CORUSCANT
RENOVATION SITE 4733

The crew eventually opened the ship. The Senator was held hostage by Bode, who demanded that he give them the code to the intel.

"They'll execute me!"

Cal sighed.

"Maybe I can change his mind."

The ginger walked in front of the other man and made a small waving gesture in front of him.

"You will give me access to your terminal," he said calmly and soothingly.

"I-I can't."

"You can trust us," Cal encouraged, "we're all friends here. Unlock it."

Like a puppet, the Senator's head nodded, and he said, "We're all friends here; I can trust you. I will unlock the terminal."

The Senator walked over and began typing into the computer before retracting his hands and standing up straight like a simple-minded droid would.

"If he moves, blast him," Cal ordered.

"Oh, it'll be my pleasure," Bode said, moving the Senator away from the table.

"Alright, BD, let's see what we got."

The little droid hopped off of his back and waited in anticipation. Cal turned the circular pad, and a map popped up in front of him, red dots were scattered about.

"They're everywhere," he said. "Years of fighting. But nothing we've done has slowed them down."

"What did you expect?"

Cal turned around to see Bode standing beside him and not the Senator, who had woken up from his mind control.

"You lost! The Republic is dead."

"It was killed by politicians just like you."

"Do you think I wanted Utaptu to join the Empire? The compromises I made created a future for my people."

"I've been to Utaptu, Senator," Bode said, putting distance between him and Cal. "They spit your name out like a curse."

"At least they are alive! Why fight when you can't win?"

Cal looked away as he approached him.

"Surrender tastes bitter at first, Cal."

Bode put his hand up and pushed the man back away from him.

"But sweetens with time."

Cal looked at the map again and leaned in to get a closer look at something.

"Free me, and we'll cut a deal."

Cal backed away from the desk.

"No, Senator," he replied, unhooking his lightsaber. He held it up in front of them.

"Someday, when your children see this, they'll know the Jedi never stopped fighting for them."

"...How disappointingly naive."

"Hey!" Gabs said, walking up to the entrance of the office they were in. "The twins are getting that ravenous look. Let's wrap up before we have another Cardia incident on our hands, yeah?"

"And what about him?" Bode asked.

"He's coming with us," Cal replied, putting his lightsaber back in place.

"Okay, let's take their food to go."

BD hopped onto his back, and the trio walked out of the room with their prisoner.

"Lucky you, Senator, you got a date with Saw Gerrera," Bode said.

"He'll kill me."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Depends on whether you cooperate. That's a skill senator's prize, right? Cooperation."

Cal chuckled as he walked up to the ship's door and opened it. Gabs stood beside him as they walked out.

"I change my mind; we should always target the Empire."

"Yeah," Bravo said, catching up. "Feels good to make a difference."

"What? No! They're loaded. Filthy rich. Make the Hutts look clean by comparison."

Cal looked back as if something was there but shook his head. He was worrying for nothing.

"I bet the Senator has more credits stashed up his—"

Cal was thrown back as the lift exploded in front of Bravo and Gabs. Cal pulled them back and put a hand in front of him to shield his eyes from the blinding lights. At first glance, he thought they were droids, but he came to realize that they were what he feared they were.

Ships. Imperial ships.

"What took you so long?!" the Senator exclaimed. "While you've been chasing shadows, I have been—"

He stopped, and his body went rigid. He looked down to see a red lightsaber had run through his chest, only there was no one holding it on the other end. He felt his body being dragged, and Cal followed until he caught sight of a familiar face.

The Ninth Sister glowered down at him.

"You have been caught harboring a traitor," she spat. She used her left hand to pull the lightsaber out and her right to toss him aside. Only last time Cal encountered her could he sworn he...

His eyes caught sight of a red prosthetic that was placed where her right hand should've been.

"Kestis!!"

Cal couldn't help himself. He stared at the Sister in awe. In that moment, he realized it truly had been years since the events of...well, them. Not only was amazement filling his body, but fear was slowly creeping up.

"Open fire!"

"Scatter!" Cal commanded.

The twins charged forward, and Cal hid behind cover. One moment, he heard a thud and saw Lizz's lifeless body behind him, and the next, he watched as a laser went through Gab's chest.

He crouched beside her in disbelief. He looked up at the Ninth Sister. There was a feeling that crept up within him. It felt as if it was something that had been building up, waiting to release itself. A small part of it yelled at him to let it out.

So he did.

Cal didn't realize that he'd unhooked his lightsaber and turned it on, yet knew exactly what he was doing.

"Cal, we gotta go!" He heard Bode in the distance. "Cal, what are you doing?"

There was a small silver that told him to listen, but something struck it down. His right hand gripped the hilt tightly, and he charged. There was a sound of an explosion, and Cal stopped to look, realizing it was heading straight toward him. He ran to the other side and jumped before the platform gave into the explosion.

⸻╳⸻

Cal huffed after defeating the last Stormtrooper. Bode and Bravo were in the same condition as him. Tired.

When the three had regrouped, the Jedi Knight was relieved that two of his crew members were still breathing.

"Boop!" BD exclaimed.

"Z-95s?"

Bode raised an eyebrow as the platform that held two Z-95 Starfighters was lifted above in the distance. Bravo looked satisfied, and Cal knew he'd set that up.

"Had a hunch this might be a hot exit," Bravo said. "See you both in the air."

"Ready?" Cal asked Bode as the two men watched Bravo settle himself in the cockpit.

"This has been a great first date and all, but I still haven't gotten paid," Bode told him.

Cal pulled something from his back pocket and placed it in Bode's hand. The other man looked at him expectantly.

"Locator beacon?"

"Got the other on the Mantis. When things cool off, come and find me. We'll settle up."

"Yeah... Sure, I can trust you."

"You saw the intel. There's a lot more work to be done."

"Looks like I made the cut, huh BD?"

"Beep!"

He chuckled.

"Bode?"

The raven-haired man turned around.

"May the Force be with you."

Bode took a step back, unsure of what to say.

"You're a great fighter, Cal," he said. "Let's see how well you fly!"

Cal laughed before heading toward the Mantis. Its blue paint was faded, and its silver body was more of a rusted color, but Cal loved it nonetheless. He ran up the ramp and closed it behind him before rushing toward the flight deck.

He sat in the pilot's seat, and BD took his usual "seating" on the controls where the co-pilot's seat was.

"How're we looking, BD?"

The little droid noticed something.

"Beep beep boop..."

"Oh," Cal said, deflated. But when he felt his thoughts drift off, he snapped back into action. "Whatever it is, it'll have to wait until we get someplace safe."

The BD unit shook his head as it began to prepare the ship for battle.