Chapter 15: Gathering Forces
"I still don't see why we have to do this," Ezra muttered, his arms crossed over his chest as he sat in the one of the passenger chairs of the Phantom. "If we just dumped the Phantom like Hera said, we wouldn't need to go down to this asteroid with the nasties on it!"
Kanan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told you already, Ezra. The Inquisitor is after us. I can sense him, which means he can sense us. We stay on the Ghost, and we jeopardize the mission. And you have nothing to worry about," he said, a reassuring smile on his lips. "I'll be right there beside you. I've got an idea. Something I saw Obi-Wan do the last time we were here."
"Oh." Ezra frowned. "Hey, Kanan?"
"Hmm?"
"Weren't you staggeringly drunk the last time you were here?" Kanan groaned.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Are you sure you saw Obi-Wan do something? Or were you just imagining it?"
"Look, I know what I saw because he did a large scale, evil version of exactly what I have been trying to teach you," Kanan growled. "He controlled the beasts on that rock, he connected with them. I've been trying to teach you to do the same, and today, you're going to do it so we can survive this mess."
Ezra looked at the Jedi, completely horrified. "Kanan, we're being hunted by the Inquisitor, is this really the best time for a lesson?"
"No," Kanan said casually, "but it's learning the way you do best. By surviving." Ezra groaned loudly, got up from his seat, and walked to stand behind the pilot's chair, his eyes fixed out the viewport as Kanan skillfully flew them through the asteroid field.
"Why come back here, huh?" Ezra asked quietly, shivering as he thought of what awaited them on the asteroid. He hadn't seen the creatures, but he listened to Sabine talk about it, the little Mandalorian explaining in vivid detail about the trial she and Hera had faced. It was...a nightmare, one he knew still frightened the young Mandalorian, though she would never admit it. "We could go literally anywhere else in the galaxy, so why."
"We can't go anywhere, Ezra," Kanan gently, patiently explained. "Open space will see us shot down, we go to a planet we're familiar with and we'll only drag the Empire there in force. And believe me, two Jedi are going to bring out the big guns." His hands tightened on the yoke. "No, we need somewhere we're familiar with, but they aren't. Somewhere remote. Somewhere where we have the advantage, and somewhere they can't bring in their big ships." He shrugged. "The asteroid belt will limit the size of ship they can safely pilot through, which should limit their forces, and if we can get control of the beasts in the cave..."
"So...we're luring them into a trap where they're going to be eaten?"
"Eaten, yes," Kanan said, nodding. "Eaten or mauled. All we need to do is make sure that doesn't happen to us."
"...if the Inquisitor's with them, Kanan, some animals aren't going to be able to take him down."
"No, but it will give us a better chance." He tilted the nose of the Phantom down when he saw the asteroid below them. "If we can survive long enough, Kenobi's coming to help. All we need to do is survive..." Ezra swallowed hard as Kanan piloted the ship down near the asteroid, the abandoned base coming into view, and the Phantom flew along the ground and right into the open maw of the hangar turned cave, the home of the beasts that inhabited the rock.
"I-I can't do this!" Ezra cried nervously as the Phantom was swallowed by the darkness of the cave. "Kanan, I'm afraid, I-"
"Everyone's afraid, Ezra," the Jedi said as he landed the Phantom among the rocks and rubble of the abandoned hangar. "Admitting it, though...that isn't easy. All you have to do now is confront your fear and overcome it. You can't become a Jedi until you do."
"Yeah, great, no problem..." Ezra muttered, and Kanan rose from the seat, patted the boy on the back, and opened the back hatch, and the two Jedi stepped out into darkness punctuated by glowing yellow eyes and the sounds of the creatures as they prowled and hissed, carefully examining their prey. Kanan climbed up the ladder on the side of the ship, hie eye on Ezra as he stood on top of the transport and disengaged the magnetic lock on the tracking device that had affixed to its hull. He frowned, turning the tracker over. Such a small thing caused such a big problem, a thing that only compounded itself with the knowledge that an Inquisitor was on their tracks.
Not just any Inquisitor. The Inquisitor. The Grand Inquisitor. He didn't get to that position by being a nice guy. This man was strong in the Dark Side, patient and cruel, and unquestionably stronger than Kanan was. He knew his every move, understood Jedi lightsaber combat, could tell who trained him just by observing the way he fought. True, he had run when faced with the awe-inspiring might of Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, but really, who wouldn't? This Inquisitor had probably slain a hundred Jedi, maybe more, and Kanan wouldn't soon forget what it was like to see the body of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli hanging on the wall in that cell. The Inquisitor may well have been responsible for that as well.
The asteroid and the beasts that lived upon it were Kanan's bets bet, so far as he had concerned, and he was banking on the strong inclination he felt within Ezra to bond with others to save the day, at least until Obi-Wan showed up to do the dirty work of murder. Kanan had a great deal of skill in the Jedi art of animal friendship as well, and were he to play his cards right, the creatures that were slowly circling them now would prove to be allies against the Imperial storm that was coming. True, the Inquisitor had the same abilities and the benefit of being fully trained, so far as Kanan could tell. The Dark Sider would certainly be able to control the beasts as well, though Kanan knew that the ability was inherently different, and it was in this difference where the Jedi held the advantage.
All Kanan and Ezra had to do was connect with the creatures, calm them, sooth them with the Force, work in harmony with the natural flow of the beasts. It was not so with the Dark Side, the ability there being one of domination and control, not unity, a thing that was, by its nature, a much more difficult thing to do. He's have to fight against the beasts' nature, not work alongside it, dominate its mind, bend its will, and that was no easy feat. Kenobi could pull it off. Hell, Kenobi did pull it off, and he did so with such success that a mighty rancor was forever changed, dominated, made docile and tame, affectionate even, unless its Master willed it otherwise. Obi-Wan had pushed past the initial domination and settled into something of a dark and beautiful peace with the creature, but to build such a bond would have taken years. The Inquisitor didn't have the benefit of time, and the skill was a difficult one. Kanan felt it unlikely that these creatures would be used against him and Ezra.
