Summary: AU – After a disastrous end to the Korriban mission Obi-Wan Kenobi must pick himself up and move forward, or risk losing his padawan forever. Matters only get more complicated when a changing political climate presents the biggest obstacle.

Author's Note: Hello there! I am a hobbyist writer recently enamoured with everything Star Wars. I've always been a fan of the movies, but only recently started my systematic reading of Star Wars novels. Many more to go, but the writing bug bit me early and with the help of wookiepedia research I present to you Book 1 of the Resolve Trilogy. Book 1 is finished, and barring internet troubles I will update every weekend. If I am able to write Books 2 and 3 in a timely manner I will change to a twice weekly update schedule.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is my favorite Star Wars hero and as a result every story I write will probably be about him. I hope you enjoy the ride!

RESOLVE I

1.

"Stay centred in the Force," Obi-Wan spoke as much to himself and the other Jedi Knights as to their Padawans. They had finally cornered Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega, but the locale left much to be desired. There is nothing civilized about this place, Obi-Wan thought without a hint of humour.

The sky above them descended dull red upon them in the low light conditions of the atmosphere, despite it being near midday. It was as though the blood of countless had stained the sands and skies red with fear and hate.

The Force was greatly disturbed on the home world of the Sith.

Crimson sawtooth stone rose up on either side of the canyon they clambered through. Caves like gaping maws pocked the cliff sides. The winds swept through the canyon and caves with dark whispering voices. Obi-Wan felt the suffocating pull of the Dark side every time the wind buffeted him, whispering in his ear.

He did not let it distract him. He was a Jedi Knight and he served the Force. It moved through him and surrounded him. The darkness could never hope to smother it's luminance.

Obi-Wan stopped in front of a cave opening wide enough for a gundark to walk through. He held his lightsaber firmly in his right hand, angled downwards. He turned to face the Jedi behind him. Siri Tachi, Ry-Gaul, and Soara Antana all stood ready with stoic calm. Behind them their Padawans looked much the same, but Obi-Wan could sense Darra Thel-Tanis and Tru Veld's tightly wound tension. Next to them Ferus Olin was the picture of poise, centred and calm, but Anakin's eyes betrayed his excitement.

A deep vertical line appeared between Obi-Wan's brows.

"These are Sith burial caves, and the Dark side is strong here," Obi-Wan began. "Do not let it intimidate you. The Force is with us all and it will not abandon us if we do not lose heart."

"Let's get this over with," Siri Tachi nodded.

"Trust one another," Obi-Wan said to everyone, but his eyes rested on Anakin. With a last nod to the group Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and crossed the threshold.

Immediately the breath was knocked from his lungs as the Dark curled its way towards him. He kept walking and shielded himself with the radiance of the Force.

Obi-Wan felt them before he saw them.

On all sides of the Jedi mud-caked walls splintered away in pieces to reveal the corpses of Sith long-dead. Yet they were moving, their jaws hinging wide as they let loose war cries like that of tearing durasteel. Their flimsy bodies did not impede them as they lurched towards the Jedi with the intent to maim, to kill.

Obi-Wan cut through the first with a powerful downwards Ataru strike. He felt the darkness slam against and rebound off his shields, already moving towards the next reanimated corpse.

Sith magic was vile.

The Jedi advanced through the cave in formation. Obi-Wan led the way deeper, striking down foes one by one. He felt the Force build around him and his allies, bolstering them.

A crack.

The Force said danger, and so Obi-Wan leaped forward with a hairs breadth to spare as the tunnel roof collapsed behind him with an ear-splitting rumble and a shower of molten rock.

A torrent of dust fell and swirled around him. Obi-Wan coughed into his sleeve and held his lightsaber near the newly created obstruction.

It was packed tight.

"Blast it," Obi-Wan muttered as he palmed the stone and gravel. Motion triggered charges, Obi-Wan speculated.

A scuffle to his left and Obi-Wan spun and sliced. Another Sith-spawned corpse joined the others at his feet. Bones and dried sinew.

