Reviews: Review or I'll have Darth Maul come after you with his dual-bladed lightsaber. (Interesting fun fact: I am actually Darth Sidious. Emperor Palpatine is really just my public scapegoat. Don't tell any Jedi, though, because my lightsaber skills aren't what they once were.)
Author's Note: I seriously did my best with the final lightsaber battle, but action sequences aren't exactly my strength, so you have my sincere apologies if it isn't the best. I try my best but I don't always succeed. Sometimes I even fail.
By the way, I really do think that Obi-Wan confronted his own Dark Side when he was fighting Maul, so that's why I wrote the scene that way. I don't believe that he killed Maul in anger, though, but that's next chapter.
Warfare
At dawn, it began. At dawn, we were all born again in the fire. At least, those of us who survived were. The rest were consumed― roasted alive― by the blaze. As day broke after a tense night of fitful slumber for both the Naboo and the Gungans, the Gungan army started its march across the open fields to Theed.
Not long after the Gungans had marched off to combat the Trade Federation droids, Qui-Gon and I rendezvoused with Queen Amidala, who had donned a tunic and trousers like her handmaidens, Eritae, Rabe, Sabe, Captain Panaka, his security guards, several Naboo pilots who would fly the fighters that would assail the droid control ship, and young Skywalker. When I realized that Skywalker would be accompanying us, I felt unease course through me since I wasn't certain it was a brilliant idea to lead a pubescent lad into an enemy-occupied city while we attempted to liberate it. Then again, in the middle of a war, there weren't that many safe places to stow youths, and he certainly would be in more peril if he headed into battle with the Gungans. At least if he went into the city with us, he could find something to hide behind. Besides, I doubted that my Master would permit Skywalker to be slain in the crossfire…
Anyway, I wasn't going to engage in another dispute about the boy any time soon, since Skywalker had already been an object of far more contention than he was worth in my opinion. As the Queen led us toward the passages by the waterfall that fed into the city, Eritae slipped into step behind me.
"I never thought this day would come," she commented softly once we had exchanged nods. "I never thought that the day would arrive when war would reach Naboo, and where I would be an integral part of it…"
"But you were trained for such an eventuality," I pointed out, trying to soothe her, because it was best to go into a battle confident but not complacent. It was true anyway. I was positive that I had read that the Queen's handmaidens were taught enough martial arts to ensure that they would be able to defend themselves and their Queen. "Didn't you and the other handmaidens have to learn basic self-defense practices?"
"Yes, but I was only ever proficient in those lessons." Eritae offered me a slight, nervous grin as we continued on our journey across the plains. Now I could see Theed rising up in the east, but we did not head toward the urban center. Instead, we trailed the Queen as she traveled toward a cascading waterfall that was about a kilometer east of Theed. "Captain Panaka described me as being a 'basic marksperson', which essentially means that I can't hit a battleship wall― from the inside of the vessel."
At this point, we reached the waterfall, where Queen Amidala led us around its stone side. Suddenly, she halted before a durasteel panel that had been constructed to bear an uncanny resemblance to the rocky surface surrounding it. For a second, she rested her palm upon the panel, which receded until it disappeared into the ground.
Briskly, she strode into the passageway, which was arched, high enough to accommodate a male human, and wide enough to allow two healthy-sized humans to walk through it side-by-side. It had been carved from marble that was lined with moss and fungi that flourished in the damp atmosphere where nobody had come down to scour the walls in many decades. When Eritae and I followed Rabe and Sabe into the tunnel after the Queen, I discovered that the air was stale and dank, rendering it challenging to breathe.
Obviously, nobody had used this passageway in a very long time. Well, at least it hadn't caved in around us yet, and hopefully it wouldn't see fit to do so on our heads while we journeyed through it. Striving to erase such a notion from my mind, I resumed my exchange with the attractive young woman beside me.
"You don't have to be able to shoot the wall of the battleship," I observed dryly. "That's the job of the fighter pilots."
In the scant illumination afforded by the sunlight streaming in through the entrance that our comrades were still trailing though, I glimpsed her lips quirking upward as she replied, "I suppose you're right." Then she shook her head ruefully. "To you, I probably seem a perfectly weak dunce, becoming so emotional on the brink of a battle when you must have been through loads of them."
