Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or elements of the universe found in the story below. They are all property of George Lucas, Disney, et al.
Author's Note: This will be my first serial posting, if you will, in that it will be released by chapters instead of the entire work at once. I personally hate it when authors abandon their stories and leave their audience feeling incomplete after bringing them so far along in a character's journey. Therefore, I make this promise to you, my audience... I will never leave a story incomplete. I will attempt to make postings regularly, say once a week, but know that a post is always coming until the story is concluded. That said... hope you enjoy.
Please R&R!
"Inheritance"
"I never thought I'd be here again."
"You came here with Master Qui-Gon?"
"Yes, when I was thirteen. We came to finally bring Master Qui-Gon's rogue padawan, Xanatos, to justice," Obi-Wan says with a heavy sigh. "That seems like a lifetime ago."
Obi-Wan and Anakin exit their small shuttle and walk casually down the ramp, surveying their surroundings. They had landed in the main spaceport in the capital city of Thani on Telos IV. Two days ago, Obi-Wan had a received a message from a minor official on Telos IV. Apparently while remodeling a wing of the palace the workers had come across something they believed the Jedi would find of interest. The Council had allowed Obi-Wan to go investigate and Anakin, of course, had insisted on accompanying him.
"You think this has something to do with Xanatos?" Anakin asks as the two wait in the large hanger for their contact to arrive. Obi-Wan watches as a trio of maintenance workers refuel a nearby transport, his hand slowly rubbing his beard.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think it is a coincidence."
"It is the planet where he was born."
"And where he died," Obi-Wan adds his voice tinged with regret and something else... something Anakin cannot quite name. Anakin knows that Xanatos took his own life rather than allow himself to be captured by his former master, Qui-Gon Jin. Anakin also knows that he was connected to one of Obi-Wan's most painful regrets—the death of his age mate Bruck Chun. Bruck was Xanatos's dark apprentice, but he fell to his death during a battle at the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan had tried to save him, but in the end he was unable to do anything. It was not something Obi-Wan liked to talk about and Anakin knew better than to press for details, but at that moment he wished he knew more about Obi-Wan's history with Xanatos. Before Anakin can ask anything further he sees a group of Telosians approach them. The lead one is dressed in long flowing robes trimmed with intricate designs. His white hair is slicked back against his head and his stride carries a graceful yet business-like efficiency.
"That is the official that contacted the Temple," Obi-Wan whispers. "Tayn Arah."
"And that must be whatever they found," Anakin replies as he gives a nod toward the two fingers trailing behind the Arah. Between them they carry a fairly large, square case.
"Ah, Master Jedi. It is good of you to come," Arah smiles as he steps before the Jedi and bows deeply. Obi-Wan and Anakin politely return his bow.
"It is our pleasure," Obi-Wan starts. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi and this is Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi Order is pleased to answer your call, but your message was awfully mysterious. Curiosity alone would have likely guaranteed our arrival." Obi-Wan's humor appears to have been lost on the Telosian who frowns.
"Yes," he says his gaze briefly drifting to the floor. "I apologize for that, but... given... certain events... I felt discretion was appropriate."
"Well, we're here now. What did you find?" Anakin asks roughly. Obi-Wan throws a subtle glare at him, a silent chide of Anakin's impatience. Anakin pretends not to notice. Arah snaps his fingers and his two servants carefully place the case they had been carrying before the Jedi. The two Jedi study the case in silence. After several moments, Obi-Wan kneels down and examines the case more closely. Though he never touches it, he subjects the dark box to intense scrutiny. Finally, he looks up at Arah.
"What is it?"
"We do not know," Arah answers as he shakes his head. "But with it we found this," he says as he places a small holo-recorder on top of the box. He activates it and immediately a small, blue hologram of a dark-haired young man appears. On his cheek he bears a scar, on his lips he wears a sinister smile. Anakin notices a tiny shudder pass through Obi-Wan's kneeling figure.
