Chapter Text
They all huddle around the table with multiple maps displayed. Cal brings Cere and Greez. Jyn is paired with Saw and Mari along with the other leader Partisans, “After the surprise attack, a good portion of our techs are either dead or injured. Our initial idea of trying to splice open the prison doors can no longer be considered.”
“Wait, how is this factory important?” Cal asks.
“This pad supports an Imperial Refinery that runs on Wookie slave labor. Intel suggests that some of those captives there are guerrilla fighters. So-,” Saw starts.
“So if we free the prisoners, we get to Tartful,” Cere finishes.
“Possibly. Having a Jedi will increase the chances for him to come out of his hideout,” Saw says.
“Where are the Wookie prisoners being held?” Cal asks.
Pourtlan points to two different areas of the map, talking as he gestures at the map. Mari translates what Pourtlan says.
“Here and here. One group is for processing the sap and the other handles it for shipping the product. The group that is much larger is the processing group.” Mari translates.
Saw hums before turning to Darium, “Are you fit to help with the attack on the facility and storage?”
“Plenty ready, sir,” Darium says immediately, “Give me time to prepare a strike force and the Empire’ll never know what hit ‘em.”
“Good, your memory and knowledge of the facilities will be of help to us,” Saw grabs a datadisk and tosses it to Cal, “A map of the Imperial facility.”
Cal inspects it before BD hops down to the table, “Thanks.” It inserts into BD and a hologram shows up with a layout of the factory.
Cere inspects the map, “The factory is big enough to fit a battalion of troopers. No spots for the Mantis to make a surprise entrance except for here.” Cere points to an open area.
“That spot is right next to the elevator. A place which could have been easily accessible if the Empire didn’t decide to lock the elevator,” Flora grumbles.
“Could we get some guys there as a surprise attack?” Ryn looks at the Mantis.
“Woah, woah. Look, the Mantis is an excellent ship. Great pilot, excellent cook, but the Mantis is able to come here and through that Imperial blockade based on its clean record. If the Mantis is suddenly on the list of registered Rebel ships, it’ll be much harder for us to get to places undetected.” Greez interjects.
“…Then do it in the middle of our attack,” Jyn suggests softly.
“What?” Greez looks at her.
“If you drop off a small strike force by the platform when we’re making our attack, the Empire will never notice because all of our forces will be rescuing the Wookiees,” Jyn explains.
“That’s all good and all but how will I know when the Empire is not focusing on the sky anymore?” Greez looks apprehensive but is coming to the idea.
“I can signal you when we get all the prisoners released. By then all the attention will be to capture the Wookiees and defeat all of us and not on the skies,” Cal says.
Greez thinks about it before sighing loudly, “Fine. No more than twenty Partisans on my ship and I want them all gone within half a minute of landing.”
“Done, me and the girls call dibs,” Ryn grins.
“And we can wipe all the cameras after the battle is over,” Cere suggests, which gets a grateful nod from Greez.
“What should I do?” Cal turns to Saw.
“I’ll admit, we didn’t think a Jedi would be here on Kashyyyk but with you here it would be a large boon for us,” Saw says, “I’ve worked with Jedi in the past and just saw your performance so I know most of your capabilities. If needed, I can assign a small but elite task force under your command. In fact, I’d recommend Darium here as a guide and fighter.” Said man steps up as if ready to follow Cal.
“I'm thankful but I think it's better for me to go solo,” Cal is tempted but denies the opportunity.
"Cal's been by himself since we got him so he knows how to take care of himself," Cere adds.
Saw nods, “Alright, originally the plan is if we weren’t able to acquire the elevator was to break off to two groups and meet up at the center. Our group takes all the Empire’s ire, turning on the cutters and making ourselves the bigger target, while the second gets to the prison rooms silently and deactivates them manually or through splicing at a distance. But with most of our techs dead or injured that option is no longer available.”
“Got it, I can slip in and free the Wookiees. I’ll have to do it manually though the control panel.” Cal says. Saw hums in agreement.
“Three areas of attack. One is the Partisans, causing the most disturbance. Second is Cal, freeing the Wookiees. Third will be Greez and the Mantis, once the chaos reaches a crescendo, the Mantis will swoop in with more Partisans and that will squeeze the Empire to a surrender,” Cere says to a group of nodding heads.
Mari speaks next, “Regarding the walker, we believe that it would be best used for the air battle. Give the boys a bit of a breather and a good advantage for us.”
Saw agrees to it immediately.
Cal gets a word in too, “There’s a speeder on the walker. We can use that here for the attack or for defense if the Empire decides to send ground troops.”
“Good thinking, we’ll have some of the boys bring it out before it goes off to the ocean floor,” Mari says.
“All in agreement?” Everyone nods their heads and Saw continues, “Good, we move out in ten. Ryn, choose your group and wait by the ship. Pourtlan, choose two soldiers that can pilot the Imperial walker. Dismissed.”
Mari continues to look over the schematics as everyone disperses. A shadow falls on the holomaps that make her look up. Pourtlan asks in the Wookiee tongue if she is doing alright.
“I’m fine, Pourtlan, though I surmise that you are in a much happier mood,” Mari says. Pourtlan is happy as he explains that the Wookiees in the encampment will be free.
“Yes it seems Saw decides to switch our objectives. Rescuing the Wookiees now is the priority, not the Imperial supply lines.” Mari sighs. Pourtlan expresses his confusion.
“No, no. I’m not against the change. In fact, I wholeheartedly feel the same way you did.” Mari hesitates, “It- it’s just that we could have grouped up with your Wookiee fighters and freed these Wookiees sooner. Instead, Saw waits until an important shipment of new Imperial tech arrives before he decides to launch this attack.”
Pourtlan makes a case of taking out two objectives at once.
“You do see a bright side to everything, don’t you? But you weren’t at the meeting tables before we left. It took an entire day for me to convince Saw to also help out ”
Pourtlan asks what changed Saw’s mind.
“If I had to guess… those two.” Mari points to Jyn and Cal. They are talking together until Saw calls for Jyn, “The Jedi is an obvious factor. Saw has worked with Jedi before and knows their skills are very useful. Diplomatic or on the field. If the Jedi sees Saw in a positive light, he will want to help out the Partisans more.”
