AN: Oh my god you guys, I have been SO BUSY. Work has been killing me, and a winter storm killed my power today. But! I'm back up and running. So here, have a longer chapter. This one is my favorite in this one so far. Also, I think I'm hitting my stride here, I'm getting ideas all the time, and you guys have been amazingly supportive, which really helps. Hope you guys like this one. I don't think I'll get a chapter out tomorrow, but Thursday for sure. Enjoy, my lovelies!
Chapter 7: Breaking Ranks
Kanan Jarrus dropped his lightsaber, his hands flying to his neck as he was lifted into the air. He couldn't breathe, could feel his lungs already burning from lack of oxygen, his heart pounding in his chest as fear and panic slowly crept into his mind. Pain followed shortly after, the edges of his vision darkening with oncoming unconsciousness, his legs flailing in an attempt to free himself, but it was for nothing. He was going to die, cruel, glowing eyes the only witness to his end. At least Master Billaba's death had been quick. It didn't seem as if Kanan would be so lucky. He'd never see the end of the Empire, would never be free enough of his crushing obligations to love Hera the way she deserved, would never see Ezra grow into a powerful Jedi. All he had now was the frigid cold and the promise of death by the hands of the Dark Side.
Just as his vision left him, Kanan felt himself thrown back, striking against the wall so hard that his darkening sight flashed white, what little air he had in his lungs forcefully expelled, and he tumbled to the ground, coughing and gasping as his throat was released, each breath burning as he inhaled. A moment later, he froze when he heard the thrum of a lightsaber right next to his ear, and when his sight returned, all he could see was red.
"Not good enough." Kanan groaned when the lightsaber hissed off, and he sat on the ground, rubbing at his neck as he watched Obi-Wan clip his lightsaber back on his belt. It was the third beating he had received that day, and each one had grown steadily worse. This one was far more severe than the one before it, and Kanan was beginning to think that the Sith Lord agreed to practice with him specifically so he could torture a Jedi. As a pastime, Kanan couldn't say he was a fan of it.
"You know..." Kanan said between clenched teeth as he rose to his feet, his hand extended to call his lightsaber to him, but the Sith Lord reached out and snatched it out of the air. Kanan rolled his eyes. "Maybe I keep failing because you keep making the fights harder each time I fail. The Jedi-"
"How the Jedi trained their students is irrelevant because the Jedi are dead, and I am still alive," Kenobi said as he clipped his lightsaber back on his belt. "Huh. Funny how that works, isn't it?"
"Yeah, real funny..." Kanan grumbled, grabbing his lightsaber from the air when Kenobi floated it over to him. "I just don't see how beating me senseless is helping me."
"Would treating you like a child be more to your liking?" Obi-Wan asked, but the tone of the question indicated that he wasn't looking for a response. "You are distracted. Unfocused. Making it easier will only give your mind more time to wander. The fact that you are still unfocused means I'm not going hard enough to keep your attention, which is...impressive, actually."
"That...makes a weird amount of sense..." Kanan said thoughtfully. "No, wait, pain is a distraction!"
"And it happens to be the greatest teaching tool there is," Obi-Wan said, a wicked grin on his face. "Rare is the fight that is not painful. Learn to focus through the pain, and there won't be many that can defeat you."
"It's really hard to be focused when you're swinging that lightsaber around the way you do!" Kanan said as he dropped on to the couch, his hand running over his face. "How am I supposed to focus on the fight when you aren't giving me a blade to focus on!"
"You think this is about lightsabers?" Obi-Wan laughed. "Oh, Kanan, you poor idiot, this has nothing to do with lightsabers and everything to do with the Force. You should know that. Your Master Yoda was perhaps the strongest Jedi that ever lived, and he never used a lightsaber."
"Yeah, lot of good the Force did him..." Kanan grumbled as he looked away from the Sith Lord. "Lot of good the Force did all of them, since the Jedi are all dead..." He waited for Kenobi to answer, to gloat, to brag about the Sith victory over the betrayal and deaths of the Jedi, but to his surprise, Obi-Wan stayed silent. Kanan looked up at the man and found him...pensive, perhaps, lost within his own mind, traversing his memories, and Kanan could feel the Force surge with gentle, rolling waves, threatening to carry him away if he didn't stay focused.
"Your troubles are in your mind," Kenobi finally said. "And until they are cleared, you will stagnate. You dam the river of the Force. You must take your fears, your troubles, the source of your lack of focus, and you must either take them within yourself and harness them for power, as the Sith do, or you must release them to the Force, as is the way of the Jedi." Golden eyes shifted to him, and Kanan met them head-on. They suddenly weren't as frightening as they had been before. "What will you do?"
"You know which path I will take, Kenobi," Kanan snapped, running his hand through his hair and ignoring the irritation of the Sith Lord before him. "...I'm sorry," Kanan said softly, rubbing the welt on his arm from where the red blade had touched him earlier. "You're right, I know..."
"Hmm..." Obi-Wan looked the man over carefully. Kanan had been distracted and unfocused since they had begun their training nearly three weeks ago, and each time they met, he became more and more unfocused. It was a huge difference from the man that he had trained with aboard the Umbra the day they recovered Luminara, the man who had touched him with his lightsaber. If he knew that Kanan would be this difficult to train, this unfocused, this uncentered within the Force, then he would have let him die on the Spire, were it not for his visions and his promise to Ahsoka and...many other things. Luke and Leia were easier students. Luke and Leia were better students. And it was their birthday in just a few weeks. They were turning fifteen, he'd have to think of something special for them.
"It's Ezra," Kanan blurted out, and Obi-Wan was pulled out of his thoughts and looked at the distressed Jedi. "He's on an undercover mission in the Imperial Academy on Lothal. He's been there for weeks, and I'm worried."
"Do you not trust your apprentice?" Obi-Wan asked softly.
"No, I do," Kanan answered quickly. "Ezra's clever and resourceful, but..." He growled and shook his head. "He's not ready for something like this. If he gets caught, the entire mission is blown and the rest of the crew could be compromised!"
"Well, I've got good news on that front." Both men looked up at Hera, the woman leaning on the railing and looking down into the cargo hold they had been using for training. "Seems like Ezra's passed the first test to get him inside the Imperial HQ. At least for now, he's in."