"I don't think you a weak or a fool," I countered, meaning every word. "Yes, I've been through so many battles that I can't even count them anymore, but before I go into one, there's always at least a second's hesitation. That pause isn't a weakness. It's a strength, because it shows you have a soul. I would think less of you if you didn't have compunctions about going to war."
"I don't know if I'll be able to do it," she confessed in a whisper. "I don't know if I'll be capable of killing."
"You can't kill inanimate objects like battle droids," I reminded her, "and you'll be able to do it. Once those Federation droids assault us, you'll see that there are things worth fighting for, and your home planet is among them."
"That's true. I have to rescue my family, my friends, and my fellow citizens. I can't just sit back and permit the Trade Federation to torture and murder them. I have to act," agreed Eritae, a trace of fervor entering her tone. Guilt soon followed as she went on, "But I do hope that the Gungans are okay. I mean, we almost drove them to extinction once before when we first colonized this world, and if we actually succeed in doing so now, I couldn't live with the shame."
"Don't be silly," I attempted to console her. "It won't be the Naboo that drives them to extinction if they are wiped out in this war. Rather, it will be the fault of the Trade Federation. They're the ones who invaded this world, and they attacked the Gungan city. If the Naboo and the Gungans had not banded together, the Trade Federation would just have found it easy to crush you both."
"You made me feel better. Thank you for that. I really like you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's a pity that Jedi can't marry, isn't it?"
In the pale light emitted by the glow rod the Queen had switched on once everyone had entered the passage and the panel had closed in our wake, I could see that there was a hint of regret in her expression that changed this comment from a jest to an earnest remark.
"Yes, it's a pity that Jedi can't marry," I assented in a murmur, but I wasn't thinking of the pretty young lady striding alongside me. To tell the truth, I was picturing another blonde girl with azure eyes and a quick wit. I was envisioning Siri― the Padawan that was two years my junior but who had been so talented with a lightsaber that she had been placed in my lightsaber classes.
We had been on several missions together, and while we had started out as rivals, we had mastered the knack of cooperating with each other so well that we had become friends. No, not friends, that was the problem. I did not feel the same around Siri as I did around Bant, and Siri didn't treat me the same as she did Garen or Reeft.
With her, I was even more of a rule abider, and with me, she was always more mocking than she was with anybody else. Since she couldn't be coy, she had to settle for derisive, and since I was unable to be complimentary, I had to be pompous. We had fallen into the rhythm of best friends so that nobody would ever discover the secret that we had finally acknowledged on a doomed spaceship without our Masters― the truth that we loved each other, and the truth that, besides us, only Qui-Gon and Yoda have ever learned. Behaving as if we were merely friends protected us from acting on emotions that we weren't supposed to even possess. Now we never mentioned what had passed between us when we had imagined that our deaths were only minutes away.
Since I knew that I couldn't have both her and the Jedi, I had given her up for the Jedi, just as she had given me up to serve in the Jedi Order. All the lives I could save and improve amounted to more to me than Siri and my happiness together, and she harbored similar sentiments, which was part of the reason why I had loved her so much. Still, if I could have been a Jedi and her husband, that would have been wonderful…
Rolling my eyes at my own folly as the pathway we were walking upon rose steeply because we were nearing the exit into the city, I ordered myself to return to my senses because they were starting to miss me. If I could have all my wishes become reality, then there would be no need for Jedi because there would be no warfare and no injustice, and, therefore, there would be no reed for Jedi. If Jedi weren't required, then I could have had Siri. Yet, all my wishes would not come true, and there would always be situations that demanded Jedi attention. This meant that my duty to the Jedi Order always superseded my feelings for Siri, just as her duty always was a higher priority than her feelings for me.
I had just finished re-hammering my commitment to the Jedi Order into my head when we arrived at the end of the passageway. Again, Queen Amidala placed her palm against the durasteel, which faded into the ground, allowing us to move out of the wall of a building a block away from the royal palace.
As we emerged from the wall of the edifice, we split up with Captain Panaka and his security officers heading away from us to approach the palace in a different direction to create the planned diversion for the rest of us. Those of us in Queen Amidala's contingent crept through Theed, sticking to the shadows as much as possible, and, five minutes later, we were all crouched behind walls and statues outside the entrance to the palace hangar.
