Turns of Fate
Chapter 4
Once the ships were in hyperspace, the astromech droid, who was actually perched in a separate chamber from the two Jedi, was ordered to monitor their ship's engines. Obi-Wan reclined back in his pilot chair and let out a breath. He wanted to speak, but it was Anakin who broke the silence first.
" What will become of that boy? Will he be sent back to Tatooine?"
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. " You are worried about him."
" He is incredibly obstinate."
" Much like someone I know."
The two Jedi shared a chuckle.
" I must confess, Master," Anakin paused for a moment, " I feel a kind of connection to him. Perhaps it is because we both hail from Tatooine, but I can't really explain."
" Is it possible he is a distant relative?" Obi-Wan asked gently. " Such cases are not uncommon." He added, when Anakin looked at him questioningly. " In the past, occasionally we have first cousins both entering the Order. Maybe you should ask for his surname."
" What happens when two relatives both enter the Order?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan shrugged. " Nothing, really. They are treated as individual Jedi. We are all brothers and sisters in the Temple, so it is of little consequence."
Anakin felt a wave of unease. He knew his master sensed this, for Obi-Wan's eyes were very intent. He did not say anything, and after a while, his master decided to drop that particular subject.
" We need to learn who trained him, first." Said Obi-Wan. " Whoever his master was, did not use traditional methods. He does not appear to have learned the basic principles of a Jedi."
" Obedience, orderliness, control?"
" It is hard to say." Said Obi-Wan. " One could say he is out of control, but at the same time he appears to be very in control of himself."
" You mean he could have pulled of worse stunts?"
" It is not just that." Obi-Wan remarked. " His control of the Force was…exceptional, to say the least. None of us ever felt him use it, and it is fair to say that he might have connected with the Force more than we had counted."
Anakin pondered on this, remembering Luke's remarks about his nightmares and…Oh no. Luke had mentioned the name of the Sith Lord. Was it the right name? Oh, he wished he had not been so distracted by his own fears and remembered to report it to the Council! If Luke knew who the Sith Lord was, so many of their problems could be solved!
" What is it, Anakin?" Obi-Wan abruptly cut into his thoughts.
" It's Luke." Anakin told him. " He mentioned the Sith Lord. He asked me if we were looking for him yet…the phrasing itself was very strange. And I think he even mentioned the Sith's name…Darth…Sidious?"
Obi-Wan froze. " Did you tell anyone?"
" No, at the time I was distracted by all the other antics he was pulling." That was the truth, at least part of it.
" Darth Sidious was not any known Sith name in the past." Obi-Wan stared at him. " This boy might have had premonitions. Perhaps that is why the Force brought him to us. We should inform the others of this development, have them question the boy and see if he could provide any answers. Once we are out of hyperspace, I will relate the matter to the Council."
The two Jedi settled into silence. Anakin thought back to his wife, and the baby within her. Perhaps Luke was not here to threaten them, he considered. Maybe Luke was here to help. After all, the child was not evil. He was a bit erratic, strange, adventurous and playful, but not wicked. Perhaps the Force did bring him here to help the Jedi uncover the Sith. And Luke had mentioned some other things. I've always wanted to get to know you. Chosen One. The Force gave you a destiny too big for you. He frowned at these words. Are you having nightmares yet?
" Whatever happens," Obi-Wan suddenly spoke, " I doubt the Order would send Luke back to Tatooine, not unless he really wants to go."
" Maybe he's here to be trained…though he is a bit old."
" He is already trained, at least partially, from what I can tell." Said Obi-Wan. " It really depends on how he was trained."
" What if this Ben is a Sith?"
" That is highly doubtful. Besides the lack of darkness in that child, there is no Sith I could think of who would allow their apprentice to call them 'Ben'."
Anakin grinned. " Darth Ben." He chuckled. " User of the Dark Side! Master of all Siths! Can you imagine?"
Obi-Wan was laughing. " After names like Darth Maul?"
" We can have a new generation of Siths named Darth Joe, Darth Bill, Darth Bob," The idea was so absurd that the two Jedi chuckled for a long time, especially when Anakin's names became more colorful and somewhat offensive. The talk eventually left the subject of Luke's potential teachers and on to Jedi jokes. Despite Anakin's earlier chastisement of Luke for not showing enough respect, the jokes were mostly composed of making fun of Jedi Masters.
" So Master Yoda and Master Windu walk into a cantina and buy a five credit drink. Master Yoda only had four credits, so he turns to Master Windu and asks, ' Have a credit, do you? A little short I am.'"
" Haha! Oh Force, do you think Master Yoda knows there are so many jokes about his height?"
