"Certainty"
It is not supposed to be like this. No, not like this. None of this is supposed to happen. Nothing about this is right. Nothing about this makes sense. It simply is not supposed to be like this. The Chosen One is not supposed to by dying...
Except that the Chosen One is dying...
And it is all Obi-Wan's fault...
*** Two weeks earlier***
"Sir, we've got to get out of here now!" Captain Rex yells over the constant barrage of blaster fire. Anakin deflects the incoming blasts from an approaching super droid before slicing it into three distinct pieces. He moves on to his next target while yelling back at Rex.
"Prep the ship! I'll contact Obi-Wan!" he replies as he blocks four more blasts. Anakin takes a moment and falls into cover behind one of the hanger's support pillars. He taps his comm. link.
"Obi-Wan, where are you?"
"I... I'm in the east corridor... I seemed to have picked up a few friends along the way to the rendezvous. Not to worry though... I won't be late," Obi-Wan answers over the comm. Anakin can hear the sounds of battle over Obi-Wan's transmission, but he isn't concerned. He knows that if his former master needed help he would have asked for it. Instead, Anakin focuses on the present and the present requires that he gets his men on the shuttle before the whole factory explodes and collapses on top of them.
"On the shuttle troopers, double time! Move it!" Anakin barks as he and Rex provide his unit with cover. Once everyone is on aboard, Rex starts his own backwards walk up the ramp still firing his dual pistols at the few remaining battle droids. Suddenly, both Anakin and Rex are knocked off their feet as a massive explosion violently rocks the factory.
"It's the generator, sir!" Rex yells as he gets to his feet. "This whole place is going up any second!"
Anakin rises as well occasionally blocking blasts from three or four still functioning droids. He activates his Jedi wrist comm.
"Master, where are you?" he yells as another explosion rockets through the increasingly fragile structure. "Master!" Anakin yells again, but his only response is static. Finally, Obi-Wan's familiar voice comes over the link.
"Anakin! I'm cut off from the hanger!" he yells, his thick Coruscanti accent giving his speech a dignified quality that belied its urgency. Obi-Wan is still talking, but Anakin cannot make out what he is saying over the sound of two more explosions followed by the groans of overly taxed durasteel. Anakin doesn't even try to understand what his former master is saying.
"Master, stay where you are. I'm coming for you!"
"No!" Obi-Wan yells. "There isn't any time! Get your men out of here! That is an order!" he yells, desperation nearly dripping off his words, but Obi-Wan's plea/demand falls on deaf ears. Anakin is already moving down the ramp.
"General Skywalker, we must leave," Rex says holstering his pistols as the last droid falls.
"Rex, take the shuttle and get out of here. I'm going to find Obi-Wan."
"But, sir..." Rex starts. Anakin quickly cuts him off.
"You have your orders, Captain!" Anakin all but growls. Rex immediately snaps to attention.
"Sir, yes sir!" he replies crisply. He goes into the shuttle without a further word. Anakin races down corridor after corridor not knowing which way is blocked or whether the section he is in is about to collapse. He's operating purely on his instincts, something he had learned to trust long ago. He runs into very few droids as he makes his way to Obi-Wan. Most are damaged from explosions. Others are crushed beneath equipment or slabs of durasteel. Anakin rounds a corner and nearly slams into a fallen brace. He skids to a halt and carefully makes his way down the partially caved-in hall. He looks further ahead and sees that the end of the corridor is completely blocked where the ceiling has given way exposing several floors above. Anakin is trying to decide his next move when something catches his attention. A few meters away beneath another beam is a pile of rubble and droid parts and... a head of auburn hair.
"No..." he whispers as he runs over to Obi-Wan's body. "No, no, no, no, no..." he repeats in hushed tones like a sacred chant. He kneels beside Obi-Wan's upper body. Everything below his mid-thighs is buried, trapped under the remains of the ceiling.
"Obi-Wan," he says. At first he voice is just above a whisper. "Obi-Wan," he repeats this time much louder. Anakin's heart leaps gleefully in his chest when the second call gets the response he so desperately needs to hear.
"Ana... Anakin?" Obi-Wan rasps, his voice soft as he rouses from his involuntary unconsciousness.
"Yes, Master. I'm here," Anakin answers. Just as he is about to say something to reassure Obi-Wan that he is going to be okay, another explosion sends a thunderous, shockwave echoing through the factory. This time the source is much closer. Heat and razor sharp pieces of debris tear down the hallway as deadly shrapnel. Anakin uses his own body to protect Obi-Wan's exposed frame. When the immediate danger passes, Anakin surveys the debris pining Obi-Wan. He looks down at his former master.
"I'm getting you out of here."
"No," Obi-Wan groans. "The ceiling... it will cave in if... if you move it..."
