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Chapter 15
Obi-Wan sat in the co-pilot's seat and stared into the blankness of space long after the transmission with Master Windu ended. Anakin wept and then quieted, and Obi-Wan ached at the silence. Tension thickened the air, and despite Anakin's wall that severed their usually strong bond, Anakin's fear was palpable.
A silver streak in the distance distracted Obi-Wan. The streak grew in size until it took shape as a vessel. Obi-Wan leaned forward to ensure he saw correctly and then rose.
"A ship."
As the ship drew closer, it morphed from an indiscernible lump of silver into an unfamiliar vessel. Certainly not something that belonged to the Republic… or the Separatists for that matter.
"Not one of ours," he told Anakin, who dragged himself off the floor. "Someone must have intercepted our transmission."
"Oh no," Anakin murmured when he inspected the approaching vessel. He stepped back and scrubbed at his helmet as if trying to reach his forehead. His raspy breaths quickened through the mask and sounded that much more like Darth Vader. "Pirates. It's one of the ships I raided." He turned two small circles. A thick fog of fear smothered him through the Force. "They must know I'm here. It's my fault."
"Or they're simply here to capture a stranded Jedi."
The ship closed in on their position. While it wasn't a pirate ship Obi-Wan had ever seen, it certainly looked a bit too ragged to belong to any sort of elite force. Dents and dings covered its full length, and a few black scuffs showed wear from blaster and laser fire. The ship locked onto them with a tractor beam, lurching the vessel under Obi-Wan's feet. Anakin staggered and grabbed the back of the pilot's seat.
They weren't getting out without a fight. Obi-Wan's headache had eased to a minor nuisance, but he knew Anakin wasn't quite as lucky. His former Padawan could still barely keep his feet, and no amount of water or ration bars could tend so rapidly to his significant blood loss.
"Stay here and take cover," Obi-Wan said to Anakin as he headed for the door. "I'll try to negotiate. If that doesn't work, I'll fight them off. When you have the opportunity, find an escape pod and get off their ship."
"I'm not leaving you—"
"You will stay here." Obi-Wan took a stern tone, one that rarely worked on Anakin, but he tried anyway. He would not have Anakin marching off to play the hero and getting killed in the process. It took a moment for him to realize he shook a finger at Anakin, too, as though Anakin had ever responded to that. "You are in no shape to fight. You don't even have a weapon. And if you so much as use the Force again…"
The mask of Darth Vader made it impossible to tell how Anakin reacted. Probably not well. When Anakin gave no reply, Obi-Wan turned to R2.
"Make him stay here."
He departed from the cockpit and headed for the boarding ramp. The entire side of the ship had caved in on itself, leaving only a slight walkway between walls. By the time he reached what would have been the main exit, a searing flame cut into the metal from the outside and ate away at the framework.
R2 beeped angrily behind him, drawing his attention as Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber. To his dismay, Anakin followed. He wore Obi-Wan's cloak and carried a pipe with jagged edges in his hand. Something he'd crudely plucked from the wall.
A circle of metal fell out of the crumpled wall, revealing the hangar bay of their captor ship. Obi-Wan prepared for a barrage of blaster fire. A group of ten pirates waited on the other side, and a familiar Weequay in a long coat and goggles stepped ahead of the bunch.
"Kenobi! Skywalker!" Hondo Ohnaka shouted with great joy. He spread his arms in a showy gesture. "My two favorite Jedi."
"Hondo…?" Obi-Wan lowered his lightsaber but didn't disengage the blade. A few of the pirates were armed, but none raised their weapons.
"In the flesh." Hondo gave a curt bow and touched a hand to his chest. "I received your distress signal, and true to my good nature and pure heart, I have come to rescue you. Free of charge."
Obi-Wan felt no sense of danger, so he disengaged his weapon and hopped from the ruins of their vessel into the hangar bay. Anakin stumbled after him and landed with a knee to the floor before he stood and leaned on his pipe. R2 whirred down after them with its rocket boosters.
"Now then, friends…" Hondo glanced at the Naboo star skiff from front to back and scratched at the side of his helmet. "Where might the other half of your ship be?"
"What are you really doing here, Hondo?" Obi-Wan asked. Hondo was nothing if not ruled by ulterior motives.
