The Crucible

Rating: T+
Summary: Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi gets a crash course in Murphy's Law and pays the price for it.
Disclaimer: All cannon characters are owned by the Great Flanneled One, and now Disney. All others are mine. I make no money off this.
Note: This is a sequel to The Guardians

Timeline: 41BBY

Speech: " "
Training Bond communications: /
Internal thoughts: italics

Chapter Four

Obi-Wan sat down on the cushions with an exhausted sigh. There were still some aftershocks, but he could feel them lessen in intensity. The whole thing for him was a lesson in the Living Force. He could feel the stress of the planet's crust. And then there was the panicked emotions coming from the natives. The felinoids in mass scrambled down to the forest floor, thinking that they would be safer there. For most of the day he had helped with the recovery effort, and now they were all eating dinner and resting. It had been a long, and exhausting day. Almost a quarter of the population of Savio had died as the buildings crumbled and then fell. Obi-Wan hated feeling how each life was snuffed out. Even their transport was lost. Which meant that he lost everything he brought. All he had left was what he was wearing.

He let out another sigh as he looked out the opening of the crudely, and hastily constructed building. Obi-Wan knew he was bored, and there wasn't much he could do about it.

Qui-Gon stepped inside and lowered himself to the ground. "How are you?"

Obi-Wan drug his eyes from the door to his Master and then back to the door again. "Mostly tired." Getting up, he went over to the entrance and looked out and then up to the tree canopy. From this vantage point, it didn't look like anything was wrong. Feeling a gentle push, Obi-Wan turned his attention back to Qui-Gon. The older Jedi was already beginning his evening meditations. Hoping it would make him feel better, Obi-Wan went back over to Qui-Gon and folded his legs while lowering himself down to the ground. There the two joined together and began delving into the maelstrom that the Force created. For all its chaotic imagery, it was calming at the same time.

Not knowing how long he was in the grips of the Force, Obi-Wan felt more than heard a rustling sound. Cracking one eye open, he looked around to see who it was. Bruck had come into the room and was looking through something, something that suspiciously looked like a traveling bag. When he found what he was looking for, he closed the bag and left the structure, leaving Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to finish their meditations.

"Is there something wrong, Padawan?"

Obi-Wan turned back to Qui-Gon. He shook his head. For a moment something felt off. "I don't think so, Master." He closed his eyes once again and began searching through his memories, trying to find out what it was that bothered him. Not coming up with anything solid, he shook himself out of it and opened both his eyes. The sun had set some time earlier and now the whole area was dark. Power was completely cut off, and the Savioans were fearful of building any type of fire for both light and safety. It felt as if they had been thrown back into a time where there was no electrical power for use.

Settling on the cushions Obi-Wan pulled one of the blankets over him for at least some protection and closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next day Obi-Wan had that strange feeling again. It almost felt like worry, but it was different from the Savioans. Shaking it off again, he went in search for Bruck. When he couldn't find him, he turned around all the way and reached out for Qui-Gon. Even though they had a training bond, he couldn't pinpoint exactly where the Master Jedi was at. He had to physically search for him.

Not knowing where to find them, Obi-Wan eventually went towards the make-shift shelter where some of the highest ranked members of the rescue efforts was located. He nodded to himself as he stepped inside. Qui-Gon was there and speaking to several officials. Even though he didn't see Obi-Wan he indicated with his hand that he wanted him to come closer. As soon as the older Jedi was finished he turned and looked at him. "Good, you're here."

Obi-Wan forced himself not to take a step back as he furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about, Master?"

Qui-Gon looked back to the official for a long moment before turning back to Obi-Wan. He indicated a far corner of the room, and several paces away from prying ears. "Padawan," he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, "There have been several witnesses that have come forward stating they saw Padawan Chun push Boe Labon off the platform, and that you never responded."

This was not what he was expecting. Obi-Wan's eyes opened wide and he shook his head. "But, I tried to catch him, he—"

The Master Jedi raised his hand for silence. "Padawan, this is something that cannot be taken lightly. There are witnesses, and I am duty bound to investigate what happened. You can give your statement as soon as you're ready."

Hearing movement and Force signatures from behind them, both Jedi turned to see Master Tualin had arrived with Bruck, who was trailing behind at a respectful distance. With a nod from Qui-Gon, the Twi'Lek brought the white-hair padawan near where Obi-Wan stood. "Padawans, you will remain here until we finish with the investigation," he stated.

Obi-Wan lowered his head in resignation. He did try and catch the aide, but everything happened so fast that he was too far down before he could catch him. Plus, he just wasn't strong enough.

"You are not being detained, Padawan," Qui-Gon placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.

