The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Six: Squaring Off

KANAN JARRUS

Kanan's lightsaber swung down in an arc of bluish-white deadliness, the blade smashing against the one wielded by Seventh Sister again and again.

He was completely focused on the task at hand; absorbed in fighting his opponent but at the same time open to what was around him as he had been trained to do practically since he learned how to walk. If he wanted to give Ezra a good head start, then he had to hold her off as long as possible.

The Inquisitor lashed out, responding with a few blows of her own. She waited a second too long to retract her blade, and he ducked beneath it, jabbing at her unprotected left side. But she met his blade easily, moving herself around it to aim a kick he wasn't in time to block.

"Oof!"

He was sent sprawling backwards, but, luckily, Zeb was there to catch him. "Time for a new strategy," the Lasat said, picking him up as if he weighed no more than a bag of feathers. "Run!"

As Zeb charged down the hallway – and Kanan felt his stomach surge up into his throat as they turned a corner – he suddenly became aware of the fact that they were approaching a dead end. Well, a dead end in the conventional sense.

He grabbed his blaster, firing shots where the Force whispered there were weak points in the glass. Sure enough, when the second laser found its mark, the glass shattered.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Zeb yelled, bunching his legs to jump, and Kanan decided not to mention aloud that he really hoped so too.

For a split-second, he felt almost weightless. But then, he was rather abruptly reunited with gravity as he fell into the backseat of a speeder.

"A speeder!" Zeb laughed raucously, oblivious to the startled murmuring of the Ithorian driving the vehicle. "I can't believe it! How'd you know?"

"I didn't," he admitted, but there was a smile on his face too.

The sound of a lightsaber igniting drew Kanan's attention to a point behind him. He turned around, his expression hardening when he spotted the Inquisitors in another speeder behind them. "We gotta take the long way; buy Ezra some time."

The Ithorian in the driver's seat was willing enough to cooperate, thankfully, and turned down the street Zeb motioned him to. Kanan fired a few shots at Fifth Brother, who was covering Seventh Sister while she flew. But he sent them flying right back. One of them hit the speeder they were in, making everyone jump.

"Go faster!" Zeb ordered.

They turned another corner, ducking beneath a speeder flying the opposite way and swerving around two more. Unfortunately, the two Darksiders seemed to have chosen the faster speeder, because they were beginning to catch up to them even while the Ithorian driver was flying at full power.

But Kanan could use that to his advantage. Taking a moment to steady his aim, he fired a shot just above the front bumper, where the power cells were located. The speeder went down, but, even as it fell, Fifth Brother sent his lightsaber spiraling towards them, striking the starboard engine.

They went sailing to the ground, landing with a screech of distressed metal and an ominous crash. As they slid to a halt, the Ithorian warbled something particularly offensive in his native tongue. Having nothing to add, Kanan simply patted him on the shoulder with a sympathetic half-smile.

"Yeah, you can say that again," said Zeb.

Then, they were on the move again.

EZRA BRIDGER

Ezra couldn't contain a sigh of relief as he turned onto the street leading to the docking bay where they were keeping the Phantom, the little drop ship that was a part of the Ghost, and, today, their escape from Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister.

He sped up a little, closing the distance between himself and the door into the docking bay easily. There was just one problem – it was locked from the inside. If there was an override, he couldn't find it.

"Let me in!" he yelled, banging against the cool metal surface with one fist. "Let me in, Chopper!"

No reaction.

"Paranoid droid," Ezra growled. Then, rearranging his arm around the Ithorian infant he had been tasked to bring to safety, Pypey, he raised his comlink to his mouth. "The door is locked, Kanan! The door is locked!"

"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment!"

But much to his surprise, the Jedi's reply came not from the speakers on the device itself, but from directly behind him. He turned around to look, his heart sinking when he realized that, while Kanan and Zeb were on their way towards him, they had the two Inquisitors in their pursuit.

As they came to a halt, Kanan ignited his lightsaber, holding it at the ready, and Zeb raised his bo-rifle, firing a quick succession of shots at the pair of Darksiders with deadly precision.

But none of the shots met their mark. Seventh Sister ignited her lightsaber, the two blades spinning around on the handle to deflect every single one.

Fifth Brother reached out with the Force, and, before anyone had the time to warn him, Zeb was flying backward through the air.

Ezra winced as the big Lasat landed heavily beside him with a groan of pain, but his focus was almost immediately drawn back to the battle at hand as Seventh Sister leapt up into the air. She landed in front of Kanan, aiming a few quick strikes at him that he just barely blocked.

Slowly but surely, she was forcing him back towards where Ezra was.

Finally, Kanan managed to push her to the side. But as soon as she was out of the way, Fifth Brother extended a hand. Ezra's eyes widened as Kanan rose up into the air, his legs flailing wildly, before Seventh Sister lashed out in a brutal kick, sending Kanan sprawling. He landed, winded, a few feet away from him.

Ezra set his jaw. There was only one option now. His friends were down for the count, and Chopper – the useless rust bucket – had barricaded himself inside the docking bay. He had to stand and fight.

Careful to keep Pypey clear of the blade, he ignited his own lightsaber and held it before him.

You want this kid? Well, tough luck, Inquisitor skanah, because you're gonna have to go through me to get him.

*Things are looking dire for Kanan and Ezra. Will Ahsoka get to them in time? Could there be another reason why Chopper is barricading the door, aside from his aforementioned paranoia? What has become of Varaya Kerris, and Kaya Ti, who was sent to pick her up? What other news could come to light as Janira and Lux walk down the halls of the New Jedi Temple? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

How'd you guys like these two chapters? This one was the first one written from Kanan and Ezra's points of view, which was pretty fun! Woot woot!

To be honest, Book Ten is really making me lazy. I'm ripping off scenes from SWR so often that when I write something from Lux or my cast of OC characters' points of view I'm kind of like, "Wait... what was I doing here?" XD

Oh well, at least the plot lines aren't super crazy yet. But knowing me and my tendency to get crazy ideas that once I have them the storyline seems like it has something missing without them, they're gonna get tangled up pretty quickly.

By the way, skanah is Mando'a for 'a much hated thing or person', according to a list of Mando'a insults I consulted to write this chapter... because I feel like since Mandalorian culture is so widespread in the galaxy, their curses are equally as widespread XD

Anyways, if you've seen the GLORIOUS AND HALLOWED EPISODE IN WHICH AHSOKA KICKS BUTT EPICALLY LIKE THE QUEEN SHE IS, then you know what's coming next. And trust me, although writing lightsaber duels isn't really my strong suit, I'm gonna make it as epic as I possibly can ;)

Defeat Darksiders who serve the Emperor that want to capture you and may the Force be with you,

Sharron