Once we were all in position, the Queen switched on the glow rod that she had turned off when we had snuck into the city, and gestured to Captain Panaka, whose group was concealed behind the far hangar wall, indicating that we were ready for the diversion.
Captain Panaka motioned back, showing that the attack would commence in a moment. Seeing the gesture, Qui-Gon and I ignited our lightsabers, as those around us withdrew their blasters from their holsters.
The next instant, Captain Panaka's soldiers opened fire upon the battle droids stationed in the plaza outside the palace, shattering the metal bodies in a maelstrom of laser fire. In response, other droids wheeled about and began firing upon Captain Panaka and his men, drawn toward the source of the conflict and, thus, away from us.
So that had gone according to plan, I thought as I charged toward the hangar with the other members of Queen Amidala's group, deflecting any stray bolts that flew our way. Yet, the realization that everything had gone according to plan thus far did not lessen the discomfiture that I had felt ever since I had entered Theed. There was a massive disturbance in the Force, and what was more it was stemming from the palace. Why this was, I wasn't sure. All I knew as that it was true, and that I would therefore have to be even more alert than I typically was in a battle.
As we raced through the open doors of the palace hangar, battle droids stationed inside it whirled about to confront us. However, since we all had our weapons drawn, we were able to disable the foremost droids before the others really recognized the threat. In response to our assault, the droids rallied and summoned help from outside, but Panaka and his men had those in the plaza already preoccupied. As such, for a moment, our tiny militia was in control, but, if the warning emanating from the Force was any indication, our advantage wouldn't long endure. That meant we really ought not to become complacent.
"Get to your ships!" I heard the Queen bark at her pilots from behind me as Qui-Gon and I deflected the bolts that the droids fired at her. Since we had only been granted authority to shield the Queen, we did not attack the droids directly. Instead, we just blocked all the shots that were aimed at her. It was just a coincidence that just about every bullet we parried incapacitated a droid.
While I continued to deflect blaster bolts, I spotted out of the corner of my eye the Naboo pilots dart across the hangar toward their fighters. Most of them reached their ships and were able to take off, although a couple of them collapsed onto the marble floor, clutching their chests and stomachs where bullets had pierced them, staining the floor crimson with their blood. About half of the remaining pilots were roasted alive before they were even out of sight when their ships were shot by Federation anti-aircraft measures, and their vessels suddenly became an inferno to rival the hells described by many religions throughout the galaxy. I wouldn't think about how those pilots had suffered in their final moments, and I wouldn't contemplate how many more of them would perish in mere minutes when they attacked the Droid Control Ship. Such thoughts were a distraction, and distractions in a battle like this could have fatal consequences for myself and others. If there was one item that we didn't require more of today it was death.
The sight of their fellows being callously gunned down seemed to spur the Naboo on to greater heights rather than to dishearten them. Their shots became even more accurate, and Queen Amidala was so brilliant with her gun that she was as excellent a shot as most of the soldiers I had encountered in my travels. Her handmaidens Rabe and Sabe were almost as skilled as she was, and even Eritae managed to hold her own against the battle droids. I hoped that she would continue to do so, because I didn't want her to die. A passionate and clever young lady liked her deserved to live even if she was determined to spoil herself on politics.
Not long after the fighters had soared out of the hangar on their mission to eliminate the Droid Control Ship, Captain Panaka and his men dashed into the room. Apparently, they had destroyed the legion of droids in the plaza, and with their assistance, we were able to dispatch the remaining droids in the hangar rapidly.
"What's the fastest route to the throne room?" my Master demanded once all the droids had been mowed down.
"Through that door over there," answered Captain Panaka, pointing toward an alloy door at the far end of the chamber. As we all crossed the room on our way to the exit he indicated, Skywalker poked his sandy head out of the fighter he had hidden himself in during the skirmish and hollered, "Hey, wait for me!"
