Chapter Twelve – A Problem And An Idea
Obi-Wan's ship touched down outside the Alliance's new base of operations. They would control all the battles the Alliance took place in from this base on the glorious planet of Telos. Yoda had chosen this base on Telos due to Telos' vast population, arms and money. The Empire wasn't likely to launch a full scale attack on Telos because of those three things. The population would arm themselves within seconds of being ordered to by the Alliance, and their money would contribute to the planet's survival if and when such a situation should present itself. This, added to the planets strategic position in the galaxy, made Telos the best choice for the base.
Obi-Wan pressed a button, and the glass shield that covered his head from three sides slid back. He lifted his arms out over the cockpit and used them to push himself up. He lifted his legs over the cockpit and slid off. He wrapped his robe around his body and threw his hood up over his head. His arms disappeared into his robes sleeves and crossed his arms. He looked up at the new base and marvelled at its size and look. It was at least ten stories high, and each wall was made entirely of glass panels, making it completely transparent. As he studied the building he could see masses of workers on each floor, some rushing around and some sitting at desks.
Obi-Wan began his approach towards the building. As he moved, he began to notice the humidity of the air on Telos. With every step he took, memories of his mission on Telos with his former Master flooded back to him. He and his former Master had gone to Telos of their own accord to find Xanatos after an assassination attempt he made on Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple. They had met him before, but this time proved to be the last time they would ever see him. He had committed suicide in a pool of acid after his plans were foiled once again. A few years later, Xanatos' son sought revenge for his father's death. He refused to believe that Xanatos killed himself, and he was eventually killed by Obi-Wan.
The doors to the building, also made of glass, slid open as Obi-Wan stepped on a mat that was placed just in front of the entrance. He stepped inside and threw his hood back. In front of him was a desk, and behind it were two armed guards. To the side of the desk were two more armed guards on each side. They all studied Obi-Wan and he could feel their eyes boring into him. He walked towards the desk. As he did, he noticed the guards placing a firmer grip onto their blasters. He placed his hands on the desk so the guards could see he was not holding any weapons.
"What is your business here stranger?" one of the guards behind the desk inquired.
"I was told to meet a friend here. His name is Master Yoda, and my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is the new base of Alliance operations?" The guards seemed to relax a little when he had finished speaking.
"Ah yes. We were told you expect you General Kenobi. My name is Dren Fraya, and I am chief of the buildings security. Please, make your way up to the top floor via the lift to your right." The guard pointed towards the lift, which was made out of glass as everything else was. "It is an honour to meet you General. I am glad we have you on our side." The guard extended his hand and Obi-Wan shook it. The guard had a firm handshake. Ob-Wan flashed him a polite smile.
"It's nice to meet you Chief Fraya." The guard raised a hand, all digits touching.
"Please, call me Dren."
"Very well Dren. However, if you insist on being called Dren, then I insist you call me Obi-Wan."
"You're the boss Gen – Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan gave the guard a nod of approval and headed for the lift. The doors slid open automatically and he stepped in. He selected the top floor, which was the tenth floor as Obi-Wan had guessed. The lift travelled up, and the doors slid open on the tenth floor. He stepped out and the lift returned to the ground floor. The whole floor was badly lit, and there were three beds set up on the far side. About fifteen paces in front of Obi-Wan, Master Yoda and Anakin were sitting opposite one another around a fairly large table. They turned to face Obi-Wan and he was greeted with beaming faces.
"Hello there!" Obi-Wan walked over to the table and took a seat in an unoccupied chair. He studied the table, and noticed that it was a screen, displaying a map of the galaxy. He noticed that a small amount of the planets were marked blue, and the majority were marked red.
"Welcome Master Obi-Wan. Well are you?"
"Very well Master Yoda." Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. "And how is my former apprentice today?"
"I'm feeling terrific Master." Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.
"Come now Anakin. I am not your Master any more. Try Obi-Wan instead." He chuckled as Anakin shot him an amused look.
"I'll never get used to calling you Obi-Wan. However, I will call you Obi-Wan in future if you insist," he retorted. The two men returned their gazes to Master Yoda.
