Star Wars - The Gray Jedi - Chapter 14 - Entering the Main Mountain.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
Third Person POV
Zeffo.
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Cal continued descending through the enemy base as the facility delved deeper into the mountain. He observed and passed through rooms lit dimly once more, evading numerous Imperial soldiers and patrols.

"I won’t have much time before they figure out something’s wrong here..." Cal commented, analyzing the situation.

"Beep!?" BD-1 tilted its head inquisitively.

"I know... but I want you to map out the entire path we’re following," Cal replied.

"Beep!" BD-1 chirped, indicating it was already doing so, as if the instruction wasn’t necessary.

"Alright, alright, let’s keep going," Cal murmured as they let a group of stormtroopers pass by unnoticed.

Moving forward, they encountered more rooms, which BD-1 quickly unlocked due to the relatively low security. However, it wasn’t long before the base’s alarms started blaring.

Red lights began flashing, and the distinct sound of a facility on high alert echoed throughout the Imperial installation. The radios Cal had muted and taken from the soldiers he’d killed kept buzzing incessantly, seemingly communicating the unfolding situation.

"Looks like they’ve finally found us. Let’s keep moving. At least we’re not outside, where Imperial fighters could launch attacks that would be hard to dodge," Cal concluded, advancing through the base with heightened awareness.

Meanwhile, in another part of the facility...

"Second Sister, we’ve located the team we lost contact with. They’re all dead. Their armor was slashed by something that easily burned through the material... We believe it was a lightsaber," reported the commander after hearing the details through the radio.

"A lightsaber...? Could it be him?" the Second Sister murmured to herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to sense something through the Force. "This presence... it feels familiar."

Although she couldn’t clearly pinpoint Cal’s presence, she knew something intriguing was there—something that seemed familiar, even if she couldn’t fully identify what it was.

"Very well. If he’s here, we’ll finish the job," the Second Sister said coldly.

"Should we alert the troops off-planet or the Imperial Headquarters on Coruscant?" the commander asked.

"There’s no need for that now. I’ll deal with this potential Jedi myself," she responded confidently, her voice tinged with resentment. "It’s time to make up for my failure on Bracca," she murmured, starting to leave the control room with her escort of stormtroopers.

She advanced with a squad of soldiers, determined to hunt down the intruder.

Elsewhere, within one of the massive caves...

Hidden inside a ventilation shaft, Cal observed from a distance the enormous pit the Imperials were excavating. He spotted the Second Sister stepping out onto an elevated platform, flanked by a battalion of stormtroopers.

"So... she’s here," Cal murmured, frowning as he recognized her. He watched from a distance as the Inquisitor boarded an elevator with her soldiers and began ascending.

Cal knew he couldn’t get too close to her. Otherwise, his presence would be detected. He pondered how the Second Sister wasn’t particularly strong—her connection to the dark side of the Force was limited. This made her less effective than most of the Empire’s Inquisitors, who lacked thorough training under Darth Vader by design.

It was a curious dynamic within the dark side. Ever since Sidious had become the master, he had never allowed Vader or other subordinates to grow too powerful, fearing betrayal. The fact that Vader, now operating at only 40% of his original capacity, was still feared revealed the delicate balance Palpatine maintained between control and risk.

Cal’s thoughts drifted to his memories of Galen Marek, who also wasn’t adequately trained by Darth Vader. Marek had to learn much of his craft on his missions rather than through direct instruction. His combat style was even developed primarily through sparring with a training droid. This peculiar aspect of Sith dynamics reminded Cal of how apprentices often ended up killing their masters to complete their training—a tradition that left both Vader and Sidious withholding much of their knowledge from their apprentices.

Putting those thoughts aside, Cal waited for the Second Sister to move out of sight before advancing into a room filled with stormtroopers.

Something in that room caught his attention. He began maneuvering past the groups and machines involved in the excavation without being detected, displaying a much more refined stealth skill than he remembered having. Finally, he slipped into one of the main rooms, which was filled with capsules and computers.

"We’re here," he murmured, approaching one of the tables. BD-1 looked on curiously.

"Beep-beep!" BD-1 chirped inquisitively, questioning what Cal was doing.

"I’ve been thinking... there’s something I’ve always had a certain talent for, but I never really explored it..." Cal said, glancing at the computers and the maintenance table where several parts were scattered.

"Beep-beep?" BD-1 asked, tilting slightly, offering its own guess—which wasn’t wrong.

"Exactly. I need to study technology and machines this time," Cal replied as he began examining the parts. "Let’s see if I can find the right connector," he murmured.

"Beep?" BD-1 inquired again, making Cal smile slightly.

"This room is used by the chief Imperial engineer. There are some areas in this facility we can’t access because they have unique codes. Not even you can hack them. But there’s a transmitter here that could change that," Cal explained, continuing his search until he found a piece. He held it up and smiled. "Got it! Come here, BD-1. Let me install this in you."

