AN: Uh...ok. This chapter was going to include next chapter also, making it one big, huge, enormous thing, but...well, the tone of the next chapter doesn't match the tone of this one, and I feel tone dissonance is really jarring. So here! Have some shit! Can you tell we're getting into it now? We're fast flying away from kid territory. Rejoice.
Chapter 3: Rise of the Old Masters
Kanan sighed as yet another empty bottle hit Ezra's head. The air was filled with the sound of Zeb's raucous laughter and the amused electronic chortling of Chopper as they threw another and yet another bottle at the frustrated boy, and were given full permission to do so. With Kanan's lightsaber in hand, the boy drew up tall again, ready for the next volley, and swung as the bottle was thrown, only to miss and have it strike his head yet again. Zeb had complained earlier about wanting to be amused, and...well, now he was getting it. Throwing things at Ezra and watching him fail was exactly Zeb's idea of a good time, even though the two got along far better now.
Ezra's Jedi training...wasn't going well, as Kanan had feared. The boy was too impatient, too reckless, too afraid, too...too much of a lot of things, most of which got in the way of his focus and clouded his connection with the Force. Kanan hadn't been like him at his age. At fourteen, Kanan had been Padawan to a Master, fought in a war, was extremely capable with a lightsaber, but Ezra...he was struggling to understand the basics. No...the comparison was unfair. Their circumstances were entirely different. Caleb Dume had been raised to be a Jedi, and Ezra was born when the Order was already dead. Until a few weeks ago, he hadn't even known that the Force existed, let alone sense that he was strongly connected to it. He'd have to keep that in mind going forward.
Kanan winced as the boy was struck again. At some point, Ezra was sure to hit something just by randomly swinging the weapon...right? Perhaps it was the lightsaber, used to Kanan's touch and objecting to the hands of a child...
Kanan ran his hand through his hair, No, that wasn't it. Of course it wasn't it. The problem lay in the fact that Ezra was a difficult student. He was stubborn, a good quality that could prove itself to be a detriment when calm patience was needed, though Kanan suspected that he would struggle with any student, regardless of how patient or skilled. He just...wasn't a good teacher, as today's training session was proving. Ezra liked the lightsaber well enough, but saw no point in practicing the slow, precise motions of the katas, the basics that would make him better and stronger. He lacked the patience to meditate and expressed little interest in deepening his connection with the Force, a process that he found both boring and frustrating because when he tried to make it move to his command, nothing happened. It was because he was frustrated, of course, and his failure made him more frustrated, which clouded his mind and made him fail. Which frustrated him...
It was a cycle that Kanan didn't believe he had the skill to break. Ezra was improving on his own, becoming stronger, his simple recognition that the Force existed unconsciously strengthening his connection to it, but he had no control at all. He would continue to grow stronger, would continue to become frustrated, and therein was the path to the Dark Side. Perhaps Ezra's mystery visitor saw the dangerous slope Ezra stood upon. Perhaps that was why he had been drawn to the boy. Perhaps...Kanan just wasn't strong enough to really do this.
Ezra needed teacher. A real teacher, not him. But there were no real teachers left. They had all died. All of them. Not just the teachers, but the students, the children, all of them...gone. For the hundredth time that day, Kanan wonders why he ran, why he didn't stay and fight like a warrior instead of fleeing like a coward, why he didn't have the good sense to die with the rest of them. There was...always a reason for things, the Jedi said, but if that was true, what was the reason they all died? And why was Kanan still alive? Could it have been that he had lived to train Ezra? Maybe the boy had some great destiny, but...that seemed unlikely. The only thing left of the Force was darkness.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Poisonous thoughts, he knew, but he couldn't help it. Training a student of his own made Kanan think a great deal of the past, of the Jedi, of all the things he lost. It was a silly thing to do. They were all dead and gone, and the only thing left was the way forward.
If Zeb and Chopper didn't give Ezra a concussion first.