"Know do you, what this map is?" Yoda tapped the table lightly with his gimmer stick. Obi-Wan looked at the map and stroked his beard.
"It appears to be a map of the galaxy Master. Would you care to fill me in on what those blue and red dots represent?"
"Represent Alliance planets the blue dots do, and represent the Empire the red dots do. Keep track of ally planets this map will. Make our job a little easier it will."
"I see," Obi-Wan said. He began to count the amount of blue dots on the map. "There are twenty six planets with the blue dots marked on them. That is a good start."
"Indeed it is Master Obi-Wan. While fighting you were, several other battles we won. Vital victories they were in our war on the Empire. I hear impressed the Emperor certainly was not." The wise Master let out a quiet laugh before turning his attentions back to the map. He began to point his gimmer stick at several blue points on the map.
"Achieved victories on these planets today we did. Several generals we have appointed. Into account we took the soldiers recommendations." Obi-Wan nodded.
"We have a number of attacks we have planned for tomorrow. We have despatched legions of troops to other planets. Under the guidance of their generals the troops will attack as soon as they land. By this time tomorrow we hope to have fifteen more planets part of the Alliance, giving us a grand total of forty one planets in the Alliance." Anakin reached down to the left of his seat and picked up a glass of water. He took a quick sip and cleared his throat before resuming his announcement.
"We do, however, have a problem." Anakin went silent. Yoda turned to Obi-Wan, who leaned forward in his seat. His features narrowed slightly.
"Go on Anakin." Anakin leaned forward in his seat in the same fashion as Obi-Wan.
"We have received word that the Empire is sending a fleet of two Imperial I-Class Star Destroyers, and in excess of one hundred thousand TIE fighters." Obi-Wan's mouth fell open. He had heard about the Imperial I-Class Star Destroyers. They were huge vessels armed with turbo lasers and ion cannons. Anakin couldn't resist cracking a smile.
"I remember my master once told me that I should shut my mouth unless I was trying to catch flies. With a face like that, you'd be very good at it Obi-Wan," he teased. Obi-Wan didn't understand how his former apprentice could be so calm.
"Anakin, you do realise a force of that size will destroy us all, don't you? We do not stand a chance for Force's sake!" Anakin laughed. Obi-Wan frowned.
"What is so funny?" he said. He was becoming exasperated. Yoda tried desperately to force
"We have our own little surprise that ought to even things up a little." Anakin paused a moment, and regained his composure. "On one of the planets that became part of the Alliance, our troops recovered our own deserted Star Destroyer. Quite lucky on our part, wouldn't you agree?" Obi-Wan leaned back in his seat and placed his left ankle on his right knee. He breathed a sigh of relief before answering the question.
"In my experience there is no such thing as luck." Anakin disregarded the comment with a shrug of his shoulders. Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair.
"Wait a moment. How many fighter ships do we have to fight the Empire's fleet? We must have quite a lot."
"Many fighters we have. Many different types we have recovered. Familiar with at least one, I am sure you will be Master Obi-Wan. Draw up a plan quickly we must, if we are to combat this deadly fleet. Careful we must be. Heavy losses we can not afford. Also, a temporary halt this will put on phase three of our original plan."
"I agree. We must come out and hit them with everything we have got, and more." Obi-Wan turned to face Anakin.
"Are you suggesting we send every single available fighter to fight the fleet?"
"Yes Master. If we hit them with everything we have, then we will surely win the battle. Their force is large, but our overall force is larger." Obi-Wan stroked his chin, deep in thought. He turned to Master Yoda.
"What do you think Master?" Yoda stayed silent for a few moments before answering.
"Like it I do not, but agree with Anakin's plan I do. Very little choice we have, unless a better plan you have thought of Obi-Wan?" Obi-Wan shook his head.
"Tactics we will discuss tomorrow. Tired we all are, and need our minds sharp we will if a cunning plan we are to draw up."
"Agreed. I did not get much sleep on the journey here, so a nice comfy mattress sounds like luxury to me." Obi-Wan said. He let out an exaggerated yawn, closed his eyes and let his head drop to his shoulder as if he was asleep. He lifted his head back up and opened his eyes again to see a grin on Anakin's face. Yoda turned to Anakin.