BD-1 hopped onto the table, curious, as Cal began opening the droid, removing its camera to access the internal systems. As a scrapper, Cal had experience with machines, but he had never developed this skill to such an advanced level. With enough time, though, he believed he might even reach the expertise of Anakin Skywalker—a talent Anakin seemed to have left behind after leaving Tatooine. Despite being regarded as the galaxy’s greatest pilot and now, as Vader, having a body covered in machinery, Cal thought Anakin might have built some fascinating droids if he had continued in that direction.

After finishing the installation, Cal reassembled BD-1 without altering anything on the droid’s exterior. Closing it up again, he asked, "How do you feel, buddy?"

"Beep-beep!" BD-1 responded enthusiastically.

"Great! Now let’s grab the facility map." Cal smiled as he watched BD-1 access the computer system directly. The droid began retrieving information with surprising ease, delving into the base’s files without any resistance thanks to the newly installed Imperial device.

"Excellent. Now upload everything to your system, and let’s move on," Cal instructed.

BD-1 finished absorbing the data and projected a holographic map in front of Cal. The map not only displayed the areas Cal had already explored but also showed rooms, installations, and red points marking the locations of stormtroopers.

Cal studied the map for a while, memorizing routes and key areas. Then, he turned his gaze to a gate where Imperials were working deeper below the mountain. "That must be the entrance to the temple Master Cordova mentioned," he said.

"Let’s go, BD-1," Cal said. They left the room silently, undetected, and continued down the path. The alarm was still blaring, echoing through the facility. They passed by massive machines and quadrupedal mechanical climbers equipped with weapons. Some wild animals that bothered the Imperials in the area were also visible.

"We’ll take this route," Cal instructed, moving toward a corner where he found some locked crates.

"Beep-beep?" BD-1 asked, intrigued.

"The detonators they use for extraction and creating paths in the mountain... I’m going to borrow a few. We’ll use them on our way back," Cal said, knowing his return trip wouldn’t be peaceful. He continued forward until he came across a hole covered in ice—a steep descent that could only be accessed via an elevator built by the Imperials.

"We can’t go down without the elevator. We’ll have to be quick," he murmured, as he directed BD-1 to access the panel and summon the elevator.

Nearby stormtroopers turned in surprise when they saw the elevator beginning to ascend. "Who called the elevator?" they asked, confused.

As soon as the doors opened and the stormtroopers saw no one inside, they felt an invisible force lifting them into the air. Before they could react, Cal hurled them into the elevator, swiftly dispatching them without raising an alarm. He stepped inside and closed the doors.

The elevator then began descending toward the center of the mountain.

"Who got in the elevator?" a stormtrooper further away asked, puzzled as he watched the machine descend again.

"That was strange. Let’s alert the higher-ups!" they said, accessing the radio.

After a few seconds, the elevator reached a point where it moved like a bullet train, covering kilometers in mere moments. When the doors opened with their characteristic sound, Cal was met with an awe-inspiring sight: a massive, round chamber with a grand door at the center. The room was packed with stormtroopers and Imperial machinery, all working to pry the door open using excavators and other heavy equipment.

"Well, looks like we don’t have much choice here," Cal murmured, carefully observing the army before him.

Some stormtroopers noticed his presence as the elevator returned to the room. They began whispering among themselves. "Who is that?" they asked, recalling the activated alarm.

With no other options, Cal ignited his lightsaber. The distinctive hum echoed through the chamber, drawing everyone’s attention. The stormtroopers immediately raised their weapons, ready to engage him.

Meanwhile, in another section of the facility, the Second Sister stood, frustrated, as she watched the path the elevator had taken.

"The elevator descended... and we can’t bring it back up," a stormtrooper reported, fiddling with the system unsuccessfully after BD-1 had managed to block it.

The Second Sister had come to the area as soon as she was informed of the situation via radio. She understood that the intruder had escaped through there.

"He blocked the system? How did he get an access key?" she asked, her tone a mix of curiosity and irritation.

The Imperial soldiers, unable to resolve the issue, explained their failed attempts. With no other option, the Second Sister gritted her teeth and stepped forward.

"I’ll go first. As soon as you unlock the elevator, bring it back and send a large number of troops to stop the intruder," she commanded before leaping forward and sliding down the icy path.

Though the descent was slow, she pressed on. Ten minutes later, she finally reached the location. Using her lightsaber, she carved a gap in the elevator shaft and stepped out into the entry chamber.

The scene before her was brutal: stormtrooper bodies were strewn across the floor, sliced by a lightsaber. Imperial machinery lay destroyed, and the central chamber door was partially open.

"So that’s why you’re here... and you managed to open it," the Second Sister murmured to herself with a determined tone.

"No matter... I will hunt you down," she said, advancing toward the entrance, following the intruder’s trail.