I'm planning on Lita returning to Darth Vader. I don't know when just yet. Also should Lita call D3PO something else besides his full name? I also decided to make this chapter a little longer, because I have some things to take care of, so I don't know when I'll update again.
Eighth Brother and Maul
"Not that it isn't good to see again," Ezra said to Lita, "But what are you doing here?"
"We're here looking for knowledge and if possible answers," Lita tells him, "You?"
"The same," Ezra answers.
"Did either of you see the other ship that landed here?" Kanan asks Lita and Quinlan.
Both of them looked confused as to what he just said. "The only ship we saw was yours," Lita replies, "Well actually D3PO saw it. But still your ship was the only one we knew of that was here."
"Chopper saw two different ships when we arrived here," Kanan explains, "We now know that one was obviously yours. The other ship we were tracking disappeared somewhere here."
"Well the only one we were aware of was yours," Lita said. "And I don't see any other ship."
"But that doesn't mean we can't track to where it has gone too," Quinlan replies, "And you said it disappeared around here?"
"Yes I don't know where it is, but it's got to be around here somewhere," Kanan said, "Chopper try to get a fix on its location." Chopper beeps and salutes him.
"You better stay with Chopper," Lita said to her protocol droid, who gave a nod as the five Jedi and nexu began walking around.
"This crater wasn't naturally made," Quinlan points out as they step up to one of the pillars that were just standing alone from each other.
Lita looks up at the pillar, feeling the darkness radiating from it, they reach the base of the pillar, finding ancient words that were written left behind. "What are these things?" Ezra asks as the look at the writing.
Getting a closer look Lita answers, "It looks like old writings."
"It's in the old tongue," Ahsoka answers as she looks over the words.
"Can you read it?" Kanan asks.
"Maybe, but Quinlan is a better than me," she answers, looking at the Kiffar Jedi, who was rubbing his chin. "I can make out most of it, but my language is a bit rusty," he answers then began to read over the words in the old tongue.
But Ezra and Lita look at the words on the wall, as if they were in some trance as they step forward, reaching their hands out.
"No! Ezra, Lita, don't!" Ahsoka cries out, but it was too late. Their hands touch the wall of the pillar, creating two overlapping red handprints.
The red then travels down the pillar and to the ground under their feet. All of them yelled as the ground crumbles away and they went falling, the gravel fell with them, they hit the ground and tumbled away. They lay there for a moment then slowly push themselves back up.
"Is everybody okay?" Quinlan asks as everyone got up.
"Yes, Yeah, I think so, I'm fine," everyone chorused.
"I'm sorry Master," Lita apologizes, "I don't know what got into me."
Quinlan sighs, "It's okay Lita just remember to be mindful."
"Yes Master," Lita replies.
"What is that?" Ezra asks as he and Lita walk up next to Ahsoka and Quinlan.
"A Sith Temple." Ahsoka answers.
They step forward and look at the temple in the distance, Lita shot a look over at her master, seeing the serious look in his eyes, but his gaze was looking at the ground around the temple.
She followed his gaze and saw there were... statues all looking at the temple. Carefully they step from where they landed and walk towards the temple, but Ezra and Lita stop and hold their hands out to the light that was shining in the cavern, and they look up at the ceiling, sees it was shining like starlight.
Then Chopper shock over the comm, Ezra just arches his eyebrow, "Oh, we might fall through the surface? Thanks for the warning, Chop." Ezra said as he shook his head, joining the others.
"Any fix on that ship yet?" Kanan asks.
Chopper just chatters on the line. "He's picked up the trail. This way." he tells them and they continue their walk through the temple.
Lita, Ezra, Quinlan, Kanan and Ahsoka look up at the temple, seeing a crack in the ceiling, right at the tip of the temple, then she looks down at the statues, seeing all the positions they were in.
"I bet whatever we're looking for is inside that Temple." Ezra points out.