"Speak with Obi-Wan I must for a moment. Go to sleep you can. What we discuss now, you will find out about soon enough." Anakin stood up and bowed to each Master.
"Goodnight Master Yoda, Obi-Wan. See you in the morning."
"Sleep well," Obi-Wan said. Anakin turned on his heels and walked over to one of the beds. He took his tunic off so he was bare-chested, and took off his shoes. He lifted the sheets of his bed up and slid under them. He curled up in the sheets and put his head on the pillow. Looking on, Obi-Wan wished he could swap places with Anakin. The idea of sleep was very appealing to him.
"A long way in the last half a year young Anakin has. Fear I do, that the only Jedi left we are. A Jedi Council we will need if we are to rebuild the Jedi Order. Think Anakin should be on the Council I do." Obi-Wan was slightly taken aback and could not quite comprehend what he had just heard.
To be on the Council, a Jedi had to be a Jedi Master. In the days of the Old Jedi Order, Anakin had only been a Jedi Knight, although he had been Palpatine's representative on the Council. Obi-Wan didn't think Yoda would ever agree to Anakin being on the Council as a Master after his part in the Jedi Purge.
"You mean to say you feel Anakin has earned the rank of Jedi Master?"
"A tough time Anakin has been through. Refused to face the consequences for his actions he could have, but he did not. Chose to face them he did. Came back to the Light he did. Returned to the Light after immersed as fully in the Dark Side as he was, nobody has. A great achievement this is. For his actions in recent events, believe I do that the rank of Jedi Master he has earned. Agree with me, you do Obi-Wan?"
"Of course Master. Without a doubt. I just wasn't expecting it."
"Then settled it is. Tomorrow, a Jedi Master, young Anakin will be."
Author's Note: My lazy tendencies struck again unfortunately, so this chapter came a few days later than I had originally intended. Sorry about that. I did plan on finishing this chapter last night, but I got playing on my PS3 and time just flew on by.
The Emperor is not pleased. The Alliance is becoming too much of a problem for him. So he has sent a massive fleet to try and crush the Alliance before it becomes big enough to rival the Empire. Stay tuned for the space battle which is coming up. Talk about a massive hint.
I must say thanks to everyone who has taken time out of their schedule to read Redemption. I must also thank all of you who have added this story to your favourites list or your alerts list. I must thank everyone who has added my to your author alerts list. And finally, a massive thank you to everyone who has submitted a review. It really is appreciated. Please keep reading, please keep adding this story or me to your lists and please keep the reviews coming.
And now I will reply to all the reviews I received from that last chapter.
general-joseph-dickson: I agree, however, I have no plans to write a sex scene involving Sidious. It would be so wrong on so many levels, ha-ha. Thanks for your comments.
leias fan: I agree, Obi-Wan is cool. He is actually my favourite Star Wars character, and I plan on writing a fan fiction based around him after this one. Unless I do a sequel. Thanks for your comments.
PadawanMom: I am glad you enjoyed reading the battle. And, as I said above, Obi-Wan is a great character, so chapter eleven was particularly enjoyable for me to write. Thanks for your comments.
DarthKenObi-Wan: Ha-ha, sorry about that. I decided that 'Blood and Sweat' didn't sound as good as 'Blood, Sweat and Tears' but I'll make sure to keep the false advertising to a minimum in the future! Thanks for your comments.
ILDV: Thanks for your comments.
Alien Roxi: Alas, the Emperor is throwing his toys out of his pram. Ha-ha, he's never happy unless things are going his way. I didn't think Sidious got to use his lightsabre anywhere near as much as he should have in the films, so I suppose it was just an excuse to use it. Thanks for your comments.
Adrian Rinehart: No, he isn't. He healed after spending time in a bacta tank. In this fan fiction he wasn't maimed by Obi-Wan on Mustafar, but he was sliced across the chest by Obi-Wan's lightsabre which effectively ended the duel. I am glad you are enjoying Redemption. Thanks for your comments.