"What is the mission, if I may ask," Obi-Wan said, watching as the woman climbed down the ladder to join them, a soft smile on her lips as she stood a bit too close to Kanan. It made Kenobi miss his Twi'lek slaves he kept on Mustafar, and he felt the surge of desire pull at him, the Dark Side beast kept tightly caged beginning to pace restlessly as it snarled and hissed and demanded satisfaction and freedom. It had been weeks since he had been with someone. Perhaps it wasn't only Kanan that was disturbing the waters of the Force. When the Umbra parted ways with the Ghost tonight, he and Cody were going to have to stop somewhere for seduction purposes. He could feel himself tense with anger, the grief of his losses coming to the front of his mind as he looked at the two lovers, and he had to look away. The sudden change in the Sith Lord was not lost on Kanan. The Jedi tucked the information away for later. He'd have to ask what that was all about.
"You may ask," Hera said after a moment's consideration. "We've intercepted an Imperial message about a shipment of kyber crystals." Just as Hera had hoped, that got Kenobi's attention, his golden eyes fixating on her with such intensity she could feel a shiver of cold run down her spine. "Kanan says they're sources of incredible power, and if they stay in Imperial hands, nothing good can come of it."
"He's right..." Kenobi whispered, his hands pressing together and his fingers at his lips, and Hera secretly smiled.
"We have Ezra infiltrating the Imperial HQ so he can get hold of the decoder that will lead us to where this shipment is," Hera continued. "Once we have the location, we're going to destroy it."
"What?!" Obi-Wan snapped, the intensity startling Hera, and before she could even see him move, Kanan had but himself between him and the Sith Lord, his hand tightly grasping his lightsaber. "Kyber crystals," Obi-Wan slowly explained, "are a valuable, limited resource."
"With no use to us, since the Jedi are gone," Kanan quickly cut in, earning him a disdainful glare from the Sith. "I don't know what the Empire wants with them, but whatever it is, it can't be good. They're better off destroyed than in their possession."
"They're better off serving us!" Obi-Wan growled, his eyes focused on the pair and his anger rising when Kanan very slowly intertwined his fingers with Hera's. He was doing this on purpose. Gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, Kenobi swiftly brought himself under control. "Does Fulcrum know about this mission?" He asked casually, and both Kanan and Hera's jaws dropped, their eyes wide as they stared at him, their interlocking hands falling apart. Perfect. The situation was back in his control. Obi-Wan decided he liked this new breed of Jedi. They played very dirty.
"You know Fulcrum?" Hera tentatively asked, and Obi-Wan swiftly nodded. "How?"
"Hera Syndulla.." Obi-Wan said sweetly. "Since the birth of the Empire, I've been fighting against it. It would be irresponsible to not know Fulcrum." He held up his hand when Hera started to speak. "This isn't about Fulcrum, or my involvement in the rebellion, or any of that. This is about two very separate, very important things, the first of which is finding not just where that shipment is, but where it's being delivered."
"Do you mean to find out what they're being used for?" Hera asked. "I'm sorry, but if we allow that, then the Empire may end up with the shipment. It's too risky."
"We know what they're building," Obi-Wan said, again drawing looks of disbelief from the others. "Or, we have an idea. The only logical use for the kyber crystals is as weapons, and with what they've done to Illum, I don't think they're lacking for crystals. No, this is about their lead researcher, and his location is a tightly guarded secret. If this shipment is going to him for research purposes..."
"You aren't attacking the project, you're attacking their ability to even create the project," Hera said in absolute wonder. "Obi-Wan, you might just be my hero."
"Mm, I can think of a few ways you can show that..." Obi-Wan drawled, leaning in toward the woman, and Kanan quickly stepped between them once again.
"Oh, no you don't, not this girl..." Kenobi simply grinned, put his hands up and retreated. "That's one plan," Kanan said when the Sith gave him some distance. "What's the other."
"It involves your student, actually." Through the Force, Kenobi could feel Kanan's forgotten tension return in full force. "Our friend the Grand Inquisitor got a real good look at the two of you, and with Ezra now in the Imperial records, it's not going to be long before they find out exactly what he is. The Inquisitors are trained to recognize the pull of the Force toward Force sensitive beings, and unless you've trained him to conceal his presence..."
Kanan paled considerably. "They never saw him before!" the Jedi quickly insisted. "He was here on Lothal his entire life without being discovered."
"He's an orphan that didn't know what the Force was until you came along." He shrugged. "And before, there was no need to have an Inquisitor hanging around, not with such a strong Imperial presence. Soon enough, he'll have his reason. If the Inquisitors aren't on Lothal now, they will be soon. Your student is in a fair bit of trouble. You are right to be concerned."
"Kanan..." Hera said almost apologetically when the Jedi shot her a look of intense concern. "We all knew the risks going into this. Sabine and Zeb are down there keeping an eye on him, and as soon as he has the decoder, we're getting him out of there. This...doesn't change anything."
"...I know." Kanan sighed in frustration, the lightsaber in his hand blazing to life as he met Kenobi' cold, amused gaze. "I just hate being on standby."
"A fine summery of your mental state..." Obi-Wan drawled, his own red saber extending with a hiss. "Ready to move on?"
"More than you know." He flashed Hera a quick smile as the woman turned to climb up the ladder, coming to lean on the railing looking down into the training room. Addressing the issue cleared his mind, and with a new understanding of the mission in mind, a small thing suddenly made very large. He had found his focus, and this wasn't lost on his Sith instructor.
"You may wish to excuse yourself, Syndulla," Kenobi said softly as he looked up at the pilot. "I feel you may find this...a touch upsetting."
"Sounds like Kanan will need my support, then," she said, crossing ehr arms over her chest. She wasn't going anywhere, and there was little that could be done to convince her to go. Kenobi shrugged. That was fine. Her emotional upheaval would force the Jedi to focus.
"Shall we raise the stakes a bit, Jedi filth?" Kenobi drawled, his hand surrounded by small, jumping arcs of blue static, and raising his hand, lightning shot from his fingertips to the red blade, the plasma absorbing the electricity and glowing with greater intensity, the blue lightning sizzling and crackling along its length. Kanan's breath caught in his throat as he looked at the lightning-infused weapon and the cruel delight in golden eyes. "The good news, Kanan," Kenobi said, malice and endless amusement dripping off his every word, "is that the weapon is still on its training setting, so the blade won't kill you." He grinned wickedly. "But the lightning will."
"Oh, fantastic," Kanan said flippantly when he heard Hera gasp, could feel her fear, and he tried to push the feelings he felt rising within him away. Her simply being here was a distraction, but right now, all that mattered was the fatal blade that was now pointed right at him.
