Chapter 25
Ezra opened his eyes to see the bright green blade just inches from his face. One wrong move, and the room will suddenly be filled with the smell of burning flesh. "What the hell is wrong with you!", Sabine shouted at the young Jedi Knight. Luke didn't respond, he kept glaring at Ezra. Or at least, in his direction. "Sabine", Ahsoka suddenly pulled the young Mandalorian away from Luke. Sabine was about to protest when Ahsoka forced her to turn around. A sleek crimson red blade was aimed at Ezra's torso. Luke's lightsaber being the only thing between it and the weakened padawan. The two looked up from the blade to see it's owner. A figure in a dark grey and black imperial jumpsuit with an inquisitor's helmet stood several feet away. The inquisitor jumped back, forcing Luke to stumble forward. He fell to the floor hard, his lightsaber rolling on the floor. Before it was stopped by a boot. Luke looked up to see a large man dressed in imperial armor. He had a gray mask with a red marking in the center. "You lost little one", the man asked sarcastically in a deep voice. But before he could respond, Luke was suddenly pulled back. He let out a surprised yelp as Ahsoka's soft hands grabbed him in an embrace. Luke was able to see the man completely. And he was not alone. The one in inquisitor's armor stood next to him. And behind the man, were the Knights of Ren. All six of them. No wait, two were missing. Luke could've sworn there had been more of them. He quickly looked around him and Ahsoka to check if they were going to ambush. But he didn't see anything, what had happened with the last two? The room suddenly rumbled as a large 7 foot tall humanoid entered the room. "At last, the last of all the Jedi meets the first true sith", the humanoid praised as he loomed over them. Ahsoka moved in front of Luke, igniting her lightsabers in the process. "Who are you!", she said in a demanding tone.
"It doesn't matter, we only came for one thing", the one in the inquisitor outfit stated. It had a feminine voice, unlike the others that clearly had a male voice. "And that is?", Sabine spoke up as she and Ezra moved back. "Him", the one in the inquisitor's outfit pointed out. She extended her already ignited blade towards Luke. "If you want him, you'll have through me first", Ahsoka declared as she stepped forwards. Luke stayed silent, his surroundings slowly muting, he was going over who these were. He thoughts went back to Korriban. The one with the mask was clearly Zyon, he could feel it. The Knights of Ren were the same ones he had encountered earlier, but he couldn't identify the other two. He felt as if he has met them before but the large humanoid and the female assassin weren't recognizable. Though, the humanoid reminded him of the Tomb. His eyes widen as he slowly came to realization. "She has resurrected an ancient threat known as Marka Ragnos", the voice of the mysterious man echoed in his head. "Marka Ragnos", Luke spoke out to the humanoid. Ragnos smiled as the Jedi recognized his foe. "Surprised Jedi?", he asked Luke. "I must admit", Luke stated firmly, "You're shorter than I expected". Ragnos ignored Luke's comment as his eyes shifting between Luke and Ahsoka. "Without the Togruta's help, I would still be trapped in that tomb", Ragnos confessed as he got out a huge vibrosword. "Luke, I had nothing to do with this, I swear", Ahsoka tried reasoning to Luke. But Luke simply put his hand up to stop her, he knew that Ahsoka didn't do it on purpose. She was tricked, just like how he was tricked into believing that Ahsoka would betray him. "She was deceived by you", Luke spat back, he called his lightsaber towards him. It's green blade igniting upon contact. "But I must say Ragnos, you disappoint me. Why do you need all of these loyalists? Surely the sith aren't that weak", Luke mockingly asked.
"It is you who is misguided Skywalker. I haven't come to kill you. I want you", Ragnos stated as he slowly marched towards them, gripping the vibrosword tighter. "As an apprentice?", Luke asked as he pointed his lightsaber towards the resurrected sith lord. "No. A vessel", Ragnos responded. Luke's face fell, "A vessel?". Ragnos nodded slowly and he gave a cold grin, "My physical body can no longer contain my power. But with you as the host, I can be unstoppable", Ragnos explained, "Your friends, however, must die". The Knights of Ren slowly circled around them. "Well I'm flattered by all this attention", Luke simply stated as he and Ahsoka got into a fighting position. Ragnos and the Knights of Ren got closer, raising their weapons waiting to strike. Suddenly they all fell to the floor screaming in pain. Electric sparks flying everywhere. Ren screamed as he tore his helmet away from him. Exposing his identity. Ahsoka gasped in horror as she saw Zyon on the floor being zapped by an electrical charge. Confused, Luke and Ahsoka looked at the inquisitor. In her hand was a switch, commanding the electrical charges to go off. "I have other plans for you", she said darkly. Ragnos screamed as he struggled to get up, "I should've killed you earlier!", he yelled at the inquisitor before being knocked unconscious.
The room was quiet, Luke and Ahsoka just stared at the inquisitor. Sabine and Ezra slowly drawing their respected weapons. "You're outnumbered inquisitor. We have you four to one", Ahsoka shouted as she twirled her lightsabers. The inquisitor simply laughed, "I'm not an inquisitor. I'm a assassin". She suddenly lunged at Ahsoka at immense speed. Ahsoka quickly blocked the blow with an "x" formation. The two sparred as the assassin kicked Ahsoka in the gut. Ahsoka grunted as she swung her blades at the assassin. Ahsoka quickly started getting the upper hand as she used the mastered form of Ataru. She kicked the assassin's helmet as she flipped over her. The assassin stumbled as she swung hard at Ahsoka. Ahsoka pinned the assassin to a corner, slowly reducing the amount of space between her and her own blade. "You're not very good at a lightsaber", Ahsoka taunted, "Even a youngling could do better than you". The assassin screamed in rage as she kicked Ahsoka in the groin. Ahsoka flinched in pain as her strength quickly weakend. The assassin took advantage and shot Ahsoka with a blaster. Ahsoka flew off of her with the huge amount of power the blast had. "Ahsoka!", Luke, Ezra and Sabine yelled out in horror. Ahsoka laid on the floor groaning in pain, the shot was absorbed by her chest plate, but it still left a painful mark. "You'll pay for that!", Ezra shouted as he charged at the assassin.
