The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Seven: The Battle Begins

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka was out of her fighter and running, lightsabers in hand, almost before the ship had touched down. Fear made her blood run cold in her veins as she fervently hoped she wasn't too late.

She had seen the chaotic speeder chase through Hammertown from the air as she had been scanning for the Phantom. These few moments it took to sprint down a side street from the abandoned lot where she had stashed the A-wing could very well be crucial for Ezra, Kanan and Zeb making it out of there alive.

And, from what Ahsoka could sense, things weren't going well for them at all.

Chopper chattered away about red blades and a Human infant as she arrived, waving his mechanical grabbers agitatedly from his socket atop the Phantom.

"That would be Alora he's talking about," Ahsoka whispered to herself, then raised her voice to speak to the droid. "Chopper, take this."

She put her lightsabers back on her belt, waiting for him to eject himself from the opening to toss him the satchel she had brought with her from her fighter.

"There's baby food in there – don't ask how I have it – and Alora is probably hungry by now. I'll feed her when I get back. And under no circumstances are you to go through the other stuff in there. It's personal."

Chopper warbled an affirmative, but it was soon followed by a question.

She smirked. "Me? I'm going to save their necks. Get the ship ready. We're going to need to make a quick exit."

Chopper turned on his treads and puttered back into the ship. Then, taking a few calming breaths, Ahsoka reached out with the Force to check her surroundings quickly; get a lay of the land. If the Inquisitors were as determined to get the children as she had been given reason to believe, they wouldn't be getting out of there without a fight.

Using the energy she had already accumulated for the scan to her advantage, she pushed it towards the mechanisms making up the lock on the door, overriding it from the inside.

A light snow was beginning to fall, and Ahsoka's breath fogged up ever so slightly around her face with every breath she took. She walked through the doors into the docking bay with the sort of confidence that would have made Anakin proud, standing tall in the cool evening air.

Then, she summoned her blades from her belt and ignited them, twisting them effortlessly into a reverse and standard grip.

"Unexpected," said the female Inquisitor, her voice underlined by what sounded like a voice synthesizer, "but not unwelcome."

"Ezra, get the youngling to the ship," Ahsoka said without taking her eyes off the two Darksiders. She winked at the boy, and readjusted her fingers around one hilt before sending herself flying up into the air.

The blades hummed and sang as she let gravity pull her back down to earth. She was suddenly confronted by an image of what the Inquisitors might do to Alora and the Ithorian – whom she could sense was Force-sensitive as well – if they got their hands on them.

And, as a mother, it was more than enough to draw a cry of rage from her lips as she smashed her lightsabers into the Inquisitors'.

She vaulted herself off of their blades, using the force of her momentum to push her way through the pair's defenses and back into the fray as soon as her feet touched solid ground. The woman lunged forward, dancing around her blades easily enough, but Ahsoka blocked her at every attempt she made to land a hit.

The male sent a Force blow surging towards her, but she got clear of it well before it would have hit her. Taking advantage of the distraction, the female leapt forward, meeting Ahsoka's blades in a series of quick strikes.