"Fall here," the Sith continued, "and your mission will fail. Your Student will be captured and turned by the Inquisitors. Poor Hera will be left all alone." A slight smile touched the corner of Obi-Wan's lips as he felt all the Jedi's fears and concerns fly away before cold, intense focus. There was no student within him, no lover, no friends, no crew, no greater cause. Just the Jedi and the Sith Lord that stood between him and all the things he held dear, a trait that was very not the Jedi way, but the single-minded concentration on the task at hand was. It was time. Without warning, Obi-Wan lunged at Kanan, the blue blade swiftly rising to catch the red, the lightning reaching out to grab at the other blade.
The Sith's weapon left trails of red and crackling static in the air as he swung the blade at Kanan, and Hera quickly went to reach for the blaster, only to find herself unable to move, her hands wrapped tightly around the rail, and for all she tried, her body wouldn't obey her. All she could do was watch as the lightsabers blazed, filling the air with red and blue as they sparked and flashed with repeated clashing. This wasn't like the last time she had watched them spar. Before this moment, it had been stunning to watch, like a dance that the Sith Lord knew well and Kanan followed closely along, the bouts ending when Kanan misstepped or fell too far behind. But this was something else. This was brutal, blazingly fast, the weapons moving with a purpose and intent that had been absent before. Previously, the point had been practice, learning, experimenting against a foe that mastered this form of combat and was willing to teach. But here, now, the purpose was survival, the red, crackling blade moving not to instruct, but to kill.
Kanan was handling it remarkably well.
The Jedi fought like a man that stood to lose everything, while the Sith Lord fought like a man with nothing to lose. It made Kenobi remarkably dangerous, but it also attuned Kanan to his movements, allowed him to block and deflect the vicious assault with an almost detached ease, and in one of the few times since Depa Billaba fell on Kaller all those years ago, Kanan felt the Force flow freely through him, invited back in like an old, forgotten friend. Since the Purge, the Force had become a death sentence, but now, it became the only way to survive.
When the Sith's hand extended, Kanan quickly moved his saber in front of him just in time to catch the red blade as it swept down, and he could feel Kenobi's presence suddenly surround him, persistently pressing against the defenses of his mind. His blade seemed to move on its own as he fought to keep Obi-Wan out, their movements almost seeming to move in slow motion through his intense concentration. He could feel Hera's panic and fear, both for Kanan's life and for her own inability to move, the weight of the Force holding her firmly in place, and he could feel Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord calmly stroking his mind, trying to coax him out, lower his defenses so the Sith could come in.
It took all of Kanan's focus to keep the smooth, soothing voice from touching his mind, from allowing the Sith to take command, and for just a moment, his thoughts flew to Ezra, undercover and along in an Imperial stronghold, the Grand Inquisitor slowly closing in. As a creature of the Dark Side, did the Inquisitor have the ability to read minds the way Kenobi did? Could he look through thoughts and memories at a glance? Could he push past personal defenses with the ease that the Sith Lord could? If he could, Ezra wouldn't stand a chance. His training had barely begun, and they had only touched on the basics when the boy had taken the undercover mission. If he was captured, could he resist, and for how long? Enough for Kanan to come save him? And if he couldn't, would Ezra fall to the Dark Side like so many others? He was already angry, impatient, arrogant, and reckless, all things that drew the Dark Side in, and not knowing what t look for, what dangers there were in such a thing...
Kanan's eyes widened when he felt his lightsaber knocked out of the way by a vicious, sweeping upward arc, his blade crackling against the electricity that surrounded the Sith's red weapon. Kenobi quickly tossed the hilt in the air, turning his back toward Kanan as he snatched the lightsaber out of the air in a backhanded grip and thrust it behind him, the lightning covered blade piercing deep inside Kanan's chest.
There was pain, searing and intense, far unlike anything he had ever felt, his blue lightsaber dropping from his grasp when his hand twitched and spasmed with the current that rushed through him, his heart suddenly beating dangerously fast. In the distance, so very, very far away, Kanan thought he could hear Hera screaming as he dropped to his knees when the blade was withdrawn, collapsing on the ground and convulsing with pain, the electrical impulses causing his muscles to involuntarily contract. His vision blazed white, his ears ringing with the sizzling of lightning, his lungs frozen and refusing to do the work of breathing, and long after he felt his body stop moving, save for the occasional twitch due to stray bolts of static dancing across his body, he still felt the pain, permeating deep within his bones, and Kanan wondered when it would be over and prayed it would be soon.
"Much better..." he heard Kenobi say in a pleased, smooth voice, muffled and distant in Kanan's ears. "Until the end when your focus slipped...but that was expected." Kanan experimentally tried to move and found his fingers twitching to his command. He...wasn't dead, nor would he be anytime soon, it seemed, when the pain suddenly washed away in a gentle wave of warmth and satisfaction, and when he opened his eyes, his hazy vision focused on Kenobi's outstretched hand, waiting to help him up. With a soft groan, the Jedi took it and allowed the Sith Lord to pull him to his shaking legs.
"You said this would kill me!" he harshly accused, and Kenobi simply shrugged.
"I lied."
"You're an asshole!" Hera cried from her place on the overlook, tears streaking her face as she shook, the hold of the Force upon her gone, and a moment later, she was on their level, her arms wrapped tightly around her Jedi lover. Kenobi rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, I told you it would be unwise to stay. Helpful for testing your lover's focus, yes, but upsetting for you. I needed him to think he was going to die so we could push past his temporary concerns."
"There must be a better way to do this!" Hera insisted, reeling on the Sith Lord, who just looked at her with curiosity and amusement. "There is no way this is part of Jedi training."
"You're right, it isn't," Obi-Wan said. "I am no Jedi. We need results fast, and this is the way to get them. The fastest way to strength is through adversity." Ha paused, his sharp eyes looking over the pair. "...if the training doesn't kill you first," Kenobi muttered under his breath.
"Kanan..." Hera began, gently touching his face and concern almost overflowing from her being. "He's valuable as an ally for what we're doing, but he is torturing you."
"Yeah..." Kanan said softly, lightly kissing the Twi'lek on the cheek. "But I am learning, and these new guys, the Inquisitors...they aren't going to be playing by the rules, Hera. They're going to fight like him."
"But not nearly as well," Kenobi scoffed. "Honestly, Jarrus, are you trying to insult me?"