"Seems likely. Just remember, if there's a ship, we're not alone down here," Kanan warns him.
"And since we're the only Jedi here, that can only mean one thing," Quinlan said, "The Inquisitors might be here or someone worse." Kanan nods at him.
"Ahsoka, you said we're here to find knowledge. What kind of knowledge?" Ezra asks.
Ahsoka just frowns. "The forbidden kind. To defeat your enemy, you have to understand them," she answers, then began to walk. Ezra blinks then looks at his master.
"No better place to learn about the Sith, I guess," Kanan answers and followed.
As they were walking Lita was looking around, but stops when she sees something move. She looks toward Ezra looking in the same direction.
"Did you sense it too?" Lita asks.
"Yeah I definitely sense someone else down here too," Ezra said. "We better keep our guard up, because we're definitely not alone."
"Right," Lita nods and they continue to follow the adults.
They came to a stop as they looked at the statues in front of them. "The ground looks scorched," Ezra mutters, "Whoa, Kanan! Look, a lightsaber. And another." Ezra said as he kneels and picks up the saber.
"And a lot more," Lita adds, looking around.
Ezra turns on the one he's holding, which is a green crossguard, but the old tech short-circuits. Kanan takes a closer look at a statue, making the connections. "This was a battlefield." he points out. "What happened here?" Ezra asks.
Ahsoka just frowns. "It looks like at one time, thousands of years ago, Jedi Knights attacked the temple," she informs him, looking up at the temple.
"And the Jedi won, right?" Ezra asks,
"It doesn't look like either side won," Quinlan informs him as Lita steps over and picks another lightsaber off the ground.
"I hate to break up this history lesson, but we should keep moving." Kanan tells them, they nodded at him and began to move.
"Well, if you ask me, this whole planet is a riddle." Ezra points out as they are walking.
"So if it's a riddle, what's the question?" Kanan asks him.
Ezra smirks, "Why is Kanan such a-"
Lita and Ezra see a figure move and shouts, "Look out!" As both he and Lita engage their lightsabers and Ezra shoves Kanan out of the way.
Ezra blocks the saber as Lita shot her hand out, forcing the Inquisitor to fly back, but he catches himself, twirling his saber. The inquisitor took his stance as Quinlan, Ahsoka, and Kanan ignite their lightsabers. "Five Jedi?" he said, almost sounding excited.
"An Inquisitor!" Ezra and Lita shout then charge at the Inquisitor, as did the other three Jedi and nexu.
But the Inquisitor jumps back, to reveal blaster fire, heading right for them. "Take cover!" Ahsoka calls out, pulling Kanan back as Quinlan jumps back. Ezra hid behind a statue as Lita and Rori jump away.
The blast hits the floor in front of Ezra, the floor breaks away under Ezra's feet and Ezra falls into a hole. "Kanan!" Ezra calls out, as he went flying.
The Jedi land on their feet, horror clouding their eyes, "Ezra!" the four all shout. Ahsoka, Kanan, Quinlan and Lita ran to the hole "Ezra, can you hear me?" Kanan calls out, and Ezra groans holding the back of his head. "I'm okay!" he answers.
"He's getting away, let's go!" Ahsoka calls to them.
Quinlan follows after Ahsoka, but Kanan and Lita hesitate stepping back to the hole.
"Don't worry about me, I'll catch up, I promise!" Ezra calls out.
Quinlan hurries after Ahsoka, Kanan, Lita and Rori right behind them as the Inquisitor flew away with his saber. "This is going to get annoying," Quinlan mutters as they continued to give chase.
The four Jedi kept their chase on the Inquisitor as all he was doing was running, "I've never had an Inquisitor run from me before." Kanan points out.
"Maybe it's because he's outnumbered." Ahsoka points out.
"I don't think that's the case," Quinlan comments.
"He's right, he did seem surprised. I don't think he was looking for us." Kanan points out.