"Hello, Master. It's always such as pleasure to see you again," the holo-message begins. Even though it is pre-recorded, Xanatos delivers his message as if it were live. "I hope you have been thinking of me because I know I have been thinking of you... In fact, I wish to thank you! Because of you I have found clarity and purpose and I wish to thank you for these gifts you have bestowed on me by offering you a gift of my own. Please accept my humble offering, Master Qui-Gon. It is from my heart to yours," Xanatos says. Obi-Wan cannot help but think how sincere the young man looks, but he also knows how deceptively charming Xanatos could be and how dangerous that had made him. "It is not much, but it is everything you deserve," he ends with a toothy grin that makes Anakin's skin crawl. The recording completes and the image vanishes. Obi-Wan is silent for a few moments as he rises to feet.
"Yes, you were right to bring this to our attention," he says still staring at the space where the image of Xanatos had been. He looks at Arah and nods. "We will be taking this back with us immediately."
"Yes, yes of course, Master Jedi," Arah nods energetically. Obi-Wan smiles and bows before the Telosian.
"Thank you for your help," he says as a dismissal. The Telosian official understands that their business is concluded and politely nods before he and his servants make a hasty departure. Anakin crosses his arms over his chest.
"Is it just me or did they seem to be in an awful hurry to get rid of this thing?"
"Xanatos and his father did a lot of damage to this world. I'm sure discovering this reminder would be disconcerting to the Telosians," Obi-Wan answers, his focus back on the dark case. "Well, I suppose we should get this onto the ship. We have a schedule to keep."
Anakin opens his mouth to say something, but the sight of one of the Telosian maintenance workers under the shuttle's starboard wing catches his attention.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he asks. The worker jumps at the suddenness of the Jedi's yell. He is small framed and meek looking. His orange jumpsuit hangs loosely around his body. It seems a size or two too large. His long brown hair is tied behind his neck and his eyes are wide and staring as Anakin slowly makes his way to him.
"I was just cch...checking to see if you needed refueling... Mmm... Master Jedi," the worker stutters. "Please, I meant no disrespect..."
Obi-Wan subtly grabs Anakin's arm as he moves past him and stops the Jedi's advance.
"Thank you, but we have what we need," Obi-Wan smiles at the worker. Happy to have not offended the Jedi and to not be cut into tiny bits by their laser swords, the worker visibly relaxes. He nods at Obi-Wan and runs quickly away from the pair of peacemakers before they change their mind.
"What was that for?" Anakin snaps once the worker was out of sight. Obi-Wan releases Anakin's arm.
"Couldn't you sense his fear? He was terrified of us."
"All the more reason to find out what he was doing," Anakin replies in huff. Obi-Wan simply sighs as Anakin walks under the wing to inspect for any damage. After several minutes of checking, he walks back to Obi-Wan.
"Well?"
"It appears to be fine," Anakin grumbles. Obi-Wan knows better than to push the matter. Instead, he simply nods and turns back to the box. Wordlessly, both Jedi move to either side of the case and together they carry it into their craft leaving it in the small compartment directly behind the cockpit. Once inside, Obi-Wan secures the ramp as Anakin prepares to depart. Within minutes the shuttle is leaving the atmosphere and Telos IV is becoming an increasing smaller orb behind them.
"We should be right on time to rendezvous with Master Windu on the Resolute," Obi-Wan says as he sits down in the co-pilot's chair. Anakin is already inputting the coordinates into the navi computer. Soon, the ship lurches forward and the pair are sailing through hyperspace. With the system safely on autopilot, Anakin turns to his former master his eyebrows raised in expectation.
"Well?"
"Well, what, Anakin?"
"Aren't you going to open it?" Anakin asks. Obi-Wan turns to him, a look of disbelief playing across his expression.
"I most certainly am not!"
"Why not?"
"Anakin," Obi-Wan begins. He can feel the headache that usually comes when he has to explain the painfully obvious to Anakin beginning to form behind his eyes. "We have no idea what could be in there. It's not safe to simply open it and take a peek."