No, it was far more likely that the Inquisitor would simply kill the beasts, and that wouldn't be a difficult thing to do with an opponent that wielded a lightsaber. With any luck, strength in number could overwhelm the Inquisitor, buy them time for Kenobi to arrive, and hopefully, they wouldn't be slain in the process.
That was assuming, of course, that they didn't get eaten first.
The beasts prowled around them, far more skittish than they had been the first time Kanan had seen them, perhaps a result of Kenobi's savage assault against them, but they were growing bold, hungry, violent, a savage frenzy whipped up around them because of Ezra. The boy was afraid. Terrified. So much so that the Force swirled and rushed with tension and cold, no vestige remaining of the calm, still waters it should have been, and it was stirring the beasts into a frenzy.
"Ezra, focus!" Kanan shouted, jumping down from the top of the shuttle and landing beside Ezra, his hands extended before him as he projected calm through the Force at the beasts, but it had little effect. The beasts were keyed into Ezra's disturbed presence, and they could focus on little else. One of the creatures snarled and hissed and swiftly approached, and Kanan extended his hand toward it and reached out, the beast growling dangerously, but slowly backing away, it's glowing eyes enraged and cautious. "Let go, Ezra!"
"I can't!"
"You can!" Kanan asserted. "Don't be afraid, let go of your fear!"
"I-I'm not afraid of them!" the boy said frantically, waving his hand toward the creatures, and Kanan stepped closer to him, putting himself between the boy and the beasts.
"I know..." the Jedi said softly. "Confront your fears, Ezra, face them, accept them. Make them a part of you, and they will never be able to control you." Ezra looked up at his teacher, his eyes wide, and he swallowed hard and nodded, his eyes closing as he took a deep, shaking breath. He was not calm, and he was consumed with fear and concern, and Kanan knew exactly why that was. The boy hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't afraid of the beasts. He wasn't. What plagued him was something deep, something that had sat and festered for years, something that he had pushed away until today, when he had been forced to confront it.
The fate of his parents.
The Rodian they had rescued had once, long ago, been a friend of the Bridger family, had spent time with young Ezra, had been silently supportive of his mother and father's broadcasts against the Empire, and when they had been found out, when the family was suddenly in danger, the Rodian abandoned them, refused to render assistance for fear of being caught himself, and as a result, young Ezra found himself an orphan, alone in the world with nowhere to turn to. Ezra was resentful and angry, and when he had found out the full depths of the Rodian's betrayal today, he had advocated throwing the creature out of the airlock. But worst about it all, was in the Rodian's cybernetic, disassociated state, he had mentioned something about Ezra's parents, something that made the boy believe that maybe, just maybe, they were alive.
It was tearing the boy apart.
"I-I don't know!" Ezra cried frantically after a moment of silence, the beasts snarling and hissing as they drew closer and closer. "I don't know what I'm afraid of, I-"
"Yes you do, Ezra!" Kanan swiftly interrupted, his voice as calm and steady and commanding as he could make it. "You have always known! You've never run from anything in your life, Ezra, don't run from this now!"
And he didn't. His shoulders tense, his eyes shut tight, his body shaking in fear and strain, Ezra quietly said, "I'm afraid...of what happened to my parents, I'm afraid of knowing what happened..." Ezra gasped softly, his body suddenly relaxing as he filled with sudden warmth, and he felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted, like something within him tightly coiled had suddenly released. Breathing came easier to him now, and he could feel the presence of Kanan beside him, calm and brave and reliable, could sense the teeming lives of the beasts that surrounded them, could even feel, somewhere far off, the cold, dark ball of hatred and rage swiftly drawing closer, the same presence they had felt before at the Spire, and again that evening on Lothal. The Inquisitor. He was coming closer, and he'd be here soon. When Ezra opened his eyes, he felt calm, at peace, one with the Force that flowed all around them, and the snarling, prowling beasts sat, staring at the two Jedi, not with hunger as before, but with kinship.
"I-I did this?" Ezra asked softly, and Kanan lightly patted him on the shoulder and knelt upon the ground, his eyes closed in meditation.
"You let go and allowed yourself to connect. It's a powerful thing. The Force that flows within them is the same that flows through you and me. We are all connected. Everything that lives is as one within the Force." Ezra knelt beside Kanan, mimicking him as best as he was able.
"Even Kenobi?" Ezra quietly asked. "Even the Inquisitors?"
"...yes, even them." Kanan sighed deeply. "Anger and hatred and resentment has made them...different," he said softly, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Their emotions keep them isolated, not from the Force, but from others. They are bitter and angry, they hate and look down on others, they see themselves as superior because of their power...so they are alone. Which makes it even worse. It's a cycle, Ezra, and they're trapped within it." Kanan sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter how open you are if the path before you is closed."
"You can force the path to open then," Ezra said after a moment of consideration. "That's what Sabine would do, she's just blow up any obstacle in her way." Kanan chuckled softly, his hand extended as he silently issued a command to the beasts, and quietly, they moved to sit behind the Jedi, their glowing eyes focused on the entrance to their lair.
"You're right, that is what Sabine would do," Kanan said. "But forcing a path where there is none, fighting against the will of the being that blocked it to begin with...that's the way of the Dark Side, and that's a very different thing from what we're doing now."
Ezra wasn't sure he understood, but he nodded anyway, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing, on the feel of the creatures he was connected with, on the elevated beat of his heart, on the calm and peace that Kanan exuded. In time, he'd understand. In time, he'd learn to be just like Kanan, his wise and fearless teacher. But for now, he was content to feel so one with the warmth of the energy that surrounded him now, though his thoughts continued to drift toward the fast approaching cold. It would be here soon.
Soon.
The Grand Inquisitor wasted no expense in this matter, let no resource go unused, bore the weight of his influence upon the Imperial command, reluctant to do as he wished, but they complies anyway. He was fortunate in this. The Inquisitors had no true authority over the Imperial troops, as they existed outside the chain of command, but they were so fearsome, so powerful, that their presence was often enough to cull any resistance to them. Not so with Governor Pryce, the overseer of the Lothal sector. However, the governor happened to be on Coruscant, invited to attend the Empire Day festivities alongside the Emperor himself, a reward for her continued good work in her piece of the Outer Rim.
