All credit to respective owners.
Okay guys, on the subject of Rebels and their inclusion in my current fic.
I only just started watching it thanks to a friend letting me use his Disney+ account. From what little research I have conducted, the series starts 14 years after the fall of The Jedi and creation of The Empire. The current timeline of this story takes place roughly 2 - 3 years after the events of Jedi Fallen Order, which in itself takes place five years after the fall of The Jedi and creation of The Empire. So a cumulative total of about 8 years, so as much as I would like to merge the two, that's not a possibility unless I do a time-skip and while the poll said I should, I would need to watch the series to make sure the story can mesh with Cal's journey. Cal and his crew will be growing immensely and trying to find their place in the universe as light-inclined force users as Cal intends to restructure The Jedi Order if he wants to start it.
P.S. There are certain timeline events I am not entirely sure on, so please forgive me if characters appear too early or late.
-Y.A.R.N.
Before they go to whatever world to see whoever The Force told Cere about, they go to Polis Massa for a small adjustment to the Mantis. While the Mercenary Star was relatively unknown to The Empire and — for all intents and purposes — wasn't a marked ship to look out for, The Mantis was definitely one ship that was on the watch list. With that in mind, they went to Polis Massa with the intent of changing the Mantis' id transponder to something else. It was entirely possible and even probable that The Empire had tracked down the Mantis' previous code and were constantly pinging for it. Jedi were to be hunted down and two together (assuming they didn't know about) were bad enough, if they found out about Merrin and Xavier thing would be way worse, especially he knew that neither Xavier or Merrin might be able the fight off the grief that would swallow them if he or Cere died.
A pit stop was risky, but a necessary step to help them survive. They had been pretty antsy while waiting for the slicer they hired to modify the code and burned energy practicing everything they could in the cramped spaces of their Mercenary Star. It wasn't like they could blast lightning or flames without someone suspecting something, but Jek had a few blades that he probably used to practice and were wonderful to keep honing their saber-play. As soon as they were exhausted with sparring, Cal would read the tome left behind by Revan in order to hone his force abilities. The only took the time to double check that there wasn't any hidden tracking codes and make a few purchases before leaving Polis Massa and heading towards the Core.
Alderaan was nowhere near safe enough to be a place where Cal wanted to go.
It was a very very VERY dangerous gamble to land there, and that wasn't including the fact that the core worlds were where The Emperor allocated a decent chunk of funds to keep 'afloat', he also had special interest in the Expansion Region because of Naboo. Still, everyone had been on edge as they cruised through space towards the plant; everyone stretched out with the force to see if they could sense anything off, but there was nothing there.
Alderaan seemed safe, but paranoia was what would keep them alive.
Then there was the name The Force told Cere.
Bail Organa.
Sure, it was the home world of Bail Organa who had been a longtime supporter of the Jedi, but could that still be true? Yes, he had been one of the politicians who had been willing to speak out against The Empire, but hating The Empire didn't mean supporting The Jedi. His political actions shortly after the fall of The Jedi had not reassured everyone that he was against the oppression of The Empire. Palpatine's machinations had set the Jedi as more or less the criminals who were trying to take over the galaxy. While many knew that was complete poodoo, it didn't mean they were willing to risk their necks out for any Jedi seeking asylum or safety. Dantooine had tried and frankly paid tenfold more than they ever should have; it hadn't escaped the Mantis' notice that while people gossiped about them, they were heavily avoided as much as possible. The Emperor had no doubt been waiting for a chance to make an example of Bail Organa and Alderaan for his public decrying of The Empire's laws.
This would be their chance if he helped them and got caught, it wasn't like The Empire didn't have a presence there.
"Are you sure about this Cere?" Cal murmured, "Leaving aside the fact that Alderaan is already an affluent enough core world, how do we know Bail is even going to help us? If he says a Jedi visited him to the wrong person, The Empire will have a fresh lead to track."
Cere nodded distractedly before turning to him with a teasing smile, "I'm sure, The Force is telling me that he will help, and you know what you always say don't you?"
Cal sighed in resigned acceptance, "Trust only in The Force…"
The first thing Cal and Cere had done — even before going to Alderaan — was find a shop for clothing that gave them a set of fairly average clothing, some cloaks — not jedi robes. — for places where they may want to hide their faces without needing makeup or reconstruction surgery. It wasn't anything too inconspicuous but it would help grease to wheels to talk to Bail without alerting anyone to who they might be. Their bounty hunter getup and their casual clothing — with the exception of Cere and Greeze — was a bit irregular for Alderaan. Even Xavier's farmer clothing and/or clone armor were also too out of place to wear normally, they needed to acquire something else. Nobody on Alderaan would be happy to see heavily armed bounty hunters strolling through the area as it was, demanding a meeting with Bail Organa in that outfit would only get them imprisoned or thrown out.
