17 / Best Laid Plans
The familiar hum of Hyperspace travel brought Kata an immense amount of comfort. She breathed a great sigh of relief, knowing that she was back on the Rogue and finally safe. But now that the chaos of the last two days had quieted, she found that she had about a million questions and she was hopeful that Cal and Teelo could answer some of them. She held her tongue for now, though, as Teelo reappeared from the back of the ship, holding a medical kit. They placed it down on the holo-chess table in front of the curved sofa she was sitting on and knelt down next to her. She was already removing her bomber jacket, wincing at the pain in her left shoulder that had definitely worsened now the adrenaline had worn off.
Cal made his way into the living area from the cockpit and Kata noticed he was limping slightly. She looked down and observed the nasty wound on his right thigh, cringing at the sight of it, knowing from its distinctive look that it was from a lightsaber – Vader's lightsaber, she guessed. She watched him as he sauntered over to sit on the other end of the sofa, noticing his raw knuckles, the cut on his head and the way he seemed to be favouring his left side and she found herself even more curious as to how he'd not only survived Tanalorr, but managed to fight his way through the Haxion Brood to get to her in his condition. Though, she had a feeling most of the reason for both was kneeling next to her.
"Is it ok if I touch your shoulder?" Teelo asked, their blue eyes looking up at her.
"Yeah." She nodded.
They reached up to pull the sleeve of her purple t-shirt back slightly so they could inspect the blaster wound on her left shoulder. She saw them grimace at the sight of it; she hadn't looked at it herself, but it felt terrible.
"Dank farrick, Kata," They swore. "What did this?"
"A sniper, I think, I didn't actually see them."
She heard them exhale through their nose in anger and she hissed as they applied a bacta pad to it, feeling that familiar burning sensation as the substance seeped into her wound. She looked down at them, their face focused as they treated her, and found herself inspecting them for injuries. She could only see one; faint blue and purple bruising on their neck that looked like it was from someone trying to choke them. A brief thought flashed into her mind that maybe it was from Cal, but she dismissed it immediately. He'd lost his temper now and then, but he was never needlessly violent. And he would never lay his hands on someone he considered to be family, no matter what they'd done. She deduced that it must have been from Vader as well and she felt her insides twist at the thought of how close he must have come to killing them both.
"What happened to your arm?" Cal suddenly asked.
Her head whipped towards him and his expression was worried and pensive as he looked at her already bandaged arm. She saw BD-1 hop up onto the holo-chess table, having emerged from the cockpit to join them.
"It's from the crash," She explained. "It's just a cut, I'm fine."
"You don't look fine to me." He refuted.
"I've had worse; you two are the ones who look like you've been through hell."
"woo-wa-woo."
Teelo huffed a laugh in response and Cal's eyes flicked to them before returning to Kata's.
"Yeah, you could say that. But we're still breathing – I'm just glad we were able to find you both."
"woow!"
"How the hell did you end up on Ferrix, Kata?" Teelo asked.
"I'll get to that, but first I need to know something," She began, both of the older Jedi turning to her expectantly. "What happened in the Temple? How did you escape Vader alive?"
"One part skill, two parts crazy and seven parts luck?" Teelo joked.
Kata shook her head, not feeling in a laughing mood.
"A few hours ago I thought I would never see either of you again, so you gotta gimme more than that."
Cal nodded, knowing that she deserved an explanation, but a little unsure where to start.
"I wouldn't have made it out alive if it wasn't for Teelo." He admitted, gesturing toward them.
The Mirialukan side-eyed him strangely, the corner of their mouth pulling up only slightly and Kata furrowed her brows as she was clued in to the tension between them. Her eyes darted from one to the other, those million questions burning in her mind.
"So what happened, exactly?" She asked again.
"Vader was about to chew his ass up and spit it out when I got there." Teelo remarked.
"Your timing was impeccable, as always," Cal added. "You could've shown up a minute or two earlier and I wouldn't have complained, though."
"Thought I'd let him have some fun with you first," Teelo threw back. "Make you sweat a little."
