Previously on Rebirth...
"I wonder how you can possibly hope to be successful," the Emperor taunts.
"I've irritated you plenty of times, and I'm not about to stop now," Jarik retort.
"When all of your companions are defeated Jarik Shan," Vader states coldly, pointing his lightsaber at him. "You will suffer for all of the pain you and Kenobi caused me."
"In your dreams Sith!" Mara screams furiously.
She slashes her saber through the air as tears of anger and helplessness rolling down her face from the realization of this being a set up. Mara, Kanan and Ezra ready themselves for a fight against Vader as he strides forwards, while Jarik and Maul both tense up in the face off against the Emperor. Sabine, Rylla and Hayden remain frozen between them, knowing they can't help this fight, but are ready to jump into action and get to Lux.
Then Force lightning begins to crackle along the Emperor's hands.
*:*:*
3rd person POV...
The Emperor raises his arms, cackling, and shoots out a powerful burst of Force lightning. Jarik raises his lightsabers to block it, prompting everyone to move into battle. Maul instantly jumps for Sidious with a growl, while Vader charges forwards at Mara, Kanan and Ezra.
Being the strongest physically, Kanan moves forwards to block Vader's powerful blow with his saber, while Mara and Ezra rush at his sides. Vader dislodges, swinging his saber to block Ezra and then Mara, and deflects a strike from Kanan. He rotated between the three of them with cold precision, having no trouble holding them back despite their efforts. He then raises a hand, and Ezra is pushed back across the ground by a Force push.
Maul reaches Sidious, bringing his lightsaber down on his head with a roar. Sidious deftly ducks to the side, and easily evades Maul's quick flurry of strikes, much to the zabrak's anger. Sidious then backflips over a sudden slash from Jarik, landing on his feet. Thrusting his arms by his sides, two lightsabers snap into the Emperor's hands, hissing to life with an evil red glow. Jarik readies himself with narrowed eyes, and Maul spins his lightsaber around in anticipation. Looking up with a sickening grin, the Emperor dashed forwards at lightning speed.
Rylla, Sabine and Hayden made no move to join in on the lightsaber duels, instead focusing on what they could do.
"Come on guys!" Sabine urges.
She and Rylla make a run for Lux, while Hayden looks at both duels with wide eyes.
"This is insane!" he exclaims, but still follows them.
Reaching Lux in front of the throne room, Sabine quickly works to release him of his restraints while Hayden shoots the chain bolting him to the ground. Rylla helps him to stand up, pulling off the gag, and he gasps.
"I'm so sorry, I- I couldn't warn anyone…" he stammers breathlessly.
"No time to worry about it," Rylla interrupts.
The three lead Lux out of the throne room, carefully yet quickly as they move. The two Sith Lords don't pay their escape any mind, finding Lux to not be important anymore.
They step out of the doorway, spotting several stormtroopers heading in their direction. Sabine and Hayden whip out their blasters, shooting down all of the stormtroopers before they could react, clearing the hallway.
"Spectre 2 come in! We rescued the prisoner but it was a set up! Ahsoka's not here!" Sabine calls into her comlink. "Vader and the Emperor are here!"
To her credit, Hera's response doesn't sound too panicked. "Copy that Spectre 5. Where are the others?"
"Fighting the Sith. We need an immediate evac," she replies.
"Understood. Raid team isn't daring much better, but I'll see what I can do," she replies, ending the transmission.
"We can't just leave. We've got to help them!" Lux protests.
"And do what? We can't use laser swords, thank you very much!" Hayden retorts sarcastically.
Rylla stops for a moment, brow furrowed thoughtfully in consideration before she lets out a heavy sigh, a determined look crossing her face.
"I can," she says. "You guys get him out of here."
"What?" Sabine asks in bewilderment.
"Are you kidding me?" Hayden exclaims.
"Just do it will you?" she replies, rushing back towards the throne room.
Back inside the throne room, the fight between Jedi and Sith has only gotten more intense. Darth Sidious is twirling gracefully between Jarik and Maul, the two barely able to land a hit on him while struggling to defend against his attacks. Maul is kicked in the stomach and sent stumbling to the ground. With him temporarily out of commission, Sidious rounds on Jarik and unleashes his fury.