Pourtlan asks about Jyn and her significance, “Jyn has been under Saw’s care for half a decade. When she’s around, Saw tries to soften the impact of brutality and war that we face in these battles. On missions to rescue prisoners, deliver supplies, or anything humanitarian, Jyn is always on those ones. He never thought she would be out here, a battle as large as this. Saw doesn’t want her to know that we’re raiding and destroying an Imperial supply line so he switches the goals around.”
Pourtlan laughs about Saw being a father, “Yeah, I guess he’s a bit of a softie.”
“A word, Jedi?” Saw calls out to Cal after the meeting.
“Sure, what’s up Saw?” Cal looks up from the ground as he maintains his lightsaber. Saw takes a moment to look at the flying parts before clearing his throat.
“The child, Jyn,” Cal flickers his eyes on her before going back to Saw, “I instructed her to stay on the platform, but knowing her she’ll try to get herself right in the middle of the action. Trying to prove herself or whatnot, to the detriment of my health.”
“I saw,” Cal answers as he remembers the fussing Saw as he looked over Jyn.
“When,” Saw grimaces as he says when and not if, “She does come out to the battlefield, can I have your word to help protect her to the best of your ability if you find her?”
Cal stands to meet Saw, “Of course. It’ll be no trouble at all.”
Saw gives a curt nod before going to command the Partisans around the base.
Saw with a couple of the other Partisan leaders, leave first along with seventy five percent of the able bodied fighters. The rest stay to guard the base. The speeder also stays when the Partisans find that the ground from the landing pad to the refinery has too many places for the speeder and the rider to fall to their doom.
The AT-AT leaves second, taking its time to spin around before leaving the forest and onto the beach front. Mari and Pourtlan discussed where the best spot for the AT-AT is so that any stray shots won’t start a forest fire but also give the AT-AT a decent cover against TIEs and Bombers.
Cere gives Cal a curt nod before leaving. She and Greez are managing who are going to board the Mantis. Jyn is under guard with Flora.
Jyn needed to find a way out. However one of Saw’s leaders, Flora, is keeping a keen eye on her. Currently they’re looking for supplies in the landing pad. That has actually been useful. She has refilled her bag with detonators and got a new grappling hook.
Currently, she and Flora, well just Flora, are talking with the members that have stayed in the landing pad. She thinks the other woman’s name is Mirienna and that she came from Zeffo. Mirienna is working up the courage to talk to Cal’s friends, when she overheard the Latero and human talking about Zeffo. She talks of her home being taken by the Empire. Jyn sympathizes.
“How’s Cal and Saw’s group doing?” Jyn perks up to Saw’s name. She turns her head to Ryn and… Cere if she remembers correctly.
“Fine, so far. Saw started his attack on the facility. The cutters have all been activated and causing ruckus. And no news so far about the Jedi, though they know that he is here since the landing pad attack.” Ryn says.
“Good, Cal is keeping hidden. He knows when to make his big appearance.” Cere says.
An explosion sounds near the front of the base. All eyes turn to the front of the base. A fire has started.
“Everyone help put out the fire!” Flora is quick to take action, leaping over the boxes and debris to help pull out injured Partisans.
“Perfect,” Jyn thought. Everyone’s focus is on the fire. Time for her to help Saw.
Cal likes Kashyyyk for the trees and beautiful scenery. He doesn’t like it for the hostile insects. Being jumped by a spider his size is terrifying in its own right. At least the workbench is worth the risk to help BD turn on and off machines.
Cal meets Saw at the border of the facility. They don’t share words as Saw immediately brings out his grappling hook and nods to him before zipping away with the rest of the crew.
“BD, bring up the map,” BD twirrs before the holomap appears. Cal rotates it to see where he is currently. Once he finds his general location he figures out where to go next. He looks in the general direction and sees a small platoon of stormtroopers. Maybe he can sneak past them?
“You ready BD?” BD jumps and rushes up to perch himself on Cal’s shoulder, “Ok then, let’s go.”
Jyn is thanking herself for the new grappling hook because there was no way she could get across without it. She got across without meeting any resistance too, no troopers or whatever the strange flying bug creatures are that she inspected on the ground.
She zipped up the final part to find that she found the factory boundary. It seems that Saw has already begun his attack. Small fires have started and the sound of the cutters slicing through the Imperial factory’s walls can be heard.
Jyn looks for any Partisans but couldn’t find any. Luckily her eyes found Cal, fighting off the Imperials just outside the facility. She begins scaling down the mountain to help Cal. To only start slipping on mud.
“Woah!” It takes everything for Jyn to not fall face first on mud. She stopped when her feet hit a visible steel pipe.
She takes a large sigh of relief before going to assist Cal.
Sneaking through Imperial stormtroopers is difficult if there is only one way in, Cal realized. Which puts Cal in this situation of being on the defense. The constant blaster fire is slowly withering down as the original six stormtroopers have gone down to three. He spins his double bladed lightsaber and prepares to use a Force Push to stumble the other three.
And then sees four blaster bolts whiz by him. Two fall to the shots, with the third only getting a glancing shot. Cal takes this opportunity to rush forward and slash at the gun and Force Push the stormtrooper off the cliffside. Cal sighs, already feeling a sense of dread to who just saved him, and turns around.
Yup, he’s right. Jyn. A person who was supposed to stay at the landing pad waves joyfully to him before she hops down from her vantage point.
“I thought you were supposed to help guard the landing pad,” Cal says, turning off his lightsaber.
“The base is fine. Flora and your friends are there helping protect it,” Cal raises an eyebrow at Jyn’s response. She twirls the heel of her foot as she continues, “And I'm a part of Saw’s rebels too, I should be out here helping him.”
Yup, this feeling of dread is well warranted. Cal didn’t want Jyn to be out here on the battlefield but Saw was right. Cal sighs heavily to the sky before locking eyes with Jyn again.
“Fine. If you’re going to stay out here and fight, you do it by my side. Got it?”
