Chapter 30: Contact
The ship's intercom crackles to life and Greez's voice comes through, "Cal, get up here. We're getting an encrypted message." Cal and Ilyana quickly head to the front of the ship where Cere greets them from the holotable.
"It's the contact we were waiting for," she says to them as they approach, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," says Cal and Cere opens the transmission but Ilyana steps back, purposefully staying out of view. The holotable flickers to life and Cere gasps with surprise. Projecting in the holodisplay above the table is a Kiffar man with long thick locks of dark hair and a tattoo beneath his eyes and across the bridge of his nose.
"Quinlan!" Cere exclaims and everyone in the room looks at her curiously, "I didn't know you were still alive!"
"Cere Junda! It's good to see you too," the man responds jovially, "I hear you could use some help."
"Yes," says Cere, shaking off her surprise. "We have a young girl here and her mother who need to escape the Empire. We've been told you could help them disappear."
"Well, you've come to the right place! That's what I do."
"Wait, who are you?" asks Cal.
"He's an old friend. I'll explain," Cere answers with a smile. For once it feels like something might go right.
"Where are you now?" asks Quinlan.
"We're on Daiyu," Cal answers cautiously, purposefully keeping his response vague.
"Understood," says Quinlan, catching the suspicion in Cal's voice, "No need to say more. I operate a safehouse on Daiyu. From there I can get them passage off-world and help them disappear. We can meet at a neutral location."
"This is Cal," says Cere gesturing towards him, "He will bring the girl to you."
"Great! I'm sending you an encrypted message with the time and coordinates for the meeting. Come alone." Quinlan's expression becomes more serious. "If anyone else comes with you I will leave without the girl. No questions asked."
Merrin throws Cal and Cere a worried look.
"Understood," says Cere and the transmission shuts off.
"Who is that person?" Merrin asks immediately. "Can we trust him?"
"He seemed familiar but I don't know how," Cal says to Cere.
"Yes, we can trust him," Cere says to Merrin then turns to Cal, "He's a Jedi."
Cal's expression immediately changes to a mix of surprise and joy. "Really?"
"Yes!" she answers with a smile, "His name is Quinlan Vos, I met him once during the Clone Wars. I didn't know he survived the purge. He is a… well, an unusual Jedi but he can be trusted.
"You didn't tell him Cal is a Jedi," Ilyana observes.
"It's probably for the best that as few people know that as possible," Cere explains.
"We're receiving data," Greez calls from the cockpit. "Looks like the meeting is set for tonight, two hours from now."
"Where is the location?" asks Merrin.
"I'm sending it to the holotable now," says Greez, before joining the others at the holotable. Cere brings up a map of the city and loads the coordinates.
"It looks like the shipping yards at the edge of town," she says.
"I do not like the idea of you going alone," Merrin says to Cal.
"Neither do I," says Ilyana, "It could be a trap."
"I trust Quinlan," Cere insists.
"We told him I'd go alone," Cal says to Merrin and Ilyana. "We can't risk losing the chance of getting Adia and her mother to safety."
"No we can't," Cere agrees.
"There is a way for you to go alone but not alone," says Ilyana. The others give her a confused look so she points at the holomap, "I will be in this tower here where I can provide cover fire or call Merrin for backup."
"Yes," Merrin nods in agreement, "with my Magick, I can get there quickly should you need me. We are a team, Cal. You won't be alone."
Cal gives Ilyana an unconvinced look.
"It's far enough away," she insists. "He won't know I'm there. You will be alone but not alone."
"Cere?" Cal asks to see what she thinks of this plan.
"It's risky. The meeting is in two hours which means he must already be on the planet. He could have lookouts throughout the city by now. He could even have one in that tower," she answers.
"All the more reason I should be there instead," says Ilyana.
"If they insist," Cere concedes with a wave of her hand.
"Okay," says Cal, "I'll let our guests know the plan."
"Oh, Greez," says Ilyana and tosses him a coupler from across the table.
"What's this for?" he asks.
"I owed you one," she says, then turns on her heel and heads back to the engine room.
"What?" he asks, confused.
"Don't worry about it, Greez," says Cal.
Later that evening Ilyana and Cal are escorting Adia and her mother through the bustling streets of Daiyu City. Ilyana has her rifle strapped to her back with the same blue poncho she had borrowed from Cal on Lah'mu thrown over top to conceal it and Cal had grabbed the old poncho he used to wear back on Bracca to hide the lightsaber on his belt. Several times along the way they doubled back and changed direction to be sure they were not being followed. Eventually, in an empty street a few blocks from the shipyards they come to a halt.
"It's time," Cal says to Ilyana.
"Okay," she answers and she kneels down to Adia, "It's time for me to go. Thank you again for helping me," she says, extending the hand Adia had healed but Adia steps past it and gives Ilyana a hug instead.
"Be careful and good luck," Ilyana tells her, then stands and nods goodbye to Oloona who is giving her an irritated look. "Cal, I was looking at the map again before we left. Be careful of the warehouses on the farthest side of the shipyards from the tower. I won't have a line of sight on anyone moving between them."
"Okay," says Cal and they part ways. Cal, Adia, and Oloona continue down the street toward the shipyard while Ilyana circles around south to the tower.
The tower is an exhaust port for a massive industrial building. Ilyana walks along the side for several minutes before reaching a locked door near the base of the tower. She uses her vibroblade to remove the cover to the control panel, reaches inside and hotwires the lock which disengages with a quiet pop. She looks up and down the length of the building one more time to be sure no one is coming before cautiously opening the door. This time of day, the majority of the workers have already left for the day so she is able to slip in and climb the winding staircase that circles up the outer wall of the tower without being noticed.
