From Darkness, I Rise

by Kurenaino

The Jedi are thrust into a war that threatens to tear the galaxy apart, and prospects are bleak when the fearsome Sith Negotiator begins to win key victories against the Republic. Sequel to From Grace, I Fall. Also, more Sith!Obi keeps the sadness away. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

10. Antar 4

Chapter 10: Antar 4

"You can't let him get to you, Asajj."

"It's not like I let him, Kenobi, he just does."

"Right, because you allow it." Ventress' pale eyes fell on her companion in the pilot's seat. She was getting exasperated talking to the famed Negotiator, a man well known for being able to talk circles around people until he got exactly what he wanted. "Look, Dooku is a grumpy old man that's bitter and angry because he found real power too late and he's getting too old to really use it. He's going to take it out on you because you're young, athletic, dripping in the Dark Side and not at all horrible to look at."

"Well, thanks. The same can't be said for you."

"No? My lover seems to think differently."

"Oh, really? Perhaps you should bring her with you on your next suicide mission."

Kenobi groaned. "For the last time, it's not a suicide mission. And you agreed to be here, so stop complaining before I throw you out the airlock."

"Aren't you supposed to be reading the mission briefing..."

"I already did." Kenobi smiled brightly at his Dathomirian companion, and she rolled her eyes. "Antar 4 is an important location for both the Republic and the Separatists. The native Gotals are...unique. They are greatly in tune with electromagnetic waves, which makes them natural empaths."

"Right..."

"No, really, they can pick up electrical impulses from a person's brain."

"Are they Force sensitive?"

Kenobi shrugged. "Some. Less than you Dathomirians, more than the Neimoidans. They're not exceptional on that count, but they do make great diplomats and mechanics." Kenobi looked his companion over. "You're distracting me. The point is, everyone wants the Gotal, the Separatists for their stellar work on droids and other mechanics, and the Republic for their diplomatic abilities. The Senate is getting desperate since their local peacekeeper left."

"And we're supposed to..."

"Accept them into the Separatist Alliance. A few of them blew up some Jedi military allies, and they have declared for the Separatists. We're there to establish a presence."

Ventress frowned. "Isn't this the sort of thing Count Dooku should be doing?"

"Not when there are tempers flaring. It's likely the Jedi will be present to oust the Separatists."

"So we'll kill them and I can prove myself!"

Kenobi whistled. "Easy there, my dear, don't get too excited. Let's just see how the situation plays out, hmm?" Ventress was not impressed. Obi-Wan took her hand, swiftly kissing it and smirking when the woman's pale eyes narrowed with disgust. "There's a reason my Master sends me on these missions. If I were a coward, I'd make no progress, if I were a fool, I'd be dead. I am neither of those things, which is why I am here. Understand?"

"You're full of yourself," she snarled, ripping her hand away and crossing her arms.

"I'm confident, my dear, that's different."

They had not known each other long, but Obi-Wan Kenobi and Asajj Ventress liked each other a great deal, much to Dooku's displeasure, which was part of the reason they were so committed to friendship, though they would never, ever admit it, even to each other.

To Ventress, Kenobi was a stabilizing factor. He was...safe. A powerful Sith Lord, more powerful than the one that took her in, he was fire and fury and passion, wild and unrelenting. Unlike Dooku, who was cold and distant, his decades of Jedi Mastership giving him unparalleled control over the Dark Side, Kenobi reveled in the wildness of it, the whims of passion that drove him to embrace darkness in each and every moment of his life. He was young, his training as a Jedi giving him enough focus to control it, but not enough to break it. The Dark Side thrived in the young Obi-Wan and it made the Sith Lord dangerous and cruel, but like fire itself, could also be warm and comforting when contained. In the Sith Lord Darth Lumis, Ventress had found herself a friend that she was certain would never, ever die.

