A shaft of bright light erupted from the top of the pyramid, energy sparking upwards and through the crust layer of Malachor. The breach in the surface allowed for a shaft of light to shine through, illuminating the area around the temple.
"What was that?" Ezra called, panic evident in his voice. Ahsoka glanced around at the temple. Energy seemed to course through the space around. The darkness that emanated from the Sith structure had only increased tenfold in a split second.
Seconds later, Maul confirmed her suspicions.
"It would appear that the Inquisitors have activated the temple. The weapon is charging up."
"Then we better hurry." Kanan was the one to respond first to Maul, much to the surprise of Ahsoka. It seemed dire circumstances made strange allies of them.
"Indeed Master Jedi. Up those stairs." Maul retorted to Kanan, before setting off into a run up the stairs before them, his three companions following his lead.
Ahsoka knew that it was imperative that the holocron not fall into the hands of Vader, whatever the cost. Even if he was he former master, the man who she had trusted with her life, she would stop him.
As the four reached the top of the flight of stairs they were on two figures emerged from the shadows before them.
"You will go no further scum." The larger Inquisitor spoke, and he and the Mirialan ignited their sabers, blocking the path of the final set of stairs up to then top of the temple.
Ahsoka scanned the area quickly. There was no sight of the Eighth Brother anywhere, meaning he must be the one behind the temple activation.
"We do not have time for this Lady Tano!" Maul exclaimed as he too ignited his weapon, followed shortly by Kanan and Ezra.
Maul was right. If they wasted time fighting the Inquisitors the temple would activate and they would all die anyway. Someone had to get to the top and stop the Eighth Brother, retrieving the holocron in the process.
'The holocron.' Ahsoka thought. That was what as used to activate the temple. And the temple worked on the rule of two, much like the Sith. That would mean...
"Kanan, Ezra, go get the holocron, Maul and I will handle these two." Ahsoka ordered her two friends.
"Ahsoka no, we can take them together." Ezra interrupting, not liking the idea of leaving Ahsoka behind with two Inquisitors and Maul.
"The holocron will need two to remove it. A master and an apprentice, just like the Sith code. You two are the only ones who fit that bill. Maul and I can't do it." Ahsoka responded, igniting her sabers and advancing on the two Inquisitors. The Mirialan smirked at her.
"She's right Ezra. We have to stop the temple from firing." Kanan agreed with Ahsoka, encouraging Ezra to do the same.
The young boy looked between his master and his friend, concern in his eyes. In the end, he knew they were both right, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"Ok. Stay safe Ahsoka." He said, before joining Kanan in moving past the Inquisitors and ascending the final set of stairs to the top of the temple. Strangely, the two Inquisitors let them pass, as they wanted them too.
Ahsoka watched her two Jedi friends disappear up the steps.
"May the force be with you." She whispered under her breath, before turning to Maul and nodding her head.
They would do this together.
"Tano is mine. Deal with the Shadow." The Mirialan snarled at her companion, before charging Ahsoka, blade spinning in a deadly arc. Ahsoka rose her blades in defence, clashing with the Inquisitor.
"No Seventh Sister. We must fight as one to defeat them." The Fifth Brother responded, blocking a series of strikes from Maul as the Zabrak assaulted him with a barrage of swings. He knew they were outmatched. The Seventh Sister would get them killed with this foolhardy vendetta of hers. He only hoped Lord Vader would arrive in time to save him.
"You fear me Inquisitor. And that is the last emotion you will ever feel!" Maul snarled at the Fifth Brother, using the force to push the Inquisitor backwards into a stone slab. The Inquisitor grunted in pain as he impacted, but rose to his feet to continue the fight, spinning his blade at Maul and trying to find an opening.
There was none, at least none he could see. Maul was a master of the blade. Far better than the Fifth Brother. Despite Maul's disadvantages, his age and his cybernetics, it was only a matter of time until the Fifth Brother would be worn down considerably.
Another flurry of strikes from Maul pushed the Inquisitor back further. The two found themselves duelling near the ledge of the level they were currently on. One mistake and that was it, either duellist could plummet to their deaths.
Maul unleashed another force push at the Inquisitor, and again the Inquisitor was pushed backwards, scrambling to gain his balance. By this point he was right on the edge of the ledge.
Maul seized the advantage and charged at a frightening speed. The two clash their blades together again, the Inquisitor blocking high and then low as Maul's double ended blade swung at him. Maul ducked to avoid a strike from the Fifth Brother as he swung his own blade out in an attempt to break through Maul's defence.
However, in doing so it presented Maul with his own opportunity.
Maul allowed he blade to pass over his head, and then swung his own lightsaber up, catching the Inquisitor's arm as it retracted from the previous strike.
The Fifth Brother roared in pain as his arm was severed from his body, saber dropping to the ground before him. He took one glance at it as he cradled his arm close to his chest, and then looked up at Maul.
