Chapter 7.
Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.James Thurber
Thud!
The scrape of durasteel against durasteel was loud, annoying, and a sign of a desperate or highly skilled pilot. At these speeds, ramming a ship was almost a guarantee that both ships would wipe out. A crash was preferable to a smash which was why Obi-Wan was figuring on crash number two as an inevitability.
Of course, having just fueled up here on Orondia – of course they'd been sold out on Nal Hutta – there was quite the possibility of going up in flames as well as smashing into tiny pieces. Crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion- he'd said that years ago on Naboo and it seemed to fit this situation just as well now as then.
Maybe better.
The ship slammed into them once more and then passed overhead, a red-striped ship. "Jedi," Bane spat as the ship dove down, trying to cut them off or force them to spin out of control from his engine wash. Anakin, Obi-Wan realized: not the Hutts, not thugs, but Anakin. Blast it! If he could have spared a hand he would have slapped the console in dismay. Hadn't Yoda or Mace told Anakin – they had promised. He swung the ship up and side-slipped, knowing full well that he was no match for Anakin, not in the cockpit.
Thwack!
Somehow, impossibly, Obi-Wan kept the ship aloft as Anakin slammed into them again and again, trying to force him down. He needed to gain altitude, get out of the planet's gravity well and escape into hyperspace – but Anakin was too smart to allow him maneuvering room. This is why I hate flying – everyone wants to knock me out of the sky.
And then, impossibly, he blinked as Anakin landed on the ship's hull. Oh, this is not good. For one thing that meant either Ahsoka or Artoo was flying Anakin's ship and neither were as skilled as Anakin; for another, that meant that a thoroughly upset Anakin was about to slash his way inside to confront them.
Just what Obi-Wan didn't want!
Mace Windu's eyes narrowed as Clone Captain Rex stolidly and unequivocally informed the Jedi master he could not say where General Skywalker was. "Can't, or won't?" Lesser men would have quailed before that glare.
Before Rex could answer, Chancellor Palpatine stepped out of his office and into holotransmitter range. "Anakin is on Nal Hutta. Protecting me is only postponing trouble, not solving it."
"With all due respect, Chancellor, the Jedi have a plan in place."
"So does Moralo Eval and he seems to be several steps ahead of you," Palpatine retorted. "For that reason I asked Anakin to take action. He is confident he can find the fugitives and stop this plot against me. I suggest you have more faith in young Skywalker." He turned to Rex about escorting him home as the hologram faded out.
Mace was about as furious as a Jedi would ever be. He turned to Yoda. "This is exactly what Obi-Wan didn't want to happen. If I warn him it may blow his cover, get him killed."
"Hmm, kill Hardeen, Skywalker may, or die trying. Overdue the truth is, warn them both we must," Yoda decided.
But it was already too late: Skywalker was not answering his com.
"I'll get him," Hardeen was half way out of his seat before Bane stopped him.
"No. It's my turn to kill a Jedi."
Why, why did Anakin always have his own agenda, this need to jump to action before all the facts were in! How many strategies were blown to smithereens because Anakin charged forward, how many quiet sorties became pitched battles – now Obi-Wan had to find a way to escape his clutches and keep Anakin alive.
It didn't matter if Yoda or Mace had been unable to clue Anakin in; it didn't matter if Anakin had taken off after Hardeen without giving them a chance to explain.
It mattered that Anakin was in danger, unraveling his cover was in danger, and that the Chancellor would still be in danger. Once more Obi-Wan had to fix whatever wouldn't have been broken if Anakin hadn't been in the middle trying to fix what wasn't broken!
Anxious moments went by as he focused half on flying, half on what was happening out of sight. It was almost a relief when first Bane, than Anakin dropped onto the forward hull before his eyes. The two men flailed for balance as Obi-Wan soared upwards and banked to the side. Anakin was capable of extraordinary things, but to go flying off a ship onto the rocky ground beneath was probably a stretch even for him.
And then it was out of his control; soaring over a rocky arch there was a solid thump as Ahsoka slammed into him, unable to react as quickly to the obstacle and her ship practically rode him piggyback until falling off to the side. Obi-Wan fought to keep the ship level as both ships spun out of control from the collision: fought to slow his speed and drop lower to the ground to give the two men a fighting chance to survive when inevitably they fell.
