Star Wars: The Good Ending

Ahsoka

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Rex questioned, peering through the fog.
Ahsoka frowned and closed her eyes, trying to feel out what was going on. She could sense Anakin's extreme distress, but everything else felt cloudy. Before she could respond, she just barely shoved Rex out of the way as a bright red flash pounced up from over the cliff edge, coming straight at them. "Look out!" she yelled, instinctively lashing out with the Force, nearly sending Talon back over the edge.
    "Get to the ship and swing back around for us!" she ordered, pulling her makeshift swords from her belt. She knew they wouldn't do much against lightsabers, but it was better than nothing.
    Rex didn't argue, and Ahsoka could hear them leaving behind her as she faced off against Darth Talon.
    "Ah yes, run away little ones, I'm sure you'll get far," the twi-lek said in a menacing, sing-song voice.
    "Talon, this isn't the only way for you to live! We can help you," Ahsoka appealed.
    Darth Talon laughed, and it suddenly occurred to Ahsoka that she couldn't be much older than herself. "Help me what, Jedi? Become weak and pathetic like you?"
    She pointed her crimson lightsaber at Ahsoka and smiled, showing off her unusually pointed canines, "No, Ahsoka Tano, I need no help from the likes of you."
    The apprentice of Darth Maul sprang at the Jedi, lightsaber raised. Ahsoka dodged it, instead burying her spider droid leg into the ground and twisting around, trying to get a jab in on Talon's exposed midriff. She managed to land a pretty deep cut, but not enough to seriously wound her.
    Talon whipped around angrily, slicing Ahsoka's weapon clean in half. The togruta sprang out of the way, narrowly missing a slash to the neck. Now she had half a busted droid leg, and a very angry Sith. Fantastic.
    Talon started dripping blood, and she paused to brush her tattooed red fingers against the cut, examining her hand closely.
    "You're more creative than I thought you'd be, Jedi. But it won't save you, or your friends. Once I kill you, the clones and the younglings will be child's play."
    Talon spoke with a thick, rich Ryloth accent, her low, menacing voice dripping with sadism. It was almost melodic, and admittedly pleasant to listen to, the way the hissing of a snake is hypnotic and dangerous. Ahsoka knew there was simply no reasoning with her. Just like her master, she had not an ounce of compassion in her soul.
    "You overestimate your abilities, my lady. You'd be wise not to choke on your arrogance," Ahsoka taunted.
    Unfortunately, Talon was much less easily provoked than her volatile master, not unlike Ahsoka and her own. Maul's air of cool aloofness felt forced, but Talon's was completely natural. She walked and talked with the confidence of someone in complete control of the situation.
    "It's the arrogance of the Jedi that makes you so predictable," Takon answered, "Your compassion is like an itch, your selflessness is weakness."
    "It takes strength to resist the Dark Side, only the weak embrace it."
Talon cocked her head slightly, intrigued, "You fascinate me, Ahsoka Tano, just as you fascinate my master. I almost lament your death."
    "Funny, because I won't be lamenting yours," Ahsoka snapped.
"That's not the Jedi way, Lady Tano."
    Ahsoka's response was to spring at her, aiming straight for her neck. They stayed locked in a game of cat and mouse, predator and prey, until finally, Talon got the upper hand, pinning Ahsoka to the ground with her knees. "Hm, I expected more."
    She went in for the kill, and at the last second, Ahsoka ripped her arm free and grabbed her opponent by the wrist and kicked her with all her strength over the cliff edge, disappearing into the red smoke, presumably to her death. Ahsoka struggled to regain her breath as she lay there on the stone for a few moments, trying to muster the strength to stand. Every muscle in her body felt pulled and strained, the wound on her thigh burned a little bit more every second. That, and she was ludicrously thirsty. She wanted to find a lake, jump in, and never come out. To let the cool water draw out all the weariness in her bones while she slept for an eternity. She wanted to just close her eyes and go to sleep, but she knew she couldn't. Not yet, anyway.
    Groaning with the effort, she shakily hauled herself upright, and looked at her ruined weapons, which really would do her no good now. She tossed them over the cliff and stood up, the blistering wind nearly blowing her over. She kept expecting Talon to reappear, but she never did.
    Ahsoka took a few steps back, then ran and jumped off the ledge, sailing through the air. For a moment she worried she wouldn't make it, but she managed to land somewhat awkwardly on the balcony.
    Anakin knelt down next to a body laying limply on the ground, holding it in his arms.
    "Obi-Wan? Master? Can you hear me?" He sounded scared, like a frightened little boy. Ahsoka's eyes then trailed to Maul, who's lifeless body lay a couple meters away, a large gaping gash from neck to navel still smoldering as his cold, dead eyes stared into nothing. She didn't know who killed him, but at that moment, she didn't think it mattered.
    She rushed to Anakin's side, sliding to a stop beside him. "Is he ok?!" she asked.
Anakin frowned and hovered a hand over his master's torso, something Ahsoka had seen him do before. "No, I think he has a lot more internal damage than he let on. We gotta get him outta here."
    Ahsoka was distracted by an odd humming sound ringing in her ear, a sensation she hadn't felt since the caves of Illium. She looked curiously at Maul's broken lightsaber and called the two pieces to her hands. She pressed the activation buttons and the crystals still worked, but the blades cracked and sizzled, clearly very unstable. However, she had no idea if Talon was actually dead, and didn't want to be caught unarmed.
    Anakin secured Obi-Wan's lightsaber to his own belt and gently, but quickly pulled him onto his back. The structure began to crumble even more, and Ahsoka could now see the lava outside the window as the throne room shook and shifted. She helped Anakin to his feet and the two of them ran back out onto the balcony, which had already begun to show its cracks as it lurched sideways, nearly throwing them off.
    The two Jedi exchanged a look, and launched themselves off the platform as it crumbled into pieces, disappearing into the depths of Mustafar's ocean of lava. They each managed to get a hold of the cliff face, clinging to the jagged rocks as they got their bearings. There was nothing in the galaxy Ahsoka wanted to do less than climb more, but she gritted her teeth and put one hand in front of the other, her hands already beginning to blister from gripping the sharp, hot stones.
    Anakin adjusted Obi-Wan on his back and used his cybernetic arm to climb, holding on to Obi-Wan with the other. He seemed to pick up on Ahsoka's weariness, and maintained a pace she could reasonably keep up with. One thing was for certain, she hated Mustafar. She began to wonder if it were possible to destroy an entire planet.
    They climbed and climbed until Ahsoka's hands were so raw and ripped they started to bleed. The further they got away from the lava, the cooler the stones got, but that wasn't saying much.
    Just when she felt like she couldn't go on anymore, they finally reached the top of the cliff where she fought Talon, and the Jedi Order's grandmaster collapsed into a heap on the ground. Anakin laid down Obi-Wan and sank to his knees, trying to catch his breath.
    "They're- they're coming to pick us up," Ahsoka gasped, resting her forehead on her elbows.
    Anakin nodded and patted her upper back. "You did great, Snips, I'm really proud of you."
    Ahsoka gave a weak chuckle, the fatigue in her bones practically anchoring her to the ground, "You didn't do too bad yourself, Skyguy."
    "I thought we were done with that?"
"Never," Ahsoka yawned, and her eyes drooped. "I think I'm gonna take a nap.Wake me up when evac gets here?"
    "Yeah, go ahead and rest, you deserve it," Anakin responded, but he already sounded far away as Ahsoka drifted off.