Jarik backs up with wide eyes, struggling to raise his lightsaber and block every attack sent his way, the old and powerful Sith Lord just a blur. He raises one lightsaber to block a strike and then instantly slashed downwards with his second, barely keeping his leg from being cut off. He's then thrown back into the far wall by an unexpected Force push from the Emperor, breaking the stone with a pained grunt.
Jarik looks up, only to see lightning being hurled in his direction. He just barely manages to raise his blue blade and block the lightning from touching him, bolts of it slamming into the walls around him. Sidious advances quickly, still keeping up the furious assault of Force lightning.
Maul leaps up behind Sidious in an attempt to strike while he's distracted, but the Emperor whips around just in time, blocking his lightsaber with a scowl. Jarik pants heavily, pushing himself back to his feet with a grimace.
Meanwhile, Vader is proving to be a better combatant than all three Jedi combined, forcing them to be on the defensive. He whirls around with his lightsaber, striking Kanan with enough force to make him stumble, and then kicks him in the chest. As he tumbles to the ground, Ezra leaps to his master's defense with an overhead strike but is deftly blocked by Vader, who then side steps out of the way and shoves him to the ground. Vader brings his lightsaber down on Ezra's unprotected back, but is stopped by a purple blade flashing to his defense.
Mara lifts both lightsabers with a grunt of exertion and then slashes at his side. Vader quickly deflects her attack before advancing forwards, swinging his lightsaber heavily in repeated strikes. Mara stumbles back from the onslaught, ducking away from a swing and then raising her lightsaber to block his strike, getting into a bladelock. She's shoved down onto one knee, the sabers being forced closer to her neck.
"You still have much to learn Jade. A shame that your mother is not here to teach you," he taunts.
Mara growls angrily and attempts to push back, but she may as well have been pushing against a steel wall. Instead, Vader edges the lightsabers even closer to her neck, and she's forced to lean away with nervous grunts.
"Hey Vader!"
The Sith Lord looks up at the shout, only to receive a kick to the chest, sending him stumbling off of Mara. Rylla lands on her feet and thrusts her arms out, blowing Vader back another couple of feet. Because he wasn't expecting it, he doesn't defend against it properly. Rylla then helps Mara get to her feet, only for the girl to widen her eyes in alarm.
"Watch out!" she exclaims.
Rylla glances back and then pushes Mara away, leaping in the opposite direction as Vader's lightsabers comes slamming downwards. Angry at being surprised, Vader then shoots his arm out to grab Rylla with the Force, throwing her harshly against the wall.
Ezra re-enters the fight with a leaping overhead swing, but Vader bats him away carelessly with his lightsaber as he advances towards Rylla, sending him tumbling. Rylla slowly gets to her feet, widening her eyes in alarm and leaping away in a panic as Vader slashes at her, cutting the wall.
"Your interference will not be tolerated bounty hunter," Vader scoffs.
"Rylla! Catch!"
The former Jedi looks over at the sound of her name, seeing Jarik throwing Ahsoka's lightsaber hilt in her direction while he runs over towards Sidious. Out of reflex, Rylla catches the lightsaber and then turns around, activating the brilliant green blade just in time to block an overhead strike from Vader.
Underneath his mask, Vader widens his eyes slightly in realization before he scowls with indifference, shoving her away. Kanan then jumps forwards, forcing Vader to focus on him and deflect a few attacks from the blind Jedi. Rylla joins in as they attempt to put more pressure on him, but Vader swipes his lightsaber heavily in annoyance, blowing the two back and causing them to stumble.
They both look up, and Mara and Ezra join their line to once again face Vader. The Sith Lord states at them coldly for a moment, his mechanical breathing echoing around them. Then the Sith Lord charges forwards with his crimson lightsaber raised, going on the offensive.
After giving up Ahsoka's lightsaber to Rylla, Jarik reverted back to his familiar use of Makashi to face the Emperor. However, even his enormous proficiency with that technique was still unable to keep up with the speed and fury of Darth Sidious.
Both he and Maul were managing to work fairly well together, attacking and defending as if they had fought side by side for years. Jarik would typically remain on the defensive while Maul would lash out on the offensive. Still, the aged and powerful Sith Lord was fighting them off with relative ease, cackling every so often.