Their words were joking, but their faces were humourless, Kata's eyes still darting between them. They were always quipping at each other, but it lacked their usual lightness, and that tension she felt was growing more obvious by the second. Cal turned to her again and she raised her brows at him.
"Merrin and Greez?" He asked.
She silently scolded herself for not mentioning them sooner – of course his mind would be on their whereabouts.
"Last I saw Merrin, she was taking Porro to the Mantis and Greez was already onboard. I saw the Mantis jump away on the other side of the Abyss."
Cal gave a shaky sigh of relief to hear they had both made it out alive, that they were out there, somewhere, safe. Then he realised she'd mentioned Porro, and his thoughts turned to his mother.
"Nells?"
Kata's face fell, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"She didn't make it." She said with a shake of her head.
Cal's face also fell, his shoulders dropping, deeply saddened to hear this. Another Jedi gone, another child orphaned by the Empire... when would it end?
"Damn it." He swore quietly.
"wooo..."
"Do you know if anyone else made it out?" Teelo asked.
Kata turned to them and thought for a moment, recalling what Merrin had said to her on Tanalorr.
"I know that Mosey and Redarr were on the Mantis, as well as several others, but I'm not sure how many. There was another yacht and three freighters that made it through the Abyss."
Cal was glad to hear that Mosey and Redarr had survived and were with Greez and Merrin. He knew that together they would be more than able to handle themselves and it put him somewhat at ease.
"Five ships?" Cal clarified.
"There were six, but... one of them was shot down as we were escaping."
Her words hung heavy in the silence as Cal and Teelo registered what she was telling them. Five ships... just five ships were all that remained of Haven. The Mantis could hold thirty people at most and the other yacht was probably around the same. The three freighters could hold anywhere between fifty and seventy each, depending on their model. Cal's eyes widened as he did the math – between the five ships that had made it through the Abyss, they could only hold up to 270 people and that was if they were full. That meant that at least 1,095 people had been killed in the invasion... he felt sick.
"Fuck..." Teelo cursed.
They snapped the medical kit shut in frustration and stood, walking across the room and running a green hand through their dark blue hair. Kata understood how they felt – it was exactly how she felt, how she knew Cal felt, how she knew Merrin and Greez and everyone who'd survived would be feeling. The horror and the shock and the loss of it all was sinking in once more. So many faces flashed in her mind; Sister Taske, Master Horos, Jynna... there were so many whose fates remained unknown.
"Maven..." Teelo suddenly spoke from the other side of the room, their voice dark as they looked up at Cal. "Did she tell you why she did this?"
Cal returned their steely gaze, the two of them staring at each other for a moment.
"My old crewmate Gabs was her sister, she held me responsible for her death."
Confusion crossed their face.
"So that justifies her bringing the Empire down on Tanalorr?" They demanded.
"Of course it doesn't."
"So why the fu—?" They glanced at Kata, then corrected themself. "Why in the hell did she do this? There has to be more to it than that."
"She said something about the Hidden Jedi, about me," Kata interjected, recalling Maven's words that fateful day. "She called me an 'abomination' and said we were a perversion of the Jedi Order. She said she wanted to destroy the Path and its legacy."
"And she said she had help," Cal added. "But she didn't say from who."
"She did, from me."
Kata and Cal looked up at Teelo as they stood in the corner of the room, avoiding both of their gazes. For a moment, Kata's heart sank as she looked at them, seeing the pain and guilt clear on their face, feeling it from them through the Force.
"I may not have known it, but I played a part in this. She used me to bring the Empire to Tanalorr; I helped her do this."
"Teelo, you didn't—" Kata started to protest.
"You said it yourself, Cal," They turned towards him. "My compass was somehow replaced with a fake and you saw me kill Brother Kline in a vision, right?"
Cal glanced at Kata before answering.
"That's what I saw." He confirmed.
"Well, I don't remember murdering any Anchorites, so either she made you see something that didn't happen or..."
They hesitated, their eyes wandering the floor between them.