To Kenobi, Ventress was a project. A powerful Force sensitive that had grown angry and wrathful by the unfairness that life had dealt her, Asajj was fury and rage in its purest form, a tempest that could not be controlled or contained, not even by herself. In her, Obi-Wan saw his younger self, a Jedi Padawan left alone in the bitter chill of the Force with nobody to guide him safely through it, and while she did have the mentorship in the form of Dooku, he was like the Jedi Council, cold and unfeeling, and the bitter rage of Asajj would only continue to grow under his dispassionate eye. The fires of the Dark Side raged, and to those who lacked the focus of control, they would burn, the flames raging until there was nothing left but ash. Ventress needed a teacher; someone who could teach her to dance with the flames instead of being consumed by them. Sidious did it for Kenobi, and Obi-Wan would do it for Ventress. Like his own Master, Darth Lumis hated to see art go to waste, and Asajj Ventress was art.

"What are you doing tonight?" Kenobi drawled, laying back in his seat as the hyperdrive engaged. "I mean, if we survive the mission."

"More training, I suspect. Dooku says my form is...sloppy."

"It is."

Ventress glared. "Thank you for your opinion, Lord Lumis."

Kenobi grinned. "Please, I prefer be called Master."

Ventress smirked, her elegant eyebrow arching high. "Oh, do you? Do you make your lover call you that, Master..."

"Sweetheart, please, she calls me that all on her own."

"What about my form is sloppy!"

Obi-Wan sighed. "If you promise not to touch your saber to the walls, we'll go practice in the hold. I just got the carbon scoring out from the last time." Ventress jumped out of her seat and rushed off, leaving Obi-Wan to lazily flick on the autopilot and stroll down to the hold. Ventress was already there, spinning her blades elegantly in her hands.

"So what am I doing wrong?"

Kenobi shrugged.. "Nothing."

"...nothing."

"Nothing." Ventress gripped her blades tighter, her jaw clenched in frustration. "That, right there. That's what you're doing wrong."

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Sweetheart, you're so tense! When you're relaxed, you do fine, but Dooku brings out the worst in you."

"He says I have to embrace my anger!"

"And he's right, you do. Your rage is a weapon, but if you give a blaster to a child, you can't expect him to hit his mark. You need control, focus, or you're nothing. The Dark Side preys on the weakness of others, and fury without focus is a weakness."

Ventress retracted her blades. The Sith Lord wasn't drawing his weapon, and it was becoming clear that the lesson she needed to learn had nothing to do with lightsabers. "So what do I do?"

Kenobi shrugged. "Want to watch a holovid?"

Ventress stared deadpan at the Sith Lord. "A holovid."

"The Dark Side is more than just pain and anger, sweetness. The Code doesn't even say anything about it. Dzwol shâsotkun. Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk. There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Passion is anger, yes, and pain, but it is also happiness and sorrow and pleasure, deep and unrelenting." Ventress slowly nodded, her intelligent, pale eyes slowly brightening with understanding. "You know the Way of the Jedi, Asajj. They talk about the balance of the Force, but there is balance in the Dark Side as well."

"So thriving on pain and anger is leaving me unbalanced?"

"Yes."

Ventress smiled, drawing closer to the Sith Lord, running her long fingers down his chest. "Kenobi..."

"Hmm?"

"You are a sentimental idiot!"

Kenobi smirked, drawing his weapon with lightning speed and slashing up at Ventress, the woman deftly back flipping out of the way, her twin sabers igniting before she landed. "Relaxed, sweetheart?"

"More than you, Kenobi."

"We shall see."

The Nightsister launched herself at the Sith, and he blocked her easily, using the Force to throw her out of the way as he sidestepped her strike. They relaxed into an easy sparring pattern, Ventress on a casual assault while the Sith Lord lazily defended, both Dark Siders smiling and laughing as they slashed and blocked and dodged. Occasionally, Kenobi would lightly bring the tip of his weapon to touch her pale skin, the woman hissing more in irritation than pain, and the Sith Lord would gently correct her error, only to return to their sparring. As they went, they slowly sped up, the Sith Lord increasing the pace as he felt Asajj relax, until their sabers were blazing through the air, nearly too fast to see.

