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Breaking into the Imperial base had been a bad idea.
Cal had known that going in, but he’d gone anyway, knowing that Saw Gerrara was relying on the information he would be retrieving. It should have been a relatively simple job, but he found things rarely went to plan.
Saw had given him a small band of rebels to command. They were fine people, but too young to have any real experience fighting with the rebellion. He had hoped that Saw would have given him at least one veteran for support, but quickly realised that the older man expected the job to be over quickly with a Jedi at the helm.
“Horo, are you in position?” Cal spoke quietly into the commlink. He’d been wary about splitting up the team, but it had become apparent that a distraction was going to be needed to allow him to slip in and collect the data. He’d sent Horo and the others to draw out the troops stationed within the communications room, trusting in the Force to see them to safety. They had a transport stashed away and would meet Cal there once he had the data.
“We’re ready when you are, Cal,” replied Horo.
“I’m ready. Good luck, Horo. I’ll see you back on the ship.” Cal slipped the commlink into his pocket and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt. He waited, taking deep breaths to calm himself. Before long, the sounds of an explosion reached his ears, and he prayed his team were already well on their way to escape.
Igniting the lightsaber, he held it out in front of him as he stepped into the communications room. A quick glance around told him that their distraction had worked. The room was empty, and he was able to move straight to the console, using a data disc to copy the trade route information as quickly as he could. The Empire had been expanding their routes recently, and Saw had hoped to intercept the supplies, allowing the rebels to distribute them to people who would actually benefit.
“How much longer, BD?” He asked, the small droid having dropped from his shoulder onto the console to watch over the data transfer.
“ Bwoo-loop! ”
Cal turned immediately, bringing the lightsaber up and deflecting the blaster bolt that had been aimed at his face.
“Jedi, scum!” The Imperial officer didn’t get a chance to say another word. Cal threw out a hand, using the Force to pull the other man towards him and running him through with his saber.
“BD?” Cal turned back towards the droid who was jumping up and down on the console. He tapped the data disc impatiently, and Cal knew that the data transfer was done. He scooped up both the data disc and the droid and began making his way out of the room. Their transport was on the outskirts of the base, and there was a squadron of Imps between him and it.
“ Boo-loop? ”
“Yes, I know,” Cal shot back. “I’m working on it.”
They made their way down a corridor, trying to avoid getting entangled with any troopers as much as they could. He wished not for the first time that he was able to just slip through without notice, wondering if he shouldn’t have taken the uniform of the Imperial officer in the communications room as a disguise.
“Cal?” Horo’s voice sounded from the commlink, and Cal pulled it out to reply.
“Is everything okay?” He wedged himself into a crevice in the wall and crouched down, steadying his breathing and trying not to let the worst-case scenario run through his mind.
“Imps found the ship,” replied Horo. Cal could hear blaster fire in the background and took note of how out of breath the other man sounded. “We lost La’sara and Jysell.” His heart gave a painful twinge at the news. Both had been so young, barely with the rebellion more than a few months. They never should have been here. He never should have left the group alone. Their deaths were on him.
“You need to get out of here,” hissed Cal. “Take the ship and go. Regroup with Saw and tell him what happened.”
“What about you–”
He cut Horo off. “I’ll find another way. BD and I will be just fine.”
“But–”
“Go, Horo!” Cal could practically hear the hesitation of the other man through the comm, and was grateful when Horo agreed to leave. He turned his attention back to BD who had jumped off his shoulder and was looking up at him from the floor.
“Did you download a map of the base while we were in the communications room?”
“ Myam-wam! ”
Cal beamed at the small droid, and BD illuminated the small space with a map of the base. He studied it hard, looking for any other way out of the base and off the planet.
“There!” He pointed at the hanger bay, and BD zoomed in on it. “We’ll be able to find a ship,” he said, and BD trilled in agreement. Cal held out an arm, allowing the droid to climb up onto his back.
They made their way towards the hanger, Cal’s lightsaber spinning in his hand as he deflected the blaster bolts aimed at him from the Stormtroopers they ran into. The base was on high alert after the explosion, and it was likely they were searching for more intruders now that they’d found the transport Cal had flown in on.
The hanger bay was emptier than he had expected, and Cal thanked the Force for whoever was watching over them at that moment. He spared a thought for Greez, knowing that the Latero would want him to take the finest ship the Empire had hiding away. He knew he’d need to settle for whatever he could get his hands on first.
BD tapped him sharply on the shoulder. “ Bwoo-loop! ”
“Find something, buddy?” Cal looked in the direction BD was indicating, and saw a lone TIE fighter tucked away in a corner. “Think it still works?” he asked.
