#the mantis crew

[jyn-andors]

Cal goes live on Space Instagram

{Meme credited to my insta 🩵}

[breakfastteatime]

Today's minific, 'Just breathe', is for @believe-in-alderaan!

“Just breathe, kid. C’mon, please. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll never complain about the mudstains your boots leave everywhere, or your ridiculous poncho collection. I won’t even complain about BD jumping all over my couch. Just breathe.”

Greez’s voice cuts through the darkness, and Cere is thrown suddenly and completely into consciousness. She snaps upright, stomach muscles wailing in protest, and finds herself on the deck of the Mantis, soaked through and bitterly cold. She looks over and sees a nightmare.

Cal, unconscious and bleeding.

Greez, performing increasingly desperate CPR.

Merrin, her magick winding itself into the wound running Cal through.

BD-1, nudging Cal and getting no response.

All of them, doing what they can to bring him back. Bring him back because he’s dead. He’s dead. Cal’s dead. He’s –

The dark side calls again, whispers of its power, promises it can defeat death if she just reaches out, uses its strength, and slams it into Cal, dragging him back, kicking and screaming if that’s what it takes. She can’t lose him, but she’s going to if she doesn’t reach out, doesn’t take hold of all the power she needs to keep hold of him for –

Cere pushes it all away. Cal gave everything for her, for her mission. She will not let it be in vain. She will not let him die, and she will not fall to the dark side to do so.

She is no Jedi Healer. It doesn’t matter. She moves to Cal, tells Merrin, Greez and BD to not give up, and reaches for him. He is so far away, the last tether keeping him out of the Force already fraying, but Cere is neither meek nor quiet. She’s not giving him a choice in the matter. He is not dying here, not for a path she put him on. He is not joining the Force, not today. She’s lost Trilla. She can’t lose him too. She grabs that tether and gives him a single command.

Just breathe.

She is thrown back into herself. The sound of someone coughing and choking fills the air. Cere moves, but Greez is ahead of her, grabbing Cal and rolling him onto his side. His body convulses as his lungs give up all the water he’d inhaled. Greez thumps Cal’s back, helping to clear his lungs faster. BD runs a scan and jabs a stim into Cal. He scans again, happier with the results this time. Merrin’s magick fades and she slumps, looking to Cere. Cere reaches over and holds her hand. She knows Merrin has done all she can. They all have. Cal is alive. He will heal.

They make quick work of patching him up, stripping layers of clothing to reach the wounds beneath. It is a vicious mark Vader inflicted on him, one intended to cause agony rather than death. Had they not escaped, Cere has no doubt in her mind what fate would have befallen Cal. It takes her breath away until the Force reminds her that is a what if, and Cal is alive and under her protection.

At last, their work is finished and quiet falls. The deck is awash with blood and seawater. Greez is the first to break, sobbing into two hands. BD-1 hurries to him, beeping comfort. Greez pets him with a spare hand, telling him it’s okay. He’ll be okay. Merrin holds out for longer, but she is not immune to the emotions crashing through the ship. Cere moves between them, tears mingling with the saltwater on her cheeks. The sounds of Cal’s ragged breaths fill the silence as they all sit and process.

“He’s alive,” Cere tells them, tells herself. Her voice cracks, breaks. “We did it.”

“We really did,” Greez says. He scrubs his eyes, reaches for Cal who remains unconscious. “Alright, kid. You get some rest. We’ve got you.”

“Yes,” Merrin says, weariness straining her voice. “We did not do all of that for you to give up now.”

BD-1 punctuates this with a particularly shrill trill. Cal does not react.

Cere reaches down, runs a hand through Cal’s hair, pulling the wet strands away from his face. He’ll be fine. He’s going to be fine. Looking up, her eyes fall on the holocron someone (Greez?) carelessly threw aside. Cere picks it up, puts it on the table, ready for later. She won’t open it. That’s for Cal to do.

Closing her eyes, Cere breathes.

