A Bringing Of Forces

Chapter 14

The Inquisitor laughed. Threw back his head and roared with laughter. "My my, what a temper you have," he crooned at her.

She spat her response onto the metal flooring.

"We wouldn't want anyone to have to clean up after us, now would we?" His voice was deep and feline. Purring over the vowels; playing with his prey. They were his prey. Underneath the grated metal helmet she could almost see the yellow eyes, the pointed teeth, whiskers. His body was lithe and lanky, well trained muscles pushing against the fitted suit of dark armor. A red angle, no longer than a finger, scarred directly over the upper half of his chest, glinting off the fluorescent lights. Teeth glinted in a feral smile. "Just lower your blades and I won't have to deal with you the hard way. Don't want to? I'll have you know there are many things much worse than death. For instance, what's a pretty young girl, so fresh with life, doing with this band of atrocities? You could have it much better if you came with me."

She remained silent.

"Nothing to say? Don't worry, I wouldn't tell." He smirked. "Well I suppose we'll just have to get down to business then."

The lightsaber blades rose, the figure sliding a foot back for balance. Ahsoka postured, readying for the oncoming attack. There was a moment of stillness, just the hum of lightsabers and the nervous whispers from the small crowd that peeked behind stalls. Most who had been milling dispersed, they probably didn't know the extent to what was happening, but it wasn't hard to tell how devastating the result could be.

The Inquisitor struck first, blade whirling in a circle of red. Ahsoka brought her own blades up to block one side of the saber, Obi-Wan deflected the other with a clash. It was a battle of wills as the Inquisitor pushed against the two Jedi. Finally, they managed to throw him, sending his feet stumbling several steps back before regaining his footing. Ahsoka lunged, striking a low left feint before aiming high with Obi-Wan at her side.

They worked as a unit, falling back into the familiar practice. Obi-Wan struck while Ahsoka defended; Ahsoka feinted, Obi-Wan cut low; both pushed- one going high, the other low; they advanced and drew back; Obi-Wan used the Force, Ahsoka the blade. It was a whirling mob of energy, Force and blade, all merging into one moving, shifting, lethal explosion.

The blasts of energy as the sabers connected sent tremors through the air, one after another, time after time, as the battle raged. Each blow struck a jolt through Ahsoka, but they were slowly gaining ground. Although she would admit the Inquisitor was decently trained, they had something he didn't: real life experience. Years and years of it.

Ahsoka assumed he would have been trained in secret until after Order 66 had been issued which only gave him the past two years of hunting. Granted, a large majority of the Jedi had been struck down within the first wave of betrayal.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan -Obi-Wan especially- had years of training and fighting in the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan even before, in the Battle of Naboo. And it paid off.

It was slow, and Ahsoka had worked up a thick sheen of sweat, but the Inquisitor was slowing down. Each strike he took, the former Jedi matched two of their own. Obi-Wan crouched, slashing at the Inquisitor's legs. Ahsoka rolled over his back until she was inches away from the Inquisitor, blades already pushing against his own. Between the two of them -one high, one low- he was shoved back. Together, they pushed out with the Force, sending him flying all the way to the far wall where he hit with a crack, sliding down.

Neither saw, though, they had already made their sprint toward the ship. The lightsabers slashed through the air, buzzing all the while for neither dared deactivate them for fear the Inquisitor would strike. They made it to the docking bay, relief filling Ahsoka to see Aedion was already aboard with the younglings, the engines readied and radiating heat.