Ezra barely brought his blade up in time, green clashing with red, as the Inquisitor forced him back into the room.
Jumping backwards and out of reach of the Eighth Brother's saber, Ezra regained his composure. The sudden appearance of the Inquisitor was a surprise to the young Jedi. Ahsoka had mentioned that she suspected that he was back working with the empire, and whilst his appearance did not confirm it, Ezra was sure he would find out shortly.
Behind him, both Ryder and Hondo raised their blasters, aiming at the Inquisitor, but didn't fire. They had both seen what happened to those who shot at lightsaber wielding opponents before.
"You feel much stronger in the force than when we last met padawan. Tell me, have you recovered from Malachor yet? You suffered a great blow that day, or at least your master did." The Terrelian snarled at Ezra, advancing slowly, lightsaber ready.
"Yeah well at least my master didn't betray me that day. 'Outlived your usefulness' wasn't it?" Ezra quipped back. If this Inquisitor expected harsh taunts to affect him, then he needed to think again.
"Lord Vader paid the price for his arrogance. Now my true master seeks a much more powerful apprentice!" The Eighth Brother swung his saber out, clashing and trading blows with Ezra at speed.
It was true, Ezra had improved since Malachor. Endless hours training with Kanan, as well as Ahsoka, and even once with Maul, had improved his skill and technique. Ezra could now more than hold his own against most opponents.
But the Inquisitor had improved too. His style was no longer reckless and bombastic, but more reserved and cautious, seeking to find gaps in his opponents defence to exploit.
"So what? You think he's gonna make you his new apprentice. What's your name gonna be huh? Darth Brother? Darth Eighth?" Ezra replied, sarcasm evident in his tone and he attempted to land a blow on the Inquisitor, one that was met by the Terrelian's own saber.
The two clashed blades again, locking them together and pushing against one another.
They found themselves face to face, both straining to push against the other. Ezra couldn't see the Inquisitor's face, as it was obstructed by the helmet, but beneath it Ezra was almost certain the Eighth Brother was smirking.
"Oh no my boy. Lord Sidious does not desire my services as his apprentice, but rather your Togrutan friend."
Rage built up inside Ezra. The young Jedi wanted nothing more than to protect his friends from harm. That was why he had begun to train in the first place with Kanan. To protect those who could not defend themselves.
And while Ahsoka was more than capable of defending herself, Ezra still felt a desire to protect her.
After all, she was his friend.
"You Sith scum will never have Ahsoka!" Ezra spat, breaking out of saber lock and unleashing a force push at the Inquisitor, who stumbled backwards from the push, before regaining his balance.
Behind him, Ezra felt Hondo approach.
"Ezra, why did you not tell me you were friends with Ahsoka Tano? We go way back." The Weequay spoke, enthusiasm once again evident in his voice, despite the peril of the situation.
"Is now really the time for this Hondo?" Ezra called back, moving to deflect another blow from the Eighth Brother, who had recovered.
"No, I suppose not." Hondo responded, sounding somewhat downtrodden.
Pushing that thought out of his mind, Ezra traded another series of blows with the Inquisitor, before looping around him and heading out the door, the Inquisitor on his tail.
Clearly the Eighth Brother had no real interest in Ezra's companions, which would work to Ezra's favour.
Vaulting over the piles of dead Acklay that the Inquisitor had evidently bisected, Ezra turned in time to catch the Eighth Brother's blade in another lock, the two duellists once again pushing against one another.
From behind the Inquisitor, Ezra spotted Ryder and Hondo exit the room they had been stuck in, turning down another corridor that Ezra had not previously spotted, and disappearing from sight.
Now all Ezra had to do was lose the Inquisitor.
Clash after clash between lightsabers occurred, as the Eighth Brother tried to land a blow on Ezra.
Likewise, Ezra desperately tried to either disarm or disorientate the Inquisitor long enough for him to make his escape.
The two traded another series of blows, before a familiar screeching could be heard behind Ezra.
