AN: Hello there! I apologize for the recent stall in updates. School has been keeping me busy. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Thanks again for the support.
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Kuati Resistance Headquarters
Kuat
The headquarters consisted of an old underground bunker that had been constructed during the height of the Clone Wars. After the rise of the Empire, the bunker had been sealed off, and a repair shop had been built on top of it. The shop was now a front for the resistance and allowed access to the bunker through a secret entrance in the floor. Ahsoka and Sabine arrived to find a single, high-powered speeder bike parked in front of the shop. Sabine quickly put a small detonator onto the side of the bike as they walked past it. The door to the shop had been bent inward and up, and as Ahsoka and Sabine approached it, the arcid stench of fresh carbon scoring wafted out of the opening. Ahsoka stepped inside, intensely focused on her surroundings and the feeling of the Force. The power was out, the attackers had probably sabotaged the main breaker before forcing their way in. Ahsoka retrieved a glowrod from her belt and activated it, revealing a grisly scene. Five human resistance fighters dressed in the grease-stained garments of repair shop workers were strewn haphazardly across the room. They all had small holdout blasters still clutched in their cold, dead hands. Not all of the bodies were whole either, one man had been cut completely in half, the site at which his torso and legs had been separated was completely cauterized. One woman was lying crumpled near a bit of repair equipment, her head missing from her shoulders. The other three had been stabbed through the chest.
"Krif", Sabine said simply as she took in the surrounding carnage.
"There's nothing we can do here.",Ahsoka said in a somber tone. They moved into the back of the shop. Hidden among the racks of spare parts was the secret entrance to the bunker. It had been blown open as well. Ahsoka grabbed and activated one of her lightsabers, holding it above her head and shedding further illumination on their surroundings. The wall panel that had served as an undetectable entrance to the headquarters had been shattered as if it had been transparisteel. Immediately inside the entrance, more bodies could be seen, all were in more or less the same condition as the one back in the shop. These men and women had been fully armed and armored. The bunker had hosted a small contingent of clone troopers during the war and as a result, the bunker had been well stocked with phase 2 clone armor and DC-17 blasters. The resistance fighters had put these to good use and Ahsoka felt a pang as she and Sabine passed a trio of bodies in full armor. The scene reminded her too much of the losses she had witnessed during her time as a Commander in the Clone Wars. Ahsoka and Sabine moved deeper into the bunker, finding only more bodies. There was no sound save for the hum of Ahsoka's lightsaber.
Suddenly, from down the corridor they were currently walking through, Ahsoka heard the sound of blaster fire. Hoping that they might not be too late after all, Sabine and Ahsoka ran towards the sound. They came to the mess hall and discovered that they were too late after all. The blaster fire they had heard was coming from a single resistance soldier. His target was a dark figure wielding a lightsaber with two crimson blades. It was the Inquisitor. He advanced slowly, deflecting the fire from the frantic rebel with ease. The rebel, who had been backpedaling away from the Inquisitor, started as he felt his back touch the mess hall wall. His pistol dropped for just a second, but that was all it took. The Inquisitor lunged, using the force to enhance his speed. The tip of his glowing blade plunged through the rebel and into the durasteel behind him. The rebel crumpled to the ground. The entire exchange had taken only two seconds. The Inquisitor turned towards the two new arrivals.
"We meet again Jedi Tano.", he said, pulling his blade out of the wall. "This time you will not get away."
"Funny,'' quipped Sabine as she took aim with her dual pistols. "I was about to say the same to you."
Ahsoka's comlink chirped, she unhooked it from her belt and opened the channel, never taking her eyes off of the lazily approaching Inquisitor.
"Ahsoka", the voice on the other end was Ezra's. "We got cut off on our way to the headquarters. We're pinned down by two squads of stormtroopers and a walker. We could really use some help out here." Ahsoka clicked the comlink off and ignited her second lightsaber.
"Sabine go help the others.", she said.
"Are you crazy?", Sabine asked, not making any move to do so. "The last time you fought him you almost died."
"So did you.", Ahsoka replied evenly. "And this time you don't have your armor, so go." Sabine hesitated, but then obeyed.
"Kick his arse.", she said as she left. Ahsoka smiled slightly and then readied herself for the coming battle.
"Brave of you to face me alone", the Inquisitor said, lazily twirling his lightsaber as he approached. "But as your young friend said, you cannot defeat me." The light from Ahsoka's bright blades caused his yellow-orange eyes to flash from underneath his hood. In the dim light of the mess hall, the rest of his body was barely more than a shadow. He casually held his lightsaber at the ready, the two crimson blades shed a morbid shade on their surroundings. Had she not encountered him before, Ahsoka might have taken him for some unnatural dark-side fiend. For a moment the two force wielders stood there, sabers at the ready and eyes locked on each other. Ahsoka waited the moment out, knowing that being the first to attack in this scenario had more dangers than it had benefits. The Inquisitor gave a low, almost inhuman growl and sprang at her.
