With his lightsabre in hand and BD-1 on his back Cal stumbled down the uneven ramp that had extended from the Mantis. The surroundings looked clear, the jungle had taken what the Imperials had left behind, a cliff face stared down at them, vines covering it completely.

"Oh no." Greez charged past Cal towards the front of the ship, the bottom of the ship's noes uncomfortably pressed against the floor. Now able to see the full extent of the damage it was hard to not notice Greez's emotional distress.

"Looks like the landing gear failed." Cal eyed the machine, he had seen this type of damage on smaller ships the Empire dropped off on Bracca, on further inspection he would almost always find a fault in the landing gear. Greez pressed one of his many hands up against the ship.

"The landing gear was fine." Cal watched the Captain stand before his ship as if a loved one had passed. "The Mantis is just not built for high speed landings."

"Can you fix it?" Cere announced herself beside Cal, her approach not catching him off guard.

"Not like this, not here." Greez had given up, to him his ship was lost and already gone.

An unwelcome feeling suddenly sat in the pit of Cal's stomach, the bright blue blade within the hilt he held ignited. With a few steps towards Greez the blaster shot was parried. The red bolt flying off into the distance, lost amongst the trees.

"Hold your fire!" Anger bellowed from the bottom of the cliff in front of them. Cal remained in a defensive stance Greez behind him, Cere having repositioned herself also within Cal's reach. Vines shifted in front of them and a face they all knew emerged. Saw's grey armour had acquired a few more scuff and scrapes since there last encounter, a fresh cut on his cheek a souvenir from his most recent battle. Cal slowly lowered his weapon, the blade only vanishing once Cal allowed it to.

"Is that anyway to treat your reinforcements?" Cere questioned in a joking manner, Cal could tell that she was hiding her annoyance well.

"If you're all I've got then this war is lost." Saw's stern expression cracked into a smile for a moment.

"We're all you need." Cal reattached his lightsabre to his belt, his dark blue poncho settling after the movement. Saw looked over his new troops, BD-1 poking his head over the top of Cal's shoulder, his head tilting to the side in an animalistic way. The battle worn commander then motioned for them to follow.

"I hope your right." Saw retraced the path back from where he had emerged, a varied number of vines draped over the rock, hiding any sign of an entrance. Greez took one last look at his crippled ship, then turning on his heels following the others. Once directly at the bottom of the ominous cliff face, Saw peeled back the vines, politely gesturing for Cal to go first. With his friends behind him and BD-1 on his back he proceeded forward. A hidden ship hanger sat behind the vines, armed forces stood either side, there guns down but eyes on them. Greez stared back, not taking kindly to his welcoming so far. Saw quickly caught up, passing Greez and Cere to walk beside Cal. The magnitude of the operation hidden behind stone, nothing short of amazing. Cal took in the sights, the busy work force not taking much notice in him as he passed.

"Are we just going to forget your people almost took my head off?" Greez narrowed his eyes on the back of Saw's head. The man looked over his shoulder down at the Latero. "These rookies are a bit too quick on the trigger." Saw explained, walking forward with purpose. "Many are simple villagers forced from there home by the Empire, having never held a weapon before."

"They almost killed me." This only frustrated him more, as if Saw was justifying his narrow escape with death.

"They didn't" Cere attempted to defuse the situation, Cal amused Infront. He was of course angered by their welcoming, imminent danger not the first thing he would have expected from allies. But Cal understood living in fear, not knowing what day would be your last, just waiting to be found. Would put anyone on edge.

"And if they did, we would not be having this conversation right now." Greez continued not excepting the seemingly casual response of his near-death experience.

"Greez." Cal turned stopping the group in the middle of the hanger, he rested a hand on his friends' shoulder.

"Did I not say that I would protect you?" Cal questioned.

"Well yeah…"

"And did I not just save your life?" He could sense the Latero calming.

"Yeah." Greez slowly replied.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." Cal slapped him on the shoulder, the group then proceeding forward.

Cal stood with his hands on his hips, the flickering hologram projecting white light onto his already pal face.

"We've had reports that this is where the Empire is unloading troops and supplies." Saw pointed at the specific area on the map, amongst the dense jungle was what appeared to be a clearing. "Our scanners have picked up a large number of ships coming and going in the last few days."

"I don't know if you've noticed but there's an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit, something that would have been nice to know." Greez stood with his back to a wall, lurking the shadows of the room.

"It arrived after we first contacted you, it would have been too much of a risk to contact you again." Saw was growing impatient with Greez's attitude.

"So, what… You just waited to see if we would survive?"

"That's enough." Cal interrupted, the fighting amongst the group not getting them anywhere.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Intel is that they've been stockpiling explosives, most likely trying to smoke us out, pick us off." Saw made the hologram zoom out, showing the vastness of the planet they were on.

"Cal, me and you will take a small team to devise the best path to the drop zone, once we've done that, we can call in the rest of the troops and overwhelm the base."