"Alright you two, that's enough," Kanan said, reaching out with his hand and calling the thrown bottle to him right before it struck Ezra in the head. "You've had enough fun for one day."
"Aw, come on, Kanan!" Zeb whined. "I'm sure the kid will get it eventually! Just a few more, I think he's really close!"
"Really close to traumatic brain injury, maybe..." Kanan muttered as he helped Ezra to his feet and examined the large lumps that were forming on the boy's head. Ezra gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"Don't think I can do it, huh?" the boy sheepishly asked, and Kanan shook his head, taking his lightsaber back when Ezra handed it to him. He didn't wait for Kanan to answer. "Does he have to be here?" he asked, pointing at a laughing Zeb. "He's really distracting!"
"There will always be distractions, but you need to learn to focus through it." Kanan sighed when he felt Ezra's frustration, not just with himself, but with his teacher. Kanan was getting frustrated with his student as well. Too old, too emotional, too unbalanced, too impatient, too angry, too afraid, too-
"Hey, when am I going to get my own lightsaber?" Ezra asked when Kanan took his saber apart and clipped the two pieces on his belt.
"You know, having a laser sword isn't what makes you a Jedi."
"No, but it'll bring me closer," Ezra mumbled, and Kanan just groaned.
"No, being a Jedi is about the Force, and you won't be able to channel it without focus. You lack focus, Ezra, that's your problem." Ezra just rolled his eyes.
"You know, it's hard to have focus when I'm being hit in the head."
"You wouldn't be getting hit in the head if you had focus!" Kanan said firmly. "You lack discipline, and you are filled with self doubt."
"And who's fault is that, Master?" Ezra snapped, and Kanan took a deep, calming breath as he ran his hand over his face. He was tired and frustrated and on edge. This role didn't suit him.
"It's difficult to teach..." the Jedi muttered as he passed by his student and left the room, leaving Ezra standing there both guilty and disheartened. Significantly subdued, Ezra followed the Jedi down the hall and toward one of the cargo bays the crew had converted into a recreational space where they could comfortably pass time with each other during their off time. Hera and Sabine were sitting on the couch around a table where Chopper was projecting a holotransmission, and as soon as she saw them, Hera grabbed Kanan's arm and pulled him to the couch.
"Chopper, start the broadcast over," the Twi'lek said quickly, voice more tense than Kanan had ever heard, and the broadcast was rewound, swiftly moving to the moment that Hera indicated. "Another broadcast from Senator Trayvis. You'll never guess what's happening," she said, nervous and excited all at once. Chopper began the playback, and the group kept a close eye on the hologram.
"After nearly fifteen years of running," the voice said, "Imperial forces have captured the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. She awaits her judgement in the Spire on Stygeon Prime. The people of the galaxy demand the release of this exalted hero of the Clone Wars. Forces-"
Kanan didn't hear anything past that, his eyes focusing on the image of the captured Jedi, a woman that he had seen more than once around the Jedi Temple, had heard her speak in the Council during the war, and his heart ached. He could use her wisdom now. They had to save her.
"Hey..." Ezra said softly. "I've seen her, that's the girl from your cube!" Kanan absently nodded. "She a friend of yours?"
"No...but I know her. There wasn't a Jedi alive that didn't respect the wisdom of Master Luminara..." He patted Chopper on his flay head, and the droid stopped playing the recording. "She was brave. Compassionate. Disciplined. Powerful and patient, all the things a Jedi Master should be." Kanan stroked the hair on his chin and looked at the teenager next to him. "She'd be a perfect teacher for you."
"M-me?" Ezra asked, fighting to hold back shock and hurt. He felt like Kanan was trying to get rid of him.
"Yes, you," Kanan said softly. "I'm unqualified to take on a student." Ezra's face fell. "Look, you do need to be trained, Ezra, but I was just a student myself when the Jedi were killed. I thought I could do it but..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You deserve better than what I can give you." Kanan breathed a sigh of relief. This was exactly what Ezra needed. Training by a real Jedi Master. "Hera, this is too important to pass up," he said to the pilot, and a clever smirk came to the woman's face.
