Now that both ships were about to leave the fleet, the Ghost to join the rest of the rebel cell that they'd been a part of since Yavin IV and the Shadow Chaser to continue with Kiara's research of the purrgil, Kallus figured that he'd pull Zeb aside. He wanted to speak to him about how he'd actually moved all of his things back to the Chaser before the Imperials fired upon the two ships when they were docked together. He still couldn't figure out when the man had managed to do that without him or the others realizing what he was doing. When the rest started to head toward the hanger Kallus put a hand on the Lasat's arm to have him hang back for a few minutes.
"So, it would appear that I need to thank you for making sure that my things were returned to the Shadow Chaser."
Zeb shrugged. "We both know that's where you wanted to be. Plus, it is a little quieter there. You won't have to worry about a wailing wakeup call first thing in the morning."
"Well, there is that," Kallus chuckled.
"But," Zeb became a bit more serious as he continued, "You will need to still work on... You know. If you don't, things won't get better. Ignoring what happened... Ignoring the effects of it... It only gets better over time if you actually deal with it. If you need someone to talk to, I'll only ever be a transmission away."
Kallus swallowed hard before nodding. He understood what the man meant. He'd been trying to help him work through and get past his flashbacks.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Besides, you can't say that you'll miss me as a roommate while you'll instead be sharing the ship with Kiara," Zeb snickered.
Kallus acted as if he had to think about whom he'd rather bunk with. He enjoyed his time with Garazeb but when given the choice, there was no comparison.
"Point taken. And yes, I do prefer to be on the Shadow Chaser, and with Kiara. No offense. This has become my home, after all."
"And there is nothing that takes the place of a real home. And of course, good friends." Zeb smiled.
He understood that all too well. He'd been floundering after Lasan before he came across the crew of the Ghost. And it soon became his home, and the crew became his friends and eventually his family. And now, that family has expanded. Kiara and Kallus were both part of that family; even if they resided on another ship.
"Something that I didn't appreciate until after I left the Empire."
It was ironic, he knew now that he thought about it. When he was growing up there was little that he wanted more than a home; a place where he belonged. He had once thought that place was within the Empire. But he could see that it wasn't. It had, however, been a means to find his true home and family.
The two men caught up to the others in the hanger and clasped their hands in farewell until they would see one another again. Kallus would be joining Kiara on her search for the purrgil and Ezra. She also would continue her training with the Kwa teachings. For him, he'd decided to continue to do what he did best, read through files and find any anomalies to vet out the rest of the rebels in the various cells and factions. He could also help and assist with planning out missions, but he didn't have to be present at a base for that. Not permanently, at least. He would split his time both on the Shadow Chaser as well as going to whatever base would be most beneficial at the time.
Kallus joined Kiara in the cockpit of the Shadow Chaser and watched as the Ghost headed out toward the base that the crew would be stationed out of from now on.
"Are you sorry that you won't be going back?" Kiara asked as she saw the look on Alex's face. Like he wasn't sure when he'd see the ship or its crew again. And to be honest, he didn't. Neither did she.
"Maybe a little. But I'm sure that I'd be more sorry if I were on that ship right now, instead. So, I'm where I want to be," Kallus assured her with a smile.
Kiara returned with a smile of her own then set course toward where her research had indicated that the purrgil had likely gone when they had flown out after she was interrupted by the Ghost the last time. She couldn't exactly get out and try to talk to them like she did the last time since the force suppression bubble was still active on the ships. Still, every day that she researched the purgill offered her the opportunity to uncover a secret of their species that may eventually lead her to finding the missing member of the Ghost family. That meant that he was, by association with Kanan, her family as well.
Kanan really didn't like the fact that while on the base he and Hera had taken crew quarters instead of remaining on the Ghost but until the force suppression bubble dissipated from the ship, it was better for both he and Jacen to stay in the living quarters provided by the base, instead. The good thing about the arrangement was that he didn't have to stumble truly blind around the base. Here, he could be one with the force. While on the ship, he felt as if he was tied up tightly in a wet sack where even the air was harder to breathe.
He checked on his young son, he was starting to crawl, and he'd even caught him trying to get out of his crib the other day and made sure that he was sound asleep before he joined Hera in their bed. Perhaps another perk to not being on the ship full-time. The bunks on the ship were a tight fit, though he and Hera had always made it work. Still, the larger bed in the quarters that had been assigned to them was a bit more comfortable. Maybe he'll have to see if there was a way to alter, to upgrade, the sleeping arrangements on the Ghost.
He got comfortable and slipped off to sleep and fell into a dream-filled slumber.
"But if you intersect the trajectory with the sightings that were reported back during the Clone Wars," Kallus inputted the information into the computer and waited for the holoscreen to catch up with his latest calibration before he continued. "...it could indicate that they have a type of a weigh station nearby where the purrgil may stop off on their way to other locations in the sector."
Kiara studied the system that Alex pointed out. It was similar to the one that the Spectres first came across the animals in space. If she recalled from her conversations with the others correctly, Ezra had learned that they breathed in the gas.
"I agree. We should head there and see if we can call them from there." She tapped something onto her datapad and looked up to say something when she saw that they had a transmission coming in from the Ghost. She put it through quickly since they didn't have a transmission scheduled for the day. It couldn't be good if they were sending out a random message. She waited and saw as Kanan's image was shown on the transmitter. "Kanan? What's going on? What's wrong?"
Kallus walked closer to Kiara to wait for the other man's reply.
"I really don't know. Ordinarily, I would have ignored it. I even would tell Ezra that he couldn't take visions literally. But-" Kanan paused. "But if you had done that then we both know that I wouldn't be standing here so..."
"You had a vision? What did you see?" Kiara studied Kanan since she knew that her brother wasn't comfortable with seeking out visions and less so them coming to him of their own volition.
"It's not so much what I saw in the vision but what I felt."
"Which was?" Kiara waited as Kanan seemed to search for the right words.
"It was about Ezra. I don't think that he can find his way back on his own. And I think... I think that... everything is about to change."
Kiara exchanged a look with Alex in response to Kanan's cryptic response. How could things change? And more importantly, could they prevent it? Or even, should they try?
