Ahsoka's hand were on her lightsaber hilts immediately, bright beams of white blazing into existence. Behind her, the others did similar, a pair of blue blades, and a double ended red one coming alongside her.
Between the four of them, this would be easy.
But the Eighth Brother made no move. He did not ignite his saber in response. He did not reach out into the force to attack them. He made no move against them.
Instead, he simply stood there, watching.
It was then that Ahsoka realized something. He wasn't wearing his helmet.
The Eighth Brother always seemed to be sporting that peculiarly designed helmet, covering his face and identity from the world. But now, she could see him.
He looked young, far younger than she had been anticipating. Not younger than her of course, if the rumours about the Inquisitor's origins were to be believed. But still, young.
His eyes were not wrinkled like so many others, but still shone the symbolic bright gold of the darkside. They were not as bright as Maul's, but still stood out on his otherwise normal face.
It was strange really, seeing her enemy in such a way.
Without his helmet, he didn't look like a monster.
He just looked normal.
But he was still a threat, and thus Ahsoka made no move to extinguish her blades.
"What do you want?" She inquired. Clearly the Inquisitor was not attacking her for a reason.
It was then that the Terrelian smiled. It was not maniacal like Sidious, or dark like Maul. Instead, there was something else in it. Something far worse.
Manipulation.
"The Emperor sent me to bring you and your companions to him. But first I wish to talk."
Behind her, Kanan huffed.
"Yeah, sure you do!"
Without his helmet on, Ahsoka could quite clearly see the Eighth Brother roll his eyes in disdain before speaking again.
"Our time is short Tano. You and I share a common goal. The Emperor is no friend of mine. Together, we can defeat him."
Ahsoka listened to the Terrelian's suggestion. She couldn't say she was surprised. The manipulative look in his eyes suggested that he intended to cause some sort of mayhem. She knew from their encounter on Tatooine that he harboured no love for the empire, hence why it had been a surprise to learn he had returned to the fold after acquiring the Sith holocron.
"You work for the Emperor. Why should I believe you want to kill him?" Ahsoka asked, confusion in her voice.
The Eighth Brother smiled again. "He and his empire betrayed me. Is it wrong to want a little bit of revenge? Or is the mighty Ahsoka Tano beyond such things, huh?"
His tone was condescending, full of malice, evidently an attempt to taunt her.
"I don't kill for revenge." Ahsoka spat back, her tone equally full of malice. This was going nowhere.
Then the Inquisitor laughed aloud. "Tell that to Lord Vader and the countless troopers you just massacred outside this room. You are no better than the Sith! But we have a common goal. Now come, Lord Sidious awaits us."
And with that, the Inquisitor bent down, picking his helmet off of the ground where he had left it, and replaced it, before turning to take the lead through another door.
His words were confusing, as if he was trying to not only convince Ahsoka, but convince himself.
But if they really did share the same goal…
Ignoring her instincts, Ahsoka extinguished her lightsabers and began to follow after the Terrelian. Behind her, and with some hesitance, the others followed, trusting her judgement.
Stepping through the threshold of the next doorway, Ahsoka sense suddenly became completely overwhelmed. The force screamed darkness out to her, as if it was sucking her into it, like a black hole. Everything in her body warned of danger.
Behind her, she heard Kanan groan lightly in pain from the sudden shift in atmosphere.
Obi-Wan made no sound, but from the sudden hitch in his breath, he too had felt it.
Only Maul seemed at ease, as if he was accustomed to this feeling. Ahsoka had a feeling she knew why.
Following the Inquisitor deeper into the room, Ahsoka soon found herself walking across a bridge to some steps. One either side of the bridge were pits that looked like they ran down into the inner workings of the battle station. Luckily, there were hand rails present to stop any unfortunate accidents.
Shifting her focus back to the path ahead, Ahsoka began to ascend the staircase. With each step, the darkside of the force began to grow more and more overwhelming, threatening to consume her entirely. This was worse than Malachor!
Then, as she ascended the final step, Ahsoka saw why.
"Welcome my friend. We have been expecting you."
Ahsoka allowed herself to openly sneer, bearing her fangs in rage at the figure, seated on some sort of throne.
Sidious.
Beside him, four Royal guard stood in protection.
As if that wasn't enough, the Eighth Brother began to move towards him, bowing in submission before speaking.
"My Emperor. Ahsoka Tano to see you."