"No, Annie, you stay there," Qui-Gon ordered, turning back for a second. Halting as well, I groaned inwardly, wishing that Skywalker would use his head since there was a reason that he had been given brains not rocks to furnish his skull with. Honestly, hadn't the sight of pilots being killed all around in him in grotesque fashions been enough to compel him to conclude that hanging around the beings that droids were interested in killing wasn't exactly a high-survival rate endeavor? Once he had reached elementary conclusion, we could move on and accomplish our mission, preferable before whatever was emanating that ominous sensation in the Force could catch up with us…
"But I―" protested Skywalker, starting to climb down the ladder out of his fighter.
"Stay in that cockpit," Qui-Gon repeated. The clipped tone in which he issued this command alerted me more clearly than words to the fact that he, too, must have sensed the disturbance in the Force.
Skywalker hesitated, eyeing my Master imploringly. When he encountered only the unyielding gaze that I had been greeted with on countless occasions as a Padawan, he sighed, pouted, and returned to the relative safe haven of the cockpit. Well, that got the brat out from under our feet so we wouldn't trip over him, I noted as Qui-Gon and I started to follow the Naboo again.
However, we had barely traveled a step when I froze again. One of Captain Panaka's sentries had opened the alloy door and was gaping at the sight that greeted him. I couldn't blame him for doing so, for as my eyes lighted upon the cause of his horror, my mouth fell open as well.
Standing in the doorway was a dark, cowled Zabrak, or what once had been a Zabrak. Now, it was hard to discern his precise species since he had tattooed his face with jagged lines of scarlet and midnight black. His eyes were a terrifying blend of crimson and yellow, and every other tooth was painted obsidian, no doubt to foster the image that half of his teeth were moldering in his mouth. All in all, he was so revolting that words really couldn't do justice to him, and I wanted nothing more than to clap my hands over my eyes at the sight of him. Yet, I couldn't do that because I couldn't let him realize that he had any power over me whatsoever.
Anyway, it wasn't the sheer ugliness of the Zabrak that appalled me. It was the menace that surrounded him. In the Force, I could feel that this was an organism who had a hollow cavity where most of the inhabitants of the galaxy had a soul or heart of some kind. If that was possible, he was even worse than the Neimoidans or the Hutts. At least those beings killed others with the objective of attaining more money, but it was plain that the Zabrak before us murdered and tortured others just for the entertainment value. It was obvious that he relished killing because it provided him with a sense of power.
Apparently, the Sith Lord really wished to have Queen Amidala dead for some reason because he wouldn't be here otherwise. That meant that if we desired to protect the Queen as our mandate dictated, we would have to engage this monster in a duel. I certainly wasn't looking forward to a confrontation with an opponent who had given my Master a run for his credits, but I had no choice. Well, it was just as well that I wasn't looking forward to this battle, as only those who had crossed over to the Dark Side really enjoyed a battle to the death, and that's what lightsaber battles between the Jedi and the Sith always resulted as.
Numbly, I threw of my cloak because I wouldn't need it any time in the immediate future. From the appearance of my foe's lean body, I knew he would be an acrobat who would keep me leaping, which would certainly build up a sweat, and a person overheated in a cloak much faster than they did in a tunic. Overheating led to exhaustion, and exhaustion wasn't an asset in a duel with a Sith. Besides, cloaks hampered agility and I already saw that a bit of extra maneuverability wouldn't be amiss in this fight.
"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon informed the stunned Naboo as he tossed off his cloak as well.
The menacing figure in the doorway also tugged off his cape as Queen Amidala announced with as much confidence as she could muster through her shock that her people would take the long route to the throne room. Personally, I thought this was a bright idea. After all, we had perhaps five or ten more minutes before the reinforcements the droids had requested would arrive, so now was the time to seize the viceroy before more droids were added to the fray. Since time was limited, they really didn't have time to wait for us to defeat the Sith Lord before they moved onto the throne room, assuming that we would dispatch the Sith Lord at all…
As the Queen, Captain Panaka, the guards, and the handmaidens hurried out of a side door on their way to the throne room where the viceroy was probably cowering and hoping that the conflict would not reach him, the Sith Lord whipped out his lightsaber, which was as crimson as his tattoos. Reflexively, Qui-Gon and I ignited our own blades, but we didn't attack because Jedi never attacked first. After all, there was always a chance that the enemy would decide not to fight us, and Jedi pursued non-violent solutions to problems whenever possible. In this case, it was plain that the Sith wanted nothing more than to begin a lengthy session of negotiations because he was obviously a pacifist at the core of his being, I observed sardonically.