As Maul blocks a lightning fast swing from Sidious, Jarik takes the chance to jump into the air, lashing out with his lightsaber as he flips over him. Sidious uses one lightsaber to deflect it, and then transitions to face both of his opponents. He twirls his blades in quick fury, managing to put both Jarik and Maul onto the defensive for a few moments. Sidious then flips backwards, kicking Jarik in the chest and sending him flying with a surprised grunt.
Sidious growls in what seems to be a hint of exhaustion, crouching in front of Maul. Recognizing the strategy from his previous fight against the Sith Lord, Maul refrains from jumping at him and instead throws his lightsaber. Sidious casually flicks a hand to send the saber off target, but Maul charged forwards and thrusted his arms out, shoving him with a Force push. The Emperor slides across the ground, momentarily surprised, and then rolls to the side as Jarik brings his lightsaber down from behind him, stabbing the ground where was moments previously.
"Enough of this," he scoffs.
Reaching out an arm, Sidious clenches his hand and then makes a yanking motion. The sound of stone cracking follows, along with something flying through the air. Jarik only has a second to widen his eyes in shock before the entire throne plows into him, slamming him harshly against the wall and incapacitating him.
Yelling in rage, Maul attempts to charge forwards with his lightsaber twirling, but Sidious raises a hand and shoots Force lightning, catching him off guard. Maul collapses to the ground with a cry of pain, scrambling back to his feet. Sidious shoots more lightning with a look of glee, and Maul just barely manages to pull up his lightsaber and block it, although with a heavy grimace of pain on his face, nervously glancing around.
Sidious then stops using his lightning in favor of grabbing Maul with the Force, lifting him into the air and slamming him against the ground, where he lies unconscious. Several feet away, the throne slowly toppled over onto its side, revealing Jarik as he slumps over to the ground, just barely conscious. He slowly begins to regain his sense, blinking in a daze as his vision focuses on Sidious.
The Emperor begins his approach, a gleeful smirk of triumph on his face.
Boil POV...
The Imperial forces continued to pursue us relentlessly through the city, and it was becoming increasingly harder to evade them. We ran and ran and ran, firing our blasters back as they chased after us, but their numbers seemed limitless.
Rex leads us around a corner and gestures for everyone to take cover while he lays a trip mine on the ground. Once we're all in position, we wait a few seconds for the stormtroopers to run around the corner. The first group runs straight into the trip mine, causing an explosion of dirt and stone to blow around everywhere, killing at least seven stormtroopers.
The second group that came around the corner is disoriented from the explosion, and everyone takes advantage to shoot them down.
"That'll teach 'em!" Zeb declares triumphantly.
"We still got a lot of fight coming our way," I warn him.
True enough, the scout walker then comes around the corner, turrets blasting the ground all around us. We take cover behind the buildings again, and I glance up at the housing units with a grimace.
"Rex! This isn't a good place for a battle!" I shout over the loud noise.
Rex glances around, instantly recognizing the problem.
"Blast it! We're pinned down!" he shouts back, firing his pistols at the walker.
"I've got this!" Saw declares.
He rushes forwards with a suddenly procured rocket launcher—no idea where he got that. Crouching on the ground, he aims the launcher at the walker, which takes notice of him. Before it could fire, Saw shoots a missile that slams directly against the walker's face, completely obliterating it with loud groans of metal.
"Hehe, I like that," Zeb chuckles.
The Partisans cheer amongst themselves as Saw proudly holsters his launcher.
"Saw, we need to move quickly. We should rendezvous with the supply transport and get out of the city," Rex urges. "This place is way too populated."
Saw nods sternly, tossing his launcher over to another Partisan.
"Very well. Let's move!" he says.
We all gather ourselves together and then take off down the street once again, following Rex and Saw towards the city exit. When we reach the courtyard at the city entrance, we come to an instant stop as we notice our supply transport pinned down behind buildings on the other side, Benthic looking like the only survivor. Several platoons of stormtroopers and two combat assault tanks are firing away at him, and he couldn't shoot back in retaliation without being hit. If that wasn't enough, a ray shield was blocking our only way out of the city.
"Blast!" Saw exclaims with a curse. "They've cut us off!"
"This is not good," I state uneasily.
"Where's Hera when you need her?" Zeb groans.
"Men, lets take these thugs out!" Saw yells.
