The deeper Ahsoka went, the more the structure of the base changed. After a few more minutes of walking the bare stone had given way to metal, an ugly bronze-coloured layer that was smooth and cold to her touch. The passageways were lit by a glowing material that looked vaguely biological, although the light was so faint that even her naturally sharp eyesight could only make out faint outlines.

There was something else here, too. Ahsoka had noticed a faint echo in the Force the moment she had set foot on the planet, and it had been growing stronger with every step she had taken into the fortress. It wasn't Ezra or Kanan, and it certainly wasn't an Inquisitor or a Sith. The dry air in the endless passageways was in motion, as if the fortress were the lungs of a sleeping giant.

Up ahead, the passageway forked. To her left, Ahsoka saw a set of blast doors, flanked by inactive ray-shield generators, as well as a symbol that denoted a detention block. She stepped inside and found herself in a narrower hallway lined with cramped cells. Curious, she went inside the first open door she came across, and as she did something caught her eye.

Drawing one lightsaber, Ahsoka held the blade high, illuminating the far wall of the cell and the objects scattered at its base. Even after so many years, and everything that had happened to her since the end of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka could not help but feel her heart sink as she saw the familiar outlines of clone trooper armour scattered around the cell. Picking up the nearest helmet, she turned it over in her hands. It was a Phase One helmet, covered inside and out with brown dust. They must have been here for years, she thought, tracing her fingers over the plasteel. Despite Order 66, she still thought of the clones as her equals, her comrades, and her friends. The blue flashes under the visor of the helmet glittered in the light, and she smiled. Maybe some more than others.

It was then that she noticed she was not alone in the cell. Startled, Ahsoka jumped back towards the doorway, her lightsabers held in a defensive stance.

What she had initially dismissed as a bundle of rags in the opposite corner of the cell appeared to be moving. By the light of her sabers, Ahsoka made out the outline of a humanoid figure, kneeling against the wall.

"Why...why?" A voice came from the bundle, a strange sigh that echoed in both the cell and her mind.

"Hello?" Ahsoka moved closer, but as she did the figure extended an arm from beneath the rags and held it up to the light. A string, decorated with beads, dangled from a heavy black glove. Then the figure raised its head to look at her.

"Why, Ahsoka? Why did you leave me?"

The fallen Jedi froze in shock. A terrible feeling of cold washed over her, and the still air around her began to flow out of the cell with an audible whistle.

"Ahsoka?"

"No!" In a moment of pure panic, Ahsoka raised her lightsabers above her head, ready to strike. As she did, the illumination cast by the white blades shifted, and the apparition vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

It was over so quickly that Ahsoka couldn't be sure that she hadn't just imagined it – if it wasn't for the fact that the wind was still blowing. She stopped and laid a hand on the wall of the cell, allowing the silence to close in around her. The breeze was growing stronger, but Ahsoka still couldn't tell where it was coming from, so she stepped back out into the main corridor. The passageway was in total darkness, and even with her enhanced senses she was unable to see more than a few metres in front of her.

Then, through the darkness, she became aware of a new presence in the Force. In her mind's eye, a figure was emerging from the dark tunnel ahead of her. A ghostly humanoid, whose clothes flapped in the wind as they walked towards her.

"What are you?"

"I have many names. The Goddess of War. The Daughter of Abesmi. The Sword of Shrupak. There are many alive that still call me by these titles."

The figure moved closer. Ahsoka caught a glimpse of a skull-like face, framed by what looked like braided hair that flapped in the wind as it moved.

"Yet one of my names has been forgotten. The oldest and most important of them all. I have waited here for many years, waiting for the day when it would be spoken aloud once more. And when the time comes, it must be spoken by the one I love. The one they call…Grievous."

"Grievous." Ahsoka felt herself tense up, and her hands tightened around the hilts of her sabers. "So, he's here."

"Yes. And where he goes, I go. They could never keep me from him, no matter what they tried."

"Keep you from him? From Grievous? Why would…who are you?"

"You are a warrior. A woman of strength and courage." A phantom breeze caught the edge of the cloak, and Ahsoka caught a glimpse of a sword hilt. "Yet I sense your loss."

At that, Ahsoka glanced back at the empty cell, suppressing a shudder. "Where is Grievous? I have to find him. I need to know where Ezra is."

The ghost turned away. "What would you do to him?"