He fought to make a controlled crash rather than a smear across the rock, but, who was Obi-Wan kidding – it was going to be a crash. To argue otherwise was only semantics. He was crashing a ship.
For the second blasted time that day.
When everything stopped spinning except a few stars in his own personal universe – his skull – Obi-Wan remembered his last sight was of Anakin and Bane being thrown off and falling, falling to the ground; rolling, twisting, tumbling.
"Anakin!" he breathed, and let his fear and worry carry him to the ship's hatch, carry him in a graceful jump to the unforgiving ground – and let it halt him to heed the Force's warning to pull his blaster and move slowly, forsaking haste for prudence. If Anakin were not dead or dying - if Anakin were by a miracle alive and unhurt, he would be one very unhappy Jedi and as such would be only too quick to act before thinking. For Anakin's sake Obi-Wan needed to be cautious though every nerve screamed at him to find his former padawan and assure himself that he still lived.
His caution was warranted; his caution not enough to keep him from being bowled to the ground as an extremely irate Anakin tackled him from out of the dust and smoke. His momentum carried him a few feet away from Obi-Wan.
"You're going to pay for what you did," Anakin growled, lunging forward.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved." He grunted as Anakin planted a knee between his legs, falling back against a rock wall as Anakin snatched his lightsaber, ignited it and raised it over his head with a hissed, "This is for Obi-Wan."
Drawn by the noise, Bane appeared above him as Obi-Wan sank back, somehow sensing that Bane was not going to shoot Anakin and he would not have to interfere or blow his cover. Ensnared in Bane's fibercords and drawn away from Obi-Wan, Bane threw over his shoulder, "You can thank me later, Hardeen." Igniting his ankle rockets, he dragged Anakin some meters and continued, "You had your chance to kill him, now it's my turn."
Even wrapped up, Anakin was more than capable of meeting the challenge. He flipped over and planted his feet in Bane's midsection, uncoiled and called his lightsaber to his hand, easily deflecting Bane's blaster shots. Closing in on the bounty hunter, Anakin knocked the blasters out of Bane's hands, which is when Obi-Wan decided to intervene. He slid past Anakin's guard and sprang, sending them both flying to the ground.
Timing his move, Obi-Wan locked his arms around Anakin's wrists and slid around and under his sword arm and flipped his former padawan over his back. The breath knocked out of him, Obi-Wan crouched over him and – with Bane watching, it had to be real – pummeled Anakin, over and over, blow after blow, protesting inside all the while that this was necessary, that Anakin had to be subdued to survive, that his goal was to knock Anakin so out of it that he and Bane could find Eval and blast off of Orondia, but Anakin was grunting with each blow, grunting at what Obi-Wan was doing to him…
…and Anakin grabbed his arm and flipped Obi-Wan off to the side. As the two closed once more, Obi-Wan ducked under and away from a roundhouse swing, putting him in a perfect position to get behind Anakin and capture him in a neck lock. Putting pressure on Anakin's throat, Obi-Wan whispered into Anakin's ear, infusing his voice with every ounce of Force persuasion he could summon, "Anakin. Don't. Follow Me."
Anakin's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto his side as Obi-Wan pushed himself to his feet. He had never in his entire life beaten another being like that; he had pulled his punches as much as he dared, but dear Force, it was Anakin he had fought. Anakin he had beaten. That he had done it to save Anakin was no consolation.
He'd been wrong, in those early hours in prison. Being "bad" was not enjoyable; it sickened him.
Turning to trudge back to the ship and check it over, he saw Bane pull his blaster and aim it at Anakin. Before a word could leave Obi-Wan's mouth a small figure leapt over both their heads and crouched over the fallen Jedi. Ahsoka, lightsabers flashing, was there to defend her master.
Stalemate. Obi-Wan almost grinned; he did, inside. He knew Anakin was safe now; his cover was safe as well.
And when Eval showed up to announce the ship was fixed and they could finally leave Orondia, Obi-Wan could only feel relief.
"You're lucky we're in a hurry, lil' lady. We'll have to dance another time." With a tip of his hat, Bane turned to the ship, with Obi-Wan behind. It was time to leave Orondia behind; Anakin as well.
Alive.
Thank the Force, Anakin was still alive.