In her stead, Minister Maketh Tua would directly govern in her absence, and she had neither the strength of will nor the authority to resist a demand from the fearsome soldiers of the Inquisitorious. Furthermore, Admiral Thrawn backed all his actions, and while the Chiss was on Coruscant himself and unable to render aid, he had sent a directive to ISB Agent Kallus instructing him to lend his complete support to the Inquisitor in his hunt for the insurgents that attacked Lothal, especially given how real, living Jedi were a part of this rebel cell. Especially since this rebel cell had been directly linked to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Inquisitor didn't believe that Kenobi was involved in this attack, though the Sith had a history of attacking on Empire Day, and Thrawn agreed that Kenobi was not part of the Lothal attack. Too quickly, in fact, which made the Inquisitor believe that Thrawn knew something he didn't, something the Chiss wasn't telling him, something that he was keeping very close to his chest. It was...frustrating, yes, but he had come to learn that the Admiral did everything for a reason, and if he was not being forthcoming, it had been carefully calculated. Regardless, Thrawn believed that Obi-Wan would arrive to lend assistance, and he had directed the Inquisitor to take careful note of the scene, observe when he came, how he arrived, with who, everything, and then he was instructed to leave. The information was prize enough, and the goal was survival, not victory. Not yet. Not until it was assured.
And if Obi-Wan didn't show up, well, two dead Jedi was no small victory.
His Master would be pleased, and Lord Vader so rarely was.
The Inquisitor had other ambitions, of course. While Thrawn was dangerously clever, he, like so many others, was blind, ignorant of the Force and its power. He didn't truly understand the threat that Obi-Wan Kenobi possessed. Perhaps one day he would come to understand, but that would only come from a very personal brush of the Sith Lord's powers, and by then, it would be too late. Thrawn would be dead or enslaved, and gone would be the Empire's master tactician. As always, it would be left to the Force to end the traitorous Lumis, and so the Inquisitor came prepared. He had orders to retreat, yes, but he would not leave without a fight, and he brought an arsenal fearsome enough to give Kenobi pause. It was not what Thrawn ordered, no, but the Admiral's carefully made plans wouldn't matter if Kenobi lay dead.
He couldn't kill the Sith Master, no, but in his experience, there was very little that could withstand an Imperial bombardment. In any case, it was worth a shot. The worst that could happen was...
He didn't want to think about that. Perhaps retreat was not such a terrible idea.
When the rebels they had been tracking made a sudden drop out of hyperspace, the Inquisitor followed suit and tracked their presence to an asteroid field in a remote system, a vast and dangerous expanse of space that prevented him from bringing the Star Destroyer Relentless too close. The field would have to be navigated in smaller ships, as the signal from the bridge of the Perilous was unclear, giving them a wide search area among dozens of planetoids. Disembarking on an Imperial shuttle and followed by a squadron of transports carrying stormtroopers, the Inquisitor opened himself to the Force and felt for the Jedi, allowing their pull to guide him right to them, their location identified on a particularly large asteroid in the belt, a body of rock containing an old base dating back to the Clone Wars.
He had them. He could feel them.
The shuttle landed on the long airstrip on the asteroid, a remnant of the base that once stood on the planet that used to be here. The ramp extended, and a compliment of stormtroopers marched out, blaster rifles in hand and ready, the Grand Inquisitor following behind them and observing his surroundings, taking in the bright sun in the distance, the asteroids that floated in th sky above them like so many starfighters, the groaning hiss of the transports as they set down behind the shuttle, their hatches opening and soldiers poured out, quickly falling in line with the others. They flanked the sides of the airstrip, their lines straight and even, and the Inquisitor walked between them, his eyes focused straight ahead at the opening of the heavy door leading into what was once the closed hangar, opened like the maw of a cave and just as dark. He breathed deeply, the air dry and burning his thin nostrils. It smelled like anticipation. Like focus. Like fear.
The stormtroopers filed in behind him as he passed, their weapons raised, the butts of the rifles braced against their shoulders as they advanced, the searchlight affixed to their blasters switching on as they entered the dark of the hangar, though the Inquisitor could see clearly without it. He was a creature of darkness, and the Force gave him his sight. There was darkness here, not just in the lack of light, but in the Force. Something unsteady and disruptive, something that craved and wanted for power, something, something...
The Inquisitor saw them before the troops did. The Jedi. Kneeling upon the ground, their eyes closed, their faces calm and peaceful in meditation. And surrounding them...beasts. Perhaps twenty creatures, their sleek skin in the darks of black and blue and purple, their eyes blazing yellow in the low lighting, the pack just sitting around the Jedi, a reflection of the humans in their calm. Just silent and watching, waiting...
"Sir!" one of the troopers called, his blaster raising and priming, his squad following suit as they planted their feet and stood their ground. They didn't manage to get off a single shot before the Jedi raised an arm each, not opening their eyes, not saying a word as they pointed toward the stormtroopers, and with a piercing, collective roar, the beasts rushed forward, weaving through plasma bolts as the troopers opened fire too late to stop the wave from crashing into them. Screams intermingled with snarls and growls and short, aggressive howls and barks, the air alight with blaster fire as the stormtroopers began to retreat, raining suppressing fore on the creatures that now ripped into their comrades that had stood on the front line. In the span of seconds, it was chaos.
With the wave of predators tearing into the stormtroopers, the soldiers turned their sights from the Jedi to the perceived more immediate threat, their focus less on the death of the two humans and more on not getting mauled and devoured by the carnivorous quadrupeds. Out of the corner of his eye, the Inquisitor saw a lone beast pounce at him from the shadows, and with a careless wave of his hand, he sent the beast slamming back against one of the old, derelict structures that once served a purpose here in the Republic hangar. The creature sharply whimpering when it struck, and it fell silent with a loud, wet snap as its spine was broken.
