Hello! I hope you like this chapter!
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Chapter 10 - Target
Kanan saw Ezra's fear.
As soon as they had locked eyes, Ezra had attempted to talk through his gag. He started to try and free himself by thrashing around, trying desperately to be released.
"Ezra, it's okay. We're here," Kanan comforted as he removed the fabric restricting Ezra's voice. When he did, the crew could finally make out what he was saying.
"He's coming. Kanan, he's coming." Ezra continued to struggle, making it difficult for Sabine and Zeb to untie him.
"Ezra…Ezra!" Kanan said, trying to get the boy's attention. "Who's coming?" Ezra looked at him with fear. Kanan glanced back at Zeb and Sabine, who had untied Ezra's right arm and leg, and were currently working on his left leg, which seemed to put up some resistance. Ezra, using his now free right hand, grabbed Kanan's shoulder. His grip was tight with fear.
"He's coming. He's coming." Kanan was transfixed by how Ezra was acting – completely paranoid. He was so surprised that he stopped trying to untie his left hand, staring at Ezra. A voice broke them from his thoughts.
"That would be me."
Kanan looked up, recognizing the figure that stood in the doorway.
Roth, his yellow eyes glowing bright, took a few steps closer. And with every step, Ezra attempted to slide away. Sabine and Zeb drew their weapons, but with a flick of his wrist, they were tossed aside like rag dolls, falling in to the darkness surrounding the room. Ezra began to shake before him. The boy took another step towards Kanan, and threw out his hand.
Kanan felt the world blur around him as he was force pushed away from Ezra. His back hit a stone wall, and he felt his chest tighten. Gasping for air, he fell onto his hands and knees, trying to calm himself.
A loud thud made Kanan snap his vision towards Ezra. He was now sitting on the ground by the metal platform, tugging at the rope that still held his left arm, desperately trying to free himself.
But it was not working.
Kanan stood, ignoring the tightness still surrounding his chest, and began to rush towards Ezra. His vision could only see him struggling, ignoring all outside distractions. But this also made it easy for Kanan to miss what was happening around him. Before he could appear in the circle of light in the center of the room, Zeb sprung from the shadows, attacking Roth head on. But Roth, with a bare expression, sidestepped out of the Lasat's grasp. Again, Roth extended his hand and Zeb flew from view.
However, Zeb's failed attempt allowed Kanan to advance towards Roth without his knowing. Kanan stepped into the light and, using reaching onto the familiar feeling, pushed Roth into the wall.
The kid was not the only one who could use the force.
Ignoring the questions that arose in Kanan's mind about how and why, he held Roth against the wall.
"Zeb! Sabine!" Kanan shouted, hoping that one of them was in ear shot.
"Kanan!" His head whipped to the side, seeing a change in the lighting of the room. He that saw Sabine had untied Ezra, who was rubbing his wrists. He followed the teen's gaze to the side of the room where a light was shining through the darkness of the room. Zeb stood before it, his face shadowed by the light from behind.
Kanan turned back to the bully, who continued to stare at him with his yellow eyes. His face showed indifference on his face, but his eyes shone bright with determination. Kanan focused his strength, and forced pushed Roth in the opposite direction. Kanan pivoted and ran towards the door, hoping that Roth had not recovered yet. The floor blurred beneath Kanan's feet with each wide step. His ponytail wavered with the wind as it flew at him. He headed into the light and twisted his feet to the side to slow his momentum. He slid to a stop as Zeb slammed the door.
As the crew caught their breath, they slowly turned their heads and realized what was in the room with them.
Ezra's body was leaned against the wall as he tried to steady his breathing. He was going to be okay. The crew had saved him. He would not become a dark force user.
But they were not home free yet.
He looked up and noticed the décor of the room they were in. It was long and narrow, with the walls lines with test tubes and lab stations. Unknown liquids flowed through tubes and beakers as others sat on the shelves lining the wall. The lights hung in a straight line, poorly illuminating the room. At the back wall, a large bacta tank stood. It was filled with an electric yellow color, still flowing in the container. The crew silently walked up to the bacta tank, all drawn in by its mysteriousness. Ezra continued to stare at it, as he thought about what the principal had said earlier.
