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Oh, we’re here in the jungle
Running right into the fire
Oh, we’re here in the jungle
Who’s gonna make out alive?
-Zayde Wølf, “The Jungle”
*******
“This whole journey has put a lot of wear and tear on the Mantis.”
Cere jolted from her stupor at the sound of Greez’s voice. They had been sitting in silence for the past half hour on the journey to Kashyyyk. Greez had come from the back of the Mantis, muttering something about how ungrateful teenagers were. When Cere had tried to press further, Greez had only shaken his head, saying he didn’t know. The silence had fallen until that very moment.
“Like it was perfect before?” she challenged. The Mantis had not exactly been in the best condition when she had originally come aboard. It had seen some wear and tear since then, but not that much. Really, she was sure most of the damage could not be blamed on her and her exploits.
Greez shrugged. “It was a masterpiece,” he said wistfully, “but now… Just don’t be surprised if I send you a bill.”
Cere snorted. “Someone’s low on funds.”
He sputtered. “Sure, that may be a part of it, but I’m used to it.” A pause. “Were you rich growing up?”
“Wealth isn’t really a priority for the- “she glanced down as she felt something nudging her leg. Cere glimpsed at BD-1 pushing at her with the flat of his head.
“Priority for the what?” Greez asked, but Cere paid him no mind as BD-1 warbled with concern, bouncing from foot to foot like a nervous or scared child.
She heard Greez spin the pilot’s chair around. “Is it the droid?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
BD-1 repeated his warbles, only in a much more urgent and hurried tone.
She sensed a moment of thoughtful from Greez. “He was scrabbling at the door to the ‘fresher for awhile. I think the kid locked himself in there and didn’t take the droid with him.”
Cere turned to Greez, eyes narrowing in concern. “Why would he do that?”
Greez shrugged. “Not sure. Tried to ask, but he wouldn’t tell me.”
Worry bubbled within her chest as she looked back at BD-1. The fact he refused to tell Greez anything did not come as a surprise. Their conversation from earlier had come to mind. She had not expected to get anything from him, at least not this soon into knowing him. The little he had afforded her, about the Imperial torture chairs, she considered a success. Yet, there was something else, something that had to have occurred recently, that he was not disclosing.
He had locked himself in the ‘fresher, away from BD. Four was friendly and comfortable with the droid, far more than he was with her and Greez. Judging by that… it was worrisome that he would hide away somewhere where the droid could get to him.
“He sounded upset,” Greez added.
Okay. Cere pushed herself out of her seat. “Show me the way,” she said to BD, who did a happy little spin before skittering off toward the back of the ship. They passed the ‘fresher on the way, which she noted was completely vacated.
BD stopped at the very rear of the ship, just before the entrance to the small workspace Greez had set up. The Latero occasionally used it when the tinkering mood overtook him, but it had been abandoned for the last six months until now.
Four was leaned over the table, all his focus on his project. Cere lightly knocked on the wall.
He jumped, dropping the tool he was using and spinning around. “Uh- I’m sorry. I didn’t- “
She waved him off. “No, no. There’s no reason to apologize… “her words faded out as she noticed the lingering redness around his eyes. He dipped his head down and turned back to the project as she stepped over to him.
She motioned to his lightsaber, which was laying amidst a pile of haphazard tools. “Did something happen to it?” she asked as BD hopped up onto the table. The droid prodded a discarded glove off to the right of the table.
“Uh- “he pursed his lips. “Yeah. Just a little… blunt force damage.” He started wringing his hands, drawing her eyes to the movement. “On Zeffo. The switch had gotten loose… “
He stopped the wringing when he realized her attention was lingering on his cybernetic left hand, the one she had never seen uncovered. Unlike many others she had seen, some newer models that had even replicated human skin, the metallic bones and tendons were completely exposed. He quickly grabbed the glove and slipped it back on. “Sorry,” he muttered, keeping his eyes trained on the table and awkwardly crossing his arms. “I know it makes people uncomfortable. It was delicate work, so I really needed to feel what I was doing, and- ”
“No.” She placed a comforting hand on his arm, which his eyes tracked with the intensity of an apex predator. “You don’t have to apologize. I just came to see if you were alright.”
