Chapter Text
The air around Cal was stiff and humid when he opened his eyes. Rain fell hard, cold and sharp, pelting the scrap line as if it would pierce the metal below. The massive frame of a Republic cruiser loomed above them like a sleeping beast and he heard the cutters grinding into them.
Prauf stood beside him, shouting over the storm. “You coming or what, Cal?”
Cal blinked. His gloves were slick with grease, his harness digging into his shoulders. He felt the weight of it, the ache in his knees from too many shifts. “Yeah!” he called back. “Right behind you.”
Prauf laughed and turned toward the scaffolding ahead. Cal followed behind him, smiling.
The sky cracked.
A roar of engines.
Stormtroopers dropping from above.
“What the—?” Prauf barely had time to turn before a red saber of pure energy pierced through his chest.
“ No! ” Cal rushed forward, hand outstretched as the walkway beneath him gave way. Metal screamed. His foot slipped. Praulf vanished into the darkness, eyes wide as the rain swallowed him whole.
Cal hit the ground, hard, and into water.
Black, cold, and endless.
He gasped, kicking upward, but couldn’t break the surface. Panic set in. His limbs burned. The weight of his guilt dragged him deeper.
Then, suddenly, air.
He burst upward into a chamber filled with red emergency lighting. The Fortress. Fortress Inquisitorius. The sound of alarms echoed around him. Water flooded the floor. He coughed, struggling to find balance as he pulled himself out onto the walkway. His saber wasn’t in his hand. He didn’t remember losing it.
Cal heard the heavy breathing before the door creaked open.
Towering, silent, inevitable.
Cal stumbled back. “ No . No, this can’t be real.”
Vader moved with terrifying grace, walking forward as if the fortress itself obeyed him. The air grew heavy. Each breath burned. The floor trembled beneath Cal’s boots.
And he ran.
Water surged behind him as the lights shattered overhead. The corridor warped and narrowed. He could feel Vader’s presence pressing against his back like gravity.
Red light.
Then pain.
The blade tore clean through his chest, searing and final. He looked down to see it there, glowing bright from within, paralyzing him.
He tried to gasp, but no sound came.
Vader leaned in close, and Cal felt the cold presence of him like a wound that would never heal.
“You are nothing.”
And the world pulled him under.
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The cold stayed with him.
Even after the blade, even after the water swallowed him whole, something darker held on — like it wasn’t just a dream, but a memory etched too deep. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.
Then a shadow leaned in close.
“Still talking in your sleep, huh?”
Cal jolted upright with a sharp inhale. Greez’s wide face hovered just inches from his own.
“Guess some things never change,” he mumbled, voice hoarse as he rubbed at his eyes.
“Weirdo.”
“Hairball.”
Greez let out a wheezing chuckle and moved to the foot of the bunk as Cal sat up and shifted his legs out of the way. The covers clung damp to his skin like he hadn’t just dreamed it, like he’d been there again.
“Thanks for letting me crash here,” Cal said, standing up slowly. He rolled his shoulders, trying to shake the lingering chill, and glanced around the small room that somehow already felt like a memory too.
“Of course! Why do you think I’ve kept your stuff around all these years? I was hoping you’d stop by and maybe take a break.”
Cal didn’t answer right away. He pulled on his boots and clipped his bandolier over his shoulders like armor. “We both know what happens when I stay in one place too long,” he said, tightening the strap across his chest. “You said there’s a spare gyro around here somewhere?”
“We’ve got plenty of time to fix the Mantis .” Greez’s voice shifted. More gentler, more wary. He patted the spot next to him on the bunk. “ You are what I wanna talk about.”
Cal hesitated, his hands stilling for a beat. Then he forced a casual stretch, rolling out his neck like the tension hadn’t just knotted behind his ribs. “I’m fine,” he said. “The sooner we get moving the better.”
“And then what?” Greez asked, frowning. “You’re gonna go find some trouble with Saw Gerrera?”
“Maybe. Yeah .” Cal’s tone was sharper than intended. “One of us has to keep fighting.”
“That’s funny.” Greez looked at him. “That’s the exact same thing you said the day we all split up.”
“Yeah! Because I—” Cal stopped himself. The words caught like shrapnel in his throat. His jaw tightened.
Greez didn’t push. Just waited, quiet, until Cal finally let out a breath and lowered himself back onto the edge of the bed.
“…Alright, look,” he said. “I know you all had your reasons for leaving. But walking away isn’t an option for me. I have to hold the line.”
Greez leaned back with a low sigh. “And where’s that gotten ya, Cal? Look, I wish things were different. But you keep losing people, and you yourself said the Empire’s growing stronger every day! Now maybe it’s time for you to be something more than a lightsaber. Think about yourself. Settle down. Find a home.”
“What home, Greez?” Cal shot back. “There is no home! Home was the Order. It was my teacher. It was everyone I lost. What does their sacrifice mean if I go and I just… give up and stick my head in the sand?”
“I know you were dealt a bad hand, but you gotta take it from me. Somebody who had to learn the hard way.” Greez lifted his cybernetic arm and flexed the fingers with a soft whirr. “You gotta know when to walk away from a rigged game! Otherwise you are gonna end up losing something you can never replace.”
Cal stared at the floor, his jaw clenched, breath coming slowly through his nose. He didn’t look up. Couldn’t. The dream still lingered like a bruise behind his eyes.
Greez watched him, then turned toward BD-1, who had finally roused and was carefully making his way down the bunk’s ladder. “Alright.” He stood with a grunt and shuffled toward the closet, pressing a keycode into the wall panel beside it. “I wanna show you something.”
With a low mechanical hiss, the closet shifted and slid away, revealing a hidden tunnel dug directly into the clay wall.
“This is a smuggler’s tunnel. Came with the cantina. Now, go ahead and look. I keep a lot of spare parts down there. I’m sure you’ll be able to find whatever you need to get the Mantis up and running.”
Cal approached the entrance, eyeing the shadowed passage. “Thanks,” he said quietly. “I appreciate all this.”
Greez paused, looking over his shoulder. “Cal, can I tell you one thing?” His voice softened. “It’s really good seeing you again.”
Cal glanced back, then quickly looked away. His throat tightened.
“Yeah, you too,” he muttered, taking a step toward the tunnel. “And, Greez? I’ll think about what you said.”
Greez smiled softly, then cleared his throat. “Hey, uh, watch your step down there. Be careful.” He looked away sheepishly. “I definitely have a pest problem.”
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this is my cal kestis! (also the one that i'll be using as a reference for my stories :P )