“Sir, yes sir!” Jyn does a formal military salute with the biggest grin on her face.
“Another thing, what’s in the backpack?” Cal asks.
“Detonators and food,” Jyn responds, rustling in her bag to bring one out. Okay… not what Cal would put two things together from his knowledge of inventory placement. He hopes that they aren’t touching too closely.
They both stand by the door. Jyn has a gun on one hand and a detonator on the other. Cal holds his lightsaber in his hand, idling.
“You ready?‘ Cal asks. He gets a nod from Jyn.
Cal presses the button and the doors open instantly. They find themselves in front of an imperial droid. The droid starts wailing and rushing backwards but doesn’t get far when Cal’s lightsaber slices it in two. It does the intended objective before it got sliced, alerting the five or so melee stormtroopers in the corridor.
“Jyn, toss the detonator,” Cal orders and ignites his lightsaber.
Jyn lobs it over and with a little help from the Force the five stormtroopers go down to two.
“You take the captain, I’ll get the straggler,” Jyn says, aiming at the straggler.
“Got it,” Cal rushes over. He no longer needed to use his double lightsaber so he jumps and deactivates one side before bringing down the single bladed lightsaber onto the captain.
Cal turns to find the other melee stormtrooper falling to the ground.
“Good job,” Cal says as Jyn jogs up, “C’mon, no time to waste.”
They run to the next open doorway and press the button. They find two Partisans and a black armored stormtrooper waving an electrostaff in the middle of them. Cal wastes no time and pulls them both back. The two Partisans fall in an awkward way since they’re not used to the Force but at least they’re safe.
“A Jedi,” the electrostaff sparks dangerously. Cal can’t see their eyes but he can feel the bloodlust emanating from the trooper.
“Jyn, take those two out of here. I’ll handle this guy.” Cal orders. She follows the directive as she loops one arm of a Partisan over her shoulders.
The dark trooper wastes no time and rushes Cal. Cal decides to meet him in the middle. The electrostaff and lightsaber clashing. It’s just like fighting magnaguards again during the clone wars. The lance is resistant to lightsaber attacks. The trooper is also proficient with the electrostaff.
The electrostaff darktrooper starts with a jab. Cal blocks it. A second jab immediately comes after. Cal sidesteps this one.
Cal goes in for a kick but the darktrooper jumps back. The darktrooper walks to Cal slowly, twirling the electrostaff left to right and back again. It gives Cal no openings. The darktrooper suddenly jumps and brings the electrostaff down. Cal rolls out of the way. The lightsaber swing Cal does grazes the shoulder pad but the second is stopped by the electrostaff.
They disengage. The electrostaff swings down on the right side. Cal parries it and the darktrooper stumbles back before regaining his footing and swinging down from the left side. Another parry. The third attack comes straight down. Cal dodges this one.
Cal’s kick connects this time. The darktrooper growls in displeasure. Cal looks past the electrostaff darktrooper and sees Jyn hastily carry out the second injured Partisan.
The electrostaff darktrooper sees Cal look somewhere else. Cal can’t have that. He calls the Force to pull the electrostaff darktrooper to him slightly. All attention is back on him as Cal begins his attack.
In an instant, Cal zooms to the darktrooper, swinging his lightsaber up. It cuts the uniform.
Cal places both hands on his lightsaber and brings it down in an overhead slash. The darktrooper jumps back. Not happening.
Cal leaps and twists his body to bring his lightsaber down again in a leaping slash. The electrostaff stops the lightsaber on the shaft but the weight of Cal’s swing slides the lightsaber to a direction and cuts the fingers off of the darktrooper.
The darktrooper jumps back to inspect his fingers. Besides the thumb, the four other fingers are now half the length. The darktrooper growls, “You’ll pay for that.”
The darktrooper moves. Wide right sweep, wide left sweep, jump to slam down.
Cal does his best to dodge. Parry, parry, roll away.
Jab, jab, down right slash, twirling from side to side, extended jab.
Sidestep, sidestep, dodge, Force Push, roll away.
Cal oversteps with a lightsaber sweep and gets punished as the electrostaff pulses in his ribs. Cal Force Pushes the darktrooper away from him as he spasms.
“Stim!” Cal shouts and BD shoots a canister into the air. Cal grabs and uses it, feeling the pain immediately recede, “Thanks.”
Cal has no more time to rest as the darktrooper rushes toward him. Cal decides to do the same. They clash in the middle. Both are huffing. The darktrooper is breathing more heavily than Cal is. But Cal is in no shape to waste energy.
“Truce?” Cal suggests as their weapons clash.
“Never, traitor,” the darktrooper growls. Hey, can’t say Cal didn’t try.
A shot hit the shoulder pad of the darktrooper. Both turn to the commotion. Jyn.
Jyn’s distraction gives Cal the perfect timing. He sweeps the feet of the darktrooper and they fall back. Cal wastes no time and plunges the lightsaber to the head.
Jyn sees Cal deactivate the lightsaber. He lifts his feet to not stumble over the strange weapon wielding stormtrooper and walks to her.
“How are the two Partisans?” Cal asks.
“Fine but injured by the shocks. I told them to go back to the landing pad for treatment,” Jyn answers. Cal nods at the answer.
“We’ve got them on the run. Keep pushing!” Saw’s voice can be heard above them. They both look up to see Saw fighting. Saw takes a quick glance at the window and sees the two of them.
“Jedi, good to see you alive. And I see you found Jyn.” Jyn gawks at the sigh she hears from Saw.
Saw grumbles as he looks at the darktrooper, “Darium warned me about those, keep your guard up.”
“No need to tell me,” Cal answers, “Anything up there that can open doors?”
Saw grumbles as he looks down, “The controls were destroyed. You’ll have to find another way around.”
Cal nods, “Got it.”
“Let’s leave here first. No better to be attacked in open areas rather than cornered in here,” Cal tells Jyn. Once they leave the room, Cal kneels to the floor, “BD, map.”
BD shines the holomap as Cal and Jyn look at it, “I guess the only way to the prison doors is if we take this left here.”