" He has to have had heard at least some of them back when he was a padawan." Obi-Wan managed through his mirth. " Oh ho, here's another one. This was actually something I heard from a padawan. It's what Yoda would never say; the first one, I think, is ' What expect you from someone eight hundred years old? English perfect?'"
Anakin exploded into laughter. " First meeting between Master Yoda and a Sith. ' Size matters not'."
" He then proceeds to beat the living daylights out of his opponent."
" You know what I want to see at some point? Master Yoda in a duel."
" Size matters not indeed."
" Have you seen him with a lightsaber before?"
" He stopped before I became padawan, I think. Back then, people used to run away whenever Master Yoda went on a mission, and then we had to chase them. So the Jedi Masters quickly learned that we can send other Jedi on missions, just not Master Yoda."
" Oh, but what a sight that would have been."
" Indeed."
The light conversation continued for a while. By the time they reached Utapau, both Jedi were in relatively good spirits, despite the gravity of their task. They emerged into normal space and instantly went in orbit around the planet. Obi-Wan sent a message to the Jedi Council regarding the identity of the Sith.
" Certain, are you, that the boy knows this information?" Yoda inquired.
" No." Anakin replied. " But he did drop enough hints to warrant suspicion, Master Yoda. I think it would not hurt to question him further."
" Hm. Question the boy, we will." Yoda replied. " In the meantime, focus on General Grievous, you must. Underestimate him, do not. May the Force be with you."
" May the Force be with you." Obi-Wan and Anakin chorused. The connection was cut off.
" Their turn to deal with the boy." Anakin said to Obi-Wan. " I have a feeling he is about as enigmatic as Master Yoda is on his worst days."
Obi-Wan laughed.
A bit of static interrupted the two. " ...This is command center from Pau City. Please state your purpose."
" This is General Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Galactic Republic. We come on a mission from the Jedi Council. We carry no hostile intentions."
" General, please maintain your orbit at this time. We will notify you when you may land."
Anakin sighed. " Air traffic control. If Grievous is here, was it wise to reveal we are Jedi?"
" I have a plan." Obi-Wan glanced up where he knew the astromech droid would be. " The astromech will take the shuttle and leave the planet's orbit. This will make them believe we have left after a short visit, during which we can see if the Pau'ans are as neutral as they have been in the past."
After a while, they were allowed to land. The landscape of large sinkholes loomed before them. When they exited the ship, they were greeted by the Pau'an Port Administrator, Tion Medon.
Throughout the entire discourse between Obi-Wan and Medon, Anakin found himself getting distracted by thoughts of Luke. He had a distinct feeling that something was not going according to plan. Maybe the Council was having trouble pulling information out of the boy?
Actually, based on what he knew of Luke, the Council might actually be having trouble finding him. That seemed to be more his style. Obi-Wan thanked Tion Medon, and turned around to Anakin.
" We have his location." Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin. " I will be sending the astromech droid back to the Republican ships as decoy. You and I will go there directly."
" Where? Is it far?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan gestured to the giant mounts that the Pau'ans have prepared for the two of them.
" Hm!" Anakin remarked. " Guess it doesn't matter."
They hid in the shadows as Artoo took the fighter away from the port, before mounting the giant lizards and riding to the tenth level, where Tion Medon claimed General Grievous was. They went through the dark and winding tunnels, and arrived as General Grievous briefed his Council. The General was a dark-looking figure, his voice raspy and deep like a baritone with respiratory problems.
" Your ship is waiting." General Grievous declared, and they saw, from above, the various members leave their seats and head towards the ship. Obi-Wan contemplated the droids below as Anakin shushed their mounts. He was a bit startled when Obi-Wan suddenly shrugged off his cloak and jumped down.
" Hello there!" Obi-Wan said in a jovial tone. Anakin blinked. He was always a bit unprepared when his teacher would go for the aggressive tactic.
" General Kenobi!" Grievous laughed menacingly, as the droids surrounded the Jedi. " Kill him!"
As the droids advanced, Obi-Wan used the Force to drop a large metal weight on top of the droids. They twitched under the weight as they short-circuited, emitting robotic equivalents of groans. As the other droids advanced, Grievous inexplicably changed his mind. " Back away!" He ordered. " I will deal with this Jedi slime myself!"
Anakin also shrugged off his cloak, prepared to jump down to help his master.
" No no," Luke panted, " Let's see how he does."
Anakin stared at Luke, dumbstruck. The boy beside him raised a finger signaling him to wait, and doubled over to catch his breath.
" Luke! What the Force are you doing here? How did you even get here?!"
" Running," Luke panted, " Those lizards sure move fast!"