A centring breath.

Listening.

"Obi-Wan!" The muffled sound of Siri's voice.

"Quick, we don't know how long that will hold them." Voices up ahead. Omega.

Obi-Wan could not raise his own voice to reassure the other Jedi without alarming their quarry. He sent a wave of comfort through the Force, through them, and he felt their rising tension still.

He had to keep moving. He could not let Jenna Zan Arbor and Granta Omega escape again.

Natural pillar formations loomed around the corner. The rock had an odd sheen, like dull crystal. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and quieted his steps as he moved closer. At the end of the rough corridor he saw two figures huddled over a tarp. A glint of metal in the light filtering in beyond Omega and Arbor, and his Force-born reflexes saved him from the blaster bolts that pelted his way.

The sapphire shine of his lightsaber illuminated the area as he ignited the weapon once more to defend himself. Obi-Wan deflected the blaster bolts back at the droids firing them. More motion sensors, he guessed.

He caught Omega's eye just as the man lifted the tarp to reveal a double-barrelled plasma canon.

"You die today, Kenobi!" Omega's gleeful insanity bounced off the walls.

"I don't think so," Obi-Wan said as he struck down the last seeker droid. He started advancing but stopped as Omega fired the canon. He held his lightsaber in a firm two-handed grip and deflected the first set of plasma bolts. The force behind the blasts sent a shockwave up his arms and into his shoulders and neck, but he stood his ground.

His opponent roared with frustration at the apparent ease with which the Jedi deflected the massive bolts.

Obi-Wan knew that if those bolts hit him he'd be ripped apart. He had two choices before him; play the patient game and keep Omega enraged and distracted until the weapon overheated—as it inevitably would with ceaseless fire—or he could take his chances and charge down the narrow tunnel and engage the man in close combat. But that was risky in such an enclosed space. And that was a very large gun Omega was operating.

"We need to get out of here, Granta!" Arbor yelled as Obi-Wan deflected a set of bolts in her direction. She ducked into a connecting tunnel to get out of the line of fire. "Don't think I won't leave without you!"

"Oh go on then, Jenna," Omega yelled. "I have unfinished business with Kenobi!"

"Fool!" Arbor yelled, and she sounded further away than she did moments before.

Blast! I can't let her get away.

Another deflection nearly knocked the lightsaber out of his hands. Obi-Wan knew he had to be patient. He ducked behind a thick stone pillar for a moment's respite. Only two seconds. The stone shattered near him and he stepped into the open again.

"You pick the most uncivilised weapons and then you can't even use them properly," Obi-Wan said, his voice purposefully glib and condescending.

"All I need is one good shot, Kenobi," Omega yelled. "And then you'll beg me to put you out of your misery!"

"Well then you better keep firing," Obi-Wan said as he knocked away another blast, sweat leaping off his brow as the tremor shook through him. "You haven't come close yet."

On the next volley Obi-Wan carefully aligned his blade for a deflection straight at Omega. It struck the wall above the man's head and Obi-Wan used the momentary lapse in firing to move closer. He ducked behind another thick pillar.

"I bet I could hit you before you hit me," Obi-Wan said as he opened himself up to attack again.

The bolts kept coming and Obi-Wan could feel Omega's hatred in every bolt he deflected. He stayed centred in the Force and watched. The barrels glowed red-hot, and Obi-Wan saw it before it happened. The canon overheated, shorted out and exploded. Omega went flying back and crashed into the tunnel wall in a smoking heap.

Obi-Wan sucked in a few deep breaths before he walked closer to survey the extent of the damage done to the man. Arbor was a lost cause at that point and Obi-Wan knew he would have to come to terms with it.

The distorted remains of the canon stood out starkly from the swirling dust cloud. Obi-Wan called upon the Force and moved the obstacle out of his path. In the same moment a terrible roar rose from the cloud as Omega launched himself at Obi-Wan, a gleaming vibroblade held extended in one hand. Reacting on instinct alone Obi-Wan cut a burning line through the man's torso.

