Star Wars - The Gray Jedi - Chapter 4 - Talking 01.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Bracca.
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...

As soon as the doors of the ship closed, a silence settled in the place except for the soft hum of the engines outside. Prauf was looking at Cal, seeking an explanation for what had happened in the last hour. Cere stared at Cal as if he had grown a second head. Carl, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about them at the moment, as he looked at his hand, wondering if those powers could affect him. He would have to control this, and he would do it later.

The ship began to ascend toward space, gaining altitude and leaving Bracca behind. It was at this moment that Prauf couldn't take it anymore and burst out.

"This... That was crazy! What was all that?" Prauf began to pace back and forth nervously. "There were gunshots, imperial soldiers! Cal slicing through them as if they were nothing! The imperial ship! That woman with the red Jedi sword! Cal fighting her! Me falling, the ship appearing, what madness!" He mumbled several nonsensical phrases trying to organize everything he saw and trying to understand.

"Prauf!" Cal called him, making the man look at him while Cere still stared at Cal.

"Calm down, you understand?" He said, and Prauf looked at him for a second before taking a deep breath and calming down.

"Okay... I think I overreacted..." Prauf finally spoke.

Just when things seemed to be calming down, suddenly the ship trembled, making everyone look around and brace themselves against whatever they could, the sound of gunfire was heard from outside.

Cere, who was still looking at Cal, finally stood up and went toward the cockpit, where an alien was piloting.

"What's happening?" she asked the pilot.

"Two imperial fighters are on our tail..." he spoke as the ship began to flee into space, but they were still not out of the planet's atmosphere with two fighters right behind shooting their lasers.

He maneuvered the ship in the next moment, as they turned at a certain angle, with two green shots passing by them. "They are persistent..." He murmured.

"Get us out of here fast!" Cere spoke in an urgent tone.

"I'm trying, not sure if you can see that," the alien complained, as he tried to dodge the shots, he moved his hand to the panel and began to touch some buttons, setting the ship's power to increase the shields.

"I hope we don't collide with a star or planet," he spoke as he pointed the ship toward space, while preparing the hyper-space engines. He continued to dodge the fighters rising higher and higher in the planet until near the atmosphere, he finally received confirmation from the system, then switched the power from the shields to the engine.

"Let's go!" He said, pulling a lever with his hand, the entire view in front of the ship became bright points as they entered hyperspace and disappeared, while the imperial fighters were left adrift, unable to catch their target.

With the ship now in hyperspace, Cere sighed but still frowned as she looked at the people waiting for them in the other cabin, while the alien set the ship on its next course. She finally left the cockpit to see whom she had saved or what she had saved, Cere wasn't sure.

Cal was sitting on a couch in the middle of the ship, Prauf still very nervous, talking things over with Cal there. "Are you really the Cal I know? You did that, it was incredible, I mean, it was crazy, I knew a Jedi like in the stories the whole time!" he exclaimed.

"Easy," Carl tried to keep his friend calm.

"But did you see? I mean, you did," he said, lost in his own words.

Cal just sighed. "Yes, but..." He was going to speak, but was interrupted by Cere appearing and staring at him with some caution.

"He's not a Jedi!" She said, correcting Prauf based on what she had seen so far. Prauf was speechless and before he could respond, Cere turned back to talk to Cal. "You, what are you?" she asked, looking cautiously.

"It's hard to explain," Cal spoke sincerely.

"No, you used the power from the dark side, are you one of them?" she asked with an intense look, almost reaching for a pistol at her waist.

"If I were one of them, I wouldn't be fighting," Cal replied, "and they wouldn't be hunting me."

"No, that's not right," she said, in denial.

"What's going on here?" the pilot finally appeared beside them.

"We caught a Sith instead of a Jedi..." Cere said, putting her hand on her pistol.

"What? A Sith!?" The short alien exclaimed, grabbing a gun much too big for his size and pointing it at Cal in terror.

Prauf, already nervous, reached a new level of anxiety with this situation, Cal had to keep calm. "Not exactly that, Cere Junda and Greez Dritus, I'm half Sith," Cal admitted.

"What do you mean by that?" Ciro asked, eyes wide.

"I can use both sides. I'm not fully corrupted by the dark side," Cal said, raising both hands. On one side, space began to distort around his hand as if he was using the Force on the light side; on the other, sparks began to appear with the dark side.

Cal looked back at Cere. "As you can see, I can use both sides," he said calmly while having two guns pointed at him.

