Chapter 1: Calling Out
Chapter Text
Din stared blankly out the Lambda T-4a shuttle's viewport. The plan had been executed perfectly except for the fact that the child, Grogu, hadn't been there at all. And the fact that the Dark Troopers had made their way back inside after being jettisoned out, causing the group to make a hasty retreat back to the shuttle. They barely made it to hyperspace, and even then the Lambda would need repairs after all the damage sustained from the blaster bolts and punches the troopers caused.
Bo-Katan hadn't even argued about trying to save the ship for her cause of reclaiming Mandalore. She looked like she wanted to argue, but one look at the Darksaber at his hip made her close her mouth. Why did a laser sword carry so much power as to rule an entire world? Din had no idea, but he did know he had no interest in ruling anything. The next person to ask for it could have it.
Shand had sent Fett a message to meet them back at Nevarro, before taking watch over Gideon.
"We will get him back," Cara said, taking the copilot's seat, "We have Gideon, and I took a copy of the last couple of transmissions the light cruiser made."
Gideon had been surprised as Din as to the fact that the child was gone, considering how much the ex-ISB prided himself on knowing everything. "Grogu is just a child. We don't know who took him, or for what purpose. We don't even have a lead, it'll take a miracle to find him."
"Yeah, but whoever took Grogu doesn't know who they stole from. I know you, you won't give up. And you are not alone. Greef will have all of his contacts keep a lookout, I'll pull some strings from the New Republic side, that Fett guy said he will fulfill his promise to help find Grogu, so don't give up hope. Not yet."
It was small, but Din had to hold on to that hope. His friends may not be true Mandalorians, or at least followers of The Way, but he could trust them with his life, with Grogu's life. He wasn't alone, "The sooner we can get Gideon talking, the sooner we can learn more about how these mystery people took Grogu." From Gideon's shock when Din confronted him in the brig told the mando that it must have just happened, maybe if they had arrived an hour sooner they could have saved the child.
But 'what ifs' didn't change the future. Din was tasked to protect the foundling and deliver him to his people. That is the Way.
~•°~•°
Everyone but Greez felt it. A Call in the Force. Only Trilla had been meditating at the time, but that didn't stop the others from staggering in whatever task they were doing.
No one could tell if it was directed at them, whoever was facing off against the force sensitive, or the galaxy at large.
So they couldn't just do nothing. The crew of the Mantis sat down around the holotable, having Merrin lead a Nightsister prayer as Cere, Cal and Trilla focused in with the Force to hopefully narrow down where the force sensitive was. Greez had the tedious job of scrolling through system after system in the hopes that one would call out to the others.
Scared. Don't Find Me. Leave My Family Alone.
After an hour, Cere had the plant Tython, but the others still searched, before Cal stopped the holotable on the former map of Alderaan. It was empty space now, and no ships dared use it for travel out of respect and general superstition.
Merrin was the last to stop, breathing the name of a small port moon outside the Alderaan system.
"Which one do we go to first?" Greez ventured. He very much disliked being the only one not connected to the Force, being left out of the loop often. But then again, with how much trouble it seemed to cause everyone, maybe he was lucky to not be so sensitive to it all.
Cere moved to the cockpit, taking control of the comms, "Tython was a sacred place to the Jedi, so the sensitive must have been there, probably to amplify their presence in the Force."
"So we have to travel to the Deep Core?" Greez complained as he sat in the pilot's chair.
"No. They're most likely long gone by now," Trilla took the copilot's seat, "Hiding out near the Alderaan system. It's a smart thing to do if you are kidnapping someone this close to the Core Worlds."
Greez stopped the launching prep, "Whoa whoa whoa, wait? Kidnapping? Is this a rescue? You know we have a terrible track record of those."
Cal took his customary passenger seat in the cockpit, across from Cere, "Hey, so far no one has died in any of them."
"I believe the close calls are what worry Greez," Merrin called back from the holotable, "Though everything worries Greez. We should stop by the port planet first. It is my gut feeling."
Trilla inputted the planet to let the navicore plot the way. "I feel it too, jumping straight to the Alderaan system will end in a fight, I can feel it."
"So what's the plan then? From what I've been told so far, this force sensitive doesn't want to be found, yet we are looking for them." Greez hit the hyperspace lever and the stars blurred past into a swirl of blues. "And now you say they are being kidnapped? You may joke about how much I worry but it is all founded, you know!"
Cere spoke up from the comms, "I've sliced into the imperial long range comms, they're talking about moving a high priority target to the edges of the Outer Rim-"
"Imperial??" Greez yelped.
"-The light cruiser involved is waiting for a fuel transfer before they make the final jump. Nice catch on the small port, Merrin, that will be our way in." Cere continued.
"Sneak ourselves in with the fuel, then smuggle the sensitive back out before they jump?" Cal said, as BD chirped, excited for action.
Trilla shook her head, "No, it will be easier to rescue the sensitive after they make the jump. Unless we want to fight our way through we need to wait until the docking bay is cleared after the refueling."
Greez groaned. "I don't like this plan at all."
Finding force sensitives was hard, after destroying holocron, and this was the first real contact in a decade. Outside of the Empire's Inquisitors occasionally popping up to stop them, of course. The crew of the Mantis had to go help. Even if they just end up being turned away.
It took less than an hour of travel, as the Mantis was thankfully close to the port moon. Cal, Merrin and Trilla were exploring a dilapidated, forgotten tomb of an unnamed force user, following in Cordova's footsteps of rediscovering the history of the Force. And they arrived just in time, as the final fuel shuttle was being loaded.
The Mantis landed as close to the other pad as they could in the port. Cere and Greez stayed behind, as usual, while the other three hurried as fast as they could without drawing any attention.
It was easy to sneak inside the shuttle. Almost too easy. As the ship began to take off, they all realized what would become a problem. There was nowhere to hide.
"We could knock them out and steal their armor?" Merrin suggested.