Four shrugged. “Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” He grabbed his saber and began to swiftly depart from the room.
BD let out a protesting chirrup. Cere said, “Four, wait.”
He stopped and turned back.
“Look, I know I got a little snappish with you earlier,” she continued. “It wasn’t personal, but I should not have done it. I don’t want you to have a bad impression of me.”
“I don’t.”
“I- “she blinked” -you don’t?”
Four shook his head.
“Then, what- “
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said suddenly. “Guess we have that in common.”
His second comment barely registered in her mind. “Did something happen on Zeffo?” she pressed. “What- “
“I said I don’t want to talk it,” he interrupted.
Cere narrowed her eyes. “You know you can trust me, right?”
He nodded. “I know. I don’t trust people easily. If that comes as a surprise, then I give you far more credit than you deserve.”
“I get the impression,” Cere deadpanned. “How long are you going to play this game? We haven’t known each other for long, but with every step forward, we take two steps back. I try to bridge a connection, and yet you keep pulling back.” At that, he crossed his arms once more and dropped his gaze from her eyes. “Trust goes both ways, Four. I know I have told you that I trust you, and you said the same back. I don’t see that from you.”
He rocked forward and back on his toes. “I don’t think you want to hear seven years of trauma.”
“Not all at once,” she admitted. “I don’t want to push you into something that you make you uncomfortable, but a little at a time wouldn’t hurt. Did something happen on Zeffo?”
He stayed silent. BD nudged his calf and let out an encouraging chirrup.
Four let out a shaking breath and dropped his eyes to the ground again. “There used to be people who lived there, after the Sages. Regular people, like you and me. The Empire tried to drive them out. There was a… “he pursed his lips, hesitation clear. “There was a- “
The ship’s intercom crackled. “We’re about to pull out of hyperspace. Get up here. I’d rather not have you flying all over the place when we’re trying to land.”
Four took his eyes from the ground and met hers. “Guess it’ll have to wait,” came his brisk response before stepping off for the cockpit, BD on his tail.
Cere stood there for a moment longer, dumbfounded, before she threw her hands in the air in frustration. Oh well. She had gotten somewhere with him. It was a win.
For now.
She arrived at her own station at the comms a moment later, just as Greez was making the preparations to pull out of hyperspace. The Mantis jolted beneath her feet, and the blue-white tunnel of hyperspace faded away. Just as they entered normal space, the sensors flared to life with red light. Kashyyyk was surrounded by an Imperial blockade.
“Tell me we’re not running that blockade,” Four said as they approached three large pyramid-shape destroyers.
Cere couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “We’re outlaws and rebels but not idiots. We’d only do it as a last resort. I’ve rigged the Mantis’ transponder to transmit Imperial signals so it shouldn’t be a concern. Hey, Greez?”
“Yeah?”
“Keep your power signature low and act like we belong.”
Greez hummed. “Just like Bracca. No sweat… “
Out of the corner of Cere’s eye, Four reached up for one of the consoles above. Greez roughly slapped his hand away. “I don’t need another set of hands. Just keep your eyes on the scanner. Please?” Although it sounded more of a demand than a request.
The same intensity he had tracked her hand with when she had touched him earlier was now tracked on Greez. His cybernetic hand --- which, ironically, was the one Greez had slapped out of the air --- curled into a fist. “Alright,” he replied stiffly. “Whatever you wish… “
The Latero, too busy with piloting, took no notice of it as they floated underneath the Star Destroyers. He glanced at Four and nodded toward the scanners.
“I don’t see anything,” Four said. “You would have known if I had.”
Greez shook his head and sighed. “Look, kid, I don’t know what was going on with you earlier, but there’s no reason to get all snippy with me when I’m just- “
Cere shushed him. “I can’t hear over you.” She could feel his glare boring into her back. “They’re preoccupied with something on the ground,” she announced as the words floated in through her headset. “We’re clear.”