Omega fell to the ground in a groaning heap. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and released a sharp breath. This was not how they needed this battle to end. Omega had information they needed.

As though sensing Obi-Wan's thoughts, Omega smirked, even as blood dribbled down from his mouth. A grotesque smile coated in red.

"I know who he is," Omega laughed, choked. "And you never will."

He died then, and Obi-Wan stared down at him with disgust. Disgusted with all the vile atrocities the man had committed, and disgusted that it had to end in his death before they could get any information out of him.

Granta Omega had known who the Sith Lord they were searching for was.

Obi-Wan spared the corpse a last dismayed glance before turning down the tunnel Arbor had fled through. Lit red hues played on the rough walls ahead, indicating an opening to the outside. Perhaps he could still catch her. But it was not to be as a moment later the filtered light gave way to darkness as a last set of explosions echoed off the walls, crumbling the opening ahead.

"Blast," Obi-Wan sighed into his sleeve as he guarded against the dust. He shook his head in frustration and turned on his heel to retrace his steps. He stepped over Omega's corpse and continued to the collapsed section that separated him from the other Jedi.

"Obi-Wan!" Siri's voice sounded much clearer now. He spotted a small hole in the fallen rocks.

"I'm fine," he said. "Is everyone all right on your end?"

"Darra has a blaster wound to the shoulder, but she'll live," Siri said. "The rest of us are uninjured."

Obi-Wan felt relief course through him.

"We need to shift this rock," Obi-Wan said. "Arbor blew up the way ahead and I'd rather not venture in deeper to look for another way out. No telling what Sith-spawned hell lays in wait."

"We're working on it," Siri said. "Ry-Gaul is concerned about a secondary collapse, so it's slow going. Did Arbor and Omega escape?"

Obi-Wan knelt down on the cold stone. His hands were still shaking from the earlier battle. It was as though the deflection shockwaves were still travelling up his arms.

"Arbor got away, Omega is dead."

"We needed him alive, Obi-Wan," Siri said, an almost untraceable note of chastisement in her voice. But Obi-Wan had known her a long time and knew well the little nuanced inflections of her voice.

"I know. Despite my history with the man I did not want to kill him," Obi-Wan released his annoyance. "He gave me little choice."

Rock shifted and smaller granules tumbled down.

"I didn't mean to imply. . ." Siri sighed. "I know you would never. . ."

"It doesn't matter now," Obi-Wan said, voice a gentle timbre. "It is as the Force willed it."

For a time the only sounds that could be heard was the quiet murmurings of Ry-Gaul and his padawan, Tru Veld, as they discussed the best way to make an opening without causing further collapse. The hole was large enough for Obi-Wan to see through to the other side. Siri stood further back, arms crossed as she glared at the obstacle. Behind her Obi-Wan could see Soara Antana tend to her padawan. Darra's brows were drawn together and her jaw clenched shut. She was in pain, to be certain, as Soara gently tended the blaster burn, but she took the pain with the stoic calm of a Jedi.

No sign of Anakin. Or Ferus, for that matter.

"Siri," Obi-Wan called through the small opening in the thick debris. "Where are our padawans?"

Siri uncrossed her arms and her expression smoothed as she walked closer once more. "I sent them to keep watch outside."

"Together?" Obi-Wan's tone held an undertone of humour, but he still doubted the wisdom of the decision. Ferus was an examplar padawan, and despite Anakin's obviously strong connection to the Force, he always behaved like a fool with something to prove around the older boy. I fear for him, Ferus had once said to Obi-Wan. Ferus' caution around and for Anakin was born of compassion, but Anakin read the boy's serenity as condescension. Things came too easily to Anakin. Obi-Wan knew this. It made the boy arrogant. And from arrogance self-assurance spawned. And when the self-assured are doubted they grow combative. Obi-Wan had witnessed it in sentients from all walks of life, and he witnessed it in Anakin. Yet despite his efforts to teach the boy humility the lessons simply wouldn't stick.

