Nur – Fortress Inquisitorius
Ezra Bridger had just been escorted out the prison room and the acolytes had returned to their cells. The ray shields activated, locking them inside. Sevrina Winter brushed her dark hair out of her face and looked into her cell. She began her reflection.
The portion known as Wild Space was technically the part of the galaxy that the Empire hadn't conquered yet, or in her planet's case: barely conquered. That didn't stop people who lived in the Core (Corellia, Coruscant, etc.) from using the term to describe all the planets that didn't lie on a major hyperspace route. It also didn't stop those people from assigning traits like stupid and uncivilized to 'wild-spacers'.
Her planet really was Wild Space. Not the home of the greatest educational institutions but Sevrina had been born smart. One idea always seemed to flow to the next and she always ended up right. Her parents had told her she was just intelligent, but after her talk with Ezra about the Force, she wondered if maybe that was how she got her intelligence.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. If the 'Force' was some mystical energy field, and she could command it, maybe it was her way out of here. Sevrina's excitement level rose, if she could use it, she could everyone out of here and they could all go home!
But her mind was conflicted, did she want to go home? Her parents probably didn't even notice the Empire took her, not to mention, if she had the power to stop this treatment from happening to another Force sensitive and she didn't use it, how was she better than the Empire? Maybe the Force was telling her to help the Rebellion. And Ezra. Her lips' corners turned upward.
She tried to summon the Force for several minutes but couldn't. She opened her eyes and grunted in frustration. Sevrina decided she had to keep trying, for all their sakes.
******
Ezra had no shackles or stun cuffs on his wrist, and there were no guards lining the halls. It was unlike any other experience in a prison he could remember. "You guys sure are confident. No guards, not even stun cuffs..."
Twelfth scoffed, "Believe it or not, this is the one prison you will ever go to where the captors want you to escape."
Ezra, still walking, twisted to look at the helmeted Force user in confusion, "You want us to escape?"
"We certainly want you to try. It shows intelligence, and verve. Those are a couple of the traits of an inquisitor. After all, we don't want to create broken, pouting sad sacks who can't serve."
Ezra thought for a moment, "Has anyone ever made it out?"
The Twelfth Brother sighed regretfully, "I thought I did."
Ezra didn't know what to say about that confession. This inquisitor was getting weirder by the day. He stayed in the Fortress training more inquisitors, so he didn't 'hunt', he was a former padawan, he had a really weird sense of humor, and he had once tried to escape? Finally, Ezra said, "Care to tell me about it?"
Under the helmet, Twelfth sent him a withering glare. Then he remembered Ezra couldn't see it anyway and decided he might as well explain, "I got out of my cell and the prison room, don't ask how. I made my way outside the Fortress. You might not have noticed but Lord Vader doesn't allow ships to stay on the landing pad, in case we try to escape, so there wasn't one to steal. But I knew it was time for a supply ship to arrive so I waited for that and then got off-world. I wandered the galaxy for a couple months but one night, I woke up to several red sabers pointed at my face. I was dragged back here and forced to complete my training."
"So, is that why you train acolytes instead of hunt jedi? 'Cuz you tried to escape?" Ezra asked.
The Brother scoffed under his helmet, "That is one of the reasons." Ezra wanted to ask what the others were but something in the Brother's tone suggested he didn't want to answer any more questions. They continued on in silence, moving down, deeper into the Fortress. The hallways changed from the ugly, black and red toned walls to gorgeous underwater tunnels with transparisteel windows that displayed the crystal-clear water of Nur's ocean.
They neared a box-ish room as the walls went back to black metal and red lights. They entered and Ezra saw the room was divided into three parts: two solid floors on either side and one empty part that had several platforms that could retract to the walls, leaving the two solid floors divided, or could create bridges between the two (AN: reference Fallen Order if you're struggling to picture the room).
The Twelfth Brother stopped Ezra and circled him to stand in front of the jedi facing him, "You're special, you already have training and an understanding of the Force. Because of this, my co-teacher and I want to give you extra time to continue to improve your skills."