His eyes were what the Fifth Brother noticed first. Then the horns. In that moment, to the Inquisitor's eyes, Maul resembled pure evil. As if he was some devil from ancient texts, come to destroy everything.
Come to destroy him.
Maul swung his saber in a horizontal arc. The blade passed through the Fifth Brother's waist, eviscerating him. The Fifth Brother gave one last cry of pain, before his body separated into two, and tumbled off the side of the pyramid, into the depths of Malachor.
Maul grunted. One down. One to go. He turned away from his fallen adversary, caring little for his demise. He scanned the area around him, trying to find some trace of his Togruta companion.
'Companion? When did I start thinking of her as that?' Maul thought. He shrugged it off. There would be time to muse on that later.
The Seventh Sister came flying out from behind pillar, retreating from Ahsoka who was fiercely trying to disarm the Inquisitor. Maul simply stood and watched. He knew Tano. The Inquisitor stood no chance.
"You will pay for humiliating me Tano, you and your friends. And when this is over, and Lord Vader has you as his play thing, I will hunt down everyone you love." The Seventh Sister taunted, confident in her own skills as she clashed again with Ahsoka, red pushing against white.
Ahsoka rolled her eyes in response, despite the situation, as she shifted her shoto in an attempt to hit the Inquisitor's undefended legs. The Seventh Sister noticed the attempt, and pushed Ahsoka back, jumping over the shoto's blade and attempting to bring her blade forward to end Ahsoka.
"Forget what Lord Vader wants, I will end you myself." The Seventh Sister snarled, clearly growing fed up of the fight.
Ahsoka too had had enough. She darted backwards to avoid the Inquisitor's blade, and advanced with her own once the coast was clear. She clashed with the Inquisitor once again, one blade blocking one side of her opponents saber, the other blocking the other.
It was a battle of the wits as the two pushed against each other. Neither wanted to leave the saber lock, as that would leave them open. But neither had the strength to out push the other.
So Ahsoka adapted. She couldn't push. She couldn't retreat.
Ahsoka closed her eyes, reaching deep into the force. Battle meditation was what it had been called in the past. It had worked once against the Mirialan.
The Inquisitor was too focused on using her anger and hatred of Ahsoka to notice the force swelling around her. That proved to be a mistake.
With lightning speed, Ahsoka moved both arms simultaneously. The blade she had up moved down, and the lower blade upwards.
They met in the middle, clashing against the hilt of the Inquisitor's blade, which erupted in sparks as it was destroyed by Ahsoka.
The Seventh Sister was thrown back by the small scale explosion, shock and horror on her face. She scrambled backwards, her back coming into contact with a wall as she leaned against it. Tano would spare her. She was once a Jedi after all.
"Excellent work Lady Tano." Maul said with venom in his voice, much like his old self from Mandalore again. Ahsoka huffed and she stood over the disarmed Inquisitor, who looked at her with disgust.
"Now kill her!"
Ahsoka felt her body go cold. That was not her. She did not kill in cold blood.
She turned to look at Maul, anger contorting on his face.
"Do it! End her!"
Out of the corner of her vision she could see the Seventh Sister begin to cower in fear, whimpering to herself.
"She is a threat to you and your friends. Destroy her!"
Ahsoka turned to look at the Inquisitor again. She could do it. End her here and now. It would save many in the future no doubt. But it would sacrifice her own code of ethics to do so. Ahsoka gripped her hilts tighter in her hand. She was struggling with herself. The Sith temple, as well as Maul's presence was having an effect on her, turning her darker than she usually was.
She raised the blade, her arm acting on its own.
"Yes! Yes! Kill her Lady Tano!"
Ahsoka stopped herself. This was not her. She was not a murdered.
She was not Maul.
Ahsoka extinguished her lightsabers, placing the hilts back on her leg armour where they resided. She turned and looked Maul in the eyes, challenging him.
Maul growled in response. Ahsoka prepared for his betrayal. She knew it was coming.
Instead, Maul swung his own saber downwards, decapitating the Seventh Sister, and then extinguishing his own weapon.
"You didn't need to do that Maul." Ahsoka said, tense and distrusting of him. If he was to go off the rails, she needed to be ready.
"Hesitate like that again Lady Tano and your friends will get hurt." Maul snarled.
"She was unarmed and beaten. She was no threat." Ahsoka responded, taking a step back from Maul, ready just in case.
"Granting mercy to an unarmed opponent will get people killed Lady Tano. Do you intend to do the same to Lord Vader? Grant him mercy because of who he once was to you?"
She wanted to attack him. To beat him senseless.
But he was right. Ahsoka knew that.
And despite everything, she knew that she could not afford to do that before Vader.
"No. I won't." She replied honestly. There would be no mercy for Vader, whoever he once was to her.
"See that you don't Lady Tano, or you and your friends..."
Maul froze mid-sentence, fear appearing on his face.
It only took a second for Ahsoka to figure out why. The force felt cold. Colder than before, despite being on Malachor and in a Sith temple. A single presence in the force sung out to her. She shivered. She had felt it before. It was recognizable to her, even if it was distorted by the darkside now.
