Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a simple mission: check in on a Hidden Path safe house on a planet in the far Outer Rim that hadn't been reported in a while and then leave. But nothing was ever simple for Cal. He should know this by now.
Cal had taken the Mantis alone for this mission with BD-1. Merrin and Greez were staying on Tanalor with Kata to oversee work on new homes with other members of the Hidden Path. The hideout had been safe, only dealing with errors on comms he and BD were quick to fix.
The journey back wasn't so simple, however. The Mantis was ambushed by a sudden imperial patrol hot on their heels. It was far too risky to hyperspace jump back to Kohboh, let alone Tanalor. So he'd taken a blind jump to hyperspace with Cal trying to use the Force to guide him to safety. As usual, however, something went wrong. A blast to the back of that ship between the shields had sent their systems haywire right as they jumped.
By the time they came out of hyperspace, Cal had a killer migraine, and the navigation readings were haywire. Did he black out? He wasn't sure.
He rubbed his temples at the console as the ship drifted through some unknown system. "Ugh, BD? What's our status?" He asked
BD chirped some binary and hurried to the holotable to take readings. Shields still working. Fuel half full. Long-ranged navigation failing. Hyperdrive failing. Other systems intact.
Cal cursed. "Of course. The two things we need." He started flipping switches. Where the kriff were they?
"I don't have this system in databanks. Can you scan for anything we can safely land on for repairs? Maybe a ship port?"
BD trilled back a diagnosis. The system they were in had nine planets, one with enough life signs to be marked as habitable. Four of those planets were gas planets, and the rest didn't have any suitable life signs. They could land on them sure, but there was nothing on them to use.
It made deciding where to land easier. "Send me the coordinates." He called to BD.
He had the coordinates before he even finished talking. He smiled and keyed them in. "Thanks B."
BD bweeped back and returned to the co-pilot's chair.
Once they were cruising along, he tried to look into sending a comm signal to his team. He knew Tanalor wouldn't be reachable. They were still trying to figure out communications across the Abyss, so that was a no-go. But if he could reach a member of the Hidden Path on their channels, they could hopefully get a message back to Merrin.
Comms were weak at best. He must've been really far out. He still didn't know what region of the galaxy he was in. If he was even still in the galaxy. (A worry to shelve for later) But he sent one anyway with a prayer to the Force it would get through.
'Alive. Safe. Hyperdrive Damaged. Be Back Soon - K.'
Was it enough? No. Merrin was going to chew him out when he got back for being vague and reckless. But it would have to be enough for now. He'd have sent his coordinators, too, but no long-range navigation meant he didn't even have that.
When the planet came into view, he was at least happy to see from afar that there was greenery. And water. A lot of water. That meant life and, hopefully, settlements. He hoped whoever lived on this planet could give him directions or, if hostile, leave him be. He just needed to fix his ship and get out…
Okay, maybe also explore the planet a little bit too. He couldn't help it; he and BD were like minded like that. Endlessly curious about the undiscovered. What secrets could this planet hold? So long as he got the ship fixed, he could scope out the area a little bit, right? Just to make sure it was safe. Maybe it could serve as a safe house location, too.
As they lowered into the atmosphere of the planet, he started doing a general short range scan. Just to get the usual read of the land. It really was beautiful. Tall mountains capped with snow, sweeping forests of green. He could even see a desert not far off and a shoreline far in the other direction from just the region he was landing in. He'd never seen a planet with such a variety of climates before. It was exciting! He wondered where he should land the Mantis first-
The Force pinged around him, and he swerved the ship to the left. A large blur of metal blew past the Mantis, and he heard a distorted, mechanised shriek loud enough to rattle the ship.
Cal leaned closer over the console to look out the front window better. BD-1 mirrored his movement with a surprised bwoop. The amalgamation of metal flew back past the ship and out in front of it, gliding through the air to turn on the Mantis again.
For a brief moment, Cal thought it was some sort of high-tech ship. But he quickly realised it was... he didn't even know what to call it. It looked like a bird. An enormous one at that. Only it was made of metal and pulsed with purple energy. He'd never seen a droid that big before! It was almost as big as the Mantis!
"What the kriff is that?!" Cal yelled out as he looked through the glass. He started flipping switches to prep the Manits's guns. That bird didn't look friendly. It reminded him too much of the gorgara on Dathomir.
The droid bird cried out again, and its eyes turned red as it focused on the ship. Not friendly! It dived bombed at the ship again, and Cal swerved on the steering wheel to lurch the ship to the side, swinging the fin of the ship around to smack the bird out of the air.
There was a crunching sound and a distorted mechanical cry as it hit the creature, but Cal could sense electricity in the air, even from within the ship. The Force was tense with danger. The droid bird wasn't done with them yet.
He slammed on the thrusters to get ahead and checked their sensors from behind. The droid bird was already back in the air and giving chase.
BD bwooped as he pressed more buttons.