Ventress was good. Very good when she relaxed into the embrace of the Dark Side instead of allowing it to consume her. Dooku would ruin this fine creature in the typical fashion of the Sith; he'd use the tool to meet his ends just so long as it served his purpose, and when her use to him ended, she would be cast aside. Alternatively, Dooku could become too ambitious, and Darth Sidious could command her disposal, and were it to come to that...

Dooku would do it to save himself, of this, Obi-Wan had no doubt. But were Sidious to command his faithful Darth Lumis to do it...

He could talk himself out of nearly every situation, and his Master was not without reason. He could convince him she was a greater ally than a threat.

Ventress swung wide, and Kenobi's sharp yellow eyes caught, for a fraction of an instant, the slight misstep the Nightsister had taken, and he thrust his saber down to touch the back of her leg, the woman hissing in irritation. Smirking confidently, the Sith Lord reached out in her moment of lost focus and called her lightsabers to his hand, the weapons shutting off as he caught them.

"I win. Again."

"You always win, you don't need to say it every time."

"Tch. How else are you going to know I won?"

Ventress snatched her weapons from his loose grasp and thrust them back to their place on her hip. "You're insufferable."

"I'm a Lord of the Sith! Show some respect!" He reached out with the Force and moved a couch tucked away in the corner to the center of the room, lowering a screen with his other hand. "I won, sweetie, so we're watching a holovid. We're about to go kill Jedi, I need to unwind."

Ventress ran her hand over her smooth head, wiping the sweat away and dropping on to the couch. The Sith Lord sat on the other end, his long legs crossed and his head resting on his hand as he leaned on the armrest. The Dathomirian scooted closer to him, settling in the crook between his arm and his chest, and the Sith's long, lazy fingers absently stroked up and down her arm as the holovid began. Ventress sighed deeply, relaxing into the Lord. She was safe here, in all ways. Kenobi had a singular, obsessive interest in his Mandalorian, which left little confusion in their relationship. They flirted shamelessly, were physically affectionate very often, and it stopped at that, and Asajj couldn't be more pleased. She had been too abused in her life as it was to have her one friendship complicated by confusing emotions.

"Kenobi."

"Shh...this is my favorite part..."

Ventress looked at the screen. She hadn't been paying attention, so the scene may have been lost on her, but it just seemed like some overly dramatic garbage. Some trash with a crying Twi'lek and a strong, stoic Chagrian. "...this is your favorite? Nobody's dying. You're a Lord of the Sith, Kenobi, have some dignity..."

He rolled his eyes. "Ventress, sweetie, I'm not the Sith of Old. There is reason and purpose when I kill. I'm not some mindless beast."

"You have the heart of a poet. I bet it makes your Master sick."

"I bet my combat skills don't disappoint my Master."

Ventress glowered, hitting the smirking Sith in the chest. "Is this what you and your lover do? Sit around and watch this emotional garbage?"

"Don't be foolish, we don't have time for things like this. We see each other so infrequently, we have to carefully manage what time we do have."

"You talk over the comlink all the time."

"It's not the same."

"What do you two do then?" Her pale eyes looked up into the Sith Lord's handsome face, and she bit her lip, understanding and petulant. He didn't need to say anything; the hunger and possessive desire burning in those glowing yellow eyes said it all.

"I'll have to make a trip to see her after this mission..." he growled quietly, pulling Ventress closer to him. "It has been too long."

"Don't get any ideas..."

"What, with you?" Kenobi chuckled deeply, and the Nightsister wriggled against him, growling in irritation. "Don't be ridiculous. Satine is mine. I don't need to complicate it by adding another."

"Yours? What, do you own her?"

"Yes." He breathed deeply, shutting his eyes. "Satine is mine. She has always been mine. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not in the least." Ventress fall back against his chest. "I pity the idiot that comes between the Lord of the Sith and his things."

"As you should." Kenobi frowned, feeling the ships engines quiet as the hyperdrive disengage and he groaned, pausing the holovid. "We'll have to finish this on the way back, we've arrived. Come on."