Ahsoka didn't miss the sarcasm in the Terrelian's voice. He clearly had some sort of plan, and Ahsoka could only wait in trepidation to find out what it was.
The Emperor's volcanic eyes locked on the Eighth Brother's form, before turning his gaze to Ahsoka.
"I warned you. Many of your friends have fallen to get you here. And many more will follow. Tell me apprentice, was it worth it?"
The Emperor's voice was croaky, and full of hatred and malice. He was clearly enjoying taunting her.
"I'm not your apprentice Sidious. And yes, it was worth it, just to take you down."
Sidious began to cackle, before his gaze began to move to another of Ahsoka's team.
"Why Darth Maul, you ally yourself with Jedi now? How far you have fallen. You had so much potential, potential now wasted!"
Maul growled allowed, taking a step towards his former master in rage. He would have gone to attack, were in not for Ahsoka reaching out into the bond they shared, pulling him back from the apex of his anger.
Sidious then moved his gaze to Obi-Wan.
"Master Kenobi, come to exact revenge for young Skywalker? If Master Yoda could not defeat me, what chance do you have?"
Despite the maliciousness of his tone, Obi-Wan remained stoic. Even in the face of pure evil, Ahsoka knew she could rely on Obi-Wan.
"I am not here for revenge Palpatine. And if you should strike me down this day, you shall only make me more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Yoda has already surpassed you." Obi-Wan replied, his tone neutral, showing no weakness.
Sidious rolled his eyes and huffed, before turning his attention to Kanan.
"And young Caleb Dume, you have come far. Blind, yet still a serious threat to my best warriors. You are credible."
"Is he complimenting me?" Kanan spoke aloud bewildered.
Sidious then continued. "I shall enjoy gifting your head to your Twi-lek lover. Yours, and your padawan's!"
"Ah, there it is." Kanan sarcastically spoke.
Sidious was trying to break them that much Ahsoka could tell. He was trying to get a rise from them, to goad them into attacking him early in hopes of thinning their numbers. Sidious was the master of manipulation after all. He had fooled everyone before, and kept the majority of them fooled to this day.
'But no more.' Ahsoka thought. Today, she would end his menace.
"I must say I am impressed my new apprentice. Discovering the location of this battle station and planning an attack on it couldn't have been easy. Tell me, did Senators Mothma and Organa agree to this foolish quest of yours, or did they treat you as the Jedi council once did?"
Ahsoka chose not the reply. She would let him think that he had her, that he was successfully seducing her to the darkside. Perhaps, if he was sure of his victory, he would leave himself open to defeat.
"They did oppose it didn't they. I can feel your anger at their names. They do not trust you, like the Jedi did not. Together, we can exact revenge. All you need do is pledge yourself to me!" Sidious continued from his throne, leaning forward slightly to pear closer at the Togruta.
This time Ahsoka spoke.
"I'll never join you. I serve the light."
Sidious cackled again, before moving a hand inside of his cloak and extracting a small pyramid object, one that radiated with dark energy.
"Is that so? Then why, pray tell, did you open and use the secrets of a Sith holocron?"
Ahsoka had no response. She knew that using the holocron was dangerous. It had been constructed by a Sith of old. It was full of dark ancient secrets that could corrupt even the best of people.
But if she didn't use it, then their trip to Malachor would have been pointless. Sure, the death of Vader had been a victory. But with the holocron, Ahsoka could have found a way to defeat the Sith as a whole. She had even said that the best way to defeat your enemy was to understand them.
So she had opened in, away from prying eyes. She didn't want to risk exposing Kanan and Ezra to such power, and her position as a former Jedi who walked both the light and the dark meant she had a better chance of using it and not being corrupted then they did.
"Perhaps it is power you crave apprentice. The secrets of the Sith, especially the ones in this holocron could help secure your future in this galaxy. You would become even more powerful that Lord Plagueis!" Sidious continued to croak, his voice gaining a dark edge. His eyes began to glow brighter than before, and Ahsoka could feel his presence in the force, trying to worm its way into hers.
Mentally snapping her shields tighter around her mind, Ahsoka felt a rush of satisfaction from the Emperor, before the Sith Lord reclined in his throne.
"Yes, good. You are powerful. Resisting my strength is no easy feat. The knowledge you gained from the holocron had taught you well. Soon, you will call me master!"
"Never!" Ahsoka spat with hatred, taking a step towards the Sith Lord.