“How’d you find the droid?” Jyn asks suddenly, “I've never really seen a droid that small before.”
“BD-1? It’s more like he found me than anything,” Cal says. BD confirms it by nodding its head.
“As for the type of droid, I think BD here is an explorer,” BD whistles in confirmation and Jyn giggles.
“Is it alright if I hold him?” Jyn asks.
BD-1 didn’t need to be told twice as he hops off of Cal’s shoulder and onto Jyn’s open hands, “Woah, you’re a bit heavier than I thought.”
BD hisses some steam from one of his joints, expressing annoyance, “I’m sure she didn’t mean that, BD.”
“Quick, climb to my shoulder,” Jyn says. BD does and scurries up Jyn’s arm. She giggles, “It tickles!”
BD-1, being mischievous, decides to use one of its legs to open up Jyn’s backpack and hop inside. BD pops his head out from the cover with a whistle, telling the both of them that he’s a spy.
“Having fun, BD?” Cal asks as Jyn spins herself around, trying to reach for the droid. The droid beeps happily.
BD next decides to sit on Jyn’s hair, the droid rustling up the brushed hair into something Cal would see in bed hair.
“Ack, my hair! Hey, no fair!” Jyn places both her hands on BD and at arm’s length.
“Alright BD, I think you did enough damage to Jyn. Come on, we have a mission to finish.” Cal says to a sad beep from BD and a sigh of relief from Jyn.
Once BD-1 hops off of Jyn and to Cal, they walk to the left. It leads them down to a small platform, spinning machine that turns the sap, and another platform past it. On the side with the other platform they can see a platform just as tall as the platform they are on now. And with an ascension cable.
“That won’t work,” Cal says, “We might be able to get over to the other side but we have no way to get up to that taller platform.”
“It might,” Jyn says. Cal turns to her, “I have a grappling hook. If you can get across that, you can ascend your way up, cut the cable and then I’ll be up too.”
Cal smiles, “That works. Let’s do it.”
They both descend to the small platform, their only obstacle the huge pile of spinning sap. Once Jyn finishes climbing down to the platform, Cal talks, “Ok, the plan is that you’re going to run as fast as you can and jump. I’ll use the Force to push you all the way to the other side.”
Jyn hesitates. She thought that Cal was going to do that, “That seems dangerous. W-What if I mess up my jump, or I won’t go far enough?”
“Hey, look at me,” Cal kneels so he can see Jyn’s eyes, “Do you trust me?”
Jyn stares into Cal’s eyes. They are filled with confidence and faith. Confidence and faith for her.
“I trust you,” Jyn says slowly. Cal smiles.
Jyn hands Cal her backpack and only carries her grappling hook. Jyn nods at Cal, takes a deep breath and rushes to the edge. She leaps over the edge, going barely a fourth of the way before reaching her peak height before falling.
Then she feels a force on her back pushing her farther, faster, and giving her more height. She laughs. It’s like she’s flying and it’s absolutely amazing. No ship or jetpack needed. She’s weightless without her backpack. Her hair whips in the wind. She spreads her arms to feel more of the wind. Gravity means nothing to her at that moment. It’s her dreams made real.
As Jyn falls, she feels another force on her. Her fall, which was becoming very fast, suddenly slowed. She squeals as she hovers her way down. She’s like one of those old holoshow superheros. If only she has a cape. She hovers centimeters above the ground before the force on her dissipates, her feet lightly touching the floor.
“Again, again!” Jyn shouts. Her smile and joy radiates through her. She looks at Cal who has both his arms outstretched, places down one of his arms and gives a thumbs up with the other.
Cal laughs from his side, “After you get up top and bring down the ascension cable. Then I’ll think about it.”
Jyn doesn’t need to be told twice, aiming her hook to the platform above and firing. The cable carries her up and she triggers the mechanism once she is standing on the platform. Jyn looks down to see that Cal already crossed the spinning sap machine thing. He takes another moment before reaching the top.
“Did you see me? I jumped and then you used your awesome powers and then I flied like twenty meters! And then you used it again to slow my fall and I looked like-!”
“I saw, I saw. Yes, you flew. How do you feel?” Cal says.
“Amazing! Can we do it again? Can we? Can we?” Jyn bounces on her feet.
“I’ll think about it. First we need to finish this mission,” Cal answers. He looks at the workbench and wonders if there is anything that could help BD, “Can you open these doors for me and wait outside the first prison doors?”
“Got it,” Jyn looks a little disheartened but she knows Cal will make her fly once more. She’ll make sure he promises it later.
The upgrade that BD-1 got makes him able to hack security droids. Very useful. Cal meets Jyn outside the door, her gun in hand.
“Ready?” Jyn asks.
“I sure hope so,” Cal answers.
Jyn presses the button and the doors open. A smell hits them both. Cal cringes his face and Jyn gags. That smell came from one creature. Wookiee. They found the first prison encampment.
“Jyn, check on the Wookiees. I’ll use the terminal to free them.”
“On it.”
Cal accesses the terminal. He looks at it for a few moments, not wanting to accidently hit a button he doesn’t want to press, like the shock collar button Cal’s elbow nearly touched.
“Hey, get off!” Jyn shouts. Cal turns around to find a security droid had grabbed Jyn.
“Let her go!” Cal ignites his lightsaber.
The droid lets her go, which is good. But the droid tosses her to the walls, hard, that’s bad. The Wookiees in the prisons make a racket of that.
Cal retaliates by stabbing it. And he gets back slapped to the floor. Right, security droids don’t fall to a single stab wound. Three shots from Jyn hit the droid’s head and neck. Something must have worked since it started spazzing.
“BD, quick! Hack it!” BD scurries off cal and climbs to the top of the security droid. Soon the security droid goes limp.
“Great job, BD. Stay there and see if you can control it,” Cal hops to his feet and hoists Jyn up, “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, just got slammed to the walls,” Jyn answers.
“Do you need a stim canister?” BD twirls his head to Cal and Jyn when he hears the word stim.
“Nuh uh, I’m good.” Jyn says, “Quick, let's free the Wookiees.”