"How did you get this ship?" Anakin asked.
"Oh—ah, Skywalker," Hondo said, taking a step back from Anakin. His mouth gaped, and then he smiled again and set his hands on his sides. "I heard you had a new look. That mask is… how should I say… dark? A bit drab—"
"Focus, Hondo," Anakin snapped.
"Yes, yes." Hondo waved a dismissive hand at Anakin, and Anakin stiffened at the gesture. "Now that, my friends, is a long story—"
"Abbreviated version, please," Obi-Wan said. He clipped his lightsaber to his belt and folded his arms over his chest.
Hondo scrunched his face as if displeased with the curtness. The displeasure melted away. He grinned and waved his hands about in the air in exaggerated gestures.
"A little intercepting, a little hacking, and we discovered you were here." He leaned forward, and his eyes narrowed. "But en route to rescue my favorite Jedi, we were attacked by the… Ghastly… or the Gangly Gundarks, something of that nature." He waved his hand again in dismissal. "Seems they intercepted your message, too. We got in a scuffle to get here first, some things happened, they took my ships and my men… and then the Republic and the Separatists showed up, because of course they got your message, too. Everyone started fighting, and little ol' Hondo commandeered one of the pirate vessels and escaped to come rescue you." He ended his monologue with a dramatic flourish of his arms and another curt bow. As if he desired applause.
"How wide did you broadcast that signal?" Obi-Wan asked R2, passing the droid a glare. R2 beeped at him belligerently.
"The Republic and the Separatists are fighting?" Anakin asked. Apprehension touched his words.
"Yes, fighting. And the Separatists have your people heavily outnumbered. So we should hurry along and rescue them, yes?" Honda nodded.
All the other pirates nodded and muttered in agreement. Obi-Wan scanned their approving expressions, but his frown only deepened.
"I agree, but you're being awfully accommodating. What's in it for you?"
Hondo let out a short breath as though stunned by the question, and he touched his chest again where he seemed to think he had a heart.
"I'm only being true to my very compassionate nature," he said.
"You want us to rescue your men, don't you?" Anakin asked. He slipped past Hondo and the pirates, heading towards a door leading out of the bay. A few of the pirates followed.
"If you would, please." Hondo hurried after Anakin, and the rest of his crew followed.
Obi-Wan shook his head, shared a glance with R2—as if the droid could exchange exasperated looks with him—and joined the pirates heading towards the bridge. Hondo scurried alongside Anakin.
"Skywalker! I've heard rumors about you. Taken up the life of a pirate, have you?"
Anakin ignored him.
"You're all the talk lately," Hondo said. He swept his hand in the air to dot every word, every syllable enunciated. "Quiet. Quick. Effective." He swung his hands out in another broad gesture, like a welcoming embrace that wasn't reciprocated. "It just so happens I have room for you on my crew. What do you say?" He jumped ahead of Anakin to ensure he had his attention, arms still spread.
Anakin swerved around him and continued his determined march down the corridor.
"No? Well, there's time to think on it. No reason to rush your decision, I understand," Hondo said with a shrug.
When Obi-Wan reached Hondo, he passed him a warning glare. While Anakin likely wouldn't be swayed to a life of crime with the pirates, the last thing he needed was another entity pulling him in another direction.
"Do not worry, my friend, Kenobi. For I also have room for you," Hondo said. He matched Obi-Wan's pace and threw an arm across his shoulders. "Is it not a two-for-one? You and Skywalker come as a set. If one joins, I get the other for free, yes?"
"Thank you for your very generous offer, Hondo." Obi-Wan passed a sidelong glare at Hondo.
"Very big heart, I know," Hondo said, and he patted his hand over his chest again.
Obi-Wan resisted an eye roll and continued onto the bridge. The ship lurched under their feet as they stepped through the door. Several pirates had reached the bridge ahead of them and made the jump into hyperspace. Anakin stopped at the railing on the platform overlooking the bridge, planted one hand on the rail, and didn't move. Obi-Wan joined him and folded his arms across his chest.
"How far out are we?"
"Not far," Hondo said. "It became very heated when we came near, you know. Very valuable, you Jedi." He waggled a finger at them as he leaped over the rail and landed on the lower level of the bridge. He joined his pilot near the viewport and crossed his arms. "Any minute now."
