Kanan Jarrus (spectre01) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-05-06 08:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ahsoka tano, kanan jarrus |
Who: Kanan and Ahsoka
What: A duel with a former Sith lord
When: Today
Where: Deserted local convenience store parking lot.
Rating/Warnings High for violence
Status: Complete!
Kanan wondered if this was becoming a tradition. If every year the first week of May meant storm troopers, aliens and fighting back the Empire. Oh, he understood the pun: “May the Fourth be with you.” Yes, very clever. Har. Har.
He did have to hand it to Orange County, though. Instead of simply repeating the same onslaught of nameless storm toopers, battle droids and random equipment from last year, the Powers that Be had ramped it up a notch: crazy homicidal clones, alien landscapes and the cherry on top? A Starkiller Base had actually caused a solar eclipse! Well, wasn’t that just peachy?
Kanan had to admit that at first there was something kind of special getting to live out his Dreams, actually being a Jedi. Hell, it was even fun. However, the longer this went on, the more Kanan found himself longing for the rest of his crew. Every time he heard something over head, he’d look in hopes that maybe, just maybe, he’d see the unmistakable image of The Ghost. So far, nothing doing.
Ahsoka actually kind of enjoyed it. First there’d been fighting the Reapers in space, and then on the ground, and now she was getting to blow up Clankers like the good old days. It made her miss Rex, and Obi-wan and… yeah.
There was no moral quandary here. No systems trying to exercise free will, no actual people dying. Just droids exploding and maybe she got a little sloppy because a stray bolt from one of the battlecruisers clipped her wing, and she went down.
“Crap!” The Starfighter spiraled out of control, shooting past Kanan’s position and nearly taking his head off. It bounced on the ground and skidded into a mini-mart.
Kanan watched the Starfighter as it spiraled across the sky towards him. He didn’t need the Force whispering urgently in his ear to get down to hit the ground and cover his head and avoid getting decapitated by a stray wing.
He raised his head to see the craft skid across the lot and into the mini mart. Before he had caught his air again, Kanan was on his feet and running towards the wreckage, blaster in one hand and lightsaber in the other. He hoped there hadn’t been anyone in the mart, but knew the place was deserted even before he reached it. The only life form he could sense was a familiar one, and considering he knew only so many people who could actually pilot a Starfighter with such skill to keep from taking an absolute nose dive when hit, he had a pretty good idea who was inside.
He still approached cautiously, however. Years spent on the wrong side of the law and a year’s worth of dreaming he was a Rebel had endowed him with a certain sense of weariness when it came to situations like this. “Hey!” He called out to the occupant within the ship. “You survive that?”
The cockpit suddenly jerked open, and Ahsoka climbed out of it, coughing. “That’s the second worse crash I’ve ever experienced.” She climbed down the delta wing, and raised her hand to Kanan. Some things were coincidences, but Ahsoka didn’t think this was one of them. “Enjoying yourself? I’m certainly having fun.”
She glanced back at the wreckage and sighed. It was going to take a month to repair that. If she even could.
“Second?” Kanan repeated with a raised brow. “I’d hate to have seen the first.” He didn’t believe this meeting to be a coincidence either. In fact, when it came to Orange County madness, Kanan was of the belief there were no such things as coincidences. Be that as it were, he was still glad to see Ahsoka. The Fulcrum herself. He looked at her carefully for a moment. She didn’t seem to have been injured in the crash. That was either incredibly lucky given the way the ship had bounced and skittered across the pavement, or evidence of just how good Ahsoka really was at this.
He smirked a little at her. “Actually, yeah, considering I didn’t have to check myself out of the hospital to participate this year, I’m having a blast.” He looked at her Starfighter with a slight frown. “Doesn’t look like you’ll be going anywhere in that.” Which was a shame. He looked back at the Togruta. “The bigger question is are you alright?”