"Or what, Teelo?" Cal prompted.
Their gaze flicked back up to his.
"... or she used some kind of mind control technique to force me to kill him."
Cal's eyes widened at the terrifying suggestion that Maven could have somehow done something like that. He didn't even know if it was possible, but there was a lot he knew he didn't understand about the Force. But a question was still nagging at the back of his mind: why?
"Is that possible?" Kata echoed his thoughts.
"I don't know," He admitted, side-eyeing her then looking back up at Teelo. "But how could she have done something like that?"
"I let my guard down around her; she knew things about me that others didn't. If she was proficient in the Dark Side, she could've easily exploited that."
"But surely you would've noticed if she'd used the Force on you like that?"
"Unless I wasn't conscious when she did."
Cal didn't know much about the Dark Side or the techniques that its wielders were familiar with, and he certainly knew less than Teelo. But the idea that she could've forced them to do something like that against their will both scared him and made him burn with anger.
"You didn't ever notice anything strange or off about her?" Kata asked gently.
"I've been trying to rack my brain for the last two days and nothing stands out," Their tone grew more frustrated as they started to pace. "I was a kriffing fool to trust her, and now Haven is a ruin and over a thousand people are dead and that putain used me to do it."
Kata didn't know what that word meant but she could guess.
"We don't know that yet, Teelo," She reminded them. "We don't know what Maven did or didn't do, or how she did it."
"Kata's right," Cal echoed. "We don't know anything for sure, so let's not jump to conclusions until we know more."
Teelo sighed and nodded, stopping their pacing and resting their hands on their hips. Cal looked up at them and saw their pain and anger, knowing how they must have been feeling right now. He once again felt terrible for judging them the way he had before, for assuming they had betrayed him and Tanalorr without even stopping to question why. He felt like a kriffing fool himself. He sat forward in his seat and rested his arms on his knees with a deep sigh.
"Teelo, I owe you an apology."
He saw both Kata and Teelo look at him from his peripheral vision.
"Cal, you don't have to—" They started to protest.
"Yes, I do," He interrupted, meeting their gaze. "From the moment Kata told me about her vision and I realised someone had betrayed us, I immediately suspected you. Truthfully, I never even considered someone else, and all it was based on was my own experiences, my own past mistakes. I never stopped to ask why, I never gave you the benefit of the doubt, and suddenly all I saw when I looked at you was Bode."
He saw their brows rise slightly in surprise at his admission and their rigid stance relaxed somewhat.
"And that wasn't fair of me. You were right – you're not him and I shouldn't have punished you for what he did to us. I should've trusted you, not just said I did, I should've shown it. I know you, and you'd never sell us out to the Empire. And I sure as hell shouldn't have held your past against you; I know that isn't who you are now. It was hypocritical and stupid of me and I'm sorry."
Kata stared at Cal as he spoke, his gaze never wavering from Teelo's. She hadn't expected him to not only make those connections, but admit to them directly. Of course she had drawn those conclusions herself, understanding his reasons for suspecting Teelo maybe even before he had, but to hear him admit his mistake and apologise for it so openly was one of the reasons she admired him so much. He was never afraid to admit when he was wrong, never concerned with his own ego or with looking like a fool – he owned his mistakes and tried to learn from them. Kata saw Teelo's mouth pull up in a small smile and she knew how much Cal's apology would've meant to them.
"Thank you, Cal, I appreciate that. I know I didn't exactly make it easy for you to trust me after what happened on Kohlma."
"It doesn't matter, it's in the past. I swear to you, I will never doubt you again."
Teelo smiled genuinely and nodded at him, Kata seeing the relief and vindication on their face.
"I believe you."
Now Kata was the one smiling at the two of them finally able to mend the rift this whole nightmare had forged between them. She knew that at the end of the day, what had happened to Tanalorr was probably inevitable, but Maven's goal hadn't just been to destroy their legacy, it had also been to tear her family apart. She was comforted to know she had failed in that, at least.
"Why were you on Ferrix, Kata?" Teelo changed the subject.