"This was your plan?" the Inquisitor asked, his eyes narrowed as he slowly approached the Jedi, reaching behind him to grab the circular lightsaber hilt from its mounting on his back. "You meant to lure us here so that your beasts may do your dirty work for you?" He chuckled, a cold, sinister sound in the air when the older of the two Jedi opened his eyes and looked back at him defiantly. Another of the beasts leapt at him, this time from behind, and the Inquisitor quickly reeled around and bore his lightsaber down upon the hapless creature, the beast uttering not a sound as blazing plasma seared through skin and muscle and bone. He turned around quickly to find the Jedi rushing toward him, his blue lightsaber blazing, and with a relaxed, practiced ease, the Inquisitor's blade met the Jedi's.
It only took a moment for the Inquisitor to realize that the man was much improved from the first time they had met, his movements more fluid, his step more assured, his blade work more precise, more focused, more varied. Gone were the constraints of Soresu, the form that had seen him meet his defeat on the Spire, and in its place was something new, something far changed from his Master's style, which he had favored before to a ridiculous degree. He had been practicing. More than that, he had found a teacher. A new Master. The Inquisitor couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he effortlessly dodged out of the way of the Jedi's strikes, his red blade meeting the low sweeps and hard downward strikes, the stabs meant to kill, not disable. There was potential in this Jedi. With the right training, he could be strong.
But it was all for nothing. Today, this Jedi would die.
Kanan dodged out of the way of the red blade as it quickly cut across the air, swiftly changed directions as he stabbed in, and Kanan only just managed to bring his blade to meet it, sparks flying as the lightsabers clashed again and again. The Inquisitor was bold, self-assured, already confident in his victory, the red blade held lightly, delicately in his hand, his other hand tucked behind his back, his shoulders relaxed and at ease. Kanan, on the other hand, was giving it everything he had, his grip switching from one hand for more reach to two hands for stronger strikes, but the Inquisitor met each blow almost effortlessly. Despite his training sessions with Obi-Wan, it wasn't enough, the practice too infrequent, his teacher too unavailable, his ability to practice on his own severely limited. He was still a long ways off defeating this Inquisitor.
He could feel Ezra through the Force, the boy in careful command of the beasts that occupied the stormtroopers, his confidence in his Master absolute, and Kanan's eyes narrowed in focus. He didn't need to beat the Inquisitor. He didn't need to kill him or disarm him, he only needed to drag the fight out, extend it for as long as he was able to keep the Dark Sider's attention away from his student. He only needed to create an opening, a chance to escape, and failing that, he only needed to hold off long enough for Kenobi to get here. If he got here. And if not...well, at least the rest of the Ghost crew was safe. He had done all he could, and he trusted Ezra to survive.
Kanan's hopes rose when he heard the sound of incoming ships, a wry smirk on his face as the stormtroopers outside the hangar began shouting, and those hopes were dashed when he heard the loud, mechanical sound of heavy steps and churning gears, all too familiar and always unwelcome. Walkers. AT-ST's from the sound of it. Imperial reenforcements, not his own. His heart pounding in his chest, Kanan swung his saber low, high, stabbed forward, swiped down, the Inquisitor's blade arching up to meet his own, the surrounding area lighting up with the clash of plasma and a shower of sparks. Years and years of practice coupled with his own swift reflexed made Kanan extremely quick on the draw, and faster than the Inquisitor could see, Kanan drew the blaster strapped to his leg and fired a shot at the Inquisitor's face.
He sensed the Jedi's intent the second before he pulled the trigger, and the Inquisitor quickly jerked his head out of the way, the superheated plasma grazing him on the side of the neck, singing his high collar and searing a black line of burning flesh across his throat. He hissed, his yellow eyes narrowing with pain, and with pain came anger, rage, hatred, all the things that fueled him, all the things that made him strong. He felt the Dark Side open up, cold as ice and howling in fury, and he drank deep of that well, just as his Masters did, just as he was taught to, and with the claws of the Dark Side grasping him, he took the plunge into the wrath of the Force, the dominion of his Masters, his powers amplified beyond anything he had ever felt. He may not have been Sith, but in that moment, he felt like one.
He was invincible, cloaked in the power of the Dark Side where no light could touch him, and with a savage grasp, he tore the offending blaster out of the Jedi's hand, the weapon flying far out of reach. The Jedi's eyes widened for just a moment in surprise, but it was enough. The Inquisitor reached out with the Force and took hold of Kanan, throwing him back hard against the dented metal of a ruined structure, the entire metallic monolithe shaking and groaning with the impact, and with a flick of his wrist, the Inquisitor slammed the Jedi against the wall, over and over again until the durasteel caved and the Jedi's body went limp, the lightsaber cutting off and dropping from his hands when he was released, and Kanan laid motionless upon the ground. The Inquisitor softly begun to laugh, the Force snarling in feral wrath as he felt the Padawan's focus break, his control over the beasts released as he screamed for his fallen Master.
"Your meager training is nothing in the face of true power..." the Inquisitor said as he slowly advanced on the unconscious Jedi, reveling in the anticipation of dealing death to his enemy when the Jedi's lightsaber moved and flew to the Padawan's hand, the blade igniting as the boy charged to stand between the Inquisitor and his Master. The Dark Sider rolled his eyes. This boy was as nothing.
"I won't let you near him!" Ezra shouted, pointing the lightsaber at the advancing Inquisitor, and a moment later, Ezra found the blade torn from his hand, flying to the Inquisitor's grasp. Fear gripped the boy as he looked at the menacing creature, his previous focus gone, fled in the face of his panic and fear. Slowly, Ezra began to retreat, the Inquisitor following him with both blades held relaxed and easy at his sides, the blazing tips burning into the ground as he advanced.
"Your devotion to your Master is admirable," the Inquisitor said in a low, menacing voice, his dark tones tinged with cruel amusement and anticipation and bloodlust. "But it will not save you. Nothing can." With a gesture of his hand, he sent the boy flying back, not to harm, but simply to toy with him. He was defenseless, without a weapon, without a Master, without the training necessary to do anything.