Ahsoka came to a stop as she deactivates her sabers, "Then who is he tracking?" she questioned. The two came to a stop, deactivate their sabers, and looks back at her.
"It's possible it could be someone else who is also here too," Lita replies.
Then the comlink went off as Chopper, chattering at Kanan. "You found the ship? Where?" Kanan asks him. Chopper grumbles to him.
"He said it's near your position and he's going to send the coordinates," D3PO told him.
Chopper grumbles saying something like, "They can understand me I don't need a translator."
"No, no. forget it, no time! Get over there and find that ship. Do not let him take off!" Kanan said urgently as Ahsoka joins them. "We'll follow your signal." he said as they ignite their lightsabers and chase after the Inquisitor. Chopper chatters again with annoyance.
"I have to agree with him sir," D3PO spoke up, "It sounds too dangerous."
"No, disobeying me is gonna be dangerous. Now get going." Kanan orders Chopper and he places his comlink away.
Chopper left D3PO at the ship and flew through the cavern, searching for the enemy ships, the second one was nowhere even in the cavern, it was well hidden. But he was able to find the first ship on his scanner.
Flying down and lands on the ship chatting to himself, but then he jumps back as a saber went flying past him, scaring the ship. He watches the saber fly past and then looks to see who threw it.
The Inquisitor catches the saber and came running toward the ship. Chopper panicked for a moment, then quickly took refuge inside the ship, looking to power it on.
"Filthy droid," the Inquisitor snarls.
The four Jedi and nexu finally caught up with him, making the Inquisitor turn back as they jump from the pillar, charging toward the inquisitor. He stood ready for battle, making the Jedi stop and stand ready, but the welcome distraction allowed Chopper a chance to power on the ship taking the controls in his small claws.
The Jedi raised their brows in surprise, almost relaxed. The Inquisitor turns seeing his ship rise off the ground. Chopper retorts to the Inquisitor then opened fire, the Inquisitor deflects the blasts, making the Jedi take a step back.
Chopper laughs to himself as he kept firing at the Inquisitor, knocking him down and his saber scatters from his hands. Chopper sets the ship down, and the Inquisitor quickly scrambles to his saber, reaching for it, until five lightsabers stop him and a foot and a paw were placed on his saber.
The Inquisitor looks up, seeing the Jedi holding their lightsabers aiming right at him with Rori growling threateningly at him. The Inquisitor sighs in defeat.
"Chopper, sometimes you do it right." Kanan praises the droid, hyping him up as he just cheers.
Lita and Rori kept watch, pacing back and forth, being ready for any more surprises, while Quinlan, Kanan and Ahsoka stood over the Inquisitor as he was cuffed and kneeling in front of them.
"You're the fourth Inquisitor we've seen. How many are there?" Kanan questions.
The fourth Inquisitor looks at him, "More than enough for the four of you." he answers, Ahsoka just arches her brow at him, and Fourth Inquisitor just scoffs. "Nothing can save you." he said, looking at her.
"Why are you on Malachor?" Kanan asks again.
"Hunting." Fourth Inquisitor answers, Lita stops as she was now listening.
"But not for us," Quinlan answered.
"He's right, you were not expecting us. Who are you after?" Ahsoka asks him.
The Inquisitor just chuckles, "A shadow," he answers.
"What shadow?" Lita asked.
The Inquisitor chuckles again and answers, "The Shadow of Malachor." The four gave concerned looks.
Quinlan, Lita, Kanan, and Ahsoka look around at the underground, seeing the temple was powering on. "I got a bad feeling about this," Quinlan comments.
The Inquisitor quickly presses the button on his comlink. But it didn't go unnoticed by Lita.
"What did you just do?!" Lita demanded.
The Eighth Brother just chuckles in response. But before Lita could say or do anything Ahsoka spoke up.
"We need to find Ezra," Ahsoka warns them, Kanan turns to Chopper. "Get back to the Phantom and get ready to leave," he orders.
