"It's time for you, my apprentice , to make yourself known to the rebels," Darth Vader announced, in front of a Holotable projecting a planet. Facing him on the other side was a stormtrooper donning amor with purple painted streaks to represent his commander position, and a shorter figure covered in shapeless black robes. Only her mouth was visible as she half grinned and glanced over to her second in command. The military officer nodded in her direction, sharing her feelings of excitement.
"Yes Master," she said as she caressed her lightsaber holts, her fingers tingling in anticipation.
He continued, "You will take Commander Wes with you and a battalion of stormtroopers. There is no need for special infantry for an introduction."
—-
{Umbara}
Imperial Communications Center (ICC)
Approximately Dawn
Ezra rolled into a defensive position behind a large crate, bringing his wrist up to his mouth, "Hera? Where are you?" A shower of blue lasers flew above him, and after they passed he stood and deflected a few more back to the troopers before squatting back down. The crosswalk in the middle of deep purple soil and occasional turquoise shrubs was littered with the bodies of stormtroopers and storage boxes.
"I'm working on it!" Hera grunted. "Chopper, turn on the back up power for the auxiliary engines!" Chaos could be heard from the other side, and he groaned. Hera was going to bring air support, and even though it was not desperately needed, he had a really grim, almost dreadful, feeling about the situation.
According to their intel, the Umbaran base wasn't going to have tight security due from its isolation from major space stations and small size. It was rumored to have a good, although not very upgraded, arsenal of weapons and ship parts. The source made it seem as if it was too good to be true, but the Alliance decided that it was worth the try. Ezra personally was against it, as was Kanan and Rex, but since Ahsoka's death, the organization had been taking more chances to cause any minor setbacks to the Empire. It dimmed the grief of many to take what revenge they could, however little, for Ahsoka. The blinding emotions heavily influenced the decision, something Ezra understood.
Sabine joined Ezra, her back against the steel casing, "We're moving ahead. If we keep at it, we'll be able to get some weapons out of this. The bay is behind those doors." She pointed to their goal at the end of the bridge with a blaster. There was only a squad of troopers were protecting the exterior, and Sabine shook her head, "It's... too.."
"Easy?" Ezra finished. "I know." Sabine maneuvered herself to a quick sprint behind the pile of debris five feet ahead. Ezra followed, covering her. He kept an eye on the entrance door; something twisted in his gut and he had no idea why. It was s chilling feeling, clawing up his spine and encasing his heart in uncomfortable clutches. If Kanan were there, he would have checked to see if Kanan felt it, too, but the Jedi was currently with Hera in the Ghost.
Sabine noticed his discomfort, "You ok?" She took another four shots at the offensive line, and Ezra stood to deflect the returning.
They lowered themselves and Ezra said, "I honestly don't know. Something feels really... I don't know how to describe it. A little bit like how the Inquisitor..." His words trailed off as fear overtook him. Before Sabine could ask, she noticed all of the deadly streaks in the air had ceased. Ezra and Sabine share a confused glance and spot Zeb scratching his head.
"Uh," he voiced how baffled he was, "What happened?" He rose to his towering height with no shots taken toward him. Sabine and Ezra did the same and saw the stormtroopers stand at attention where they stood. No word was spoken from any of them, and they stayed eerily still. "Why don't we just shoot them right now?" he growled. "It'd be as easy as shooting down, well, anything. Targets that don't move or shoot?"
Ezra shook his head, "They aren't even aiming at us. They're waiting for something, Zeb."
"For orders," Sabine elaborated. "But from who?" She wondered what kind of a commander would risk his men's lives for such an arrogant and narcissistic order. The stormtroopers were immensely fortunate that she and Ezra would not attack and take advantage, as many other rebels would. It was against their beliefs to injure and fight those who were not shooting at them.
"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," Zeb shook his head.
As if on directed cue, the door slid open with a smooth hiss. The rebel's eyes were on the small silhouette swayed towards them, seeming to have no care on the fact they were armed and invading the base. The troops stayed still as her footsteps echoed, awaiting further order. She was unbothered and unintimidated, with her shoulders relaxed and her laud back strut. A small pocket from her hood revealed her lips in an ominous grin that showed her obvious comfort of the scene. Zeb took it as cockiness, and his finger slid up and down the trigger of his blaster.
"Who does she think she is?" Zeb asked, an eyebrow raised. Sabine opened her mouth and saw Ezra's eyes narrow.
He reactivated his lightsaber and took a defensive stance, "Who are you?" Sabine and Zeb aimed their weapons and the Troops lifted their own guns up in unison that made a uniform crack in the humid air. "An Inquisitor?"
At this, she halted, in the middle of the absent crossfire. "Inquisitor?" she lightly chuckled. Her voice gave away her young age, and Ezra guessed she had to be no older than he was. "Interesting guess, and I suppose that weapon of your's is a saber?" Ezra frowned, his grip tightening. His two friends and the soldiers remain at a stare off, waiting for one another to take the first shot.
"Who are you then?" he asked. "I'm not the one hiding my face." The girl tilted her head upwards, the hood falling. Her light brown eyes had a spark of electricity, showcasing her eagerness. It startled Ezra in a way only the ones wielding the Dark Side could; she was a hungry snake keenly stalking it's prey. However, what confused him was that she had a different sense than the Inquisitor. Almost more pure, but he guessed it was from the fact that she was younger.
"Arya," she stated with pride. She unlatched the buckle on her cloak and it fell to her feet. The tan skinned girl wore a simple look of a long sleeve black tunic held together by a leather strap and leggings. What caught the attention of the rebels, though, was the two glistening cylindrical objects hanging from her obsidian shade utility belt tightened around her waist.