Kata looked up at them, seeing Cal turn his attention to her as well.
"I was about halfway to Alderaan when my hyperdrive failed."
"What?" Cal demanded.
"I had to eject so we didn't get ripped to shreds, threw us right into the atmosphere."
"Hyperdrives don't just fail like that, do they?" Teelo asked.
"On Z-95's? Hell no," Cal responded. "What were you doing in Bode's ship anyway?"
"I saw it in my vision, I just knew that I would need it, but I didn't know why."
"Was there anything wrong with it before you left?"
"No, and I checked the hyperdrive, too. I don't think it was an accident that it gave out in the middle of nowhere."
"boo-woop."
"What, you think it was sabotage?" Teelo turned to the droid.
"brrleet kzzrrt!"
"Could be," Kata backed him up. "Either way, something tells me it's not a coincidence."
"But how would Maven or whoever was helping her know to sabotage Bode's ship?" Cal wondered.
"Maybe they saw me prepping it the night before the invasion," Kata offered. "Wanted to make sure if I made it off Tanalorr alive that I'd end up getting sucked into a supernova or something."
That was an extremely worrying thought to Cal. The idea that someone could've gone to such lengths to target Kata specifically had him wondering what else they'd missed.
"How'd you find out where the Haxion Brood was holding me anyway?" Kata asked.
"Ran into your friend Geezer at the bar." Cal explained.
Kata made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.
"That sleaze-ball, I knew I couldn't trust him. Wish I'd had the chance to repay him for selling me out to the Brood."
"Oh, don't worry, the Brood took care of that themselves." Teelo assured her.
"Good."
Cal glanced sideways at her, seeing the disdainful look on her face. His mind wandered back to that Brood Teelo had dealt with; the one she said had threatened her.
"You sure you're ok, Kata," He asked. "They didn't hurt you?"
"You mean besides blasting me in the shoulder and knocking me out?" She asked somewhat sarcastically. "No, they didn't touch me."
She made direct eye-contact with him and her tone seemed sincere, so he was reassured. He dreaded the thought of what might've become of her if they hadn't found her as quickly as they did.
"Something still doesn't make sense to me," She continued, looking at Teelo. "How did Maven steal your compass and replace it with a false one, then pawn the real one off to the Empire?"
Teelo threw their hands in the air.
"Your guess is as good as mine." They replied.
"Guessing will get us nowhere fast," Cal reminded them both. "We need answers."
"So how do we find answers?" They asked.
"Unfortunately, the only person who might've been able to provide them is dead, so..."
The room was silent again for a moment as the three of them pondered their next move. Cal's mind wandered as he thought about Maven, how she must have planned this all right under their noses for so long. How expertly she managed to hide her true intentions and her nature from all of them, even from Teelo. They were the closest to her and they were usually an accurate judge of character, and still she had managed to fool them. He sighed, making the other two Jedi turn to him.
"She planned this for years," He pondered aloud. "Had us all convinced of who she was, but she was plotting against us from the very start."
"And we fell for it." Teelo lamented.
"But why pin it all on you," Kata asked them. "Why not just do the dirty work herself?"
"To keep us distracted, to make sure you were so focused on accusing me that you would never even see her coming." They explained.
"And I played right into her hands," Cal said exasperatedly. "She had us both exactly where she wanted us: at each other's throats instead of stopping her."
Teelo hummed and nodded in agreement.
"You can't be too hard on yourself, Cal," Kata reminded. "Anyone would've seen what you saw and drawn the same conclusion."
"You didn't," He disputed. "Even when I told you what I saw, you refused to believe it. You never believed it, and you were right. I should've listened to you."
Kata smiled sadly at him, grateful for him admitting that, but also knowing it didn't matter now.
"Why didn't you?" Teelo asked.
She turned towards them, thinking about how to answer.
"I couldn't really say, but... I just knew you couldn't be a traitor. That's not who you are."
A smile pulled at the Mirialukan's mouth and their eyes were soft as they rested on hers.