“ Boo-bweep! ”
“Alright then.” Cal sheathed his lightsaber, looking at the wall beside him and realising it was climbable. “Ready for a climb, BD?”
“ Bweep. ”
Cal got a footing on the wall and began making his way towards the TIE fighter, stopping every now and then when he heard Stormtroopers moving below him. From the alarms blaring in the distance, it was clear the base was still on high alert, making it slightly harder for them to remain undetected. Once he was above the ship he let go, dropping onto it with a soft thud.
Immediately, the cockpit flung open to reveal a pilot, brandishing a blaster and firing blindly. Cal ignited his lightsaber and deflected the bolts, hitting the wall behind him. He could hear the cries of alarm from the Stormtroopers below, and knew he had mere moments before he was surrounded. He needed to get the pilot out of the ship as soon as possible and get it into the air.
BD tapped his shoulder wildly, alerting him to the troopers climbing up the wall and firing on them. He whirled around deflecting the bolts and making them lose their grip. Stormtroopers fell from the wall onto the ground below, and Cal was able to return his attention to the pilot. As he turned a blaster bolt whizzed past, narrowly missing his cheek and hitting something behind him.
He felt as BD slipped from his shoulder, tumbling forwards and into the open cockpit. Throwing out a hand, he pushed the pilot out of the ship, listening to his screams as he fell to the ground below. Cal wasted no time in jumping into the cockpit, slamming it shut behind him and immediately starting up the ship.
“Let’s get out of here, BD.”
The TIE fighter roared to life, giving Cal the opportunity to blast away from the hangar. He flew hard, checking the sensors to be sure nothing was following him. When he knew he was in the clear, he set a course for the rendezvous point, a small planet not too far out of the way. The TIE fighter would struggle to make it but if he conserved power he was confident they would get there.
Retrieving the commlink from his pocket he plugged it into the console and watched as it lit up.
“Cal? Cal you there?” Horo’s voice filled the air.
“Yeah, I’m here, Horo,” replied Cal. “Did you get out alright?”
“We’re good. It was a tight scrape to get away from the base, but we made it.”
Cal nodded, aware Horo couldn’t see him. His thoughts were on the people they had lost. La’sara and Jysell hadn’t deserved to die, and his poor leadership skills had let them down. Cere’s face flooded his thoughts and he pushed them away hurriedly, not wanting to remember their conversation from the last time they had seen one-another.
“Cal?” Horo’s voice brought him back to the present.
“Still here,” he said. “I’ve set a course for the rendezvous, but I’m only in a TIE fighter and may not make it. Can you get a lock-on to my position and meet me?”
“Course we can. Get BD to send it through.”
“BD?” There was no answer from the little droid. He looked around, realising he hadn’t heard a peep from BD since they’d taken off. His eyes scanned the small space until they came to rest on the pieces of his friend, lying in two upon the floor.
“NO!”
He dove down, cradling BD in his arms and pulling the droid to his chest. BD was limp, his head holding on by nothing more than a few wires, one of his legs torn off and still on the floor where he had been laying.
“You’re okay,” said Cal, panic rising in his chest. “You’re going to be okay.” He didn’t want to believe it.
Couldn’t believe it.
The only one who stayed. The only one left from the Mantis .
He couldn’t be gone.
Cal found himself wishing Cere was here. She had always known what to do, and could make things seem less dire.
But Cere wasn’t here. She’d gone, and BD-1 was all Cal had left.
He was good at fixing things. Had fixed the small droid the first time they had met. Given him upgrades over the years and was constantly tinkering to be sure he was always at his best.
Looking over BD now, this wasn’t something that could be fixed. The droid had a hole through his chest plate, the blaster bolt having torn straight through him. The wires holding his head to his body were already beginning to fray, and he didn’t know how he would even begin to go about repairing the leg.
Cal took off his jacket, and with as much case as he could muster, wrapped his best friend up tightly before gently laying him back on the floor. He tucked him out of harms way, brushing away tears as he did so.
“We had a good run, BD,” he whispered into the silence. “Thank you for always being there for me.”
He could hear Horo trying to talk to him, asking what was going on and for Cal to send up a signal. He did so, his mind working on autopilot.
His thoughts were consumed by the lifeless body of his closest friend, lying at his feet.
Merrin was gone, off exploring the galaxy on her own terms.
Greez was gone, having needed an out and wanting to settle down away from the fighting.
Cere… was gone.
BD was all he had left, and now he was gone too.
Cal was alone.