VIII- The Call of Duty

Residence of Count Dooku, Cruiser CSS Invisible Hand
BDZ-12 minutes

Dooku's lodgings on board the Invisible Hand were a palace. There was no other word in Galactic Standard that accurately portrayed such splendor, even if the resident knew quite well that they were only a shadow of the marvel that had been his castle of Serenno. Nonetheless, he also knew that it was an unusually luxurious arrangement for a warship usually involved in frontline fighting, so he glumly accepted it as another sacrifice he made for the cause.

And, of course, nothing prevented him from making the best out of the relatively limited space. The Count had spared no effort -or money- to ensure that his residence showed his status as a man of great wealth and even greater power. And it showed, indeed. Just the art contained within Dooku's walls was worth more than entire worlds. Sometimes Dooku decided to play the host in balls for the best and wealthiest of the Confederacy, when the dreaded cruiser had to visit the shipyards for resupply. His guests always left stunned by the dazzling display of obscene fortune.

But wealth or matchless art was not what interested the couple of 'guests' that the Count had invited this time. Like every good palace, the Wizard's Tower had a number of secret hideouts and escape routes. Kenobi and Skywalker were, of course, interested in the later. With Dooku's help, Anakin had easily prepared for launch one of the escape pods. After that, waiting for R2-D2's arrival was the only thing left to do.

But several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Kenobi felt something odd in the Force. A strange feel of gloom. An omen of ill fortune. Then, the commlink beeped and R2-D2's fateful message broke the silence. Dread gripped Obi-Wan's heart, for he knew that this meant that his worst fears were about to come true. A few moments later, his intuition was proven true.

"Artoo? Do you copy, Artoo? Answer me, damnit!"

Anakin had taken the communicator from his hands and was shouting, showing the most desperate distress in his voice, his face and his very soul. The sour anger that he had shown previously had vanished without leaving a trace as soon as he had understood that his mechanical friend was telling them to leave without looking back.

Kenobi, plagued by his own doubts, was about to put his hand on Anakin's shoulder, in a feeble attempt to provide some consolation, when Dooku made a mistake. He had stared wide-eyed at the scene, clearly surprised by seeing the Jedi knight in the verge of tears, and then he had asked Kenobi with more than a little disdain in his voice.

"This is because he has lost a droid?"

Just eight words. Eight words that almost costed the nobleman his life. An invisible force lifted Dooku from his seat and an iron grip crushed his throat. Obi-Wan reacted immediately, slapping Anakin to break his focus. It worked and the enormous surprise created by the unexpected attack prevented oblivion from claiming the elusive Count, as his breathing was restored just in time to avoid brain damage.

"Are you out of your mind, Anakin!? He is a prisoner! And we need him to get out of this ship! He hasn't told us yet the launch codes for the escape pod!"

The outraged reprimand made Skywalker flinch and back a couple of steps, but the yellow that had reappeared in his eyes didn't leave this time. And his body language was still openly threatening when he replied.

"The escape pod? What does it matter? We can't leave! We have to save Artoo!!"

"We can't save Artoo! You have heard him! There are too many droids heading our way! We have to leave now! Before it is too late! Or Artoo will have died for nothing," countered the Jedi master just as vehemently.

"And what would you do if I were down there, Obi-Wan? Would you leave me behind? Artoo is our friend! He has saved both of us as many times as we have saved each other! AND YOU WANT TO LEAVE HIM HERE!"

At this point, Kenobi knew that they were in the edges of the minefield. He had known somehow upon hearing Dooku's words that he would find himself in the present quandary sooner or later. He had many options. Being sincere, for starters. He could tell that a droid was a thing built, something almost foreign to the Force. That Anakin's friendship with R2-D2 worried him enormously. But although his wisdom didn't quite match Yoda's, Kenobi knew when saying something was useless, stupid and even dangerous. Diplomacy sounded good at this point.

"Let me answer you with a question, Anakin. Consider that if we try to help Artoo, we will be captured and the mission will be a complete loss. Would you make your friend's sacrifice meaningless?"

"There will be no sacrifice, master. Today I have lost one friend, perhaps two. I will not lose another. I am going down. You can follow me or hide here with that mummy you are so interested in protecting."

There was cold ice and steel in Anakin's words and both sent shivers down Kenobi's back. No trace of burning fury. Something dark, something cold, something dangerous was feeding from the fire, darkening his friend's soul. Anakin risked becoming a shadow of himself.

Fear and doubt left Obi-Wan mute and after staring for a few seconds, Anakin turned without uttering a single word and headed for the doorway that would take him out.

"No, Anakin! Don't…"

Without turning, Anakin replied with a burst of telekinetic force that forced Obi-Wan to kneel. By the time Kenobi was standing again with trembling legs, his apprentice had left the room. But when he reached the threshold, his target was still in the corridor beyond, advancing without sign of slowing down. It was then when the Jedi master felt it.

"You are weak, pathetic, disgusting, master. You can't stop me anymore."

The words appeared in his mind all of a sudden, sent as a telepathic broadcast. And they caused an unusual reaction in the Jedi. Anakin's brisk pace slowed to a halt when the Force gave him a warning of impending danger. A metallic groan coming from the ceiling revealed that the danger came in the form of a massive block of a heavy metal block that Kenobi had ripped. There was just enough time to raise both hands and summon his power to avoid being flattened.