“Sir, rebels!” a voice makes them turn their heads. A stormtrooper notices them on the far end doors. Beyond him are more stormtroopers, melee and gun, and another electrostaff darktrooper. Fantastic.
“Jyn, detonators! BD, use that droid to cover us!” Cal uses the Force to pull the alerting stormtrooper to him and stab him.
Cal wastes no time and joins BD beyond the doorway, who is piloting the security droid, against the opposition. BD is busy with the electrostaff darktrooper. Cal takes the melee stormtroopers. He Force Pushes one off the edge and bisects another one.
“Detonators!” Jyn tosses two towards him, BD, the darktrooper, and the other stormtroopers.
“BD, on me!” Cal rushes to the prison room and closes it. Good thing too as the responding explosion rocks the room.
He opens the door to find the opposition but the farthest stormtroopers got blown up. That includes the darktrooper, which Cal thanks Jyn for. Cal sweeps up the rest of the stormtroopers and Jyn opens up the cells.
When Cal returns the Wookiees are free. They pat Jyn and Cal for their freedom. Just in time too. Mari comes swinging down with a group of Partisans.
“Cal, good job,” Mari finds him first before her eyes dart to Jyn, a sigh escapes her lips, “Jyn, I see you found the battlefield again.” Jyn pointedly doesn’t look Mari’s way and fails at whistling.
“Jyn’s actually been a big help. I couldn’t have gotten this far without her or saved more people if it were just me,” Cal smiles at her antics.
“Did she now? Well then, good job to you too Jyn. You can stay by Cal’s side but we will have words later to obey rules.” Jyn beams at Mari when she could stay with Cal.
“No injuries, Jyn? I already see Cal here has one growing on his face,” Mari asks.
“Nuh uh, the worst I got is hitting a wall,” Jyn says.
“Security droids don’t fall that easily like battle droids,” Cal manages to mutter out while caressing his face. He doesn’t need a stim, yet.
“How’s Saw doing?” Cal asks.
“Having trouble, he and his group are progressing to the main Wookiee prison but are meeting a lot of resistance. The plan is once we free these Wookiee prisoners, take off their shock collars, and rearm them, that we rejoin Saw and help him fight off the opposition,” Mari answers.
“When are we calling Greez to come in with the Mantis?”
“After you and Jyn free the main group, that’s when we send our call.”
“Got it,” Cal says and turns to Jyn, “Time to go. Saw’s on a time limit.”
Jyn rushes to his side, “Where to?”
Cal takes four steps before stopping, “Good question. BD, bring up the map.” Jyn laughs at Cal.
“Ok, the only way for us is to go through here,” Cal points to the way in front of them, mapping the climbing and hanging portions of the wall. At least for him, “Can your grapple go that far?”
Jyn tests it. The grapple misses by a couple of meters.
Cal thinks for a little bit, “Ok, can you try firing to the farthest climbing section?”
Jyn fires and a clang rings out. It can make it.
“Ok, the plan is that I’ll climb until I reach that far climbing section. Once I do, you fire the grappling hook and I’ll catch it. I’ll attach it between the openings and then you can zip to me. Don’t worry about falling. Just hold on to your grappling hook tight and don’t let go. And if you do, I'll use the Force to catch you.” Cal explains.
Jyn nods and Cal begins to climb. She watches as he goes from portion to portion. Cal waves his hand over to Jyn and she lines up her shot. She fires and it goes too far up. Cal uses the Force to bring it to him and squeezes it between an open slot. Cal gives it a tug and is satisfied with its safety before giving a thumbs up to Jyn.
Jyn takes a deep breath and leaps off the edge. She swings violently in the air and holds her grappling gun for dear life. She feels a force encompassing her. She’s safe. Her swinging from side to side quickly stops and she presses the button to retract the line, dragging her up.
“You good?” Cal asks.
Jyn nods but is breathless by the event. She clips her grappling hook to her belt and they both climb to the top. When they peek their heads over the opening they see a melee stormtrooper. There are even more troopers beyond that. Luckily there is a little slip of ground that covers them.
Cal goes up and brings up Jyn next to hide behind the cover. Cal and Jyn get their weapons ready. Cal makes a large bang on the metal and alerts the stormtrooper on their side of the platform.
“Who’s there?” Cal waits for the stormtrooper’s foot to come into view before Force Pulling him to a side and Pushing him off the edge.
Cal peeks his head over the cover, “There are three stormtroopers. One melee and two ranged. Can you hit it from here?”
“I can try,” Jyn answers.
“Do or do not. There is no try,” Cal instinctively says.
“What?” Jyn says confused.
“Sorry, just a saying Master Yoda would always say to us when we were little,” Cal says.
“Ok…” Jyn says.
“Once you fire, it doesn’t matter how many you hit, I’ll run over and face the rest.” Cal says.
Jyn nods and lines up her shots. She needs to be quick. One is to help Cal and the second to help reach Saw faster. She takes a breath and focuses. She fires three shots in quick succession. All headshots. Cal takes three steps in the open and halts at his enemies being sniped down by Jyn.
“Impressive,” Cal says, deactivating his lightsaber.
Jyn walks up to him with a smile, “You told me to do or do not. I did.”
“I see. Good job, you sure practiced your shooting skills,” Cal says, “Let’s make our way across this deactivated spinner.”
They reach the other side with no problems. They hear blaster fire above them. A prominent voice that sounds is Saw.
“Go to the prisons! We need the Wookiees to finish this!” Saw orders above them.
“They’ve got reinforcements!” that voice is Mari’s.
“Go, go! We’ll hold out there!” Saw orders.
Cal looks up to where Saw’s voice was. There’s an opening for him. But there’s no time for him to climb up there.
“Jyn, let me borrow your grappling hook.” Cal receives it from Jyn and he takes aim. The line flies true and latches on the top of the floor, “Once I get up there, I’ll toss it down to you and help you get up.”
Cal rewinds the line and his body lurches as he’s flung forward. He makes it to the top in under five seconds. He stands up and shakes his head at the vertigo. Wow, this grappling hook is powerful. He might need one himself later on.