"Get back!" Ezra snarled, quickly scrambling to his feet, his panic and fear and encroaching grief turning quickly to anger, and the Inquisitor simply laughed at him, which only served to stoke the flames that were steadily growing within him.
"Good, good!" the Inquisitor said in a breathless voice, his body shuddering as he breathed in the swirling dark around him. "Unleash your anger, and I will teach you what your Master could not," he said, his voice tinged with sinister laughter.
"You have nothing to teach me!" Ezra cried, his anger spiking as he stood tall and defiant, a gesture that only seemed to make the Inquisitor more pleased, his already powerful presence swelling and churning in vicious waves and currents.
"You're right..." the Inquisitor said softly. "The darkness is too strong for you, orphan," he spat, drawing on the fears he sensed within the boy and rewarded with a snarl of savage anger, of fear and desperation. "It will consume you, tear you apart, drown you..."
"No..."
"Your Master will die."
"No!"
"Your friends will die," he continued, drawing ever closer to the boy as he pushed him, the child already standing on a knife's edge in the Force with nothing but a fall int darkness awaiting him. "Everything you hoped for will be lost. This is the way your story ends. Not a Jedi. Not a rebel. Simply nothing."
He had given the boy the final push, and without his Master, without the training to resist, without being fully prepared for what he was faced with, Ezra fell, reached out, and grabbed hold of the darkness as it rushed swiftly toward him. Power surged through him, savage and uncontrolled, a feral beast with a lust for blood that ripped and tore at everything in its path, including the boy that summoned it. His hands shaking as his arms tensed, Ezra's hands twitched and tensed, his fingers curling inwards as if he were closing his fist around something, and the beasts that rushed about the cavern leaping at stormtroopers and tearing limbs off the fallen suddenly scattered. The wind rushed, howling in Ezra's ears as his eyes narrowed with rage and fury, rocks and debris scattered about his feet suddenly rising up with the power of the Force that surrounded him.
An ear-splitting roar echoed about the cavern, and from behind Ezra rose a creature, one of the beasts that prowled the cavern but far bigger, monestrous in size and standing twice the teenager's height, Ezra's fury filling it as its will became one with the young Force sensitive. With a sweeping gesture, the enraged Ezra pointed his hand at the Inquisitor, and with a mighty roar, the beast charged toward him, its fangs bared and its claws sharp as it swiped at the pale man. His will expressed, the darkness suddenly left Ezra, poured into the creature that now executed his command, and deprived of his powers, Ezra dropped to his knees, and darkness took him.
Kanan awoke to the sound of savage, vicious howls, the calls and commands of stormtroopers, the heavy steps of the walkers and the thrumming of swiftly moving lightsabers. He groaned and opened his eyes and saw nothing but faint red and blue light, becoming more clear and focused the longer he stared at it. There was the Inquisitor, his double sided red lightsaber spinning at a rapid rate as he athletically moved around one of the largest, most savage beasts he had ever seen, the creature hissing and cautious as it batted at the Inquisitor, only to have its mighty paw struck by one of the lightsabers. One of those lightsabers was Kanan's, and the Jedi groaned as he rolled over, his head pounding as he tried to push himself to his feet and failed. He only found the strength to move when he caught sight of Ezra laying unmoving upon the ground, and with his heart humming in his chest, Kanan staggered to the boy's side.
He dropped to his knees beside his student and carefully took him in his arms, the boy's skin cold to the touch, but his neck pulsing with the beat of his heart. He was alive. He quickly patted the boy's cheek, called his name, and with the quick, sudden contact, Ezra regained consciousness, his movements slow and sluggish.
"Kanan?" he softly groaned, his bleary eyes struggling to focus on the Jedi's face. "What happened? I-I feel so cold..." he said weakly, shivering, and Kanan held him tighter as if it would help warm him, though the Jedi knew it wouldn't. This was a cold that came from within.
"I know," Kanan said reassuringly. "It's okay. We're leaving." Kanan looked over his shoulder when he heard a loud, feral scream, and he watched in horror as the Inquisitor drove the two blades through the beast's forehead, it's eyes slowly closing as it sagged on its feet for just a moment before it collapsed, falling to its side instantly dead. They were running out of time. Kanan looked toward the Phantom, only to see stormtroopers, lots of them, between himself and the shuttle. Their exit was blocked. Their limited time was up. The stormtroopers slowly advanced, circling the Jedi and the Padawan, both too weak to fight, both weaponless, and both quickly trying to figure a way out of the situation.
"You may very well be the last Master and Padawan pair of Jedi left in the galaxy," the Inquisitor said as he slowly approached, the red and blue blades blazing in his hand, and Kanan reached out with the Force to take his weapon back, only to find himself pushed hard to the floor. "None of that now, Jedi, it's pointless to struggle." The Inquisitor grinned wickedly, showing his pointed teeth. "I find myself debating what to do with you. You are rebels, and your capture and interrogation will lead us to your friends and the rest of the rebels."
"You can't make us talk," Ezra said weakly, and the Inquisitor laughed as the sounds of blaster fire echoed through the cavern from the walkers out on the landing strip, the stormtroopers shouting commands over the sound of screeching ships and deafening roars. The Inquisitor craned his ears to listen and frowned. Not his ships.
"It seems your rebel friends have found us, which means we are out of time." The lightsabers twirled in his hands. "Which makes your lives pointless." He smiled wickedly. "Before I kill you, shall I tell you how with story ends?"
"Oh, please do." The Inquisitor sucked in a sharp breath. The voice was close. Very close, the soft, accented tone spoken through a speaker on a mask or helmet, and the Inquisitor looked up to see a Mandalorian sitting carelessly on the protruding ledge of a rock formation, his black and red armor woven seamlessly with black robes, his helmet adorned with sweeping horns, and through the visor, he could see the blazing glow of golden eyes.
Darth Lumis.
