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Chapter 17
Hyperspace streaked past in silence. Obi-Wan stood near the front of the bridge along with his fellow Jedi and several clone troopers, but most of the conversations had died as they neared their destination. As they approached the Death Star and Alderaan's imminent demise. Everyone felt the gravity of the situation, but Obi-Wan significantly more-so.
He believed what Anakin said. Alderaan would be destroyed, and Bail and Leia would die. The weight was oppressive, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. The future was not certain, and visions could be wrong or misinterpreted.
Anakin was certainly in no condition to think rationally. So much like when he had nightmarish visions of Padmé's death and subsequently surrendered to Sidious to save her, Anakin had fallen into a vicious downward spiral of terror where he couldn't think straight.
On one hand, Obi-Wan knew Anakin needed to learn to hold less tightly to his attachments, to stop his mind from reaching such a breaking point. On the other hand, Anakin didn't go out of his way to conjure up visions of Alderaan's destruction—the Force saw fit to give him that, whether because of his attachments or not. Anakin saw, and so he felt. And, unfortunately, he didn't know how to manage what he felt. That was one of Obi-Wan's failings.
The door to the bridge slid open. R2's excited beeps and whistles drew Obi-Wan's attention. Anakin, wearing the mask of Darth Vader, entered the room. To say he walked was an overstatement—he staggered like a man who'd had too much to drink. Anakin first set a hand on R2 for support and then grabbed the nearest railing.
Several eyes shot in his direction.
Obi-Wan broke from the other Jedi and ascended the stairs in a few bounds to reach Anakin in case he collapsed. The mask of Darth Vader didn't turn in his direction as he approached.
"You should be in medbay," Obi-Wan said. He no longer bothered to soften his words. Anakin was literally and intentionally destroying himself. Obi-Wan's tolerance had reached its limit. "Anakin, you collapsed. You were bleeding again. If you continue to push yourself—"
"I'm fine," Anakin said in the voice of Darth Vader. Cold. Calculated. Unconcerned.
"You are not fine."
Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's elbow and forced his former Padawan to turn. Anakin's body moved, but not his head. He kept his face towards the viewport, towards the streaks of hyperspace that would soon give way to Alderaan and the Death Star.
"Anakin, you are going to get yourself killed." Obi-Wan pulled harder. Anakin tottered off balance, but it worked. He faced Obi-Wan. "You are not capable of fighting as you are."
"I don't have a choice."
"Yes, you do."
"I have to make this right."
Anakin raised his voice. Coming from the mask of Vader, it sounded like a hateful roar. It drew the attention of many others, but they hastily looked away and pretended not to hear. Obi-Wan heard in the voice what they probably didn't: the suffering, the agony, the weight of responsibility. Anakin continued to blame himself.
"Can we go elsewhere to talk?" Obi-Wan asked, knowing full well every nearby officer could hear them. Anakin wouldn't say anything without some modicum of privacy.
"No, because I already know what you're going to say." Anakin ripped his arm out of Obi-Wan's hand and grappled at the railing for balance. He leaned his full weight against it, and his entire body sagged. "I need to do this."
An unspoken undercurrent touched his words, but Obi-Wan heard it loud and clear: I need to do this, and what happens to me in the process doesn't matter.
"Anakin."
Obi-Wan took Anakin's elbow again, holding fiercely. The mere pressure of his grip turned Anakin to face him. Obi-Wan's tone dropped further, quiet and firm. He looked through the eyes of Vader on the off chance he would catch a glimpse of Anakin underneath. He did not.
"Anakin, please. Stop."
Anakin said nothing, and Obi-Wan thought to insist him off the bridge and to a room where they could speak. Where he could try, in his faltering way, to reach his former Padawan before it was too late. But a wave of darkness rolled over them, thick and filled with death and suffering, and both faced the viewport as the ship came out of hyperspace.
The Death Star waited for them on the other side. It stood between them and Alderaan. It stood between them and the planet they needed to save. Hundreds of fighters swam around the massive weapon and fired on it, igniting explosions across its surface, but the Death Star fired back from hundreds of weapons built into its outer shell. The Death Star moved forward, unhindered.
The dark side was a living thing in the space around them. It crawled across Obi-Wan's skin and sent a barrage of tremors through him.
Sidious was there.
A holoprojection of Master Plo appeared from a communicator on the bridge. His head tipped from side to side as he steered his fighter. Constant explosions echoed behind him.