"I was hoping you'd say that," she drawled, patting his cheek as she turned toward the cockpit. "I'll set a corse for the Stygeon system, the rest of you, get ready for a mission."
"Great..." Sabine said, laying back on the couch and putting her feet on the table as she thrust her helmet on her head. "Breaking into an impregnable prison. That is exactly what I wanted to do with my day." And she meant it.
He could feel her. The unique, powerful presence of a Jedi Master, something he thought he'd never feel again. It was a beautiful thing, bright and radiant in the Force, like a beacon to all those that would only open themselves to it. Breaking into the Spire had been...remarkably easy. So easy, in fact, that Kanan was certain it was a trap. They all knew it was a trap, and prepared accordingly, putting Zeb and Sabine on securing their escape, Hera on keeping the Ghost ready and waiting for a quick exit, and Kanan and Ezra on the rescue team. Even knowing it was a trap, the attempt was worth it. Luminara would be a valuable asset, and if she could train Ezra to be a real Jedi...hell, Kanan wanted training. He was far from being even close to a Jedi Knight, and he wanted to complete his training, especially now when real Jedi could be a great help in the fight against the Empire.
"Do you sense her?" Ezra asked softly, scooting closer to Kanan while Sabine broke into one of the prison's information terminals. Kanan nodded.
"I do, she's here, but it's..." He rubbed his temple, looking down the hallways for any sign of patrolling stormtroopers, but there was nothing. "Her presence is clouded. We need to get her out of here."
"Kanan, her cell is definitely on this floor," Sabine said quickly, pointing at the screen, and the Jedi strode over to carefully study it. "Zeb and I will keep the elevators clear. Our entry is going to he heavily guarded when we return, so I'm thinking the main hangar is going to be our best chance at escape."
"You think?" Sabine nodded.
"Without a doubt. And if I'm wrong, we'll think of something else." She punched his shoulder, and Kanan hissed, rubbing at the spot she hit. She was far stronger than she looked. "We'll have another Jedi on the team once you get her out of there so, you know...no problem."
Kanan chuckled softly. "Right. Keep in touch." The Mandalorian saluted as Kanan and Ezra ran down the hallway, peered around the corner to make certain it was clear, and ran off. There were several patrols along the way, but Kanan quickly dispatched them, using the Force to tear their weapons away and throw them against walls, swiftly knocking them unconscious. Ezra stared in awe at the Jedi. He had never seen anyone do such things, and for Kanan, who usually didn't use the Force at all, it was a stunning display of power.
"Wow, you're really not messing around, are you..."
"There's more at stake than you realize..." the Jedi mumbled.
"When am I going to learn how to do all of this?" Ezra asked, his step quick to keep up with the much taller man as they quickly made their way toward their target at the end of the hall, the stormtroopers on guard quickly dispatched with a wave of Kanan's hand that sent them crashing hard on the ceiling and then slammed down upon the ground in an unconscious heap.
"Luminara will teach you," Kanan said softly, his hand extended toward the lock and using the Force to disengage it, and the door slid open with a smooth, even hiss. "Much better than I could." Ezra sighed, defeated, and looked down at the ground as he followed the Jedi into the cell.
She hung suspended upon the wall by her wrists in the dimly lit cell, and Kanan tensed as soon as he entered, swiftly putting his arm out to keep Ezra from moving forward. "It's her..." he whispered, his hand slightly shaking. "That's her, that's Luminara, but...something's wrong..."
"Kanan..." Ezra whispered, drawing closer to the Jedi and keeping behind him as he slowly inched forward. "I feel...cold."
