Chapter 8: Mercy
*** 1 ***
Some force pikes were powerful weapons, made of Force-resistant materials, purposefully created to combat Force wielders. They couldn't be cut through by lightsabers, like the pike Obi-Wan was examining now.
He had tried many different ways to discourage Anakin from a direct confrontation with the Darksider. The young man would not relent. In the end, Obi-Wan gave in. As the leader of the fleet, he could have issued an order, but he knew that would not stop Anakin. Even locked up, Anakin would find a way to get what he wanted. In that case, everything would end up in a more drastic way.
Obi-Wan had once given Chancellor Palpatine his words that he would not put his son's life in danger. They were in a war, every promise about safety was void. Nonetheless, Obi-Wan was committed to preventing Anakin from taking any unnecessary risks.
Obi-Wan had a bad feeling about the duel as if the Force was whispering to him. Something irreversible and regrettable would happen. He wished Qui-Gon could be here to advise him on how to deal with self-destructive youngsters.
Dwelling upon wishful thinking was not constructive. He must focus on this moment. They still had several hours before they would arrive at Ryloth. He decided to help Anakin prepare for the upcoming battle. Unsurprisingly, Anakin asked to be left alone. However, Obi-Wan had the obligation to at least explain what a lightsaber strike felt like. After a few arguments, they reached a compromise.
He asked to inspect Anakin's weapon. It was not the corporate-manufactured force pikes held by the Senate guards. This pike was shorter, almost the same length as a lightsaber. And it was old, at least a hundred years or more. When he took a closer look, he saw marks that could only be caused by lightsabers. It could be from the Mandalorian-Jedi war.
"Where did you get it?" Obi-Wan carefully inquired.
"My family rose into prominence several hundred years ago. We have access to many markets," Anakin answered defensively.
"You can simply say you bought it. The grandeur stuff is unnecessary." Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose.
He'd noticed a pattern. Anakin only spoke with him in this way. It was surprising to learn that the troopers did not think Anakin was rude or arrogant. Still, they didn't call Obi-Wan "The Negotiator" for nothing. It would be a challenge, but he would figure out the reason behind this dynamic and fix it.
"I do not know why you are adamant about confronting Ventress. It was madness for a non-Jedi to fight a Sith assassin." Obi-Wan locked eyes with the young man. "Is it about Dooku? You had gone so far, even acquiring an ancient weapon to fight his apprentice. Is that some type of vengeance?"
"If she is assigned to kill me, then it is my destiny to end her. We will know whether it is the case in a few hours," Anakin said with sparks in his eyes.
Obi-Wan shook head. Anakin was simply impossible. "You seem to revel in drama."
Anakin opened his mouth, no doubt to snap back, so Obi-Wan changed the topic. "How about we see some actions? We can spar and see how things go. I will not hurt you, but if you cannot take me down, you had better give up."
"Why do you think a lightsaber-wielder is more powerful? Why is a lightsaber superior?" Anakin sneered. "Don't underestimate me. I will prove you wrong. And, if we are going to spar, don't use the Force."
He ignited the pike. It hummed and illuminated the gymnasium with white light. "I am using a low level. If the electrified section touches you, you will be paralyzed momentarily." He held the weapon with both hands, then charged.
Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber to defend. The plasma blade clashed with the metal with a loud crackling sound. It did not cut through.
Anakin made a series of quick, aggressive jabs. Obi-Wan deflected them with ease but held back from reposting in order to study Anakin's style. Clearly, he had some experience with both the pike and the blade, but lacked it when it came to the lightsaber. There was neither fear nor respect in Anakin's eyes as he studied Obi-Wan's sword.
Anakin paused his attacks and started to circle Obi-Wan.
"I know what you are thinking. Lightsabers are sacred in your eyes, but they are just weapons. Thinking your opponent who doesn't hold a lightsaber would succumb to fear is prejudiced," Anakin said defiantly. "Your weapon has no meaning for your opponent in a battle."
To his own surprise, Obi-Wan found it was true from the opponent's point of view. The Jedi knew how intrinsically different a lightsaber and a regular sword were. The lightsaber was a Jedi's life, the symbol of their commitment to the Force and the Order. It was as much a weapon as a spiritual symbol. But not to anyone else
For the opponents, their goal was simple. Outpower a Jedi Knight no matter what the costs. It was about power, which was never the focus of a Jedi's training. Not long after the start of the war, Master Yoda had said that to answer power with power was not the Jedi way. In the war, they faced the danger of losing who they were.
The duel became a sort of dance as they darted in and out of range, testing each other's defenses. Obi-Wan made a series of attacks to see how Anakin would respond. Each was met with a strong, unyielding parry and bone-jarring repost.
