The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

One Hundred And Ten: Masters And Apprentices

EZRA BRIDGER

Ezra had never seen a battle like this before.

Ahsoka and Vader were totally focused, and every blow they made to counter one another seemed as carefully planned as the steps of a dance. But there was a strange manner to their duelling Ezra almost recognized, a sort of familiarity between swordsmen which spoke from each of them as an intimate knowledge of the other fighter.

Once Ezra had managed to pull himself partway from the spectacle at hand, he realized it was actually a lot like what he and Kanan had.

Ezra watched, mesmerized, as Ahsoka swung herself down under Vader's attacks once, twice, then moved to block as though she knew from experience where they were going to be at the same time as Vader did. And although the battle was going on faster than he could process, he found that he almost knew, too. But how...?

Keeping your saber moving is key to deflecting the fire of multiple adversaries. Fluid motion; one into the next, into the next, and so on.

I've made some... adjustments– Ezra winced as Vader's blade drew dangerously close to Ahsoka's head –to the classic Form IV technique I think you'll find work well against droids and other ranged attackers.

The holo recordings of Anakin Skywalker.

Here, I'll show you: one, two, three, four, five, six.

Ahsoka had said her Master could never be as vile as Vader. She was fighting him as though she knew at least in essence what he was going to throw at her next... as a student knew for their longtime teacher.

Vader and Anakin Skywalker were one and the same. But the realization only brought him more questions... questions he didn't have time now to answer, and so he returned his attention to the battle at hand, readying himself to run to Ahsoka's aid should she need it.

Even from the other side of the terrace – how had they gotten so far so quickly? – Ezra could smell the sharp tang of burnt ozone on the air from their lightsabers as she knocked him a few steps with a fierce blow. As Vader rushed forward again, she ducked under his blade and took advantage of his moment of imbalance to summon the Force and shove him away.

Ahsoka didn't give him so much as a moment to pause for breath after he skidded to a halt: she sprang up and angled her fall to smash her twin sabers into his single crimson one with more spite than Ezra had thought she was capable of. She launched herself up and fell easily into a crouch behind the Sith Lord, and then rose in time to meet his blade once more in a saber lock.

Finally, they began to withdraw from the shadow of the pyramidion, Ahsoka flipping and dodging under Vader's strikes with agility Ezra could hardly follow as Sith and Jedi almost casually traded offensive and defensive positions between themselves.

This was the kind of duelling Kanan secretly idolized: a real Jedi versus Sith fight like in the battles from back in the old days of the Clone Wars. And up close, the clashing displays of power were as terrifying as it was awe-inspiring.

"I need a lot more training," Ezra murmured. Suddenly, as yet another tremor rocked the Temple, he found his gaze drawn back to what had in the last few hours become the source of all their trouble. "The holocron... I can't let Vader get it!"

He scrambled to his feet and hurried back towards the obelisk, and stretched up as far as he could to grab the artifact which hovered within. But before his fingers could so much as brush the holocron's surface, the red and golden-white veins of lightning surrounding it exploded outward, and sent him flying back.