"That's impossible! Moreover, you're not even old enough to become a master. How did you learn these two sides? Who is your master?" she demanded immediately. After all, he must have learned this from someone, despite the fact she had never heard of anyone using both the dark and light sides at the same time.

"It's hard to explain, but I didn't have a master, well, not beyond my master Jaro Tapal in the order," he said.

"How can you not have had a master?!" Cere raised her voice nervously at what she heard.

"You could say it was a gift from the Force itself, it's still hard to explain..." Cal admitted.

"HEY, hey!!" Greez suddenly raised his voice nervously. "He said our names! How does he know that?! Cere, can Siths read minds?!" Greez asked cautiously.

Cere heard this and frowned as well, looking at Cal with even wider eyes, despite all the nonsensical things she had just heard. She was so caught up in the thought of having rescued a Sith that she hadn't even noticed that. "No, they shouldn't be able to, not without torturing their victim," she said.

Prauf, standing beside them, couldn't even breathe, unable to understand any of what he was hearing.

"How do you know that?" Cere asked.

"I know a lot of things, Cere Junda..." He spoke with a tone of mystery.

"Did you know we were coming here to rescue you?" Greez pointed out with his free arm, fearing.

"Yes, I knew you would bring the Stinger Mantis to the planet as soon as I used the Force power and intercepted the empire's communication to find me..." He began.

"He even knows the name of my ship!" Greez now exclaimed, scared.

"What do you mean by that?!" Cere asked cautiously.

"As I said, I know a lot about you, specifically about the future, Prauf here, should have died," Cal said, leaving Prauf with wide eyes.

"I was supposed to die...?" He murmured.

"Yes... unfortunately, you were supposed to have been killed by Cere's apprentice," He said, leaving the woman even more bewildered.

"How do you know this!!" She exclaimed, as this mysterious boy was leaving her increasingly lost, knowing her secrets and names.

"I know about you, Cere, about what you've been through and how you lost the Force," Cal spoke. He had no reason to hide this, and it might even be better for him since it would make their relationship less hostile at the moment.

Cere looked at him, mouth agape, not knowing what to say after hearing all this.

"I know our future. We even get the Holocron with the list of children, but we destroy it..." Cal spoke, making Cere lower her weapon and Greez do the same, listening intently to Cal's words, believing that this boy really knew the future.

"I don't intend to talk about the future and its details, but many things happen and in the end... We all die..." He said, leaving the atmosphere extremely somber upon hearing this.

"We all die?!" Greez exclaimed in shock. "I knew this was a bad idea when I got into this!" He shouted.

"You knew the risks!" Cere responded.

Cal continued, "Years after we destroyed the Holocron, we tried to fight the Empire, but they hunted us down and caught us." Cal said, looking into Cere's eyes. "You yourself die by Darth Vader." He states, but now there is a chance to change that.

"Were you corrupted in the future?" She asked.

"No, it's hard to explain... I never used this power and I must train it." Cal commented. "I know it's hard, but I'm going to ask you to trust me," he requested calmly.

"No, that's not right, you use a power you shouldn't have," Cere insists.

"You know now that I know the future. I know that I'm using the dark side, however, my future self only used the power of the light side, and that led to death. So, to have a different future, I have to create a different power," he said with determination.

"..." Cere couldn't respond to that. "And what do you intend to do?" Cere asked, watching him like a hawk.

"We should head to Bogano," he started. "We need to find the location of the children, not just to prevent the Empire from getting them, but also to do something different this time. We'll find them and establish a new order. There's a planet hidden in a part of the galaxy that can shield us from the Empire. We can train the children there for years," he said.

"Can we really do this?" Cere frowned.

"Yes, the planet is Kaboh and it has a strong connection with the Force, it's located within an area called the Minos Sector. This area is a relatively unexplored part of the galaxy, far from the Empire's maps and without the right map, it's impossible to reach," he continued.

"There are also other things, besides powerful children, there are people who can help us," this left both of them surprised. "If the plan works, in a few years, we can gather great masters, then counterattack the Empire with a new force. Isn't that what you want? Isn't that why you came here? I'm here giving you a real opportunity, even if I have to use the dark side. I will do this and destroy the Empire," Cal spoke seriously. "After all, is your plan really to restore a Republic in the galaxy or something better than the extermination orders with the acts of the emperor?" Cal finally spoke, wanting to overthrow the Sith controlling the entire galaxy, and his plan would start there.