Trilla shook her head, "There are only two stormtroopers, one of us will have to stay behind. And I would have to be one of the stormtroopers because I'm assuming neither of you have picked up on appropriate imperial chatter and codes."
Both Cal and Merrin look chagrin at that. While fighting the empire for the past two decades had made them adept at understanding the militaristic language, it was more likely that they would be discovered due to a social faux pas that one could only learn by working closely in the system. Like working in the Inquisitious department for almost five years.
"I know the layout of most light cruisers. I can skip the armor and just travel via the underbelly and maintenance shafts so we aren't so split up. And if we can, I can get BD to a terminal to download any information and cause a virus or something to throw a hitch in their plans." Cal said as his droid made a quiet trill at the thought of causing mischief.
"So it is decided." Merrin said, before quietly standing, moving to the cockpit. Calling her magicks to her hands, the stormtroopers didn't have time to yell out before their helmets smashed together, knocking them out.
The fuel shuttle wasn't too far away from its destination at this point, so the two women spent little time changing out and into the armor, while Cal bound and gagged the unconscious troopers in a mostly empty chest. Hopefully they wouldn't be discovered anytime soon.
Trilla handed him the bag of their normal clothing, "When we arrive, hide in the cockpit. The diagnostics team will usually stop by after fifteen minutes after the unload, so make sure to be gone by then. Keep the usual comms open, but chatter light."
Cal could only grin, "You're acting like we haven't done this before," He said as he squished himself behind one of the chairs.
"It's because I know you that I am saying this," Trilla deadpanned, before donning her helmet. Both armors were ill fitted on the women, so they would have to work fast as to not be discovered, "May the Force be with you." She said, before taking the pilot's seat and began communication with the light cruiser.
And just like that, they were off. No one questioned them as they landed, Trilla still remembered all the correct sayings to command, and it was easy for the two women to sneak off in the small gathering of white armor that came to help refuel. Cal had the harder job, counting the seconds each time a stormtrooper entered the ship to grab a load of fuel before feeling confident enough to venture out.
He immediately headed to the blue shielding of the docking bay, the thin layer of light the only thing separating the vacuum of space from the artificial atmosphere inside. Most wouldn't dare getting so close to the edge, but it was a little known fact that it was the entrance to the maintenance shafts. Used mainly by small droids, it was a small crack between the inner and outer walls, but Cal had spent most of his life now fitting into small spaces.
He wasn't concerned about being spotted by the maintenance droids, as most didn't have an advanced communication system to relay that information, let alone a sophisticated enough AI to realize that anything other than a droid was supposed to be there.
Traveling via maintenance shafts was both faster and slower than walking down a hallway. He knew the pathway to the brig, but often had to double back, or climb to a different level to get there, as it wasn't a straight path. Walls, scaffolding, vents and wires blocked the path most often.
The ship jumped to hyperspace with a gentle jolt.
Merrin called through the comms just as Cal was pressed into crack, "We've taken position of cell number four. We will hold outside until we finish the jump, Trilla estimates it'll be over a day's travel."
"Okay, I'm almost there. I'll see if I can get into the cell from my side, or if you guys will need to open it for me. After that I'll see about setting up problems to hide our escape." Cal could just barely press the button to activate the comms from this position, and he still had further to squeeze through.
"Keep us informed." Merrin signed off.
The ship exited hyperspace to prepare for another jump. Travel in from the Core Worlds to the Mid Rim was always a pain.
Just before the brig, the air turned freezing. Cal's breath rose in a fog as he made a detour to the nearby air vent. This should be normal storage, so why was it so cold?
From the air vent, Cal saw rows of black armor. At first he thought they were troopers, but BD was the one to point out the power ports they were hooked up to. "Looks like we found a way to cause problems, huh BD?" He whispered to the droid.
"Bweep?" He responded, servos whirling as the droid began to plan how to sabotage this area. Without having access to the blueprints of these new droids, he couldn't hack into them with his scomp link. But the room was freezing, so what if he messed with that? And the wall to jettison them out was right there! But that would require the new battle droids to be unhooked from the ports…
Leaving the droid to plot, Cal made his way back to the brig. Cell Four was the only occupied room, and thankfully there was a small vent leading into the room. Bolted from the maintenance shaft at that. There was just enough room to pull out a couple of the scrapper tools he kept on himself to unbolt three of the four screws holding the vent in place.
With that done, Cal looked into the room. He immediately pulled out the comms, "Hey, it's a child. The force sensitive is a baby!" He whispered urgently, hopefully there weren't any patrols in the hallways the others were at, "And it's a species of Master Yoda!" The child is just raising its hands at the door, but nothing is happening.
"What?!" Trilla hisses, before saying, "Kriff, comms silence, there's a Moff coming."
And Cal can hear the steps of the march even through all the layers of durasteel. Echoing in a familiar war beat.
The Moff doesn't appear to question the mismatched stormtroopers guarding the door. He sends in two stormtroopers only to have them raise up and get thrown into the walls, all while the Moff stares from the doorway. Before the stormtroopers could crawl away to safety, the child starts to choke them.
The change in the Force is immediate. Dark side power tinges the baby's aura, and Cal doesn't hesitate to send his own Force out, feeling Trilla and Merrin do the same, trying to comfort and calm the child.
Don't go down this path. We will get you to safety soon.
The stormtroopers leave the room alive. That is the best they could have hoped for.
The Moff enters, deeming it safe as the child is barely able to keep his head up. Draws a black blade–a black lightsaber that they'll need to confront Cere about–and makes a speech neither of them pay attention to, still trying to give the child hope through the Force.
Cal almost gave his position away when the child got stunned and placed in restraints. Almost, but didn't. He stares at the child for who knows how long, before Trilla finally braves a call on the comms.
"I don't think our position was compromised, but the sooner we leave the better. Can the child fit through the maintenance shaft, or will we need to smuggle him out the hallways." She asked. Compartmentalizing was always her strong suit, after the Purge. Put off every feeling, every trouble and trauma until it is safe to sort through them...even if it takes years to be safe enough. She couldn't let emotions cloud her actions and judgements like before.