Turning his head briefly behind him, Ezra witnesses another group of Acklay come charging at the two, hoping for a meal.
'Perfect!' Ezra thought.
Reaching into the force, Ezra released another force push at the Inquisitor, knocking him over this time, before breaking off into a sprint down the same corridor that Ryder and Hondo had gone down.
The Eighth Brother regained his senses quickly, jumping up into a standing position before crouching into a combat position. Before him, the young Jedi was gone, fled no doubt. Now he had to deal with the swarm of Acklay approaching him.
"Blasted bugs!" The Inquisitor snarled, engaging the rotation feature on his sabre, and charging the beasts with fury.
Ezra caught up to his compatriots relatively quickly, and found them waiting by a doorway, trying to get it open.
"I'm telling you the explosives will be inside. It's a storage facility after all."
"And I'm telling you we should wait for Ezra. The kid might need some help."
"He's a Jedi, they are… semi-immortal in my experience."
Ezra shook his head at the sight of Ryder and Hondo arguing over his fate. And part of him wished that Hondo's words were true.
But Jedi could be killed. That was a matter of fact.
Hondo noticed him approaching first, reaching out his arms in joy, as if he was going to hug the young Jedi.
"Ezra, my friend. I knew you would be ok. I wanted to come help you, but your friend here said we should look for your explosives. What happened to the crazy guy?"
Ezra nearly laughed at the mortified look on Ryder's face as he was accused of abandoning Ezra.
Ezra knew the truth, and to be fair he didn't mind. They had to complete the mission, no matter the cost. Hera had taught him that.
"He's keeping the Acklay busy, so I'm sure he will be back shortly. Ryder, can you get the door open?" Ezra spoke, approaching the two as they tried to pry it open with brute strength.
"No good Ezra, it's jammed. And without power…"
Ezra nodded in understanding, before gesturing for both Hondo and Ryder to move away from the door.
As they did, Ezra plunged his lightsaber into the door, slowly cutting a whole large enough to climb through.
As he worked, Hondo once again began speaking.
"Oh how I wish I had a lightsaber. Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to steal some kyber crystals? Ahsoka was there too. We had such fun that day." The older pirate boomed with laughter at the end of his speech. It seemed like the pirate had certainly been around.
Suddenly, the Weequay's demeanour changed, and he spoke with a solemn tone.
"How is Ahsoka doing? Is she ok? I was so worried that all of my Jedi friends had died."
It was surprising to see Hondo in such a way. Ezra was unsure if this caring attitude was genuine or not, but as Hondo had once freely admitted, he was an old sympathiser of the Jedi.
"She's doing ok Hondo. I'm sure she'd love to see you."
Hondo seemed to shrink in on himself suddenly, surprising Ezra further. The young Jed altered the direction of his saber, shifting from vertical to horizontal, as he continued to cut the door open.
"No, no I don't think she would Ezra. We did not part on the best of terms. But tell me, is she still short? She was tiny during the Clone Wars."
The joy had returned to Hondo's speech, as he recounted another memory, one that was clearly fond to him, and laced with humour.
Ezra tried to picture Ahsoka as short, and found that it was somewhat of a humorous image to him. She had always been something of a giant, even if she was the same height as Kanan and Maul. He supposed it was because of her montrals, they tended to add some perception of height.
"No she's pretty tall now. About as tall as Kanan." Ezra replied, shifting his blade again.
"Oh my, she's all grown up. I'm so proud!" Hondo said, a touch of sadness in his tone.
CLANG!
Ezra retracted his blade as the door fell down before him, a section of it burned out. They now had access to whatever was inside.
Stepping through first, Ezra used his saber to illuminate the room.
It was large and spacious, big enough to store plenty of supplies and munitions.
Ryder and Hondo stepped through behind him, using the torches they had equipped to their blasters to light the room.
"Ezra… look!" Ryder spoke with joy, indicating to a corner of the room.