The remaining Partisans of our group all yell along with him, and charge out into various positions of the courtyard. They start lobbing grenades at the stormtroopers, taking out a few before gaining their attention.
Rex, Zeb and I move forwards into the fray, taking cover behind a few market stands. The place is a complete war zone, explosions going off all around as the tanks shoot their turrets, and the Partisans throw grenades. Two of them move up a terrace to gain better ground, but one of the tanks takes notice and fires, destroying the terrace completely and killing them both. Terrified screams signify the injury of civilians as well, and I scowl angrily, quickly shooting that tank's pilot without a second thought.
"We're not gonna last long out here!" I shout to Rex.
"Try telling that to Saw!" he retort, gesturing at him.
Saw was busy tackling a small group of stormtroopers that snuck up on him, wailing on them in physical combat and shooting others. He was good, but there were still way too many stormtroopers for us all to take out. Add that to the fact the two tanks were still up and running, despite only one having a pilot.
Loud stomping from behind us gets our attention, and we turn around to see another scout walker making its way down the main street, directly for us.
"Karabast!" Zeb growls.
Just when things seemed over, good fortune shines down on us as a proton torpedo soars over the wall to blow up the scout walker. I smile in relief as the Ghost flies overhead.
"Finally! She made it!" Zeb exclaims happily.
"Sorry I'm late to the party boys," her voice filters through Zeb's comlink.
"Better late than never!" he replies.
"I'll give you guys an opening to get out of there. You've got several more walkers closing in."
"Well we certainly don't want that," Rex comments.
The assault tanks aren't meant for shooting ships in the air, so they're helpless to prevent the Ghost from shooting its torpedos and blowing a hole into the massive wall, providing us with an escape route. Saw rushes up to us, looking up at the Ghost as it flies overhead.
"She certainly came through in a pinch," he comments.
"And there's our way out of here!" I state, pointing at the wall. "I've had enough of shooting down buckets for the day!"
Saw looks at the opening and nods. He rallies his remaining men, and they all rush over to their supply transport. I quickly shoot down the pilot of the second tank, which would make it harder for the tank to fire properly.
The Partisans then speed their transport forwards as fast as they could for the opening, and Rex, Zeb and I run after them. The crowd of stormtroopers pursue us, shooting their blasters as we speed through the blown out wall. Once we're in the open rocky plains beyond Iziz, we climb onto the transport, which speeds away from the stormtroopers.
Unfortunately, five speeder bikes shoot out of the wall to continue the pursuit, and begin firing the blasters on their bikes. We all fire back, managing to take down a speeder bike, but also lose one Partisan in the process, who falls off with a cry after getting shot.
Up above, Hera then begins to angle the Ghost down to skim along the ground, opening the ramp for us.
"Well, this is where we part ways!" Saw shouts
"You sure you don't need any help?" Rex asks.
Saw laughs in response. "No, we can handle ourselves! I hope your friends managed to find Ahsoka!"
"I hope so too," I reply in agreement.
Rex and Saw both clasp forearms with each other before the latter returns to shooting, glancing at us.
"Good luck Rex! Maybe we can do this again sometime!" he says.
"Maybe," Rex replies.
With those parting words, Rex, Zeb and I all jump over to the Ghost, walking up the ramp and into the cargo bay. The ship rises higher off the ground, and as the ramp closes we get one last look at Saw and the Partisans exchanging blaster fire with the pursing speeder bikes.
3rd person POV...
Mara stumbles backwards, leaping to the side with a yelp as a red lightsaber slashes along the ground. Ezra charges in with an overhead strike, but Vader easily parries his attacks before tossing him away.
Vader then whips around to slam his lightsaber against Kanan, who struggles in a contest of strength before inevitably losing, being shoved away. The Sith Lord increases the pressure on his offensive, forcing Kanan to duck and weave in order to avoid the dangerously close lightsaber swings. He backs away to allow Rylla to leap forwards, swinging Ahsoka's lightsaber at Vader's helmet.
The Sith Lord raises his lightsaber to block her attack, and then lashes out with a jab. Rylla backpedals with a few quick blocks, and is then sent stumbling to the ground with a powerful swing from Vader offsets her balance.
"You have less experience with a blade than this child," he taunts, referring to Ezra. "Pathetic."
"At least she's not a monster!" Ezra exclaims.