"They have to learn to cooperate at some point, Obi-Wan," Siri tucked a stray clump of hair behind her ear.

"They are capable," Was Obi-Wan's simple response. They were capable.

He doubts me and he thinks he's better than me!

Better? What is better, Anakin? Being a Jedi is not a competition. It doesn't matter who is more skilled in the Force or with a lightsaber, it's about compassion, selflessness, strengthening your allies' weaknesses, being able to form a cohesive team. Ego will lead you astray my young friend. You have nothing to prove. We are seekers of knowledge and wisdom and there is always more to learn, especially from our peers. We can never attain perfection, nor should we strive for it.

But master, you said to stay away from words like "never" and "always".

Do not deflect, Anakin. Be mindful of this lesson.

I'm sorry, master.

Obi-Wan shook his head. He'd had a long conversation with Anakin prior to the mission. The rivalry with Ferus needed to cease. At sixteen standard years Anakin still hadn't learned to let go of petty contest. For a slave boy it showed a strength not to be toyed with, but for a Jedi it showed a weakness to be exploited. Perhaps he'd consult Grand Master Yoda upon their return to Coruscant. Perhaps. . . Perhaps Yoda could help him where Obi-Wan could not.

"Master Kenobi," Tru Veld's face lingered across the opening. The Teevan boy's silver-hued skin stood stark against the dim background. "We've shifted as much rock on this side as we feel comfortable. Truth be told some stabiliser rods would be very convenient right about now. How does it look on your end?"

Obi-Wan stepped back a pace to study how the rock had fallen on his side. It didn't look promising. The ceiling looked ready to collapse into a flood of boulders if they weren't careful.

"I've had worse odds," Obi-Wan said, grinning at the boy. However it did not seem to put Tru at ease.

"Well as much as I wouldn't mind leaving Obi-Wan to fend for himself," Siri grinned. "The council would probably frown upon that. Let's solve this problem quickly."

"Right," Obi-Wan said. "Stand back. I think if I move this. . ."

Obi-Wan held out a hand and used the Force to shift a large boulder near the top. It came loose easily, small granules fell from the ceiling in it's wake.

He held his breath.

The opening stayed steady, large enough now for someone of Tru's size to scoot through, but not yet large enough for Obi-Wan's frame.

"Right," Obi-Wan said as he studied the rock that remained. Every stone looked like it would set in motion a domino effect. A conundrum indeed.

"Come, Tru," the quiet Ry-Gaul said. "We'll find something to use as stabi—"

"Master!"

Obi-Wan watched through his narrow view as Ferus came sprinting down the cave tunnel. He knew before the boy said anything that something was terribly amiss.

"There's a Sith with Arbor on the ridge!"

Siri's hand flew to her lightsaber even as she met Obi-Wan's eyes.

"Where is Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked. It took effort to keep his voice level.

"I tried to stop him, master," Ferus said, a waver in his voice betrayed his uncharacteristic panic. "But he wouldn't listen. He's gone after them!"

It took Obi-Wan less than a second to make up his mind.

"All of you out," he said, his pitch leaving no room for argument. "I'm going to move these rocks, and if it collapses on top of me I don't want to take any of you with me."

"Don't be rash," Ry-Gaul said.

"My padawan has left me no choice," Obi-Wan said stiffly. "Hurry, please."

Siri met his gaze steadily, sky against sea. A muscle springing in her cheek was the only indication that she did not like the situation. "Let's go," she said.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said to their backs. "Don't wait for me, go after him."

As soon as they were out of sight Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep, centring breath. He opened himself to the Force and felt it fill him, overflowing and bright. He felt its radiant strength raise his very being to a new pinnacle.

Now, it seemed to say.

Obi-Wan swept the opening wide, boulders knocking against each other while the roof trembled perilously. He kept them in place and the Force helped him. With purpose he ran through the opening, and once safely on the other side he released the burden, a rush of air escaping his lungs at the same time.