Cal breathed hard, letting the anger he felt at the Moff, the worry for the child, letting every emotion into the welcoming Force. "It'll be a tight fit, but BD and I will be able to sneak the child out. You two worry about finding a way out. And contacting Cere once we secure the ride." The child looked so small on the bench, "Clearly the empire has been more active than we thought. I'll work on downloading everything we can and sabotaging the ship in the meantime."
"We should maintain the comms silence until the final stop," Merrin spoke up, whispering a prayer in Dathomirian.
They all signed off, and Cal forced himself to leave the child in the cell. He and BD had to sabotage the ship.
Downloading information without being detected took longer than Cal anticipated. So, while BD worked, the jedi looked closer at the cold storage droids. He couldn't do much, certainly couldn't just drop down and hack away with his lightsaber, without drawing undue attention. But what must be kept cold must be damaged by heat. And cooling coils were easy to find and remove.
The effects wouldn't be immediate, as the room had to naturally get warmer, but it also meant that it would take longer to find the problem. Most likely after causing a serious malfunction to the CPU. The droids would stutter and break down the next time they were activated.
They were approaching the last leg of travel, with BD starting to delete files at random, when Cal had them come back to the cell.
The child was groggy, awake but unaware of his surroundings. Distress was permeating the Force, and Cal felt the longing to be back with his father.
Cal quickly pressed and released the comm switch, letting the others know he wanted to talk but to allow them time to alert him that it was safe. It took a long moment but Trilla commed back.
"There was a patrol, but we should be clear to talk for the next ten minutes," She said.
"I've done everything I could up here. I'm going to extract the child now and meet you guys at the hanger." Cal said, before working on the last bolt of the vent.
"I'll find a pair of troopers to replace us and meet you there. We will most likely take the same fuel shuttle, but I'll let you know if plans change." Trilla replied, "Oh, and don't tell Cere that I've been using mind control again. I don't want her to freak out at me again."
Cal grimaced, "You know I won't tell, but just know that if she finds out it wasn't from me." Ever since they rescued each other from Nur, and Trilla had renounced the Sith ways of the Inquisitors, Cere had feared her former padawan turning back to the dark side. Tried to reason with Trilla to close herself off from the Force like herself.
But the dark side was a part of Trilla now, and she couldn't stop anymore than Cal could stop the Force Echoes. They could only live with who they've become.
Cal stopped the fall of the vent with the Force, bringing it to his feet, before focusing in on the child. He whispered to the child, "I'm going to move you up to my position, don't be alarmed, we are going to get you out of here," before concentrating on lifting the child from the bench up to the ceiling.
The child was so groggy, he didn't even react.
Of course Cal should have expected to experience a Force Echo from simply holding a force sensitive as strong as this child.
Quick flashes of emotions, of being at a distant training temple, not the one on Coruscant, the sound of blaster bolts ringing in his sensitive ears, a battle worn jedi master lifting him out of the crib, running running running, always on the move, different masters coming and going, but no one staying. One master not making it to the drop point, being moved by haunting looking black on white faces, more fighting, the scary (troopers?) moving before being nabbed by someone else, more traveling, more moving, more strangers looking and staring at him. Finally a silvered masked face. A feeling of Home. Someone who would stay. Someone who would come for Grogu. Time and time again. He didn't want to go with the magic lady, who didn't want him, or anyone else who she would try to send him to. He would tell them all to go away so he can stay with the man that felt like Home.
"Kark," With a sharp intake of breath, Cal ended the Force Echo. It was stronger and different than the ones he was used to, but that was most likely because of the untrained sensitive not knowing how to regulate his emotions and his will over the Force. Now that he knew it would happen, Cal would be better prepared for future episodes.
But there was work to be done now. No time for distractions.
BD helped hold the child–Grogu?–to Cal's back while the jedi rebolted the vent to the wall. Then was the tricky bit of moving through the walls with a child. It was one thing with BD being able to move by himself, and another to move a child that lacked the fine motor skills needed.
Only way through was forwards, as they said on Bracca. An ironic saying considering how much backtracking and side passageways were needed to navigate the ever changing shipyard. So Cal made his way back to the hanger, having BD balance the child while the jedi crawled through the smaller holes before grabbing the child again.
It took twice as long to get back to the hangers, and Grogu was finally starting to become coherent again.
Right as alarms started blaring.
Cal protected the child with his body as a Lambda T-4a shuttle came hurling into the bay area. One thing that sucked about the maintenance entrance being right next to the hanger shield.
Grogu started to squirm, making Cal almost drop him when the ramp to the shuttle opened in a blaze of blaster bolt.
An assault team of five poured out, and Cal wanted to help the suicidal team wipe out the imperials, but the child was his first priority. Hopefully the battle droids on this ship were starting to overheat, eliminating at least one deadly variable from the equation.
The bay was abandoned in under five minutes, except for two stormtroopers, one extremely tall the other short, who made their way to the fueling shuttle.
That was Cal's que to book it for the same shuttle. Grogu began kicking up a fuss, trying to get out of Cal's arms. BD ran ahead to begin the start up sequence of the shuttle. Merrin and Trilla had removed their helmets, tossing them aside as they reached the ramp. Trilla started raising the ramp even as Cal was mid way up, letting the change of angle aide him in sliding inside.
Just in time too, as a lone figure exited the lambda T-4a. The figure scanned the area briefly, but didn't linger, heading deeper into the light cruiser.
Cal sent a prayer to the crazy team trying to take control of an imperial cruiser with only six people apparently.
"We need to move that ship," Trilla said from the pilot's seat, "Not sure if I believe that they actually needed to emergency land in here, but better safe than sorry," She raised her hand to the view port.
Cal immediately mirrored her, helping assist her move the ship blocking the exit while Merrin continued the sequence with BD.