The Mantis steadily entered Kashyyyk’s atmosphere, piloting through clouds and over the forested landscape.
Greez let out a low whistle. “Wow. It’s worse here than I thought.” Cere could not exactly see what he was referring to, but she could imagine. Smoke in the air, entire regions of green decimated for new metallic and concrete structures, things that would only take from the planet.
“The Empire is devouring Kashyyyk for its natural resources,” Four said.
“Oh, I bet you would know about that.”
Cere started to speak, but Four beat her to the punch. “Is there a reason why you have suddenly decided to attack me?”
“Considering the way you’ve been acting- “
“Greez- “ Cere said warningly.
The monitors suddenly flashed bright red again, and the Mantis shook as a TIE Fighter swooped over but meters from them, only to be followed moments later by what appeared to be a smaller version of a Republic gunship.
“That was a close one, kid!” Greez jerked the ship back to its original position. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the monitors?”
It did not take a Force-sensitive or a genius to notice the biting comment Four pushed back, instead reporting, “Guerilla fighters. Wookiees and off-worlders ambushing an Imperial convoy.”
More chatter flooded in through Cere’s headset. “Walkers approaching their position.”
“Tarfful could be with them,” Four said.
Greez made an exasperated noise. “Tarfful could be anywhere! Like deep in the ground, like we’re gonna be if we get caught up in that battle down there!”
“We don’t have any other options,” Four argued. “And they’ll… they’ll die without our help.”
Cere turned to Greez, an urgent look in her eye. The captain met it, then shook his head in defeat. “Ah, what the hell, the kid’s gonna win this anyway… “
“So, what’s your plan?” she directed at Four.
He shrugged. “Sabotage.”
Greez scoffed.
Four jumped up from his seat. “We used to scrap walkers on Bracca. I’ve been in them before too. I’ll just jack one.”
“And how’re you planning on getting down there?”
Four shrugged again. “I’ll jump. Unless you want to put the Mantis down and alert the Empire to our presence. In that case, be my guest, but you’ll be the one flying out of a firefight.”
At that, Greez laughed in disbelief. “Ha! Get a load of this kid. He thinks we’re back in the Clone Wars!”
Cere stood as well. “Captain?”
He stopped laughing for a moment, a gleeful smile on his long face.
“Get us near those walkers.”
The laughter faded out. Greez spun the pilot’s chair around. “Wait, what?”
“You heard me,” she said. Four offered him a smug wink, BD a triumphant chirrup, before they started off for the door.
“Listen,” Cere began to his retreating back. “Those walkers double as troop transports once you get inside so- “
“Be careful?” Four huffed out a small laugh as the ramp slowly began to lower. “You forget what I just said. It’s not my first rodeo with these things.” Before she could say anything else, he stumbled out to the edge of the ramp, lifting a hand to shield himself from the force of the wind. BD-1 tightened his grip on the kid.
“Alright, if you’re jumpin’,” Greez said over the comm, “you better do it now, kid!”
“Hey!” Cere called. Four turned back to her. “Do me a favor? Stay alive down there?”
And then, she witnessed perhaps the last thing she had expected to see from him --- a real, genuine grin, however cocky it might have been. “I’ll add it to the plan,” he called back, spreading his arms wide before he tipped back over the edge of the ramp.
***
When he was a youngling, Cal had a friend who told him he was sick in the head.
Sick for liking heights, that was.
The crèchemasters would always find him in the rafters of the Temple or the ledges of the building or really any high place he could get to. A few times, he had even dragged Caleb with him, much to the latter’s dismay (He had stopped this after Caleb had gotten stuck once on a ledge towering over Coruscant’s undercity.). A few of the crèchemasters had even joked Cal had been assigned to Master Tapal because, as a Lasat, the Jedi Master was the only one tall enough to reach those high places. His love of it --- of heights, climbing, leaping across gaps, acrobatics --- was something the Empire had never managed to drill out of him.