The two walked together to the cockpit, Kenobi sliding into the pilot's seat and Ventress hanging over his shoulder, looking out the viewport as they approached the moon of Antar 4. Both of their faces went from smug satisfaction, to confusion, and then to shock as they drew closer. In orbit around the moon were hundreds of ships, mostly small Consular-class cruisers of different makes and models, all marked with different symbols that Kenobi recognized as belonging to the various chapters of the Antarian Rangers. But most distressing was the large, single ship that seemed to dwarf the moon. The Venator-class star destroyer was a Republic battleship built in response to the increasingly violent nature of the Separatist crisis. Kenobi had heard about it, but it was the first time he had ever actually seen one. He kept his own ship at a safe distance and quietly activated the stealth system.

"Oh, immortal gods of the Sith..."

"What. Is. That," Ventress intoned, pointing to the colossal ship that hung above the moon.

"They brought a battleship," Kenobi said softly. He was truly in awe. How many soldiers could fit on such a massive ship? How many Jedi had come on it? "There are hundreds of ship here, this is an invasion."

"How can it be an invasion, Antar 4 is a Republic world."

"They were a Republic world. As of this morning, they are Separatist, remember?"

"Who do the little ships belong to?"

"They look like the Antarian Rangers, they'll be here looking to take revenge for the bombings, and that," he pointed to the star destroyer, "carried Jedi here to aid them."

"...how many Jedi?"

"More than you and I can handle." He took a deep breath, looking out at the fleet that stood before them and the moon of Antar 4. "You were right. This is a suicide mission."

"...Obi-Wan. What do we do?"

The Sith Lord looked at his companion, and she was afraid. Terribly so. He closed his eyes and reached into the Dark Side for guidance. The Force often spoke to him, guided his every action, and it was guiding him now. Visions flashed through his mind, too fast for him to see, but he could feel the emotions they invoked. Fear, pain, chaos as the Sith fought the Jedi, the grief of losing his friend, the shock as he fell in a swarm of blue and green blades. The Dark Side, in it's hushed, sweet voice, was telling him to leave.

"There's only one thing we can do," he muttered, his swift fingers running over the controls and entering new coordinates. He grabbed the yoke and swung the ship around and activated the thrusters, speeding away from the battleground. They were silent for a long while, Kenobi's jaw clenched tightly as he activated the hyperdrive, the ship entering the blue and white of hyperspace back toward Serenno.

"...is it alright to go back?" Ventress asked quietly, and Kenobi snarled.

"No, it isn't." He ran his long fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. "I'm directly disobeying my Master. This could have been a test, and I have failed. I have never failed."

"What's going to happen to you?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan said softly, shaking his head. "But it isn't good."

---

The afternoon found Count Dooku lounging on his large, red velvet sofa, sipping a fine Corellian brandy from a tall, thin glass as he watched the holonet coverage of the battle for Antar 4. A life sized hologram of Darth Sidious stood beside him, observing the screen with his elderly apprentice. Behind them, Obi-Wan Kenobi was on the ground, his back arching off the fine carpets on the hard wood floor, trying to stifle strangled cries of pain as his blood boiled within his body, his nerves on fire as the Dark Side ripped through him, setting everything it touched alight with agony. Ventress was huddled in a far corner of the room, out of Sidious' holographic sight, her hands held tightly over her ears. Dooku wanted her to see what happened to apprentices that disobeyed their Masters.

"Do be quiet, Lumis," Sidious said, his voice low and cold and smooth. "I can't hear the report." Kenobi curled up in a ball, grasping his knees tightly and shoving his arm into his mouth, biting down hard to silence himself, blood and drool dripping down on to the silk carpet. Dooku rolled his eyes.

"I asked you nicely to not soil my rugs, Lumis." Kenobi responded with a pained whimper as he took his arm from his mouth, spitting blood on the Count's fine silk, and Sidious laughed, the pressure on Kenobi easing slightly, and the young Sith gasped in relief.

