[Video]

[out_of_order]

[A flare of light, a glimpse of sky. A groan in pain and a perhaps familiar if panicked beeping.

There's a brief glimpse of the little bipedal droid as he dashes by while the tablet settles, still propped up at an angle, although at most they only capture the edge of a pair of boots.]

-ow, ow... Great timing as usual. Yeah BeeDee, I'm fine, I'm-

[The boots shift, accompanied by an off-screen hiss as Cal sucks in a sharp breath, and for a moment he stills, a thoughtful silence settling in. It's broken by BD-1's scrabbling about, pausing before his boxlike head dips down to peer directly into the communicator's camera. He hoots inquiringly.]

...Hm? What is it, buddy?

[Those boots drag themselves off-screen, and then the camera moves as it's picked up. Cal frowns a moment before his brow eases with a weary smile.]

Hey Temba.

Comments

[only_an_echo]

[He nods at that, recalling the greenish glowing light Merrin conjured up out of thin air. The added benefit of going slower than usual is that he doesn't run into the little bipedal droid and he's thankful for that.

Although it's been a while since Echo has last heard the term 'stormtrooper,' it still doesn't sit well with him. That all subsides when he turns his head slightly to look at Cal.]

Purge Troopers? What exactly was everyone else doing there?

[out_of_order]

Purge Troopers... they're specifically trained to deal with Jedi. [Cal makes a face.] Armed with melee weapons, electrostaffs and batons, things like that. They hit hard.

Not sure what all else was going on there. Didn't want to stick around any longer than we had to. But I just know from Cere that it's where Jedi were taken...and turned into Inquisitors.

[only_an_echo]

[The lines in Echo's face draw taut, the frown deepening underneath his helmet. He doesn't even have to voice his disdain for the Empire at this point.]

I don't blame you for not wanting to. Making your way out of an Imperial base should be just as quick as infiltrating it.

...Given your other injury, I'm assuming you saw Trilla again.

[out_of_order]

We did. The fight was inevitable.

[He winces.]

This wasn't from her.

[only_an_echo]

There was another Inquisitor still on base?

[out_of_order]

...I don't think he was an Inquisitor.

[only_an_echo]

[The clone's head tilts, casting a sideways glance Cal's way.]

What do you mean?

[It's almost a whisper - curious about the answer, yet it remains tinged with caution.]

[out_of_order]

He was much, much worse.

[And really, there's only one thing that black-clad figure could have been, now that Cal has time to think on it.]

...pretty sure it was a Sith.

[only_an_echo]

Sith? I thought there weren't any more.

[Echo feels like he should know this already, but most of his experience has been around the Jedi.]

[out_of_order]

That's what I thought, but I'm not so sure anymore.

[He shakes his head.]

Whatever he was, it was on a completely different level than the Inquisitors. It didn't look like he made any effort to bat away our attacks. He was tearing up the walkway I was running on and I'm not even sure how he managed to get to the lift even after that because I was pretty sure I left him on the other side.

[only_an_echo]

[His mouth forms a hard line to keep himself from fully grimacing at the thought.]

Having to see that kind of destruction firsthand, I wouldn't want to know either. How were you able to get away from him?

[out_of_order]

It was a pretty near thing. I thought we'd managed to get away once BeeDee activated the lift, but somehow he still caught up with us. That's about when this happened.

[He glances down at his wound.]

But Cere arrived just in time before he could do worse. ...she was struggling though, with the Dark Side. Being back in that place... Well, it was a lot. And she was using that anger to fight back against this guy. I couldn't let her lose herself, so I broke the glass, let the water come pouring in. When the Sith was distracted, I grabbed Cere and we escaped through the opening.

[only_an_echo]

[Echo visibly winces, refraining from doing anything more than a bowed head movement and drawing his free shoulder up a few degrees. Even with the helmet on, his masked expression is pretty obvious.]

It's hard to imagine what that struggle feels like. But you did what you had to do.

...It's a good thing you two got away or else this would have been a completely different story.

[out_of_order]

I know it's a lot of trying to keep your emotions balanced. It's too easy to lose yourself to that. The Dark Side...it thrives on the negative.

[Cal breathes out a laugh, not without a wince, but he nods.]

Yeah, I'll say. Merrin came to our rescue once we were back in the water. I wouldn't have managed to make it up with Cere and BeeDee, otherwise.