Although the Sith made no move to diffuse the conflict, he did surprise me when he thumbed the hilt of his weapon again, and another scarlet beam burst out of the other end of his lightsaber. When I glanced sidewise at my Master, I saw a similar expression of amazement etched on his features. Obviously, the Sith Lord had not utilized a double-bladed lightsaber when he combated my Master on Tatooine. Even then, he must have known that he would have to face the Jedi again and wanted to have a wild card stowed up his sleeve for such an eventuality.
Fighting an adversary with a dual-blade would be even more challenging, since every Jedi I had ever sparred against only employed one lightsaber at a time. Therefore, I had no familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of the double-bladed approach. I'd have to learn as I went along. Wonderful. There was nothing like learning on the fly in the middle of a life-or-death experience, and that was probably a fortunate thing.
With a feral grin, the Sith Lord pounced forward, his lightsaber flashing, as one beam attacked me and the other assailed Qui-Gon. As we both blocked the strike and countered with blows of our own, I thought that the fight was on now.
So this is a Sith Lord, I noted as we battled our way across the hangar floor, lightsabers weaving as we all brought to bear every trick that we had acquired over the years. Well, I was not in any hurry to meet another one.
Qui-Gon and I attempted repeatedly to press the attack, and, indeed, the Sith Lord was retreating away from the starfighters toward the hangar's rear wall. Yet, I recognized that, while it might appear as if us Jedi were driving him, it was actually he that was dominating the confrontation. He was just playing with his the way an akk dog fiddled around with his chew toy before devouring it, and that was an encouraging comparison to have in mind while I battled such a deadly foe.
Wheeling, spinning, jumping, and somersaulting with the natural grace of a sand panther, our enemy was merely redirecting the sight of the conflict to an arena of his own choosing. Then, he would close in for the kill. It was his agility and dexterity that permitted him to keep both of us at bay and that allowed him to constantly assail us while he managed to effectively blunt any of our counterattacks.
At the outset of the battle, Qui-Gon had pressed hard, sensing how dangerous this man was and wanting to put an end to the combat quickly. With his long hair trailing behind him, my Master had attacked with ferocity and determination. Following his lead, I had attacked as well. However, when we discovered that our best efforts were not enough to achieve an early resolution, we settled into a pattern, working as a team against our adversary and waiting to exploit any opening that appeared. However, the Sith Lord was too skilled with his weapon to let down his guard even for a fraction of a second, and so the battle continued on.
We fought our way out of the main hangar through an entry that led into a power station. Catwalks and overhangs crisscrossed a pit in which a tandem of generators that served the royal palace was housed. The room was cavernous and filled with the noise of heavy machinery as it generated the power necessary to service this facility. Ambient light filtered away in clouds of steam and layers of shadow.
Qui-Gon and I forced our opponent onto one of the catwalks suspended above the generator, and the metal frame rang with the thudding of our boots and the clash of our lightsabers. Alone in this power station, our struggle intensified.
The Sith Lord vaulted from the bridge on which we fought to the one above it, his bizarre face shining with the fervor of the battle and his own peculiar euphoria at being engaged in mortal combat with us. It was clear that he regarded it as a joy to have the opportunity to kill two Jedi, since he must have inherited his order's hatred for the organization that had given birth to it. Because the Jedi had spawned the Sith as much as hard as it was to believe, given that the orders were essentially antithesis of each other. We had created our own gravest enemy. There was a lesson there somewhere, but I didn't have time to figure it out now. I would discover the answer later, assuming there was a later, of course.
We followed him onto the catwalk with Qui-Gon landing in front of the Sith, and I touching down behind our adversary, so that we had him pinned between us for a time. Down the length of the catwalk, we exchanged attacks and parries, our weapons blazing, and sparks flying from the metal riling of the walk as we smashed against it in the heat of the battle.