Grogu was crying out now, distress swirling about in the Force.
"It's okay, little one," Merrin called out to him, "We are getting you to safety."
They flew out of the hangar, ignoring the hails of the comms officers on the bridge. BD confirmed the coordinates of the jump port and they jumped to hyperspace.
Grogu slumped over, his exhaustion could be felt by everyone.
It would be four hours before they would be at the meet up coordinates set by the Mantis.
Chapter 2: Hyperlane Blues
Summary:
going home, and the search for home
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
They arrived at a small unoccupied mid rim planet. Thankfully, Trilla and Merrin had experience landing in the boonies, with all the abandoned temples and caves they've visited over the past two decades.
Cal wasn't allowed near any vehicles, space faring or otherwise. Not unless they didn't want it back in one piece.
The Mantis already had its ramp down, waiting for them. Grogu barely twitched as Cal walked over, leaving the destruction of the fuel shuttle to the others. With how the child kept calling out in the Force every waking moment, it was no surprise that Grogu could hardly stay awake.
And despite being 40 standard years old, he had no idea what to do with a child. Cere was at least a former seeker, and had more experience overall with kids. Trilla, too, but after everything that has happened, Cal didn't believe that she would be comfortable alone around children, especially a force sensitive.
Cal had his own trepidations about protecting force sensitives.
Cere was already making her way down the ramp. "Cal…" She trailed off when she caught sight of the child in his arms, "Is that who I think it is?"
"You know him?" Cal questioned, as Cere's hand came up to brush the sparse hair on Grogu's head.
"Cordova's master, Master Eerin, was the one who sought out Grogu here, at the behest of Master Yoda, almost fifty years ago..." There was a certain kind of sadness in her eyes as she took the child from Cal's arms, "With how young he was, I hadn't dared hoped that he would've survived this long. The temple masters must have fled, instead of trying to stand their grounds against the troopers. To protect him."
At her questioning eyes, Cal shook his head. The child was alone, and any jedi masters that helped him in the beginning were long gone. But there was that man who the child called Home…
Merrin interrupted before he could voice that thought, "The charges are set, we are good to leave. Trilla nabbed the last couple of flight plans so we can investigate further."
Trilla was hanging back, trying to walk around Cal and Cere while they talked. Still nervous to be around younglings, after failing to protect those in her care all those years ago. "We can talk more on the Mantis. Maybe after catching some sleep, as some of us were on guard duty for over 24 hours." Trilla said.
Cere and Cal shared a look, knowing that Trilla was trying to deflect and avoid any conversation surrounding the youngling. Two decades and the master-padawan pair had made good progress in repairing their bonds, but some aspects were still sore and angry.
"You mean you can't sleep while standing?" Cal teased instead, following Trilla up the ramp after handing Grogu to Cere.
She leveled an exhausted look at him, "No. Just because you can sleep like a scrapper doesn't mean everyone else can. Or wants to." The small upturn of her lips indicated her joking tone. "Besides, we weren't just standing around. Stormtroopers are the worst gossips ever when not in front of a CO," She sat at, or more aptly laid on top of, the table, "ST-6237 is planning on ordaining the marriage of GT-9264 and KV-1368, just as soon as they can get planet leave, don't ya know?"
Cal let out a gasp, "An unsanctioned imperial wedding? Saucy."
That, at least, got a chuckle out of Trilla.
"Well, whatever you gossiped about can wait till after a warm meal and rest." Greez interrupted, causing Trilla to sit up as he placed four bowls of soup on the table. "Now, tell me about this 'sensitive' you found."
Trilla stirred the soup, a smirk on her lips, "I thought you said no more gossip." She teased the lateron.
"Yeah, but this is relevant gossip, I like to know who is on my ship, and if I need to kick them off."
"You would kick off a baby, Greez? Even I am not that cruel," Merrin said as she boarded the ship with Cere.
"A baby! What are–" Greez began, before seeing Grogu sleeping in Cere's arms, "That's an actual baby." He finished in shocked awe.
Cere took a seat opposite of Trilla, while Merrin slotted against the younger woman's side with familiar ease.
"He needs training," Cal said, spearheading straight to the point. "His connection to the force isn't damaged or-or broken like mine was, but it's...frayed and waning almost." He looked Cere in the eyes, "He almost choked out two troopers before passing out. At this rate, he'll end up hurting anyone, including himself, to protect himself."
Cere stared down at Grogu, silent for a long moment, searching, "We will train him. The groundwork is there, we just need to remind him of the training. Bogano should still be unknown to the Empire," Cere nodded to Trilla, "Only your unit tracked us down, and everything they considered worthy about the planet was destroyed. Grogu is safer with us now that the Empire is on his trail."
"What about his caretaker? Shouldn't we find him? If this is the start of the new 'Jedi Order'," Cal said the words with heavy implications, "We shouldn't start it with kidnapping children. Especially if we want to make a better Order."
Merrin nodded, "We did say involving the guardians would be one of the things to change about the Order."
"Caretaker? I thought you implied that the jedi with Grogu were no longer around." Cere said, voice neutral, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
Cal turned to Trilla, "Remember that strike team assaulting the light cruiser? The mandalorians?" She nodded, "I believe that one of them was the one taking care of Grogu. That silver one that left last?"
Greez spoke up, "A mandalorian taking care of a jedi? Aren't you guys, like, mortal enemies?" He may not know much about the mystic Force, but the fact that jedi and mandalorians hated each other was a tale as old as the Republic.
"Greez is right, those mandalorians were probably trying to cash in on a bounty, or extract an easy revenge by killing him," Cere held Grogu tight, as if protecting him from the hypothetical attack.
Cal waved his ungloved fingers, "That's not what I saw, what I felt. Grogu considers that mandalorian as family, and my bet is that Grogu isn't as willing to trust anyone just like we are."
"He was calling out for someone in the Force, and it was louder when that mandalorian appeared." Trilla said in favour.