The Inquisitor staggered backwards, all his previous strength, all his might in the Force from before suddenly vanishing as if it were nothing more than an illusion created with smoke and light. How had he gotten in here without anyone seeing him?
"I do so love stories..." he drawled carelessly, and though the Inquisitor found himself too afraid to look away from the Sith Lord, he could see the Jedi out of the corner of his eye, a triumphant look on his face. "My favorite stories are revenge stories." He tilted his head. "Do you like those, Inquisitor? I've got one for you. A story about a Sith Lord and his Jedi lover, a dear and faithful friend since childhood, and now...she is gone." He rose from his seated position, standing on the edge and looking down at the closely huddled, injured Jedi, the terrified Inquisitor, the mass of stormtroopers. They looked so small, so insignificant, so lifeless.
"Stolen," the Sith Lord snarled, his lightsaber flying to his hand and igniting in a burst of bloody red, "by you, Grand Inquisitor, and the price for her life has yet to be paid."
Thrawn's plan suddenly seemed like a very good one, and with a quick command to his troops, the Inquisitor turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, the stormtroopers following close behind, and they quickly stopped, their way blocked by three figures. A Mandalorian warrior, his armor black and red to match his King's, a droid, humanoid in appearance, protocol in design were it not for the intimidating assassin rifle in its grasp, and a rancor, its skin white as fine ash, its head topped with a crown of vicious, sweeping horns, and a helmet on its head, it's eyes a glowing blaze of red and yellow that looked Sith in appearance.
The droid pointed the rifle at the group. "Greeting: you're all going to die, meatbags," it said in a cheerful chirp, and without wasting a moment more, the droid and the Mandalorian opened fire, the rancor howling in fury as a large, savage claw swept through the mass of stormtroopers, the impact killing several instantly and sending even more flying, the very unfortunate impaled and stuck on its sharp claws. The Inquisitor drew up his lightsabers, ready to deflect the shots from the rapidly firing blasters but he was quickly distracted by the swiping claws of the rancor, the savage, uncontrolled beast suddenly seeming very focused in its rage when its puplis narrowed into slits in the sea of gold and red, a savage roar shaking the ground of the cavern as ti rushed straight for the Inquisitor, heedlessly knocking stormtroopers out of the way in its wrath.
Obi-Wan dropped from his ledge and landed in a crouch beside Kanan and Ezra, the two Jedi worn and beaten, and with a groan, Kanan rose to his feet, picking up his student and carrying him like a sack upon his shoulder. "What took you so long?" Kanan asked Obi-Wan as he limped toward the Phantom, the way to the ship now clear to them as the stormtroopers struggled and died against the deadly accurate shots of the Mandalorian and the crazed, joyous laughter of the droid as its rifle turned bodies into hole-ridden, gory messes.
"Yoda was having a nap, it couldn't be helped," he said softly. "And I was a very long way from here. This asteroid is highly inconvenient, you should have chosen a better place to be stranded."
"That's what I said..." Ezra wheezed, his breathing labored and heavy as Kanan laid him on the floor inside the Phantom.
"Wait for my signal before you fly out of here," Obi-Wan said, quickly moving to the controls and punching in something that Kanan couldn't see. "I brought an escort to take you safely out of here, I'm patching you in to their com channel," he explained, answering Kanan's unasked question.
"An escort?" he muttered, leaning down to look out the viewport at the raging rancor, its wide, sweeping swipes taking out rocks and people and old structures indiscriminately as it pursued the Inquisitor, the man swinging his lightsabers simply to keep it away, not attack it as he escaped. Kanan winced as his blue blade struck across the rancor's arm just as his clawed hand connected with the Inquisitor, sending the pale man flying and skidding along the ground toward the open maw of the cave. There was a black, smoking line across the rancor's arm, but the beast seemed to take no notice as it charged after the escaping prey.
"Kenobi, you're rancor, he's-"
"He's fine," the Sith said swiftly. "It's carbon scoring, nothing more. I'll scrub him when we're done here and he'll be good as new." Kenobi stepped away from the console and quickly headed out the back of the ship. "Your escort are flying the ships Penumbra and Antumbra. Follow their commands and you'll be fine." He pointed toward the Jedi. "Don't leave before I tell you to."
Kanan nodded. "...hey, Kenobi?" The Sith Lord turned his head and looked at the Jedi through the slits of the visor. "...the Inquisitor has my lightsaber." Obi-Wan scoffed.
"You are so demanding. You better be waiting for me naked on your bed and ready for me to take you when I get back." Ezra snorted with weak laughter, and Kanan could only flash him a slight smile.
"I'll see what I can do."
Without another word, Kenobi raced away from the Phantom and disappeared into the darkness.
The Inquisitor ran outside, blinded by the sun and squinting against it. His breathing hard and his heart racing as his legs carried him quickly across the air strip toward the shuttles. His vision slowly returned, and blinking, he looked up just in time to see one of the walkers burst into flames, sway on it's feet, and come crashing to the ground. The other walker lay in a heap near the shuttle, its heavy body crushing two of the transports that had ferried the stormtroopers in, though the shuttle seemed in tact. Up in the sky above him were two X-wing starships, black as night and accented with blue and green, their engines screeching as they spun and wove around the asteroids so effortlessly the task seemed effortless, like a child could do it. They flipped upside down as they looped around, diving in fast toward the asteroid on an attack vector.
The Inquisitor sprinted toward the shuttle, jolted into action when he heard the roar of the rancor and the screech of the engines, and he suddenly stopped, his body frozen in place for only a moment before he was ripped backwards, the lightsabers tightly in his grip as he watched the distance between him and his escape on the shuttle grow, and all hope was dashed when the X-wings swooped down low, their weapon systems firing and striking the shuttle and the remaining ships. The last thing the Inquisitor saw before he was pulled back into the darkness of the cave were the fires from the explosion as powerful engines ruptured.