[jessescoldbrew]

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (2023)

[third-generation-female-warrior]

Greez and Cere do not have married energy,

they have besties energy

That said, there's no doubt that Cal and Merrin are THEIR kids

[incorrectpizza]

My slightly wacky predictions. I saw someone post a Bingo card and figured I might as well post one too! Some of these are ridiculous longshots I hope for (or am desperately afraid of), and others I feel strongly about.

[found-family-tournament]

Found Family Tournament Round 1 Part 24 Group 119

Propaganda and further pictures under the cut

Mantis Crew: Cal Kestis, Nightsister Merrin, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, BD-1

Goat House: Evan Kelmp, K Tanaka, Whitney Jammer, Sam Black

Submissions are still open!

Mantis Crew:

They are all survivors, they're all running from something or have lost something. They have their differences and their rough patches but they would follow each other to the ends of the universe if it came to it. They love each other so deeply! Even in ways they don't realise, they know each other better than anyone else. No matter how far apart they are, they're never far from each other in their hearts. I'm going to cry I have to stop typing now.

Goat House:

They’re just my little guys I love them so so much :((( sweetest guys ever

[nevermindigotthis]

Some Jedi Survivor sketches! What an amazing game 😌

[avisisisis]

There are so many found families in Star Wars I am thriving here

[diagonalhorizon]

My gift for @roseofalderaan for the @starwarsfandomfests gift exchange!

I’m kinda obsessed with Greez after writing this to be honest.

[kindlythevoid]

[jmkitsune]

Jedi fallen order came out 3 years ago today and of course that means I’m gonna remind ya bout the playthrough I did back when it came out

And that you betcha ass when the sequel comes out I’ll be doin my best to get and play that too x3

[breakfastteatime]

Today's fic is for @wigglewigglewigglenot who requested 'Family'.

Greez hears Cal bound aboard, BD whistling in the way that Greez always translates to ‘honey, I’m home!’ “Cal, BD, good timing. I’m about to start chopping up the veg for tonight’s stir fry. Wash up and –” A foul stench billows over Greez. Dropping his knife, he looks up from the galley table and stares at Cal. “What in all the hells happened to you?”

Cal grins from under a thick, muddy coating. “I threw some stormtroopers around for a while in a swamp.”

“Did you get in the swamp with them?”

“No,” Cal says. BD makes a sound that sounds very disagreeable. Cal stares at his friend. “No, I didn’t. It doesn’t count if a whole bunch of grenades explode after they’ve sunk into the mud and shower you with swamp juice.”

“Whatever, Cal, just get in the shower, burn everything you’re wearing and clean up so you can help out.” Greez glances at BD. “You too, BD.”

BD whistles and takes off. Cal sighs and follows him. A few moments later, Greez hears the ‘fresher door open and close, followed by the sound of the water shower starting up.

Cere emerges from the cockpit next, stretching out her limbs after hours of decrypting Imperial transmissions and tangling them all up so no one could talk to each other. She catches a whiff of ‘Odour of Kestis’ and immediately joins Greez in the galley, seeking out one of their emergency candles. “His sense of smell must be impaired after all that time on Bracca,” she mutters. Once the candle’s lit, she glances at what Greez is doing. “Stir fry? Excellent. Can I do anything?”

“Sure. You can get the hell out of my kitchen before something explodes because it’s in your presence and you scared it.”

“I am not that bad!” Cere protests.

“Hah!” Greez doesn’t trust Cere in a kitchen with something more complicated than a teapot or a caf maker any more than he trusts himself with Cal’s lightsaber. “Just go sit in the lounge and think happy food thoughts.”

“I think I’ll take the time to meditate,” Cere says, heading for her cabin. “I’ll send Merrin.”

By the time Merrin appears, Greez has the vegetables chopped, the pan heated, and everything ready to fry. “You are not adding scazz?” Merrin asks, peering over Greez’s shoulder.

“I know you like it, but scazz doesn’t actually go with everything, Merrin,” Greez says. No, what he needs is a few spices, a little extra soy for the noodles, some ginger to add a kick…

“I want scazz,” Merrin said. “I shall prepare it myself.”

Greez knows he’s not going to win a fight with her. “Fine. There’s some in the fridge. Make sure you use the knife with the red handle, that’s the one that’s sharp enough. You can cook it up yourself.”