A short span of time passed, during which Hondo paced the bridge with his hands folded behind his back. Anakin continued to lean on the rail until it supported his entire weight. He would not do well in a fight, but Obi-Wan worried he would try to fight anyway. He was pushing too hard.
All because he felt the need to atone for a future that hadn't happened.
The ship jostled as it came out of hyperspace and drew Obi-Wan's attention to the viewport. He inhaled a breath that caught in his throat, and both arms unraveled and fell limp to his sides.
Several starships, from command ships to fighters, waged war in a space lit with explosions and blaster fire. Republic, Separatist, and pirate vessels battled each other for supremacy.
"This certainly doesn't look good," Obi-Wan muttered, and he ran a hand over his face.
"It's my fault," Anakin said. He pulled himself away from the railing and stumbled to one side, aimlessly, before planting himself with the pipe he still carried. His head, already burdened by the Vader helmet, sank. "Everything is my fault."
"Or, everyone is out for themselves and they wanted to capture a Jedi and it had nothing to do with you." Obi-Wan crossed his arms again. "The transmission came from my comlink and would have had my information attached to it."
"Two-for-one," Hondo said from below, with a grand shrug.
"Shut up, Hondo." Obi-Wan didn't even offer the pirate a glance. He kept his glare fixed on Anakin.
"I need a ship," Anakin said. "Hondo, I need a ship!"
"Back to the hangar!" Hondo snapped his fingers and then clapped and rubbed his hands together. He skipped up the stairs to the platform and back out the door.
Anakin marched after him, his strides long and confident despite his weakness. When he set his mind to something, he couldn't be deterred—usually to his own detriment. One of his greatest strengths and most crippling weaknesses.
When they reached the hangar, Hondo sauntered to a large lump covered by a sheet of fabric in the far corner of the bay, tucked inconspicuously behind several crates.
"This hangar was already empty of fighters before we took this ship, but you'll be pleased to know we picked up a few things on the way." Hondo grabbed the sheet and, together with a few of his men, yanked the fabric away to reveal a starfighter. "I have this!"
"Is that a Jedi starfighter?" Obi-Wan shot Hondo another glare. The pirate never ceased to dig himself into holes.
"Come now, he was already dead before I took it." Hondo waved his hands in front of him as if to fend off Obi-Wan's harsh look. "No worries."
"It'll work. Let's go, Artoo." Anakin moved for the ship, and R2 sped after him.
"You will not take that ship," Obi-Wan said, and he caught and held Anakin's arm. R2 took up its position in the starfighter anyway. "You are in no shape to fight. You will stay on this ship with Hondo and wait."
"This is my fault, and I'll fix it." Anakin pushed close to Obi-Wan and stood over him in an attempt at intimidation. Anakin would never intimidate Obi-Wan, not even in Vader's mask. When Obi-Wan didn't relent, Anakin ripped his arm out of his grasp and stormed towards the starfighter with a dramatic flair of his cloak.
"Anakin!"
Obi-Wan took two steps after him, but Anakin ignored him and hopped into the starfighter. The engines roared to life before Obi-Wan had a chance to say or do more. Anakin zipped out of the hangar, and Obi-Wan glared at the flames of the ship's engines as it shot away.
He was getting too old for this.
"Hm. Kenobi and Skywalker fighting?" Hondo materialized beside Obi-Wan and reached out as if to put a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, but Obi-Wan glared at him. Hondo's hand casually swung around to scratch the back of his helmet.
"Do you have another ship?"
"Why yes, in fact." Hondo strode to the other side of the hangar, behind another row of crates and to another lump covered in a sheet. He and his pirates ripped the fabric away to reveal a clunky silver Separatist starfighter. "We also have this!"
"Neither of your starfighters belonged to pirates," Obi-Wan said as he climbed into the cockpit of the fighter. It wouldn't be as effective as a Jedi ship, but it would at least let him aid in the fight. "Did you steal from everyone before you left to find us?"
"Should I… not have?" Genuine confusion tinged Hondo's words, and he tipped his head to one side.
"Watch for openings and take back your ships and your men. We'll do what we can to help," Obi-Wan said.
He sealed the cockpit before Hondo could offer a reply, fired the engines, and launched from the relative safety of the hangar into the fray.