Looking over to where Ryder was pointing, Ezra saw a stockpile of proton warheads. Not what they needed for the mission, but useful nonetheless.
"Ah ha, Ezra I have found your explosives!" Hondo called out next gesturing to another corner, where a pair of crates sat.
Approaching the crates, Ezra lifted the lids to come face to face with a ton of detonators. They were clearly high grade explosives, like the style Sabine made. If Ezra could acquire them, he was certain Sabine could turn them into something far more volatile.
"We've got them. Grab a crate Ryder. Hondo, don't touch anything. They are likely to explode if you do." Ezra commanded his comrades, adding a hint of humour to the discussion, once that Hondo clearly appreciated as he feigned shock at Ezra's statement.
However, as he and Ryder began to shift the crates towards the exit, a deep rumbling sound reverberated around the room.
The presence of the force suddenly altered for Ezra, screaming danger to him.
He turned in time to see something huge moving in the shadows.
Ryder and Hondo had done the same, lifting their torches to illuminate the movement.
What Ezra saw almost made him scream in horror.
An Acklay, much larger than the previous ones, and far more intimidating, had been in the room with them the entire time. The huge beast towered over the three, its eyes locking onto them, and snarling, bearing its razor sharp teeth.
"Oh! Hello Mrs Acklay. We'll just be leaving if that's ok?" Hondo quipped, fear evident in his voice, as he slowly backed towards the doorway.
The Acklay screeching aloud, watching, waiting to strike.
Ezra decided it was time to leave. This Acklay had clearly made the room her nest or some kind.
Backing towards the door with his companions, careful not to make any sudden movements in case he enraged the beast, Ezra spoke.
"Yeah, good idea Hondo. Let's get out of here."
"Oh you're not going anywhere Jedi!" Another voice responded.
Ezra span in shock, finding the Eighth Brother standing in the doorway, saber ignited.
Then all hell broke loose.
The sudden movement performed by Ezra, as well as the appearance of the Inquisitor, enraged the Acklay. It roared in anger, and charged, its long neck bending down trying to snap Ezra up for food.
Evading to the side, Ezra narrowly avoided the Acklay, only managing to bring his saber up in time to deflect an attack from the Eighth Brother, who was once again upon him.
The following minutes were pure chaos. Ezra and the Eighth Brother traded a series of blows, illuminating the room in green and white.
Simultaneously, the Acklay had shifted its attention to Ryder and Hondo, swiping at them its clawed feet whilst the two evaded in all directions.
The two lightsaber duellists continued to fight, evading around one another until Ezra's back was against the doorway. He could turn and flee now, but that would mean leaving his friends behind.
However, behind the Inquisitor, he spotted his opportunity.
The proton warheads!
Once again, Ezra reached into the force and pushed. This time however, the Eighth Brother anticapted the move, and jumped, avoiding the push altogether.
But knocking back the Inquisitor was not Ezra's intention. Instead, the push had been aimed at the Acklay, who in response to the force push, roared in anger and charged the two forces users.
The Eighth Brother didn't manage to evade the next strike, as a swipe from one of the Acklay's claws sent him barrelling into a nearby wall.
Reaching deeper into the force, Ezra pushed again at the Acklay, knocking it backwards into a corner, the same corner with the proton warheads.
"Ryder, Hondo, let's go!" Ezra called out to his friends, who had regaining their composure and broke into a run, grabbing the crates of detonators as they passed by.
When his two companions had escaped the room, Ezra drew his blaster and aimed at the warheads.
The Inquisitor meanwhile had regained his footing, just in time to see the young Jedi draw, and fire his blaster at the warheads.
"NO!" The Eighth Brother yelled, diving to the floor to protect himself.
Ezra turned and ran also, hoping to escape the blast radius.
The shot fired struck the warhead, causing it to destabilise and detonate. Heat consumed the room as the explosives blew, shaking the base as whole and incinerating the Acklay in the process.
The already unstable base structure partly collapsed, the room the explosives had been in caved in dramatically.