The structure itself is constructed from a combination of steel and composite stone. The top of the cylindrical ventilation shaft is surrounded by a grated metal walkway with a low guard rail. Seeing that no one else is present, Ilyana removes the poncho and places it on the ground. Then removes her rifle and checks it again to be sure it is prepared and in sniper configuration. If there's anything the Empire got right it's the DC-15LE. It's never failed me.
Steadying the barrel of her rifle in a notch in the railing, she surveys the shipping yards where Cal will meet this other Jedi. The area is empty and quiet but after several minutes, three shadowy figures move cautiously through the neatly lined shipping crates and containers. Ilyana adjusts her scope to. Adia is intensely focused on Cal and the directions he is giving her but Oloona looks terrified. The mother's fear may end up complicating things, she worries but there's nothing to be done about that now.
Ilyana re-adjusts her scope to get a view of the larger area and begins scanning for any sign of the other Jedi or any threats.
Down below, Cal leads them carefully across the yards, keeping to the long evening shadows of the shipping crates. When they are close to the rendezvous, Cal motions for them to stay hidden between a few containers and remain quiet while he proceeds on his own to the final rendezvous coordinates in the middle of a wide open area. He doesn't like it. He is exposed on all sides, there is no cover, and his view is limited by the warehouses and shipping containers. Maybe this is a trap after all.
Just then he notices a figure moving in one of the nearby warehouses. His hand grips the hilt of his lightsaber but does not yet expose it. The figure walks out of the warehouse into the waning light with his hands raised and Cal can now make out the form of the Jedi from the transmission. He releases the lightsaber but remains wary.
"Hello!" says Quinlan, more cheerfully than Cal would have expected. "I'm glad you were able to make it but where is the girl?"
"Safe."
"Ah, you don't trust me."
"Cere trusts you. That's enough for me but you never know who else might be watching," Cal says with a shrug.
"Smart," says Quinlan.
"Where will you take them?"
"We'll transport them between a few places I know of to cover their path then take them to a planet where we can set them up with new identities."
"Your network must be more extensive than I thought. How could I have not heard of any of this before now?"
"No, we're really not and it's hardly a network. It's just a few people who still support the Jedi, trying to do what they can" says Quinlan then adds, "and we also don't exactly advertise."
Cal nods.
"How did you find her?" Quinlan asks.
"We got lucky with… some Imperial intel."
"Ah, that seems like how it always goes. Well, we better get moving. The Empire's been getting suspicious of my activity here on Daiyu. They're getting too close. I'll be pulling out tomorrow and won't be coming back."
Cal nods and waves Adia and Oloona over.
"Adia, Oloona," he says as they approach, "this is Quinlan Vos."
"It's a pleasure," Quinlan says to both of them, "Are you two ready to go?"
Adia shakes her head and runs over to Cal, grabbing his arm. He kneels down and takes her hands.
"It's okay. He's a friend. He'll keep you safe."
"But you keep me safe," she says.
"I know but our ship isn't always safe. He can get you somewhere you don't have to be scared anymore. Okay?"
Adia nods her head reluctantly then throws her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she says.
"You're welcome. You take care of your mom okay? Good luck," he says and releases the hug. Adia nods and returns to her mother who is waiting with Quinlan.
"Alright," says Quinlan, "my ship is right over…" Quinlan stops short as he and Cal both sense movement coming from the warehouses Ilyana had given him the warning about. Almost instantly several stormtroopers step into view.
"Put your hands up!" A stormtrooper orders, with his blaster trained on them. Cal puts himself between Adia and Oloona but with a flash he recognizes this moment as the one from his visions, the one that has been plaguing his dreams. Determined to do everything he can to stop them from taking Adia, he makes a move for his lightsaber.
"Don't move!" The lead officer demands as the stormtroopers move in closer but before Cal can pull his lightsaber, the lead trooper stops with a jerk. His arms go limp and his blaster falls to the ground. He drops to his knees then collapses to the ground. The other two stormtroopers step forward, surprised and confused by the sudden death of their commander and they too also fall dead.
As the stormtroopers had moved in closer they had stepped out from behind the cover of the warehouses and directly into Ilyana's line of sight. Cal looks up toward the tower where she is but from this distance he can't make her out at all. To be able to make those shots from so far is impressive and he can't help but smile.
"Cal," her voice cuts in over his comms, "You need to get moving. There are more troopers coming from beyond those warehouses and I won't be able to get a shot until they are on top of you."
"I thought I said to come alone," says Quinlan from behind him.
"Be glad I didn't," says Cal, turning back to him, "Go! Get them out of here while there's still time," he insists.
"You won't be able to hold them off alone."
"I'll be fine," says Cal as he pulls his lightsaber out from beneath his poncho and ignites it.
"You're full of secrets, aren't you!" Quinlan says with a laugh.
"Go," says Cal, "We'll keep them occupied."
"Okay, let's go!" Quinlan calls to Adia and her mother. Adia hesitates, looking imploringly at Cal while Oloona tries to coax her away but Cal gives her a reassuring nod and she finds her courage. They rush across the shipping yard to a small transport waiting at the far end, but had barely started moving away when stormtroopers began pouring out from behind the warehouses. Cal ignites the second blade on his lightsaber as the blaster bolts close in on him and he reflects them back onto the troopers with the speed only a Jedi has.