"Yes," Kanan said, drawing to his considerable full height and looking the Sith Lord right in his outraged face. "Yes I am." He kissed Hera's cheek, let the woman go, and called his lightsaber back into his hand. "He's going to make me great, Hera. I can feel it."
"I'm going to make you dead in a moment, Jedi filth," Obi-Wan growled, his blade lighting red in his hand, but Kanan felt no malice, no hatred or rage directed toward him, only amusement and a slowly growing respect.
"Oh yeah?" Kanan asked, his own blade igniting in a flash of blue. "We are on standby. I've got all the time in the galaxy for you to try."
Three days later, they received the decoder from Ezra, though the boy did not return with the information. He was staying behind. Something had come up, and he refused to leave until he saw the matter through. He had overheard a conversation between their good friend Agent Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor, a vague, ominous thing that made Ezra believe that some of the academy children were in danger. He wasn't leaving until they had been extracted and brought to safety. To Obi-Wan, it showed that the previously indifferent, selfish boy had inside him the heart of a well-intentioned idiot, a fool Jedi Padawan not unlike the fool Padawan that taught him. For Kanan, it was a matter of severe stress, on full display now as he paced restlessly in the Umbra as they went to intercept the Imperial convoy carrying the kyber crystals.
"What is he thinking!" Kanan cried into the comlink in his hand as he walked to the far end of Obi-Wan's room and turned back again. "This is just reckless! The Inquisitor is on his way to Lothal!"
"Which means he isn't there yet, Kanan," Hera said on the other end of the com. "Focus on the mission. The faster we accomplish it, the sooner we'll be able to return to Lothal and get Ezra out."
"I know..." he said, slowing his pacing as he began to calm, the clarity of focus settling over him as he imagined the mission, a dangerous task made even more dangerous by Kenobi's additional objective. Before, they simply needed to destroy the ship carrying the cargo, but now, they needed to actually board it, enter the cockpit, hack into the navicomputer, and discover its ultimate destination. After that, it would be a rush to escape before Imperial reenforcements arrived to lend aid to their precious cargo, and in that time, they needed to destroy or, in Kenobi's words, appropriate the kyber crystals. The more Kanan thought about it, the more it seemed like Ezra's infiltration job was the easier and safer of the two.
"Is everything alright over there?" Hera asked, and Kanan put his face to the viewport that made up Kenobi's far wall, sighing heavily as he looked at the Ghost flying beside them as they made their way through deep space toward the convoy's location. Obi-Wan, it seemed, was a man that appreciated a view, as he had viewports installed in nearly every room, a simple push of a button making the sleek black durasteel retract to expose them to the beauty that space had to offer.
"Well, you know..." Kanan drawled in his easy, carefree tone. "There's no sex allowed on the Umbra, so I'm safe for now, you know that three days of torture is like extended foreplay for the Sith." Hera chuckled softly.
"Not without me, you don't."
"I wouldn't dream of it..." He looked behind him when he heard Obi-Wan enter the room from the shower and immediately begin rummaging through his closet, and Kana's eyes fixed on the myriad of deep, dark marks and raised, pale scars that spidered across his entire body, a blemish free face and a cocky attitude hiding a body that had been ravaged. Kanan felt like he couldn't breathe. It didn't make any sense to him, for this Sith Lord that had never known defeat to look as though he had lost a thousand thousand fights, like his only victory was that he was somehow still alive.
"I need to go, Hera," he whispered into the com, and he quietly closed the connection and slid the device into its place on his belt and he slowly approached the Sith Lord as he swiftly attached his armor plating to his legs. "So..." Kanan said casually, his hands behind his back. "Nice ship you have." Obi-Wan looked up at him, a small smile on his lips before he returned to tightening the straps on the armor, not the set that had made him famous, but a simpler set in black and gold. The Sith Lord said nothing. "When do I get to fly it?"
Kenobi chuckled softly and shook his head. "When your lover lets me fly her ship."
"Mm, never going to happen," Kanan said, chuckling softly and trying to keep from staring at the long, black slash that ran across his chest, indented from the wound that seemed to have ripped away a part of the muscle that would never heal. If Kenobi noticed that he was staring, he didn't say anything.
"You've improved these past few days," Obi-Wan said quietly, tightening the straps and making small adjustments to fit the armor to him perfectly. "I'm impressed. You're a swift learner, and you seem to have maintained that Jedi resilience, even after all this time."
"A few things the Jedi taught me were actually useful," Kanan said as he picked up the chest piece. Sabine never let him touch her armor. She never let anyone touch her armor. He wasn't even sure she ever took it off, except maybe to periodically paint it. It was much lighter than he would have imagined. No wonder the Mandalorians felt so at home in armor. "I had to learn how to survive, and how the galaxy actually worked, but the tenants of the Order set us up to be excellent fugitives, if we could ignore the instinct to help people." He shrugged. "Emotional detachment. Cut and run, you know."
"I always struggled with that one," Obi-Wan said absently. "I did try for a time, but I ultimately failed at it again and again, especially after my mission to Mandalore, I-" He stopped suddenly and shut his mouth, his eyes closed as he slowly shook his head. "It made it easier to leave the Jedi." He finally tossed an impatient, flustered look at Kanan. "You here to admire the view, Kanan? I'll tell your girlfriend about those wandering eyes of yours, I doubt she'd be happy."
"Aw, you wouldn't be that cruel, would you, Kenobi?" Kanan asked, drawing closer to the Sith and watching as an amused smirk spread across his lips and a wicked, lustful flash came to dangerous golden eyes.
"No sex in the Umbra, you absolute tease," Kenobi said as he took the armor out of Kanan's hands. "I'm definitely telling your girlfriend." He smiled sadly as he looked him over. "You remind me a bit of a friend of mine. Quinlan Vos. Did you know him?"
"Master Quinlan Vos?" Kanan asked breathlessly, and Kenobi nodded. "He was a legend! I only saw him a few times, but he was...funny. Irreverent, he questioned everything. He was so strong, a tracker, a hunter. Do you think he survived?" Pain flashed across the Sith's face and Kenobi looked away, fiddling with the chest plate in his hands.
"...he's dead." A wound seemed to open up in the Sith Lord, so deep and dark and bloody that it almost hurt to look at him, and Kanan reached out through the Force and touched at Kenobi's mind with a gentle, comforting hand. He was immediately thrown out, the Sith wincing and snarling at the warmth, a soothing, sympathetic gesture to the Jedi, but agony to one that sat within the Dark Side. It was a bad subject, a deeply painful one, and it was best avoided. Quinlan Vos was dead, and for it, Obi-Wan suffered.
