Chapter 70 – Always Two There Are
Author's Note: Family reunions... from a certain point of view. ;)
~ Amina Gila
"It's not fair!" Ezra yells, arms dropping to his sides, and glaring at Chopper.
Vizma chokes on a laugh, and Sabine joins in. "Hey, enemies never fight fair," she grins.
"Real battles usually aren't," Kanan agrees, with a clear note of exasperation in his voice.
"The Jedi general I served with combined the Force with his wits, and it made him a great warrior," Rex interjects, standing up and approaching them.
Vizma would much prefer the conversation not go to this. She's not really sure what to think about Anakin or Vader or whichever name he goes by now. She has very mixed feelings about him – her father insisted that he was a good person, and so has everyone she's met, but he betrayed them. He nearly killed Kanan and Ezra and Sabine.
"Ezra's got plenty of wits. What he needs is more discipline," Kanan retorts.
"Well, then you better let a soldier handle that," Rex shoots back.
"Excuse me?!"
"They really have to do this again?" Vizma mutters under her breath, leaning over to Sabine. Personally, she can very much understand Kanan's anger with the clones, also, but they were being mind-controlled into doing what they did, so it's... different.
"Never stops, does it?" she agrees.
Just then, the door slides open, Hera stepping into the room. "Sabine, Vizma, I have a mission for you and Chop," she announces, "Thanks to Captain Rex, I found an old base where we might be able to salvage some much-needed medical supplies. Zeb, you should go too."
"Better find the med supplies quick," Kanan scowls, "Captain Wits is about to need them."
"So, there's where the boy's lack of discipline comes from," Rex quips.
Vizma rolls her eyes, following Sabine out of the room, tuning out their bickering. Sabine is prepping the engines to fly when the bottom hatch swings open and Ezra scrambles in. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Vizma asks.
"Inviting myself along," he replies lightly, "I'd rather deal with the dangers out there, than stay in the crossfire in here."
"Can't blame you," Vizma huffs, "It's getting old."
"Don't speak for which crossfire you want to be in too quickly," Sabine warns.
"It's not even a question," Ezra retorts.
"I wish I could've gone with Dad," Vizma declares, "That's a lot more interesting than collecting medical supplies."
"You want to go hunt down a Sith Lord?" Sabine asks dubiously.
"They aren't actually hunting him. They're trying to find out more about him." And he seems to be about the only person her father is thinking about these days.
"Anything is better than sitting back at the base listening to Kanan and Rex," Ezra declares firmly. No one can dispute that.
**w**
Something about the place sets Vizma on edge instantly, though she isn't sure why. The entire place is dark, and it looks like no one's been here since probably before she was born, but that's not what's bugging her. It's something else, something sinister, though she isn't sure what.
Her father always tells her never to ignore her instincts, so she knows better than to shrug it off. Still, what could go wrong here? She'll just keep an eye out.
Chopper beeps nervously, shining his spotlight around in the darkness.
"Come on, Chop!" Ezra exclaims, "It's not so creepy! Just dark. Nothing we can't handle."
"Maybe he senses something you don't," she chirps.
"Don't tell me you're scared of the dark, too," he teases.
"Have you ever met a single Mandalorian who's scared of the dark?" Sabine asks flatly.
"Well, I don't know. I've only met three!"
Chopper beeps again, something about three too many.
"Hey!" Vizma protests, whacking its dome. The droid spins its arm around, hitting her back.
"You actually understand that glorified, beeping, garbage can?" Zeb asks incredulously.
"Yeah, sort of. We're both learning," Ezra offers cheerfully.
"We have work to do," Sabine calls over her shoulder, heading for the door, only to discover that it won't open, because there's no power.
Zeb yanks it open, letting them all jump through into the long, dark hallway ahead, before climbing through himself, letting the blast doors slam closed behind him. Something about the noise sends an involuntary shiver through her, and she frowns, peering into the darkness. Is something here? She doesn't usually feel this jumpy.
"Well, this is the command center," Sabine observes, as they step into the large dusty, dark room, "Or what's left of it."
"This might make a good base for us," Ezra comments.
"Hold on, you actually want to camp out in this dusty, dark –" Vizma begins.
"Are you saying you're scared of the dark again?" he interrupts.
"What she's saying is that this place is about to fall apart," Sabine corrects, "Chopper, power it up!"
The droid beeps, rolling over and plugging into the terminal. The lights on the room promptly flick on, and Vizma rapidly blinks her eyes, trying to get used to the sudden, blinding light. "You know, this is the perfect way to attract attention!" she exclaims.
"I didn't mean the whole station! I meant this control panel," Sabine groans.