So regular clothing it was, and Cal felt unnaturally naked at the idea that having to wear normal clothing meant he couldn't parade his lightsaber on his belt like he normally did.
That problem was easily fixed as it turned out Merrin was also was a dab hand at stitching and attached a simple latch to the inside of each of their clothes so that they could store their lightsabers out of sight but still keep them on hand. It was a relief that they didn't have to leave their weapons on the Mantis (even if they were never truly unarmed with The Force and their new tricks), even if it would be properly locked down, it wouldn't do for any docking bay authority to demand a search and find lightsabers. It was even risky to carry the kyber crystals, but as they were so uncommon to find or even see nowadays and, it was possible to pass those off as simple jewels even if they were found (despite stowed it in one of the smuggling hatches that Greeze had installed for just such a reason and worked a little night-sister magic just to be safe). Any other lightsaber components were actually fairly common and unremarkable and didn't raise suspicion unless they were already assembled as a lightsaber, so they left them lying about the workbench.
Even so, meeting the docking officer was a very nerve-wracking experience as he strode towards them, data pad in hand. He wasn't a stormtrooper and didn't even seem to be an imperial officer, but any figure of authority could be a imperial in hiding, this was a planet that could be considered too outspoken, too much of a potential rallying planet for any rebel forces, too much a sanctuary. It would only make sense for The Empire to have a few plants working in the various positions of authority. Cal stepped out with BD-1 perched on his back and nodded to the officer, who gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgement.
"Are you the captain of this craft sir?"
Cal shook his head, "No, he remains inside but I can help with whatever you need."
The docking officer nodded and tapped a few times on his data pad, "Well, I do wish to inspect your craft for any… contraband. You understand don't you?"
BD-1 whistled and Cal chuckled, "Of course. Our crew doesn't have anything to hide."
Cal stepped the side and the man walked in, observing the ship, glancing at the med-bay and kitchen area as well as the various occupants before nodding to himself while jotting down some notes on his data pad. He then walked over to the Mercenary Star and blinking at the various weapons on the ship before staring at Cal and Xavier. Cal blushed as he realized that they maybe should've considered the fact that having a whole bounty hunter's ship still filled with his equipment may be a bit suspicious.
"We won the ship on a bet with a bounty hunter." Cal said, subtly waving his hand to try his hand at manipulating the officer's mind, "There is nothing wrong with the items in here."
To be honest, Cere never really went in depth with the whole 'mind trick' explanation as it was literally using your own will and overpowering the will of the person you were trying to mentally distort. Revan's book had been much more into warning the user of the unintentional accidents that could happen if the user willed too hard, pressing the importance of control while maintaining a firm grasp. So Cal pressed the suggestion, but didn't want to go to far and cause the officer to fall into a catatonic state with his mind shattered. The mental arts required finesse and an even temper so that you didn't go too far and dig too deep into someone's psyche, he had heard the rumors of what Jerserra had done to the man who had a speeder.
He needed to make sure that never happened.
The man's eyes glazed over and he tonelessly repeated, "You won the ship on a bet with a bounty hunter. There is nothing wrong with the items in here."
Sometimes though, Cal couldn't help but love what he had been taught by all of his various masters.
"Is there anything else?" Cal inquired as he and Xavier stepped out of the craft following the docking officer.
"No, not at all." The officer replied, "Just pay the standard docking fee and everything should be in order."
Cal pulled out the required amount and handed them to the man who smiled warmly and swept a hand out to the gates that led to the city, "Welcome to Alderaan."
Honestly this was a new experience for Cal as they wandered the streets that were bustling with life a planet and its inhabitants.
He had never really had the chance over the course of his life to be at a place where people just… lived and went about their lives and interact as a normal person. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant was full of Jedi, but knowing what he did now, with his own views having shifted into the philosophy, it wasn't the same. The ship he had traveled on while his master had been teaching him over the course of The Clone Wars was just that. A ship that echoed with the various noise of machines and of clones checking various things but not really living and just working. Bracca was closer as aside from the scrapping going on all the time, there were a few moments where he had drinks with Prauf or other scrappers who joined them or went shopping for equipment to make his job easier. Cal had always been on edge though, stormtroopers causing him to twitch and slow the hammering of his heart (and the dull and muffled roar of The Force trying to protect him). His travels hadn't allowed for him to get much of the culture of each and every planet as he was usually chased off by the inquisitors and The Empire — not that he visited any of the planets really had a culture aside from Dathomir and he didn't want to stay for obvious reasons — that also didn't include the fact he was on a time-sensitive mission to restore The Jedi Order.