"Thanks, Kata."
She returned their smile and then they looked at Cal.
"Nice to know someone believes in me." They taunted.
"I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?" He sighed.
"Not until one of us is dead, Cal."
Kata chuckled at the two of them, then her mind returned to their problem. There was only one solution she could think of, and she hesitated to voice it, knowing all too well what it would mean. But they needed more information in order to figure out why this happened and what to do next and there was only one place she knew they could go to get it. Even the thought of it made her stomach twist in knots, but she knew there was no other way.
"There's only one place we can go now," She said, looking up at them both. "Home."
Neither Jedi responded for a long moment, her words sinking in.
"Back to Tanalorr?" Teelo clarified.
"Maven's dead, but she spent three years on Tanalorr planning its demise," She continued. "Her memories will still be there, echoes in the Force left behind that might give us some clues."
She looked at Cal as she said this and saw the realisation dawning on his face. She hated to ask this of him, but he was the only one with the ability to see into the past, and it might be the only way now to shed some light on their predicament.
"You're right," He nodded. "The answers we're looking for might just be there somewhere."
"Yeah, but are you sure you want to do this, Cal?" Teelo asked with concern. "It's barely been two days since the invasion, that place will be riddled with memories of death, fear and suffering. Are you absolutely certain you want to go diving into that?"
"I'm not sure we have a choice," He pointed out. "We're stumbling around in the dark here, we need answers. Might help us figure out where Merrin and Greez went, too."
"Maybe, but Kata..." Their voice trailed off as they gestured towards her.
Cal turned toward his Apprentice, his face dismayed, and she looked between them both with questions in her eyes.
"What about me?" She demanded.
"Teelo and I saw Haven as we escaped, the Empire laid waste to it," Cal explained. "There won't be much left now but smoke and ash."
"But not just that," Teelo added. "There were hundreds of bodies littered in the square alone. The bodies of people you knew, kids that you trained with... are you sure that's something you're prepared to see, Kata?"
No, of course it wasn't. She wasn't sure if there was anything that could ever prepare a person for seeing something like that. But Kata knew this wasn't about her and she was prepared to put her personal feelings aside for the sake of what she knew she needed to do.
"It's like Cal said: I'm not sure we have a choice." She replied.
Teelo sighed and their face fell as they looked at her with a knowing expression. She saw the depth of sadness in their eyes and she was suddenly terrified at the prospect of what they might find when they returned to their home. She had tried not to think about it these last two days, what remained of Tanalorr now.
"And if the Empire is still there?" Teelo asked.
"They cleared out of Jedha pretty quickly after they destroyed the Archive there." Cal said.
"There won't be any way to be sure of that until we've jumped through the Abyss and by then it'll be too late." They pointed out.
"So we head to the Shattered Moon first," Kata suggested. "It's close enough that we'll be able to see any ships passing through the Abyss, but far enough away that we should go unnoticed."
"That could work." Cal agreed.
Teelo conceded with a nod and turned towards him.
"To the Shattered Moon, then?"
Cal debated for a long moment, warring with his desire to know what had happened and his desire to protect Kata from the horror he knew they would be walking into. It wasn't something he wanted to expose her to, knowing from experience how seeing something like that so young can really mess with your mind. But he supposed she had already survived the invasion and a hostile planet like Ferrix mostly unscathed, so perhaps he shouldn't underestimate her. He looked up at Teelo from under his brows and nodded reluctantly.
"Yeah, let's do it."
The Shattered Moon
Kata left her room on the Rogue after only a few hours, her persistent nightmares making it impossible to rest. She tip-toed quietly past Cal's room where she knew her Master was sleeping and made her way through the darkened living area. The ship's lights were turned down as they sat in stealth mode, trying not to alert the Empire to their presence. BD-1 raised his head and greeted her as she entered the cockpit, causing Teelo to turn in the pilot's seat.
"Hey, what're you doin' up?" They asked.
"I couldn't sleep; too wired."
Kata sat down in the co-pilot's seat and pulled her feet up, resting her chin on her knees.