Sidious began to laugh again. "Use your anger. I can feel it. It makes you powerful. Only with you anger can you hope to destroy me, as you did your former master. Tell me, did you enjoy it, ripping your blade through his heart?"
Beside her, Ahsoka felt Obi-Wan tense at the mention of Vader's demise at her hands. Ahsoka understood why he was feeling the way he did. After all, he had once been Anakin Skywalker, their brother.
"I did what had to be done. And I would do it again." Ahsoka replied, her tone resolute, fully accepting of past events.
"You have great power, great conviction within you Ahsoka Tano. The Jedi and the rebellion have squandered you. Stand by me, and I will see that you achieve your full potential. Take your master's place by my side!" Sidious reiterated again, standing from his throne, hands by his sides.
Ahsoka couldn't help by sigh audibly. The Sith Master sure was persistent. What part of no didn't he understand?
"I will never join you Sidious. I may not be a Jedi, but I will never be a Sith!" Ahsoka spat once again, watching for the Emperor's reaction.
Beneath the hood of his cloak, Sidious grimaced briefly, before a smirk came to his face.
"Then allow me to convince you further apprentice. Royal Guard, eliminate Kenobi and the Zabrak. Inquisitor, destroy Caleb Dume!"
Worry flooded Ahsoka as the room exploded into movement. The Royal guards flanking Sidious charged first, the ends of their pikes glowing with energy. Within seconds they were upon Maul and Obi-Wan, releasing a whirlwind of strikes towards them, attempting to overwhelm their defences. Even Maul and Obi-Wan would have trouble with so much going on at once.
The Eighth Brother on the other hand have veered off to one side, his double bladed saber ignited, before careening up into the air via the force, and coming down on Kanan from above.
Ahsoka briefly turned to watch Kanan clash with the Terrelian, their lightsabers crashing against one another again and again as they fought for control.
Maul and Obi-Wan could handle themselves, Ahsoka knew that. They may be at the disadvantage at the start, but if they worked together, they would come out on top.
So she moved to assist Kanan with the Eighth Brother.
That was, until she felt something pull her to the floor.
Vaulting up from where she had landed, Ahsoka pivoted to find Sidious standing before her.
"Come now apprentice. Let us see what you have learned."
Ahsoka sneered, before grabbing the hilts of her lightsabers and igniting them. The white beams burst to life, and Ahsoka crouched into a comfortable position. She had no idea how Sidious fought. This would be a tough one.
Beneath his hood, Sidious smirked, before making a sharp gesture with both hands.
As if by some sort of dark magic, a pair of lightsabers emerged from the Sith Lord's robes, appearing in his hands. Ahsoka watched as Sidious gripped the hilts, pushing the ignition button on their sides.
Twin red blades flashed into existence, their colour giving off a hostile glow, bathing the Sith Lord in deep red.
Sidious cackled again, before beginning to twist the blades around in his hands.
'Jar'Kai versus Jar'Kai? This will be interesting.' Ahsoka briefly thought, before Sidious began to barrel down upon her, a barrage of deadly strikes coming her way.
Ahsoka responded in force, bringing both her blades up to clash with Sidious', forcing the Sith Lord to break off and attempt another strike.
The two began to trade blows, fast and with power.
Sidious was strong, very strong, especially for an old man such as himself. In all she had heard about the man, she assumed his forte resided mainly in the force.
But his skills with a lightsaber, especially two, were clearly not to be underestimated. He moved fast, faster than she had ever seen in her life. Even Ahsoka, who had trained in the arts of fast paced combat such as this, was unprepared for such ferocity.
Evading backwards, Ahsoka narrowly avoided a strike that was aimed at her leg. Sidious was clearly trying to immobilize her, not outright kill her.
Not yet at least.
Sidious began to cackle again, before pushing both of his blades forward, meeting Ahsoka's.
The two pushed their blades against one another, entering into a vicious saber lock. Both began to grunt in frustration as neither buckled under the others strength. Ahsoka had more raw physical power than Sidious did, whereas the Sith Lord's power in the force was unmatched.
"You still have much to learn apprentice. Perhaps Skywalker was a failure in more than one way!"
Ahsoka bared her fangs, snarling at the Sith Lord as she redoubled her efforts to push him back.
"Anakin taught me well. He taught me how to defeat people exactly like you!"
From across the room, Ahsoka heard a pained gasp. Glancing briefly, Ahsoka saw one of the Royal Guard do down thanks to Obi-Wan, with another following shortly afterwards by Maul's blade.
