheer risk...
Cere sighed at that, "You don't know how seductive The Dark Side of The Force is. Even tasting is enough to form a craving for more and more that cannot be filled, I didn't give in because I cut myself off from The Force right after."
Jaro Tapal seemed to consider that statement for a moment, "So because you tapped into it in a moment of profound loss and pain, you think Cal will embrace it? Did you cut yourself off in order to not form a craving or because you were ashamed of your failure? Do you think that he cannot reign himself in? You were afraid Cere Junda. Cal was as well. You both came back, stronger for the pain than before it. I believe the darkness only dominates if one lets it."
Cere faced Jaro Tapal with no fear, "You must be aware of the vision he had a year ago on this very planet. He fell and became an inquisitor, the very children he brought to create the next Jedi were tortured and betrayed."
Jaro Tapal didn't react beyond a calm, "Yes."
"And that didn't worry you?" Cere demanded.
"As his former master, my student's life and the lives he wants to help are of the utmost importance and greatest concern." Jaro Tapal said calmly, "If Cal ever does what you believe and fail his students, it was because my teaching was insufficient; he would emulate only what I had taught him over the years as my apprentice. When you stepped in to save him, you gave him the tools to move past his pain, that he doesn't need to let his past define him. Everyone believes that the it's a student's failing reflects the teacher, and Cal has never once fallen. Come close? Yes. Seen what he could become if he walks that path? Indeed. But he has turned his back on it every time and even more importantly, pull you back from the edge before you went too far Cere Junda. Do not let your past cloud his future, you are not him and he isn't you. Holding him to the restrictions you gave yourself is only going to cause friction because he doesn't know why you hold him to a standard that simply doesn't suit him."
Cere frowned, she hadn't ever really thought about her experiences with The Dark Side and how it affected her view (changed her perspective). She wasn't suited to the path that Cal had begun down, she was too susceptible to the draw of The Dark Side, too weak (she hated to admit that). She would never be able to harness its power without losing herself. That instinctively told her that is was too dangerous, too hard to let go of the feeling, too seductive.
"Oh Cere." A voice amusedly chuckled, "You were always so stubborn about your gut instinct and doing things as soon as you could Cere. You need to learn that impulsively following your desires and immediate reactions is only going to cause you more trouble than it usually worth."
"Master Cordova?"
She whirled to find Eno Cordova, arms tucked into his sleeves, smiling softly at her, "Hello again, Cere."
To be honest, it was a quiet and hidden thing.
It was a whisper that never reached any other's ears.
When the 501st was dispatched, no one was to know.
As the bounty hunter took of in his father's ship, no one cared to ask where.
As they spied what was their home-world and approached, no one thought any second thoughts.
The screams of the dying, the cries of the wounded, the labored breathing of warriors continuing to fight that followed was never heard.
Quiet.
All too quiet.
Kamino's rain was as heavy as ever, pounding down from the sky like an ocean falling from the sky. The sky screamed with lightning and thunder, crackling and crawling through the clouds like angular snakes to punctuate ever-present storm. Anti-troopers that had been frantically cloned to be sent out on a second frigate were the first one to be deployed, taking positions and firing at the descending onslaught. Kaminoans were sprinting through the halls as they were securing everything they could for a transport. Blaster bolts lanced through the air, painting areas in momentary flashes of red and blue. Gunships took to the skies and engaged the approaching forces, firing upon them with all gun emplacements flaring. The sky was filled with fire and explosions as they gunships desperately tried to repel the initial assault. But they were too badly outnumbered and ships slipped through the defenses to approach the city.
The Empire had finally come for Kamino, to end their insurrection they failed to hide.
Shuttles landed on the many landing pads and the 501st forces immediately poured out, taking cover behind the raised edges of the platforms that surrounded the city as anti-troopers poured out of the building to meet them. Covering the exits to prevent anyone from trying to escape, the 501st wasted no time in using the shuttles as cover and to establish rally points, firing at the anti-troopers and ducking from grenades lobbed their way. One of the 501st troopers was hit in the shoulder and cried out in pain before he spun around and pressing himself flat against edge, crouching low as he covered the wound with his free hand. A 501st brother skidded down beside him, firing at the anti-troopers while a medic hurried over, crouched low and checking him over. The stormtrooper's aim was far better and he nailed the anti-trooper in the head, retribution for his brother's attempted murder.