“It wasn’t too bad.” Ahsoka checked again for her lightsabers. She wasn’t injured that she could tell. Maybe a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing serious. She straightened. “I’m fine. Starfighter isn’t. But I’ll have to worry about that later. Who knows how many clankers are going to come check out this crash. I might have brought you more trouble than you were looking for.”
“Eh,” Kanan shrugged. “Trouble has a way of finding me. So a little extra’s not that big of a deal. Still…” he looked around the area. There wasn’t much in the way of cover in the parking lot and the mini mart had already sustained enough damage from the crash. Kanan doubted the business’s insurance covered Acts of Rebellion. “We might wanna take a walk just the same.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Since there was no way to lock the starfighter, Ahsoka started to walk, keeping eyes and ears out for any sign of droids. “I almost miss these days. Destroying a droid doesn’t feel as wrong as a person. But so many people suffered in the Clone Wars just the same.”
That was the nature of war, a nature she hated, even if she enjoyed a good fight. “When I was young and stupid, I loved this.”
Something stirred in the Force, something dark and familiar, and Ahsoka stopped walking.
There were times when he and Ahsoka talked that Kanan wondered if he was speaking to the teenaged Ahsoka from this world, or the older wizened Ahsoka of the Rebel Fleet, or if maybe there was no longer a difference between the two. She knew so much more about the universe they Dreamed about than he did. She’d had so much more experience. Kanan himself only had ghosts of memories of the Clone Wars. Hints of memories Kanan of the Dreams had. Nothing concrete. Nothing he had experienced for himself the way Ahsoka had. All he knew for certain was that he’d been involved. That his master had been involved. And that his master, Depa Billaba, had sacrificed herself so that he would live.
Kanan made a soft tsking noise. “Something tells me when I was young and stupid I loved this too. Being part of the action. Being part of a cause larger than yourself. Defending the defenseless.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I never really understood it until I moved here.”
Ahsoka had stopped walking. At the same time Kanan felt the same stir in the Force she had. It was dark, foreboding and familiar in a way that Kanan couldn’t quite place right away which put him on edge. His eyes narrowed as he reached for the hilt of his lightsaber. “What is that?”
It was something that made Ahsoka feel constantly conflicted. She’d grown up in her dreams. Changed. Grown wiser and more pragmatic. But she was also supposed to only be 20 years old. It was as though she’d lost a good fifteen years of her life in the space of a few months.
“That’s pretty common,” Ahsoka agreed, though she had her head tilted. “Do you feel that? It feels like something I’ve felt before.”
The high pitched whine of an Imperial ship approached overhead, and Ahsoka’s heart suddenly sped up. But the feeling wasn’t Anakin. She didn’t know if she was relieved or not.
The ship landed a hundred meters in front of them, and the hatch slowly opened. It was too dark to see who it was, and then a red blade appeared.
A second later, the blade extended out from the opposite end, and Darth Maul descended down the landing plank.
“Oh. It’s just him,” Ahsoka quipped. The question was, were they lucky enough to get the Maul that Kanan had met, or the Maul from when Ahsoka had been a Padawan. The latter would be a lot harder to fight than the other.
Does yours do that? God, Kanan missed Zeb. Funny how you could miss a person you’ve never technically met.
Kanan frowned. He recognized the figure as he stepped onto the plank and made his way towards them. He recognized the distinctive black and red markings on the figure’s face, and the darkness that seemed to roll off him like a mass. Kanan had only come face to face with Maul in his most recent Dream, but that had been enough. He had considered himself incredibly lucky that he’d managed to avoid having the consequences of that meeting bleed over into the waking world. Part of him relished a rematch against the “Old Master”, while another part – the part that probably lived within the Dreams – wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
“What is he doing here?” Kanan hissed. “How did he even get here?!”
Kanan had obviously dreamed enough to recognize Maul. Ahsoka still couldn’t tell if this Maul knew her, knew him, or had come from before Obi-wan had killed him.