"Glad to see you made it. Just in time," he said.
"What's the current status?" Master Secura asked.
"Not good." Master Plo grunted as a loud blast roared over his voice. "We're having difficulty getting inside, and we can't stop its forward progression. Its shields are something extraordinary, and the weaponry certainly isn't lacking."
Obi-Wan guided Anakin back to the rail so he had something to support him. Anakin trembled violently and hunched forward.
"The superlaser—is it operational?" Obi-Wan asked, raising his voice so his words would reach the communicator and Plo on the other end. "It took significant damage right before coming here."
Obi-Wan knew he was being grossly optimistic, but he had to ask. If Anakin had visions about the laser firing, he had no doubt Sidious had already planned ahead and had it repaired. Enough time had elapsed to restore the surface damage they had caused.
"The Eye is beat up but appears to have all necessary pieces intact, unfortunately," Master Plo said, and Obi-Wan's shoulders sank. "We've sent several scouts up close to make certain. We are almost out of time."
"We're on our way," Master Unduli said. She only had the chance to turn a foot before Master Plo spoke again and halted her.
"Be cautious where you strike. Sidious sent a message from on board." Master Plo dipped his head under another unseen explosion that reverberated through the transmission. His voice tensed. "It seems he has taken Senator Bail Organa and his wife hostage."
"What? How?" Master Secura shook her head. "The Death Star barely arrived ahead of us."
"Senator Organa received word of potential danger and intended to seek aid from the Order and the Senate. His ship was intercepted and overtaken."
If Bail and Queen Organa were on board, Leia would be as well. Bail had probably thought Coruscant would be the safest place for Leia given Sidious' intentions. Of course, he would have been right if not for Sidious being one step ahead of him. Sidious seemed to be one step ahead of them at every point in this battle, same as he was throughout the entire war. No, same as he had been since his rise to Chancellor.
Obi-Wan dared a glance at Anakin. His former Padawan shook from head to toe. He kept one hand firmly locked on the railing but raised the other to his head.
"We'll be out shortly, Master Plo," Master Secura said. When he nodded and his image dissolved, she barked at those on the bridge. "Everyone, move. This isn't a battle we can afford to lose. A skeleton crew can stay on ship, but I need everyone else out there fighting to stop that monstrosity. Whatever it takes!"
Several cries of agreement erupted from the clone troopers on the bridge, and they raced up the stairs and through the door to join the fight. Cody nodded as he passed, and Obi-Wan returned the gesture. Masters Unduli and Secura offered him a cursory glance before exiting. Two clone troopers remained on the bridge, and one gave the command to mobilize the rest of the troopers on the ship.
Anakin peeled himself off the railing and stumbled to the door, but Obi-Wan caught his arm and forced him backwards and towards a chair.
"Not you," he said. "You will stay here."
"Sidious is on the Death Star." Anakin tried to break Obi-Wan's grip, but Obi-Wan overpowered him with ease. Anakin had no strength left in him. "Leia is there. You know she is. I have to do something."
"You haven't the strength to do anything right now, Anakin. You can barely stand. You'll never be able to fight."
"It's my responsibility—"
"I'm not arguing with you, and this is not a request." Obi-Wan grabbed both of Anakin's arms and pressed him back into the nearest seat on the bridge. "For once in your life, Anakin, do as I say."
Anakin flopped into the seat and stared through that hideous mask, but he held his tongue. Another shiver swept over him, and he bowed and placed both hands on his helmeted head.
"Stay here." Obi-Wan turned on the two troopers still on board. "Don't let him leave." For good measure, he turned to R2 as well. "Artoo, you are not to let him leave this ship. Do you understand?"
The clones nodded, and the astromech droid offered a whistle of agreement.
"Stay," Obi-Wan said to Anakin one last time and with a finger pointed at him for emphasis.
Obi-Wan spun and marched out the door after the others. He made it to the hangar after most of the others had already departed. Several Jedi starfighters remained in the hangar regardless, and he took it as a poor sign. They no longer had enough men to fill the ships.
He claimed one of the starfighters, put on his headset, and ejected from the hangar. He'd barely made it into the fight before excited voices buzzed into his earpiece.
"We've almost breached a hangar!" Master Plo shouted over the comlink. "Sending coordinates. All available units, make haste."
"On my way," Master Unduli replied.
