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Chapter 32
Obi-Wan descended into the chasm. Lava trickled through cracks and lit his way. One significant hole dumped an entire waterfall of lava into the pit and turned the black walls shimmering orange. The removal of the weapon from underground had twisted the subterranean levels and provided countless rock ledges on which to step.
The deeper he got, the heavier the air. It thickened around him until every movement felt like swimming. The additional effort burdened his muscles, and exhaustion dragged down his head and shoulders.
Visions broke through his mind and marched through his head: images of Darth Vader, the destruction of the Jedi, and the iron-fisted rule of the galaxy. Memories of Anakin's life as a slave, of abuses against people he cared for—and of abuses against him. Memories of Obi-Wan's disappointments towards Anakin and his strict guidance—followed immediately by Palpatine's well-timed manipulations.
One vision always jumped to the forefront of Obi-Wan's mind: Anakin burned on Mustafar, and Obi-Wan walked away. Obi-Wan felt the flutter of despair from Anakin as it passed. The feelings of inadequacy and failure. The feelings of being rejected because he had failed, because love and worth were conditional and dependent on performance.
The images ripped the air from Obi-Wan's lungs, and he stopped to catch his breath. The pressure around him grew. Utter despair smothered him. He hastened his descent despite the ache in his muscles and bones.
Red light shone out of the depths of the pit. Obi-Wan dropped to a low ledge. Anakin lay in the center of the pit, and dozens of holocrons surrounded him on all sides. The ominous red glow of the Sith artifacts painted everything as if covered in blood.
"Anakin." Obi-Wan jumped from the ledge to the floor. He trudged through the weight of the holocrons and pushed back the images crowding his mind. "Anakin!"
His former Padawan stared with vacant eyes. Lips parted. His chest rose and fell with short, shuddering breaths.
"Anakin, wake up." Obi-Wan dropped to his knees and patted Anakin's cheek. "Can you hear me?"
Anakin gave no sign of comprehension. If the horrific images vying for Obi-Wan's attention were any indication of what was happening in Anakin's head, Anakin had no idea Obi-Wan was there. Obi-Wan had to deal with the holocrons, and quickly, before he started losing his mind in the same way. He scanned the walls and the lava flows. A few puddles of lava spread in the far corners of the room, but cracks in the floor's foundation sent most of the lava into oblivion. The lava would be his best bet, but he needed more than a trickle; he needed a flood.
Obi-Wan dragged Anakin onto his back and used the Force to jump to the nearest ledge. Another vision slammed into him. His legs buckled, and he haphazardly flung Anakin onto the ledge because he could no longer support him. Visions of Mustafar in another life clawed through his mind. Anakin burned, and Obi-Wan walked away. Rejection. Hopelessness. Suffering.
The roar of the images got louder when Obi-Wan tried to push the thoughts away. The dark side's presence closed in on him and choked the air out of his lungs.
Now or never—he had to move now. Obi-Wan grappled at the walls around the strongest lava flow and pulled with his diminished strength to open a path. The walls rumbled and groaned in reply. A trickle of lava gave way to a raging river. Brilliant orange liquid tore through the crack and flooded the pit. Holocrons burst into flames, sputtered, and sank under the molten liquid. The pit rumbled, and the opposite wall cracked and slipped on an invisible fault line. The shift must have opened a hole in the floor, because lava rushed out of the pit as quickly as it poured in.
Whatever happened, it took the influence of the holocrons with it. The visions began to recede, though they didn't relent entirely.
"Anakin, can you hear me?" Obi-Wan tapped Anakin's cheek and pushed peace at him through their fractured connection through the Force. "Anakin!"
He received no reaction, and images continued to force their way into Anakin's head. The fierce presence of the dark side trapped Anakin in a loop of his atrocious life as Darth Vader, and the visions were always punctuated with a vision of Obi-Wan walking away and letting Anakin burn. Everything always ended with Obi-Wan's rejection of Anakin.
Obi-Wan's heart ached. Such lies Sidious had fed Anakin, and Obi-Wan had played into them.
"Anakin, I need you to wake up," he said.
Obi-Wan heaved a sigh and rubbed at an ache in his temple. The pain permeating deep in his skull reminded him of the flashes of pain he'd endured when Anakin initially fell into the pit. Anakin's mind had been harmed, but his body had also been injured. He'd need both in peak form if he wanted any hope of defeating Sidious, and a little healing through the Force might chase away some of the darkness clamoring to keep hold of his mind.
Obi-Wan placed one hand on Anakin's forehead and the other on his chest, and he dipped through the heavy veil of the dark side that tried to smother his connection with the Force. He wasn't certain how well healing would go with his connection to the Force hampered, but he had to try. Knives of pain stabbed through Obi-Wan's body as he tried to decipher where Anakin had been hurt. Bumps and bruises riddled Anakin's entire body.