It was inevitable for the anti-troopers — what with them being less experienced and their only actual battle experiences happening now — that they began to give ground. The 501st — Vader's Fist — was the best of the best The Empire had to offer in terms of a fighting force or battalion. Clones that had existed and survived the Clone Wars and lived long enough to be subsumed into The Empires most prized fighters. For every stormtrooper that fell, three anti-troopers paid with their lives. And slowly the anti-troopers were being pushed back into the city, using turrets and the halls to bottleneck they attackers, hoping they could hold out and repel the attack long enough to secure escape for their makers. Hoping that if they held out long enough that they could save the still-growing baby brothers that remained in the facility from being butchered.
Then Boba Fett truly engaged in the fighting, and the end of the insurrection truly begun for the Kaminoans.
Having lived in Kamino for practically all his childhood, he remembered the layout. Every defensive placement, where the cloning centers were located, where the genetic template of his father was stored, and his old quarters. He had been at the shuttle in the beginning, pointing out the defenses of the building from memory and what he considered the weakest areas to focus their assault for the generals to relay. When it was reported that the anti-troopers had been pushed fully into the city, he quickly checked his gear one last time and entered the fray, guns drawn and ready. His jetpack roared to life and launched him towards the building, his father's westar blasters in hand, expertly shooting straggling anti-troopers that had not made it into the building.
And the 501st saw the true potential of the man they had been cloned from now being exhibited in his son (not that they had any idea who Boba Fett really was, he was just a young up and coming bounty hunter).
Regardless, Boba Fett's aim was immaculate, not a single blaster bolt was wasted, not a single movement without a purpose. Wrist rockets knocked down and seared anti-troopers flooding the hall, a breach in the defense he capitalized on. An anti-trooper moved into to try to engage Boba in melee combat, only for two blade from his gauntlets to sink into the anti-trooper's chest, slipping through his armor like a hot knife to butter. Boba twisted, using the dying trooper to block blaster bolts as he pulled out one his father's westar blasters from its holster and nailing the anti-troopers in the exposed gaps in their armor. When the body was to damaged to hold up, he withdrew the blades from the anti-troopers corpse and ducked behind a wall as blaster bolts impacted the area he just had been standing.
"Advance." He commanded, blasting a defense turret, "We need to push to the cloning labs."
The 501st pressed on and on, blasters ripping through the anti-troopers as the white tide of death rolled in.
The battle favored the 501st the longer it dragged on, anti-troopers being cut down by stormtroopers attacking. Despite the fact that anti-troopers were bred for the specific purpose of fighting The Empire, their forces were too lacking, their time alive and in service (or enslaved) to little, and their plans half-made; they may have had the potential to be a fearsome army one day, but their time was too short, their death too quick. No matter how many anti-troopers were pumped out to meet them, the 501st slaughtered their way through them. Under Boba's direction, the 501st was unstoppable and ready for all the tricks the cloners tried to spring on them. The stormtroopers breached the building and were systematically gathering all the genetic samples and splicing into the files on their computers while destroying the life support consoles keeping the maturing clones alive. Realizing the situation as it was, the rogue cloners accepted that it was only a matter of time before they would be killed if they stayed. So at the cost of their home of generations and the warriors they created, the rogue cloners began boarding a two LAAT gunships, desperate to survive.
It was an exercise in futility.
As the ships tried to rise, shock troopers that had been waiting leveled their rockets and fired at the gunships, critically damaging its engine and causing it to list to the side before another explosion sent the gunship crashing into the raging sea. The forces of the Empire were not foolish enough to expect that they could catch the Kaminoans in the city. With a clatter of armor and the priming of portable turret placements as they were secured to the edges of the surrounding platforms. Tie fighters had already set a perimeter around the cloning labs and kept the last LAAT from escaping. The gunship tried to barrage the approaching tie fighters with what weapons they had, but there were too many. As they were forced back to the cloning labs, the mounted turrets spat out streams of lasers that impacted the other gunship and the Kamioans inside knew that this was it.
No more plans.
No more tricks.
No more hope.
Just the end before it even could begin.
More and more explosions rocket the transport and at last the transports' hull could bear no more.
In an burst of flame and metal the rogue cloners were killed and Kamino was once again firmly in the grasp of The Empire once again.
This time for good.