Chopper shuts it all down, finally getting to work on what he's supposed to be doing. Except all the inventory files are corrupted and unreadable, so they have no idea where the medical supplies may be, or if they even exist.
"Why don't you put those Jedi powers to use finding the medical supplies so we can get out of here?" Zeb grumbles as they step out into the hall. They'll have to search through the whole place on their own, while Chopper sees what he can do in the control room.
"No, it doesn't work like that, Zeb," Ezra retorts.
"That's what eyes are for," Vizma quips.
"Yeah, we don't need our Jedi powers to find them before you do," Ezra agrees, smirking at Zeb.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeb demands, irked.
"Well, generally it means I'm more perceptive, I can think on my feet, and I'm faster."
"Really?" Zeb growls challengingly.
"Look," Sabine groans, "I don't care which one of you finds them first, as long as you find them."
"I'll find them first!" Ezra declares gleefully, sprinting down the hall.
"Cocky kid," snarls Zeb, running after. "Gonna run right past them."
Ezra slams into something hanging down from the ceiling and goes down on his back with a shriek.
"By the way, it looks like you idiots already did!" Vizma yells after them, coming to a stop. There's a small room off to the side, full of crates of what they need.
"Looks like she's more 'perceptive' than both of you," Sabine snips, moving over to join her, "Come on. Let's get these back to the shuttle."
The Force prickles in warning again, and Vizma tenses, throwing a swift glance down the hall. For a moment, she's almost certain she saw something move, but then there's nothing.
"What's wrong?" Ezra asks, appearing at her side.
"I don't know. I just... Maybe it's nothing," she shrugs, and they move into the room to start collecting the supplies. Vizma is the first to step back out into the hallway, and then, the Force screams. A red lightsaber is already activating, swinging straight for her head.
She drops the crate to the ground, diving out of the way. The blade glances off the beskar on her amor, and she has no doubt that it would have gone right through her, had it hit anywhere else.
She frantically fumbles for her lightsaber, dodging as the end of the double blade swings for her head again. The Inquisitor is masked – unlike the last one – but something about her feels... She can't put a label on it.
Zeb and Sabine shoot at the Inquisitor, and she deflects the shots aside, into the wall.
Ezra races out into the hall, firing the blaster shots at her before igniting his lightsaber. Vizma activates her own blade – her father's, technically – and lunges at the Inquisitor.
For some reason, the Inquisitor falters for a moment. "Where did you get that?" they demand – it's a female, and the voice is... it reminds her of someone, though she doesn't know who.
Why would she ask that? "None of your business," she shoots back, swinging at her.
The woman easily parries her blow, red blade arcing down to block Ezra's stikes, and then, attacks Vizma again.
She's never fought a Force user before, not like this. She can feel her channeling the Dark Side, except it's far more intense and uncontrolled than when her father does. Not that she has much time to think about it, though, when the Inquisitor is attacking them in a furious blur of red, so fast her and Ezra can hardly keep up with it.
She's way better than the Grand Inquisitor, from what Vizma remembers, or maybe it's that neither of them can begin to compare to her skill level. There's nothing Vizma hates more than running from a fight, but her father has warned her over and over again not to stick around if she knows she'll lose. Come back to it better prepared if that's what she has to do.
"Together!" Vizma calls breathlessly, above the Inquisitor's constant onslaught.
Ezra jerks his head in acknowledgement, obviously catching her meaning. They throw up their hands simultaneously, throwing the woman backwards.
"Come on!" Ezra shouts and they spin around, sprinting away down the hall as fast as they can. The only one who's carrying any of the medical supplies is Zeb.
Sabin shoots several times over her shoulder as they keep running, only to promptly trip right into a tipped over Chopper, right outside the main room. And he's... temporarily stunned.
"Chopper!" Ezra exclaims, dropping down next to him and shaking him hard., setting him back on his feet. The droid whirs to life with a flurry of furious beeps, spinning its arms around.
Right as the Inquisitor strides around the corner again.
"Hurry!" Vizma yells, firing several more times at the Inquisitor and then running again. They race around another corner, only to come face to face with another Inquisitor?!
This one has the visor on her helmet open, to reveal her green face and glowing, yellow eyes.
Vizma jolts back, heart pounding, then spins and takes off the only other direction they can go.
The second one is blocking the way back to the ship, so they'll have to take a roundabout route, throw them off track, or something. Vizma doesn't know, but they have to find a way. And how are they going to get back to get the medical supplies?!
Suddenly, all the blast doors in the hallway start closing.
They aren't all going to make it through, that much she's knows. Zeb, and Sabine jump through first, and Ezra slows for a moment.