She just had to hold out long enough for the others to join in her duel with Sidious.
"Taught you well? He taught you how to destroy scraps of metal, not fight Sith Lords! The only reason you defeated him was because of your power with the darkside. Your innate darkness granted you that victory. The only way you can defeat me is by doing to same. Give yourself over to the darkside of the force." Sidious spat despite the strain of the saber lock.
Both combatants had their sabers locked in front of themselves, forming a cross shape. White and red pushed against one another. The sounds of the blades straining against one another filled Ahsoka's montrals.
She had to break this saber lock and fast. If she pulled out first, no doubt Sidious would get a strike on her. That meant that she had to get him to pull back first.
So she decided to play dirty.
Pushing with her arms again, Ahsoka forced the Sith Lord into shifting his attention to the saber lock. Sidious did so, pushing back equally with his arms, forcing the blades to continue to clash in an upwards cross.
Then Ahsoka moved, and moved quickly. Bringing her knee upwards and forwards, Ahsoka launched an attack on the Emperor's physical form. Her knee made contact with the Sith's groin, the force of the impact sending Sidious stumbling backwards, an infuriated and pained look on his face.
Ahsoka nearly laughed at the situation, before launching another assault with her blades.
Swinging her primary blade for his head, and her shoto for his legs, Ahsoka braced herself for the Emperor's response.
The Sith Lord did respond, intercepting her blades with his and redirecting the energy of her swings to the side, away from him.
Stumbling slightly, Ahsoka regained her senses in time to block a flurry of strikes from the Emperor.
The two continued to trade blows for a few moments, deflecting and redirecting each other's energy with their own precise swings.
It was a well-known fact that a prolonged lightsaber duel was not a good thing for either combatant. Eventually, the strain of the movements would take hold of an individual, and they would begin to slow. Their movements would begin to grow sloppy and unprecise, and they would leave more openings for their opponents to strike.
But try as she may, it seemed as though Sidious was no slowing down. Despite his perceived age, he kept on going and going, fighting faster than light and air. The force permeated stronger with the darkside, threatening to consume the light that dwelled within Ahsoka.
The Sith master was playing it slowly, she figured. He was trying to wear her down, to force her to submit to him. The darkside that radiated off of Sidious was an attempt to corrupt her, to make her fight with her anger. And in doing so, she would be easier to turn.
So Ahsoka relented. She didn't allow the darkside to control her. Instead, she focused on her training from so long ago. She centred herself in the light, attacking with precision and not rage, conviction, not anger.
Light, not dark.
White and red clashed against one another. The two figures that controlled the blades span and evaded and dodged and struck, each trying to find an opening, but neither finding one.
Reaching into the force, Ahsoka harnessed her power, and forced it forward, delivering a force push to Sidious. The Sith master was knocked back slightly, but not off his feet. Instead, he seemingly slid backwards on his heels before regaining his balance, a dark look on his face.
"You wish to practise your usage of the force with me apprentice? So be it!"
Extinguishing one of his blades, Sidious sheathed the weapon before outstretching his hand, making another sharp gesture with it in the process.
Ahsoka barely had any time to react, and was only able to due to the warning from the force.
Lightning erupted from Sidious outstretched fingers, cascading towards her in sharp arcs.
Barely bringing her white blades up in time to protect her body, Ahsoka managed to catch the stream of force lighting with her own sabers. The energy from the attack collided against her sabers, adding considerable strain to the block.
Sidious began to cackle as he increased the volume of the lightning. His second saber was now also away, and lightning erupted from both hands. The horrendous sounds of the lightning crashing against the sabers flooded the room, echoing of the walls and scarring the floor with the deflected bolts.
Sidious pushed further, and the energy crashing against Ahsoka's sabers began to break through, bolts of electricity shocking parts of Ahsoka's armour. Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka held on to her sabers, pushing back with as much strength as she could, trying in vain to redirect the lightning back at Sidious.
But try as she may, she did not possess the refined ability to do so. Every time she began to get control of the stream of lightning, Sidious would alter it, increasing its amount or forcing it around her defences to shock her body.
The strain began to eat away at her. Pain etched through her entire body. The shocks would not scar, but were having a nasty effect on her sensory abilities. If she didn't find a way to end this fight soon, she was done for.
Then she noticed something that she could never be happier to see in her life.
Charging towards Sidious' unprotected back was Maul, his double bladed saber poised to strike.