Several Republic flagships closed in on the Death Star, but wave after wave of droid fighters barred most from nearing the enormous weapon.
Obi-Wan received the coordinates and swept around the Death Star, dodging the skirmishes, until he rounded to the other side. Strings of fighters charged at a shielded hangar and fired on it. After the first row passed, a second and third followed, each shooting a chain of laser bolts upon the shield's generators. Most of the weaponry around the hangar had been pummeled off the Death Star, leaving deep scars in its surface like craters on a moon.
Errant cannon fire slammed into one of the fighters at the tail end of the fourth string to pass. The fighter spun in a haze of smoke and pelted the shield over the hangar. Unintentional though it may have been, the shield flickered upon impact.
Obi-Wan swooped ahead of the fifth chain of fighters and launched an attack on incoming vulture droids to shield the men at work on the hangar. He fired down several enemy fighters ahead of him and then flipped to snipe one trying to sneak up on him. Yet another wave of fighters struck at the hangar to no effect, and the enemy closed in, realizing how close they were to breaching their defenses.
A dozen vulture droids hurled at Obi-Wan, seemingly aiming to smash him down with brute force, but as he swung around and returned fire on the first few, three familiar starfighters whistled past and blew through the others. Cody, Bly, and Secura.
Another string of fighters pounded on the shield—this wave led by Master Plo. The shield flickered, and the generators erupted with sparks and smoke. The barrier failed, and the hangar opened.
"Move! Move!" a clone trooper shouted over the intercom, but everyone in the area had already taken a dive towards the opening.
The secondary security systems of the hangar activated, and the hangar bay doors, thick and impenetrable, started to slide shut. Obi-Wan wormed out of a flock of vulture droids and nosedived towards the hangar. Several starfighters joined him in torpedoing through the doors an instant before they slammed shut.
A small army of droids waited for them in the hangar. The starfighters, moving too fast for a proper landing, plowed through the droids and decimated a vast majority of them. The nose of Obi-Wan's ship shoveled several dozen droids over the transparisteel of his cockpit. When his craft finally came to a stop, a cloud of smoke and flames swirled around him.
Obi-Wan lunged from the cockpit with his lightsaber flashing. Blaster fire scattered throughout the hangar as droids closed in on the few Jedi and the many clone troopers who had made it through. Obi-Wan caught sight of Masters Plo, Unduli, and Secura. Cody wasn't far behind, matching blaster shot for blaster shot. Briefly, Obi-Wan thought he saw Wolffe and Bly among the many clone troopers.
Obi-Wan and the other Jedi pushed with the Force to throw the droids off balance and allow the clone troopers to blast through them. They had to keep moving. Time was not on their side.
Wave after wave of droids met them in the corridors leading through the Death Star. Only a strong united front of Jedi, flanked and followed by exceptional troopers, allowed them rapid progression. No one held back. Everyone was fully aware of what was at stake if they lost.
A line of destroyers barred their entrance to the bridge, but a few expertly thrown EMPs cut through their defenses and allowed Obi-Wan and his Jedi comrades to push through. Nothing of immediate danger stood in their way, so the Jedi and troopers entered the bridge and fanned out.
Several clone troopers waited inside, armed and aiming their blasters straight at the door and those who had just entered. More traitors to the Separatist cause. Behind the line of Separatist troopers waited a small unit of battle droids. Bail, his wife, and their entourage crouched in the far corner of the bridge, held at blasterpoint by droids and troopers. Leia cried pitifully in Bail's arms.
On the far side of the bridge, in front of the viewport that displayed Alderaan beyond a raging battlefield, Sidious stood with a feral grin twisted on his once kindly face.
"Only four Jedi?" the Sith Lord asked with a pleasant ring. "You should know that didn't end very well in the future."
Obi-Wan found Masters Plo, Unduli, and Secura dividing up across the room. They'd take the droids and troopers first and then focus on Sidious together.
Or at least, that's how it should have happened.
Sidious swept a hand into the air, and every blaster ripped out of the hands of their clone troopers. The Sith Lord turned his wrist, and the blasters spun in the air and aimed back at their original owners. He closed his fingers to his palm. The blasters rained bolts down on them. Friendly clones dropped under the barrage while others armed themselves with vibroblades or whatever they could find. Droids and enemy troopers opened fire.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and the Jedi swung their lightsabers through droids and enemy troopers while deflecting what bolts they could back on their foes. The bridge filled with smoke, and computers popped and fizzled as stray weapons and shots struck them.