"Got a question for you," Kanan asked, his tone light and easy as he changed the subject, and he could feel the void within the Sith Lord quickly close up, the Force returning to a state of calm as Kenobi's considerable presence disappeared, unable to be felt in the Force like before. Kanan pointed to the scars on the man's body. "You've never lost. No Jedi has ever defeated you, so how..." Obi-Wan smiled gently and rose to his feet, grabbing the tight, black shirt that fit underneath the armored chest and shoulder pieces.
"A few from battles against the Jedi," Kenobi said a faint smile on his lips. "I went many battles without injury, but not everything goes according to plan." He pointed to several small burned lines that marked his arms and torso. "Battle of Coruscant against Anakin Skywalker. It should have been an easy fight, but a great many things kept me...unbalanced. And here," he said, pointing to a deep, black circle on his lower back. "Ahsoka Tano, on Florrum. The little bitch stabbed me in the back the first chance she got. And we were supposed to be allies!" He laughed for a moment, genuinely amused. "No wonder she left the Jedi, it never suited her."
"Do you think she's alive?" Kanan asked hopefully, looking at the Sith Lord and trying to read his impassive face. "I didn't know her well, but...I always thought we'd meet again. She wasn't a Jedi at the end, maybe they never found her. She was trained by Quinlan Vos, after all." Kenobi shrugged.
"Who knows..." the Sith said carelessly. "Perhaps one day, you may meet her again. The Force has a funny way of bringing us all together."
"Yeah..." Kanan pointed to the black mark on the Sith's shoulder. "And that one?" A slight, sad smile crossed Kenobi's lips.
"Luminara. When I rescued her the first time. When I found her again, she was..." He swallowed hard. "She was afraid and fighting for her life, and she was surrounded by her enemies. She stabbed before she saw it was me." He dragged his finger along the long, deep cut on his chest. "Anakin Skywalker..." he said darkly. "Our final fight on Mustafar the night the Jedi died."
"Everyone was always saying that you two were meant to fight..." Kanan muttered. "You obviously killed him, since you're still alive."
"...I watched him burn, yes. He was not victorious. Though..." He tapped the black scar. "Half an inch deeper, and he would have been." There was something...off about the way Obi-Wan said that. Something about the turn of phrase, the choice of words that spoke of half truth to Kanan, but he quickly brushed the feeling away. If Anakin Skywalker was alive, he'd be fighting some great cause against the Sith Lords, against Kenobi. He'd have a mission, some task to carry out, bestowed upon him by the Force itself. Kanan would have known, he would have heard about it. "The rest," Kenobi said after a moment, indicating to the hundreds of other scars that crossed his body, "are all from my Master."
"...your Master did that to you?!" Kanan gawked, focusing on the jagged web of pale, raised scars that covered him, and the dark shadows of burns that crossed his skin, lighter than the blackened, seared flesh of sabers at fatal strength, but not too far from it. It came from a blade meant to torture, not to kill, and that was far worse. No wonder Kenobi was training him the way he was. He knew the Jedi way, but it had been a very long time since he had been a Jedi, and his Sith Master treated him far worse than Obi-Wan was treating him. Strength through adversity, power through the will to survive. A dangerous, savage thing.
"Did you think training was an easy thing for a Sith Lord?" Obi-Wan asked, faintly amused as he watched disbelief and sympathy rush through the Jedi. "Within the first month of my apprenticeship, my Master took me to Mygeeto, and I nearly froze to death as he watched. Within my first year, he dropped me on a hostile planet with no weapons, no technology, and no means of escape, and he left me there for two months. I was forced to find a way to survive using my environment, which I did." He looked up at the ceiling. "I may still be the god of the natives there..."
"You left the Jedi for that?" Kanan asked in disbelief, pointing to Kenobi's scars as he pulled on the tight, black shirt and zipped it up "That isn't training, it's torture!"
"Just of the body," Obi-Wan said, shrugging as he zipped the shirt up and began attaching the chest piece. "I found a family with the Sith when my Jedi family abandoned me, and I have always had a difficult time with remaining unattached. Besides," he said indifferently as he tightened the straps of the chest piece and began attaching the shoulders and arms, "with pain comes power. It's a small price to pay if that pain is simply physical."
"Yeah, but it isn't just physical, is it?" Kenobi looked at the Jedi, strong and defiant and assured, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile despite the swift stab of pain as old wounds reopened, just as they always did, bleeding anew every day.
"No, it isn't..." he whispered, absently attaching the rest of the armor, shifting and settling as he grew accustomed to the feel. "The Dark Side is a tricky, difficult mistress. Pain and suffering are needed to understand her, and those that use her without understanding will be torn apart."
"Sounds pretty shitty," Kanan drawled, and Obi-Wan just smiled as he picked up his helmet.
"Only to those that can't handle riding that slut. But to those that can..." Kenobi moaned loudly, desperate and wanton, and Kanan could feel the cold suddenly rush along his spine as the Dark Side rushed to him. "Oh, it is the greatest thrill there is." He slid the helmet on to his head. "Ready to go?" he asked softly.
"We haven't even arrived, why are we-"
"Sir," Cody said over the intercom, and though Kanan couldn't see his face, he knew that the Sith Lord was flashing him a superior, cocky grin. "We've arrived at the convoy."
"On our way, Cody," Kenobi said, his doors sliding open with a soft hiss as he walked through, Kanan close on his heels. "Alright, let's get this done."
The Ghost hung back, her systems off and keeping hidden just out of scanning range, Hera on standby as he shuttle, the Phantom was carried in the Umbra's hold, the stealth ship slowly and silently approaching the convoy. There were only three ships, but they were large freighters and heavily armed. Winning against these in a firefight didn't seem possible. Together, they maybe could destroy one, two, if the Force was with them, but all three was a tall order, especially when the crews would be down to the pilots while Kanan and Obi-Wan were inside the Imperial vessel.
"Alright..." Kenobi said, hanging on the back of the pilot's seat as Cody brought them in close. "Which one has the kyber crystals, Kanan?"
