Chapter Text
“A new Inquisitor? Huh. You don’t read that every day…” Cere spoke quietly, not quite talking to anyone.
“Oh?” Merrin asked.
Cere scrolled on her data pad, how she got all her information about the Empire, Cal never knew. Though he was sure it was whatever Rebel informant ties she had.
“Probably just some scary looking, red light-stick wielding, bad attitude having, nutcase.” Greez said with a mouthful of breakfast. Cal smiled to himself as he took a bite of bacon.
“You said a new Inquisitor, right Cere?” Merrin began, “I wonder what type of training that entails…” Her sentence trailed off as she thought.
Cal and Cere exchanged a quick glance, both of them understanding the torture and brainwashing that new Inquisitors faced to earn their title.
“Oh, just Imagine the worst things possible.” Cal answered Merrin’s question, poking at his food with his fork. He was suddenly very thankful that his time after the purge was spent on Bracca. Scrapping ships is better than being a slave to the Empire.
Merrin acknowledged him with a somber ‘hm’.
“Oh no….” Cere murmured after a few moments, pulling Cal out of his thoughts.
“What?” The Jedi and Nightsister said in unison.
“Look at her.” Cere whispered, turning the data pad towards the two.
“She is so young!” Merrin exclaimed.
Cal just stared at the picture for a moment. Her eyes were striking, one green and one blue. And her hair was just as red as his.
“She has to be about your age, Cal.” Cere murmured. “Gods, I can’t imagine what she’s been through.”
The Jedi suddenly felt his stomach drop accompanied by a sharp pain in his temple, but he wasn’t sure why.
“Everything okay, Cal?” His master asked, noting the grimace of pain on his face.
“Huh? Yeah. Just a weird feeling looking at the picture.” He explained, his appetite suddenly disappearing. “I hope she’s okay.”
“‘Hope she’s okay’?!” Greez exclaimed, “She’s the enemy, Cal.” The Lateron shook his head and grumbled to himself.
Honestly, Cal didn’t know why he hoped she was okay. Probably just another force thing. With how young she looked he was sure she was a youngling at the same time he was. And younglings during the purge did not make it out unscathed.
After a moment Cere caught Cal’s eye. “Let us hope with the resurgence of a new Inquisitor we don’t have any issues. I can see the Empire wanting to test her, see if she can really do what she’s been trained to do.”
“Yeah, let’s hope not.” Cal began, “The Brood is enough to deal with. I’ll survive either way, but I'd rather deal with one enemy at a time.” He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m gonna go work on some stuff.” He let the table know before getting up to leave and washing his plate. Conversation resumed as he left the kitchen and headed for his workbench in his room.
BD-1 was powered down on his pillow and multiple half finished projects lay scattered on his desk. But he didn’t feel like doing any tinkering. He stood in the middle of his room, trying to get himself to do something. The Jedi ran a hand through his hair again, he was suddenly anxious.
What’s bothering me?
Cal tried to sift through his thoughts, his sleep was restless but he didn’t remember having any nightmares, his aches and pains were at a minimum today and his connection with the force felt fine.
So what was making him feel so…off? The image of the Inquisitor flashed into his head, the odd feeling he got looking at the woman’s photo.
Weird…
The Jedi decided to try to sleep it off, though he’d only been up for a few hours he was still tired and since he didn’t have anything to do today, maybe a nap would help. Cal plopped himself down on his bed and picked up the worn novel he attempted to read every once in a while and tried to turn off his thoughts.
Soft Bogano rain pattered onto the glass ceiling in the living room. The room was cozy with a stormy gray hue from the outside and warm yellow light from the lamp across the room. Cal was lounging on the couch, the same worn novel in his hands. Quiet breathing came from next to him on the couch.
He looked over to see a young woman with long ginger hair sitting with a book of her own. She was cozied up with a blanket and a steaming cup of tea. She seemed utterly at peace. As she turned a page in her book Cal noticed she had a few scars along her arms and some sort of tattoo on her right wrist. After a moment the woman looked up at Cal and gave him a small smile.
Her eyes, one green and one blue, softened, “Everything okay?”
Suddenly Cal was outside on Bogano, and so was she. The woman had a saber strapped to her belt and she wore a simple sparring outfit. A slight sheen of sweat covered her forehead as she took a drink of water. The pair of them were training together.
The feeling in his chest was excited and proud, he wasn’t in danger. The sun reflected flecks of gold in her bright hair when she turned back to Cal and smirked, “All right, Kestis, my turn.” Before unclipping her saber and taking an offensive stance. Her saber ignited red and as he blocked her first hit the scene changed again.