Both he and Kanan charge at Vader from opposite sides with the lightsabers raised, swinging them hard. However Vader ducks away from their attacks, and instead their green and blue lightsabers slam against each other. Master and student only have a moment to express their surprise before Vader thrusts our both arms, sending the pair flying with a Force push.
Mara rolls forwards and pops up with a shout, moving fast in an attempt to slip past his slow fighting style. Despite Vader's suit limiting his speed, he still manages to avoid her swipe and brings his lightsaber up to cut her, which is then blocked. Rylla moves forwards again, but her downwards slash is thwarted when Vader shoves his and Mara's lightsabers to the side to block it.
Rylla and Mara both push down as hard as they could on his lightsaber, but their strength isn't enough to match Vader's, and he casually shoves his lightsaber forwards with one arm, causing them to fall onto their backs.
"You are beaten. It is useless to resist!" Vader declares, advancing slowly with his lightsaber pointed at them. "None of you can hope to defeat me."
"Doesn't mean we won't try," Mara retorts.
She smacks her lightsaber wildly against Vader's blade, rolling to the side while Rylla crawls backwards and gets to her feet. The former Padawan attempts to swing her lightsaber again, but Vader blocks his strike before throwing her casually against the wall.
Turning around to focus on Vader, he swiftly raises his lightsaber to cut through a broken stone, something that surprised him. The stone splits in half, revealing Mara charging right after it to bring her lightsaber down with a yell, which he blocks.
"Impressive," he comments. "It seems your mother has taught you well."
"You don't deserve to talk about her!" Mara growls angrily.
"Do I not?" he retorts.
Vader shoves Mara away, and begins to advance menacingly. That's when the roar of a ship's engine echoes throughout the throne room, and turrets begin blasting away at him.
"Now do you see it Shan? You never had any chance to stop me," Sidious taunts.
Jarik groans, crawling out of the rubble of the throne and getting to his hands and knees, grimacing from the pain.
"You are weak... and afraid. Not just of me, but if yourself," the Emperor continues, closing his eyes with a grin. "I can sense it... darkness is growing in you. You fear turning to the dark side."
"Shut up," Jarik growls, glaring at him as he gets to his feet.
"Ahh yes... the hate is swelling in you now," Sidious replies gleefully, opening his yellow eyes. "Why not give into the darkness? You would finally have the power to defeat me. Ahsoka Tano's light only held you back."
"You're wrong! She never held me back!" Jarik snaps, gold flickering through his eyes. "You have no idea!"
"Do I not? Is it because you and your precious wife are stronger together than you ever could be otherwise?" Sidious comments, smirking. "Only... she's not here anymore, is she?"
With a furious yell, Jarik thrusts his arm out to send the broken throne flying at Sidious. The Emperor casts the throne to the side, only for Jarik to come charging forwards directly afterwards, lightsaber blazing.
Sidious reignites his lightsabers and engages Jarik in a fierce duel. Gold flickers through Jarik's eyes as he battles the Sith Lord, leaving himself open for all of his rage and fury to flow through, strengthening him and making him faster. At the same time, Maul slowly gains consciousness, looking up to see the fight.
Jarik slashes and jabs his lightsaber with power and fury, thinking only about cutting him down. Sidious continues to back up, moving out towards the balcony outside of the throne room as he blocks and parries, being put on the defensive for once. Catching him in a blade lock, Jarik then thrusts his hand out against Sidious's stomach, blowing him away with a powerful Force push.
The Emperor only skids a few feet away, looking up with lightsabers crossed in front of him, a scowl on his face, eyes gleaming yellow underneath his hood.
Jarik's expression is contorted into a scowl, and he readies himself for another bout by twirling his lightsaber. Lunging forwards, Jarik raises his saber overhead and then brings it down on Sidious, who blocks it. Sidious continues to back up, and the pair engage in a fast and fierce display of dueling. Their lightsabers slash and parry, attack and defend, until Jarik finally whirls around for extra momentum to slam his lightsaber down on top of the Emperor, pushing he strength of his mechanical arm to the limit, his teeth grit together in a scowl.
The Emperor blocks his overhead strike with both of his lightsabers crossed, struggling against Jarik's strength. He then smirks back up at him, calling upon the dark side of the Force to enhance his own power. Pushing back against Jarik, he crosses his blades and shoves them apart, dislodging them both, and then blows Jarik away with his own Force push.
