ooo.
Darth Maul couldn't believe his good fortune, a lone Jedi padawan on Tatooine. "If what you say is true, then you will be rewarded handsomely Sleg. So now that you have my attention, I want you to understand this; I expect delivery of this Jedi in one piece, and alive! Do you understand me?"
"Yes my Lord, I understand and I shall deliver the Jedi alive!"
"I will meet you at these co-ordinates." Maul sent some numbers, which Sleg wrote down. "Do not fail me - even a lone padawan is dangerous, make sure you have plenty of men to secure him and remember do not kill him or it will be your death for payment?"
"It will be done as you have requested My Lord." Sleg answered nervously, signing off.
Sleg's men were a mix of dangerous escapees from prison, and a few mercenaries he'd collected along the way; there were six of them altogether.
However, the most cunning of them was his main thug, or beast would be a better word to describe the muscle bound reptilian skinned eight armed, two legged beast; aptly named Destroyer.
Destroyer was the most useful of all his employees, especially in capturing force sensitive beings. His body makeup had a blank aura about it, and he had no force presence. As a matter of fact he had no distinguishable presence at all. He could be standing right behind you, and you wouldn't know he was there. He was a rare breed, and there were only a few of his kind left in the galaxy.
Sleg was confident that he had the advantage and he gathered his men and explained his plan as they made their way to the slave quarters.
ooo
Obi-Wan kept to the shadows as he hurried back to Shmi. She was packing a few personal belongings as he entered her dwelling.
"We have to hurry, my ship is in that direction; it's hidden in between some sand hills," he said quickly. "Is there a back door to this house?"
Shmi shook her head. "No there isn't, just a small window. However there's a ladder that leads to the roof in Ani's room, it's inside the cupboard."
"That will do, we can escape over the roof tops, and then head to the ship. I'm sure that other Jedi will be coming to look for me. I left a note telling them where I was going and why. So if we get separated, make your way to the ship. Do you know how to turn on a ships security beacon?"
"Yes, Anakin showed me how to do many things involving ships, so that I could help him and Watto." she confirmed.
The force was agitated and there was a shrill warning of impending danger. "Quickly, this place is crawling with bounty hunters, we don't have much time." he said as he pulled the ladder down from the ceiling. "Go on up I'll be right behind you."
Shmi got to the top and turned to look at Obi-Wan, he placed his hand on the ladder as the door to the house was blasted in. The impact of the blast sent the door flying towards Obi-Wan, knocking him backwards. The ladder crashed to the floor and was smashed to pieces.
Once the dust cleared Obi-Wan signalled to Shmi to close the trapdoor. He was under some rubble and he pushed the debris off with the Force just as blaster fire erupted around him. Shmi reluctantly closed the lid and huddled in the corner.
The sounds of Blaster fire being deflected by a sabre filled the house and Shmi held her breath and prayed that Obi-Wan was alright. She was scared, not for her self but for Obi-Wan, he'd risked his life to rescue her and now it appeared he was in trouble himself.
She crawled along the roof and crouched down behind a high ridge at the front and she could see through the holes in it. Thankfully, they couldn't see her from below and as she watched, Obi-Wan ran out of the house deflecting blaster bolts. She was amazed at Obi-Wan's agility and grace as he fought them off.
She felt her hope rise as the evil looking men were being forced back as he deflected the shots back at an amazingly fast speed.
Several of Sleg's men were down on the ground and more were being beaten by Obi-Wan. He waved his hand out in front of him and two more thugs went flying back against a wall.
Suddenly a blur of movement caught Shmi's eyes and whatever it was came up behind Obi-Wan as he was about to send Sleg flying. She'd never seen such a creature before and it was twice as big as Obi-Wan'. It came up behind him so quickly that he didn't even see it. The creature's arms flung out and wrapped around Obi-Wan's throat, his chest, his waist, his thighs and long arms secured his legs, pulling Obi-Wan tightly towards its own body.
She put her hand over her mouth as Obi-Wan's light sabre flew out of his hands and rolled off to the side. He struggled wildly trying to free himself from the iron grip of the grotesque beast. However, the more he struggled the tighter the hold became, until he was gasping for air as one arm was wrapped around his throat.
Sleg walked towards the trapped Jedi smiling and laughing. "Not so tough now are you, young Jedi!"
"Very foolish Jedi, coming alone to Tatooine; you must have a death wish! Nevertheless, I thank you from the bottom of my empty pockets, for you have given me the means to fill them and become very wealthy. My client is willing to pay a kings ransom for a Jedi slave!" He said as he pulled a syringe out of his coat and injected Obi-Wan in the neck.