Admittedly, the idea of plummeting headfirst toward the surface of a very unforgiving planet was not the most appealing ideal in the worlds. In fact, most people would find it a rather unfortunate situation to find themselves in. (Caleb frequently reminded him of this fact.)
But this… with the air rushing past him, nothing but him alone in the bright blue sky, every burden of his life left behind on a starship of planet’s surface… this was nothing but a moment of pure bliss.
BD-1’s claws gripped tighter, and he let out several warning chirps. The blue ocean was steadily approaching, faster and faster. If Cal didn’t do something fast… well, he was going to be floating in several different areas of the ocean.
Yeah, alright. Cal pulled his feet over his head and his shoulders up, turning himself upright again. Just as he hit the water, his boots brake the surface of the water. He splashed in, BD slipping off his shoulders and sinking somewhere far into the depths below.
It took him several seconds to shake off the shock, for feeling to come back to his limbs. He kicked and pushed his way up, surfacing right next to BD.
The little droid let out a happy whistle and butted up against him. Cal lightly laid a hand on the droid’s head. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
BD-1 suddenly kicked Cal in the chest. Don’t do that.
Cal could not help but chuckle. “Aw, come on.” He reached out a hand, allowing BD to crawl up his arm and back to his perch on Cal’s shoulders. “You’ll have to learn to trust my judgment one of these days.”
It was not easy, swimming through murky waters with hunks of metal falling all around, AT-AT walkers trudging through the deep, overgrown with green flora and vines as though they had been sitting in the woods for awhile. He managed to climb his way up the legs of one of the walkers and into the body of it, crawling his way through to the cockpit.
He found his way to the troops’ hold, peeking up through a loose floor panel. There were seven troopers, three stormtroopers and one scout. One stormtrooper is laying on the floor, being checked over by the scout troopers, looking still and lifeless. The other three were slouched against the bench, eerily still.
BD chirped softly, Dead.
“Yeah, kinda picked that impression up myself,” Cal whispered back.
“There’s no pulse,” the scout trooper checking the stormtrooper on the floor said, getting to his feet. The black visor met that of his comrade. “Your turn to report fatalities.”
The other trooper sighed. “This is L9-7240. We’ve got confirmed casualties. Four- “
Cal threw the panel off himself, jumping into the troops’ hold. The three scout troopers spun in shock. “Who’re you?” one of them demanded as all three of their stun batons shot to life.
“It’s him!” another said. “The runaway!”
Cal made an irritated face. “Ah, well,” he muttered to BD, drawing his saber and igniting it, bathing the compartment in bloodred light. “News travels fast.”
The three scout troopers charged him at once. Cal caught the closest’s baton with top half of his blade. The other two crossed the distance between them. Something switched inside Cal’s mind, and he thrusted out a hand, an invisible wave knocking them back.
He broke the bladelock, throwing the baton off to the side. He planted a kick to the trooper’s chest and switched his grip on his saber. Before the trooper can righten himself, clutching the saber with both hands, he brought the unactivated half of the hilt down on the back of the trooper’s helmet. The plastoid cracked, and the man collapsed to the ground.
The second trooper lunged, catching Cal’s abdomen with the baton’s electrified tip. He stumbled back with a pained grunt. “Command,” he said into his comm, “we’ve got a situation. I think we’ve found what the Emperor’s looking for.” The trooper flourished the baton, then sliced downward. Cal dodged as the tip whooshed past his shoulder, then aimed a kick at the unarmored side of the trooper’s knee. He dove under the man’s arm, grabbing it and flipping the trooper over his shoulder.
The air behind Cal moved. He spun on his heel, narrowly avoiding the third and final trooper’s jab. The trooper brought his baton down once more. Cal activated the second half of his saber, bring it back up as the trooper struck again, catching in another bladelock. He took a hand off his saber and shoved it into the man’s chest, tapping into the Force again. The trooper went flying back once more, hitting the wall and falling in a limp heap.