Cere breathed in deeply, "We can look for the mandalorian later, after we reach Bogano and assess the whole situation there. Just because the child believes he is safe with a mandalorian doesn't mean it is true. Mandalorians can't be trusted. " She stood up to walk to the bedrooms as Greez left to set the course to Bogano.
"Are you sure you aren't letting your bias colour your beliefs?" Merrin called out to her,
"Is it biased if it's a lived truth?" Cere countered before leaving.
Trilla glared down at the table, "She's going to try and put off looking for the mandalorian until we 'forget'. She's supportive of improving the Order, until it's something she doesn't approve of." She curled her hands into fists, "Cere doesn't want to acknowledge the trauma that being raised as a jedi creates. That our generation wasn't raised like hers was, and that the future generations won't be raised like hers either. She's trying to relive the past, recreate her experience."
"Cere didn't approve of me joining the crew at first, because she had only heard stories of Nightsisters during the Wars. Now we could be considered best friends." Merrin tried to reassure, "Right now, Cere is scared of the future, and is trying to take comfort in the past. If she was wrong about the Nightsisters, what does that mean about her opinion about the mandalorians? The Jedi Order gave her these opinions, solidified them in a time of war, not peace, and now she needs to confront that the foundation of her faith could crumble as she begins to question it. I have faith that she will come out stronger and more compassionate because of this questioning."
"Besides, you're thinking inside the box," Cal piped up, "We don't need all five of us to train Grogu. What's stopping you, or Merrin, or even me, from just looking by ourselves?"
Trilla shot a flat look to Cal, "We only have one ship, unless we want to steal one. And outside of a vague description of a mandalorian in silver armour, we don't even know where to look, let alone if any mandalorian will bother to stop and talk to us instead of shooting first. Ever since the fall of Mandalore, mandalorians have dispersed to the far corners of the galaxy. They have no leader, no planet to call home. It's going to be like finding a star in the sky."
"We could drop me off on Dathomir, and I could ask the Spirits for guidance. Narrow down the search, if Cal can give us a better description than silver armour." Merrin suggested.
"We're going back to Dathomir?" Greez interrupted. "You know those Nightbrothers are out to get me. I overheard a pair of them arguing how to tie me to a spit last time. Apparently six limbs creates a problem to evenly roast me…" He trailed off in horror.
"Merrin and I, yes, after we drop the others off at Bogano. We need to find this mandalorian, if he is important Grogu. Cere wasn't there, didn't feel the Darkness created by Grogu in that cell. Jedi take children so young because it's easier to mold their emotions, to trick them into not feeling anything but what the creche master wants. They fear attachment yet preach compassion, as if those don’t go hand in hand,” Trilla ranted, “Giving into emotion leads to the Dark Side, but the Masters failed to realize that the opposite is true too; no emotions leaves you heartless.”
Greez looked between the three in front of him. He wanted to speak, to defend the jedi, but after all they had learned spelunking in caves and tombs and temples, learning about the jedi and the Force, all that was left was nostalgia of a better time, before the clone wars, where everything had felt simpler in hindsight.
The jedi had been a force for good, but a lot of bad was allowed by them via politics. Even Greez could admit that.
Cal spoke up, quietly, “The Council had been warned by multitude of others, each with a vision of their downfall, yet they did nothing to stop it, or even investigate it, claiming the Will of the Force, but why give people visions if not to try and stop it? I still don’t want to risk trying to visit the Temple on Coruscant, but what did the Council know that lead them to believe that the Fall of the Order had to have happened? All of our research, our exploring, says that all of this could have been avoided.” He gently pulled his hair in frustration. Twenty years following in the footsteps of Cordova, rediscovering the history of the jedi, the Force in other cultures present and long gone, had left the crew of the Mantis disillusioned with the logic of the Jedi Council.
Even if Cere was holding onto the belief that there was a reason for their decision to let everything progress like it did.
Greez put a set of hands on Cal’s shoulder, “I don’t have the answers, kid, but we can only hope to do better than those that came before us. We can’t change the past, but we can do our best to live in the present, and to prepare for the future.”
“That’s surprisingly wise of you, Greez,” Cal gave the lateron a small smile.
“Well,” Greez rubbed the back of his head, “Can’t take all the credit, besides, that saying is less wordy in Lateron. We have a couple more hours to Bogano, you kids better get some rest.”
Greez left for the cockpit. He had his own contacts to alert. It was a little known secret in the botanist forum Greez was apart of to hire bounty hunters to either extract the seeds and plants from dangerous planets, or escort the more hardcore botanists through dangerous fauna and flora for a specific plant.
Greez was not crazy enough to trapeze through a jungle or a desert, and he never had a reason to hire a hunter when he could ask Cal to hunt down a seed, and save him the money.
GMoney: Hey guys. Looking to hire a bounty hunter. A specific one though.PlawalValley: What? The great GMoney finally resorting to hiring a bh like the rest of us? Did your private contract fall through?
GMoney: haha very funny, Plawal, but no. I still have a very good thing going with my usual guy, so don’t you ask VesuvagueGrove. He’s just going to be indisposed for a while, and I have a lead on a very exotic seed.
PlawalValley: Oh? What type of seed? Typical climate? Is it hardy or more delicate? I need more information so I can direct you to the right guy.
GMoney: Stop fishing for information. I already have a guy in mind, I just don’t know his name. Overheard his good work from a friend, though.
VesuvagueGrove: Very suspicious, G. Do we have more information, or are we just supposed to list every hunter we know so /you/ can fish your own information.
“Hey, Cal? What did that mandalorian look like again?” Greez called back to the living area. Despite telling the kids to rest, he knew that none of them were going to. It was hard being the only sensible adult on board. Greez blamed it on the Force.
He began to transcribe as Cal yelled back.
GMoney: I know he’s a mandalorian; unadorn, silver armor, with some type of horned beast on his shoulder pad; wears a cape; seems very polite.
