Chapter 14.
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ErinKenobi2893:Yes another step in educating the council, they don't like to be wrong.
Jessica Darby:Yes there is another chapter, quite a few to come.
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(Thoughts italics)
000
Qui-Gon tossed in a fitful sleep, as his mind worked overtime to analyse the vivid images popping up. The pain he'd experienced felt like the invasive pain Maul subjected him to in the reactor room on Naboo, only this time it felt more powerful.
His memories of the encounter rushed to the front of his mind and the agonizing reality hit him. Obi-Wan is in great danger, Palpatine is a sith and somehow they have formed a symbiotic relationship. One, not of Obi-Wan's choosing; I must help him!
His body felt lethargic as he struggled to open his eyes, blinking several times getting used to the light shining down on him from the ceiling. He glanced to the side feeling disorientated; it was dark outside and he wondered how long he'd been unconscious.
He tried to drag himself up to a sitting position, but his head and chest ached and each movement sent dizziness through him.
He gathered the Force around him slipping into a healing trance; it was the logical thing to do, if he was going to help Obi-Wan survive this ordeal.
Breathing deeply he released his fear and worry to the Force drawing in the healing flow and let it bind him and fill him.
A bright glow flittered around the edges of his trance, he watched it seep through into his aura, and a fleeting plea broke the silence. It was Obi-Wan begging for help and he stretched out to touch the glowing orb, but it disappeared.
Qui-Gon rose quickly from his trance and although his head and chest were sore he was able to sit up and he reached for the call button summoning Healer Ba'han.
000
"Qui-Gon, how are you feelin-?"
"Ba'han I must go back to see Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon said cutting him off.
"Absolutely not and besides he's been sedated, we added a stronger sedative to his food and this time he will sleep until morning. I also injected him with a Force depressant so he can't purge the drug from his system. Now Qui-Gon let me check your vitals and then I'll get you something to drink; you're probably dehydrated."
Qui-Gon felt his frustration rise. Ba'han was a good healer, but he was a stubborn man and sometimes wouldn't listen to reason and although Qui-Gon felt relieved that Obi-Wan wasn't in pain at the moment, he knew that once he woke the sith would begin his relentless mind probe again.
"Ba'han, I know you believe you're doing the right thing with Obi-Wan, but I have information that will help him; will you listen to me for a few moments and then tell me what you think?"
Ba'han poured some water and gave it to him. "Here drink this and then because I know how stubborn you are I will listen, but I doubt very much that I'll change my mind."
Qui-Gon didn't realise how thirsty he was until the cool water slipped down his parched throat. He relished the thirst-quenching liquid as Ba'han sat down. He sensed an air of frustration radiating from the healer, and he needed to stay calm and explain to him what he believed had happened to Obi-Wan.
"When you took me to see Obi-Wan I reached him through our bond and we were communicating."
"You got through to him?"
"Yes, briefly, he is in internal pain, something evil has him in its grip."
"Yes Qui-Gon I felt that too and I think that something happened to him in the chambers and it filled him with dark urges."
"No! Not dark urges; I heard a voice and it wasn't Obi-Wan's. It told me to get out of Obi-Wan's head. Obi-Wan tried to stop it and raised his shields; I felt them, and that is when, whatever has Obi-Wan it its grip pushed me back across the room. I know what is wrong with Obi-Wan and I have to tell the council…Now!"
Ba'han didn't believe there was any point in arguing with Qui-Gon, and he did want to speak to Yoda about Obi-Wan as well.
"You actually believe you know what wrong with him?" Ba'han said letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Yes I do and I must speak to the council!"
"Very well, I will contact Master Yoda."
Healer Ba'han was surprised when Master Yoda asked him to bring Qui-Gon up to the council chambers immediately.
000
"Qui-Gon, Healer Ba'han," Mace greeted them both as the healer pushed Qui-Gon's hover chair into the chambers.
"We've been studying the holo-vid evidence and it proves that Obi-Wan killed the chancellor in defence of his own life. We were just discussing what we can do for your padawan."
Qui-Gon felt a weight lifting off his shoulders; he'd been expecting an argument with them as he'd had with Ba'han. Now he was able to release his tension to the Force and took a releasing breath.