Cal stepped over the fallen bodies to the door. It hissed open, and he quietly crept through the neck of the walker and into the cockpit. The two pilots were unaware of his presence, still talking amongst themselves.
“Reading a new ship on the scanners,” the one of the right said. “They brought more firepower than we thought!”
Cal froze. BD looked up to him and bounced from foot to foot.
“How’s our hull looking?” the left asked as Cal unfroze himself and crept closer.
“Badly damaged. We’re at 70% integrity and failing.”
“That should still be enough to stamp out those insurgents. Keep us steady!”
BD was still bouncing foot to foot. However, Cal recognized this to be from excitement rather than nerves.
Cal motioned with his head. BD did a little spun before jumping onto the console between the troopers and whistled excitedly.
The troopers simultaneously shot their attention to BD, like reflections of each other. “What the- “
Cal jumped forward and clashed their heads together. The plastoid helmets thunked against each other, and the troopers tumbled out of their seats in opposite directions.
“Can’t believe that actually worked,” Cal commented, sliding into the pilot’s chair. “Those helmets are absolute shit. By the way, who taught you how to swear?”
BD fixed Cal with a look. Well, what he imagined to be a look if the droid had eyes.
“Right. Might’ve been my fault… “
Oppositely to free-falling through the air, Cal cannot say that being thrown around the cockpit of an AT-AT walker as it is crumbling to the ground is fun. What ever the strongest word for not fun is, it is that.
Once the walker stopped moving, he finally had the focus to assess his injures. He knew that his head had been bashed a time or two, and he was only hoping that did not result in a concussion. Oh, and he had a bruise there. And there. And there too.
BD skittered over and nudged Cal’s arm. He placed a hand on the droid’s flat head. “Yeah,” he gritted out. “I’m alright. I’m alright. Just give me a second.” He laid on the floor for a minute longer before finally dragging himself to his feet, then out of the cockpit and onto the head of the walker. “You okay?” he asked once they were out.
BD trilled excitedly, hopping from foot to foot. Again! Again! he said with the fervor of an excited child.
“No, we’re not doing that again,” Cal said as he hopped off, landing with his knees bent on the ground. He took a step back to assess the wreckage.
Blasters fired up up behind him. Still high on adrenaline, he wheeled and activated both halves of his saber, turning one half down and holding it defensively in front of his chest.
Three rebel soldiers had surrounded him, all human from what he could tell, their blasters and rifles primed and ready. “I suggest you put that down and surrender,” the middle man said. Cal recognized him as the fighter who had jumped onto the front of the walker. “We have you outnumbered.”
He had reason to trust them --- they were on the same side --- but the feeling was not mutual. “Put yours down first,” he challenged. BD whistled menacingly (menacingly for the little droid, of course) from his perch on Cal’s shoulders. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I can’t say I feel too comfortable having a bunch of blasters pointed at me.”
“That makes two of us.”
His eyes flickered to the two other foot soldiers. Their fear prickled at the base of his spine, over the force of the fight’s adrenaline, but he could not get a read on their ringleader. “Besides,” Cal added. “I just took out half the fight for you.”
“And wrecked a perfectly good walker in the process,” the man said back. “I know what you are.” What. Not who. He was not even being afforded the luxury of being a person. Just another Imperial tool in their eyes. “I don’t care what your intentions are. You aren’t in any position to be making demands. I assume you’re with the new ship?” Cal nodded once. “Then we’ll have them to verify your story. But if you really want to earn my trust… “he dipped the barrel of his blaster to the ground.
Cal flexed his fingers on his saber hilt, eyes flickering back and forth between the three. This man was not the type to budge --- that much he could discern. Seeing no other option, Cal gritted his teeth and deactivated his saber.
The two foot soldiers swiftly moved in, each grabbing one of his arms. Cal jerked against their grip, but the one to his left snapped something in a language he did not know and jabbed the barrel of his blaster into Cal’s ribcage.
Their ringleader stepped forward and roughly snatched Cal’s saber from his grip. The same feeling switched in his mind. Almost against his will, he tugged against his captors. The accursed weapon was still his, after all, and he did not like to see other people touching it.
