The Force Betrayed: Cal Kestis x OC

25.

As she sat in her chair, the hairs on Sakana's neck began to rise, indicating the crew's closeness to the dark side. Darkness pulled at her stomach with such a rough grip that she legitimately felt sick. Something about it was eerily familiar, but it was more intense than anything she'd felt before; it was worse than Second and Ninth Sisters combined.

"Come on, we need to prepare the escape pods," Cere said calmly, and Sakana and Cal shared a quick glance before standing up at the same time to join her.

The journal almost seemed to burn in her pocket, reminding her of its presence. A grim thought came over her as she wondered if she should take it with her or leave it on the ship, but both options had potentially terrible consequences. If something happened to her while in the fortress, the journal could end up in the wrong hands. If left on the Mantis, however, it could still end up in unknown hands. The rational solution felt like to leave it, but something about the way it was sitting in her pocket convinced her to take it with her. It was under layers of fabric anyway; the likelihood of someone finding it on her corpse was low, and that would only matter if she died, which she wouldn't. She hadn't come this far for nothing.

"Hey," Greez suddenly said, catching their attention. "I'll save you all some scazz steaks for when you guys come back," he smiled, and that was all Sakana needed to feel better.

"Thanks, Greez," Sakana smiled, and even the drowning darkness around her couldn't hold it back.

The three Jedi made their way to the back of the ship where the escape pods were open and ready to go at a moment's notice.

"Remember, you two," Cere said, looking at them. "Getting the holocron back is our mission. I'm going to scout ahead and find out where they're keeping it, and I'll send you the location as soon as I find it. Wait for my distraction before you advance; you'll know what I mean when you see it."

The pair nodded and Cere stepped into her escape pod, signaling for them to follow. Cal swallowed hard and forced his feet forward into his escape pod, hating every second of it. He wouldn't let himself repeat the same mistakes this time around; he would protect his friends and retrieve the holocron, even if that meant his death.

"Together, Cal," Sakana said softly from behind him just before he turned to enter the tube, and he felt himself relax at her words.

"Together," he repeated back, and Sakana stepped into her escape pod.

The tube shot out of the Mantis and Sakana was propelled straight into the cold, dark water of Nur. Faint warm lights in the distance signaled the presence of the fortress, and the only thing that grounded her were the fish that swam carelessly along the tall, aquatic grass.

She put her rebreather in her mouth just before the pod freed her, letting the cold water hit her skin. Hot bubbles rose from heat plates fixed to the bottom of the sea floor and their warmth dissipated into the surrounding icy currents.

Sakana's white hair was the only thing Cal could make out in the dark as he swam towards her, BD-1 faithfully fixed on his shoulders. His flashlight was on but it was hardly useful in the dimly lit abyss around them, and Cal found himself blindly following what looked like the path.

Cere had given them specific directions to reach the maintenance door; the pods had dumped them out in front of the tunnel that would take them directly to their desired entrance, and BD-1 was currently making sure they were headed in the right direction. Sakana let Cal and the droid guide her, trusting their knowledge of the planet more than her own.

In the blurry distance, Cal could see the door that Cere had shown them.

"Bee eep!" BD-1 said excitedly, confirming Cal's educated guess. He looked behind him to make sure Sakana was still following him, and once he had confirmed her proximity, he propelled himself towards the door. She was closer than he'd expected, but he quickly remembered how well she'd swum on Kashyyyk, and he figured this was just another day for her.