Purge (Star Wars)

Family

Cal had lingered at the door for a moment watching Ilyana grow smaller beneath them. It seemed like ages since he'd last seen an Abednedo, since he lost Prauf, yet the sight of the man standing on the platform below and the fighters in the streets caused the pain to pierce through him as fresh as it had that day. For a moment he felt he was back there, on Bracca, in the rain, watching the Inquisitor plunge her lightsaber into his chest. He never wanted to lose someone he cared about again and he promised himself he would always protect his people, his crew. Yet here he was, leaving someone behind. Was he about to lose someone else? The Mantis rose up and away then suddenly banked hard and Cal was torn from his thoughts and back into the moment.

"Close it up kid! We gotta get outta here!" Greez's voice bellowed out from the cockpit.

Cal gripped hard on a handhold inside the door as he swung round and slammed his fist into the door control. The ramp withdrew and the door slid shut as he stumbled back to the cockpit.

"We've got one right on our tail!" Called Greez as the ship banked hard to the left then to the right.

"I am on it," says Merrin from the copilot seat as she takes over the firing controls.

"I'll get 'm lined up. Hold on!" Greez warns as he pulls up on the controls, whipping the ship over into a roll. Cal holds on tightly to the handhold near the cockpit entryway as the world flips over them and gravity tries to pull him to the ceiling till the ship evens out with a jerk and gravity is again pulling him to the floor.

"Now!" shouts Greez and Merrin pulls the trigger. For a moment the world beyond the cockpit's transparisteel windows lights up with a blindingly bright glow of orange and yellow as the cannons obliterate the Imperial Tie Fighter and the Mantis flies effortlessly through the scattered remains. What had seemed so disorienting from Cal's perspective had in fact been an expertly executed roll that flipped the Mantis behind their pursuer, perfectly aligning the ship's canons with their target. All Merrin had to do was fire the guns and the ship was gone. Free of any other pursuers, they flee the atmosphere and Greez launches the ship into the swirling blue of hyperspace.

With Abednedo and the battle safely behind them, the crew is finally able to breathe.

"That was close," says Cere. "Good flying, Captain."

"I always come through, don't I?," Greez says as he turns in his chair to look back at his crew, a giant grin on his face.

"Yes, you do," Merrin says cooly.

"Now let's just hope she comes through," says Cere.

"Yeah," says Greez. "What do you actually expect her to accomplish back there? That's not a small fight."

"About as much as we would have accomplished," answers Cal.

"She does not have to win the battle, just cause trouble long enough for the people to get out," answers Merrin.

"If there's one thing she's good at, that's causing trouble," adds Cere. "Let's just hope her intel on this kid is worthwhile."

"It will be," says Cal. "I can feel it."

"Your Jedi powers telling you something the rest of us missed? Because it sounded like a long shot," scoffs Greez.

"Something like that," Cal answers him.

"I certainly hope so," says Greez skeptically. "Tholoth isn't an easy system to access."

"If her intel is correct we won't have to," says Cere. "In fact, we shouldn't be near that planet at all."

"Yeah, yeah," says Greez, waving her off. "We're just going to an empty moon instead. That doesn't sound promising either."

"We will not know till we get there," says Merrin. "Till then, stay optimistic, Greez. We may not die immediately."

"Only slowly?"

"That would give you more time to complain. You should enjoy that."

Greez tosses Merrin a side-eye for her snark as she rises from her seat and steps past Cal out of the cockpit.

"There isn't much on that moon, just miners," says Cere following close behind Merrin. They gather around the holotable with Cal and bring up a hologram of the unnamed moon Ilyana had told them about. The moon is barren but for a village in the southern hemisphere, where workers mine the surrounding salt flats. The town is small, no more than a few hundred people; mostly beings from all over the galaxy who were looking for a place to disappear. It's surrounded on all sides but salt flats that radiate out for miles.

"They probably don't get many visitors," says Cal. "I think Cere and I should go in. We can pose as mechanics looking for work."

"Would I not be of help?" Asks Merrin.

"You might stand out a bit," says Cere, gesturing toward her red robes.

"Besides we will have to rely on the Force to help us identify them," adds Cal. "Since there isn't much to go on. Just a kid moving stones around."

"The closer we are, the better chance we have of sensing who it is," finishes Cere.

"Sounds like a plan then," says Greez from the cockpit.

"Let me know if you get into any trouble," Merrin says to Cal. "I will always be there if you need me.

"I know," he smiles back at her.