PlawalValley: You practically described every single mandalorian in existence, except for the polite part. Unless you consider a blaster polite. And I know you. You don’t.
GMoney: Yeah well, its all the information I have.
GMoney: I have a landing/takeoff to do, brb in about an hour to discuss further.
VesuvagueGrove: I’ll see if anyone matches with my usual hires.
PlawalValley: Me too! And you still owe me a Bleeding Gut!
The landing on Bogano was as easy as ever. The planet was mostly unchanged after all these years, with the living areas being repaired and renovated to accommodate five sentiants being the only exception. The Mantis Crew didn’t visit as often anymore, with all their research and exploring that they do, but it was still considered home to all of them. A place of peace in their crazy lives.
The ramp lowered, and Greez was the first out, doing a visible inspection of the ship.
Next, Cal sped out, not even looking back as he yelled, “I’ll get a room set up, make sure there’s no bog rats!” Before jumping an impossible jump to the next ridge, BD trilling all the way.
“I do not understand where he gets all that energy.” Merrin said as she walked out. She frowned as some daring boglings hopped up to her, as usual when they land here. The creatures were afraid of everyone except Merrin, no matter how much she snarled and nudged them away.
Trilla came to her side, scaring away the furry pests, “It’s not a jedi thing, that’s for sure. Just Cal being Cal.” It was a long standing debate, oftentimes in front of Cal himself, about what had gone wrong with him. Sleeping less than a couple of hours a day, to boundless energy, to his uncanny way of making friends with near anything.
Greez just waved his arms in the air dismissively. All Force users were an enigma to him.
Trilla and Merrin turned back to start unloading supplies from the ship. After a couple of trips, Cere finally came out of her room with Grogu.
“Trilla, may I speak with you?” She asked from the kitchen, waiting for her former padawan to nod before moving to the rear bulkhead.
Cere leaned against the workbench, clearly giving Trilla the space to storm out if needed. The former master stayed silent for a long moment, as Trilla settled against the door frame. “I–I wanted to apologize. I did not intend to dismiss your, or the others, feelings about rebuilding the Order. Merrin was right, I was letting my bias colour my beliefs–stars, you all are too wise for your age,” Cere whispered the last part, “I had just reached knighthood when the Mandalorian Civil War broke out, and it was bloody, not to mention the years before that. You knew the mandalorians under Duchess Satine, right?” Trilla nodded, still tense, “She made them peaceful, though maybe too pacifistic for it was their downfall. Point is, I remember the mandalorians more as killing marauders than the pacifist you grew up with.”
Cere stroked Grogu’s sparse hair, the child awake and aware enough to coo at the movement, “I meditated and spoke to Grogu. He showed me this mandalorian, how he and his clan rose up against the imperial remnants to protect him. Grogu has been through a lot, but he loves this mandalorian, more than he fears the Empire. Love is a very strong emotion, one we shouldn’t try to dissuade. It’s what saved everyone on this ship more than once.” Cere looked at Trilla, with sad, tired eyes, “I know you don’t need it, but you and Merrin have my blessing to go looking for this man. Yes, I know you two were going to leave to look for him,” Cere chuckled, “You all forget how thin these walls can be, and how loud you talk when you are passionate about something.”
Tentatively, Trilla walked forwards, holding Grogu when Cere offered him. Her voice didn’t shake, but it was a close thing, “I thank you, master. For all that the clone wars and the empire took from me, I forget that it has taken from you too, if not moreso. We–No, I believed that you had wanted to rebuild the Jedi Order exactly how you remember it. I let myself feed into my anger and insecurity of protecting a youngling, and projected it on you. We are of Cordova’s lineage, never swayed by the idyllic visions of the old Order,” Trilla held her master’s gaze, “You never talk about him, but Cal showed me his holorecordings. I see his training in you, and I can recognize your training in me. He would be proud of you. Because I am proud of you.”
Cere didn’t bother wiping the tears from her eyes. “When you and Merrin get back, I could tell you more about your grandmaster. I hadn’t before, because the council hated his teachings, and I didn’t want that to affect your studies. But who cares what the council thinks now, Cordova’s teachings have survived past them. If we are to rebuild this Order right, there will be no wrong way to teach.”
Trilla let out a shaky breath, her eyes wet. “I would love to hear about Cordova from you. Following in his footsteps isn’t the same as knowing about him from you.” She took her master into a one arm hug, squeezing tight, before Grogu let out a series of grumbles, squirming in her arms.
Cere took the child, holding him aloft in the air, “Let's get you settled, so Trilla here can find your guardian.” Grogu stuck his tongue out at her in agreement.
They walked side by side, together, out the ship. Grogu scrunched up his face in the sudden daylight, before wiggling out of Cere’s grasp. The two force wielders watched as the child waddled over to an unaware bogling. The child only got a tiny hand on the tip of the tail before the startled bogling shot straight up in the air, hopping fast to the nearest hole. Grogu gave a slow chase with his little legs before collapsing belly down to peer into the hole.
Trilla let out an amused huff as she lifted the child back into her arms, “You will be as much as a handful as Verjar was,” she said, before grimacing. He was the first youngling she lost after the war, a curious little human who was gone too soon.
It was a blessing he didn’t have to see the galaxy in the aftermath, experience the Inquisitors. It was a curse he didn’t make it past six years.
“This time will be different.” Cere said with certainty, sensing the other’s emotions.
Trilla walked over to Greez, “We should help Cal and Merrin clean out the place.” She said as she dumped the child onto the lateron as he stuttered.
“Hey, hey, hey, why am I on baby duty?” He complained.
Cere began a fast walk over to the ledge, “Because you refuse to leave the platform until we clear out all the hostile pests.” She teased before jumping just like Cal did, Trilla not far behind.
Greez squinted out at them, “They’re lucky I like them,” He grumbled to himself, before looking at the child in his arms. “I suppose they forgot to feed you, huh?” He adjusted the child to one side, “Yeah, jedi are like that, forgetting that basic necessities to live. You know? It’s probably better if you stay with me. Knowing them, they would float you like a ball between them as they did somersaults in the air while fighting those giant oggdos. For fun.” He emphasized.