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
Teelo turned back toward the controls, their eyes flicking between the screens and the view out of the cockpit shield. Kata turned her head to take in the sight of the Shattered Moon. She remembered the last time they were all here, when they had destroyed the array. She had seen what was left of the facility as they'd landed, a blackened ruin where the tower once stood. It was impossible to believe that was less than a week ago – so much had changed since then. She remembered wondering if that would be the last time she'd ever see the beautiful but tragic sight. She looked around them now, at all of the moon chunks and the Koboh Abyss floating in the sky, and somehow it hadn't changed at all. And yet, she felt infinitely sadder at its sight now than she ever had before.
"Any movement yet?" She eventually asked.
"Nothing so far," Teelo shook their head. "Not picking up any Imperial comms on Koboh, either."
"bwoo-woo."
"S'pose that might be a good thing."
"We'll know soon."
Kata hummed in agreement as she looked up at them. Their face looked the same as ever to her, except they maybe seemed more distracted than usual. She still had so many questions about what'd happened, with them, with Maven, but she hesitated to ask any of them, not wanting to pry. She'd known Teelo and Maven had a "thing", though she hadn't been entirely sure what kind of "thing" it was. She'd asked them about it once, a while ago, but they'd brushed it off. She remembered what they'd said earlier – their fear that maybe Maven had forced them to help her in some way, and the thought worried her. She suddenly found herself angry that she could do something like that to them, but she tried to remind herself that they still didn't know anything for sure.
"You doin' ok, kiddo?"
The Padawan's eyes glanced up, her chin still rested on her knees, and she managed a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm ok, considering," She assured them. "I'm just glad you guys found us when you did."
"boo-bweep."
"So am I. When your signal came through and we realised you were on your own on Ferrix of all places," Teelo gave her a concerned glance. "You picked a hell of a place to crash-land."
"I'll make sure to crash on a less hostile planet next time."
Teelo chuckled softly and Kata joined in.
"How's your shoulder?" They asked.
"Better than it was," She nodded. "How'd you get so good at patching people up anyway?"
"From years of working dangerous jobs on Empire-controlled planets where you couldn't always trust doctors, especially if you were secretly a Jedi in hiding," They smirked at her. "I had to learn to keep myself alive, and others. It came in handy on Ontotho."
"Yeah, I bet."
She found herself ruminating on what Teelo's life must have been like before. She thought about it often, but never asked too many questions. She knew they didn't like to talk about their past, that they preferred to leave it behind them. She knew there was pain and sorrow there, as she felt it from them sometimes on the rare occasions they talked about Ontotho, or Coruscant, or Ryloth. She remembered the first time she'd ever heard them sing, when the five of them had sat around a campfire together on Koboh. It was a song about lost love they'd learned on Ryloth that had been translated to Basic. She remembered being captivated by this strange Jedi with a mysterious past, seeing the deep sadness in their eyes as they sang from their heart.
"When we danced on the night of the celebration," Teelo's voice broke her reverie and they looked down at her. "What you said to me, about not forgetting that we're family, no matter what happens... that was you trying to convince me not to betray you, wasn't it?"
Kata's eyes shifted down as she thought about how to answer.
"Ever since I had my vision that Tanalorr would fall, nothing's been certain. And when the others started to suspect something, I wasn't sure what to think, or who to trust," She explained, looking back up at them. "I never wanted to believe it could be you, but the circumstances made me start to doubt myself. I just... I'm tired of losing people; I didn't want to lose you, too."
They gave her an understanding smile and reached over to tuck some stray hairs behind her left ear, a gesture that made her smile back.
"I understand, Kata. You've always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. Even when I told you what I was, what I used to be, you never wavered. It was one of the things that pushed me so hard to do better – I wanted to prove to you that I was worthy of that faith."
"You are, Teelo. Making one bad choice, or even a lot of bad choices, doesn't inherently make you a bad person," She reminded them. "People are way more complicated than that. You have a good heart, you're loyal and brave and strong and selfless, and I look up to you."