Jarik skids across the ground with a grunt, stopping beside Maul. The two glance at each other before he gets back to his feet, and the pair get into a ready stance, ready for another fight despite their heaving exhaustion. Jarik's moment of pure anger begins to fade away.
"You impress me Shan."
Sidious slowly looks up at them from his position crouched low to the ground, a sickening grin on his face.
"But you shall still be destroyed!" he declares.
The Emperor then cackles loudly with glee, raising his hands as lightning begins to crackle along his fingers.
Jarik widens his eyes in alarm and brings up his lightsaber in his left hand while holding up his right palm. Force lightning screams forwards after a shout from Sidious, directly at them. He manages to catch the majority of it with his lightsaber blade, absorbing the energy, while creating a Force shield with his right hand to block the rest. Maul backs up with his face covered before looking back again.
Jarik grits his teeth with a groan as he struggles to maintain blocking the powerful Force lightning, slowly being shoved back some inches along the floor. All the while Sidious cackles hysterically.
Maul then reignites his saberstaff and twirls around, hurling the double-bladed lightsaber at the Emperor, the blades spinning through the air at a dangerous velocity. The Emperor just barely manages to lift one arm and catch the lightsaber with the Force, although Maul keeps pressing it forwards closer to his face. The Emperor groans momentarily from holding back the saber while at the same time attacking with Force lightning, but still continues to persist.
Struggling harder against the Force lightning, Jarik pushes his feet forwards against it and keeps Maul covered while he tries to inch his lightsaber closer and closer to Sidious. The Emperor yells again, thrusting more power into his attack, and Jarik shuts his eyes tightly from the strain and blinding flash of the lightning.
He does his best to hold on, but the Emperor's power is too overwhelming, even when using only one hand. Being inched backwards again, streaks of lightning then flare out to strike against Jarik's legs, and he cries out in pain, faltering momentarily. That's all that Sidious needs to blow through his defense, striking both Jarik and Maul with Force lightning.
They both scream in pain as they're thrown down to the ground, and lose their grip on our lightsabers. They lay on the ground for several moments, their bodies smoking from the assault, and Jarik vaguely watches as the Emperor gets back to his feet with a chuckle.
"Such a pity. How much grandeur and more powerful you could have become under my guidance Shan!" Sidious states. "If only Maul had not failed to retrieve you as a child."
"You... always planned, to betray me!" Maul growls, weakly attempting to get to his hands and knees.
"Yes, I did, my former apprentice," he replies with a smirk. "And now you will both die."
Jarik glances up at him weakly, attempting to form a scowl on his face as he struggles up to his feet. Just inside the throne room he can see Mara facing off against Vader by herself, the Sith Lord advancing on her. The other three were out of sight, in a daze as they struggled to move over and assist her.
Just then Jarik hears the sound of a ship approaching, and sees the Ghost coming in for an approach. He pushes himself up to his feet, managing a smirk at the Emperor. Sidious takes notice, growling when he realizes a ship is approaching, and whips around to face it.
The Ghost opens fire with its turrets, the powerful energy bolts exploding against the balcony, aiming at Sidious and Vader. The Emperor yells in rage as he's blown back into the throne room, unable to form a proper defense in time from the surprise attack. Vader stumbles backwards as well with a shout, blocking a few bolts with his lightsaber, although he struggles to avoid most of them. Maul takes this opportunity to make a dash for the ledge, jumping off the balcony and disappearing into the night. Jarik doesn't spare him a second glance.
The Ghost swivels around and the ramp opens, revealing Sabine and Boil standing at the entrance, showing that the Raid team was successful, as well as the rescue of Lux.
"Come on, lets get out of here!" Boil exclaims.
Jarik glances back, sensing the anger radiating off of the Emperor as he gets to his feet. He thrusts his hands out with a growl, shooting a massive streak of lightning that slams against the side of the Ghost, actually damaging the hull. Sabine grabs a nearby grenade launcher and shoots it at the Emperor, who's forced to let up on his attack in favor of blocking the grenade with a Force shield, barely fazing him.
"Let's go guys!" Sabine shouts.
"Go, go! I'll keep them back!" Jarik exclaims.