Cal tosses the grappling hook to Jyn and she takes aim herself. Cal grabs the line and places it on the ledge, the sound of the line zipping heard seconds later.
They prepare themselves by the warped metal wall. Jyn peeks through the hole and sees one stormtrooper.
“Only one stormtrooper,” Jyn whispers.
“Oh, that means I can do this,” Cal clips his lightsaber and uses both hands in a forward push.
The warped metal pieces fly to the stormtrooper, knocking them out for the foreseeable future.
“Wow,” Jyn is shocked. Having Jedi powers is something she will always envy. Well, she learned of them today, but still!
“Doorway, could be more stormtroopers,” Cal says which brings Jyn back to reality.
They open to three stormtroopers and one security droid. Cal goes for the security droid and Jyn stays behind cover to take the stormtroopers.
Jyn takes five shots to deal with the stormtroopers before looking at Cal. The droid is missing an arm but still swings the other arm wildly that Cal dodges.
“Cal, detonator!” Jyn lobs one to Cal. He catches it and places it on the chest before Force Pushing it away. When the explosion settles, the only thing left are the legs.
“Time for the controls. Jyn, guard me.” Cal looks over the terminal.
The red ray shields that once block the Wookiees from escaping turn off at once. The Wookiees shout in joy. The Wookiees that are near stormtroopers grab them before tossing them off the platform or into the cell they were in.
“You’ve done it! The Wookiees are free!” Saw nods in their direction, “Get to the roof, we’ll make the stormtrooper's last stand there!”
Cal picks up his com link and calls Cere, “The Wookiees are free. Get Greez to start his flight.”
“On it, Cal. Greez, liftoff!” Cal can hear Greez and soon the Mantis’ engine kicking in, “Great job rescuing the Wookiees. You’ve done a lot of good here freeing them from this factory.”
“Couldn’t have done it with Jyn and Saw with his Partisans,” Cal says.
“Ah, that’s where little Jyn had run off to. She sure caused Flora here to lose a couple of hairs when Jyn made her disappearance,” Cere chuckles.
“I’ll give her some Naboo plants or Alderaan fruit later. I heard she likes those.” Jyn says.
“I’m sure she’ll like them very much, Jyn. Cal, we’ll see you soon,” Cere logs off on her side.
“C’mon, let’s find Saw on the roof,” Cal opens a door and Jyn follows.
The lift lied to them. It went down and not up. The good news is that there is a power console that BD powers up. Hopefully that powers a lift that goes to the roof.
They enter the next room and see the wires activate a lift across a gap. The roof is one large gap and a lift away.
“Let’s take a break,” Cal announces.
“What?” Jyn says perplexed.
“We’ve been going the entire time without breaks. We defeated stormtroopers and saved Wookiee and Partisan lives. The mission is nearly done. I think that warrants a quick two minute break. Catch our breath and all. Better to go in somewhat refreshed than tired and get accidently shot by desperate Imperials,” Cal explains.
Cal takes some time to meditate and focus on himself. Jyn stands to the side as she checks the doorways for any stragglers. Cal’s mind delves into the Force. It’s still fractured but slowly being mended together.
That’s when his senses alert him of something. On Jyn’s neck.
“Jyn, can you come here for a moment?” Cal asks.
Jyn compiles but looks confused, “Do you sense something?”
“Yes, but not Imperials. Do you have something hanging around your neck?” Cal asks.
“You mean my necklace?” Jyn pulls it out underneath the shirt layers. It really is what Cal thinks it is. A kyber crystal.
“Can I hold your necklace?” Cal asks.
Jyn hesitates but takes off the necklace and puts it on Cal’s open hand.
“How did you find it?” Cal asks softly. Jyn looks at Cal as he touches it. It’s like he thinks it’ll break apart if he uses too much force.
“My Papa found it and gave it to Mama as a gift. Mama gave it to me when the Empire found us,”
“Saw is a Papa?” Cal asks. Jyn and Saw look to have a parental relationship from his point of view.
“No, he’s the uncle, Saw is too loud to be Papa,” Jyn giggles at Cal.
“What happened to your Papa and Mama? Are they with Saw’s group?”
Jyn sobers, “No, Mama died trying to save Papa. I don’t know about Papa. Maybe they got him too.”
“I see,” Cal hands Jyn back her necklace and she puts it around her neck again.
“Do you know what it is?” Cal asks as she thumbs the crystal.
“No,” Jyn answers.
“It’s kyber,” Cal takes out his lightsaber and disassembles it in midair. Jyn sees the same crystal in the middle of the lightsaber as her necklace, “Like mine.”
“And it looks like the crystal likes you,” Jyn stops thumbing the crystal at Cal’s statement.
“What?”
“Kyber is semi-sentient. The crystal chooses you and not the other way around,” Cal explains.
“Does- does it mean I can be a Jedi like you?” Jyn stares at the crystal with newfound wonder.
“I don’t know,” Jyn droops at the answer, “Everyone has the Force inside of them but few are sensitive enough to feel it. And besides, being a Jedi at this time is dangerous. Most of us are dead or hiding.”
Jyn sours but keeps her head high, “Then why are you here?”
“What?”
“If Saw had a Jedi in his Partisans, he would use them a lot. But you’re only here on this mission. Why? You said that being a Jedi is dangerous so shouldn’t you be hiding?” Jyn asks.
Cal remembers what Cere says about his own mission, “It’s because I’m on a mission. If this works, we could take more action against the Empire and bring balance to the Force.”
“So your mission is more important than Saw’s?” Jyn asks.
Cal hesitates before answering, “…Yes, but just because it is doesn’t mean I can’t help Saw and his Partisans out.”
"Soyou can't stay?" Jyn asks but feels like she already knows the answer.
“I don’t know. Who knows? Maybe Tartful will show up or make an entrance through transmission. But most of the time we’re on the move. Can’t stay in one system too long.” Cal explains.
Jyn hums but doesn’t make another sound. Cal believes they’ve taken enough of a break, “Alright, let’s head up and defeat the rest of the stormtroopers.”
Cal and Jyn ride the lift to the roof. The closer and closer they get, the sound of blaster fire gets more prominent. They get to the roof to a sea of red and blue blaster bolts.