Cal sat at the top of a mountain, looking down at a distant village. It was cold and his breath appeared in a cloud in front of him, small snowflakes landed around him. He felt…content. The warmth that emanated from next to him, he saw, was her. She sat next to him, admiring the falling snow. The two rested in silence together for a while. He thought her nearness would make him uncomfortable, but he was truly relaxed.
“Cal.” She whispered, he almost didn’t hear her. His eyes met hers, she was so close, “I need your help, Cal.”
Cal woke with a start, he even startled BD awake on the pillow next to him.
“What the hell…” he breathed.
The droid gave a distorted, sleepy series of beeps, but Cal was already out of bed and moving towards his closed door.
That was not a normal dream…if it was a dream at all.
“Cere?” Cal croaked as he walked out of his room, his droid just a couple steps behind him. The sun from the windows showed it was past midday and he blinked in the light.
“Yeah?” She replied, her voice coming from the library. Cal made his way to her, grabbing the datapad off the counter before entering the adjacent room.
“What’s wrong?” Cere immediately knew something was up the moment she saw his face.
“That woman, the Inquisitor you read about this morning...” he began, holding up the datapad.
“Yes, what about her?” Cere questioned, her eyes wide with worry now.
Cal felt almost frantic, but he took a breath and told Cere what he had just dreamed.
“What was her name?” He asked Cere as he finished his recollection. “Was it in whatever you were reading earlier?”
“No, I’m sorry Cal. There was no name in the report. And she hasn’t been numbered like the other Inquisitors yet either. Probably because she’s so new.” Cere finished.
Why is this bothering me so much?
The Jedi scrolled the report Cere had read that morning for himself, idly running his hand through his hair.
“Do you think you had some sort of vision, Cal?” His master asked.
He blew out a breath, “I don’t know. But it feels…different. It was so real, like she was right next to me. Not like my psychometry visions where I look into the past. But something totally new.” He paused, trying to make sense of it, and failing.
“She asked for my help, Cere.” Cal finished, he looked to his master with pleading eyes.
“What do you want to do?” Cere asked quietly.
“What should I do?” He was so unsure. He’d never experienced something like this before and was trying to tell himself that he did not just see visions from the future.
“Go with your gut, Cal. I’ve got your back.”
He thought for a moment. “I want to help her.”
“Are you sure about this, Cal?” Cere asked. She was looking through the holo map on the Mantis at Cal as he studied the file on the newest Inquisitor again.
“Yes, I’m sure.” The Jedi nodded his head once, looking up at his Master.
“And what’s the story we’re going with?” Cere questioned again. Slight turbulence made metal groan as the ship entered the atmosphere of the jungle planet.
“Being ‘alleged Jedi and rebel scum’ is enough cover for us, for now. The details don’t matter.” Cal verified.
“We know nothing about her, Cal. I'm worried she won’t want to chat and will do nothing but try to kill you…”
Cal grinned, “Oh I’m counting on that.”
The exhausted look Cere gave him made him laugh. “She’s an Inquisitor, of course she’s gonna try to kill me. Emphasis on ‘try’.” Cal made his way to the door as the Mantis touched down. “It’s probably her first time out in the field with a Jedi as a target. If she’s smart she’ll be nervous.”
Cere walked with him to the end of the ship platform. “I’ll try to get a read on her when I see her. Then I’ll go from there.” He finished, sure of his plan.
“And what if she’s beyond saving, Cal?” Cere asked quietly. Hinting at what Cal would do if she wouldn’t be saved.
“If she was beyond saving then why did I dream of her asking for help?” The Jedi sighed. “I don’t exactly like this either, Cere. But I need to see what’s going on. For my own sanity.”
“Okay Cal.” Cere nodded in understanding. “Head northeast towards the abandoned Rebel base. Reconnecting power should alert the Empire. Then send a decoy message to alert the Inquisition and get the hell out of there.”
“If all goes to plan I should run into her somewhere nearby. Keep the Mantis hidden.”
“Will do.”
Cal turned and began jogging towards the base, he watched the Mantis take off and move to cover a moment after he broke the tree line. All Cal could think of is how the conversation would go with the Inquisitor, and whether or not it would work in his favor.
“Do you think this is a bad idea bud?” Cal asked the small droid on his back.
“bwooop. boop. bweeeee.” BD-1 responded, though he sounded a bit nervous.
“Yeah. It’s probably gonna be more difficult than I anticipate. But I can’t just not help her.”
“Boop.” BD agreed.
“Alright. Let’s get this done.”
I don't know how easy she’s gonna let me make this, but she wanted me to save her, so that’s what I’m gonna do.