/That doesn't help much/

The Jedi Master's eyes narrowed before he turned his attention back to Tualin. The two Masters then moved over to a corner and began to speak quietly, while leaving both Obi-Wan and Bruck by themselves. When it looked as if they had come to some sort of consensus, the Twi'Lek came back over. "Padawan Chun, you need to stay here. Whatever Master Qui-Gon tells you to do, you do it."

"Yes, Master," Bruck nodded, actually sounding contrite for once.

"I need to contact the High Council and apprise them of the situation." Tualin left the three of them alone.

Looking around, Obi-Wan paused then shook his head. It felt as if everything was going from bad to worse. /I'm not guilty./

/Padawan, I never said you were./

"It was an accident," Bruck blurted out.

Both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon turned to look at the other Padawan.

"I didn't mean to push him."

For once Obi-Wan felt bad about Bruck. He looked to be in a worse position than he was. "Bruck, I believe that the Force will make sure that things will work out for the best."

"Whatever," Bruck muttered.


Because of the severity of the damage from the ground quakes, the Reconciliation Council dispatched a fleet of ships as soon as they were informed. Half way there, they received word that three more Jedi needed to travel to the stricken planet. It wasn't that unusual for Jedi to travel with the Council. Along with the Jedi healers that were normally on these trips, the three other members that joined them were of the elite Judiciary organization that would help in search and rescue operations on devastated worlds.

Once the fleet of support vessels slid into orbit around Rama, shuttles immediately started carrying both equipment, along with supplies for the stricken inhabitants. The quake, it turned out, was bigger than first thought. It ended up devastating a large portion of the world. In the first shuttle, Jedi Master Mace Windu stepped down the ramp. For a moment he looked around, taking in what needed to be done. It was obvious how much work the planet needed in the months and years ahead of them. The official reason why he was there, though was because of Master Tualin's report. That would have to wait. Right now, everyone needed to help with the search and rescue operation.

"It's worse than I thought," the other Master Jedi, Adi Gallia said from behind him. Windu turned to her and nodded. Sunlight glinted off her Tholoth headdress as she shook her head. "I can feel the suffering these people have dealt with," she muttered as she looked up and into the tree canopy far above. Even the trees felt as if they were suffering from the destruction.

"Yes." Windu didn't bother turning around. The two Councilors waited there until they were joined by another member of the High Council. When Eeth Koth appeared they all looked at each other for a few moments. They were the ones that were there on behalf of the Council. The accusation that was leveled on the Padawans was a serious charge. And any kind of accusation was taken seriously, especially if Jedi were involved. If the upcoming events led up to a trial, Windu needed to be here in person.

Eventually a young human female wearing similar clothing and with blonde hair, came down the ramp and stood next to Adi.

"Come Padawan Tachi," Adi glanced down and to the side. "There are people that need our help."

"Yes, Master," the human girl answered with a soft voice and dutifully followed the Tholothian into the growing refugee camp.

The two remaining Masters looked at each other for a few minutes and then split up, going to help as many Savoians as possible with what resources they had on hand.

When they could do no more, except get in the way of the Jedi healers that were assigned to the Reconciliation Council, Windu went in search of Masters Jinn and Tualin. Eventually he found them in another area, helping clean out the debris in one of the heavily damaged buildings. Neither Padawan Chun or Kenobi were present which wasn't all that surprising. If Rama demanded a trial, if it ever came to that, Mace would be the one to give the final agreements as to what the punishment, if any, would be.

Everyone paused for a few minutes to catch their breath. Moving heavy objects through the Force was difficult work. Every time something was moved, they had to make sure that it was safe to proceed. Most of the buildings were still unstable, and if an aftershock happened the much weakened platforms would collapse down to the forest floor. "Masters Gallia and Koth are here."

Qui-Go only nodded as he sighed, and then rubbed his face. "Good." He looked physically exhausted from both the physical and mental exertion from the past several hours.

"Where are the two Padawans," The councilor asked.

"They are both in Savio's makeshift Security Office." Qui-Gon gave him a grim look. His tone and attitude were completely understandable in light of the earlier events and the witnesses' reports.

Nodding, Mace left Qui-Gon to continue working in his area and he headed off in the direction he knew Adi had gone. He found both Adi and her Padawan standing on a solid looking platform in the middle of a serious conversation. He slid his arms into his opposing sleeves and waited until they came to a stopping point. Eventually Tachi nodded and headed off in another direction while Adi turned to look at him. "Yes, Master Windu?"

"Padawans Chun and Kenobi are in the city's security office."

"So, they are being held," she frowned as she moved towards the higher ranked Jedi.

"Yes. We need to find out quickly if the government wants a trial, or not."

Adi shook her head. "If that happens it will be a media frenzy, and there would be nothing we could do about it." Trials were serious business, and both Padawans needed fair representation. The media though, didn't care. They saw themselves as judge, jury, and executioner, and parts of the public easily took it all in.

TBC….