"We made him into a soldier."
He had been wrong. Roth was not a soldier; he was lab rat. Gulping, Ezra was glad that his friends had saved him when they did. He feared that if they had come any later, they would be looking at him through the glass.
He heard the drum of Sabine's fingers on the data pad that was on the platform that supported the bacta tank.
"It says here something about file 'X'?" Sabine said, and Ezra froze.
"What does it say?" Zeb asked, leaning forward.
"It's an experiment funded by the Empire. It takes force sensitive kids and injects them with this liquid called force propagation. The substance is able to increase the midi-chlorian amount, but at the same time, it corrupts the host."
"What does that mean?" Ezra asked, confused by the larger vocabulary. He looked at Kanan, whose face had gone stone cold as he spoke.
"It means…it turns them to the dark side." The crew went silence, letting it sink it. Slowly, three heads turned towards Ezra.
"They didn't inject me; if that's what you're wondering," Ezra defended. Sabine and Zeb turned back to the screen, but Kanan remained staring at his padawan. Ezra avoided eye contact, nervous about Kanan's inspection of him.
"Wait, it says here that whoever injects the substance into the host is able to control their actions. Is that what happened to that kid?" Sabine asked, looking up at Ezra.
But before he could respond, Kanan cut him off.
"Ezra!"
Looking up at Kanan, Ezra saw that he was looking at something behind him. Whipping around, he came face to face with Roth, needle only centimeters away from his face. Ezra's reflexes kicked in, making him flinch out of the way. The needle ran through the space where Ezra stood only seconds ago. But the sudden action threw Ezra off balance, making him land on the cold floor. He scooted away as Roth recovered from the jab.
But before Roth could take another step towards Ezra, he was suddenly thrown against the wall, the needle dropping from his hand. Ezra looked over and saw Kanan, his hand outstretched, with a concentrated look on his face. Ezra continued to back away little by little, feeling unsafe.
He was a target.
And by the look of things, he was an important one.
Kanan took a step towards the pinned-to-the-wall Roth, whose death stare made Ezra shiver.
"What are you planning?" Kanan asked, his voice filled with anger. Ezra looked up at Roth waiting for his response.
"We were waiting for you," Roth said, looking directly at Ezra. "You're stronger in the force than the rest of them." He chuckled. "You wouldn't die like the others." Roth flinched in pain, and Ezra knew why. Kanan was tightening his grip. But before Ezra could speak up, to tell his master that it was alright, to tell him to let it go, his head whipped back in pain.
He was forcefully pulled to his feet, and recognizing that the pain was coming from the back of his head, he realized that someone had grasped his hair at the roots. He let out a gasp of pain, which drew Sabine, Zeb, and Kanan's eyes towards his own. A voice boomed from behind him, no doubt from the person who was holding him.
"I see you did not follow my advice, boy," the principal said, and Ezra could hear his snarl.
Ezra had to think of something fast. He had escaped plenty of scenarios similar to this on the streets, and he knew what to do. He frantically searched around the room, looking for an element that could flip the tables on the principal. There, just within his reach, was a flask filled with some green liquid. It was bubbling and steaming, and it looked perfect. All Ezra needed to do was to snatch it, splash the principal so he would release his grip, and get out of his arm length.
He could do that with his eyes closed.
Ever since he had joined the crew, the term 'went exactly as planned' had been rare. And this was one of those situations where it had followed the trend. Before he could even reach out to take the flask, he was suddenly whipped to the side.
A flash of pain shot through him, and the world blurred around him. Ezra tried to stay away and focus as his master had always told him, but the pain was unbearable. His mind slowly drifted into the darkness.
And the last thing he saw was Kanan's worrisome eyes.
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R & R
~ Kavella ~