If she could hold on just a few more seconds…
So she did, absorbing the lightning with her sabers, ignoring any pain that coursed through her body.
Maul was only a few steps away now, she just had to hold on.
And then Maul was behind Sidious, saber coming down on his neck…
And then Sidious span around and spoke.
"How predictable!"
Breaking off the stream of lightning, Sidious unleashed a new stream at Maul, who had no time to block it.
Fear shot through the Zabrak as the lightning smashed into him, sending him careening backwards onto the floor, screaming aloud in agony.
Ahsoka found herself trying to move forward, but her legs gave out under her. The exertion of the fight with Sidious had taken its toll on her.
Then Ahsoka heard another lightsaber swing towards Sidious, as well as the sound of the clash of two blades.
Looking up, Ahsoka spotted Obi-Wan, now locked into clash with Sidious.
Ahsoka nearly pointed out the irony of Obi-Wan protecting Maul from Sidious, but chose not to.
Blue and red blades danced for a few minutes, before Sidious yelled aloud and unleashed a force push against the Jedi Master, knocking him to the floor next to Maul, who was out cold from the pain.
Growling beneath her breath, Ahsoka regained her strength and charged Sidious, her white blades flowing in deadly arcs against Sidious, who turned back to her as she approached.
"Very persistent apprentice."
Ahsoka screamed aloud as she clashed with the Sith Lord, each of the blows from her lightsabers being punctuated with her retort.
"I. AM. NOT. YOUR. APPRENTICE!"
Sidious merely smirked at Ahsoka's temporary release of anger, before replying.
"Yet, my dear."
Kanan was acutely aware of the duels going on around him, despite not being able to see. The force showed him what was happening, how Ahsoka was facing off against the darkness itself.
Kanan knew that he stood no chance against Sidious himself, but he could help.
"Over here Jedi, can you see me?" The ever cocky voice of the Eighth Brother hit Kanan's senses again, as well as the twirling of his blade in response.
The force sang to Kanan, another warning, another direction.
And Kanan listened.
Twisting his arm to the right, as the force had told him, Kanan deflected a series of strikes from the Terrelian with his lightsaber, before pushing the Inquisitor back a few steps.
"Grr, even blind you stupid Jedi are annoying. Why couldn't you go die on Malachor?" The Eighth Brother snarled in frustration, before launching another volley of strikes.
Listening to the force again, Kanan pivoted to deflect the flurry of strikes, redirecting some to allow Kanan to attempt his own offensive.
"I could say the same of you Inquisitor." Kanan replied to the early barb.
The two continued their dance for a few moments, both aware of the duels going on around them. From across the room, Kanan heard a loud clasp of what sounds like energy discharging.
"Your Padawan fights better than you Jarrus!"
Kanan smirked at the attempted insult. Did this Inquisitor not realise that was more of a compliment, both of Kanan's skill as a teacher, and Ezra's ability as a student.
"Yeah well a bantha fights better than you." Kanan couldn't help the retort. The Eighth Brother's reaction would surely be one for the highlight reel.
And it was. The force sang another warning to Kanan, directing him to fall back as the familiar sound of a rotating saber hit his senses, growing ever closer by the second.
Kanan could anticipate the slow moving whirlwind of red that was most likely coming towards him. There was no way he could deflect that!
"So impudent! Did your master teach you that before she died! Who was your master anyway? Jocasta Nu?" The Inquisitor spat, mocking in his voice at the mention of the Jedi Librarian.
But Kanan was not going to fall for that. The Terrelian was clearly trying to get him to remember his past, to remember the death of his master, in hopes that it would provide an opening of sorts.
Instead of reply verbally, Kanan evaded backwards again from the spinning blade the Inquisitor held.
Reaching into the force, Kanan extinguished his own blade, crouching to his knees.
Picturing the Inquisitor in his head, Kanan began to manipulate the force, controlling the flow of the energy in the air. As he did, the Inquisitor neared, his blade ready to strike.
Moments later, the Eighth Brother was above Kanan, blade coming down in a vicious arc, aimed directly at Kanan's neck.
It was then that Kanan struck. He had practised long and hard, and worked with Ahsoka to perfect the manoeuvre.
As the blade come down, Kanan reached out with both hands, grasping hold of the hilt of the weapon.
"WHAT!?"
