Deadly Intrigue

Chapter 3: Safety's Sake

"Okay Kanan, spill. Why is Ahsoka so important to you? Really," The Twi'lek added, seeing the Jedi's protest before it even fully formed. Kanan sighed, rubbing an eye. He held up a single finger to Hera, to wait, and poked his head through the door of his cabin out into the hall. A quick glance-around told him that the Spectres had allowed Kanan and Hera this one moment of privacy to discuss what had happened.

After ducking his head back in his room, Kanan swatted at the single air-vent over his room, also checking for any small eavesdroppers that may or may not be residing above them. The absence of a protesting shout proved that they were alone.
"Hera..." He laughed once, not out of mirth but tension, before continuing, "I guess there's no easy way to say this, but I... I'm scared for Ezra."

The Twi'lek cocked an eyebrow, not out of judgment or vice, but in an invitation for him to continue. That was one of the things Kanan liked about Hera; that she always saved judgment until she had all the facts. Kanan cleared his throat.

"When we were escaping the Imminent Pursuit with Ezra, Vader probed both of us." Hera nodded, he had already told her this, but Kanan now went into more detail than he had before.

"Hera... if he wanted to, he could have crushed both of us then and there. Ezra was out cold and I, well, I was no where near as strong as I had to have been to hold him off. But he didn't. Vader just... he just kind of, retreated, after he saw both of us, and I swear, he was... amused.

"I couldn't think too much about it then and there, because we were flying for our lives, but afterwards... I thought about it some more. I think he's interested in Ezra." Upon seeing the worried look Hera was showing, Kanan waved his hands hurriedly.

"Not like the Inquisitor was, for power, but... I don't know. It was the only thing I could think of that explained why he didn't just kill both of us right then and there." Hera nodded, but her eyes were still narrowed in worry.

"That would also explain the increased wanted level on your heads. And why the Imperials are still trying to find you two with vigor even though the Inquisitor's gone." Even though the main Jedi hunter in the Outer Rim had been vanquished, the Imperials were still doing their best to hunt down Kanan and Ezra. That wasn't too surprising, but so far Kanan hadn't heard of the instalment of a new Jedi-vanquisher. So the fact that the efforts to catch to two Force-sensitives could only be because of direct orders to locate them, delivered by a higher-up in the Empire. A higher up like Vader.

"So? Why do you think Ahsoka could help with that?" Kanan looked up into Hera's emerald eyes.

"Because she was the apprentice to Master Skywalker, like I said. The Chosen One."

Kanan had long ago told her about the prophecy of the Jedi, in which a single boy would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. Kanan himself had never delved too much into it as a Padawan, instead learning how to fight efficiently in the Clone Wars, as was wont for the Jedi to do in that time-period.

But he had known that Skywalker was one of the essential pivots in the Clone Wars, using his head and gut in equal pairings to pull himself and his men to victory even when it seemed impossible. Frustratingly, Kanan knew even less about his apprentice, other than that her talent had seemed to stem directly from her Master. Then, she had left, for reasons almost completely unknown to Kanan, and had never been heard from again.

"Master Skywalker was the hope of the Jedi through the Wars. They thought that he would be the one to end it all... and he would have been, if events hadn't played out the way they did. He was un-beatable in the Wars. Wherever he went, victory followed.

"But then he was defeated. Darth Vader killed him, seemingly on Mustafar. After that, the Jedi just fell like dominoes, one by one, until we managed to get enough sense through our skulls that this one fight couldn't be won... after all, our main go-to guy had been downed; killed off. What chance did we stand against Vader?" Kanan rubbed his eyes, plopping down onto his cot.