He slammed hard against a hard metal structure, its fragile frame crumbling and falling to the ground with the force of the impact. Immediately he was grabbed again, this time in a hard, cold grip, like icy hands wrapping tight around him, and the Inquisitor was slammed against walls and stone and floor, over and over again until his head swam and his vision became spotted with light. Once, he felt himself slam against something soft and warm and wet, looking for only a moment to find himself pressed against the open carcass of a half eaten stormtrooper. Nausea hit him like a wave, though he suspected it was less from revulsion and more from the repeated abuse. Finally, he was lifted high into the air and dropped, and he didn't have enough wits about him to flip around and land on his feet. He landed on the ground hard, the earth seeming to shake beneath him as he lay there, the lightsabers somehow, miraculously, still in his iron grasp.
He watched through hazy, bleary eyes as the droid and the Mandalorian paced before a group of stormtroopers, disarmed, injured, or simply having laid their arms down in surrender, captives of the massacre that occurred here, a bloody loss on what should have been a quick and easy victory. Bodies lay scattered about the ground, most of them in pieces or badly brutalized, and he could see the light from outside reflected brightly off the ground slicked with blood. Occasionally, a stormtrooper would make a run for it, only to be quickly gunned down by the Mandalorian. The droid paced before them, counting as it pointed to each trooper in turn, and almost randomly, it would suddenly stop, point its rifle in the face of the selected soldier, and pull the trigger, a random, senseless execution of prisoners, but nobody was there to object.
With a groan, the Inquisitor pushed himself to his knees, his eyes focused on the Mandalorian and the droid and taking quick note of the rancor, the beast far off to the side and hunched over a pile of the dead, a collection of torn limbs and savaged bodies in its grip as it happily chewed all it shoved in his mouth as it gorged itself, blood and saliva running think down its chin and off long, sharp fangs. Through the clear pane of its helmet, the Inquisitor could see the rancor's eyes, dark and cold, devoid of the light of Sith fire, its Master's presence withdrawn.
He could do it. It wouldn't be much, but he could kill the droid and the Mandalorian. He could rush to them, lightsabers in hand, and slaughter them both before the rancor could be mobilized once again. There would be no victory here, no escape, but perhaps he could still kill the Jedi, the ship still present within the cave. It wouldn't be much, but it would be worth it. With a growl of pain and anger, the Inquisitor reached deep inside the darkness for strength and found it, the lightsabers in his grasp igniting with a hiss as he stood on his feet.
As quickly as it had come to him, the Dark Side suddenly fled from him, leaving him weak, his legs shaking, and he staggered backwards, only to hit a hard, cold body, and long-fingered hands tightly closed around his wrists. The grip was crushing, painful, and the moment he struggled, he was drawn hard against the armored body and warm lips pressed against the painful burn on his neck, teeth quickly biting at it and sending agony lancing through him. His head was swimming. He was going to be sick.
"Didn't Maul ever tell you what happens to people who touch my things?" Lumis softly whispered in his ear, the smooth, cold voice sending a shiver up his spine. The Inquisitor couldn't answer for fear of retching upon the floor, so he kept his mouth shut. The Sith Lord's foot found the back of the Inquisitor's knees, and with a gasp of pain, he dropped to the ground, his body held upright against the Sith by his wrists, and try as he might, he couldn't move the sabers into position to cut the man. In his mind, the Inquisitor could hear Maul's voice, high and strained with tension.
If he captures you, if he defeats you, if it looks like there's no escape...take your own life. End it all.
The Sith's hand tightened around his wrist. "Drop your weapon." The voice was smooth, expressionless, commanding, and the Inquisitor suddenly couldn't remember what had been said to him, only that the man had spoken, commanded him to obey, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't. He was stronger than this. Trained in the Jedi Temple as a Guardian, a stalwart defender, shown the truth of power by the Sith, made leader of the Inquisitors because he was strong, because he was everything the others aspired to be...
The Inquisitor's hands opened, and he dropped the lightsabers.
He stared wide eyed at the weapons on the ground, his mind his own, but his body obeying the command of another, and he almost sobbed in fear when a hand released one wrist and tenderly stroked his cheek, his jaw, his hairless head in a mocking gesture of affection. It was gentle, yes, tender and almost sweet, the touch of a lover that his renegade body willingly leaned in to, but with the gentle caress came domination, possession, ownership.
"Tell me..." Lumis said gently, the hand drifting to the Inquisitor's chin and forcing him to look up into the Sith's eyes. "What was it like to kill Luminara? How did it feel to take my beautiful friend's life in your hands and extinguish it?" The Sith Lord laughed, harsh and cold, the hand holding his wrist suddenly tightening and flipping him to the ground, and before he could move, Kenobi's heel stepped hard on the Inquisitor's wrist, the pale man howling in pain as the Sith held his other arm up. "You don't need to tell me, I'll have a look myself."
Lumis knelt, his knee replacing the heel that kept the Inquisitor's right hand pinned to the ground, and he pulled the dazed man against him, a hand on his head as he kissed the pale creature's cheek, and the Inquisitor could feel his brain moving, crawling, like a hundred worms boring within him, like shadows, like thin wisps of smoke, like hands that opened his mind up against his will and too what it wanted. He shivered in the Sith's grasp and could do nothing else as he was violated, helpless to resist the touch of the Master upon him. Lumis owned all he touched, just as Maul had said, and now, the Sith owned him. His will was not broken, and he resisted the very idea of it, but with the way he touched him, the way he violated him, raped his mind...belonging to the Sith Lord was the only thing that made the brutal act bearable.
"You should have listened to your Master..." Lumis said, his voice gentle and sweet, a stark, violent contrast to his violent actions. "You should have kept away from what's mine. Luminara was mine. Those Jedi are mine, their rebel team is mine." Kanan's lightsaber floated before the Inquisitor's eyes, and all he could manage was to stare at it blankly. "That makes this lightsaber mine as well." Lumis' grasp tightened around the Inquisitor's left wrist, crushing tendons and ligaments, the pressure forcing the hand to open, the fingers fully extended. "How do you suppose we should punish theft, hmm?" Lumis laughed lightly and kissed the Inquisitor's fingers, the man trying to move, trying to struggle and get away, but the weight of the knee on his right wrist, the strong grip on his left, the awkward angle his body hung at all prevented him from doing anything but wriggling.