Kanan didn't wait for the Inquisitor to fully understand what had happened. Instead, he pulled with all his might, both physical strength and with the force, and removed the saber from the Inquisitor's grip, extinguishing to blade in the process.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Eighth Brother's confused yell echoed across the throne room, a smirk coming to Kanan's face in response.
Reaching out with the force again, Kanan unleashed a force push, sending the Terrelian spiralling backwards until he crashed against the railing in front of the large pit that lead to the interior of the station.
Rising back to his feet, Kanan cast the Inquisitor's weapon aside, before turning around to assist his allies.
Only to be met with a face full of force lightning.
Ahsoka watched in horror as she deflected a strike from Sidious's blade. Lightning erupted towards Kanan, sending the blind Jedi sprawling onto the floor, contorting in pain. From where he had been, Ahsoka witnessed the Eighth Brother rise to his feet, pulling his lightsaber hilt to him, before heading over to Kanan's prone form, and picking him up.
Anger boiled through Ahsoka. In the space of a few seconds, Sidious had dispatched her three allies, knocking each of them out of the fight.
Now, it was just her and him.
And an Inquisitor who Ahsoka wasn't sure which side he was on.
Pivoting to clash with Sidious' blade again, Ahsoka attempted an offensive down low, one that was quickly countered by the Sith Master.
The two locked blades again, pushing against one another.
Gritting her teeth again, Ahsoka pulled back out of the lock, evading backwards out of reach as Sidious performed a horrifically fast horizontal swing at her.
Confusion flooded Ahsoka briefly, as sparks seemed to emerge from the end of Sidious' saber during the swing.
As she stepped back out of reach, Ahsoka saw a dark grin on Sidious' face.
Glancing down, Ahsoka's eyes widened in horror as the origin of the sparks was revealed to her. A bright orange scorch mark now ran the length of her armour piece, crossing right across her body. The orange began to fade as the burn cooled down, the resulting scorch from Sidious' lightsaber beginning to fade, leaving a nasty gash in the armour.
Ahsoka released a sign of relief she didn't realize she was holding. A few more inches forward and that would have been a fatal blow. She was lucky that Sidious had only hit her armour piece.
As she fully realised what had happened, Sidious began to cackle.
"It would seem your defensive manoeuvres require work my dear. No matter, you will learn much in time."
Steeling herself, Ahsoka angled her blades to deflect another series of strikes from Sidious, before the Sith Master reached deep into the darkside of the force, and unleashed a push against her, knocking her to the floor.
Groaning from her position, her head pulsing with aches, Ahsoka began to get back to her feet.
Glancing around, she saw Sidious had moved away from her, taking position near the fallen forms of Maul and Obi-Wan.
From the side, the Eighth Brother appeared, dragging Kanan's limp form forward, placing him next to her other two compatriots, forming a line with them.
Now on her feet, Ahsoka began to move back towards Sidious position, lightsabers in hand.
"No my dear, you shall learn an important lesson." The Sith Master spoke again. With one hand, he made a claw shape, sharply gesturing with hand at the same time.
In a split second, the forms of Kanan, Maul and Obi-Wan were suspended in mid-air, as if lined up for a firing squad.
"No!" Ahsoka called out, continuing to approach. Behind Sidious, the Eighth Brother stood, lightsaber ignited.
"You fight with much anger Ahsoka Tano, but not enough. You must truly embrace the darkside if you are to be victorious. Your friends will only slow you down." The Sith master croaked, forcing Ahsoka back with another force push.
Again, the Togruta rose to her feet, approaching the Sith Lord.
"This charade is pointless. It is your destiny to join me, and together we will right the wrongs of this galaxy."
Again, Sidious forced her away, and again, Ahsoka rose to her feet.
"Kenobi betrayed you. Dume will betray you. Maul is a Sith! But your master trusted me. I implore you to do the same. Claim your rightful place by my side!"
"NEVER!" Ahsoka snarled, her body tiring from the constant barrages of the force.
Sidious cackled again, before turning his head to the Eighth Brother.
"So be it, then you will watch as your friends die. Perhaps your grief will be enough to convince you, as it was with Skywalker. Inquisitor, kill Caleb Dume!"
Ahsoka felt her heart plummet as the words left the Emperors mouth. She couldn't get to Kanan in time. Sidious kept blocking her.
All she could do was watch helplessly, as the Terrelian angled his blade for Kanan's suspended form, the tip of the lightsaber aiming directly for Kanan's heart.
"KANAN!" Ahsoka called out in horror.