"...yeah, me too." He looked up at the suspended woman, squinting at her face through the dark, the poor, red lighting casting everything in a twisted, sinister light. "Master?" There was no answer, no stirring, no nothing. Kanan crept closer, reaching out to grasp at her presence, and suddenly recoiled with a gasp of horror. He felt her in the Force, yes, but it had been hazy, and now that he was close, the proximity allowed him to cut through the veil to find her...lifeless. One look at her face confirmed it. She was dead, and from the look of it, had been for some time.
"Kanan..." Ezra said, his voice high with panic as he gripped the Jedi's are, the pair slowly backing away. "What happened! I don't understand, you sensed her!"
"I don't know, Ezra, but we need to leave now."
"Oh, I don't think that will be happening," a calm, smooth voice said behind them, and Kanan and Ezra quickly turned and found themselves staring at a tall, pale man dressed in gray and black blocking their exit, his hands folded behind his back and staring at them with eyes that shone yellow and red. Kanan couldn't look away. Those were Sith eyes, the first he had ever seen in person. He didn't know if this creature was Sith or not, but he could feel the Dark Side flowing off of him in waves, cold and violent and cruel, his eye merely the visible sign of the corruption within him.
"This is an unexpected surprise..." the creature continued, slowly making his way down the stairs into the cell, and Kanan placed himself between him and Ezra, slowly backing up as he took the two pieces of his lightsaber into his hands. "It seems our trap has drawn in more than just our intended prey," he said softly, chuckling softly like this was all terribly amusing. With a flourish, he extended his arm, a half circle shaped device clutched in his hand, and with a hiss, a red blade extended from the guarded hilt. "I am the Inquisitor," he said proudly. "Welcome, rebels."
Kanan ignited his lightsaber, holding it out in front of him, his jaw clenched tightly in focus, a difficult take with the buzzing, distracting presence of the diseased Luminara behind him. "You did this!" Kanan growled, pointing behind him at the Jedi Master. The Inquisitor simply chuckled in response, his sharp eyes darting over his prey.
"Yes..." he said softly. "And with her fall will come the death of others. A fitting end for a Jedi Master, wouldn't you say?" He grinned wickedly when Kanan bristled, showing a row of sharp, pointed teeth. "I would usually draw this out a bit longer, but I need you dead before my target arrives. I suspect Agent Kallus will be disappointed that I killed you, he was so looking forward to doing it himself." He grinned wickedly as he advanced. "Don't worry. This will only take a moment."
Before Kanan could say anything, the creature lunged at him, the red blade speeding toward his chest with alarming speed, and Kanan only just barely managed to block it. His opponent pressed forward, swiftly stabbing and effortlessly blocking every strike Kanan threw, and with very little room to maneuver, he found himself slipping into his Master's preferred Soresu, a form she always used in close quarters. It was like the Inquisitor was expecting him to do exactly that, and he responded in turn by increasing his speed and testing the strength of Kanan's defenses. The Inquisitor was...good. Very good, and it became clear to Kanan that he was outmatched. This wasn't a fight he was going to win, and all he could hope for was getting Ezra to safety and escaping with his life, a thing that was proving to be very difficult as the Inquisitor made certain that he was always blocking their escape.
Once, Kanan had been very good with a lightsaber, but now, he was fifteen years out of practice. Walking through the forms was no substitute for actually practicing against an opponent, and it was clear the Kanan that the Inquisitor was not only well practiced, but trained by someone that was excellent. Over in the corner, Ezra grabbed his comlink to call the rest of the crew, but only got static. Communications were jammed. The Inquisitor grinned as he pressed Kanan back toward Ezra's corner.
"There will be no reenforcements..." he drawled, immensely satisfied as he watched his offensive slowly wear away at Kanan's defense, his eyes darting over Kanan as he stood his ground to protect his student. "Interesting..." the Inquisitor said softly. "It seems you have trained with Jedi Master Depa Billaba."
"W-what?!" Kanan's eyes widened in shock, his blade wavering for just a moment and allowing the Inquisitor's red weapon to slip inside his guard. He managed to twist out of the way at the last moment and resumed his defense. "Who are you?"