"Do you hate me yet, my apprentice?"

"No, my Master." His clipped, accented voice was quiet and laced with pain, but he did not waiver. The Sith Master frowned.

"You disobeyed me, Lumis."

"I know, Master..." A sharp cry of pain was ripped from Kenobi when new agony lanced through the young Sith, writhing again on the ground as he struggled to keep his silence. Sidious frowned as he watched the report, growling softly as he watched the Jedi press forward to the government buildings.

"If you are alive at the end of this day, Lumis, I shall have to retrain you for obedience." The young Sith whimpered softly, tensing as pain coursed through him. His resistance was impressive, but it just made the Master create more suffering for his apprentice. "I'm going to go inside your mind and tear you apart, Lumis. I will make you into what I want you to be. And if I hear once more that leaving Antar 4 was the will of the Force..." Sidious scoffed. "You are not some Jedi that obeys the Force, you are Sith, the Force is yours to command."

"M-master..." the pain eased for a moment, and Obi-Wan coughed violently, blood splattering in thick drops on the ground. "Master...you know my mind is yours, all of me is yours..."

Sidious nodded. "I believe you. Absolute loyalty is rare in a Sith, but it's present in you, my apprentice. You know you deserve this punishment."

"Yes, my Master..."

"Would you like it to stop?"

"...no, Master."

Sidious grinned maliciously, sending his pleasure with his apprentice through the Force before he crippled him with agony, Kenobi yelping and gripping the expensive rugs in his strong hands.

"Come here, Lumis," Sidious purred, increasing the pain on the already struggling man, and the young Sith began convulsing. "I cannot see you and the holonet at the same time."

It took him a long time, second after agonizing second passing by at a crawl as Kenobi slowly dragged himself from the center of the room to the couch, dropping before the hologram of his Master, his body thrashing as he curled up, shoulders shaking as he silently sobbed.

Kenobi suddenly grabbed at his throat with shaking hands, scratching deep, bleeding lines in his neck as his airflow was cut off, but Tyranus and Sidious barely noticed. Their eyes were glued to the holonet as the Jedi army set off an electromagnetic pulse weapon, the native Gotal population and the Gotal extremist group that held the city suffering extreme pain and disorientation. Sensitive to electromagnetic waves, the Gotals were crippled by the weapon, though not permanently hurt, and in the confusion, the Jedi had secured Antar 4 for the Republic. The battle was over. The Jedi had won.

Kenobi's legs were flailing as the Force choked him, the edges of his vision slowly turning black as unconsciousness threatened to overtake him. The pressure released just enough for Obi-Wan to suck in a thin breath, but the Master was not listening; all his focus was on the holonet, not his dying apprentice. Kenobi reached out a shaking hand to try and grab for the Master's robes, only to pass through the holographic image.

Slowly, the choking hold on his neck released, and Kenobi gasped for breath, quick and shallow and whimpering in agony as he tried to fill his lungs, but pain and panic was keeping him was keeping him from properly breathing. Hie ears were ringing, and he could see a stunned Dooku talking with Sidious, but he could hear nothing over the sound of his own frantic keening and the roar of the Dark Side that tore through him.

And then it was over, the pain lifting from him and Kenobi collapsed, laying still on the floor, breathing shallow and even. In the back of his mind, he could feel that his Master was pleased.

"Lumis." Kenobi shivered, the smooth, even voice sending chills through him, and he braced for more pain. "My poor apprentice, you have done so well...hasn't he, Tyranus?"

"He may have..." The Count's voice sounded distant, but impressed. Kenobi shivered as he felt blood running down his neck from the gashes he had gouged himself.

"I need you to gather the Separatist Council on Geonosis. This may have been just the thing we were waiting for." Dooku stood and bowed, quickly sweeping out of the room, Ventress scrambling after him, leaving the shaking Kenobi alone in the room with the hologram of Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan's breath slowly evened, his body recovering from the crippling pain when the Dark Side surged within him at the Sith Master's bidding, and Kenobi moaned loudly, this time in ecstacy.

