~Obi-wan's POV~

"Obi-wan go!" Mace ordered. Obi-wan, who had been on his way anyway, doubled his pace.

With a grunt of exertion, he leapt for the ship, which was slowly rising from the ground. His fingertips brushed the edge of the ship. No! He used the force to pull himself up higher.

Finally, he grabbed the edge of the rising vessel. He glanced down at his Jedi brethren, who all fought a superior force in the clearing below. There was only Dooku and Grievous left, but they were enough of a challenge alone, added when they were together.

The entire council and the clones had not been able to handle them. Thus, as they were discovering this, Sidious had boarded the ship and was about to take off.

Anakin was above him, fighting the Sith aggressively. His cobalt eyes were ardent with rage as the forest a few miles ahead of them crackled with fire. The same fire was reflected in Anakin's eyes, which worried Obi-wan less than how well he was doing.

He pulled himself into the small space, ignoring the stinging pain from his back and nose, both of which were still bleeding. Anakin glanced at him as Sidious forced him further back with force lightning. Obi-wan used the force to crush Sidious into the wall behind him.

"How we doin?" Anakin gasped, panting hard as Obi-wan made his way to his side. "Horribly," Obi-wan responded, just as breathless.

"How long until the fire reaches us?" Obi-wan shook his head; he had not gotten a chance to calculate. Anakin nodded and looked up just as Sidious jumped back to his feet. He laughed maniacally.

"Foolish Jedi, do you see it now? Your downfall? It was inevitable," he cackled. Obi-wan felt his determination harden for the millionth time in the past three months since they had been on planet. "Maybe so. But it's not going to happen today," he panted.

"You are no match for me," Anakin's jaw clenched. "You underestimate us, Sidious. We aren't renowned for nothing," Obi-wan glanced at him, wanting to point out that they probably were, but refrained.

Sidious sprang for them. Obi-wan and Anakin were known for being expert swordsmen, and even more so when they were together. But Sidious was beyond both of their abilities apparently.

Blue lightsabers clashed against a red one with deep effort. Nonetheless, Sidious was gaining ground, and quickly. Focus, Obi-wan, look for weakness, any weakness, Qui-gon's voice rang in his mind. Yes, master.

Obi-wan studied the Sith. To his shock, the once passive and docile Chancellor was switching techniques so quickly that there was no gap in his fighting. None at all. He clenched his jaw. Not his fighting, there was no mistakes in that, but in his attitude.

He's overconfident, he thought, letting his arms go into auto-pilot. He believes he's going to win anyway. If he strikes one of us down, he does not expect us to get back up. It would catch him off guard, which is what we need. Obi-wan nearly smiled, for the eighth time that night, he was going to get slammed around. Fantastic.

At least he got to save the Order as he did so.

Swallowing his pride, Obi-wan swerved his arm around in a move that they all knew would leave him open.

Sidious did not hesitate to slash his lightsaber across Obi-wan's stomach, making a long cut, and the force of the blow pushing him from the ship.

"Obi-wan! No!" Anakin yelled as he plummeted over the side. His head stuck over the side, and Obi-wan saw the desperation in his eyes. It probably would have been a good idea to tell Anakin ahead of time, he contemplated through his pain.

Ignoring that thought, he gathered the force around him as Anakin turned back to the fight and he fell to the ground.

Mace! He called through the force. Give me a boost! The elder master turned just as Obi-wan landed, unsteadily, on his feet in an instinctive turn that had saved his life many times.

Obi-wan crouched, ready to use the force as spring. Master Windu lifted his hand, and the extra force use catapulted Obi-wan from the ground and back into the ship.

Grabbing the ledge of the ship again, Obi-wan swung himself inside forcefully and shooting past Anakin, landed a well-aimed kick to Sidious's stomach.

Surprised by Obi-wan's reoccurrence, the Sith fell back against the ship's wall, his lightsaber flying from his hand, which Anakin deftly caught. Three lightsabers, one his own, were now pointed at his neck.

"Well," Obi-wan gasped, struggling to ignore the added sting of his stomach cut. He had gone through worse, certainly, and it was not exactly bleeding very much, but he had been beaten enough for one night. "That plan worked," he panted.

Anakin cast him an incredulous glance. "Force, master, can you warn me next time? You gave me a heart attack," he breathed. Obi-wan smiled wanly. "I think I gave myself a heart attack," he agreed.

"Fools!" The Sith shouted at them, spit streaming out of his mouth inelegantly. "Ah, shut up," Anakin snarled, jabbing his lightsaber at him. "I'm tired of your jabbering. You're worse than Dooku," he said.

Sidious only narrowed his eyes. "You think you've won, don't you?" he asked softly. "Judging by how many lightsabers we have compared to you, I'd say we have won," Obi-wan pointed out. A ghostly smile slithered up Sidious's face. Obi-wan felt a shiver go up his spine. He had never seen a smile as insane as that one.

Suddenly, the force blared a warning in his ear. "Anakin, look out!" He gasped. He grabbed the younger man by the shirt and pulled him out of the way of General Grievous, who struck at them with a clawed foot. "Uh, come on!" Anakin yelled, exasperated. Obi-wan had to admit he was irritated too. Where was the rest of the council?

Below, defending themselves against the hoard of droids that had surrounded them. Blast. Obi-wan looked around, only to see Dooku and Grievous standing near the doorway and Darth Sidious rising from where he had been on the ground, laughing.

He could feel the ship rising still. Either they got off and lived or they stayed on board with the evil sith and got tortured to death. Obi-wan preferred life.

Anakin seemed to share his thoughts. Without so much as a backward glance, both men used the force to soar over Dooku and Grievous and back to land.

They landed with a soft thump on the ground amidst the other council members, who were starting to separate and retreat into the forest. Obi-wan exchanged a glance with Anakin as the ship rose steadily higher, almost as if it were mocking them. Obi-wan had no doubts that that was exactly what Dooku and Sidious were doing.

He could feel Anakin's rage as sharply as his own. They had escaped. The Sith leaders had escaped. He suddenly felt old, very frail and very afraid. The air seemed to chill despite the approaching fire, and the force darkened with Sith-like malice, the light side that had been around with the Jedi vanishing.

Obi-wan sighed and turned to the droids. "Come," he ordered Anakin tiredly. He was so exhausted, and the night had not even begun yet. "The fire is getting closer, and we need to find the others. Perhaps there is a way yet," of course there was, there was always a way.

He just had no clue what it was.

Anakin nodded; his jaw tight with anger and glared at the red saber in his hand. Obi-wan suddenly saw a spark of yellow in his friend's navy eyes, and it scared him even more than the escaping Sith.

This is what this kriffing war had made of his beloved student; it had made him into a warrior. For the first time, he was glad not to be Anakin's enemy.

Because he knew, as acutely as he knew himself, that Anakin was swearing eternal vengeance.