Ezra instantly knew beforehand that the blades were going to omit a red hue, the sign of a Sith, and so was not surprised when they emerged from the kyber crystals. Sabine and Zeb were too familiar with the Dark Side users, and disappointment flooded their chests. The Inquisitors were gone, but with the girl the Empire was always a step ahead of them. They assumed that she was going to be as twisted as Darth Vader and as skilled as the horrid Inquisitors. It seemed that with every victory they received, something worse would present itself in an ongoing cycle. It made them feel hopeless, just as Ahsoka's murder did.
Wielding both blades with a reverse grip, she slid her right foot behind her, placing her weight on it, and left her other ahead of her. She was in position to duel, "I'm not going to let you take this base. You'll have to get through me."
"That a challenge?" Ezra scoffed. When she hurtled herself at him, Zeb shot the first aimed lazer bolt at her troops behind her. He knew better than to intervene with the Jedi duel that was going to initiate. Sabine began to call Hera and Kanan to inform them of the events while aiding Zeb. She had faith in Ezra, but the fact that the girl was using two lightsabers made her uneasy. There was something else nibbling at the back of her head about Arya. An almost nauseating feeling, she swallowed the lump in her throat and focused on the incoming blasts.
Two blades of scarlet clashed with an emerald one, blocking them from Ezra's forehead. She launched herself over his head behind him, turning her body in mid-air, striking offensively while he shifted backwards and intervened her attack. Bringing them back, Arya brought one against his swing directed to her right side. Noticing an opening, she spun in the direction of his saber to take a shot at his midriff with her other.
With incredible speed, he slid his green lightsaber out of its locked position and brought it hardly against the upcoming ruby one. The momentum of the crash against the direction of her spin made her whip back, in which she backflipped and landed on her feet. "You're better then you look," she commented, in a tone that Ezra was unable to interpret as a compliment or insult.
Her opponent was panting, "Who taught you?" Ezra observed her aggressive style, that was decorated with Force aided acrobatics. Whoever taught her was a skilled duelist, and definitely not an Inquisitor. An Inquisitor's style consisted of repeated offensive strikes, with no consideration of deflecting or defense. It was brute, and in no way similar to the more sophisticated styles like Form III that Kanan had shown him. One misstep could lead to an opening that would easily end the duel. Arya's master must be Sith, and a dangerous one.
The connection shook him worse than her double blow. Darth Vader. The image of the lethal half machine shrouded his head, allowing Arya to take advantage of his distraction and use the Force to propel him onto his back. She drove her blades down to where he was, the tips strategically placed, and he rolled and jumped to his feet at the last minute. Before he rushed to her, she pulled her glowing blades out of the ground and rose them to stop his in mid blow.
"My master," she grunted. Ducking, she sliced the sabers below his knees, forcing him to quickly propel himself away. "Much better teacher than the blind one, isn't he?" Ezra responded with an angled uppercut, and Alexia snickered when there was a violent hum from the power energies.
Ezra tried a low jab, but she had predicted the move and smoothly blocked it. The other blade was headed for his head, and he skidded backwards to avoid it. "What's wrong? Haven't faced against real Jar'Kai?" she taunted. "You must only be used to the Jar'Kai from the weak Jedi my master killed."
The dishonor of Ahsoka collected the attention of Sabine and Zeb, and Zeb let put a low guttural growl. The ex-Imperial student felt herself itching to throw an explosive, and Ezra felt anger spill from his heart to his bloodstream. "Don't you dare talk about Ahsoka," he threatened, charging at her.
She stepped aside, underestimating the range of his saber, and struggled to keep herself on her feet blocking it. "Anger," she muttered sinisterly. "That's not the Jedi way, Bridger."
The Ghost started as a blink in the horizon to the intense whoosh in the air above the small battle in a matter of seconds. Green lazers were being fired and Arya pointed to the building with her saber, "Troops, go inside!" She got in front of the white armored soldiers and attempted to deflect the blasts. One of the technicians had fired up a heavy gun at the third floor of the dome, providing danger to the swaying vehicle.
The hangar opened, and Kanan, hanging on the steel beams, felt the Sith's presence Sabine had informed him about. He didn't see corruption as he did with Vader or the Inquisitors. No, instead, it was an overwhelming amount of forced rage that was compelling him. He didn't have time to analyze what he felt when Zeb boarded, swearing in his native language. Sabine used her jetpack, and Ezra was protecting her back as he leaped.
As Hera dodged the bullets of projected beams and gained altitude, Ezra locked eyes with Arya. She had the holsters clipped on her waist already, and was making her way into the base. Kanan placed a hand on his shoulder, "You ok?"
"Yea, but Arya..." Kanan waited for Ezra to explain more of the mysterious Imperial in detail, but Zeb cut in.
The Layat threw his empty barrel, the metal echoing in the walls, "The brat had two of those sabers. Red. And she disrespected Ahsoka. Next time," he snarled while climbing up the stairs that would to the cockpit, "She won't be able to say a word."
Sabine sighed, opening her mouth to say something but decided against it and pulled herself up to give a report to Hera. The two Jedi were left alone in a heavy silence.
"She was strong," Ezra admit, crossing his arms and leaning against the ship. "Used the same form you taught me, but with two lightsabers. You know the weirdest part? She held them the way Ahsoka did. Opposite grip or?"
"Reverse grip," Kanan corrected. The veteran crossed his arms and leaned against the walls, "I'll teach you ways to defend yourself against Jar'Kai, as I have a feeling that this won't be the end of her interfering with our runs.