He did not pause to watch the domino effect behind him. The cracks in the ceiling spread and large chunks of roof embraced the power of gravity. With Force-aided speed Obi-Wan was outside the cave in seconds. The dim mid day light had not changed, and it took Obi-Wan a second to get his bearings.

The other Jedi were scaling the ridge ahead and to the right. Obi-Wan sprinted after them and used his cable launcher to clear the cliff in a single, controlled leap.

"There!" Ferus yelled and pointed to two running figures in the distance. One was clearly Arbor. The second gave Obi-Wan pause. Black-cloak, hood, and what appeared to be an unconscious Anakin slung over his shoulders.

"No," Obi-Wan said as he began his sprint anew. They were heading for a cruiser nestled beneath a natural overhang of rock. If they reached the ship Anakin would be lost to him. "No, no, no. No!"

He ran past Siri, Ry-Gaul and their padawans. He vaguely registered that Soara and Darra had stayed at the top of the cliff after scaling it, but paid them no more attention than that. He had to save Anakin from the Sith.

Obi-Wan ran faster than he ever had in his life.

Dust kicked up behind him as his Force-aided speed created a slipstream behind him.

But he'd started the race too late.

The figures ran up the ship's ramp, and it closed behind them.

Obi-Wan kept running.

He could hear the roar of the ship's engines and saw the ground stir as the ship raised up from its perch. Obi-Wan held out a desperate hand and willed the Force to latch onto and stop the ship from leaving.

A slight tilt in the wings, but Obi-Wan wasn't strong enough in the Force yet to keep such a large and heavy thing anchored. Especially not against thrusters designed to escape gravity itself.

The ship headed across Obi-Wan's path, towards the canyon on the right. He knew he had only one chance of saving Anakin. And so he changed his running line to intersect diagonally with the canyon as the ship flew across.

Obi-Wan jumped.

He aimed his cable launcher at the ship's hull and the shot rang true. The jerk that followed wrenched his joints painfully and he nearly lost his grip. The breath was knocked from his lungs, but he could not give up. He forced his fingers steady as he took a small tracker from a pouch on his utility belt.

With perfect aim and more than a little Force manipulation, he threw the tracker at the hull. It stuck firm.

The engines flared as the ship began to soar higher. Obi-Wan hadn't really thought about how to get safely back to the ground, but the decision was made for him as the heat from the engines snapped his cable.

He fell.

The unexpected lurch had thrown him into an uncontrolled tumble. But he was Jedi, and righting oneself in mid-air came natural to them. The landing would be harder. Much harder.

Below him the earth sloped into a dry valley. Obi-Wan found a millisecond to be thankful that he wasn't going to impact on flat earth. At least the slope would grant him some way to reduce his velocity safely. Well, as safe as it could possibly be when free-falling from obscene heights.

Obi-Wan was not consciously aware of the fact that he held his breath on the moment of impact. He'd wrapped the Force around himself like a cocoon and slowed his descent as much as he could, but he still hit the loose gravel like a graceless gundark. Pain lanced through his shins, knees, every part of him. He tucked his right shoulder in and rolled, the impact leaving a heavy sting on his ribs.

He skid down the slope as a flat rock leaps on still water when thrown just right. It probably made for an amusing spectacle, but the pain was nothing to scoff at. Another bounce and Obi-Wan was finally able to right himself and land on his feet, skidding a few more feet before he came to complete stop.

His knees buckled and he sank to the ground. A cough and Obi-Wan felt the blood on his lips before he tasted it. He gasped in a breath and turned his head to the sky, watching as the ship disappeared in the upper atmosphere.

Obi-Wan wasn't sure which was worse; the physical pain or the emotional ache.

"Anakin," he gasped through bloody teeth.

He hung his head. He could hear nothing but the blood rushing through his ears. Hands tentatively touched his back, gripped his shoulder. He ignored it. Shoved them away when they tried to help him stand.

Obi-Wan found his feet on his own and spat out blood a deeper red than that of Korriban's Sith-spawned sky.