Shmi was scared and she'd promised not to cry out, yet she wanted to help this young man who had just given up his freedom for her and her son Anakin. She lifted her head up over the ledge and caught Obi-Wan's pain filled gaze, he was looking straight at her and shook his head shouting, No - and he started to struggle again, so she ducked back down. The thugs hadn't seen her, and she realised Obi-Wan was saying 'no' to her, and she felt so bad, but she would obey him.
Tears stung her eyes as one of the thugs brought a speeder up along side of Obi-Wan and Sleg injected him again. This time he slumped in the reptilian beasts arms. They lifted him into the speeder and took off into Mos Epsa.
Shmi didn't know what to do, it was still daylight and too dangerous to wander around out in the desert by herself, so she stayed where she was on the roof hidden from everyone, she was scared.
ooo
The storms over Telos passed through the atmosphere and Qui-Gon was anxiously pacing the floor waiting for the signal to leave. The Commander at the space port cleared them for takeoff and Yoda, Mace, Qui-Gon, Xanatos and Healer Ba'han left in the fasted ship Xanatos owned. Master Chas-Anna remained with Anakin, although she wasn't happy that she had to stay behind.
Xanatos ship was very fast and it wasn't long before they were entering the atmosphere of Tatooine.
"Where should we look?" Mace asked Xanatos.
"The ship Obi-Wan took is over in that dip between the sand dunes."
"How did you know that?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I installed tracking devices in all my ships, just in case they are ever stolen."
Qui-Gon smiled slightly and shook his head.
"What?" Xanatos queried.
"I can remember when you were young; you would think nothing of stealing someone's ship, as if it was your right to take what you wanted."
"That's the operative word Qui-Gon…..When I was young! It seems as though all your apprentices make their biggest mistakes, when they are young."
Qui-Gon searched Xanatos face for emotion and found it. "You are really worried about Obi-Wan too, aren't you?"
"Yes Qui-Gon, I feel that I'm partly to blame for Obi-Wan's insecurities and I've grown to like him very much. Somewhat like a little brother, and at the moment he's not thinking rationally. Hopefully his commonsense will kick in before he ends up in serious difficulties."
"Sense something dark I do." Master Yoda stated.
"I think we all sense it, and it's closing in on Obi-Wan." Mace confirmed. "We must be vigilant, and keep our senses on full alert."
They landed their ship near Obi-Wan's and headed into Mos Espa.
"Go to Skywalker dwelling first we should." Yoda said sharply.
They all felt that Obi-Wan had been there recently and entering Shmi's house they could see the remnants of a battle, there were blaster holes in the walls, and the door was blasted off its hinges. However they couldn't sense Obi-Wan in the near vicinity.
"Sense I do a life form close by, full of fear and sadness." Yoda said.
Qui-Gon felt out with the force, realising the person they could sense was on the roof and was familiar to him. "Hello up there this is Qui-Gon Jinn, we will not hurt you."
They heard a shuffle on the roof and then the trap door opened.
Shmi peeked down at them. "Oh Master Jinn I'm so glad it's you."
Qui-Gon's held his arms out and told her to jump. She did and then burst into tears as he held her.
"Oh Qui-Gon it was awful, Obi-Wan bought me from Watto and we were just leaving to come to you. But these horrible men came and caught him."
"Can you describe any of them?" Mace asked.
"Yes one of them was a local Bounty Hunter his name is Rum Sleg. He wears full body armour over his skeletal body, with just his face showing." She sobbed and then added. "The one that caught Obi-Wan was twice his size and twice as wide, he was very muscular and had eight arms. He rushed up behind Obi-Wan before he even knew the beast was there. Obi-Wan couldn't get out of its grip, and then Sleg injected something into his neck. I felt so helpless and then Sleg injected him again and he fell unconscious. They loaded him into a speeder and took off.
"Did this Sleg say anything to Obi-Wan? Xanatos asked.
"He said some awful things...He said his client was willing to pay a kings ransom for a Jedi slave…and he thanked Obi-Wan for making him very rich."
"Do you know where Sleg hangs out?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Yes he's always in the Cantina, just down the way from Watto's shop."
"Master Ba'han, will you take Shmi to our ship and contact the Jedi Temple and find out anything you can about this Bounty hunter." Mace stated.
"Very well," the healer answered.
"Hurry we must, darkness descending rapidly I sense." Yoda confirmed. "In the Cantina, the bounty hunter is not. This way we should go, hurry!"
The others caught up and they made their way to the other side of Mos Espa to a derelict building that had been a hanger for the old spaceport, before the new one was built closer to the settlement. The ominous and menacing feeling coming from inside the building made them shiver. Sinister deeds were at work here and it was unsettling.
"What are we waiting for!" snapped both Qui-Gon and Xanatos. "Whoever's in that building is evil, and if Obi-Wan is there, then we better do something now!"