"Qui-Gon you believe you know what is wrong with Obi-Wan?"
"Yes Mace, I know it will sound far fetched, but I believe that Sidious has transferred his essence into Obi-Wan's head."
"Sidious, what is a 'Sidious?" Mace asked.
Qui-Gon realised he was getting ahead of him self and he reigned in his anxiety and thought about how to explain. "Mace you said that you have video of Palpatine's death; can we watch it?"
Mace turned it on and Qui-Gon watched it intently, feeling sick when Sidious gripped Obi-Wan's head. "Can you pause that?"
The tape stopped and Qui-Gon pointed to Palpatine. "His sith name is Darth Sidious, his apprentice Darth Maul gripped my head in much the same way and because I was badly injured I was unable to prevent him from mind melding with me."
"A mind meld! Invasive and devastating when used by a sith it would be." Master Yoda stated.
"Yes Master, he ripped into my memories and his own thoughts mingled with mine. The apprentice revealed the identity of his master to me and I believe Maul was about to kill me when Obi-Wan attacked him, causing him to release his hold on me."
"So Palpatine was in the process of extracting Obi-Wan's memories when he was killed?"
"Yes and although I don't know how it happened I suspect that at the moment of Palpatine's death he was literally inside Obi-Wan's mind sifting through it and his spirit became trapped there. Somehow, Sidious has transferred his essence into Obi-Wan.
Mace played the video until the moment of death and replayed it in slow motion.
"There! See Palpatine's fingers, he's digging them in as the sabre entered his neck and severed his head, and you're right there's a dark shadow visibly entering Obi-Wan's forehead."
Ba'han was a healer not a historian and he was sceptical. "It's just a shadow formed by the lights flickering, isn't it?"
When he didn't get an answer straight away he asked another question. "Surely you can't imagine that the sith has cheated his own death and that shadow is him going into Obi-Wan?.. That's impossible!"
Yoda tapped his cane on the floor, "Impossible you say; not so I say. A possibility it may be and keep our minds open to any and all possibilities we should."
"Qui-Gon you were unconscious when this happened to Obi-Wan what makes you so certain that this has occurred?" Mace asked.
"When I was unconscious I thought I was dead, and when I felt Obi-Wan's pain I thought he'd died too, so I found myself waiting for him to join me. I was surprised when a shimmering image of a Jedi Master appeared and I am convinced he was a Force Spirit."
"A force spirit, Qui-Gon you were delusional and in pain, you probably dreamt it?" Ba'han blurted out.
"At first that was my assumption too, but as you know the existences of spirits have been recorded in the archives for millennia and I am an avid believer that with the right training, any of us could gain this knowledge. I am convinced that I truly spoke to him. He told me that Obi-Wan was important and the future of the Jedi order had been placed in his hands, but circumstances arose which the Force did not anticipate and if he was left to battle this insidious threat alone, he will succumb to the evil that is within him."
"It does sound farfetched Qui-Gon!" Healer Ba'han said and several councillors seemed to agree with the healer.
"No, I sense it's true and I must act on the warning. We have been complacent far too long and as Jedi we insist that we know everything there is to know about the Force and we tend to find easy answers to things that we don't understand. Like this; I know some of you are sceptical; Healer Ba'han is, but we must delve deeper into the Force and open our minds to all possibilities."
"Agree with Master Qui-Gon I do, who in this room sensed that Palpatine a sith he was!" Yoda said hitting the floor with his cane.
That revelation had them glancing around it was certain that none of them had any notion that Palpatine was anything but a politician.
Mace nodded. "I am sure I speak for all of us, in saying that we wouldn't have believed anyone who tried to convince us he was a sith! Qui-Gon is correct we have been complacent."
"What can we do Qui-Gon? Do you know how to purge the sith's essence from Obi-Wan?" Mace asked.
"I don't but the spirit said that we have the means to do so. His words confused me, but he said, deep within and beyond the barrier find, the vessel there you will. Knowledge should never be privileged for a few…Understanding and awareness of information is essential to learn and harness the force in it's entirety." Qui-Gon said.