He grinned, his blade flashing before him, testing Kanan's movements with a simple, easy grace. "The Temple records are quite complete," he softly explained. "In close quarters, Master Billaba put a strong emphasis on Form Three, which made her stand out among her peers, and you favor the style to a ridiculous degree..." He jumped over Kanan when the Jedi stabbed at him, flipping before he landed and kicking Kanan in the back with enough force to send him flying into the wall. Ezra ducked under the Inquisitor's blade when he swung at him to rush to Kanan's side, the Jedi out of breath upon the ground.
"Clearly," the Inquisitor said softly as he drew near, "you were a poor student." He rose his blade, angled the tip at Kanan as the Jedi called his lightsaber back to his hand, knowing it would be too late, but determined to give it a try anyway. He was going to die. He knew it the moment he saw that Luminara was dead. If she, one of the great Masters of the Council, couldn't survive, then what hope did he have?
But the end never came.
Instead, the Inquisitor went flying through the air, striking the opposite wall with such force that Kanan could feel the impact in the floor, the pale man falling unceremoniously to the ground, his lightsaber tumbling uselessly out of his hand. Kanan looked in shock at Ezra, thinking that somehow, the boy had done it, but he looked just as confused as Kanan did. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the door to see a man in robes of the darkest black, his hood pulled over his head, the shadows concealing his face, and as he crossed the cell, Kanan could see a flash of gold from his eyes.
Oh no...
Fear gripped Kanan so intensely that he couldn't move, could hardly even breathe as he watched the man stride with purpose to the Jedi Master on the wall, ignoring everyone else in the room, focused on his task at the exclusion of all else, though he had a sinking feeling that it was more than that. He took no notice because nobody here was a threat.
"Luminara," the man said, soft and gentle and kind, his tone affected with a crisp, aristocratic Coruscanti accent, and in the next moment, Kanan saw the man tense, heard the sharp intake of breath. "Oh, no," he gasped softly. "No, no, no, no, no..." The man reached up, ran his hand over the Master's face, and Kanan shivered when he felt pain rush through the Force. It was intense, persistent and consuming, and Kanan felt like he was drowning, and he quickly reached out and grabbed Ezra, the boy shaking so hard his teeth were chattering. He ignited his lightsaber, the tip shaking in his unsteady hand, his eyes never leaving the hooded man, the cause of the violent disturbance in the Force.
Slowly, the man drew something out from under his cloak, and a red lightsaber thrummed to life, a smooth flick of his wrist sending the blade across the restraints that held the Jedi's body up, and he caught her with the Force and carefully lowered her to the floor. Kanan didn't understand. This creature was a dark Force user, perhaps Sith, and he was...upset at the death of a Jedi? It didn't make sense, but Kanan felt his chest tighten as he watched, moved by the tenderness the man handled her with. He only took his eyes away when Ezra tugged on his arm, his shaking hand pointing toward the door where two more people stood, dressed in the same uniform as the Inquisitor.
"There's more of them?" Ezra whispered, and Kanan slowly nodded, crouching down and eyes darting between the two newcomers, the Inquisitor, the hooded man as he cradled Luminara's body.
"Seems like it..." He scooted closer to Ezra. "Keep quiet and stay low, I think their target just arrived, if we're lucky, they'll be too distracted to notice us leaving."
"We're going to run?" Ezra hissed, and Kanan simply nodded. "Shouldn't we help him?"
"Red blade, beware," Kanan whispered. "This isn't the sort we want to help and...I don't suspect he needs it."
"Darth Lumis..." the Inquisitor said as he rose to his feet and very swiftly backed up toward the door, his lightsaber ignited and pointed at the man, and Kanan felt a chill grip his stomach, his eyes darting back to look at the hooded man. Darth Lumis...that made him a Sith Lord, and he was very familiar with that name. Somehow, somehow, that was Obi-Wan Kenobi. But...it didn't make any sense. He should have been dead, and the pain in the Force when he saw Luminara...that was grief, not anger. It was gone now, replaced by...Kanan blinked, shook his head and looked again. He couldn't sense him. He couldn't feel him at all.