Maul spoke gravely. "He is here!"
"I order you to deactivate the weapon!" The Eighth Brother yelled at the voice that was emerging from the holocron. He had no intention of dying today, especially at the hands of an inanimate object such as a holocron.
"I do not take orders from those beneath me slave." The voice responded. "All on Malachor will perish. And then the galaxy will follow."
The entire time he had been on Malachor the Eighth Brother had schemed to gain control of whatever weapon resided in the temple. He was willing to sacrifice his cohorts to secure and activate it.
But he was not willing to die for it. Because he knew that if he did, Vader and Sidious would simply take the prize for themselves, claiming all the glory and wiping all record of his existence on the mission. It would be as if he and his siblings had never existed.
And that he would not allow.
The Eighth Brother reached out his hand, grasping the holocron in its place and pulled. If he could remove the holocron, he could cancel the charging of the weapon. It would mean the Jedi would also survive, but that was a chance he was willing to take. All that mattered now was survival.
The holocron however had different ideas. As the Inquisitor pulled, the holocron released a sudden burst of energy, knocking the Inquisitor backwards onto his back. The impact left the Eighth Brother winded.
"A foolish attempt. You are alone. And unworthy of this prize." The voice taunted him again, repeating the same mantra of worthiness to him. Why was he not worthy? He was powerful. Wasn't he?
It occurred to the Inquisitor that in moments he would be dead. Killed by a doomsday device. His day couldn't get any worse.
"Hey Inquisitor. Step away from the holocron."
'Never mind.' The Eighth Brother thought as he turned to face the newcomers.
Jarrus and Bridger stood before him, lightsabers ignited, clearly ready for a fight.
He however did not seek one. Not with the temple about to fire.
If survival meant temporary cooperation with the Jedi, so be it.
"Hostilities must be put to one side Jedi. The temple will kill us all unless we can remove the key." The Eighth Brother spoke, hoping that they would believe him. He only need their cooperation briefly.
Jarrus raised his eyebrow at the Inquisitor, clearly perplexed at the sudden change of events.
Nevertheless, the Eighth Brother did step away from the holocron, clearing the path for the two Jedi, who promptly advanced on the holocron.
Both we still aware of the presence of the Inquisitor, their blades active and ready.
"Together Ezra, like Ahsoka said." Jarrus said to his apprentice as the two grasped the holocron in their hands.
"On three." Ezra replied.
The Eighth Brother watched and listened in curiosity. The holocron had deemed him unworthy, yet did not seem to offer the same taunts or resistance to the two Jedi. He watched as the two Jedi pulled with all their might, and the holocron came loose. The force of the pull sent both Jarrus and Bridger tumbling over, the holocron held firmly in Bridger's hand.
The energy coming out of the obelisk the holocron had previously resided in faded away, the weapon coming offline. Despite this, the central chamber remained illuminated. They were safe. And now the Eighth Brother could claim his prize.
He ignited his lightsaber.
"Much appreciated Master Jedi. Now hand over the holocron or die!"
Jarrus and Bridger were on their feet in seconds, the boy stashing the holocron away while his master clashed blades with the Inquisitor. The Eighth Brother darted around the two Jedi, spinning his blade, trading light blows with his opponents in the hopes of wearing them down. He had to dispose of them and escape, before Maul or Ahsoka showed up. He knew he was no match for them.
In the frenzy of combat, the three ended up locked in a saber clash, the Jedi pushing against the Inquisitor, trying in vain to push him back.
He was so close, so close to his goal. All the Eighth Brother had to do was...
A spotlight erupted from nowhere, shining upon the three as they jumped back from each other in surprize. The Eighth Brother looked up at the beam of light, annoyed at the new presence. It occurred to him seconds later who it was.
The sound of a TIE fighter could be heard descended, the screeching sound unmistakable to his ears. He froze. Why the Sith hell was he here? He hadn't requested his presence.
The Inquisitor and two Jedi watched in horror as the fighter landed on the ground before them. Standing atop it, lightsaber already ignited with his cape flowing majestically, was Darth Vader.
Author's thoughts
Oh boy, here we go.
I hope you enjoyed the confrontation between Ahsoka, Maul and the Inquisitors. Despite this being an AU I wanted to keep somethings the same. That being the deaths of the Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother. (R.I.P)
And now of course the drama queen himself has arrived.
A word of warning for the next chapter though, a major plot twist will occur. Some will like it, others will deplore it. I will talk more about it at the end of next chapter.
Feel free to comment, as per usual.
Speaking of which:
FossilQueen1984: I like the idea of the holocron having a mind of its own. As far as I am concerned, it too plays by Sith rules. The Eight Brother is not a true Sith, and thus it will not cooperate with him as he is by himself. But Kanan and Ezra, despite being Jedi, work together to retireve it, and it lets them, following the idea of the rule of two.