"Don't you know?" the Jedi asked, confused until he saw the clever smirk on his teacher's face, and he glowered. Of course he already knew. He was being tested. Kanan closed his eyes, reached out through the Force, and immediately felt them. It felt good to be connected again. "The middle one." Kenobi arched an eyebrow, and Kanan nearly looked once again before he quickly shook his head, deciding to trust his instincts. "No, I'm sure of it. I can feel them, and they're on the middle ship."
"You're right," Kenobi said, nodding in approval and watching Cody angle the ship toward the middle freighter. "Bring us in, Cody, nice and easy. I want to get the Phantom magnetized to the hull and powered down before they have a chance to pick her up on the sensors. Then it's off with you to wait with Syndulla for us to call."
"Understood." With the clone quietly focused, his hands on the controls, Kenobi laid a hand on his shoulder, the obvious trust between them clear, and with a quick nudge to Kanan's ribs, the two were off to the hold to board the Phantom, Kenobi sitting himself in the pilot's chair and familiarizing himself with the controls.
"You better not break her," Kanan warned Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord rolled his eyes. "I mean it. Hera will never forgive me."
"Please, there aren't may pilots in the galaxy better than me."
"Well, aren't we special?" Kanan drawled, shooting the Sith Lord a smug look. "As it so happens, Hera is the best pilot in the galaxy." He shrugged, an arrogant, proud smirk on his face. "Sorry, sweetheart. You aren't impressing me."
"You're more insane than I am if you think that Twi'lek can out-fly me." A sly smirk spread across Obi-Wan's face. "But, since you are so confident in your lover's abilities, care to make a wager?" Kanan looked at Kenobi with mild interest. He wasn't usually a betting man, though in this case, it may have been worth it. That the Jedi even paused to consider was all Obi-Wan needed to continue. "If by the end of this mission, Syndulla says she is the superior pilot, I'll let you borrow this." He reached out his hand, and Kanan didn't see where it came from, but he looked in wonder as the Sith Lord suddenly held a blue and gold cube in his hand. A Jedi holocron.
"H-how did-"
"Oh, how isn't important," Kenobi said dismissively. "Just know that I have it, and if you win, all the knowledge of the Jedi contained within is yours." Kanan nearly opened his mouth to agree with the deal right there on the spot, but quickly stopped himself when he saw the devious look in the Sith Lord's glowing eyes.
"...and if I lose?" he asked cautiously, and the Sith simply shrugged, an easy, nonchalant look on his face.
"Oh, it's nothing much. If she admits I'm the better pilot, you come with me the next time I set down for supplies."
"...that's it?" Kanan asked, severely confused. "Just...come with you on a supply run?"
"That's it. I like company while I procure the essentials." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Cody comes with me, of course, but I can get more done with another person."
"...what's the catch? No mission, no task, no super secret Sith...thing that calls for the blood of a Jedi?" Kanan asked skeptically. The deal was far too good. A holocron for a supply run on a bet Kanan was certain he would win? There had to be something else. But Obi-Wan didn't seem to show any malice, and ill-intent, any...anything, just chuckling softly and relaxing in the seat.
"No, nothing like that," he said softly, holding his hand out to the Jedi. "Just a chance to get to know each other better while we take care of our needs."Kanan stared at the hand for a moment, and then decided that there was no harm in this. The way he saw it, he won either way. Either he got a holocron, or he got a chance to ask some of the burning questions he had for Kenobi. He watched as Kenobi reached behind him and pulled up his pack with supplies necessary for the mission and slipped the holocron inside it, and Kanan realized that the Sith Lord had packed the holocron.
"Did you...plan on having this bet, Kenobi?" Kanan asked, pointing at the pack, and the Sith simply patted it.
"No," he said casually. "But I feel it's always best to come prepared, and I do so love betting. I win so often."
"Funny," Kanan said. "I do as well."
"Hmm." Kenobi smiled at the Jedi. "Well, may the Force be with you, Kanan. You're going to need it."
"Sir," Cody said over the intercom, the Phantom shaking slightly as the Umbra stopped moving. "We've touched down on the ship. Ready to magnetize on your command."
"Let her go, Cody," Obi-Wan commanded, and the Phantom shivered a low whine permeating the ship, followed by the loud, metallic clang as the transport stuck to the hull of the Imperial freighter. "Take care of Syndulla, Cody, I need her to win a bet," the Sith said quickly as the echoing hum of the Umbra's engines silenced, the stealth ship leaving the convoy for the Ghost's location, and the clone cursed under his breath, saying nothing in response as the ship quickly moved out of safe com range.
"Huh, look at that..." Kanan said, leaning in to look at the readings on the control console. "He got us right above the access hatch."
"I told you, Cody is very good." Kenobi thrust his helmet on his head. "As soon as we open up, rush for the access hatch, I'll have it open before you get there. The freighter's shielding is protecting us from the worst of the vacuum, but it's going to be kriffing cold." Kenobi smiled. "You ready?"
"Ready." Kanan took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he focused, and on Kenobi's signal, the Sith slammed the button and the back end of the Phantom opened up, the Jedi rushing forward and steeling himself against the bitter cold, his eyes fixed in the closed access hatch. True to Obi-Wan's word, the hatch shuddered and flew open, and Kanan grabbed hold of the open ledge and pulled himself inside, Kenobi following close behind, and closing his splayed hand, the hatch door slammed closed, the sound reverberating around them. The two men crouched close together, their breath's held as they waited and listened for alarms, or the sound of soldiers sent to investigate, but there was nothing. They were in.
"Alright," Kanan whispered. "We sneak our way to the bridge, disable the soldiers there, and-"
"Change of plans," Kenobi quickly interrupted. "I'm going to steal the ship."
"...what!?" Kanan hissed. "Are you out of your mind?! How much attention do you want to attract!"
"I want to destroy those other two freighters," he muttered, accessing the terminal on the wall and carefully memorizing the ship layout. "Don't worry, I have an idea."
"Oh, great, that makes everything better!"
"Oh!" Kenobi happily chirped. "I'm so glad it does! Come on then!" He was off before Kanan could finish rolling his eyes, and the Jedi was left with no choice but to follow the Sith Lord closely. Obi-Wan walked casually down the halls, his hands resting on the hilts of the blasters he had holstered on his hips, and Kanan strode beside him, furtively looking over his shoulder at each sound that echoed through the ship. When they crossed their first patrol of stormtroopers, Kanan quickly reached for his own blaster when the soldiers raised their weapons and commanded them to stop, but they were quickly silenced, their blasters dropped uselessly to the floor as their hands flew to their necks and they dropped to their knees.
