Onwards! Thanks for reading, friends~~
Chapter 27
"Kenobi," Maul said, a tremor of pleasure running through the word.
"Ahsoka, what is this?" Obi-Wan asked. Familiar rage bubbled up inside of him, but he pushed it away. He could not let his emotions rule him, particularly with this adversary.
"I gave him my word that he can come and go without repercussion, unless he tries something. Don't make me a liar," Ahsoka said, still waving a hand in Obi-Wan's direction to pacify him.
It took a moment longer for Obi-Wan to drop his hand from his lightsaber. He wouldn't do that to her, though Maul didn't deserve the consideration. If he reneged on his end of the bargain, Obi-Wan would have no qualms about putting him down.
"Why would you help us?" Obi-Wan asked the former Sith apprentice—or current Sith apprentice. He couldn't keep track anymore.
"As I said, we're all playing at our own little games. And an enemy of my enemy is my friend." Maul's sinister grin faded, and rage flashed through his golden eyes. "I may want you dead, Kenobi, and I will see that through, but Sidious has become a bit of a problem for me."
"Strange. I thought you were on his side." Obi-Wan folded his arms at his chest.
"Games, Kenobi. I play my games, he plays his." Maul huffed at him, as though Obi-Wan should know all the gnarled, messy plans in his mind. "Normally, he's a means to an end, but right now, his plans put me on the line as much as the rest of you."
"What plans?"
"His weapon," Maul said, and he tipped his head and cast shadows over his eyes. Sheer, raw hatred roiled inside of him and gushed out like a cloud of the dark side. "You have only seen the start of what he is capable of and what he plans to do."
"Where is this weapon?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Mustafar. Sidious built it in a cave. It's a location deeply bound to the dark side and fiercely powerful. The perfect location for his weapon."
Obi-Wan found himself with no reason not to believe Maul. The cave existed. Darth Vader knew of it and built his castle on it because of its raw power and deep connection to the dark side.
"The weapon you've seen, enslaving the Jedi—it's just the beginning," Maul said. "Sidious sent out a call for all your mindless Jedi to join him on Mustafar. I guess he needs them closer for his next move to be most effective."
"It already has—"
"No, not the mind control. Forget the mind control, it's just the start. He needs to make sure he keeps you all submissive before he implements his next step," Maul shouted, his fury rising. Obi-Wan could feel it like fire that seared his skin through the Force. "Other holocrons—many others, they do different things. His real weapon, the one you should worry about, it will absorb power from Force-sensitive beings. Leave the host alive but depleted. He needs the midi-chlorians, he needs your bodies, but they're just vessels while he siphons their strength."
"That isn't…"
Possible? Obi-Wan didn't know what to say. On a small scale, such a thing could be done. Severing one's connection to the Force had been done, and legends told of Sith doing so to fuel their own power. But to build it into a weapon and do it on a massive scale… it had never been done before. It couldn't be believed… could it?
"Why are you telling us this?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Because I want Sidious dead, and if he makes himself into an all-powerful, omnipotent embodiment of the Force, he'll become untouchable. Not even your precious Chosen One will be able to stop him." Maul snarled. "And no one is exempt from this weapon. Not you, not your Chosen One, and not even me. We're all going to become blundering puppets of Sidious while he gains immortality and all the powers of the Force."
Obi-Wan turned simply because he couldn't bear to look at him anymore, but he staggered at the revelation.
It made sense. Sidious had tried to corrupt Anakin's mind in an effort to enslave him, but not because he actually thought Darth Vader a possibility. No, he wanted Anakin weakened so he would submit to mind control-so that Sidious could ultimately protect the body and midi-chlorians of the most powerful Force user in the galaxy. So that he could take Anakin's power for himself.
Obi-Wan halted and returned his glare to Maul.
"If you are so concerned about this happening, why don't you kill Sidious yourself? You are the closest to him."
"Not close enough. Not yet. If I had the opportunity and thought I would win, I would. But he is stronger than ever. I have no false illusions of being victorious. My best opportunity is to stay close and strike when he least expects it," Maul said. "I'm not throwing that away."
Fair enough, but Obi-Wan didn't openly acknowledge that and instead glowered at Maul, hoping to pressure him into more information, if he had any. But Maul hadn't been with Sidious in the future. Questions about the weapon and its location might be better placed elsewhere.