She hoped he was after, he’d be a lot easier to taunt if they could bring up Obi-wan. Either way, he wasn’t simply an Inquisitor and she probably couldn’t use the hands-only trick with him. She pulled her sabers from her hips and light them, harsh white light illuminating her face. “I think he wants to say hello.”
It certainly looked that way. Maul wasn’t rushing the two, but his strides towards them were definitely purposeful, as though he had eyes only for them. He knows who we are, Kanan realized, with a sharp breath. As he got closer, it became apparent they were dealing with the old man from under the Temple. This Maul of the Dreams had wanted Ezra and Ezra, the loveable idiot, had been just trusting enough to let him in.
Kanan followed Ahsoka’s lead and activated his lightsaber as well, falling into a combat ready stance. Kanan liked to think that somewhere out there Ezra Bridger existed, but he wasn’t here. But the way Maul was eying him, Ezra’s lack of presence didn’t seem to change anything. Kanan narrowed his eyes. It looked as though he was going to get that rematch. “Let’s give him a warm welcome then.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to run, old man?” Ahsoka started to circle around to flank Maul. It would be better if they could keep him between them. Fighting on two fronts was never easy, and while Maul was skilled and powerful, Ahsoka was confident she and Kanan could take him.
She charged in first, leaping high and swiping one of her sabers down towards his head. She kept the other in reserve to parry a return strike.
Both ends of his saber ignited, Maul showed no signs of wanting to turn and run. Kanan couldn’t be sure if this was an actual person or if he was just a manifestation of the Dreams. Either way, it was fucking creepy.
Kanan caught on to Ahsoka’s plan as she moved to flank Maul on the right. He, in turn, slid to the left so that when Ahsoka attacked, Maul would be forced to fall back in Kanan’s direction. Hopefully, Kanan and Ahoska’s combined efforts would keep Maul too busy defending to launch an attack of his own.
For a few minutes there was a flurry of red blades blocking and countering blue and white accompanied by the angry hiss and sizzling and crackling energy when the blades clashed. Maul may have been out numbered, but if Kanan thought he and Ahsoka could outmaneuver the older man, he was wrong.
Maul’s blades swirled around, blocking and parrying every attack as the three dueled in a ballet of violence. Ahsoka didn’t let it frustrate her; compared to Vader, Maul was almost relaxing. He was skilled, but he lacked the raw power she’d faced against Vader, and she could out last him if necessary. But every time she tried to catch him off guard, he was there with his blade. Ahsoka flipped backwards and suddenly flung a car at Maul.
Kanan had faced some intimidating adversaries in his life both in his past and in the Dreams. Each of those encounters had taught him something and he used what he’d learned while he dueled with Maul here. He was thankful that this time around he hadn’t been taken off guard.
He felt the whoosh of the car leaving the ground before he saw it and ducked low, taking advantage of the distraction to attack before Maul could recover from Ahsoka’s attack. Kanan had no intention of letting Maul even get the chance, using his off hand to fire his blaster in rapid succession as he charged forward. Maul, of course, deflected each shot, but Kanan hadn’t expected to actually land a hit. Just before he got to Maul, he feinted right before jumping to attack from above.
The old man was quicker than he looked. He blocked Kanan’s attack at the last possible second. The blades of their sabers clashing with a deafening crack and hiss. For a moment the two stood, neither giving an inch to the other. Kanan felt a shift just a fraction of a second too late. The next thing he knew, he was flung backwards. Only through his own manipulation of the Force was Kanan able to avoid being slammed into another car. His feet dragged across the pavement a few feet before he was able to stop his own momentum. He had been able to stop himself, but his balance was off forcing him to one knee to keep from falling over completely.
Look up, Kanan! Move!
Kanan did look up, but it was already too late. The last thing he saw was a red so bright it may as well have been the sun. And then there was nothing except bright hot pain.