Mace repeated some of the words. "Deep within and beyond the barrier find the vessel there you will?"
"A vessel you say! Knowledge should be shared, not for the privileged, but for all." Master Yoda said slowly.
"What knowledge isn't shared with all?" Adi Gallia asked.
"All the data and information we have is stored in the holocron vaults, but not all Jedi have access to them." Mace said. "There are holocron's that are locked in vaults deep within the temple behind a code locked barrier. Only the council have access to the lowest level vaults."
"Master Windu, right he may be, too busy we have been and neglected our studies we have. Go to the vaults we should!" Yoda said rising from his seat.
.
000
.
It was late in the evening when they opened the lower level vault, the lighting automatically brightened the main hall and around the walls were stone containers stacked upon one another reaching to the roof. Writting on the outer face of each container indicated what was in the holocron within and a carved diamond shape in the centre with a glowing blue orb. By touching the orb the entire box slid out to be levitated across the room to a large platform where an examination of the holocron within could take place.
'There are so many holocrons to choose from, how will we know which one will give us the information?" Mace whispered reverently taking in the sight of thousands of glowing orbs.
Qui-Gon was feeling stronger and he rose from the hover chair and walked to the central data storage computer. He hadn't been in here before and he wasn't sure what he was looking for either, but he had faith that the Force would show him.
They waited while Qui-Gon closed his eyes and sought the force. He had to control his worry for Obi-Wan and delve into the flow. While he did, a vision came to him.
He was in a vault and one of the orbs began to glow. It wasn't in this room as the markings on the wall were different. The glowing orb encompassed the room and he noticed a winding stone staircase in one corner. He pulled out of his trance and lurched forward.
Healer Ba'han was standing close by and he steadied Qui-Gon. "You're still weak; you should remain in the hover chair."
Qui-Gon nodded and then turned to Master Yoda. 'The holocron we are looking for is not in this room, is there a lower level with a stone staircase?"
"A lower level there is, but of no use are the holcron's in that chamber, disassembled they have been; inactive they are."
"I feel certain that is where we have to go." Qui-Gon said.
Yoda searched Qui-Gon's face and knew he should follow Qui-Gon's lead. "Very well, Master Windu, go there we will." He said to Mace, who entered the code and the locking mechanisms holding the doors closed buzzed and clicked and then the large door creaked and slowly opened.
"No-one has entered this chamber for a hundred years; not since the keeper of the Whill's came to the temple with a strange looking holocron and asked us to keep it safe. Master Bodo Baas the Chief Librarian at the time received it and it's been in here ever since."
Qui-Gon rose from his chair, descended the stairs slowly, and headed for the central data consol. The lights glowed around the wall and he recognised the markings on the wall matched his vision, pressing the screen the last entry popped up and he touched it. A blue glow lit up the room and the box opened, Mace levitated it and placed it on the bench. Inside were the pieces of a strange shaped holocron.
Qui-Gon picked up the metal component that housed a crystal and he touched it searchingly. He sensed an aura of the previous crystal and he knew immediately what was required.
Mace watched with intrigue as Qui-Gon fit the pieces together. At the base, Qui-Gon inserted the metal component and turned it over in his hands. It was a hexagonal shaped light blue holocron. "That's the holocron the keeper of the Whills brought here near hundred years ago."
"Curious it is that choose this one you have Qui-Gon." Yoda said quietly.
"I feel it Master Yoda, and if I'm not mistaken I know what crystal has to go in here." He said pointing to the empty housing.
"Mace do you still have Palpatine's sabre?"
"Yes, I haven't had time to put it in the vault." He unclipped it from his belt.
"Take the crystal out of it and put it in the holocron."
"What is it about this holocron that will help Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon?"
"To be honest Mace I'm not absolutely certain, but I was definitely drawn to it and now you say it belonged to the Shaman's. I've been studying the Ancient shamans of the Whills for years and their study of the force is more in-depth than ours and I remember reading something about reversing the power of a Jedi holocron by replacing a Jedi crystal with a sith crystal, but not just any holocron and I believe this is the one. "
"What will we do once it's ready?"
"Trust in the Force to guide us."
Tbc...