It was easy for Yoda to say to not answer back power with power, but the Jedi had already been dragged into the war. Their opponents had a clear focus, but Jedi first and foremost had a value to preserve.
If they didn't respond with power, they would be crushed. There would not be much left to preserve of the Jedi way if there was no one left to preserve it. You either lost the war or lost yourself.
In the dangerous time, how to preserve the light?
He was jerked from his musings by Anakin's pike at his throat. Obi-Wan froze.
"You are distracted." Anakin turned off his weapon. "I guess I have the blessing to bring doom to Ventress?"
"She would not fight fairly. No matter what she will tell you. She upholds no promise." Obi-Wan sighed.
"Then it is your turn to attack."
*** 2 ***
Finally, the showdown with the Sith wannabe came. Vader came here to defend the Darth Bane doctrine. The traitor Dooku refused to renounce his title, and now he was grooming his own lineage. The Rule of Two was further crippled and Vader could not allow it.
The mission to Ryloth was to reinforce the local Republic forces. Anakin had accidentally let Slick know the strategic position that he would take in the battle. After Slick and Ventress had exchanged information, Cody arrested the traitor clone and threw him into a detention center.
Ventress took the bait. She left a trail of death after her. There was still some time before her arrival.
Vader was battle-ready. On top of his loose-fitting brown clothing, he wore a set of light blue Mandalorian armor with a black cape. The beskar metal made the armor tough enough to withstand lightsaber strikes. He did not wear the helmet, due to his discomfort for being enclosed, despite Obi-wan's strong recommendation.
It was ironic that he always had to fight Dooku's line of abomination under pretendences. He yearned for a battle where he could fully release his power and reveal to the galaxy who he truly was.
Declaring the return of the Sith was the ultimate goal of all the Masters and Apprentices in the lineage of Sith from Darth Bane on down. Every generation of Sith was one step closer to that end goal. The early generations had lived the life of the Outer Rim warlords. Darth Tenebrous, three generations before Vader, had been a distinguished scientist and engineer. His apprentice Darth Plagueis had led the Banking Clan. Darth Sidious occupied the highest office of the Republic.
As the Sith Order came closer and closer to the center of the Galactic power, more frequent interactions with the Jedi Order were inevitable. The situation for Vader was the worst. He had to endure a Jedi Master on a daily basis.
If he was honest with himself, Obi-Wan was not a bad person, but he was a good Jedi. An embodiment of the Jedi value. A demonstration of Jedi philosophy's self-righteousness. An individual Jedi could be tolerable, but the institution systematically bred more problems. It had to be brought down.
When he had sparred with Obi-Wan, the rage of all the Sith before him had awakened inside him. They demanded vengeance for a thousand years of forced hiding, secrecy, and subjugation under the Jedi Order. Sidious said this yearning for their rightful return was a burning desire in every Sith. Vader had learned to resist this urge.
A premature revelation could lead to near destruction as had happened 10 years ago.
The invasion of Naboo had nearly ruined everything. According to Palpatine, Anakin's adoption was not in Darth Plagueis' Grand Plan. Plagueis foresaw that Anakin would bring destruction to the Sith. The young Anakin already knew Palpatine's secret identity Therefore, the nine-year-old child must be eliminated.
Maul was sent.
Maul had his own agenda. He was obsessed with killing a Jedi Master to demonstrate his worth. Besides doing Plagueis' bidding to kill a child, he put killing Qui-Gon Jinn on his plate. He succeeded in his personal ambition, but Qui-Gon's murder exposed the Sith's existence. Fortunately, Sidious defeated his Master, and inherited the title of Sith Master, ending the internal threat.
Naboo was liberated under Palpatine's leadership. Anakin and his new friends were finally safe.
Vader put a lot of thoughts into these events. All the disasters had the same roots. Infighting. It was why the Rule of Two had to be upheld.
Vader was told that the force pike he held was once owned by Plagueis. He used it to instruct Sidious's early martial arts training. Contradictory to the Jedi's false beliefs, few Sith used lightsabers as a primary weapon. The Sith learned to adapt after being forced into hiding. The ultimate weapons were the commanders of the Force themselves. Their body, mind, and soul. They could unleash the power that Jedi did not dare to imagine.
Vader watched as Ventress made her approach. His blood hummed with excitement. The Force murmured to him, telling him that he would prevail and Dooku's acolyte would die.
"We finally met," Vader proclaimed.
"Skywalker. Who do you think you are? I have an order, and you will die." Ventress raised her crimson lightsabers in a guard stance.