Vizma raises a hand, tossing him forwards, through the opening right before it slams shut.
Her heart hammers wildly in her chest, but she forces back her fear, spinning around and holding her lightsaber ready in front of her. She can't defeat them, but she won't let them get to her friends. They still have a mission to complete.
"Get the others," the first Inquisitor orders, striding forwards.
The second Inquisitor steps around Vizma, stabbing her ignited lightsaber through the blast door, as Vizma lunges at the first.
"Surrender," she advises, easily blocking her blow, shoving her a step back, "Your defeat is inevitable."
"Mandalorians don't surrender," Vizma spits, firing a cord from armor, wrapping it around the woman. The Inquisitor slashes through it easily and dives out of the way almost instinctively when Vizma turns on her flamethrower.
It's almost like she knows how to fight Mandalorians, which is decidedly unsettling, she has to admit, but she still has more tricks.
The woman seems to be running out of patience, though, because a Force-shove tosses her into the wall. Vizma lands unceremoniously on the ground, and tries to push herself back up, only to find the red lightsaber leveled at her neck.
"Get up," she orders.
"Gladly," Vizma mutters under her breath, immediately climbing to her feet.
"And don't try anything," she warns, stepping forwards, grabbing her by the arm, moving so she's holding the lightsaber only inches below her neck as she shoves her forwards, down the hall, heading for... somewhere.
Except now that she thinks about it, she can still try to escape, even if it's foolish. Her small size leaves her at an advantage... sometimes.
She waits until they're a little further down the hall before moving, pushing the "off" button on the woman's lightsaber with the Force the same minute she slams her foot down hard on hers, and swings her head back, smashing the Inquisitor in the face with the back of her helmet. The woman releases a most undignified yelp, her grip faltering for a moment, and Vizma instantly jerks free and takes off running down the hall.
Except she doesn't get far because the Force tightens around her neck, lifting her off her feet. Okay, this was not how her escape attempt was supposed to go. Panic claws at her, and she's frantically tries to think of something to do to make the Inquisitor let go, before she promptly does, dropping her to the floor, leveling her lightsaber in front of her again. And then, very rudely, yanks off her helmet with the Force.
Vizma coughs, trying to catch her breath. "If you wanted to see me that bad, you could've asked."
"You have great potential," the woman observes, eyeing her.
She rolls her eyes. "I'm flattered you think so highly of me."
The woman scoffs, taking a few steps closer to her. "There are many of us looking for you and your friends, girl. Don't think you can defeat all of us."
"Oh, we don't have to defeat all of you. Just enough to make it hurt," she retorts, giving her a feral grin.
"You are no Jedi," she murmurs.
"It's insulting you thought otherwise."
"Yet you use the weapon of one," she muses. Back to that again?
"Jedi don't have copyrights on lightsabers anymore, in case you missed the past fifteen year."
The woman chuckles quietly. "You really are like him."
Vizma narrows her eyes. "Like who?"
"We know about Theseus and Ahsoka. They can't hide forever," she replies, which totally doesn't answer the question. Or maybe it does. Vizma suddenly isn't sure. Something about the way she's acting is throwing her off guard, though. "So, why don't you make it easier for all of us, tell me where they are?"
There's no point denying that she knows who they are. That much is already obvious. "I don't have a galactic positioning system on their last location," she snips, "And even if I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you."
"You aren't staying with them, then?"
"Uhh... do you see them anywhere in the room?" she asks with feigned excitement, looking around dramatically, "Because I sure didn't notice!"
"Why can you not just cooperate?" she huffs, "I have no desire to hurt you."
Vizma scoffs. "Unfortunate, because the feelings aren't mutual."
"But I will," she says, lowly, a dangerous note slipping into her voice, "If you continue to be difficult."
"I thought Dark Siders would be better at threats than that."
She can't help but smirk at the flare of anger she feels from the woman, though her amusement promptly dies when she raises a hand, and something cold and dark pokes at Vizma's mental shields.
She tries to shove her away, but the Inquisitor presses harder against her. She's obviously way more skilled, but if Vizma keeps fighting back, there's probably no way she could get past her shields without damaging her mind – She can only hope the Inquisitor won't risk that.
There's a sudden noise in the hallway outside the small room they're in, the Inquisitor pulls back, turning away, right as a blaster shot rings out. Sabine and Ezra appear in the doorway, firing at her.
"Vizma!" Sabine yells, and she instantly leaps to her feet, igniting her own lightsaber, right as Sabine tosses a bomb at the Inquisitor.