"My Lumis, I should stop doubting you," the Master murmured to himself, the hologram reaching out and Kenobi could feel the Sith's hands running through his hair, over his cheek, down his chest, across his stomach, the ghosting touch of the Force warming his flushed skin and easing the residual pain. "The Jedi have lost the war to win a battle. Antar 4 is Republic today, but it won't be for long." Sidious smirked, sending another wave of pleasure through the moaning young apprentice, gauging his feelings and finding gratitude rushing through him. There was no bitterness, no rage, no anger at his severe treatment.

"If you were on the planet, the Jedi would have diverted their attention to deal with you. They may not have used the weapon, they may have killed you, my dear apprentice..."

"I-I'm sorry, Master..."

"Hush." Kenobi held his breath, whimpering as wave after wave of pleasure rushed through him, the intense pain of before fading to a distant memory. "You are one with the Dark Side, Lumis. Perhaps you were right to follow the will of the Force."

Kenobi pushed himself up, kneeling before his Master and breathing fast and deep, his yellow eyes dilated and a red flush across his face. "What would you have me do, Master?"

"Trust your instincts, Lumis. Since you were a Jedi, your instincts have been leading you to the Dark Side, and now that it has you, you must not turn away from it."

"Never, Master..."

"You said the Dark Side guided you away from Antar 4 and it will guide you again." Sidious pulled back his hood, the blazing eyes of Senator Palpatine cutting into him. "Do you trust me, Lumis?"

"Always, Master, always!"

"Rest then, Lumis, and let me deal with the aftermath of this battle. Come to me tomorrow, and we will discuss the next stage of your training. You are ready to progress."

Kenobi bowed his head, his shoulders shaking under the rushing pleasure. "As you wish, my Master." The hologram cut, and Kenobi fell to the ground, his breath coming out in unsteady, ragged gasps as he closed his eyes and allowed the Dark Side to rush through him without restriction. He didn't hear Ventress enter the room and slowly approach, her soft, careful feet creeping toward the Sith Lord like he was bait, like there was something bigger and much more dangerous laying in wait within the shadows.

"Kenobi?" She peeked over the back of the couch, looking down at the man, sprawled out on the floor and his neck red with blood. Her pale eyes widened, and she leapt over the couch, landing softly on the ground next to him and, with shaking fingers, touched the warm, wet blood and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his chest rise and fall. "Kenobi!"

"Mmm..."

"What was that?!"

"Shh..." He brought his finger up and laid it on her lips, and she could taste blood. She stayed silent as he requested, her pale eyes looking over him as the Sith breathed deeply, moaning softly with every breath, unrestrained bliss on his face, and she couldn't help but be reminded of the spice addicts back on Rattatak.

"Kenobi..."

"How much did you see?"

Ventress bit her lip. "I saw you suffering...I thought you were going to die."

"...yes, me too."

"Was that your Master?"

Kenobi nodded. "Did you see him"

"No, he was too far away." Kenobi breathed deeply, seemingly satisfied, and Ventress became angry.

"He could have killed you! What are you doing serving a thing like that, you didn't even do anything wrong!"

"I disobeyed his orders. I did deserve that." He opened his eyes, looking up at the Nightsister, and she was no less angry. "...Asajj, my Master is not unreasonable. He came around, you saw that. He knows I'm loyal, and he knows I will do what is best for the Sith."

"And he still tortured you."

Kenobi shrugged. "I don't mind. Pain feeds the Dark Side, and I can endure a lot. My Master knows my limits." Obi-Wan groaned as he sat up, taking Ventress' hand as she helped him to his feet. "There is sacrifice in all things, Asajj, and if I must trade pain for power, so be it."

"...I cannot do what you are doing."

"No, you can't. You're no Sith." Kenobi groaned as he stretched his legs. "Come on, Asajj. I have two Jedi downstairs. Want to watch me work?"

Ventress really, really did.