Ahsoka, chapter 10: The Encounter – part 3
The instant before Ahsoka grabbed her data stick, an invisible power squeezed its metal sheath and components. She looked at it in horror, then up again. Not a moment too late. Baylan Skoll was closing up on Huyang from behind, although the droid used its right back arm with its pincers to protectively swing a vibro knife, because its artificial two eyes could only cover a restricted range and radius. Baylan's swing started high to end up low. His orange blade stopped at the professor's left lower leg in a sizzling glow. In the midst of movements, Huyang's body began to sway and unable to halt the momentum, the droid clashed to the ground so suddenly, its head had not been warned to turn to the side. Huyang's monocle hit a small stone, a part of the previously splintered rock, and the piece of glass in the monocle shattered audibly. At that moment, Ahsoka had to evade quickly Baylan's attack on her now.
Baylan swung a few blows to distract the Togruta woman, turning his hilt and trying to place a deceiving cut on one of her Lekkus. Then he deliberately aimed fast and low again for the cut in her thigh. As his blade met resistance from Ahsoka's blocking in defense, he pushed her blade harder towards her and into the wound for just an instant, cauterizing it and stopping the trickle of bleeding.
The two left mercenaries, those Huyang had battled with, had stepped aside to let their leader in front to finish the job. They held Huyang firmly in between them, as they stood on his front arms on the ground and succeeded in holding one of Huyang's back arms each, tough they still struggled to disarm him.
Ahsoka groaned. For a second, her world stood still within a spreading of pain. It subsided, after being able to push back the blade. But she had fallen for Baylan Skoll's second time performing his fighting ruse because of his strength. She shifted her body weight to her left leg and reacted, blocking the next blow, but could not hold her balance. She fell onto the stone, her blade smelting the stone in a dazzling hue only for a moment, until her arm shot up to expect the next blow. It did not come. Instead a deep rumble filled the air.
A large shadow was cast overhead. A blue and grey commotion dissolved into falling dust and blue whips, a thick one knocking Baylan off his feet again. Ahsoka switched off her blade. Then she felt an embrace in a gentle way from behind and being lifted from the ground, she deactivated her curved lightsaber. She exhaled. Thank you, she transmitted via thought in an emotion of relief. The answer came as an audible whistle, its vibration being felt by Ahsoka through the muscles, which held her securely, while drifting through grey fog and over a raging sea.