The woman catches it, trying to throw it back at them, but Vizma grabs it with the Force, yanking it back towards her. The thing goes totally off-course as it explodes, tearing into the wall next to them. Her armor protects her from the flying debris, and Vizma snatches up her helmet, yanking it on and sprinting out the door.
She can hear the Inquisitor in pursuit, but they have a longer head start, since she was temporarily slowed down by the explosion. Maybe slightly injured.
"What happened to the other one?" Vizma pants as they run.
"We knocked her out," Ezra calls, "With the same trick."
"Where's Zeb?"
"Ready to go," Sabine calls over her shoulder as they speed around another corner.
Finally, they get all the way back to the ship.
The ship is already flying off the ground with the ramp open, and she races on without a moment's hesitation. All of the medical supplies are already piled in the back, so she dares to breathe a quiet sigh of relief. At least the mission was a success.
They're flying towards the opening, right as the Inquisitor runs into view. Vizma doesn't waste a second, and just starts shooting at her.
She deflects the shots aside and is much too focused on that to try grabbing the ship with the Force, which was Vizma's point, as the ship races out of the hangar into space, the ramp closing. They're out of there. Finally. Time to get back to the base and explain what happened.
"That was close," Sabine murmurs.
"I didn't even know there were more of those!" Ezra exclaims.
"Yeah, me neither. She's much stronger than the previous," Vizma agrees.
"Are you okay?" Ezra queries worriedly, eyeing her.
"Of course," she says, waving him away, "But we need to tell the others. If there's two here, there could be more."
"I suspect there are," Sabine agrees, "You know, you Force users make this a lot more complicated."
"Yeah, we do, but you wouldn't want to be without me," Ezra grins.
Sabine rolls her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder."
"I could agree, too," Vizma chirps, "If I wasn't one."
Ezra elbows her, and she shoves him back.
"That's not fair with armor," he protests.
"What fights are fair?"
"Alright, children –" Sabine begins.
"You're a child too," Ezra accuses.
"You know," Vizma calls over their voices, "When we get back to the base, you'll have a lot of explaining to do. You weren't supposed to come."
"I think it's a good thing I did," Ezra defends.
"It is," Sabine agrees, "I don't know if we could've handled them without you."
The humor of the moment fades as she thinks back to what happened. Something about that first Inquisitor really unsettled her, and she really wants to talk to her father about it.
**w**
The mission Marr and Ahsoka were on doesn't turn up with a whole lot more results than the previous, and he tries to ignore his growing frustration as he gets back to the base, still no closer to finding out anything about Anakin.
"Dad!" Vizma exclaims eagerly, darting over and throwing her arms around him the moment he steps onto the ship.
"It's good to see you're alright, little one," he murmurs, hugging her back. It's been longer than usual, since he last saw her.
"We ran into more Inquisitors," she announces, pulling back from him.
Marr freezes. "More?" They never seem to end.
"Two of them," she agrees, "One of them seemed like a better fighter than the last one you killed."
Another extremely skilled one? No, this is not good. They have no idea what they're up against, but the Empire seems to have a literally unending number of them. "How did you run into them? Where were you?" he asks, worriedly. She wouldn't be sent on a dangerous mission without him, after all.
"It was just a supply mission, to an old Republic base. I don't know how they even knew we were coming."
This is worse than he thought. "The Force," Marr murmurs, grimly, "They must have sensed it." Maybe. And if they're going to start doing that, it's going to become harder and harder to hide from them.
(What if that's how he'll meet Anakin again? Because he senses their location and comes for them? He doesn't want to think about it right now.)
"There's something else," Vizma says, after a moment, "That more powerful Inquisitor... She was acting strange. Almost like she knew who I was, who you were. I think she recognized your lightsaber."
That is... not good. Marr stills, breath catching in his throat. Could it be –? There's only one person he can think of from his past who would know any of that. And he doesn't know if he's ready to face it, if it's really her.
But for some reason, it almost seems like everyone he used to know is slowly coming back together. Almost like time is ticking down for... something. Only time will tell what.
**w**
"I am certain the lightsaber was his," the First Sister says, standing across from Vader. "I would recognize it."
"And you think this... girl is his daughter."
"She is a Mandalorian. Their similarity cannot be a coincidence, whether by blood or clan." She has a granddaughter. She thought Theseus survived, but this is an assurance. She never would have suspected he would have a child, but in truth, it's hardly a surprise. He has never been one for rules, has he? Athea Shan – she's part of the past. She is the First Sister now. Theseus shouldn't matter, but he undeniably does, and he matters to Vader as well.
They're going to confront each other eventually, and... she doesn't know what will happen then.
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