"Cal, I don't think you're the only Jedi left," Cere calls from the cockpit.
Cal eagerly sits in the copilot seat to hear more. "Are they the same age as me?"
"It's unlikely. They used a code message, but only someone who was a Jedi before the purge knows how to decode it." Cal's face falls. "But I could be wrong."
"What did the message say?" Cal inquires.
Cere hands Cal a piece of paper that reads: If you are getting this, I've survived the purge. I'm hiding out on Zeffo, but I don't think it'll be too long before the Empire finds me. I've seen countless stormtroopers, but luckily the storm has knocked out their comms so they can't contact the inquisitors or Lord Vader... or each other for that matter. If you need help, I'm your girl. This is Erica Ramirez, signing out.
"So are we going to help her?" Cal asks.
"You're going to help her," Cere says. "You're the one going to Zeffo. Me and Greez will be staying on the ship. I'll try to get our comms back up once we land."
"If the storm is knocking out imperial equipment, how did she send the message?"
"That's a question you'll have to ask her yourself."
"Beoop?" BD cocks his head.
"Does that name sound familiar to you?" Cal asks.
"Beep boop." BD tilts his head up before shrugging.
Cal laughs. "Well, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see, won't we?"
* * *
Erica runs as fast as she can through the construction, hoping to outrun the stormtroopers following her. As she looks behind her, she runs into two stormtroopers. She slowly backs away, only to run into two more.
"Crap!" Erica mutters.
The troopers put cuffs on her and take her towards where their ship is.
Erica does her best to get out of the grasp of the stormtroopers. "Get your filthy imperial hands off of me!"
"She's a feisty one. Boss will be happy," one of the troopers says.
"Beoop!" Erica doesn't even have to think about what is said to recognize the voice that said it.
Erica ducks, narrowly missing the lightsaber thrown over her head at the troopers.
Erica stands back up and sees a redhead boy, BD-1 on his shoulder and a blue lightsaber in his hand. "Thanks."
"Do you want help with those?" Cal asks, putting his lightsaber away and nodding to the cuffs.
"Please." Erica thinks for a moment. "I think that one had the keys last," Erica adds, nodding to one of the troopers.
BD jumps off of Cal's shoulders and zaps the cuffs on Erica's ankles, causing them to fall off.
Erica kneels down in front of BD. "Would you mind?"
BD happily zaps the cuffs on Erica's wrists.
Erica turns to BD and pats his head. "Thanks, BD-1." BD cocks his head and Erica smiles. "You probably don't recognize me because the last time you saw me I was a scrawny teen with short hair and a dorky padawan braid."
"Bwoop beep?" BD hops on Erica's shoulder.
"BD-1! You can't just ask someone that!" Cal scolds.
"Beoop." BD-1's head droops.
"It's okay. Why does he ask?" Erica inquires.
"Cere said that because you used secret Jedi coding, that you were probably older than me," Cal explains.
Erica laughs. "Cere Junda. I love her, but she doesn't always have the facts."
"What are you doing on Zeffo?" Cal asks Erica as she rubs her wrists.
"I came here with Master Cordova. After we did some exploring, he made me a Jedi and told me to see if I could find anything else about the tomb. But at twelve I really didn't want to go in there alone... and even now that I'm seventeen I don't want to go in there alone."
"You're only seventeen?"
Erica nods. "At least until tomorrow."
"Well, happy birthday."
Erica smiles. "You can wish me a happy birthday tomorrow. Let's go grab some stuff from my place and then we can head to the tomb."
"Your place?"
Erica smiles. "I'll show you."
Erica leads Cal and BD-1 to her "house". She uses the force on a door and it opens. Erica beckons Cal inside and follows them before closing the door.
"You live here?" Cal asks, looking around. "It looks like it's been abandoned for years."
"That's the point. I leave it like this when I leave so that if somebody finds it, it'll look like nobody lives here." Erica shrugs. "That's how I see anyways."
Cal chuckles as Erica puts on a backpack and crossbody bag.
"What are those for?"
"The backpack has clothes and stuff in it. The other bag has essentials."
"Like...?"
"Water, medicine, bacta patches, medical tape, plants, etc." Cal nods. "Let's go," Erica says, leading the way to the tomb.
YOU ARE READING
The Jedi Who Survived
Fanfiction"Someone once told me that when two redheads connect it signals the end of a war." Cal Kestis has been doing his best to hide from the Empire. That is, until the life of a friend is on the line. Erica Ramirez has been hiding from the Empire for ye...
