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Cal Kestis
Cal Kestis, a survivor of Order 66, was trained by Jedi Master Jaro Tapal. After years of living on the run and fighting the Empire, Cal has grown into a fierce Jedi warrior. The Force shows Cal echoes of an object’s past through an innate ability known as psychometry. Carrying the memories and expectations of the Jedi Order with him, his crusade against the Empire has only become more perilous.
- Male
During The Clone Wars, young Padawan Cal Kestis and his Master Jaro Tapal were assigned to a Republic ship, the Albedo Brave. After the clone troopers on board turned on them during Order 66, Cal escaped to the planet Bracca alone. He spent years working there as a scrapper, keeping a low profile and suppressing his Force abilities, until the day his friend Prauf nearly fell to his death. Cal saved Prauf’s life by using the Force, but it cost Kestis his freedom. Instantly, Cal became a fugitive.
The Jedi-hunting Inquisitors quickly found Cal, but Cere Junda and Greez Dritus intervened, rescuing Cal and getting him to safety on their ship, the Stinger Mantis. Cal joined their quest to keep the Inquisitors from capturing a Holocron with records of Force-sensitive children on it, intending to obtain the artifact themselves to rebuild the Jedi Order. On his journey, Cal reconnected with the Force by piecing together lost memories of his past and constructed his own lightsaber from parts of hilts once carried by his friends Jaro and Cere Junda. He also made more new friends, including the trusty droid BD-1, the Nightsister Merrin, and Cere’s trusted pilot, Greez. His quest took him across the galaxy as he explored lush planets, Imperial bases, and the ruins of ancient civilizations. Cal ultimately succeeded in his mission to thwart the Inquisitors. He chose to trust in the Force and destroyed the holocron. Cal became part of the tight-knit Stinger Mantis crew, now dedicated to fighting the Empire.
Five years later, Cal continued the fight on his own as the Stinger Mantis crew went in a new direction, gathering intel for partisan fighter Saw Gerrera. Kestis lost most of his strike team during a risky job on Coruscant, save for its newest member, Bode Akuna. Cal struggled with feeling like his efforts against the Empire weren't making much of a difference.
When he took the damaged Stinger Mantis to the planet Koboh to ask Greez for repairs, he discovered a fallen Jedi from the High Republic era, Dagan Gera, held in stasis. After freeing him, Cal learned about Dagan’s obsession with Tanalorr, a secret world concealed inside the Koboh Abyss. Cal believed it could be a safe haven for his found family.
Cal investigated the High Republic-era ruins on Koboh, searching for clues about reaching Tanalorr. He enlisted the help of the former Stinger Mantis crew and learned that Cere and Merrin were now part of the Hidden Path, a group dedicated to getting beleaguered Force-sensitives and those closest to them across the galaxy to safety. More determined than ever to find them all a place far from the prying eyes of the Empire, Cal struggled with the pull of the dark side — especially as a personal betrayal cost him the life of one of the people closest to him. In time, Cal found the path to Tanalorr, where he and his friends found a safe place to hide – for now. .