Ezra looked at him quizzically.
The Brother wasn't done talking, "In a moment, several stormtroopers will come through that door." He pointed to the door on the opposite platform. "They're your warm-up. Once your done with them, my purge troopers will come in and they will be a challenge. Enjoy." He turned to leave.
"And if I won't fight?" Ezra yelled after him.
"Well, they won't be firing stun shots but the power of their blasters has been turned down, it won't kill you but you will be in a lot of pain." A new voice called from behind him. Ezra looked around and found her. It was a red-skinned zeltron with flowing black hair. Instead of a helmet like most inquisitors Ezra had seen, she wore a simple see-through veil that covered the lower half of her face. Ezra's eyes darted away and his face flushed as red as the new inquisitor's skin when he looked down and saw her uniform, there was no way that was regulation, he told himself.
"Ezra, this is the friend I wanted you to meet." Twelfth gave a mocking bow.
"I am the Thirteenth Sister. Together the Twelfth Brother and I teach the new acolytes." She reached behind her and pulled out an inquisitor's double-bladed, spinning lightsaber and chucked it at his feet. "I understand Thrawn kept your green saber as a memento, so you can use this one today. If you fail to defeat these troopers, you and me will have a 'session' in the core tomorrow. And I can promise you; I am much harsher with my torture methods than dear Brother here." She gestured to the Brother. They leapt over the chasm and exited out the other door.
Ezra didn't want to fight, and he sure as heck didn't want to kill these troopers, but something told him he did not want to go to the core, whatever it was.
"All right, she said all I have to do is defeat them, not kill." Ezra muttered to himself, he called the saber to his hand. The ring was going all the way around the saber, signifying it was ready for spinning. Ezra didn't like or understand the spinning mechanic though so he changed so it was just a semicircle and ignited the scarlet blade in single-saber-style.
The door flew open and ten stormtroopers charged into the room. They fired with deadly accuracy. Ezra tried to block them all but he never had been fluid with his blocking. Ezra knew he looked foolish staggering around, barely deflecting shots. Then, he got hit next to his hip bone. It hurt, bad, but didn't deal enough damage to more than lightly wound him.
Half of the troopers were down, only injured, by Ezra's returning their bolts to them. He kept swinging the crimson saber. Ezra couldn't help but think how much easier it would be if he wasn't trying to not kill them. When all the troopers were groaning on the floor, the platforms came down and formed two bridges that connected the divided floors.
The blast door hissed open and five of the black and red troopers, purge troopers, dashed in. Two had blasters and their uniforms made them look like commanders, two with electrobatons, and one with a large purple hammer that Ezra had never seen before. Ezra decided that while he had never used a double-bladed lightsaber, this was as good as a time as any to try to learn. He ignited the other side and held it with both hands in an overhand grip.
The electrobaton troopers ran at him. Ezra sung the saber up towards the left one's head. It was blocked by one of the batons. Ezra felt a sharp jab under his right rib cage. Another baton. Ezra's large, red weapon swung wildly to defend himself but it was of little use. These troopers were fast, agile, and very well trained to fight Jedi.
After several staggering hits from the baton troopers, they leaped away. Ezra was baffled why but quickly got a hint. A shock grenade exploded at his feet, trapping him in place. He heard a large groan behind him. He whipped his head around as best he could and saw the hammer trooper had hit the ground, sending a wave or energy in his direction. Ezra had no time to jump out of the way and took the wave in the side. The shock of it knocked him unconscious, the saber turned off as he fell.
The doors opened again, Twelfth and Thirteenth strode in, "Stand down. Good work, troopers." Thirteenth said. She sighed, "This is the one who has evaded our order for so long?"
Twelfth chuckled, "The Force has been with him, not to mention his allies have been with him. He has grown softer and weaker than he could be by leaning too much on his friends. He has potential, Thirteenth, but he will need training. Especially in fluid motion with the blade."
"A lot of training," she agreed. She gave the order for the purge troopers to drag the unconscious boy back to his cell.