Obi-Wan flinched against the pain and focused into the Force. He healed the greater wounds, those that caused the most pain and those that affected areas where significant organs lay.
An explosion echoed high over their heads. Obi-Wan jumped, and Anakin jumped, too. A light returned to Anakin's eyes. Obi-Wan kept a hand on his chest to pin Anakin down, in case his former Padawan felt the need to fly into action, and searched above them for signs of incoming danger. Several lesser explosions followed, and the walls shuddered as the battle raged above them.
"Master," Anakin said, his voice hoarse. He reached up and touched his hair with a grimace. "Obi-Wan…"
"Welcome back." Obi-Wan smiled and kept his voice light despite the churning in his stomach, despite how wrong everything felt sitting in that pit permeated by the dark side. "Thought I'd lost you for a moment."
Anakin glanced around and then did what he always did—he pushed himself off the ground and prepared to move. Obi-Wan maintained his hold on Anakin's chest and forced him down.
"Stop moving."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and finished healing Anakin to the extent that he could. Sidious' weapon had done a number on his abilities, though, and even healing minor bruises took a great deal out of him. This was not a fight they were equipped to win, but it was not one they could afford to lose.
"What happened?" Anakin asked when Obi-Wan finished.
"Sidious set a trap for you. He placed the holocrons here and used them to try to break your mind."
"Of course he did," Anakin muttered. He rubbed at his head and unleashed a growl, and he sank against the floor. Despite Obi-Wan's ministrations, shadows hung under his eyes. "I am done with Sith. If I ever see a Sith holocron again, I'm going to blow it up. With a grenade, a torpedo—I will build a Death Star just so I can obliterate the holocron."
"That's a good attitude, because there's a Sith holocron waiting for you right upstairs." Obi-Wan patted Anakin's knee as Anakin dragged himself into a sitting position.
Anakin grimaced, and the visions receded in his mind. He said nothing about them, but it was clear they still troubled him deeply. Anakin's insecurity and fear, the concern that he had no place to belong, still festered like an open wound. A simple talk would not undo years of suffering. A flame of concern lit in Obi-Wan's chest.
"Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked, even as Anakin composed himself and captured all the lingering hostile thoughts.
"Yeah." Anakin pulled up a tired smile, but it was genuine.
Obi-Wan patted Anakin's shoulder, gave a squeeze, and allowed his hand to linger, a physical reminder to Anakin that he was not alone. Not in this lifetime, and he never would be. The weight of sorrow melted from Anakin's features, but a shroud of exhaustion remained. They needed to get through this so Anakin could finally rest—could finally step out from under the burden of being the Chosen One and rest without its all-consuming, smothering weight.
If the Force allowed it, at least.
"We must find a way to stop Sidious." Obi-Wan patted Anakin's shoulder again and rose, lifting his eyes towards the darkness above. "If he continues sapping our strength for much longer, I fear we won't have the means to defeat him."
"I don't feel terribly weak yet. I don't think he anticipated how slow his weapon would work." Anakin used the wall to support his weight as he stood. Despite his bold claim, he seemed rather weak. Sore and weary. "Why did he put it above ground? The dark side is stronger down here."
"Maul made it sound as though the weapon may not reach vast distances. I'm assuming having it buried underground didn't help," Obi-Wan said, because it was the only explanation. Sidious had moved the weapon from relative safety and put it on the surface of a planet where it could be bombed and destroyed—once the shields were dealt with, at least. "Sidious exposed it so it would reach farther, impact more people, and provide him more power—and slaves."
"Fantastic." Anakin sighed and scrubbed at his head. He wore exhaustion like a garment.
"Are you certain you're all right?"
"Yeah, but it's wearing on me," he said, and he looked towards the surface. "We have to hit him hard and fast, Obi-Wan. He's just going to get stronger and bring more people into this." A light flashed across his eyes, and he met Obi-Wan's gaze. "What if I pushed Sidious to abuse his powers? Maybe he'll get weaker like I do."
"I'm not certain that would work the way you're thinking," Obi-Wan said, though he rubbed his beard as he pondered it. "He's siphoning his power through other people's bodies. He's using their midi-chlorians and not his own."
"It's still worth trying. I'll try to hit the weapon while I'm at it." Anakin nodded, as though his plan of hitting hard and fast would resolve everything.
While Obi-Wan wasn't in a position to argue with him, it still didn't sit well with him. While attacking directly might be their best option, it also meant Anakin would expend his energy quickly. Obi-Wan folded his arms at his chest and shot Anakin a pointed look.
"You must remember your own limits. If you push too hard, you'll exhaust yourself." He took a step closer to drive his point home. "You barely survived the last time."