"Do you have any idea what you'll actually be facing?" Cere's concern emanated from her.

"No, our intel is limited." With two hands Saw leaned on the table in front of him. "This is why I want to lead a small team; from there I can direct the reinforcements."

"Would it not be better to first return and deliberate, formulate a plan back at base." Cere was only trying to provide insight, a stare from Saw however looked like an order to keep her mouth shut.

"We have little time; the Empire can strike any day now and we need to catch them off guard if we are to win this fight." Saw had to hold back his tongue being lectured on how to lead his fractured army not sitting well. Tension in the room was growing uncomfortably.

"Cal can I talk to you." Cere placed her hand of his arm, trying to lead him away.

"Cere, I've got this." Cal told her with confidence, the mission in his eyes no more hazardous than the last.

"Cal…" Cere attempted to reason with the young Jedi.

"I've got this." With a comforting touch he took her hand from his arm, symbolising that she needed to let him do this. Cere backed off, knowing that Cal had made up his mind.

"We head out tonight, as soon as the sun sets." Saw switched off the hologram, the lights above them flickering back on. "Be ready."

"Hey, what about the Mantis?!" Greez finally piped up as Saw made for the door.

"You'll find your ship in the hanger, we have limited equipment so make do." The door slid open with a hiss. "I have no spare hands to offer you, but I'm sure you can make do with your own." And with that comment he was gone, leaving the mismatched team alone. Cal watched as Greez went to say something, stopping himself before a word came out. With Saw gone he would be simply shouting at air.

Cal sat on his knees with his eyes closed, he had once again opened himself up to the force, he wasn't sure what he was hoping for, maybe just to simply reflect on the challenges ahead. BD-1 remained at his side, the loyal droid in front of him with curious eyes. The windowless room Cal had found himself in was small and quiet, perfect to concentrate his mind. However, Cal struggled, his mind wandering on it own. Frustration quickly overwhelmed Cal and his eyes snapped open, only then noticing his breath had quickened.

"Something troubles you." The familiar voice caught Cal off guard, he turned to find Cere leaning against the doorframe. Cal got off his knees and stood before the elder Jedi. Even though Cere had tried to deal with her past since facing their last foe and the loss of Trilla, she again had locked herself off from the force, deeming herself not yet ready to face her demons.

"Even though I've never felt closer to the force…" Cal hesitated, as if opening about his problem solidifying it as real. "I just can't focus." Cere pushed herself off the door frame standing straight. BD-1 watched them both closely, eyes switching from one to the other.

"It's him isn't it." Cere tried to meet Cal's eyes, his never leaving the ground. The dark figure had plagued Cal's mind for some time now, the darkness that he had faced shaking him to his core. He had never felt fear like it. Even when his master had died in his arms, when he was alone on Bracca, didn't compare to that fateful encounter.

"Every time I open up to the force, I see him." Cal finally looked up, a guilty look in his eye, his fear shameful to him.

"The force works in mysterious ways, if it's showing you these images it's for a reason." Cere approached Cal closing the distance between them slightly, creating a more comforting atmosphere. "Maybe like before with your master, you need to accept your emotions and the fear that you felt and that you still feel." Cal could see the wisdom in her words, however following them would be difficult.

"Fear and anger are a path to the dark side, what if it overwhelms me?" Cere offered a sympathetic smile.

"Don't let it." This produced a chuckle out of Cal, the darkroom appeared a little brighter.

"Understood." He smiled back, a new spark within his eyes.

"Come on, Saw will be moving out soon." Cal reached out with one hand, his dormant lightsaber flew to his hand from its place on the other side of the room.

"Ready."

"Careful!" Greez yelled over the loud machinery, his precious ship being transported through the hanger, the nose inches from the ground. The main wing had been lowered to its side, in its default landing position way too tall for the hanger. Cal now could see how limited the equipment really was, the Mantis clearly the largest ship to grace the hanger in a long time. Cal watched as Greez directed the engineers, using what was available to raise the front of the ship securely. The front landing gear hung limply, no support on the fractured leg. For a hanger few ships where in sight, a four simple transport ships were scattered about, a couple of battle sacred fighters at the sides, the last survivors of their battalions.

"Me and Greez will do what we can from here." Cere informed Cal, both watching as Greez sorted through his tools. BD-1 repositioned himself on Cal's back, getting a better grip.

"BD-1 look after him." Cere addressed the droid, prompting a sweet beep from the little machine.

"He always does." Cal replied truthfully, the droid having helped him more than he could have imagined. What some would see as just a machine had saved his life on several occasions. Cal could no longer see himself without the little guy.

"I'll be in contact as soon as I can." Cere then left, making her way over to the wounded Mantis, a different path awaiting Cal and his faithful droid.

Authors Notes

Hello hope all are well, another chapter that I hope you enjoyed. See you soon for the next one.