The Inquisitor rushed out of the cell, the other two quickly tapping the consoles outside the doors, and a red wall of energy covered the opening, the humming of the plasma filling the cell, and panic gripped Kanan for just a moment before a loud, irritating buzz erupted in the back of his mind, filling the void that now existed in him where the Force should have been. His eyes widened in understanding, and he looked at the grinning Inquisitors. This cell was a containment room. They couldn't use the Force. Not any of them.
"You aren't so mighty without your prodigious strength, are you, Sith Lord?" the Inquisitor gloated. Lumis said nothing. He didn't even move, save to caress the cheek of the dead Jedi Master he held.
"What are we going to do?" Ezra whispered to Kanan, the Jedi keeping his eyes fixed on the man they shared a cell with. "I'm really feeling...weird, I don't know what's going on..."
"They're blocking our ability to feel the Force," he whispered, and he inhaled sharply when Lumis removed his cloak and draped it over Luminara, and the man was...young. Very young, younger than Kanan, if only by a little, the previous glow of his eyes gone, the gold faded to a dull, drab yellow. This...couldn't be Obi-Wan...even if his death was faked, this man had to be half the age of the infamous Sith Lord. But...he looked just like him. When Ezra looked away from the Inquisitors and back at Kanan, his eyes widened in recognition and he pointed at the man.
"Kanan, that's him!" the boy almost shouted. "That's him, that's the guy that came to my house!" Ezra looked at Kanan and found him paler than he'd ever seen, the lightsaber in his hand shaking violently, his eyes locked on Lumis, and he said nothing at all.
"Since the entire Inquisitorius is made up of cowards, who's idea was it to kill my friend?" Lumis asked, his voice calm, smooth and dripping with hatred.
"Don't answer him," the Grand Inquisitor quickly said. "Don't even speak to him. They didn't call him the Negotiator for nothing."
"It wasn't dear, sweet Vader," he continued, as if the Inquisitor hadn't spoken at all. "He knows from personal experience what happens when the people close to me get murdered."
"Lord Vader isn't afraid of you!" one of the others said, and the Grand Inquisitor shot him a withering glare.
"Don't speak to him, First Brother, that is an order," he hissed, and a cruel smile came to Lumis' lips.
"Ah, First Brother..." the Sith Lord said quietly, his muted, dull eyes looking over the man in question. "You brought your top agent just for me, Inquisitor?" he said sweetly, laying a hand on his chest. "I'm touched. Really." His eyes darted to the other. "That would make you the Second Sister, yes?" She didn't answer or respond in any way, which confirmed it for Lumis, and the Sith Lord smiled warmly, a thing that sent a shiver down Kanan's spine. "Oh, now you're just being rude! You invite me to your home, but you don't introduce yourselves or give me the tour."
"Keep watch on him while I inform high command about our capture," the Grand Inquisitor whispered to his companions, but Lumis' sharp ears picked up on it, and he gasped, looked in shock at the trio.
"You're leaving?" he said, feigned surprise in his voice. "But I came here just for you." He shrugged when the Inquisitor simply scoffed and turned away. "That's alright. I'll see myself out."
It happened fast, almost too fast for Kanan to see, but in the span of a second, the Sith Lord pulled two lightsabers off his belt, and no sooner had they touched his hand did they go flying through the air, spinning rapidly as red and blue plasma extended from the twin hilts, the blades slicing deep into the walls on opposite sides of the energy field. The walls sparked and hissed as metal melted and wires were severed, and a moment later, Kanan felt a rush of air fill his lungs as the Force returned to him, and he saw the energy field blink out of existence. Suddenly keenly aware of the danger they were in, Kanan looked back at the Sith Lord just in time to see dull yellow catch fire and blaze with glowing gold.