The fear and pain he had collected during his rampage through the bunker had stoked his dark side powers to elevated levels. The ferocity and power with which he attacked was impressive. For any lesser duelist, it would have been overwhelming. Ahsoka fought with her own intensity. After fighting off the Inquisitor's first flurry of attacks, Ahoska began one of her own. The Inquisitor, however, seemed to have no difficulty with defending himself. He ducked and blocked her blows with unsettling ease and precision, and Ahsoka suddenly found herself back on the defensive. They battled across the mess hall, their blades hissing with each blow. Finally, Ahsoka managed to lock her blades with his. With an effort, Ahsoka twisted the Inquisitor's hilt from his hand, sending it flying away. The now unarmed Inquisitor gave her no chance to attack again. He sent Ahsoka flying with a vicious Force-shove. Using the Force, Ahsoka slowed herself enough to land in a controlled crouch.
"You've improved", Ashoka said as she stood and readied herself to re-engage. This earned her another growl.
"You have no idea.", The Inquisitor said. The room seemed to grow darker still and Ahsoka was suddenly cold. The Inquisitor called his weapon to his hand and leaped toward her.
They battled on until they came to the center of the mess hall. Through the Force, Ahsoka could feel him drawing on the surrounding carnage and the lingering pain and fear. The dark side became so strong around him that it was almost tangible. Ahsoka struck at the Inquisitor's leg, hoping to put him off balance. He simply leaped over the blade, using his jump as the beginning of a long acrobatic series of thrusts and slashes that nearly caused Ahsoka to give up more ground. Then she felt the Inquisitor launch an attack on her. Ahsoka suddenly felt her calm and concentration threatening to abandon her. Dark side energy seemed to surround and invade her. She was suddenly hard-pressed to block his blades as the attack was now on two fronts. Clinging to the light side like a lifeline, Ahsoka went into a complex series of attacks that forced the Inquisitor to dedicate all his attention to blocking her blades. Ahsoka felt his focus shift and then began her own mental attack. She centered herself farther into the light side, drawing on serenity and peace. She began to smother the Inquisitor's dark side powers with her own energies.
The Inquisitor screamed as if his very flesh was being burned. He dropped to his knees, his lightsaber falling from his grasp. Ahsoka was taken aback. This mental attack technique was effective, yes, but she had never seen anyone react to it like this. She maintained the flow of light side energy and raised her blades to end the battle. Before she could strike, Ahsoka was suddenly pushed back. She landed several meters away, close to the door that she and Sabine had entered through. This time she wasn't able to perform a controlled landing. Ahsoka landed on her back and felt the air rush from her lungs. Her concentration broke as she struggled to catch her breath, and she felt her mental assault on the Inquisitor subside. Rising to her feet, Ahsoka took in a startling scene The Inquisitor hadn't stopped screaming. His body was surrounded by a physical aura of dark side energy. The aura seemed to be coming apart. The energy was being released raw and uncontrolled. Ahsoka watched with fascinated horror as another shockwave sent a table into the mess hall's kitchen, causing an explosion and starting fires. Benches and bodies flew at random. A tingle of danger sense worked its way up Ahsoka's spine. She ran for the door as a shockwave of energy exploded from the Inquisitor. Everything in the room was thrown outward. Ahsoka barely made it through the door before an object slammed into the back of her head. She fell, her vision going blurry and her hearing fading out.
She laid there with no concept of time. It could have been a second, it could have been a century. Gradually, she forced herself to full awareness again. Turning, Ahsoka looked back towards the mess hall. The room was a mess of broken objects and fire. The Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen. She looked down and found the object that had struck her. It was the Inquisitor's lightsaber. It was charred and bent, but otherwise intact. Tentatively, Ahsoka picked it up and hooked it to her belt. A loud rumble boomed through the bunker, and Ahsoka was suddenly very certain that the explosion of dark side energy had caused damage all throughout the bunker. She began to run back through the bunker. From behind her, she heard the tortured groans of durasteel being bent and broken. The rumbling continued to shake the bunker, forcing Ahsoka to use the Force to keep her footing. A rush of relief and joy flooded through her as she sprinted out of the shop moments before it too crumbled into a large sinkhole that had been formed by the destruction of the bunker.
While her vision adjusted to the increase in light, Ahsoka took stock of her surroundings. The air was thick with the smell of dust and smoke. Sirens blared in the distance, announcing the approach of emergency response and security teams. Ahsoka sensed no sentient life forms in her vicinity, and her danger-sense was quiet. As her eyes completely adjusted, Ahsoka turned to survey the destruction the bunkers collapse had caused. The shop and bunker were located in a mostly deserted area of the city, and Ahsoka knew that this had prevented a large number of civilian casualties. The sinkhole had still destroyed two small apartment complexes. Ahsoka took a moment to mourn the loss of any occupants that had been killed. The sirens were getting closer now, prompting Ahsoka to begin moving away from the sinkhole, and farther into the city. Once she was a good distance away, Ahsoka activated her comlink and switched it over to the Ghost crew's secure channel.
"Specter Five this is Fulcrum,'' she said quietly. "Did you rendezvous with the others?"
"Affirmative Fulcrum", came Sabine's youthful voice. "We're tracking your location and are coming in for a pick-up."
"Fulcrum, this is Spectre One, what is the status of the Inquisitor?", Kanan asked.
"Inquisitor is eliminated, Spectre One.", Ahsoka replied. She had felt the dark side presence being ripped from the force when the shockwave of dark side energy had exploded in the mess hall.
"Understood, extraction in five minutes, Fulcrum, see you soon.", Kanan replied somberly.