Ahsoka gritted her teeth as the cold wind intensified. "Whatever I had to do to keep my friends safe. Just like any warrior would."

"You seek to harm him." The voice took on an accusing tone. "Just like the others."

"If I have to protect myself from him, I will."

"I know your kind…Jedi."

Suddenly, the apparition turned and shot towards her. Ahsoka's lightsabers leapt into her hands, but before she could ignite them the ghost slammed into her, physically knocking her to the ground. The wind was knocked from her lungs by the force of the impact, and she could only gasp as she felt a strange sensation moving up her spine. The ghost crouched over her, and Ahsoka caught a glimpse of a pair of glowing reptilian eyes studying her from behind the mask.

"You know pain. You know fear. Now you will share in mine."

Nothing. Kanan sighed as he clipped his communicator back onto his belt. This deep underground, the little devices had almost no range. He couldn't raise Ahsoka, but he hoped that just meant she had moved too deep for his signal to reach her.

Kanan took a swig from his canteen. The air in the fortress felt stale and recycled, as well as being unpleasantly dry. It had been over an hour since he and Ahsoka had entered the subterranean labyrinth, and Kanan knew it would take at least that long to leave once they had found Ezra.

He had read up on the history of the fortress during the hyperspace jump into the system, but he didn't need an old Republic intelligence file to tell him that this was an evil place. Many Jedi had died beneath this mountain, and the bare interior still felt tainted by those past events, as if the fallen Jedi themselves still haunted the passageways. The sooner we can get out of here, the better, he thought.

Passing through an open doorway, Kanan emerged into a cavernous underground space. Even when he held his lightsaber above his head, the pale blue light could not reach the far walls or the corners of the ceiling above. The Jedi Knight paused, and repeated a process he had performed in every new room or passageway he had encountered beneath the mountain. Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force, searching for any traces of his apprentice. Once again, there was nothing beyond a recognisable background echo that only confirmed that Ezra had been nearby.

The outline of a starfighter stood out in the gloom. Sleek and grey, the vessel appeared perfectly preserved by the bone-dry air inside the fortress. Above it, the ceiling was flat and hinged in the middle, suggesting the presence of a tunnel leading to the surface. Might come in handy if I can't find the way out back the way I came, Kanan mused, making a mental note of the location.

Kanan paused. He'd heard something, echoing from a passageway somewhere outside the hangar. He held his breath and focused, and after a few seconds he heard it again, louder this time. A roaring sound, like that of a wounded animal. Kanan remembered the skeleton of the creature he'd encountered earlier and shuddered.

Ahsoka! Maybe she found one of those creatures alive…or maybe…

Kanan tried his communicator again, but only got static in response.

A new sound echoed out through the darkened hangar. It was faint, muffled by layers of concrete and metal, but there was no mistaking the distinctive sound of a lightsaber activating. Kanan knew the sound of Ezra's customized saber well, and after a few more seconds he heard the hiss of the blade sinking into a solid object.

"Ezra! Is that you?"

His voice echoed away, bouncing around the hangar and down the network of tunnels that surrounded it. Then there came more sounds, closer this time. The rasp of metal scraping against stone, the hiss of air escaping through a valve. Kanan thought he heard a sound, like ancient machinery rattling into life, from somewhere below his feet, but the light of his saber revealed nothing.

"Another Jedi…have you come to avenge the death of your apprentice?"

Kanan froze. The voice seemed to be coming from all around him, echoing off the smooth walls of the hangar. Igniting his own blade, he took up a defensive stance.

"He was impressive for his age. A warrior who had the courage to die fighting."

"Where is he? What have you done with Ezra?"

In answer, a long gargling laugh boomed out around him, only to tail off into a fit of violent coughs. Kanan looked around wildly, his heart pounding, but he saw nothing beyond the pool of light around his lightsaber.

"The Council were fools to send you here alone. Now you, and the rest of the galaxy, will know that Grievous has returned!"

Kanan looked up as the voice thundered out above him – and found himself staring into the eyes of General Grievous.

"That's…impossible." he breathed.

With a roar, the cyborg uncoiled like a powerful spring, falling towards the Jedi. Even before the first blow landed, Kanan felt himself being buffeted by a powerful wall of energy. Unlike the bone-chilling cold that emanated from the mysterious Sith Lord on Lothal, waves of hot rage seemed to boil out of every opening of its armoured body. Reeling, Kanan only had a split second to bring his saber up before the nightmarish creature was upon him.