The hostages dropped to the floor and covered their heads, still held to their position by a ring of enemy droids and troopers.
Obi-Wan swung through several droids and found himself at an in-between space, the droids focused on his allies behind him, Sidious ahead of him. Sidious stood with his hands lightly folded in front of him, a leisure smile on his lips. While people died and everything fell apart around him. If Sidious could be dealt with, they'd have a far better chance at stopping everything sooner—the war, the devastation, the suffering. A far better chance at stopping Anakin from destroying himself.
As if sensing his thoughts, Sidious grinned wider, his lips curling over his teeth.
Obi-Wan dove at Sidious and unleashed a flurry of ferocious swings on the Sith Lord. Sidious remained steady until the last moment, and then his red lightsaber flashed and he parried the strikes without losing ground. Obi-Wan pushed with the Force to try to unbalance Sidious, but Sidious matched with his own Force push.
"I have been waiting a long time for this, Kenobi," Sidious said.
Obi-Wan broke away from his Force push and pivoted, swinging his lightsaber from the side. Sidious matched his movements, one strike after another. Obi-Wan increased the power behind his swings to try to throw Sidious off balance, but Sidious merely answered with more power.
Obi-Wan hammered his blade down over Sidious' head, but the Sith Lord met his blade with an equally powerful upward stroke. Their feet locked in a standstill. Sidious leaned forward until his face was a mere hairbreadth from the blades, but no matter how hard Obi-Wan pushed, he could not reach him.
"It troubles you, doesn't it? Because you know as I do that the future is inevitable," he said, in a silky smooth voice. One he'd probably used on Anakin time and time again. "I will take him from you. Today, Anakin Skywalker will fall, and Darth Vader will rise. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."
Heat stirred in Obi-Wan's stomach and rose into his chest. Dangerous anger that would dampen his senses and consume his logic, and so he breathed it out. It insisted on returning. Anger towards the man who had orchestrated a war that killed millions. Anger towards the man who had planted deceptions in his Padawan's mind for over a decade and undermined everything Obi-Wan tried to teach him, undermined Anakin's confidence in himself and in others, and undermined Anakin's perceptions of right and wrong, of compassion and justice.
Anger at himself for never noticing.
Obi-Wan kicked at Sidious to put distance between them, but Sidious predicted his action and jumped back to avoid the blow. Both tried to Force push the other, but again they wound up at a standstill. Sidious restrained Obi-Wan with one hand and a push from the Force, and he raised his other hand with his fingers stretched towards the ceiling.
Debris throughout the bridge rose into the air at Sidious' unspoken command. Blasters, droid limbs, and discarded vibroblades rose, spun in the air, and hurled upon those fighting behind Obi-Wan. Jedi and clone troopers cried out in surprise as objects pummeled them. The momentary surprise gave droids and enemy forces a clean opening, and they fired on Obi-Wan's distracted allies. Clone troopers dropped, Masters Plo and Unduli fell from blaster fire, and Master Secura repelled blaster shots only to take a stray droid body to her head.
Obi-Wan backpedaled from Sidious and used the Force to fling away the droids and enemy troopers pounding his allies, but Sidious used the opening to catch him at the throat in a Force choke. Sidious hoisted Obi-Wan off his feet and dangled him off the ground. Obi-Wan's throat crushed inward, and the lack of oxygen darkened his vision.
"I would like you to stick around," Sidious said with the same unhinged grin. "You should be here for the grand finale."
Sidious flicked his fingers, and Obi-Wan slammed into a wall. He slid to the floor and popped to one knee, reaching with his hand and with the Force for his lightsaber that had fallen, but Sidious flapped his hand downwards, and a platform above Obi-Wan snapped and dropped over him. Obi-Wan dove to the side, only to have an entire computer console ripped out of the floor and thrown at him. It crushed his legs and stomach, pinning him in place.
Obi-Wan tried to wriggle free, but excruciating pain shot up his spine. He tried to use the Force to move the debris, but pain and anger clouded his mind. So did the heavy shroud of the dark side.
"The grand finale," Sidious said, and he disengaged his lightsaber and returned it to his belt under his cloak. He faced the viewport and loosely folded his hands behind his back. "It will be spectacular."
Through the viewport, Alderaan loomed. Drawing nearer.
Obi-Wan had a very bad feeling about this.