He waves Mara, Ezra, Kanan and Rylla towards the ramp, reactivating his lightsaber to face the two Sith Lords as they begin their approach. Along the way, Rylla tosses Ahsoka's lightsaber back to him, and Jarik catches it swiftly, activating the green blade.
"Dad, no heroics!" Mara exclaims worriedly.
"I'm right behind you guys!" he replies.
Rylla, Kanan and Ezra all make their way onto the ramp, Mara staying at the back of the group, while Jarik backs his way towards it as fast as he could. Vader charges forwards and swings his lightsaber down, which Jarik blocks with his own, shoving him back. Sabine fires off more grenades, forcing Vader to back away so he could hit the shells to the side.
Sidious twirls through the air at Jarik with an echoing cry, shooting more lightning. Jarik catches it with his lightsaber, and as the two Sith Lords storm over to him, he calls on the Force and unleashes a powerful Force push, catching them off guard and sending the pair skidding back on their feet.
"We're clear! Let's go!" Kanan states from the ship.
"Come on Mara!" Jarik says.
He deactivates his lightsabers and makes a run for the ramp with Mara, as the Ghost begins to move away from the temple in preparation. The pair analyze the distance to cross: an easy jump for them to make. Reaching the edge of the balcony they jump into the air for the ramp of the Ghost...
Mara's startled scream prompts Jarik to look over, absolute horror racing through him as he sees her being yanked back through the air, Vader having grabbed her with the Force.
"MARA!" he yells.
"DADDY!" she cries out fearfully.
Vader catches Mara and easily restrains her, holding his lightsaber at her throat while she struggles. Having landed on the ramp of the Ghost, Jarik makes a desperate attempt to leap back, but is caught by several pairs of hands before he could go. Sidious stands beside Vader, laughing loudly in triumph and glee, throwing another burst of Force lightning at them.
"No! Let me go!" Jarik shouts furiously, ripping away from them.
"Jarik, stop!"
"It's too late!"
"Hera, fly us out of here!"
"NO! We're not leaving!" Jarik roars, and they grab onto him again.
Mara struggles against Vader, but with no success.
"Let go of me!" she wails helplessly. "Dad help!"
"MARA!" he shouts desperately in reply. "I'm coming!"
"Stop, please!"
"There's nothing we can do Commander!"
Boil, Rex and Kanan all work their best to hold Jarik back as the Ghost flies away. Even with all three of them working together they still find it nearly impossible to restrain the distraught and agonizingly furious Jarik. The ramp then starts to close, much to his horror.
"No no NO!" he yells, and with a blast of Force energy throws all three off of him.
"Please don't leave me!" Mara's sobbing could be heard.
"If you refuse to die Jarik Shan, then you shall lose everything you love instead!" the Emperor declares, voice fading in the distance.
"MARA!" he yells.
The door closes before he could reach it in time, and Jarik slams against it with all of his might, his arm heavily denting the metal as he punches it. Jarik slams his fist against the door several times before collapsing against it, sobbing in agonizing pain and despair as he slumps to the ground, holding his head in his hands. As if losing Ahsoka to Vader wasn't bad enough, now his daughter is helpless and at the mercy of him and the Emperor. And it's breaking him.
Everyone else in the cargo hold is either crying or on the verge of tears themselves; Ezra is in a state of disbelief, Rex and Boil are glum and depressed, Rylla is horrified, Zeb is shocked and unsure of what to say, Kanan is motionless and crestfallen, and even Sabine is upset, staring wordlessly at the ground. Hayden and Lux are also in the cargo hold, silent and depressed. Jarik's sobbing echoes around the room, causing even more emotional pain for everyone.
"What happened?" Hera's voice finally says over the intercom. "Guys, what's going on?"
There's silence, as everyone is unsure of what to say. The silence is broken when Jarik unleashes a long scream, coming from the depths of his soul as he unleashes all of his rage, frustration, pain, and grief.
When I've seen people saying they got teary at what they wrote, I thought it was an exaggeration. But no... writing this actually made me get a little teary-eyed. Go figure, it's actually legit stuff.
Probably one of the darkest moments I've ever written, and one of the most taxing for Jarik. He's lost so much now, his whole family. It's even worse knowing that Mara is helpless at the hands of the Emperor.
What will they do now?