Exhaustion was beginning to slow my movements, and my reflexes were becoming less honed. This allowed the Sith Lord to catch me off balance and land a powerful kick on my chest that sent me soaring over the railing. My body hurt where he had kicked it savagely, and summoning the Force to soften my fall seemed like an awful lot of effort at the moment. Fortunately, I only fell three levels before I rammed into another suspension bridge. When I saw that I was going to smash into the metal catwalk, I mustered the energy necessary to flip over so that I would land on my stomach not my back. Odds were that I wouldn't break my stomach when I touched down upon it, but the same wasn't true of my spinal cord.
Although my stomach couldn't be broken by landing on the catwalk, the force of the touchdown was enough to knock all the wind out of me. For a long moment, I just lay there on the bridge, then I shoved myself to my feet. The battle was still raging between my Master and the Sith on the catwalk three levels above me. As I gathered the Froce around me, preparing to leap up to rejoin the fray, I observed that the distance had seemed much shorter when I had fallen but now that I had to jump it, it appeared very long indeed.
Get going, I snapped at myself, as my Master tailed the Sith Lord down the catwalk and toward a small door at the far end of the power station. As my muscles complied and I jumped up to the suspension bridge three levels above, I noticed that Qui-Gon was worn and battered, close to exhaustion, but he also had the Sith Lord on the defensive at last.
"Master!" I called after him as I landed on the catwalk. I wanted him to wait up for me so that I could reinforce him because I had regained some of my energy during the brief respite of Sith absence. However, Qui-Gon did not slow, obviously convinced that he could not relent his attack now that he had the Sith on the run.
One by one, the three of us passed through the tiny door into the corridor behind, with me bringing up the rear several meters behind the Qui-Gon. Since we were moving so quickly in our frenzied chase, we were into the hallway before it dawned on us what it was― a corridor loaded with lethal force fields that were designed to prevent unauthorized personnel and droids from entering this area. As none of us had entered a proper code to disable the force fields, a series of them slammed down throughout the corridor. The Sith Lord, who had gotten the farthest, was trapped between the fourth and fifth force fields. My Master, who had been right on his heels, was caught only one force field behind. Meanwhile I, who had been a considerable distance behind Qui-Gon, hadn't even gotten past the first one.
Blast it, I cursed to myself as I froze instantly. I definitely didn't want to charge into the force field. It packed enough electrical energy to kill me after only a millisecond's contact. Well, talk about an electrifying experience, I commented dismally, as I saw that my Master and the Sith Lord were also shocked into immobility by the abrupt buzz and flicker of lasers. Like me, they casted about for an escape from their present situation, and found none. All of us would have to wait for the force fields to lower again before we could continue the pursuit and the confrontation. For now, we were stuck in this tableau.
These force fields have to come down sometime soon, I hissed to myself as my impatience mounted. The adrenaline of battle was demanding that I take action immediately, and it was challenging for me to reign it in.
My impatience turned to unease when I saw Qui-Gon kneel down and meditate while he waited for the force fields to go down again. Although I was aware that the Force would tip him off when the force fields were about to rise again, I was terrified by the sight of him bending down to mediate in the middle of a battle. Some Jedi liked to mediate before a fight but my Master had never been among them, so to see him like this drove home the point that he was tired. The fact that he was exhausted caused my muscles to tense with foreboding because my Master's lightsaber style relied upon him maintaining his stamina. Ataru depended upon gymnastic stunts that required energy to perform, and his odds of winning this battle decreased considerably if he was exhausted.
When I glanced at the Sith Lord, I saw that he was at his prime, flushed with the high of battle, his eyes burning with excitement. No exhaustion was exhaustion was apparent on his features, and he would doubtlessly display the same ceaseless ferocity in the next segment of the conflict as he had previously.
Oh, Master, get up, I pleaded with him as I sensed that the force fields were about to rise again, but he must have had the same forewarning I did, for he rose, and drew his weapon again. A second after he regained his footing, the force fields receded again, and, as I raced down the corridor, trying desperately to catch up with my Master and the Sith Lord, as the battle resumed between Qui-Gon and the Sith.
I made it down most of the hallway before I heard the whir of the capacitors kicking in once more, cycling to reactivate the force fields. Impulsively, I thrust myself ahead, even though I knew logically that I was too far from the corridor's end to make it out and rejoin the others in the confrontation they were embroiled in beside the melting pit. To my aggravation, I managed to clear all the fields but the final one, which slammed down before me a mere second before I could have dashed by it. Compelled to halt abruptly by the arrival of the lethal force field, I called myself nine types of idiot.