"When?" he finally asked.
"Soon. The Jedi are already en route to Mustafar." Maul shrugged. "That's all I know. Do what you want with the information."
"Thank you, Maul," Ahsoka said, softly and sincerely.
Maul tossed her a haughty look, let out a puff of air, and spun to march away. Several troopers caught him by the arms as though to restrain him and, surprisingly, he didn't resist. The blasters aimed at him probably helped tame him.
"Don't." Ahsoka stepped forward, but she wavered and clasped at her head again. Wincing, she held her free hand towards the troopers. "Please. He came at great risk and shared information with us."
The troopers eyed Ahsoka, but none of the men belonged to the 501st. None claimed loyalty to her.
As much as Obi-Wan hated it, Maul came under truce and had done nothing to harm them. Furthermore, if Ahsoka had promised his freedom, Obi-Wan couldn't well go against her word and feel satisfied with it.
"Let him go," he said. He waved at the troopers, and they in turn stepped away from Maul and lowered their weapons.
"See you on Mustafar," Maul said to Obi-Wan over his shoulder. The words came without so much as a smile or a gleam in his eyes. Just a cold, hard statement. He shoved past the clone troopers and stalked away.
Ahsoka watched him go, and then she curled in on herself and groaned, clasping at her head with both hands. The troopers surrounded her.
"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said, but she waved a hand to stop him from saying more.
"It's okay. I was expecting this." She looked to the men. "Take me and lock me up. I'll behave—at least for now. If I get a little crazy, just knock me unconscious, would you?" As she followed the troopers, she paused and passed a faint smile to Obi-Wan. "Tell Anakin… I'm sorry. I did what I could."
"And it was more than enough. Thank you, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said.
He watched them lead her away, likely to a containment prison on a ship. Hopefully, the prison would secure her from whatever negative effects Sidious' weapon had on them. Obi-Wan wondered if some sort of joint meditation might help bring her back and gain control, but he'd tried every technique of his own on Zigoola to break from the holocrons and failed miserably.
Anakin's influence might help, but Obi-Wan doubted it. Anakin would have to share his entire past and future story with Ahsoka, including all of the nuances that Anakin probably didn't even realize existed that came with his memories to Obi-Wan. To replicate that would be near impossible.
And time-consuming, and time was not on their side.
Padmé's gaze followed Ahsoka as she was taken away and then slipped to Obi-Wan. Agony consumed her delicate features and devoured the light normally so prevalent in her eyes.
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
Obi-Wan had no answer for her. He had no solutions. If what Maul said was true, they would soon run out of time. Sidious had already enslaved every last Force-sensitive being in the galaxy, and soon he would steal their power to become the most powerful being in the history of the universe. A staggering and utterly horrifying thought. They had reclaimed Anakin from the future and yet lost everything else, and Sidious positioned himself in such a way that no one, not even Anakin, could oppose him.
How could the future have changed so much and yet so little? How could they have found such light, and hope, only for the darkness to win?
Obi-Wan shook his head.
"I'm going to make sure Ahsoka is properly taken care of. See that she's treated well," Padmé said after taking a deep breath. She dipped her head at Obi-Wan and departed.
Obi-Wan ran his hands down his face and let out a long breath. He turned to the ship where Anakin remained. Though Obi-Wan had no brilliant plans, he knew one thing for certain: Anakin would have to fight. He would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, as the prophecy foretold. All roads led them to the same path.
Even though the path was dark and horrendous, bent on seeing the Jedi and Republic destroyed. How much of the future had been the will of the Force and how much had been an anomaly created by the dark side?
And what of Anakin's future? In the alternate future, he died. The end of Sidious and the Sith meant the end of a need for Anakin. What would the Force do with him once he'd accomplished the task for which he'd been created?
Anakin's life as a slave taught him that if one did not perform, they were not necessary. Sidious had fed into those beliefs, and Obi-Wan cemented them on a black-sand beach on Mustafar when Anakin failed and Obi-Wan left him to burn.
What if, in a terribly dark and twisted way, the Force viewed him that way? If he no longer had a Sith to destroy, would the Force deem him no longer necessary? Was Anakin's death at the same time as Sidious coincidental or the will of the Force?
The Force could not be so cruel, but Obi-Wan shuddered. For one brief moment and for the first time in his life, he wondered: what if it was?