“Either the rumors are true,” the ringleader said, “or you’ve just pulled the biggest con in the galaxy. Although- “his eyes narrowed as he studied Cal” -I would think the former is correct.” He jerked his head, and they started off, half-dragging Cal with them.
The Mantis swooped overhead, landing in a open patch of land that was not covered with scrap hunks or metal or flames. Their posse approached as the ramp opened, Cere and Greez speeding out of it.
“Sir,” Cere spoke up, holding out a hand, “let him go. Whatever you think is going on, that’s not it.”
The man tilted his head, surveying the two. “Are they true?” He held up Cal’s saber.
Cere’s eyes flitted back to Cal, then to the man. “They are,” she confirmed with a nod. “We found him on Bracca. He’d been there for years. He won’t hurt you or your troops. He’s with us.”
“And who are you?”
“Cere Junda,” she answers. “This is my captain, Greez Dritus.”
His head tilts the other way. “Am I supposed to know the significance of that?”
Cal could help but roll his eyes. “Kriff’s sake… “he muttered under his breath.
“I was once a Jedi,” she explained. “My friend is here to help me find something. Of course, he can’t do that at blasterpoint.”
The man glanced to Cal, then back at Cere and Greez. He was silent for several minutes before nodding to the two foot soldiers holding Cal. They dropped their grip from his arms. One planted a hand on his back and shoved him forward. Cal threw the one to his right a glare over his shoulder as crossed the distance to Cere and Greez’s side.
“Are you alright?” Cere asked.
“Fine,” he said back. The two foot soldiers hurried off.
“Cere Junda. Greez Dritus.” The man nodded to each of them in turn until he reached Cal. “I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“Four,” Cal replied acidly.
“Four?” He raised an eyebrow. “Like the number?”
“Don’t stress over it,” Greez piped up. “We don’t actually know what his name is yet. That’s the one we gave to him.”
The man ignored the evil look Cal threw Greez as he introduced himself. “Saw Gerrera. What are you three doing on Kashyyyk?”
“We’re looking for somebody,” Cere answered. “You?”
“My companions and I came to Kashyyyk to disrupt Imperial supply lines. Who’re you looking for?”
Cere said, “A Wookiee chieftain named Tarfful.”
Saw Gerrera looked as though they had told him they were planning on blowing up a sun. “Tarfful’s impossible to find. There’s a reason he’s evaded the Empire this long.”
“Exactly!” Greez said, turning to Cere and Cal with a smug smirk. “See what I mean? Big planet, lots of trees, creatures, Wookiees, Imperials, take your pick?”
Cal swore he could hear his own blood pressure rising. “He’s a freedom fighter?” he tried through gritted teeth.
“He’s the freedom fighter,” Saw continued. “A symbol of the Wookiee resistance, striking at the Empire from the Shadowlands. What do you want with him?”
Cal shrugged. “Jedi business.”
Saw scoffed and shook his head. “The Jedi as we know them are dead.” He stepped closer to Cal, sizing him up. “I’m sure you would know a thing or two about that.”
“Saw,” Cere began warningly, “we already told you. He’s not- “
Saw raised a hand to silence her. “I think the Emperor’s lost pet should answer for himself.”
The switch begged to fall into place again, pleading for him to do something that would knock the rebel leader into place. A flash of anger from the man drifted across his face, but with only the slightest hint of cold at the base of Cal’s spine.
Good. A healthy amount was good for everyone. “I don’t do that anymore.” He kept his tone light and reassuring. “You have no reason to be afraid of me.”
Saw’s eyes narrowed. “Who said I was afraid?”
“You didn’t have to.” With his next words, he dropped his voice into the low, dangerous tone he had once been all-too familiar with. “”But that strange cold sensation you feel following you everywhere, that hangs over your troopers before every fight, every battle, the worry you won’t survive, that you won’t succeed, that this will all be for nothing… “Saw’s steellike expression flickered momentarily” -it has to come from somewhere.”