But now?
He took it all in.
The general buzz of the people.
The shouts and haggling of various merchants and buyers.
Children running around and playing with others or harassing their parents who watched over them.
It was so much more than noise.
It was the heartbeat of a planet that was full of people simply living.
It was amazing.
It was life.
Cal couldn't help but smile at a small glimpse of the world that existed almost as if the war never happened and The Jedi Order hadn't been decimated. It was almost like Dantooine in a way as a world that existed as it usually did despite the wars and oppression that raged through the galaxy.
By The Force, why would anyone want to take all this away? What could be worth the loss of people simply living and the obvious contentment of a populace. Cal frowned at the palace that loomed in the distance, a uneasy feeling in his stomach as he considered going. He didn't want this small piece of life without worry to be lost to The Empire's war machine, razed to a dead world. It would be an unmitigated tragedy to lose so many after so much had already been lost, everyone deserved to live when they carved out an honest living. It wasn't like there wasn't any crime, no world was perfect, but people did the best they could under the circumstances they had.
While they all moved to disembark, Greeze decided to browse the nearby shops to see if there was anything they could use for the Mantis while the rest of the group all went to see how to talk to Bail Organa. Which brought up exactly how they were going to talk to him, they probably couldn't just waltz into the palace and demand a audience with him. They probably would have to mind trick an inordinate amount of guards and that left a bad test in Cal's mouth as that wouldn't exactly make their case more appealing to the senator.
Cal wished sometimes he had been more extensive in his sensitivity to The Force, his power in The Force had been grown more powerful and it reflected in his abilities, but Cere and Merrin had always more into the spiritual part of The Force. Cere had turned her time spent away — one of her longest times of doubt and self-loathing — from The Force as a way to see The Force from a new perspective and deepen her connection once it was restored while Merrin's night-sister training had always been able to tap into The Force and her Jedi training only supplementing and augmenting it.
He was still figuring out the balance of the light and darkness he want
Cal sighed, "I really hope we don't end in prison over this. Once was more than enough for me."
Either way, The Force was urging him on, telling the palace was a good place to go, that he should speak with Senator Organa. Cal sighed at the sheer amount of people he would probably have to mind trick to get anywhere on that front.
Oh well.
Bail Organa was speaking to his contact in the rebellion who he had just sat down with when the he was interrupted by the beeping of his commlink.
He frowned and pulled the device up to his mouth, "I thought I was no to be interrupted while I was in this meeting?"
"Tell him a Jedi wishes to speak to him." A unfamiliar voice ordered.
"A Jedi wishes to speak to you." Hs guard ordered dully.
Bail Organa's eyes widened as he realized what that was.
He made to walk out of the room to confirm it for himself, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him cold. He would've shrugged the hand off, but he realized it was a bit too rash to just go out there and hope for the best. He turned to the cloaked figure who was holding him back.
"It could be a trap. Let me go first to make sure they aren't Sith Assassins or a Dark-sider and order them to the atrium of your building." His contact cautioned.
He nodded and raised his commlink to his mouth.
Cal was let to by the guard to a large open room where the blue sky was visible and the sounds of the city had been completely muted. The guard left and Cal's instincts immediately had him scanning the area with The Force, his hand already holding his lightsaber hilt as he tensed. His team all shifted into ready stances as they all looked around, The Force whispering warnings in their ears. Cere had noticed the danger as her sensitivity to The Force had her head swiveled to where a cloaked figure sprinted out of the shadows, hand outstretched in a shoving motion. Cal and his companions braced themselves but almost all of them were knocked off their feet onto their backs as the wave crashed against them. Cere skidded back and her blade burst to life as she got into her stance and began running at the figure. The figure's hand dropped to their waist as they pulled two slightly curved saber hilts from their side and ignited them in a flash of white. Two pure white blades crossed as they crashed against Cere's saber, scattering sparks as the figure met Cere's charge. The force of their meeting causing the hood to slide off the figure's head and their cloak to flutter the ground to expose them.
A torguta female's — reminding Cal all too well of Shaak Ti — mouth was set in a thin frown as she and Cere pressed against each other, lightsabers crackling.
"Ahsoka Tano?" Cere muttered in shock, "You survived?"