The star destroyers must have sent a group to retake the sap factory. One troop transport lies as a burning husk to the side and the second contains dead pilots, making them unable to take off. Besides that, there is little to no cover. Partisans and stormtroopers are on this platform or the roof, all shooting straight or their opposition on the different levels.
Cal ignites his double bladed lightsaber and joins the fray. Jyn is a step behind him.
Cal pulls in stormtroopers one at a time to their location. Cal doesn’t even need to stab them as Jyn shoots them before they reach their location. Cal is able to pull in three before the stormtroopers finally notice the pair.
“The Jedi! Quick, focus your aim on him!” An order comes from the stormtroopers. Soon Cal is the focus of the platform’s stormtroopers.
Cal is able to pull in one more stormtrooper who becomes their living shield as Cal turns to Jyn, “Same as last time. I block, you fire.” Jyn nods in response. Cal drops the blaster ridden body to focus on deflection.
“I’m going to toss a detonator. Can you use your powers to aim directly at the stormtroopers?” Jyn asks. Cal shakes his head. All his focus is on not turning him and Jyn into a blaster bolt pincushion. He hopes Jyn’s arm is strong enough to reach the stormtroopers.
By his peripheral vision, Cal sees a Wookiee get shot twice. The Wookiee falls and Cal grits his teeth, hoping the wounds are nonlethal.
Two detonators fly overhead. One doesn’t get too far. The other rolls to the side of an Imperial transport where the stormtroopers are hiding. They notice it and quickly run away. It explodes, not taking any stormtroopers but taking out the troop transport.
Both troop transports are now burning husks that stormtroopers don’t want to get near in fear of getting burned. And since the transport lies too close to the edge, they can’t use it for cover unless if they wish to fall to the processing tree sap below.
The explosion gives Cal some time to breath as he quickly counts the stormtroopers. There are about twenty or so on the platform and a couple of the roof levels. Cal does a quick check on Jyn. She has her back towards him as she takes potshots at some of the stormtroopers on the deck and the flametroopers.
Cal didn't have any more time to check on Jyn’s progress or the number of stormtroopers before blaster fire began coming towards his direction once more.
Cal blocks, spinning his lightsaber or deflects some back at them.
Staring at the stormtroopers look all too familiar after a while of blocking. Cal blinks his eyes as he looks down at his master’s lightsaber and back up. The stormtroopers turn into clone troopers. Cal winces at the sharp pain in his head as he does a quick glance back.
Cal’s eyes meet his younger self. He’s cowering in front of an onslaught of blaster bolts. And he stands as his Master Tapal.
Cal doesn’t remember this. Wait, he does. No he doesn’t! Yes, he does!
Cal stops deflecting the bolts as his head winces at the pain. His mind is at war trying to remember something. It hurts, it hurts. It. Hurts.
“Raagh!” His pain grows into frustration as he Force Pushes all the opposition back. He falls to one knee, exhausted by his effort.
“Cal, are you alright?” Jyn enters his view with a frown on her face.
“Yeah, just tired. Quick, incapacitate the troopers before they all get back up.” Cal utters out.
“Right,” Jyn is quick to reload her blaster and take shots at the sitting or laid down stormtroopers.
Cal gets up and ignites his lightsaber. As Cal readjusts himself he misses a new ship trying to deposit an AT-ST. The AT-ST decides to do some damage before touching the ground and fire on the platform. The shot lands in front of Cal and Jyn who tosses them backward.
“Cal!” Jyn quickly goes back to her feet. Cal got more of the brunt of the blast as he sits up groggily.
“Quick the Jedi is down. Fire!” Jyn’s eyes grow wide as blaster bolts fire in their direction. Cal is quicker though as he covers Jyn with his body.
They both wait for the inevitable pain and burns of blaster bolts. They don’t feel the pain of them though but hears the sound of blaster bolts hitting durasteel. They both look up to see someone standing in front of them with a riot shield.
“Darium!” Jyn says, relieved.
“How are you, Jedi?” Darium grunts. The riot shield holds against the onslaught of blaster bolts.
“Fine,” Cal grits out, “BD, stims.”
BD obliges as two stims pop out. Cal and Jyn inject themselves with one each.
“That AT-ST is gonna be a problem,” Darium grunts out between blaster fire. Jyn helps lighten the load by shooting down two stormtroopers.
A familiar engine hum enters Cal’s ears as he grins, “Not for long.”
The Mantis flies in at that moment shooting the transport holding the AT-ST dropping off the air and into the tree sap below. The Mantis does a sweep, the wind of the sweep sending the stormtroopers on the roof to lose balance. The Mantis stays by the roof level and deposits the troops from Ryn’s group. The stormtroopers are pinned on both sides and quickly disposed of or surrendered.
“Keep her safe?” Cal asks Darium. Darium nods in response and Cal bolts to the nearest stormtrooper.
Cal is finally on the offensive so he makes the best of it. Cal slices, stabs, and tosses his lightsaber on his opponents with the help of the other Partisans and Wookiees providing cover fire. Soon a scant few stormtroopers remain.
The destruction of the AT-ST also destroys the morale of all stormtroopers. Partisans and former Wookiee slaves are overwhelming the remaining stormtroopers and there is the problem of the Jedi too. Comms are jammed and reinforcements are no longer an option. Most surviving stormtroopers make the decision to drop their blasters and place their hands above their heads.
The battle is over. The surviving Imperials have surrendered and the Imperial factory is no more.
Cheers can be heard from all over congratulating one another, or jeering at the Imperials.
“Everyone!” Saw’s voice turns their heads, “These have been hard years. We’ve lost comrades, friends, family… to the Empire.” The group grumbles at the mention of the Empire’s name.
“Dark times. Yet the fire still burns.” Saw thumps his armor with his fist, “Hope still burns.”
Saw looks to Cal and gives a respectful nod, “The Jedi are not yet lost.”
Saw’s arms raise and gestures at the entire group, “We are not yet lost.”
