Chapter Text
Cal’s feet carry him through the base, the heels of his boots giving away his location. He rushes in the direction he came, towards the med bay.
He’s a fool, having run right past her hiding spot minutes ago. But he didn’t feel her in the Force when he first passed. He was checking; he remembers feeling a group of stormtroopers nearby, but not Light.
Theo didn’t realize Cal had stolen information from his mind. He suspected Cal’s soft touch and will probably avoid it happening again. It doesn’t matter; Cal won’t be going near the Jedi after he gets Light back.
The bright fluorescents of the med bay come into view. Cal races behind the light gray front desk, ripping the vent cover free as a woman’s scream echoes within. He reaches in to pull Light out, careful not to harm her as she fights.
“Please don’t kill me!”
The voice doesn’t match Cal’s expectations; it’s too mature to be Light. He stares dumbfounded at the terrified woman, who backs against the wall as he releases her. She’s hugging a curved piece of tech against her chest.
It seems Theo was wise to Cal’s tricks, disguising his memories to send Cal on a wild Bantha chase.
“Where is she?” Cal says, stalking towards the trembling woman. “The Jedi hid her. Where?”
The older woman looks equally confused and terrified, making her useless. This is a waste of time. Cal steps forward, wrapping his grip around her wrist and stealing her thoughts.
His mind floods with an onslaught of joyful memories of her life, and sorrow of her upcoming death. Precisely why he wears gloves when working. He doesn’t care to know such horrid things.
The thoughts stop, interrupted by a glorious memory as his fingers brush the tech she holds. The echo shows Light tasked with a mission to protect the tech. He feels her grief and anger as she climbs into the vent. She trades places. Free of the vent.
Relief soothes over Cal’s ego as he learns Theo did not feed him false information.
A new thought plagues him; he cannot harm this woman. He heard the way Light spoke to her, with a pleasant familiarity. Why must she insist on making friends wherever she goes?
Cal considers ripping the important piece of Rebellion tech from her hands before stuffing her back inside the vent. The Grand Inquisitor is unhappy with his recent actions, and Cal needs a win. But Light would be furious if he stole the item she was to protect.
He groans at the impossible scenario, pulling Light’s friend back towards the vent. He presses her inside, not daring to take the useful drive from her clutches. She gives him a perplexed look as he seals her inside.
“You’re helping me; why?”
“Because you matter to her.”
Cal’s voice strains at the forced kindness he must show. He shakes off the frustration and charges down the hall, using the memory to guide him.
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You speed towards Theo. He’s fighting at the far edge of the hangar. Stormtroopers face him, shooting from various vantage points.
He must be tired; he’s fought hundreds of them at this point. He excels at defense, but the sheer numbers are taking their toll.
Your aim isn’t steady enough to risk taking out those nearest him, so you start at the edges, culling their numbers. This action draws fire from the troopers and Theo’s gaze. He works in tandem with you, likely unaware of who is offering the air support.
You focus on the exposed backsides of the stormtroopers who have taken cover against Theo. With the Force and his weapon, he disposes of the enemies firing at you. Together you work to eliminate the enemy forces; it’s like the old days when you worked together. Both in your element, protecting one another.
Theo’s attention turns as you gun down the remaining troopers. He brandishes his lightsaber as Cal exits the base from his right. Cal’s holding his unlit hilt, keeping his distance as he yells something at Theo.
You hover in the air, frozen by indecision. Theo yells back, and it’s clear they’re arguing. Cal rushes forward, activating his twin red blades, snapping you out of your hesitation.
You fire, aiming for Cal but missing. Your attack falls between him and Theo, blocking his path. You fix my aim while firing, unfortunately giving Cal plenty of time to prepare to block your attack.
Cal stumbles back as your erratic fire bounces around at his feet. He blocks one of your better shots, sending the blast back at you. You swerve out of the path of your returned attack. This must be how stormtroopers feel.
With the realization that firing at him puts you on the defensive, you hold fire. But each time Cal makes a move towards Theo, you fire off a few misplaced warning shots. Cal looks frustrated as he deflects the occasional one.
Cal finally charges, spinning his blade as you rain fire down on him. You dodge back and forth and shoot everything but the Inquisitor. Theo takes the poor cover to flee down the hall behind him towards the dormitories. He’s going after Fifth Brother.
Cal turns to face you, and your heart hammers. This is bad news, but you won’t let him pursue Theo, even if it costs you your life. The Inquisitor reattaches his twin blades into one dual-sided weapon, spinning it in a blur of red to defend your incoming attacks.
When you don’t fire, Cal stops spinning and extends one hand towards you. Your ship goes haywire, sensors screaming, and the vessel shudders and drags through the air toward him. You pull back, trying to break free of the invisible grasp, trying to shake him like there’s something tangible wrapped around your ship.
When that doesn’t work, you fire a few shots, but his deflection narrowly misses you. You scream and cease. Cal continues to drag you towards him, his determined, hate-filled face coming into view.
You stop resisting, staring at him as you realize you cannot stop this. Cal stops dragging you closer as he looks at you. His arm drops. He stands there dumbfounded. His mouth moves, but you can’t hear him.
As his guard drops, you grit your teeth and fire at him, breaking his stunned expression as you put him back on the defensive. You maneuver your ship backwards, trying to gain distance to evade his expected deflecting fire.
A hoard of stormtroopers exits the base, taking up position at Cal’s sides. They fire at you, and you dodge and weave while firing back.
Each time your fire crosses over Cal, he deflects the shots, but no longer at you. One of your own blasts flies past you, and an enemy ship goes down in my peripheral. Cal extends his hand, and the crashing ship shoots past you, wiping out half the stormtroopers.
You readjust to pick off the remaining stormtroopers, but it’s slow work. Cal waits, lightsabers still active, his hand outstretched towards you, but nothing jolts my ship.
The moment you’ve killed the final stormtrooper, you rain fire down on Cal. He looks like he’s smiling at this distance. You realize what is happening, why he isn’t aiming at you since realizing you’re piloting this craft. He’s keeping you alive so he can finish his original goal.
With new insight, you change tactics. You need something he can’t deflect with his lightsaber. Something that forces him out of the easy defense.
You keep your fire heavy and hover stationary, flipping the switches to activate your concussive missiles on each side of the ship. You slap the buttons to fire both, and they shoot forward, sending you back a few meters.
Cal deactivates his lightsabers and dives out of the way. Your red blasts cannot keep up with his movement.
Cal raises both hands, turning the missiles’ direction towards the sky with the Force. One smashes into the Lambda shuttle high above, knocking the ship sideways as it takes out one engine.
The other flies past your A-wing, which rattles from a nearby explosion. Your cockpit is lit from behind. You duck. Regaining your wits, you aim for Cal before he can activate his blades.
You’re thrown forward as something big hits your ship. Your temple collides with the yoke, which throws your ship forward towards the ground. You attempt recovery, but your screaming sensors cause you to look sideways, where your right wing is missing.
The ship goes into an uncontrollable tailspin, corkscrewing you towards the ground. You slap the ejector button, but nothing happens. There’s no escape. You brace for impact as your ship slams into the hangar, exploding titanium alloy across the asphalt.