"Hello, boys..." Obi-Wan drawled softly, sauntering to the group of five soldiers, Kanan standing back and carefully watching for other troopers. "I need something from you. I'm from Death Watch, my friend and I were sent to help guide your shipment safely to its final destination."
One of the troopers, a soldier with a single, red shoulder pauldron indicating his rank, shivered and slowly stood, his weapon in his hands but lowered. "We are...glad to have you, sir," the soldier said hesitantly, and Kanan could feel the Force rush around him, surging with cold and darkness, and he could hear soft, sweet whispers, the purr of a smooth, seductive voice that commanded obedience, promised pleasure in exchange for slavery, and he wavered, the sudden desire to submit and obey filling him. No sooner had the feeling struck him, it was gone, his mental defenses snapping into place, the voices silenced. Had he not been subject to the quiet, subtle influence of the Sith over the past few days, Kanan wouldn't have been prepared to resist him now. His training, though brutal, was effective.
"We need to be escorted to the bridge," Kenobi said, reaching out and touching the trooper's helmet. "Take us there."
"We will escort you to the bridge," the soldier said in a dull monotone, the other stromtroopers rising and surrounding the pair. "Follow me, Master." Kanan kept close to the Sith Lord as they walked with long, easy strides toward the bridge. He was, of course, familiar with the Jedi mind trick, had used it a few times himself. But this was on a whole different level. This far pushed the limits of the gentle suggestion of the Jedi. No wonder the Masters had been so afraid of this particular Sith Lord. Without morality and respect for the lives of others to hold him back, the mind's of everyone around him were Kenobi's playground.
They passed by several other patrols on the way to the bridge, most of them ignoring them, but some stopped and looked at them with interest or suspicion. A slight suggestion sent them away, and when they passed by an officer, Kenobi added him to the enthralled, and the rest of the walk to the bridge went much smoother.
The moment the doors to the bridge slid open, Obi-Wan lifted his hands, and all crew was suddenly forced to the ground, shuddering as they resisted, and screaming when pain ripped through them. A swift, silent command through the Force saw all those that suffered suddenly silent, and Kanan looked over to see one of the officers on the ground, blood pooling out of his mouth from biting right through his tongue in order to obey the command to keep quiet. Obi-Wan walked calmly to the central console, his hands running along the fine instrumentation, his eyes scanning the displays.
"There is a ship magnetized to our hull," Kenobi said casually to the officer he controlled, pointing at the barely visible blip against the might of the freighter. "Bring it into the hangar beside cargo bay three." The officer saluted and quickly rushed away to do as he was bid, barking commands to the five soldiers that stood by the door, and they quickly moved to do the bidding of their superior officer.
"Is this how you stole the Star Destroyers during the war?" Kanan asked softly as he drew closer to Kenobi, and the Sith Lord nodded. "Was it this easy then?" Kenobi smiled softly.
"It was easier, actually. This one is actually a fair bit more tricky than it looks. The Republic never fired on their own ships, but the Empire doesn't think twice. Sedition is all too common, and if it looks like something's wrong, they open fire quickly. One misstep, and we'd be running very fast."
"...and you want to steal this ship?" Kanan gasped, and slowly, Obi-Wan shook his head.
"No, I want to commandeer it. I want it to fire on the other two ships so they are forced to destroy it. We can draw fire away from the Ghost, the Umbra, and us while they're dealing with a renegade battleship." A few quick taps of his fingers on the navicomputer brought up the readings, and looking close at the information, Kenobi quietly read it, sifting through the unnecessary information before he found what he wanted. "Eadu..." he whispered. "Where the hell is Eadu?"
"Look it up later, we need to go," Kanan insisted. "The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can get Ezra off Lothal."
"Alright, alright..." Kenobi said, taking the datapad off his belt and downloading the navicomputer information to it. "Kanan, return to the Phantom," he muttered, his eyes darting over the various readings on his display. "The cargo bay is right next to the ship. The kyber crystals are there." He turned to look at the Jedi, and Kanan held his breath as when he saw two points of light visible through the dark of the Mandalorian visor. "Get those crystals on the ship."
"Kenobi, I-"
"Do as I say, Kanan, the crystals are important."
"But what about you?" Kanan said, and Kenobi drew back slightly, almost surprised by the obvious concern.
"...someone needs to begin the attack." The Jedi didn't look away, and Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "Look, I'll find a way off the ship, alright? That's the sort of diversion you need to get a clear shot at stealing the crystals and getting clear. I can give you a few minutes, but it's not going to be long before the rest of the convoy notices that something's wrong on the bridge over here. Can you do it?"
"Of course I can, I-"
"Then may the Force be with you, Kanan Jarrus. Go." Kenobi turned back to the consoles, and it was clear that the conversation was over. With a sigh, Kanan turned from the Sith Lord and ran to do as he was told, and he turned swiftly to find two of the stormtroopers following him, his own personal escort through the ship. He wondered hos long Kenobi's control could last, how far away he could be for it to be effective, and briefly wondered if he was about to meet his death at the end of a blaster. He pushed the thought away. If it came to that, he would deal with it then.
Perhaps it was because of his intense focus on the task at hand, his concentration giving him perfect clarity that made the ship seem so much smaller than it was, and it seemed almost within moments that they were in the hangar, the Specter waiting at the far end nearest the environmentally sealed doors. Just as he entered, he could feel the rumbling of plasma bolts and missles hitting the shields, each strike weakening it and bringing the ship one step closer to destruction, and though the rumbling noise, Kanan could hear..something. Something pure and clear like a soft, gentle ringing, like music, and he didn't just hear it with his ears, he felt it. The kyper crystals.
Snapping his head in the direction of the noise, he quickly ran toward the cargo bay stacked high with hundreds of thousands of crates, and he nearly turned back when he felt the ship shake violently underneath him. But the song was clearer now. Stronger, and though the crates all looked the same, Kanan knew where to find the one he was searching for. He found the section where the music was strongest, the sound resonating deep within him as he laid his hand upon the wall of crates, his eyes closed as he reached out through the Force, moving from container to container as he felt for the source of the call.