"Well," Anakin started, "we could take a peek before we open it. We can use the ship's scanners to see if it is anything dangerous."
"Of course it's something dangerous. It's from Xanatos. Besides," Obi-Wan continues, "the cruiser has better scanning equipment."
"And it has a ship full of clones that we could be endangering," Anakin counters. "If you think about it, it's actually safer if we open it before we reach the cruiser."
Obi-Wan turns away from his former padawan and closes his eyes. He takes in several deep breaths as he tries to think through the situation calmly, rationally. Obi-Wan knows he is right. The wisest course of action is to wait until they are aboard the Resolute and to use its superior resources to thoroughly check the box before attempting to open it. And yet, Anakin did have a point. If the box is truly dangerous, as Obi-Wan firmly believes it to be, opening it on a ship full of people seemed equally irresponsible.
Obi-Wan debates these points in his head for a moment, but in the end it is his own curiosity that wins out.
"Alright," he says. "Use the ship to scan the box. We will open it here." Before Obi-Wan can finish his statement, Anakin is on the move. Obi-Wan jumps up and quickly follows behind him.
"Anakin, wait!" he yells just as Anakin lifts the box and places it on the lowest of the two bunks on the port side of the shuttle. Obi-Wan steps behind him and places a hand on his shoulder. The message is clear though Obi-Wan says nothing. Anakin slows down. He steps over to a wall mounted panel and taps in a few commands. There is a slight buzzing throughout the tiny cabin as thin green beams of light crisscross and dance over, around and through the black casing. Several seconds pass before the buzzing and the verdant light show cease. Anakin looks at the scan results. His brow creases and his mouth tightens shut making a hard, thin line with his lips.
"What? What is it? What did you see?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Obi-Wan repeats. "You mean the scanners can't penetrate the casing?"
"No," Anakin says turning to his friend. "There is nothing but a box inside the case and the box is empty," he answers as his gaze drifts down to the case. Obi-Wan wraps an arm around his torso, the other absently strokes his bearded chin.
"Perhaps we can discover what the scanners could not," he muses. "I'm going to open the outer casing then we will use the Force to see what is inside the box itself." Obi-Wan steps closer to the case. He lightly runs his fingers over the smooth dark casing. Soon he finds what he is searching for as his fingers locate a small recessed button. He pushes the button and two panels on the top of the case recede with a click exposing the smaller box within. Obi-Wan carefully reaches inside and lifts the smaller box out and places it beside its casing.
"Do you feel it?" he whispers. Anakin's expression remains grim.
"Yes. There is a strong dark side presence surrounding this box," he answers. Both Jedi become acutely aware of the taint permeating the box the moment Obi-Wan frees it from its outer housing. The sensation is somehow both subtle and intense as it slithers up the Jedi's spines and attempts to curl around their intestines with icy, thin tendrils. It moves through them in a slow and nauseating crawl... probing, delving into the depths of them searching for weakness. To say it was an unpleasant feeling is the most galactic of understatements. Obi-Wan's organs feel like they are slowly being encased in ice, but he never takes his eyes off of the box. It is smooth on all sides save one—on the top of the box there is a slightly raised section. It is a familiar symbol.
"A broken circle..." Obi-Wan murmurs as an unwanted memory forces its way to the surface. ...You will never have the satisfaction of killing me, Qui-Gon Jinn... And I will never submit to anyone's laws. Your hate drove you, though you won't admit it. You destroyed me because you could not save me. I am your biggest failure. Live with that. And live with this...
"You know this symbol?" Anakin asks looking at his former master. The question promptly snaps Obi-Wan out of his reverie.
"Yes, it is the shape of his scar... It's Xanatos's symbol," he says as he glances briefly at Anakin before his gaze returns to the box.
Obi-Wan takes a deep breath and as he exhales he consciously releases his feelings of dread and fear into the Force. His emotions calmed and his mind quieted, he touches the symbol on the top of the box. Soundlessly, the panel slides away. Obi-Wan leans forward and peers into the box. What he finds is only darkness...