Ezra had barely made it down the corridor when the explosion occurred, and was knocked off of his feet. He felt a rush of heat pass over him, but no real injury occurred.
Rather than wait around and view the results of his actions, Ezra got back to his feet and ran, retracing his footsteps to the surface.
Stepping back outside into the sunlight on Felucia, Ezra felt a sense of relief.
Acquired the explosives had been harder than he had anticipated. The Acklay had proven to be an unexpected variable, but one they could have hidden from. All it would have taken was a bit of patience.
But the appearance of the Inquisitor had complicated things, effectively ruining any chance of stealth they had.
Still, at least he hadn't escaped yet. Ezra wasn't sure what had happened to the Eighth Brother, only that he was in the room when the proton warheads had detonated. For all he knew the Terrelian was dead.
Still, he couldn't dwell on that right now, he had other business to attend to, and that started with the orange astromech rolling towards his, beeping profanities at him.
"Chopper! What happened to keeping an eye out for us?" Ezra enquired, agitation present in his tone.
The astromech released a series of beeps, ones that sounded suspiciously like laughter to Ezra.
"What do you mean the transmitter on the shuttle isn't working? It was working fine earlier!"
Chopper again responded harshly, stating something about the Inquisitor being responsible. Ezra couldn't tell if the droid was telling the truth or not, and he found he didn't care.
"Well we can't use the shuttle anymore. Best guess is that that's how the Inquisitor tracked us." Ryder approached from the side, speaking with concern.
It hadn't crossed Ezra's mind how the Eighth Brother had tracked them, but Ryder's idea made sense.
That meant that they now had to find another ship to use.
"Ezra my friend, there is room on my ship for you and your friends!" Hondo then approached, as joyful as ever, a bright smile on his face.
Ezra couldn't help the small smile that came to his face. Despite everything, he enjoyed the company of the old Weequay pirate.
"I appreciate the offer Hondo, but we have a mission to complete. We can find our own way." Ezra replied, hoping he hadn't offended the pirate.
"What?! But my friend I want to help you on this mission."
Both Ezra and Ryder's eyes bulged at Hondo's statement.
Had he seriously just offered to join the mission… free of charge?
"Why would a pirate want to help the rebellion, much less join a suicide mission against them?" Ryder recovered first, confusion in his voice.
Ezra watched Hondo's face as he mulled over Ryder's question. His eyes seemed downtrodden, as if he was upset by something.
If anything, Hondo looked guilty.
"Because I had done lots of horrible things in my life. Perhaps it's time to do something good for once."
Ezra was honestly shocked at Hondo's statement. The old pirate had practically admitted he had a conscience.
Ezra analysed the Weequay. He had lost so much it his life, even for a pirate. He had seen many things, mostly terrible. Hell he had enacted some of them himself.
And now he seemed to want to atone, at least for a little bit.
And his assistance would be welcome.
"Besides, if we survive I will become a celebrity. 'The Pirate who killed the Emperor!' Think of the riches I could acquire." Hondo suddenly regained his enthusiasm, acting more like the Hondo Ezra was used to.
"And if we all die?" Ezra couldn't help but add.
"Then we can all meet up at the bar in the sky for drinks! You're buying!"
The Eighth Brother pushed the rubble off of himself. He had been caught in the explosion, given the singed state of his armour. But aside from that, he seemed to be in ok condition. Nothing was broken, which was a relief.
And the huge Acklay was dead, so he had nothing to worry about regarding that thing.
Standing from his position where he had been crushed by the collapsing roof, The Eighth Brother analysed his surroundings, pulling his lightsaber to him where it had fallen.
How the hell was he going to explain this to Sidious? Once again he had been bested, by a padawan no less!
Still, that meant that the padawan was still alive, and could further undermine the empire.
The Eighth Brother chuckled to himself.
Soon both sides would destroy one another, and he would be left to pick up the pieces, and install himself as the leader of the empire.
Soon, he would have his revenge!