"Yeah ya do, short ass."
They ruffled her thick curls playfully and she giggled, smacking their hand away and smoothing her hair back into place.
"It's not my fault you're freakishly tall," She jabbed. "You sure your father wasn't a Wookiee?"
Teelo laughed and their smile reminded Kata of the night of the celebration. She realised she hadn't seen them smile like that since then.
"That would make me a Wookialan, just doesn't have the same ring to it."
Now Kata was laughing and it felt good to finally have some joy back in her life, even for a moment. She looked up at the older Jedi whose attention was focused on the ship again.
"Hey, Teelo?"
"Hmm?"
Kata smiled at them as they turned back towards her.
"I'm really glad you're still here."
They returned her smile.
"Me too, Kata."
They both turned their heads as they heard approaching uneven footsteps to see Cal limping his way into the cockpit behind them.
"I thought I told you to go get some kriffing sleep?" Teelo scolded him immediately.
Cal rolled his eyes at them as he rested his right arm on the head of Kata's chair.
"I tried, too much on my mind." He explained.
"Join the club." Kata replied.
"bwoow."
"Any movement out there?" Cal asked.
"Quiet as a moon," Teelo informed him. "Don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."
"Guess we'll find out soon." He mused.
Right on cue, an alarm started to sound in the cockpit and four pairs of eyes turned towards the monitors. Kata dropped her feet to the floor and scooted her chair in.
"Two Imperial signatures approaching fast through the Abyss." She turned to Teelo.
"Star Destroyers." Cal stated.
"Most likely," Teelo agreed. "Switching to auxiliary power."
They reached up and flipped several switches above them, killing all power to the Rogue except for what they needed to remain in stealth mode. The three Jedi's eyes were fixed on the Abyss looming in the distance, watching with bated breath as they waited to see what would come through from the other side. Within seconds they saw the first Star Destroyer jump into view. It was so clearly visible from where they sat, blocking out their view of the Abyss almost entirely with its sheer mass.
"Promise me they can't see us, Teelo." Cal muttered.
"This baby has the best cloaking devices credits can buy. Even if they were looking directly at us with thermal scanners, they wouldn't see us."
Cal trusted them, remembering how the Rogue had gotten them out of some pretty sticky situations over the years, but he still held his breath. No one said anything else as they waited, the second Star Destroyer eventually appearing behind the first. Cal's eyes narrowed, his back straightening as he could suddenly sense a familiar dark energy.
"Vader's on that ship." He stated.
He saw Kata turn and look at him from his peripheral vision, but his gaze was fixed on the two ships in the distance.
"He survived?" She wondered aloud.
"He chased us off the planet," Teelo explained to her quietly. "We barely got away."
Kata was suddenly very anxious. The fact that Cal could sense him from here meant there was a very strong chance he could also sense them. She tried to force calming breaths through her body and use the techniques Teelo had taught her to keep a hold on her projection, worried that he would somehow be able to feel her emotions. She was certain neither of the Jedi beside her moved or breathed as they all stared out of the cockpit. The seconds felt like minutes until at last both Star Destroyers disappeared from the horizon, jumping away to whatever corner of the Galaxy they planned on terrorising next. All three of them sighed audibly in relief, the anxiety in the room palpable.
"Keep the power in reserves," Cal instructed. "We'll wait another hour in case there're any stragglers, then we jump through."
"Copy that." Teelo replied.
"Kata, keep your eyes on those scanners."
"Got it."
She felt Cal's hand squeeze her right shoulder in comfort and she looked up at him and smiled weakly. He gave her a reassuring nod, probably able to feel how anxious she was, before he turned and left the cockpit. She made eye-contact with Teelo for a moment and they looked as nervous as she felt.
"You sure you want to do this?" They asked.
"No," Kata shook her head. "But it's what I have to do."
Teelo nodded knowingly and they both returned to staring out of the cockpit at the Abyss now clear in the distance once more. Kata didn't know exactly what they'd find on the other side, but she had to see it for herself all the same.