"I know, but it's the only way."
Obi-Wan's jaw clenched and his muscles tightened.
"I'm not trying to be self-destructive, Obi-Wan. It isn't even about obligation or duty. It's just… the right thing to do. We have to stop Sidious, and I may be the only one who can."
"But you are not alone. We will do this together."
"I know." Anakin smiled.
Obi-Wan believed the sincerity in Anakin's eyes. Anakin had come a long way from where they began. Obi-Wan clapped a hand on Anakin's shoulder and squeezed.
"Don't do anything reckless."
"Can't promise that," Anakin said with a laugh.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Obi-Wan heaved a sigh and offered a dramatic eye roll that made Anakin's grin increase. Oh, how he loved to be a nuisance. "Sidious was standing at the top of his weapon, guarding the holocron. A shield covers him, so the troops can't fire on him," Obi-Wan explained. He pulled his grappling hook from his pouch and scanned the rock wall. "A lot of the Jedi gathered around him. I'm assuming Sidious expects us to strike at him directly."
"Then let's not disappoint him," Anakin said. He grabbed Obi-Wan's hand over the grappling hook and shook his head. "Allow me."
He closed his eyes. The ledge under their feet rumbled as Anakin tore the entire piece from the wall. He looked up, raised both hands, and lifted their stone platform through open air, carrying them out of the chasm. Suffocating hot air and a cloud of sulfurous smoke greeted them outside. Obi-Wan and Anakin leaped off the ledge and landed on a stretch of obsidian plain.
Something tugged at Obi-Wan's mind and drew his attention. A warning through the Force, a feeling, an instinct. He and Anakin exchanged a quick glance. In perfect harmony, they turned and swung their lightsabers, and their blades deflected the lightsabers of several Jedi. Obi-Wan and Anakin pivoted and parried two more strikes angled from the sides. They twisted until they stood at each other's backs. A vast army of Jedi poured out of the sky from a gunship while other Jedi jumped off the weapon they'd been guarding.
Obi-Wan and Anakin deflected blows, kicked away their assailants, and pushed with the Force, all the while moving with each other to keep the other's back covered. Obi-Wan could never have asked for someone better to guard his back; he had no fear of attack from behind while Anakin covered him. Never had and never would.
Even though the Jedi vastly outnumbered them, Sidious controlled the Jedi's minds and actions. They may have been strong in the Force, but they were only puppets now. Even so, their attacks were constant and relentless.
"We're getting nowhere with this," Obi-Wan said in several puffs of air. "They'll wear us out before we ever break away from them."
"The weapon or Sidious," Anakin said, his hair frazzled, sweat shining red on his skin like diluted blood. "We have to focus."
The Jedi were distractions. Anakin used the Force to shove the Jedi outward and away from them, but more simply filled their places. He did it again, and Obi-Wan used the momentary space between attacks to scan the field and assess their situation. His eyes immediately caught the billowing form cloaked in black silhouetted against the bright red of the holocron.
Sidious.
"Anakin, Sidious is still on the weapon," Obi-Wan said, and he grunted as he deflected two more lightsaber swings. Anakin backed into him, and they pivoted around each other again. In doing so, they knocked away assailants coming at angles that would have left them vulnerable.
A momentary pause. Anakin and Obi-Wan both pushed out with the Force, but Jedi closed in again.
"Go," Obi-Wan said. "You were meant to go."
"But…" Anakin swung his blade in a wide arc to deflect five lightsabers in a single sweep. "If I leave you here…"
"I'll move and find a way to hold them off. At least for a while. But we'll both wear out like this, and doing this won't solve anything."
"Master," Anakin said, and any other words died on his lips. Fear bubbled between them through the wavering Force. "Obi-Wan…"
"I know." Obi-Wan shoved the Jedi back and restrained them. In the brief respite, he met Anakin's gaze. "I know. Go."
Anakin nodded, and a storm of emotions raged through his eyes. Obi-Wan heard the unspoken words: be safe, don't die, I won't let you down.
Anakin turned and ran. He lifted a vast majority of the nearest Jedi and hurled them at a distance to give him and Obi-Wan space to move. Anakin lunged across the chasm to reach the platform on which the weapon stood.
Obi-Wan ran in the opposite direction, leading the Jedi away. He hopped from boulder to boulder and from one side of the lava river to the other, forcing the Jedi on a wild chase. Those that closed in on him he repelled with a push through the Force and a quick sprint in a different direction. To his pleasant surprise, troopers swarmed the area and fired on the Jedi with blasters set to stun.
They would be the distraction. They would buy time.
Once again, Obi-Wan believed in the depths of his heart that Anakin would win and save them all. This future was meant to be different, to be better, and he would do whatever it took to see it through.