Author's thoughts
Welcome to the team Hondo Ohnaka. Let us hope your pirating ways prove benefical to the mission. Please don't betray anyone for profit.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I got Hondo's character down right. He's a bit tricky to write for, but I think I got it.
So, with Hondo joining the team there are only 5 spots left to fill. Vos is still a question mark, and Ahsoka is en route to speak to Saw. But what you Rex's recruit, or Maul's recruit. I wonder who they are. :)
Now, I also want to say a thank you. As of last chapter I somehow hit 100+ reviews on this story alone, so thank you for your continued support. This story is for you all, and I hope you like the way I take it in the end.
Anyway, next time round we head back to Team Imperial for another two chapter part that gets incredibly plot heavy. I can't wait for you to see it. :)
As usual, comment and speculate at will.
Speaking of which:
jamese765: Eighth Brother... Foe! Hondo goes where there is profit. This time round, it was Felucia.
WolveHulk: Sabine and Maul will interact, in fact I have a one shot planned for them. That's all I will say.
Mogor: Looks like Eighth Bro got away. Oh well, maybe next time. And Hondo joined, so yay.
I'm English myself and I still struggle with the language. You're doing fine. :)
LukeDude: I'm glad you weren't too disappointed with the lack of Jedha and Saw, but I wanted to focus a bit on the Kaesoka apsect. But you are right, Jedha will be a two part chapter. :)
Ezra has indeed improved since Malachor, as has the Eighth Brother. I hope you enjoyed the duel in this chapter.
Now for the questions:
1. I figured that Azmorigan and Hondo were only temporary business partners, not full time. Thus he is off doing his own thing at the moment, as if Hondo.
2. Hondo and Maul will speak, and it will be glorious. (To be fair, anytime Hondo speaks to anyone is glorious)
3. The Eighth Bro tracked the shuttle that Ezra and Ryder stole from Lothal, courtesy of the information provided to him by Lyste.
4. I thought about including the force based religions in the Jedha chapter, but it didn't really suit that aspect of the story. Maybe a passing mention or one shot could bring them up though.
5. Same with thr first Jedi temple. Not important right now, but maybe later down the line.
6. The Death Star does not have it's hyperdrive installed yet, and thus is not moving around. Where it is is still a mystery right now, but all will be revealed soon.
7. Probe droids will show up. Stupid things!
8. A-wings are still around. By this point, the rebels have only a few X-wings constructed, thus it would be impractical to scrap the A-wing at the moment.
9. I have not seen the first three missions of battlefront. I was unaware they had shown up. I'll have to look at them when I get a moment.
10. Jakku might be mentioned, I haven't decided yet.
11. The Emperor's advisors, such as Mas Amedda will not show, as they are busy on Coruscant.
12. Shocktroopers... maybe.
13. Cyborgs... aside from Maul... unlikely. Sorry.
Mysterious Guest number one: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, as well as the appearance of both Hondo and the Eighth Bro.
SLE's fave guest: Darth Snips... my god! Run! Save yourselves!
I'm surprised that no one really guessed that Hondo would join, so I'm glad it was kept somewhat a secret.
Eighth Bro causes trouble wherever he goes. That's kinda his thing right now.
Acklay being in Battlefront 2 was what inspired me to have them in this chapter. Glad someone knew where the idea came from.
Hondo and Ahsoka... oh boy will it be fun, judging by his reaction in this chapter.
Travis Middleton: Hondo is great, and I couldn't resist having him be a part of this, so here's Hondo.
I'm glad you liked the brief look at Chopper, the grumpy droid.
Ah, I believe I may have confused you. My mistake. Malachor was mentioned, but Ezra was merely comparing it to Felucia. Maul has not gone back to Malachor, instead he has gone to LOCATION REDACTED DUE TO SPOILERS to recruit someone. My bad. :)
Ahsoka and Hondo will interact, so no worries there. :)
FossilQueen1984: Hondo shows up when you least expect it. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. :)