Sidious turned his gaze back to Ahsoka, his golden eyes meeting her distraught blue ones.
Ahsoka watched as the Inquisitor lurched his arm backwards, preparing to lunge.
And then he did.
But not towards Kanan.
In a split second, the Inquisitor span on his heel, and lunged his saber forward.
Directly towards Darth Sidious' unprotected back.
Author's thoughts
Well, looks like a certain Terrelian Jango Jumper has finally played his card. Only question is will it work out?
I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that it was worth the wait. I found it stupidly hard to write a good Sidious for this, as he needs to be manipulating, yet a credible fighter at the same time. I only hope I did him justice so far.
Also, I know some of you will question where Sidious got a second lightsaber from, considering he lost one in ROTS. The answer has actually already been briefly mentioned in this story however. If you missed it, go back at check out chapter 15 again. :)
Anyway, as you can imagine, this confrontation is going to last a few chapters. One wasn't enough for it, not that it would have been in the first place.
As for this chapter, I want to briefly mention Kanan's duel with the Eighth Bro here. The move he pulls is the same one Ahsoka used on the 7th Sis and 6th Bro in both rebels and the Ahsoka novel. I liked the idea of Ahsoka teaching Kanan it.
Next time round, the Eighth Brother pulls a 'Starscream', and we find out how the rest of team rebel is doing.
As usual, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
ccommando173: Not Barriss I'm afraid. Eighth Bro instead. Sorry.
TerminatorJedi1995: I'm glad you liked the chapter. I felt like I needed to create several cliffhangers at once with various characters, that way setting up the next few chapters in a tense manner.
Ahsoka's brutal scene was inspired by a certain Vader scene from Rogue One. I'm a sucker for Ahsoka/Vader parallels.
To be fair, stormtroopers were useless before Disney gained the rights to Star Wars. It seems that the only decent shots in the imperial army are on Tatooine.
Hope you like this chapter, as well as the Eighth Brother's actions.
Maliwan: Hopefully your guess was right was to who the grey armoured figure was.
Ahsoka certainly had a dark moment. She needs to be careful being so close to Sidious.
Glad you enjoyed the chapter. :)
Mysterious guest one: Glad you liked the chapter, as well as the fights that went on... even if they were a bit one sided. Ahsoka needs to calm down methinks.
Mysterious guest two: You will have to wait and see what happens to Maul.
Chiara Polairix Edelstein: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, especially Kallus' part. He is fun to write, especially when he is on team rebel. :)
Travis Middleton: I'm glad you liked the dynamic between Ezra and Vos. They would get along really well I imagine, hence why I paired them up for this bit.
Hopefully you enjoyed the Eighth Bro in this chapter. He finally played his wild card.
No problem answering your question. Thats what these sections are for. :)
We will have to see what the rebellion decides to do regarding Operation Cinder. They certainly weren't ready to help Ahsoka stop the Death Star. Thrawn might be on his own for this one.
Mogor: Ahsoka is certainly in very real danger at this point. She could swing either way. Let's hope she remains true to herself, and doesn't repeat the mistakes of her master.
SLE's fave guest: And now your egging Ahsoka on...
Do you want her to become 'Darth Snips' or something? :)
Poor Obi-Wan indeed. He's just so tired by this point. Let's hope Ahsoka has more commen sense than Anakin did.
LukeDude: I'm glad you could feel the tension, as that was what I was going for. We can only hope that the rebels will be victorious with their various battles.
Regarding the Eighth Bro's armour... grey, black. Either I suppose. We only really saw him in canon on Malachor, and it was pretty dark there. Other than his very brief appearance in the recent Vader comic, he hasn't really been shown much. That being said, after Malachor and his time on the run, maybe he did get a new set of armour. :)
And now... your questions:
1. You won't be seeing Yavin Four again in this story. Sorry. However, Cassian, K2 and the Larte Sisters are waiting for the team to return back on Raada, and you will see them again. As for Sato... he's probably on the run at this point after disobeying orders.
2. In regards to Luke and Leia, I won't say if they appear in this story. However, they will in the one shots. :)
3. Is Galen alright? Guess you will have to wait and see what's happened to him.
I'm honestly looking forward to finishing this so I can have the satisfaction of knowing it is done. I only hope you all like the ending I've picked. :)
FossilQueen1984: Kallus being a rebel badass is awesome. Why haven't we seen more of that yet?
Glad you are anticipating the next chapters. Things get pretty serious.