“No!” Ahsoka charged forward, her attack sudden and vicious. It put Maul off balance and drove him away from Kanan. She knelt to check on her friend, keeping one eye on Maul. He started to pace, eyeing them and Ahsoka didn’t know if she was glad he wasn’t as talkative as she remembered, or annoyed by it.
Kanan was lost. The sound of Maul’s lightsaber reverberated in his ears and his eyes. His eyes. Kanan gritted his teeth against the pain seared into both his face and his eyes, feeling as though it had scorched directly into his brain. He used that pain to focus again. The duel wasn’t over. He could feel Ahsoka at his side. He could hear the scuff of boots against the pavement as Maul paced. He could still feel that darkness ebbing off of him in waves. There were no helms to cover his face this time. He was going to have to finish this with his wounds bared to the world. So be it.
His grip on his saber tightened and he took his hand from his face to reach out and grasp hold of Ahsoka so he could stand again. He shifted his grip to hold the saber in a defensive stance. If his Dream Self could fight Maul with this disadvantage, than he sure as hell could too. “Let’s end this,” he told Ahsoka through his teeth.
Ahsoka nodded, and through the Force she thought he’d be able to see that. She flipped her sabers into reverse grips and fell into a more aggressive stance. She could compensate for Kanan having to be defensive, and rely on his defensive stance for herself. It had been a very long time since she’d fought alongside someone like this, but she was confident.
“Now.”
Ahsoka propelled herself forward, aggressively attacking Maul with a flurry of strikes, slashes and jabs as she directed him towards Kanan.
Kanan listened. At first he could barely hear over the sound of his own thrashing heart and his own harsh breathing. He forced himself to focus through it and listen for Ahsoka and the distinct sound of her sabers slicing through the air, crashing against the enemy. It took every ounce of willpower he had to focus through, to calm his heart and his breathing and listen. He heard the drag of Maul’s boots against the pavement falling back more and more and towards him.
He raised his saber in the defensive focusing on the sounds in front of him. It seemed as though Maul had either forgotten about him, or had by now considered him a non-threat. Perfect. Kanan moved and he moved quickly slashing outward towards that menacing darkness.
Like the end of many lightsaber battles, it came quickly, in a flash of light and a cry of pain. Kanan’s slash cut across his back and he fell onto Ahsoka’s blades. She lowered him to the ground, her breathing ragged and her heart thundering. That hadn’t been like the Sith when she’d gotten her starfighter. That could have gone much, much worse. Hooking her sabers to her belt, she ran over to Kanan. “You got him, he’s gone.”
Thank god it was over quick. Kanan had no idea how much longer he could remain standing. A hand was to his face again, to his eyes. He was afraid to touch, but wanted to know just how bad the damage really was. He felt no blood, which came as no surprise. The heat of the blade would have instantly sealed the wound. But the pain….and he couldn’t see anything. The blade to his saber deactivated and he reached a careful hand towards Ahsoka’s voice. He didn’t dare move from where he was. Unlike in the Dreams Ezra wasn’t there for Kanan to hone in on. The county itself felt as though it was awash of Force and chaos. “I can’t see,” he said. “How...how bad is it?”
Ahsoka was silent for a moment, that kind of silence that really said it all. Finally she put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not deep, but…”
If Kanan was lucky, he’d have a bit of a scar and his eyeballs would heal, but he wouldn’t be able to see again. And therein lay the ‘but’ and all it’s implications. “I don’t think our technology could heal you completely. But there might be someone who dreams of magic or other technology that could help. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Kanan understood. He would worry about his hopes later. At that moment all he wanted to do was sit down, which was probably a bad idea. Ahsoka’s hand on his shoulder let him know exactly where she was standing. He grasped hold of her arm, using her to keep him from just giving in and letting his legs go out from under him. “Thanks for keeping him off me. Can you get me outta here?”
“Yeah, we need to get you somewhere else.” Ahsoka looked around and spotted a car parked in front of a store. “Good thing I know how to hotwire a car.”
She’d worry about pesky legalities later.