"Ezra don't!", Sabine protested.
But it was too late. The assassin got back up and exchanged blows with Ezra. She spun her lightsaber with a swift motion before slicing Ezra's skin open. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room. Using Ezra's sudden shock, she kicked him in the legs as she dodged his every move. Ezra collapsed to his knees, he screamed out in agony as the assassin crushed his hand and twisted it. The loud cracking of bones was heard over Ezra's screams. She punched him in the throat as she brought her lightsaber for a killing blow. The lightsaber flew out of her hand as a blaster bolt struck her. Sabine charged at the assassin, using the ends of her blasters to deliver a heavier blow. The two started doing hand to hand combat. Butting their helmets against one another. Sabine started using her gauntlet to try an get an advantage. But her harpoon cable was caught in mid departure. The assassin threw Sabine across. Sabine spun several times as she landed on her feat. "It takes a lot more to beat a Mandalorian", Sabine said as she gasped for air. "I'm the Emperor's hand, I've killed enemies more powerful than a Mando", the assassin spat back. The two went at it again, Sabine jumping in the air for a good kick in the gut. But the assassin quickly backflipped to avoid the oncoming limb. She grabbed Sabine's leg as she hurled her towards a wall. Sabine let out a grunt as her helmet was torn off of her. The assassin picked Sabine up by her neck, before slamming her to the ground. She grabbed a metal rod that was laying on the ground nearby, and slammed it against Sabine. A loud crack was heard as Sabine cried out in pain. Her nose started to bleed quickly as she started to fade into darkness.
The assassin got up from the bleeding Mandalorian, dropping the rod as she called her lightsaber as she turned to face Luke. Luke hadn't moved a bit, but he stood firm with his blade ignited. "Scared yet? Don't worry, what I'm about to do with you is way worse. You'd wish you were dead", the assassin stated as she marched towards him. She lunged at, swing her lightsaber with immense speed. Luke quickly dodged it as he brought his lightsaber for defense. The assassin tried pinning Luke against the wall, but Luke force pushed her away. The two continued to duel, clashing their lightsabers as they both tried to get an opening. Luke noticed that the assassin only knew a combination of form I, the Shii-Cho and form two, the Makashi. Yet she heavily relied on her speed and size.
"You need a teacher", Luke suggested as he started gaining the upper hand, "I can help you", he offered as he dodged another swing to the head. "I'm not accepting anything from you", the assassin spoke darkly. She somersaulted into him, kicking Luke straight in the chest. Luke coughed as he grasped for air. While distracted, the assassin quickly took an electric charge out, and stabbed it against Luke. Luke growled in pain as he suddenly felt an immense shock of pain spreading across his body. He fell to the floor, violently shaking as the electricity kept spreading. The assassin kicked him in the ribs, she brought out a small vibroblade as she aimed it at Luke's neck. But Luke grabbed her by the leg, sending some of the electricity to her. The blade fell to the floor as the assassin screamed in pain. Luke quickly got up and kicked the assassin in the gut. The assassin was slammed against a wall before collapsing on the floor, unconscious. Luke breathed heavily as he walked towards his friends. He checked on Ahsoka, she was still breathing. He removed her chest plate and grabbed a part of her robes. He wrapped her chest up as he noticed a bit of blood was starting to be released. He carefully carried her to a corner, setting her down. He walked over to Ezra, the poor man was knocked out due to the immense pain his broken arm was giving him. Luke grabbed the metal rod that the assassin had used. It was covered in blood, but it had to do. Luke firmly placed it against Ezra's broken arm, he used some of Ahsoka's robes to wrap a cast around it to firmly hold his arm together until helps arrived. He grabbed Sabine, who was nearby, and Ezra as he carefully dragged them next to Ahsoka.
They had severe injuries, most likely they wouldn't make it. But he was going to make sure they could last as long as they physically could. Luke grabbed their hands as he closed his eyes. He focused on the force, drawing his energy into them. Slowly, the wounds of Sabine and Ezra started to heal. The blood had stopped dripping from Sabine's nose. Ahsoka's black eye slowly regaining it's original color. Luke started to feel dizzy as the three in front of him slowly regain consciousness. Ahsoka's eyes fluttered open, "Luke", she said weakly. "Save your breath Ahsoka. I need you to get Sabine and Ezra out of here", Luke stated as he collapsed to the floor breathing heavily. He quickly got back up, calling his lightsaber towards him. Ahsoka shot up, fear in her eyes. She grabbed Luke's arm pulling him close. "Whatever you do, do it without the darkside", she said looking into his eyes. Luke nodded as he went back to facing his new opponent. The ignition of a lightsaber was heard as Luke focused on who stood in front of him. "Marka Ragnos, I hope you're not a disappointment", Luke states sarcastically.
"Why don't we find out Skywalker?".