Just as the master had predicted. Quite busy fighting gravity, Anakin was in no condition to muster adequate defenses against Obi-Wan's second attack. The young Jedi was launched headfirst against the wall. And although his impact was rather mild compared with the booming fall of half a ton of metal, it was enough to leave him dazed, in some pain, low in protections and mind almost open to attack.

Kenobi pressed his advantage, negating his friend any chance to recover. He pressed his sweaty palm against Anakin's forehead and prepared himself. He was beginning to understand the possible consequences of what he had done in the heat of the moment. And the consequences of what he intended to do now. But the point of no return had already been crossed and self-doubt was hardly indicated for what he was preparing to do. Anakin was more than a friend. He was duty and doubly so. He had been his Padawan. And he was also the young pod-racer Qui-Gon had found in Tatooine's desert. He had sworn to protect the young Skywalker. And Obi-Wan Kenobi was not a man to take an oath lightly.

He increased the pressure both with his hand and the razor-sharp edge of his mental probe. Piercing Anakin's weakened walls was easy for someone with his mastery of the Force. And he had helped in the construction of those walls. He knew the gaps and the vulnerabilities by heart. Nothing would stop him from getting inside. And once inside, nothing would stop his orders from being obeyed.

Sleep, he ordered. And he was obeyed.

The effect was dramatic. Anakin closed his eyes, his breathing slowed down and his weak attempts to break Kenobi's hold stopped. A prisoner of his own mind, at least for the moment. It would not last very long, but it would last enough.

"This is… unexpected."

The Count's voice was weak and trembling, rather fitting considering his sorry state. The old man observed the scene with an unreadable expression in his face and using the wall for support. Anakin's outburst had almost been lethal and Dooku had added several new injuries to his growing collection. His right arm had taken the worst of this landing and it was twisted in ways that looked both unnatural and painful, the skin in throat was an ugly shade of purple now and blood trickled from his mouth. His weak connection with the Force was the only thing that kept him standing now.

"You have had Jedi prisoners on board this ship. What do you use to keep them under control?"

Dooku's face shifted to show a clearer emotion, surprise, and the Count frowned before answering with carefully chosen words.

"There are some Sith powers, some potions and some devices. Usually, I use several things at the same time to keep my prisoners in line."

"I need something to keep Anakin unconscious for some time. We have to leave in a matter of minutes, but he might shake my command at any moment. And I am sure that if he does wake up, he will kill both of us. What do you suggest, Count?"

"There is a safe in the northwestern corner, next to the cabinet, behind Zerunum's portrait. Inside you will find two neural disruptors and several doses of a potent sedative, ready for injection. The code is 2585436."

After checking that his order was still in full effect, Obi-Wan crossed the room and tried to open the safe, but his trembling fingers would not enter the numbers correctly and after three failed attempts he lost his temper. The lock had not been designed to resist the meddling of those gifted with strength in the Force and a modicum of telekinetic manipulation forced it open easily enough. The neural disruptors and the drugs were clearly visible and finding them wasn't difficult. Nonetheless, in the last moment Kenobi almost hesitated to take them.

What he was about to do was beyond good and evil. It was an actual crime, as neural disruptors had been completely illegal technology for millennia. It was against the Constitution and the Jedi Code that he had followed for most of his life. But it was the only way he had of saving Anakin from himself. The Jedi took one of the metallic collars and a hypodermic.

"You might want to take the datacubes with yellow labels, too. They contain a great deal of information you might find useful and I don't want Grievous to get his claws in any of it."

Obi-Wan turned his head to glance at Dooku and tried to find out the reason that had moved the ex-Sith to volunteer the information. Seconds later, he decided not to question it and simply picked the five datacubes.

Half a minute later, it was done. The collar was well fastened and the narcotic flowed through Anakin's veins. Although a neural disruptor usually wouldn't be enough to keep a Jedi subdued for long, just the same as a normal drug would be easily defeated by their enhanced organisms. Both things combined and boosted by Kenobi's actions were more than up to the task of keeping Anakin sleeping for as long as it took to reach some safety. There would be no surprise awakenings.

When he rose, the eyes of the Jedi were full of tortured emotion that was terrible to behold and made Dooku break eye contact almost immediately. He had always known that Obi-Wan had to harbor some darkness, but he had never expected him to have such a fearsome potential. It seemed that Skywalker had not been the only one tainted by Sidious' shadow, after all.

"We are leaving. Now. No more delays. No more trickery. If I so much as think that you are somehow betraying us or slowing our escape, I will kill you with my bare hands. Head the way, Count Dooku."

Notes: Inspiration is an odd thing. I had been trying to write a scene like this for the best part of a month, but I couldn't produce anything worth posting. And just after posting Interlude II, the block disappeared.

I suppose that some readers might be disappointed with my handling of Kenobi and my removal of R2-D2. Unfortunately, I've plans for both characters that demand further departure from canon events and, in the end, this is what an Alternate Universe is supposed to be.

All forms of feedback are welcome.