"You let me worry about that. You just be ready to move," Anakin replies. He closes his eyes and focuses all his concentration on the singular task in front of him. He slowly begins to raise both arms and as he does so he uses the Force to command the debris to lift itself slightly into the air. All around the Jedi can hear the groaning of the little remaining structure struggle under the shifting pressures. It is a delicate task. Anakin can feel tiny tremors begin to run through his arms and beads of sweat form and drip from his forehead. He only needs to raise it a little more... just a little higher...
"Now," Anakin orders through clenched teeth, but his order isn't necessary. Obi-Wan has already begun to drag himself out from the heavy debris. Once he has pulled himself clear, he tries to stand, but neither leg will support him and he crashes back to the floor with a pain-laden grunt.
"Master?" Anakin calls out. His eyes are still closed and his whole body is trembling with the effort of holding the hall together.
"I'm clear, Anakin, but I can't walk," Obi-Wan informs him as he pulls himself up on his elbows. He doesn't even want to look at his mangled legs. His peripheral vision lets him see the blood staining his trousers and the waves of pain he is actively suppressing confirm the seriousness of his injury. Anakin begins to tremble more violently, but he manages to hold everything in place.
"I'll help you," he responds simply though his teeth remain tightly clenched. "On the count of three. One... Two... Three!" he yells. He lets his arms fall and with them every piece of stone and metal he had been supporting. For a brief moment, the sudden release throws him off-balance and leaves him light-headed. He fears he may pass out, but he quickly recovers and turns to pick-up Obi-Wan. Anakin pulls Obi-Wan's arm over his shoulder and then Anakin wraps his own arm around Obi-Wan's waist. He immediately starts into the quickest "run" he can manage as he drags Obi-Wan through the crumbling complex.
"I thought I ordered you to not come looking for me," Obi-Wan says mildly irritated, but mostly pleased.
"No," Anakin replies smiling through his exhaustion. "You ordered me to get to my men out of here and I did."
"I suppose I shall have to learn to be more specific," Obi-Wan says as Anakin reaches the eastern entrance. The two Jedi slowly make their way outside and attempt to put as much distance as they can between themselves and the droid factory. After only traveling a dozen or so meters Anakin slows to a halt. Before them sits a deep ridge. Though it is only about ten meters across, its depth is considerable. Alone Anakin could easily jump the ravine using the Force, but while carrying Obi-Wan, he has his doubts. Before he can ask Obi-Wan to prepare himself for the jump, the factory behind them gives one final metallic groan as its death rattle. The final explosion erupts from deep within its bowels tearing across the landscape and cutting a path directly to the Jedi.
First Obi-Wan feels the intense wave of heat that threatens to sear him to the bone. Next is the blast wave, an invisible wall that slams into his body and pins him to the ground under its crushing weight. Only then comes the noise, the unmistakable guttural roar of "BOOM!" followed immediately by darkness.
Obi-Wan doesn't know how long he is out. Time is not an aspect his senses can interpret at the moment. His only perception is a world of high pitched silence and the ever-present shades of pain traveling through the muscles and sinews of his body. Obi-Wan pushes himself up on his elbows, coughing as he chokes on air thick with dust debris. In the distance to his right he sees a figure approaching. He squints in an attempt to sharpen the image, but his vision remains stubbornly blurry. The figure is definitely coming closer.
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan croaks, his voice hoarse from the dust. The figure quickly runs to Obi-Wan's position and kneels beside him.
"General Kenobi, are you badly injured?"
"Captain?" Obi-Wan replies, his brain and his vision finally working in tandem. Rex takes off his helmet setting it to his side as he helps Obi-Wan to his feet. Even with Rex carrying most of his weight Obi-Wan can not help grimacing from a pain that seems to encompass every part of him.
"Let's get you back to the ship," Rex says as he taps his comm. link. "I need a medical team to my position. I've found one of the generals."
"One of?" Obi-Wan repeats. "You don't have General Skywalker?"
"No, sir. We haven't been able to locate him. We were hoping he was with you."
"He was," Obi-Wan starts. "It doesn't make any sense. He must be nearby." Obi-Wan closes his eyes and concentrates. After a moment, Rex sees his eyes pop open. "There!" Obi-Wan says pointing to the edge of the cliff. Rex helps Obi-Wan move closer to the edge. Both begin to scan the ravine with their eyes. It is Obi-Wan who sees him first.
"Oh no," he whispers as he looks down upon the broken and bloody body of his former pupil. Rex is quick to respond.
"I need a medical evac! I've found General Skywalker and he needs that evac now!" he barks into his communicator. Obi-Wan is only dimly aware of Rex's call for help. He doesn't notice the team of troopers that gather around him or the ones descending into the ravine with jet packs and medical supplies. All of Obi-Wan's awareness is focused on one thing—the convergence in the Force known as Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan centers his mind on the point of light that is Anakin's life. To his horror he watches helplessly as that light pulls away from him like a star blinking out of existence. A cold terror creeps across Obi-Wan's mind and settles heavily in his stomach. Anakin Skywalker is dying... and it is his fault.