“Why? You do it so much better than I do,” Merrin says as she gets the meat, knife and chopping block.

“You’ll never learn if I always do it,” Greez tells her.

Merrin stares at him.

“Fine, fine, I’ll cook it. Make enough for everyone.” Greez says that, knowing full well only Merrin will have any unless Cal’s feeling particularly irritating tonight.

The rhythmic sound of Merrin’s chopping provides the beat for Greez’s whistling. He drops the noodles in a pan while prepping another for Merrin’s meat. She carries it over on the chopping board when she’s done and waits for Greez’s nod to add it to the pan. It crackles and hisses. Merrin closes her eyes and inhales.

“Excellent,” she says. “Remember, I like it rare.”

“It’ll still be bleeding, don’t you worry,” Greez says.

Content, Merrin heads to the lounge. Greez lets her go because he hears Cal and BD returning. Both are clean and fresh, so Greez orders them to set the table. “With your hands, please,” he adds. “The last time you used the Force to do it, I lost a perfectly good set of plates.”

“How is it my fault Merrin distracted me?” Cal shoots a glare in her direction.

“Jedi training is clearly inferior,” she replies without looking up from the datapad she’s looking at. “A Nightsister would not be so distractable.”

“Wanna find out?” Cal fires back.

“Children,” Greez warns.

Cal sighs and wipes down the table while BD nudges placemats around with his head. Happy that Cal isn’t about to push and/or pull anything, Greez begins dishing up. He puts the scazz chunks in a serving bowl so at least the others can pretend like they want some. Cal dutifully puts the bowls out, chuckling to himself when he picks up Cere’s. He does that sometimes, catches onto things no one expected to leave behind. If he’s not sharing, Greez ain’t asking. He's learned to temper that curiosity. Cal is very polite about accidentally learning people’s secrets. Unless it benefits him some way. Or if the secret is so hilarious, he can’t contain himself. Greez may never live down that whole ‘Phixy’s Midnight Runner’s debacle down.

“Merrin, would you tell Cere it’s dinner time?” Greez asks as he shuts off the hobs and grabs the muja juice out of the fridge.

“Of course.” Merrin disappears in a twirl of green magick.

“Show off,” Greez mutters.

BD and Cal take their usual places. Merrin and Cere appear moments later. Greez takes his seat.

“This looks so good,” Cal says. “Thanks, Greez.”

“You’re welcome,” he says. It’s the least he can do, keeping everyone fed. He reaches for his fork. “Enjoy everyone.”

They all dig in, BD-1 watching with the same amount of interest the very first time he was allowed to sit at the table. Greez sits back and watches them all, smiling as they chat and laugh.

Yeah, he’s a lucky guy. Maybe he hasn’t settled down the way his great grandma would’ve wanted, but he’s still got people who matter more than anything, people who need him… He just never expected his best friend and his two kids to all have superpowers, or for a little droid to become an essential presence in his life.

Greez knows a good hand when he’s holding it.

(Pssst – The Phixy’s Midnight Runners minific for those who may have missed it. It’s an oldie but a favourite of mine)

[necr0mancers]

dude has no game

[welcome-to-the-holonet]

[incorrectpizza]

Lately, I've been thinking about how Star Wars has two awesome Jedi-Nightsister duos who could not be more different from each other and it's fascinating and I love all the parallels and the differences.

Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress are forced together, thanks to Quinlan's mission. Falling in love with Asajj, a relative loner, pulls Quinlan away from his family, the Jedi, and towards the dark side. Their story ends in tragedy; which it seemed destined for from the outset.

Meanwhile, Cal Kestis and Merrin become voluntary allies, as they discover their interests align in regards to Malicos. Cal then brings Merrin, long accustomed to solitude, to his family, the Mantis crew, and hopefully, maybe, towards the light. Their story is only just beginning; it brims with hope for more.

[stop-handing-me-knives]

Greez: Can you guys at least try to see it from my perspective?

Merrin: *crouches down*

Cal: *gets down on his knees*

Greez:

Greez: I will kill you both in your sleep.