Before his eyes, the Sith's red lightsaber ignited, and the Inquisitor whimpered as Lumis held the blade above the erect fingers. "Oh, I don't blame you, pet..." Lumis drawled. "I blame your thieving little fingers." He leaned over the Inquisitor and grinned brightly. "I think I'll take them."
It was painstaking, slow, agonizing, and the cavern filled with bloodcurdling screams as the red blade lowered, not severing the fingers, but slowly, slowly allowing the blazing plasma to burn them and disintegrate them into nothing.
Kanan and Ezra sat closely together in the Phantom, the boy's eyes shut tight and his hands over his ears to block out the screams, his body shivering with the cold from the oppressive Dark Side that hung heavy around them. Maybe Obi-Wan forgot about them. Maybe the Sith Lord was lost within the embrace of the Dark Side, fulfilling his pleasures with blood and pain, like so many Sith throughout history had done. Maybe-
"Word from the Shadow King, boys," a voice said from the open hatch of the ship, and Kanan looked swiftly over to see Cody, his peppered black hair disheveled as he leaned against the ship's wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "He says it's time for you to go."
"I he coming?" Kanan asked softly, and the clone quickly shook his head.
"No, not yet. He'll rendezvous with you within a few hours. He still has work to finish here."
"Dare I ask?" Kanan asked, and the clone simply chuckled.
"Just clean-up. It's hard to move a rancor when it's in a food coma, like he is now. And we've got a Chiss aboard the Umbra as a...guest." The clone chuckled. "He'll be spending the next few hours celebrating here with her. And any number of the female stormtroopers HK and I have detained." The clone smirked. "Understand?"
"Perfectly..." Kanan grumbled, quickly powering the ship on and preparing all the pre-flight scans, a thing that took only a moment to calculate because of the Phantom's small size. "Will you, uh...be celebrating as well?" Cody shrugged.
"I might. After Kenobi breaks them in a bit, I don't like them quite so wild as he does." The cone quickly saluted. "Safe travels, boys. Give your escort my regards."
"Will do," Kanan said, swiftly closing the hatch and flying the Phantom off the asteroid as quickly as he was able. He was done with that rock. Once in the air, Kanan saw the escort almost immediately, two black X-wing starships, the two craft flipping and spinning almost as if they were showing off instead of actually doing something, though the state of the airstrip below showed that the two pilots had done more than their fair share of the work. The entire strip was flanked with fires and twisted, burning metal, wreckage of Imperial vessels and the towering, dangerous walkers, all reduced to nothing. Kanan couldn't help but wonder where Kenobi got these people.
The shipboard com burst with static for a moment before a female voice came clear over the speaker, her tone strong and commanding and much younger than Kanan expected. "Phantom, this is Penumbra. Lock on to our vector and follow us out. We'll get you safely home."
"Copy that, Penumbra," Kanan replied, doing exactly as he was asked, the ship locking on to the black and blue X-wing's course while the other one flew not before them, but in circles around them.
"Antumbra to Phantom," a male said clearly, the other pilot, and also far too young. "We have a stop to make within the system. When we give the signal, disengage your course and keep a safe distance."
"Safe distance?" Kanan asked skeptically, pulling back on the yoke and following the X-wings as they raced out of the asteroid field and into the dark, star-marked reaches of space. Immediately, Kanan saw what they were talking about, and his jaw dropped, his eyes wide as he looked at the massive wedge of a Star Destroyer hanging in space before them.
"The Relentless..." the boy said, wonder and excitement in his voice and an eagerness that was...infectious. Even Kanan could feel his chest burn with excitement and daring far beyond the caution this situation actually called for. "Disengage from our vector, Phantom. Return to the asteroid belt if you are detected or jump to lightspeed. We'll catch up."
"Uh, excuse me?" Kanan asked, pushing away the sudden swell of confidence and adopting his more cautious attitude. "What is it you're planning on doing exactly?"
"We're going to bring the ship down." the girl said. "Orders from the Shadow King. He showed us exactly what to do, and he even prepped the ship for us! He says it's practice."
"Practice!" Kanan cried. "Practice for what?!"
"I dunno," the boy said. "He never tells us anything. But I do know he's right." He laughed excitedly.
"Sit back and watch the show, Phantom!" the girl said. "It should be great! Happy Empire Day!"
"Wooo!" the boy cried as the X-wings sped forward, the wings opening up and assuming the shape they were named for as they began on their attack vector. "Empire Day! I love it!"
"All hail our glorious Empire..." Kanan muttered as he leaned back in his seat and watched with Ezra beside him, their eyes slowly widening and their jaws going slack as they watched the swift, agile ships flip and spin and race along the massive hull of the Star Destroyer, covering each other and working in perfect, beautiful harmony as their precision shots took out the cannons and weapon systems of the ship before ducking behind the massive, burning engines. For just a moment, it looked as if the area of space around the Star Destroyer shimmered, the telltale indication of the shields powering on, and before the field stabilized, it disappeared.
TIE Fighters swarmed out of the forward hangars, but before the little, buzzing starships had a chance to begin their attack, flames burst out along the hull, followed by a series of explosions erupting in a line from stern to aft, each one bigger than the last until the final one detonated near the engines. For a moment, there was nothing, and then, in a blinding flash of light, the engines exploded, a shockwave rushing through space that rocked the Phantom, even from its considerable distance.
It was...impossible. Kanan rubbed his eyes and looked again, but sure enough, the Star Destroyer was a wreckage, little more than burning hunks of metal and debris, might reduced to little more than space dust. When Kanan saw the little X-wings return, their wings folded together in preparation for their jump to lightspeed, Kanan couldn't help but stare in wonder at the beauty of them. These were, without question, the best pilots in the galaxy.
"Who are you..." Kanan asked, touching his hand to the viewport and reaching out with the Force, but he felt nothing. Some things, he mused as the Phantom and the X-wings made their jump to lightspeed, were just not meant to be known.