For a moment where reason abandoned him completely, Anakin believed that Luke ran here from Coruscant.
Reaching out in a type of terrified anger—anger over the boy's presence here—he could be killed! Anakin grabbed Luke's arm and tugged him forcefully back. " You are to stay here." He said furiously to the child. " I am not kidding. If you step down there, I will kill you myself!"
" Ow!" Luke exclaimed. " Let go! You're hurting me!"
With an effort, Anakin let go, peering over the side. Obi-Wan was backing away as Grievous whipped out his lightsabers.
" Impressive colors." Luke remarked. " How come he doesn't use red lightsabers? Do only Sith use them?"
The wretched boy was nearing the edge again! Anakin roughly pulled him back.
" Listen you," Anakin warned him, " I don't care if you're from Tatooine. I don't care if you think you're as powerful as Master Yoda himself." Obi-Wan sliced off one of Grievous's appendages, and the battle momentarily paused as the two combatants readapted to the situation. Anakin, oblivious, went on, " You stay put, right here, and let me and Obi-Wan take care of Grievous. Whatever you do, don't move from this spot, unless for some reason the droids start coming up here, in which case you run. Do you know the phrase ' run like a bantha'? That is exactly what you will do. Do you understand me? Am I clear?"
Below, Obi-Wan sliced off another one of Grievous's hands. The general looked again at his missing appendage with a groan-like noise, before advancing on Obi-Wan again.
" You are ever so clear, like clear windows. Clear mirrors. Clear Tatooine skies. Clear like Padme's eyes!"
What the—
Before Anakin could react at all to the latest comment, Luke suddenly vanished. The Jedi blinked. The boy had inched toward the edge! The rascal had landed right into the middle of the battle between Obi-Wan and Grievous! Just then, he heard the sound of blaster shots. The stormtroopers had arrived.
" Army or not, you must realize," Grievous was saying as Luke crouched behind the droid, " You are doomed!"
" Uh huh," Luke quipped, causing the droid to spin around, waving his two remaining lightsabers menacingly, " After he cut off two of your hands when you started off with four. Yeah, he's totally in trouble."
Anakin jumped down next to Obi-Wan, who looked at his former padawan with an expression of pure shock.
Before Anakin could even begin to explain, Luke went on, " So, obviously you're not very well trained by Dooku to fight against an armed Jedi. What about an unarmed one?"
Luke! Anakin thought, something like despair seizing his heart. Are you trying to get yourself killed?!
Grievous was ever the vocal one. He laughed a low, rattling rumble. " Little Jedi," He hissed, " Your arrogance will be your end!"
He swung his lightsaber at Luke, who dodged nimbly. The brat was backing away, but he seemed relaxed and jovial.
" Say, you should go see about your voice. It sounds like you have throat cancer. Maybe you should think about cutting down on the smoking!" He ducked again as the general swiped at him again. " Hey didn't Count Dooku teach you how to take advantage of your rotating joints? No? You should really practice your form you know. Hunchback isn't good form. Straighten up!"
Anakin cursed. " Luke, quit fooling around! Get out of the way!" His lightsaber was activated in his hand, but he was too nervous to approach. Not with the child around, ruining things! Is the boy suicidal?!
" Oh fine!" Luke rolled his eyes. " You always have to cut down on the fun! It hasn't even been a minute yet!"
He suddenly reached out with both hands and twisted both wrists outwards, then jerked his elbows back and flung both fists out on each side, before swiping them together and clapping with open palms. One of Grievous's lightsabers instantly snuffed out. As the general glanced at his weapon in confusion, Luke repeated the motions, effectively snuffing the other one out. The general appeared to try to flick his lightsaber back on, but somehow, Luke had damaged both. The bright beams refused to activate.
What in the galaxy?! Anakin stared in wide-eyed disbelief.
Luke was not finished yet, however. He clenched his fists and pulled outwards, and the metal doors to Grievous's core creaked open. Luke then planted his legs one in front of the other, and swung his arm up and around behind him, followed by his other arm as he spun his torso to the side. He pushed forward, with his wrist down and out, with one hand and then the next. Grievous was thrown back by an invisible force, and from his torso, the core caught on fire. Luke repeated the motion again, and Grievous exploded. The droid clattered to the ground, bits of static flickering over the now motionless form.
The army of stormtroopers were quickly subduing the battle droids. Luke brushed off his palms in a very satisfied gesture. He looked pleased with himself, and thoroughly underwhelmed by the magnitude of what he had just done. He did not even look like he had a headache, from all that Force-manipulation he did.
" Say," He exclaimed to the two dumbfounded Jedi, " I'm starving. Does Utapau have good food?"