"I know it's gaining on us!" He yelled at the small droid, "Dammit. Keep the ship steady!" He ordered BD and got up.
BD replaced Cal's presence on the console, pressing buttons and plugging his scomp link into the console.
Cal went to the guns and manned the canons. He carefully took aim as the bird got closer. Just when he had a clean shot, he took it… and missed. Kark. The bird easily swooped under the blast and tried to grab the back of the ship with its large claws. It only barely missed.
Storm clouds were gathering in their air and seemed to be following the large bird. Its chest started glowing. He'd faced enough zeffo temple guardians to guess what was about to happen.
But he saw it. An opening. Like the guardians, the bird seemed to hover in place to ready its shot.
Cal readied another cannon blast. "BD! All power to the shields and canon!" He yelled.
BD bwooped that he was crazy but did so anyways. The ship slowed just a little from the power divergence.
Electricity crackled from the bird's chest as it readied its strike. Lighting bellowed around it, and thunder clapped before the bird sent its blast out at the Mantis with a cry. Cal fired his shot at the exact same time.
His shot was a direct hit.
His blast shot through the bird's chest with a loud clap like thunder in the sky, leaving a large hole where Cal assumed its core must be. The bird made no cry as it fell; all light and power to it just stopped, and the now large hunk of lifeless metal dropped from the sky like a stone.
Unfortunately, the blue electric ball from the bird was also a direct hit.
The Mantis's shields protected them from the worst of the damage. But it sent a wave of blue electricity over the ship, short circuiting everything. Power went in and out, and Cal cursed again, rushing back to the pilot seat.
Thankfully, BD had disconnected himself from the ship before the blast could affect the poor droid. But it meant the ship was now set for a swift emergency landing.
Cal looked around and saw a large clearing further out in the rainforest he could use, just bordering on the expanse of the desert he could see. It was the best he was going to get.
"Hold on, BD!" Cal yelled out as he unlatched the landing gear, gripped the steering wheel, and pulled up on it, bracing for impact.
The Mantis landed in the clearing with a deafening crash, skidding along the wet dirt and knocking over several large trees in the process. Cal and BD were thrown off the console and onto the cockpit floor.
When the ship stopped moving, Cal groaned and sat up, "You okay bud?" He called, rubbing his back from the rough landing.
BD chirped and hopped back onto the co-pilot's chair, looking down at him.
"Yeah yeah I know. Another crash landing. Not a word to Greez, alright?"
Another chip.
"No, no stim needed, I'm fine." He pushed off the floor and started flipping switches at the console to see what systems were still active. He didn't know how the ship still had power after that, but he was grateful for it, at least.
BD started listing new diagnostics. Hyperdrive and long-range navigation are still inoperable. Comms and weapons were damaged but still operable. Short-range navigation is still intact. Fuel still half full. Shields Damaged. Hull damaged. Space flight not recommended.
Cal groaned and rubbed his face. Great. Now he was stranded.
"Had to pick the one planet with a giant killer droid bird in the sky. Good job Cal." He muttered to himself
He walked to the holotable, bringing up his brief scan of the planet. The air was breathable, at least, and the climate was humid in his current landing zone. So, at least he wouldn't die going outside from the elements. Which was good, considering he'd need to leave to start surveying repairs and check the area for more hostiles.
He wanted to hope that the giant droid bird was just a freak occurrence, but he knew that, given Cal's luck, not even Greez would bet on those odds.
He looked over the planet on the holotable "Well, the air's breathable at least. Any sign of imperial comms?" He asked BD, who perched next to him on the table.
BD pressed some buttons and trilled back a no. That made him hopeful that this wasn't at least some secret imperial hideout testing new weapons of destruction. But a droid like that had to be man-made, so the fact it wasn't imperial didn't fill him with confidence either. Who in their right mind would build a death machine like that?!
"Well that's good, at least. Hey, maybe we found another Tanalor?" He joked to the droid as he packed his things, trying to lighten the mood. BD had all his stims. He had his lightsaber and blaster, food, water, rebreather... That should be everything.
BD stomped his feet at the Jedi, reminding him of the giant bird that just shot down their ship.
"Okay, maybe not." He went back to the holotable and reviewed the scans. "There's a structure east of here we can check out. Might help give us a lay of the land."
BD bwooped as he climbed to Cal's back.
"We need to check the damage to the hull first, but then we'll go. Okay? Don't think I haven't forgotten last time you ran out to scan alone." He teased his droid, chuckling at the indignant bweeps BD replied with.
He opened the door and walked down the ramp as it extended.
The humid, fresh air was nice to breathe, at least compared to the stale air on the ship. The sun was high in the sky and shone down on him as he walked out. He raised a hand to shield his eyes as he looked around the clearing.
"Well… hopefully, that was the last killer droid we see for a bit." He spoke to BD, chuckling as the droid was already quick to hop off his shoulder to the ground and scuttle ahead, eager to start scanning new sights.
"BD wait up!" He called as he chased after in a light jog.