"Rori I want you to go with Chopper," Lita told her nexu. Rori growls softly.
Chopper salutes him, fires his thruster, and took off, flying back to the surface with Rori running after him. Ahsoka grabs the Inquisitor's arm, hauling him to his feet. "Come on, let's take a walk," she orders.
The Inquisitor jerks his arm from her grip, but Kanan shoves him forward. They became making a run for it, Kanan shoves the prisoner, and Quinlan shot a look up at the temple as the distance, knowing that the discomforting feeling only grew.
The four kept running, but they came to a stop right at the base of the temple, the entire grounds rumbling from the growling power of the temple. "Why do I know Ezra's involved in this somehow?" Kanan questions.
The four Jedi and Inquisitor ran right up to a closed door.
"He's inside I know it, but there's no way he lifted that door," Kanan points out.
"Not without help," Ahsoka comments.
"Yeah, but the question is who?" Lita questions, "Someone powerful I know that."
"There's definitely someone else here," Quinlan replies.
But the Inquisitor just chuckles, getting their attention. "What's so funny?" Kanan questions him. Then the comlink went off.
Chopper shouts through the comlink, getting Kanan's attention. "What is it Chopper?" he questions as the others joined them.
"Sir, Chopper is trying to say that we got company," D3PO's voice comes through the comlink.
"What do you mean we got company?" Kanan questions him.
"I believe he means them," Lita said looking from behind..
Everyone else turns looking to see the Inquisitors, Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, twirling their sabers and coming towards them, ready to land, then they jump down and leap towards the Jedi.
The four Jedi ignite their lightsabers, blocking their attacks. The Seventh Sister then flew over to the Eighth Brother, freeing him. He then reclaimed his saber and ignites it.
"An excellent day's hunt," Seventh Sister said to Eighth Brother.
"So that's what he pressed the button for," Lita realizes.
Then the Inquisitors surround the Jedi, forcing them to stand back to back. But then they were forced pushed away by Lita, who had both hands out.
Seventh Sister glares at her as she gets up, "Unexpected to see you here, but not unwelcome."
"I'm so flattered you think of me that way," Lita said sarcastically.
Seventh Sister chuckles, "I'll make you beg for death, child. Lord Vader can't save you this time. I'll never understand what makes you so special to him."
"What's the matter?" Lita taunts, "Still jealous?"
Meanwhile Ezra and Maul both step through, to the final door and it opens, to reveal the Jedi were fighting off the Inquisitors as Lita kept dodging Seventh Sister's saber. Alerted, Ezra engages his lightsaber and ran into the fight as Maul just watches. Quinlan and Kanan fought off the Fifth Brother as Lita and Ahsoka did the same with the Eighth Brother and Seventh Sister.
But as Quinlan shoves the Fifth Brother away, Kanan looks back at the door, "Ezra?" he calls out, and the young Jedi just stops, looking at them. "Kanan, Ahsoka, Quinlan, Lita! I've brought help," he calls out, pointing back to Maul, as he steps forward.
Lita stops as she looks over and immediately froze in her place, Seventh Sister took the chance and strikes at her, but Rori shows up tackling the Seventh Sister and sinking her teeth in her arm and shoulder, making her scream.
"Rori I thought I said go back with Chopper," Lita said frowning, but pets her nexu.
The door closes behind Maul as Ahsoka and Quinlan look at this help Ezra brought with him. "Maul," they said in shock.
"The shadow," the Eighth Brother mutters.
Maul just smiles to himself. Looking at the battle in front of him, "What fun." he excitedly. "What fun!" Maul laughs.
Lita looks over at Quinlan, "You know him?" she asks.
Quinlan growls and took his stance. "Not fondly," he answers. Then Lita too took her stance, unsure of what will happen next, but what she did know was there was going to be a battle they will never forget.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. May The Force Be With You!