Greez set about reheating some of the leftover soup from a couple hours ago. Grogu kept trying to topple out of his arms, but wasn’t able to with the double grip the lateron had on him. “Nuh-uh. You are going to learn quickly that I am the master of the kitchen. No one else. I am not letting your grubby little hand anywhere near my nice silverware.” He said, before bringing the child over to the table.
He sat down with the child in his lap, though Grogu quickly shoved off him to stand up on the bench. Greez let him, but kept a set of arms hovering nearby for a quick grab should the need arise.
Very politely, the child picked up the bowl and began to sip from it, cooing in delight at the taste.
“Yeah, well, at least someone is grateful.” Greez groused with no real heat. “Say, kid, we’re looking for your guardian,”
Immediately, Grogu set the bowl down with an inquisitive coo.
“Yeah, him,” Greez said back, “But we don’t know much about him. Could you, I don’t know, draw a picture or something. What he looks like, where you live? Anything?” Greez asked. Children were smart, he knew that, and anything was better than the vague description Cal gave.
For being a professional explorer, the kid was terrible at describing things.
Grogu looked deeply into the soup, as if it held all the answers. “Ah,” he chirped, before twisting around to place both hands on Greez’s cheeks.
Greez felt the entire galaxy zoom in on itself until all that existed was him and Grogu. The kid’s big, brown eyes stared into his soul, seemingly finding every flaw and redeeming quality he had. The lights in the ship faded away, the table and bench they sat at nowhere in sight. Inky blackness and blinding light existed at the same time, yet not at all, swirling together yet one solid plane. Colour added itself before leaving again and adding and leaving and—Shapes and forms appeared and disappeared as quickly as they could.
A picture formed.
Then the pain started.
With a yelp, Greez jerked back. Grogu fell on his butt with a quiet ‘weh’.
Wiping the blood from his nose, Greez looked at the child, “Maybe, maybe wait until you're older and have more training under your belt before trying that again?”
The child looked up at him with watery eyes, his bottom lip trembling.
“Hey, hey, it's okay,” Greez hated dealing with children, even more so when they were upset, “It wasn’t a complete waste. I saw a planet I think? Kinda ashy? Volcanic?”
The child nodded, lifting his hands to be held. Greez complied, happy that the whining had stopped.
“See? We’ll find your guardian in no time now! And then we will see about what he thinks about all this mystic poodoo.”
“Poo” Grogu echoed.
“Oh no,” Greez replied back.
“Poodoooo” Grogu said in response.
Greez peaked down the ramp of the ship, before turning conspiratorially to the child, “I did not teach you that. You knew that word all along, okay?”
Grogu stuck out his tongue.
They spent the next hour like that, Grogu sipping his soup while repeating variations of ‘poodoo’, while Greez shushed him each time. That was how the quad of force wielders found them, with Grogu giggling to an exasperated Greez.
Cal smiled, before reaching out, and lifting the child up with the force.
Grogu let out a joyful scream, while Greez said, “See kid? What did I tell you, they would throw you around like a ball in the air.”
“Well, it seems like you can add being a very good babysitter to your resume, Greez,” Cere teased lightly.
Merrin stood next to Cal, wiggling her fingers in front of Grogu, “Yes, you did very well. You would do well in the Nightbrother Nursery.”
Even after all these years, the Mantis Crew couldn’t tell when Merrin was making a joke about Dathomirian culture or was speaking the truth. The nightsister felt no need to clarify either.
As with all his dealings with Merrin, Greez decided to play it nice and safe, “Thank you, Merrin.” He said stiffly, with a head bow.
Trilla came up and wrapped an arm around Merrin’s waist. “We should get going. I don’t want to land on Dathomir when the chirodactyl’s start to swarm.”
Merrin hummed, “Yes, it is mating season soon for them. Nightbrother Agony is trying to domesticate them, alongside the bane backs.”
Greez shot them a blank look, “Every word out of your mouth makes me less likely to drop you off, you know.”
As the lateron turned to start up the Mantis, Merrin called out, “But Brother Malign misses you so much, he would be heartbroken to hear that you won’t come back.” She was grinning ear to ear.
“Miss me? MISS me with his arrows you mean!” Greez yelled back, as more grumbling could be heard from the cockpit.
Trilla nudged her partner, “Easy up on him,” She began, “We still need him to pick us back up, and besides,” She leaned down to whisper, “It’s no fun if he gets used to the threats.” Before pecking her on the cheek.
Cere rolled her eyes, “I’m pretending I didn’t hear that, now come on Cal, let’s leave the ladies to their trip.” She pulled the knight down the ramp, out and far enough away to watch the Mantis leave. Grogu lifted a hand and waved.
“You know the drill, ladies,” Greez called back, once they were in hyperspace on autopilot, “It’s over a day’s travel to Dathomir, so get comfy, but not too comfy,” Greez narrowed his eyes as a threat, knowing there was no way to actually stop them from causing trouble if they meant it, “I’m going to get some shut eye, and I suggest yall do too.”
“Yes, father,” Trilla rolled her eyes, but continued her conversation with Merrin at the holotable.
Greez put his hands on his hips at the snark, but left it alone. He turned to the communication controls to continue his conversation with his true friends, the botanist forum.
GMoney: Hey, I’m back, finally.
PlawalValley: Took you long enough! I have one or two bh that kinda match your description. Though one is a new player in the Tatoonine sector, never hired him before...
VesuvagueGrove: I only have one in my contacts unfortunately. Does the Tatoonine hunter go by the name Cobb Vanth?
PlawalValley: Yes! Know him?
VesuvagueGrove: Yes and no, he is a native Tatoonine, not mandalorian as far as I am aware. A nice man from what I heard when I was still living there, but I was never formally introduced.