Lumis reached out with both his hands, and before they could move, the First Brother and the Second Sister were grabbed by the Force and were violently pulled inside the cell to the Sith's waiting hands, his fingers wrapping around their throats alongside the strangling claws of the Dark Side. They could hear the sound of the Grand Inquisitor's voice in the halls, shouting for immediate reenforcements and a lockdown of the entire facility. Ezra groaned as he heard the blast doors in the hallway slamming shut. They were stuck, but then, they knew escape was going to be difficult.
Eyes blazing with hatred, Darth Lumis looked between the two beings he held, observed them carefully, and unceremoniously crushed the Second Sister's throat beneath his hand, a sickening crunch filling the air as her trachea snapped, and he tossed the body to the side as he slammed the First Brother on the ground.
"Who's watching me?!" he snarled, his previous calm gone and replaced with savage fury, his fingers digging into the man's neck and keeping him from answering. The First Brother extended his hand, tried to call his fallen sister's lightsaber to him, and lightning surged through his body, making him writhe and convulse with pain and Ezra watched with fascination until Kanan took his arm and dragged him out of the cell, sprinting toward the blast door that blocked them in. Without wasting a moment, Kanan thrust his saber through the thick steel and began cuttting through it, his teeth grit with effort as he pressed harder and willed the hear-resistant door to cut faster. It wouldn't.
"Communications are still jammed," Ezra said quickly, thrusting the comlink back in his pocket. "Can't thing cut any faster?!" Kanan didn't respond, only ground his teeth harder. "...what was that guy?! At my house, he said he knew you!"
"I don't know how, but that doesn't sit well at all," Kanan said just as he finished cutting through the door, using the Force to push the piece through, and he groaned loudly when another pair of blast doors stood not twenty meters away. He rushed through and thrust his lightsaber through the next one.
"But you know him?" Ezra asked, and Kanan nodded.
"Yeah...that's Darth Lumis, a Lord of the Sith."
"...what's a Sith?"
"Someone who uses the Dark Side," Kanan said through grit teeth. "Someone who uses the Force for evil, to destroy instead of protect."
"Such a simplistic view of things..." came the soft, smooth, sad voice from behind them, and the two of them quickly turned to look upon Darth Lumis, the Sith Lord carrying the covered body of Luminara in his arms. Kanan turned his blade on Lumis, and the golden eyes narrowed. "Careful, Jedi..." he calmly warned. "You can't fight against me and the Empire at the same time." Kanan glared at him, but said nothing, keeping his lightsaber trained on the Sith Lord, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the body of the Jedi Master he carried in his arms. Something...wasn't right. This wasn't how the Sith were supposed to be. This man destroyed his Master! He was evil, he couldn't be trusted. And yet...
"What do I do if orders never come?" Caleb Dume asked his Master once, so very, very long ago.
"Who knows?" Depa Billaba had said. "Maybe the answer will come to you in a different form."
Her words rang through Kanan's mind as he looked at the melancholy Sith, the burning flames of his rage dampened by grief, and he couldn't help but think that maybe there was something more to this corrupted creature. If he was Obi-Wan Kenobi, then the man had been a Jedi once. The very best of them. A hero, someone to look up to in his valiant fight against the Sith. And here he was. A Sith Lord. Standing...against the Empire.
...Hera would never let him hear the end of this.
He lowered his lightsaber. "We have a ship," Kanan said quickly. "If we can-"
"I have a ship..." the Sith Lord drawled, closing his eyes and muttering under his breath, and a moment later, the blast doors creaked and groaned as they bent, pried apart and folded against the walls. Ezra looked at him dumbstruck.
"That's way faster than a lightsaber!" the boy said in awe, keeping close to Kanan, but his attention was on the Sith. "Can you do that, Kanan?"
"Not with my limited training..." he mumbled. "Hey!" he called to Lumis. "If you have a ship and you can open the doors, why the hell are you bringing us along?"