Their blades met with a blinding flash of light. Kanan braced himself for the blow, feeling the Force swell behind him, but even then, it took all of his strength to keep his saber from being knocked out of his hands. Grievous disengaged almost immediately, lashing out with his empty fist and dealing Kanan a vicious blow to the torso. The Jedi had the sense to allow the impact to knock him away, as Ezra's lightsaber jabbed at the spot his head had been a moment ago.

With some distance between them, Kanan could see his opponent clearly. A body made of white armour plates, mounted on a skeletal frame. Clawed hands and birdlike feet tipped with ceramoplast talons. Above it all, perched on a long neck was a grinning deathmask, a terrifying skull-like head, out of which a single organic eye glittered beneath a protective shield. In that moment, all of Kanan's doubts about the identity of their mysterious opponent vanished. Despite the improbability – no, the impossibility – of his survival, General Grievous was now standing before him, lightsaber poised to strike.

Looking around, Kanan caught sight of a stack of what looked like gas cylinders just a few metres away. He clenched his fist and lifted with his free hand, and the first cylinder rose unsteadily into the air. Behind him, the cyborg clattered towards him with terrifying speed. Kanan threw out his hand, and the gas cylinder went hurtling through the air towards his opponent. Ezra's lightsaber flicked out, and the cylinder burst with a bright flash of flame, lighting up the entire hangar for an instant in green light. Grievous howled as the burning fuel splashed against his armoured body, but rather than injuring him, it simply slowed him down. Kanan hurled another canister, but Grievous side-stepped it and it flew past to detonate against the back wall of the hangar, igniting a stack of equipment.

Slowly, the Jedi and the General circled each other. Kanan held his lightsaber in a two-handed grip, with the point aimed at his opponent. Although his heart was still pounding, the shock of the initial engagement was being replaced with a sense of purpose and calm. Focus. Breathe. Trust in the Force.

Grievous snarled, unhinging his arms and sinking down to the floor in a spiderlike pose, his stolen lightsaber rotating slowly in one hand. Suddenly, the fire flared up as it reached another fuel canister. Seeing him step back, Grievous took the opportunity and lunged forward, crossing the distance between them in a few short strides. The Force surged around the Jedi Knight as he dodged the first blow, met the second, then was thrown back by a savage kick to the ribs. Seizing the opportunity, Grievous charged towards his opponent, carving a glowing channel in the floor with his saber, but Kanan brought him up short with a blast of energy. Once again, the cyborg and the Jedi clashed sabers, and Kanan found himself just inches from the terrifying face of Grievous.

"Where is he! Where is my apprentice?"

"You will be reunited with him soon enough, Jedi filth!" Leaping away, Grievous retracted the blade of Ezra's lightsaber and opened fire with the stunner, forcing Kanan back as he fended off the barrage of fire.

Kanan coughed, fighting to control his breathing. The stale air in the hangar was being sucked up by the raging inferno in the fuel dump, leaving him with only smoke to breathe. As if Grievous was reading his mind, the cyborg glanced towards the doors leading out from the hangar. One by one, they slammed shut, trapping Kanan in and sealing off the flow of air. Then, with laughter bubbling up from somewhere inside his ruined frame, Grievous attacked in a whirlwind of light. Kanan met his strikes as best he could, abandoning the two-handed grip for greater speed as Grievous probed his defence from every angle. Then one of the cyborg's hands flashed behind his back, and suddenly the glowing prongs of an electrostaff were raining blows on his lightsaber.

The martial trance that had aided in his battle against the Grand Inquisitor was fading as the smoke and heat overcame him. Kanan raised his lightsaber to deflect an overhead attack from Grievous, only to have the electrostaff driven into his torso. The lightsaber fell from his grip, deactivating as it hit the floor. For a moment, Kanan was on his hands and knees, fumbling in the gloom for it – then something hit him hard across the face, and he was thrown back. A white hand shot out and clamped down around his neck. Forgetting his lightsaber, Kanan seized the hand and tried desperately wriggle free, but the metal fingers only tightened.

Spots danced in front of his eyes as he felt himself being lifted up. Against a backdrop of leaping flames, Kanan was dimly aware of the face of General Grievous hovering just inches away from his own.

"You are not the first Jedi I have killed, and you will not be the last."

Then a wall of hot air rushed over them both, and Kanan fell to the ground.