"Proceed with caution we should, sense I do that in a precarious position, is Obi-Wan." Yoda said as they moved forward.
ooo
Inside the Hanger a deal had been struck with Darth Maul. Sleg had delivered Obi-Wan Kenobi to him in one piece. Maul studied the unconscious Jedi and was particularly pleased at his good fortune. His own Master Sidious had commented about this particular Jedi many times, citing that he was a Jedi to be watched.
Sidious had indicated several times that Kenobi may cause them a great deal of trouble in the future. So it was with great amusement that Maul could now boast to his master that he now owned the Jedi padawan.
Maul paid the bounty hunter a substantial amount, and did contemplate killing Sleg just for fun; however he thought the bounty hunter may be of use again now that he'd easily secured this highly regarded prize. "Secure him to this hover chair," Maul snapped to the nervous Sleg.
The Destroyer picked Obi-Wan up and plopped him into the chair, and then Sleg secured the unconscious man with thin binders. Maul leaned over and pushed Obi-Wan's head so it was resting against the back of the chair. "Tie his head back so I can see his face." Maul smirked.
"Now leave, I have other unfinished business that has arrived. I suggest you leave by the back door, unless you want to fight some of the best Jedi in their pathetic order."
Sleg didn't need to be told twice and they scurried out the back door.
Using the force Maul raised the hover chair, and set it down inside his ship, which was in the disused hanger, and then he stood on the ramp half way up putting his hands on his hips. He pulled his hood up over his head he waited for the arrival of the Jedi rescue party.
He didn't have long to wait, the Jedi crashed through the doors brandishing four lit sabres. Master Windu and Qui-Gon, circled to the left side of the ship, and Master Yoda and Xanatos came at the robed being from the right.
"At last"… Maul sneered and held out his own sabre igniting it, surprising the Jedi when it glowed crimson red.
Master Yoda spoke in answer to Mauls words. "Sith you are!"
"Pathetic the Jedi are, right under your nose I have been hiding." He removed his hood to show off his tattooed red face and the horns protruding from his head. "At last the time has come to reveal my self, 'yes', the Sith have returned."
Yoda stepped forward. "One that does not belong to you, taken you have. Return him to us you will!"
Maul laughed. "I think not, I've paid a considerable sum, to secure the services of the one you call Obi-Wan Kenobi,….He is no longer yours to keep, he belongs to me now!"
"Where is he what have you done to him?" snapped Qui-Gon as he stepped forward too.
Maul raised his sabre. "Stop or I will kill your precious Jedi right here," he snarled as the hover chair floated in the open space at the top of the ramp.
They all tamped their emotions down as the form of young Obi-Wan hovered in front of their eyes, his face and body was lax, and his eyes were shut. Qui-Gon stretched out, he could feel life, but he noticed a force inhibitor collar secured around Obi-Wan's neck.
"Take a good look, for you won't see him again. He will live, however he'll be in my service, he'll be treated as all Jedi should be, with contempt." he laughed as the four Jedi rushed towards him, he sent a flurry of force lightening at them, and as they ducked and jumped away Maul and Obi-Wan disappeared inside the ship.
The ramp closed before they could get to it, and the blast of the engines knocked them all back across the Hanger.
Qui-Gon screamed "No!" as the ship left the hanger and streaked away. He fell to his knees and cried out "No! Obi-Wan No!"
"Qui-Gon lets go!" Xanatos called out as he contacted his ship to pick them up. "If we hurry we'll be able to follow his trail." Qui-Gon followed Xanatos, Mace and Yoda intent on following the Sith who had taken Obi-Wan.
Nevertheless, Sleg and his men were waiting outside, and they were confident that they could capture these Jedi as well and claim another bounty from their client.
Xanatos was in no mood to negotiate and he fired on them before anyone could stop him. Xanatos killed two of them and the eight armed beast, and Mace wounded three, and Qui-Gon wounded Sleg and dragged him to one side. "Who was your client?" he growled at the Bounty hunter.
"Don't kill me!" he stuttered, "I'll tell you anything just don't kill me." Sleg cried.
"Who is he, and where can we find him?" Qui-Gon was loosing his patience.
"His name is Darth Maul, he insisted I call him 'My Lord' but I don't know where he's gone." Qui-Gon could sense Sleg's fear and knew that he didn't know anything.
Xanatos checked the navigation display, but there was no sign of Mauls ship. It had jumped to hyperspace and was out of tracking range and it was impossible to know where he was headed and much to their dismay the only course to set was back to Telos.
ooo
It was a solemn group that arrived to Xanatos home and Chas-Anna knew the moment she saw them that Obi-Wan was lost.
However, Anakin was so excited to see his mother that he forgot about Obi-Wan and rushed to her waiting arms. Eventually, Shmi told him the story and soon he was crying in his mothers arms over the loss of his best friend.
TBC