The general which hijacked a ship full of cloned anti-troopers and genetic templates waited for the emergency beacon to the ship to finally stop before he closed the screen with a twinge of guilt and turned away. Several older soldiers of General Kota's rank watched the now guerrilla squadron running the obstacle course to train their bodies, scoring and observing. He held no pleasure in having to abandon those in need, but in war, sometimes there must be losses. The Kaminoans dug their own grave in expecting that the death of the Jedi and The Republic would be of benefit to anyone.
"So Kamino had fallen?" One of the men standing next to Kota murmured.
"It seems so."
"Should we have helped?"
"It would have changed nothing." Rahm Kota sighed, "They were arrogant to think that they could keep a conspiracy of a clone army secret on their planet. Had we gone to help them, we would've only sacrificed ourselves for nothing. "
"Yes, sir."
Time passed as it tended to.
Cal had finally raised his ability to imbue to Revan's standards after weeks of constant practicing and shattering or breaking his practice sabers, able to keep a weapon intact indefinitely. But instead of moving on, Cal then had to refine all of his previous abilities since simply getting the basics down was not enough for Revan. Cal's Shatterpoint — even when Cal practiced before in his own time — was hit and miss, only working about 60% of the time Cal used it. Revan was not satisfied to let it stay as unreliable as that if Cal intended to use it at all. Shatterpoint was an incredibly damaging move and incredibly useful tool if applied, but only if perfected. Revan didn't care that Cal didn't have a natural affinity for it or that he had trouble grasping it and was trying to do the literal opposite of Force Imbue, he drilled Cal for weeks upon weeks until Cal used Shatterpoint like he did it all his life. Revan also helped with Cal's control over his ability psychometry, making sure it didn't cause Cal to slip up unless it was truly an overwhelming amount of emotion. Cal had told Revan about all of his experiences and Revan had been especially critical of Cal freezing up when he held Trilla's lightsaber, allowing her to escape Bogano with the Holocron. Without an actual object imprinted with the emotions, they couldn't exactly practice as normal, but Revan had Cal meditate while trying to send visions into Cal's head. When he deemed Cal good enough, he had Cal work on moving meditation, as a way to heal while moving rather than falling in a healing trance. It was an especially useful skill as Cal knew that if he were caught in a battle and stopped to heal for a moment, he would definitely be hit.
Months were spent, and Cal was not the only one to grow.
Merrin's skills grew considerably, her manipulation of her magics stronger and more potent every passing day. Her abilities in The Force that lagged were smoothed over and allowed her to find her knack in a much more potent version of healing that was a mix of The Force and her night-sister magicks. She learned how to manipulate her fire into a whip that gave her a melee option should she lose her lightsaber, which is something Cal appreciated. He never wanted anyone without a way to fight and while The Force itself was always there and never left someone truly unarmed, a tangible weapon was a completely different situation. Practicing with it was difficult as lightsaber whips were uncommon enough in the history of the jedi, but Merrin managed and made her own style. It also gave the rest of the crew a chance to fight against a weapon they weren't familiar with when Merrin practiced with it.
Xavier began to grow far more comfortable with the use of The Force, no longer letting his guilt hold him back. He developed an strong affinity for cryokinesis which allowed for him to shatter walls after degrading them with cold with a sharp force push, almost like Shatterpoint but less temperature and precision. He was learning Shien with impressive speed and then worked on his Makashi skills, hoping to advance as far as he possibly could as it was a form suited to lightsaber dueling. A lightsaber duel was what he knew would eventually happen when he met his 'brother' X-1. He wasn't going to seek out any confrontation, but The Force or not, his brother would come for him sooner or later when he heard Xavier was back and working with the rebels. He wanted to be ready when that time came for him and his brother to cross blades.
Cere herself grew as she trained and honed her skills while sparring against her various students. She never brought up her disagreements with Cal after her first meditation at the Temple, something for which Cal was grateful. He didn't like fighting his allies in any way, and that included clashes on ideology and beliefs. It was hard enough for Cal to balance on this mix of Darkness and Light he was tapping into, he didn't need his master trying to stymie his efforts. She focused on her affinity to the force, meditating and learning how to better manipulate the force to reinforce her body.
A nightsister armed with a blood-red lightsaber she had taken from her master felt a ripple of light through the force, just long enough to hone in on Dantooine.
She smiled.