The prickling spiked, but it quickly dissipated. Jovial warmth pushed against his sternum as Saw chuckled. “You’ve got some spine to you, kid.” He held out Cal’s saber. “I’ll give you that.”
Cal shrugged. “Suppose the Empire can’t drill everything out of you.” He reached for his saber, but at the last second, he grabbed Saw’s armored forearm instead.
Saw stiffened. “Four-” Cere hissed warningly, and Greez drew in a sharp breath. Cal barely noticed it.
“Don’t ever call me one of the Emperor’s pets again,” he threatened. “You want to trust me?” He snatched his saber out of Saw’s hand. “Don’t give me that label.”
The rebel leader stepped back, surveying Cal up and down. “This pad,” he began, addressing them all, “supports an Imperial refinery that runs on Wookiee slave labor. Our intel suggests that some of the captives there are guerilla fighters.”
Cal nodded. “I should help them.” He met Cere’s eyes, and she offered a single nod back. “One of them might know how to contact Tarfful.”
Saw shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute.” Greez waved his hands through the air. “Yeah, I’m still here, by the way. The Mantis works wonders, I mean, it’s a great ship, excellent pilot, but it is not built for close support.”
“That works.” Cere waved him off. “We’ll stay here and monitor Imperial transmissions. With any luck, we’ll intercept any Imperial distress calls.”
Saw dipped his head. “‘Preciate it.” He turned his attention to Cal. “My lieutenants and I will scout ahead to prepare the attack. Join us when you’re ready.” He dipped his head again, then hurried off after a group of soldiers running past.
Cal closed his eyes and let out a long sigh through his nose. Opening them, he looked to Cere and Greez. “Glad to see you guys landed- what?”
Greez had flinched when he turned around. “Uh- nothing.” The Latero awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, we landed fine. Glad to see you’re alright too, I guess.” He made a disgusted noise. “This place has turned into a dump.”
“Your plan worked,” Cere said. Cal recognized a hint of worry in her world-weary eyes. Whatever for, he could not guess. “And now you want to follow Saw?”
Cal shrugged and crossed his arms. “He’s fighting a losing battle. It’s been three years since I’ve heard anything about Kashyyyk, but last I remember, the Wookiees were not the ones winning.” Cal glanced to Saw’s retreating back. “Freedom for the Wookiees can’t be the only thing he wants.”
“He might yet prove to be trustworthy.” Cere followed Cal’s gaze. “But there’s more going on here than we know.”
“Oh, most definitely,” Cal said. “Have either of you heard of the Partisans?”
“Rumors in cantinas,” Cere admitted, “kind of like what we heard about you, but not as much to go on.”
“They call ‘em radicals,” Greez added. “I heard the Empire’s got bounties on their heads.”
“Wouldn’t be a first.” Cal grinned at Cere. “Cantinas?”
She shrugged. “Jedi aren’t easy to find. Why do you ask?”
“You just don’t seem like the type.”
“Sometimes we need drinks,” Greez said, “but that’s a story for another time. You the type for ‘em?”
Cal made a face as though he were considering it. Tabbers had once tried to get him drunk, but either Cal had a naturally high alcohol tolerance or the Empire had done something to him. “Not really.” He started off-
Cere caught his arm. “Four.”
Before he could stop himself, he slapped her arm away. “Hey- “ Greez warned. “I thought we were over this.”
He shook himself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t- “
Cere held up a hand, and he quieted. She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. “Just be extra careful, okay? If that’s how he reacted to you, I cannot imagine how the others will.”
“I’ll be fine.” BD added an encouraging whoop.
“It happened again back there, with your eyes.” Cal’s heart jumped two beats. He dropped eye contact with Cere. “That’s when he backed off.”
And that’s why Greez flinched. “Is it- “
“No. It just disappeared. Promise me,” she urged. “Promise me you won’t let anything happen.”
Cal drew in a breath and lifted his eyes back to hers. “I won’t. I promise.”