[ Cal really isn't having a great day so far. When he woke up in the egg(?), everything was gone, from his ship, his crew, his lightsaber, his droid, and worst of all, the Force—well, okay, the Force is still there, as it always is, but he feels distressingly disconnected from it in a way he never has before, even when he was in hiding on Bracca.

And on top of all that, he's currently being ushered into a cell, covered in sticky goo, and still injured from his fight—generous though that description may be—with that Sith Lord on Nur. If only that had gone away too.

With a heavy sigh, he presses his hand against the wound in his side, silently hoping that the slime won't give him a terrible infection, and casts his gaze around the cell, taking stock of the space and its other occupant(s). ]

Hey, you okay?

▶A. MESS HALL. [ At the mess hall, he takes whatever food they give him, including the coffee, without a single complaint, and sits down to eat at one of the communal tables. Spending years on a military ship, and then years after that being completely broke, has ensured that he'll eat pretty much anything put in front of him, judging by the way he just shovels food into his mouth as if by rote.

While he eats, a small, curious droid peeks his head over the edge of the table, followed by the rest of his body as he scuttles up onto the surface. If left to his own devices, he'll come over and start to scan the food on your plate, his holoprojector lens lighting up blue. ]

▶B. GYMNASIUM. [ In spite of the fact that there hasn't been a single sign of the Empire—or anyone at all that's even from his own galaxy, for that matter—since he was hatched, it still takes Cal a couple weeks to feel comfortable bringing his lightsaber out. Back home, lightsabers and Jedi were synonymous, and Jedi were... in danger. It's hard to shake that paranoia.

But he eventually relents, finding a large open space in the gym and igniting his lightsaber with a distinctive snap-hiss, making sure to turn the training mode on so that the blade isn't a danger—it'll still sting if it hits anything, but it won't chop any limbs off.

The orange blade hums while he runs through some of his old Shii-Cho forms, the most basic style and the first one he learned as a Padawan. He moves slowly, at first, while he struggles a little to remember the proper positioning—it's been a long time since he's really practiced, and he's obviously rusty. ]

▶C. OUT AND ABOUT. [ There are... a lot of fluctuations in the Force in the camp, as Cal would expect in any settlement, anything touched by people. Echoes, memories, history. He leaves most of them alone for a little while as he adjusts to this new situation, but eventually his curiosity catches up to him and he starts reaching out to some of the echoes he runs into, letting them tell their stories.

This story, attached to a scrap from the Adamant that was salvaged as building material, isn't a pleasant one. The intensity of it catches him off guard, at first, and the memory draws him in a little more deeply than it should into a chaotic furor of fire, smoke, and blood. He sways a little, hand still pressed to the material as he staggers to one knee, focusing all his effort on letting the memory flow over him, around him. Away from him.

When he comes back to himself, he's breathing heavily, his heart pounding hard against his ribcage. BD-1 is on the ground next to him, letting out a string of shrill, distressed-sounding beeps and trills. ​]

I'm okay, buddy. It's okay.

▶A. ENGINEERING CORPS. [ Cal is quick to be drawn in by the engineering corps—while he's much more experienced in taking things apart than he is in fixing them, he can at least recognize all of the various technology around the camp, since it isn't so different from what he's used to back in his own galaxy.

When the children drag him away to show him the Ehlers-Chau sublight engine, for instance, his expression lights up in recognition, even if it's a different model(?) than all the ones he's gutted from scrapped starships. Still... the children are so enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge that he kind of just plays along, an indulgent smile on his face. ]

Oh, yeah? What does it do?
​
▶B. THEATER. [ Honestly, he'd only meant to go and check out the theater, just out of curiosity, but he somehow still got roped into service there—probably because he's way too nice to say no to anyone who obviously needs help. Even worse, he got roped into looking after a small group of children by a harried-looking childcare worker who promised that they would be gone for just a little while, just to run a quick errand.

And while Cal likes children—he thinks?—he really doesn't have much experience caring for them. Or being around them at all, really. Which is why he's standing in the middle of this group of children, a baby cradled somewhat awkwardly in his arms, looking bewildered and very much in over his head.

Suddenly, the baby starts to cry, and he startles. ] Shh. Shh, it's okay.

[ Help? ]

▶A. SETTING OUT. [ Cal actually doesn't mind being voluntold to go on this little retrieval mission—he enjoys venturing out into the wilderness, for some reason, and he has a lot of experience running halfway across planets and back for little more than the possibility of information, so an eight kilometer hike for a good cause doesn't faze him.

He might not look particularly well-prepared, since all he has is a long, metallic cylinder—his lightsaber—clipped to his belt and very little else. That said, he does have BD-1 with him, an explorer droid who is literally built for excursions just like these, and who perches himself on Cal's back as they set out, his head swiveling curiously in all directions.

Every once in a while, BD-1 beep excitedly and hops down, scurrying over to some interesting plant or rock or other and scanning it with his hololens. ]

Got anything interesting there, little buddy?

▶B. UH OH. [ At some point during the excursion, there's a strange rustling noise of some kind coming from behind a bush not too far away from their group. BD-1 reacts first, his head whirling around towards the noise, antennae raising, about a second before Cal turns his head in the same direction, suddenly tense and alert.

His hand goes to his lightsaber at his belt, but he doesn't draw it just yet. ]

Did you hear that?

[ please feel free to throw anything my way! as a note, after the hatching prompt, he has BD-1 and his lightsaber with him everywhere he goes, the former of which stays almost permanently latched to Cal's back. but!! a few more ideas for things he'll be up to:

▶Helping out around basecamp — he will be trying to make himself as helpful as possible, including washing dishes at the mess hall, repairing some of the machines around camp, building sets at the theater, and helping out at the aid station. (No, he doesn't actually have any medical expertise, but he will fetch bandages, painkillers, etc, help move patients, clean up messes, etc etc. Basically he'll do anything you tell him to do, especially if you sound authoritative enough.)
▶Meditation in the temple — since the bunks are shared and he doesn't want to be in anyone's way, he'll be doing his meditating in the temple. Feel free to stumble on him there!
▶The Dreaming — I don't have a prompt up there because my top level is long enough as it is, but what if we met in a dream? 👉👈 He'll be very chill about it, since visions/dreams are just A Thing That Happens With The Force.
▶More fetch quest — exploration and combat is his wheelhouse, so I'm up for literally any other hijinks during the fetch quest. He actually can climb those cliffs to retrieve the plants, since he has his climbing claws with him, but hit me with any creative solutions you want! ]