PlawalValley: Is your other hunter Ketsu Onyo?
VesuvagueGrove: Yes.
GMoney: Guys, hold your banthas. I have more information. The mandalorian I’m looking for frequents an ashy volcanic planet. There is a guild of some type there.
PlawalValley: hmm.. Don’t think Onyo frequents a planet like that.
VesuvagueGrove: Yes, she works for the Black Suns, doesn’t take on too many side jobs.
PlawalValley: I’ll keep looking then. You owe me a Featherfern now too, by the way.
GMoney: Yeah, I’ll give it to you once I see you
PlawalValley: We never see each other though!
Greez sighed, signing off. Looks like the botanist forum was a bust. Though it was a longshot. He only hoped Merrin would have better luck with the whole ‘asking the Spirits’ plan. Greez didn’t want the little tyke to grow up without a guardian. It seemed like everyone in this little family he built didn’t have one.
Greez rubbed his chest at the tight feeling he felt there. He hated feeling useless, especially next to the magic wielding space wizards he found a home in. But there was nothing to be done, so he sat back in the captain’s chair to watch hyperspace fly by. Thinking.
“Greez?” A hand on his upper shoulder startled Greez awake.
“Huh? Wha? Buh?” The lateron blinked and looked around.
Merrin's smile was small, but kind, “We’re almost there. You took a nap.” She said plainly.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Greez responded, “Thank you Merrin.” He began the exit out of hyperspace, drawing up near the spooky red planet.
Landing was just as easy, as they came to Dathomir as often as they could. Greez was just glad that the nightbrothers had stopped pelting the Mantis with their arrows and rocks. They try every few years, just because they can.
All the hair on Greez stood on end when he noticed the entourage of nightbrothers gathered to greet their nightsister. They weren’t there a second ago, and Greez knows that as soon as he looks away, they will be gone without a trace.
“Don’t you want to say hello, Greez?” Trilla called from the lowered ramp.
Greez was quick to reply, “Nope! I’m turning straight around, don’t want to dash their hopes or anything!”
“Aww, you don’t want to say hello to your old friend?” A very male voice whispered behind Greez.
The lateron physically threw himself from the captain’s chair. “Oh, it’s just you. Malign. H-How’s it been?” Greez breathed out, hands to his beating heart.
“Great!” Malign said with a sharp tooth smile, “The youngin’s have been asking about you, you know.”
Greez grimace, “Aww, really? That’s too bad, tell them that I’ll have to catch up on my next visit. I’m a very busy lateron, you know. Places to be and all.”
Malign leaned in closer, but leaned back when Merrin called back to him.
“Stop hazing Greez, we have work to do. Next visit, he will come out. I promise on my prayer bead.” She didn’t look an ounce sorry about volunteering Greez’s time.
“Yes, sister,” Malign replied obediently.
Greez let out the breathe he was holding only after the ramp had closed. He didn’t loosen up until he was in the air, orbiting Dathomir. One time, a tiny little terror of a nightbrother snuck on board the Mantis, stayed on board for the entire hyperspace drive before deciding to give Greez a heart attack. Greez wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
After checking stern to bow multiple times, Greez finally felt comfortable puting the ship back into hyperdrive.
It wasn’t often now that Greez flew alone. Normally Cere would be a constant, if not one of the kids. He didn’t know what to do with the trip back to Bogano. Maybe if he sorted through the entire registered list of bounty hunters on the Hunter’s Guild he could find their mysterious guardian?
Cracking his back as he made his way to the comms console, Greez settled in for a long flight. Only to be surprised by what the botanist forum was saying.
RhymeThyme: I know someone that matches/He has given me many grasses
PlawalValley: Baji!? Where have you been? We haven’t heard from you in over two years!
RhymeThyme: I am in a horrid place/I’ve made myself efface
GMoney: Baji, you good? Where are you?
RhymeThyme: Nevarro is the planet/For the hunter made of granite
RhymeThyme; Mando’s not always there/So be aware.
VesuvagueGrove: That doesn’t tell us where you are at, Baji.
RhymeThyme: Imperial hostage/For my Knowledge
GMoney: Imperial??
PlawalValley: I thought they were all gone?
GMoney: Not all of them, just encountered a cruiser full of them a couple days ago
VesuvagueGrove: Is the New Republic going to do anything about them?
GMoney: Former rebels, most likely. Bureaucratic-wise, no
RhymeThyme: Well spoken friend/oh not much time to spend
VesuvageGrove: Tell us where you are then!!
RhymeThyme: On Bespin/The clouds within
GMoney: Don’t worry, Baji, I’ll get my people on it asap
VesuvagueGrove: I have some connections to the new senate, I’ll see what I can do
PlawalValley: I’ll need to make a few stops to gather supplies, but I’ll come to help too.
RhymeThyme: My friends are so dear/I’ll see you here
PlawalValley: After all these years, we’re finally going to meet
GMoney: Whatever happened to a simple invite? Why does it always have to be high stakes?
VesuvagueGrove: I agree. You all have an open invitation to tea, no need to get kidnapped to see me.
PlawalValley: After we save Baji, I may just take you up on it!
VesuvagueGrove: After we save Baji, it’s not going to be just tea. I must to see about the senate.
GMoney: I’ll drink to that. The sooner I find this mando, the sooner I’ll can get my team on it.
PlawalValley: I’ll see you guys then
Greez changed the hyperspace coordinates. The mando wasn’t guaranteed to be on Nevarro, but it was the best lead the team had for Grogu. He didn’t want to involve the whole team if he was just leaving a message there. The sooner he got back to Cal, the sooner he could save his friend from the empire. He only hoped they could get there in time.
Notes:
squints where did all this plot come from??
I fell down the wiki rabbit hole, and so PlawalValley, VesuvagueGrove, and RhymeThyme are all based on botanists set in the star wars universe. and apparently the start of a secondary plot.
optimusprime on Chapter 1 Sat 01 May 2021 05:52PM UTC
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