When his hand touched one of the smaller crates, the muffled sounds of explosions in the air, the jarring shaking of the ship, the voices of soldiers barking commands all seemed to fade away, the only sound, the only thing at all that Kanan could feel was the bright, clear song within the crate, so much like the one he had heard that day on Ilum when he had found the crystal that now powered his lightsaber. His soldier escort was gone, the sudden panic of having to defend the ship overriding the smooth voice within their minds, compelled now not to obey the Sith, but the Empire. Breathing deep, Kanan used the Force to tear the crate away from the others, the ones atop it moving and shifting as it slid out, and activating the crate's repulsorlift systems, Kanan rushed through the chaos of the bay with his crate pushed before him.
Even through the chaos, it didn't take long for the soldiers rushing madly through the hanger to take notice of Kanan, and before long, the Jedi found himself being shot at, red bolts of blaster fire filling the air as he dove behind his crate and drew his own blaster. A firm grip on the cart, Kanan continued to push it along, his connection to the Force greatly amplified by the close proximity to the kyber crystals, and he found that every shot he took, even the blind ones, were hitting its mark. Even still, it was more trouble than he could take, each second he spent engaging drawing more and more soldiers to the aid of their comrades. Even now, his path to the Phantom was being blocked off, soldiers gathered in a throng between him and his ship, and even if he could clear so many out of the way, it was unlikely he could get to the ship before the freighter was destroyed by the other two ships in the convoy.
This is what he got for following Sith Lords.
The loud screech of a TIE Fighter's engines powered on, and Kanan could see the fighter rise above the others, hovering in the air as the sharp whine of its weapon systems powered on, and Kanan reached for his lightsaber. In a green flash, the TIE fired, and Kanan braced himself, only to find that the concentrated plasma bolts flew right over his head and landed right in the middle of the stormtroopers that stood to block his path. Quickly, he spared a moment to look back at the TIE, and through the transparent cockpit could see the helmet of a Mandalorian, a hand up as he quickly waved, and in a flash, the fighter rocketed out of the hangar, cannons blazing as Kenobi fired out into space.
Kanan quickly pushed the crate through the smoke and over the broken, bloodied bodies, the white armor splattered with red from the pieces that lay all around them, and the remaining troopers had no time to regroup before the Jedi made it to the Phantom, unceremoniously pushing the crate up the ramp and into the small aisle of the transport. Slamming his hand upon the ramp controls, Kanan threw himself into the pilot's seat and quickly powered the ship on, activating the weapon systems as the hatch quickly slammed shut and locked. His hands on the controls, Kanan thrust the accelerator forward, the ship rising and launching from the hangar before any form of reenforcement could arrive.
When the Phantom shot out of the ship, Kanan was met with an array of destruction, a vast array of burning debris and concentrated fire from the large, Imperial ships and the swarming TIE Fighters that seemed to fill space like insects. He hadn't seen such a thing since the Clone Wars, and while this was, at the end of the day, a very small battle, it certainly didn't feel like it when he was part of the much, much smaller force. As soon as he was away from the Imperial ship, Kanan joined the fray, opening fire with the Phantom's modest cannons and shooting into the swarm of TIEs up ahead, striking one of them, the ship exploding into a ball of flames, and the other ships scattered before quickly forming up and chasing their new target.
Kanan banked laft hard, the small transport quickly changing directions, and the Jedi's jaw dropped as he looked upon the scene before him. The Imperial ship he had been on not five minutes ago was breaking apart as it was struck, debris flying everywhere as flames roared in like geysers out from the burning wreckage of the ship. One of the other ships already lay in ruin, and the third was remorselessly firing at its sister ship while surrounding TIE fighters swiftly evaded the wreckage as they chased the Ghost and the Umbra as they let loose upon the remaining ship. Suddenly, chaos broke out among the TIE Fighters, and the swarm disbursed as three of their number exploded, one of the fighters tearing away from the group, swiftly changing directions, and racing toward the others, green shots firing from its forward cannons at the Imperial fighters.
Kanan rolled his eyes, pressed the acceleration forward, and rushed to join his Sith companion in taking out the ships that were harassing the Ghost and the Umbra. As he drew closer, shooting one of the TIEs that hung on the Ghost's tail, the shipboard com crackled to life, and Kanan smiled when he heard Hera's voice, a voice he would never grow tired of hearing.
"What took you so long!" she admonished, but Kanan could hear laughter in her voice, watched as she brought the ship into an upward spiral and swiftly dove, drawling close to the ship and firing the ship's torpedoes at the swiftly breaking hull. Between the Ghost, the Umbra, and stray fire from the TIEs, the ship was quickly breaking apart. Kanan followed a ways after her as soon as the TIE Fighters filed in behind her, picking them off one by one.
"Sorry, love," Kanan drawled. "Kenobi had a change of plans.
"Seems like an idiot risk to me," she mumbled, flying close to the massive Imperial freighter to discourage the TIEs from shooting at them. "But I'll say, that was some stunt you pulled. How did you turn the ship against the others?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kanan muttered, pulling up on the yoke when the targeting system began blaring a warning. He was being targeted, his sensors indicating that he had five fighters on his tail. Cursing under his breath, he pulled further away into open space, giving him more room to maneuver the unwieldy Phantom.
The alarms suddenly ceased, the point on the scanned blinking away as one of the ships behind him exploded and a TIE fighter raced bast him, suddenly shot upwards to loop around, and swiftly dove, so fast that Kanan didn't have time to veer his own ship out of the way as the renegade fighter cut him off on its dive, and from underneath him, the TIE shot up under its brothers, the remainder of the ships following the Phantom bursting into flames. Before him, the viewport was filled with bright, blinding light as the final Imperial ship exploded in a blaze of reds and oranges and yellows, the Ghost and the Umbra speeding away from the wreckage beside each other.
Kanan breathed a sigh of relief as the mission was accomplished, weeks of waiting finally paying off with the destruction of this important convoy, and as an added bonus, they had recovered the rare kyber crystals instead of destroying them. Kanan had no idea what they were going to do with them, but it felt good to free them from the evil intent the Empire surely had for them. He brought the Phantom in close to the Ghost and prepared to dock with it, his eyes focused out the viewport as Hera brought him in, watching as the renegade TIE continued to flip and dive, quickly changing directions and corkscrewing out of danger, only to turn on its targets and destroy them, the final ship exploding into flames as it tried to escape.
"That Kenobi in there?" Hera asked over the com as the Phantom was latched into place.
"Yeah. The show-off just can't keep his hands off other people's stuff."
"Hey, so long as it's the Empire's stuff and not mine, I'm not complaining." Hera whistled, low and long. "I'll tell you this, though. He's the best damn pilot I have ever seen."
"...oh, Kriffing Hell!"