“This day has been won for our brothers and sisters in this rebellion. So long as our fires burn against this tyranny, the Empire will never destroy our faith! Not here or on any other planet opposing the Empire!” Saw’s voice fills people with hope and confidence.
“For the cause!”
I’ll tell ya one thing. That man can put up a speech,” Greez says, “I’m not even in his group and I raised my fist into the air.”
“Yes, his enthusiasm and strength leaves little to be desired,” Cere hums.
Cere and Greez spot Cal and Saw walking towards them, “Well done, Cal, for stopping this factory and aiding the Wookiees.” Cere says.
“I’ll say. It’s not everyday you can tell a story of destroying an Imperial factory in under a day and with few casualties,” Greez adds.
“Yes, your crew here would be a welcome addition to my Partisans,” Saw says, “On that note, I’d like to formally extend an offer to each and everyone of you. As a small cell adjacent to our Partisans. These skills can be of great use against the Empire. A flier, an informant, and a Jedi.”
“We’re honored-” Cere starts.
“But we have our own mission for now,” Cal finishes. Cere gives him a subtle nod.
“I know. You Jedi always have your own agenda. The offer still stands,” Saw walks away.
Jyn walks up to Cal next, “Are you really leaving so soon?”
Cal looks to Cere, “I dunno. Can we stay?”
“Sorry Cal, no time.” Cere at least looks apologetic to Jyn, “We’re needed back on Zeffo.”
“Empire?” Cal frowns.
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
“You’ll come back soon?” Jyn says softly.
“I’m sure we will. Right, Cere?” Cal asks.
“Of course, we still need to talk with Tartful,” Cere says.
“And while we can’t get Tartful now someone here will,” the group look up to Mari walking to them with a Wookiee, “Meet Commander Choyyssyk, he was a part of Tartful’s crew but got captured in a mission.”
“Ah good, so this wasn’t a complete waste,” Greez says.
“Patience, Greez,” Cere says.
“I know, I know. But we could’ve done this with less damage to the Mantis. Or with stealth.”
“With this one?” Cere points to Cal.
Cal raises his hands, “Hey, are you sure Jyn didn’t create all the commotion this time?”
“Wha-Hey! I’ve been quiet this entire time,” Jyn huffs.
Choyyssyk talks to Mari and she translates, “Either way, they’re all happy to be released. Choyyssyk will do everything in his power to find Tartful but he’s always on the move.”
“We’ll be waiting for the transmission,” Cere says. Greez and Cere make their way up to the co*ckpit of the Mantis.
Cal nods to Choyyssyk, "Thanks for the help. We owe you."
The Wookiee roars before encompassing Cal into a hug. Mari laughs as she translates, "If anything, the Wookiees here feel like they owe you rather the other way around."
"Cal," he turns to see the Mantis power up, "Time to go."
"Right," Cal turns back to Jyn, "Don't worry, we'll return. Maybe then we can swap stories."
"Don't stay away too long!" Jyn says over the starting engines. Cal and BD return the wave before the doors close.
“I've been monitoring Imperial chatter. Project Auger has been reactivated. The Empire is close to approaching another Zeffo tomb.” Cere says as the Mantis lifts off.
“Looks like we still have work to do,” Cal says and BD beeps in agreement.
It’s been two days since Cal and his crew left Kashyyyk. The base was in a state of frenzy. Soldiers grabbing weapons and checking gear. Pilots went over plans and strategies while the aircrafts were being fueled and weapon checked. In the middle of it all, a man shouts out orders. The outlier was the child clinging on to his every step.
“We can’t leave Kashyyyk! We just found Tartful and we need to be here when Cal returns,” Jyn pleads with Saw.
It falls on deaf ears as Saw is too busy directing the Partisans for leave. Gunships are being filled with weapons, supplies, info, and wounded Partisans.
“Saw, when we leave, who will help protect the Wookiees?” Mari tries next.
“The Empire has finally decided to send its full might against us. It’s too dangerous for us to stay here any longer,” Saw answers, "If this initial attack was just the scouting party, I don't want to be here when the main force arrives."
Ryn and Flora dash to Saw's side, "Sir!"
"Report," Saw says.
"Wounded soldiers are on the gunships and the fuel is prepped. Weapons and tools are still being loaded." Ryn starts.
"Send the gunships that are already full into the air. Keep the able bodied men down here so they can help with the weapons and tools,"Saw orders.
"We've also intercepted a transmission. The word of a Jedi infiltrating the base on Kashyyyk reached the ears of the higher ups in the Empire. They're sending more squadrons of darktroopers and something called an Inquisitor to Kashyyyk. Their arrival will be within the day," Flora adds.
Saw frowns, "I don't know what an Inquisitor is but if they are leading with more of those darktroopers, I'd assume it's for nothing good. I want us all in the air by the sunset."
“I’m sorry, Saw. I can’t follow those orders.” Saw stares into Mari's defiant eyes.
Saw is first to break away, “Fine. Do what you will. After the Empire leaves their eyes on Kashyyyk, we’ll come back to pick up the survivors.”
“I’m staying too!” Jyn shouts.
“No!” Both Saw and Mari say.
"It is non-negotiable that you are staying with Saw," Mari says, "If the only person who can take care of those darktroopers efficiently is Cal, who is not here, I don't want to think how many of us it takes for one soldier."
"But we can hide! If we can’t keep this base, let’s move into the forest and hide there," Jyn tries to reason.
"The jungles are filled with dangers too," Saw looks down at Jyn's ever-increasing anger form on her face, "I know you want to stay but you cannot see him again if you are dead."
"Why not have the best of both worlds? Jyn, you can give me your com-link code so I can give it to Cal. That way you can be off world and I can give you a means of communication to Cal."
Saw nods, "That works. Jyn give Mari your com-link code"
Jyn huffs but does so, "Tell him I said hi?"
"Of course, Jyn." Mari says. She looks at Saw getting near a transport, "I think it's time for you to leave before the Empire arrives."
"Mm," Jyn says before giving Mari a hug. Mari gives a surpised yelp but returns the hug, "Stay safe?"
"I will. Now shoo before Saw gets another heart attack if you somehow get on the wrong transport to one of his safehouses than the base."