"I don't know..." was the smooth, disinterested reply. "Maybe I'm just having a bad day and want some company." Another blast door parted as he drew near. "But were I you, Jedi, I'd shut up so the Sith Lord doesn't stop to think about it." It was a good point. Kanan snapped his mouth shut.
Alarms were blaring through the halls, but to Kanan, it felt like they were walking in complete silence. He didn't like this at all, and every time he tried to get a feel for their new, terrifying companion, he got nothing at all. Not mental defenses that kept him out, he got nothing. His presence in the Force was completely concealed. No wonder the Jedi couldn't fight him, he was impossible to detect. If this was Obi-Wan. He was still debating that one. But for now, he was just glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of powers that made thick durasteel bend as if it were sheet metal and made an Inquisitor run. That was another thing. Inquisitors? He hadn't heard of them before, but the one he fought was...far more than he could have handled. It was fortunate this Sith Lord showed up when he did.
Saved by a Lord of the Sith...what was this galaxy coming to?
When Lumis tore off the doors leading to the main hangar bay, they found it a smouldering ruin, TIE Fighters burning in heaps of scrapped metal, walls blasted through, and the bodies of stormtroopers littering the ground in pieces. Before them, clean and pristine like it was brand new, was a single ship, an elegant black ship accented with red, its forward cannons humming with energy as they readied to shoot again. Just in front of the boarding ramp sat a huge, white rancor with long, sweeping horns on its head and the bodies of half a dozen stormtroopers in its mighty clawed hand, its jaw working furiously as it chewed, its teeth dripping with blood.
When the beast saw the trio, it three the handful of Imperials into the air and rushed forward, and Kana drew his lightsaber, knowing full well that the tough skin of the rancor easily resisted plasma. But the Sith Lord simply continued to calmly walk forward, and when it was close, the rancor skidded to a stop, its claws scraping the ground and sending up a shower of sparks, it long tongue lolling out its mouth as it lowered its head to the ground. Lumis touched the beast on the nose, and for a moment, the large, dark eyes swirled with reds and yellows, the colors fading away when the Sith removed his hand. The creature sat back on its haunches and wailed mournfully, and Kanan thought his heart would break, the natural Jedi empathy making him immediately identify with the stricken beast.
"He won't hurt you..." Lumis said, his voice echoing over the sounds of the fires, and Kanan's attention returned to the present. He and Ezra jogged after the Sith Lord toward the waiting ship, the rancor slowly dragging itself behind them.
"Your Inquisitor left in a hurry!" a man called from the top of the boarding ramp as they drew near. As they got closer, Kanan could see the Mandalorian armor he wore, the red and black of the Death Watch, and the Jedi knew that this was the same man he and Hera had met on Gorse a few years back. Cody. A clone. He stopped in his tracks, unable to move as horrors from the night the Jedi died filled his mind. "I would have gone after him, but the ship he left in was big, and you told me to be safe."
Lumis offered him a weak smile as he walked up the ramp, clutching the small, thin, tightly wrapped body closer to him, and the clone froze. "Good work, Cody," he said softly, and the Mandalorian shook his head.
"Oh no..." he gasped, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "Brother, I-"
"Take her..." the Sith said, pushing the body against the clone's chest, and the man quickly grabbed hold of her. "I need to slaughter everyone in this kriffing fortress..."
"Everyone?!" Ezra cried, quickly running forward despite Kanan's cries to stop. "Our friends are inside, you can't just-"
Golden eyes blazed with rage, piercing and intense, and Ezra found him lifted from the ground by the Force and pulled to float at Lumis' eye level. "You dare tell me what I can and cannot do?!" the man snarled, jagged blue lines of electricity dancing around his clenched fists, and before he knew what he was doing, Kanan rushed forward and charged at the Sith Lord, his blue saber raised to strike. His mind suddenly filled with pain, the angry roar of the rancor filled his ears, his vision narrowing until all he could see were two points of burning, golden fire, and then Kanan Jarrus saw nothing.