Why in the name of all that was good in the galaxy couldn't I have moved just a touch faster? Then, I could have been out there, helping my tiring Master. That was where I belonged, not here, reflecting that I now really comprehended the trite aphorism that we lived or died on seconds. Relax, I instructed myself sternly. The force fields will disappear again in a moment or two, just like they did last time. Then I would be able to re-enter the battle.
I couldn't relax, though― not here, not now. Clutching my lightsaber tightly in an attempt to release some of my anxiety, I watched helplessly as Qui-Gon and our enemy battled on the narrow ledge that encircled the melting pit. A stream of electrons was all that separated me from the combatants, but it might as well have been a permacrete wall three meters thick.
I have always loathed chemistry, I complained as I desperately searched for a triggering device that might shut the system down. Unfortunately, I had no better luck in this endeavor than I had at the other end. Really, this should have been no surprise since fortune never favored me, and it certainly hadn't in this battle, which was why I was imprisoned in the force field at all, as useless as a woodpecker with rubber lips when it came to assisting my Master.
All I could do was watch, wait, and hope that Qui-Gon could hold on until I could join him. It appeared that he could do so. He must have found new reserves of strength to tap during his mediation, and now he was attacking with such ferocity that the Sith seemed to have been stymied. With rapid, decisive strokes, my Master bored into his adversary, intentionally engaging in close-quarters combat, so that the Sith Lord could not bring his double-bladed weapon to bear to his advantage. My Master might no longer be young, but he was still powerful, I reminded myself as the Sith's ragged face adopted a frenzied look of a caged wildcat and the glitter in his disconcerting eyes became one of uncertainty.
Bravo, Master, you really don't need my help after all, I approved silently, as I watched, anticipating each of Qui-Gon's lightsaber strokes as though they were my own. I knew exactly what he was going to do before he did it, because I had sparred with him and fought by his side so many times, just as he knew every move I would make before I acted in a duel as well.
I saw the Sith Lord back-flip across the melting pit, retreating to gain space in which to recover, earning just enough time to assume a new battle stance before Qui-Gon was on him again, covering the distance between them in a rush and hammering into the Sith anew. Yet, I could discern that he was beginning to weary now from carrying on the struggle alone; his strokes were not as vigorous as before, and his face was bathed with sweat and taut with fatigue. He really did need me, and where was I? Trapped behind a force field where I could be of the utmost service to nobody.
As impatience swelled inside me once more, I beheld how the Sith Lord started to edge his way back into the fight, gradually becoming the aggressor once again. Hurry, I ordered the force fields soundlessly because I hadn't progressed to the level of insanity where I addressed inanimate objects aloud, although that would happen soon if I wasn't released from my prison in the immediate future. The force fields obstinately refused to accede to my command, and I watched as Qui-Gon and the Sith Lord, tied up in a lethal dance, circled around the rim of the melting pit, locked up in a combat that seemed eternal that neither could emerge the victor from.
Then, the Sith Lord parried a downstroke, pivoted swiftly to the right, and, with his back to my Master, made a blind reverse lunge. Too late, Qui-Gon spotted the danger. The blade of the Sith Lord's lightsaber pierced him directly in the midsection, its shining light burning through clothing, flesh, and bone.
Qui-Gon made no sound as the blade penetrated him. He stiffened with the impact, took a small step backward, and stood motionless for an instant, fighting against the shock of the blow. Then his keen eyes misted over, his arms lowered, and a tremendous weariness settled over his proud features. He dropped to his knees, and his lightsaber clattered to the stone floor.
"NO!" A voice howled, reverberating like the cry of a wounded sand panther. For a second, I imagined that someone had given vent to my own anguish in that shout of desperate denial. Then I recognized that the screamer was me.
Before I had an opportunity for any further thought, the force fields lowered, and I charged forward to face the Sith Lord alone. Even though I was alone, I wasn't afraid. I would avenge my Master. I would kill the being who had done this to Qui-Gon. I was as powerful as he was, and my motivation was now stronger. I would win this battle. The Force told me so and it was never mistaken.