"I could have left you to Master Kenobi. You two could have more toying and flirting, but it is not efficient." He moved closer to Ventress. "Let us end this cat and mouse game and avoid so much unnecessary destruction. We will fight a duel of honor, here on equal ground. Dooku had always wanted to publicly execute me to demonstrate his superiority. If you win, he will have it."
"Republic brat, you have no idea how ridiculous you are. Whatever feeble skills you have are no match for my power in the Force," Ventress hissed.
Vader laughed. It seemed that Ventress had no idea who he was. It made things more under control. At least Ventress wouldn't use pressing him to reveal his true power to her advantage.
"You can play with your sorcery power. Even if you are a one-woman army, you couldn't take on the manpower of the whole Resolute by yourself." Vader made a broad gesture to their surroundings and the legion of clones standing ready. "Of course, you can choose to demonstrate your splendid escaping skills. Your choice."
"Fine. I will fight without the Force. It is a simple task to rid the galaxy of you."
Vader knew this battle was tempting fate. However, the longer Dooku's charade lasted, the more power Ventress grew, the more danger he and his Master would be in. If Ventress was more powerful than Vader, then he deserved to perish. Sidious could take another apprentice who was more worthy.
But it would not happen.
"The feeling was mutual." Anakin ignited his weapon.
Ventress launched her attack, closing the distance between them in two steps. She swung for his head with one blade and went for his flank with the other. The other went after his side. Without blatantly using the Force to aid her attack, she was slower than usual. Still, she had impressive reflexes.
Vader had an interesting advantage. He had practice in fighting without actively drawing from the Force. It was not the same for Ventress. For a Force wielder to have such restraint was a frustrating experience. She could eventually catch up, but it would take time. On the battleground every second was critical.
He knew Ventress never played fair. He bet on that to turn the tide.
She slashed at him relentlessly. Vader ignored the body blows, counting on his armor to protect him. Instead, he went on the offensive raining down blow after blow, forcing her to defend. The red beams, bright white electricity, and sparks danced around.
Ventress started to tire out. She broke the rule by pushing him with the Force.
Vader lost his footing. He allowed gravity to pull him down and rolled to avoid a vicious strike aimed at his head. Obi-Wan rushed to play the big Jedi hero, hurling his blue lightsaber like a spear. It knocked Ventress's right blade from her grip and sent it flying. In a desperate move, Ventress pulled on the Force and sent her falling lightsaber swing back towards Vader's head. He rolled again in a desperate bid to dodge the attack.
He didn't roll far enough. The lightsaber scored a line of fire near his right eye before burning itself in the ground. It burned his flesh and blurred his vision. Vader hissed in pain, but he had the lightsaber now.
Obi-Wan moved quickly to the two combatants, trying to separate them. Ventress was distracted momentarily.
This was his chance. Vader rammed the force pike into Ventress's side. She screamed and collapsed as the electricity overwhelmed her body.
"No! Anakin, don't do it!" Obi-Wan knew what he planned to do.
Vader swiftly took the crimson lightsaber out of the ground and buried it in Ventress's chest in a single motion.
Her breath rattled in her chest. She looked into his eyes and her expression turned to horror. "You… you are a…"
"I am the death of you." He extinguished the lightsaber. Ventress took her last breath.
Obi-Wan knelt next to her. He used a hand to close her eyes. "You didn't need to kill her. You don't want so much blood on your hands. Have some mercy."
"You mean to have some mercy for a Darksider?" Vader was confused.
"Have some mercy for yourself. It is bad for your soul," Obi-Wan almost cried in anguish.
"Oh. But her death is good for all of us . One less mass murderer, " he replied calmly.
Obi-Wan didn't respond.
Vader touched his wound lightly. His vision was coming back. He looked into the distance, watching the glorious sunset. It was lucky that he was not blinded. The injury would leave a scar. He could heal it eventually, but he decided to let it be. A small price for a higher good.
The burning pain on his face was dampening, but a place inside of him still burned. That pain may last.
*** 3 ***
Obi-wan was afflicted by Anakin's actions. It was hard to say whether the killing of the Darksider was self-defense. However, in the current political climate, it didn't matter even if it was a confirmed cold-blood murder. Ventress had killed too many troopers and citizens. She was a nightmare character in Republic media. No one would mourn her death. People would celebrate, like what the troopers were doing now. The 501st Legion threw their commander up in the air again and again after he won the duel.
In front of the whole battalion, Anakin commed Admiral Yularen to release Rex from the brig.
"Capital Rex, the traitor Slick was captured. Ventress, the enemy of the Republic had been brought to justice. The Republic is grateful for your sacrifice." Anakin looked at the blue figure of Rex fondly.
"It was quite intimidating, Sir." Rex scratched his head. "But I am glad everything worked out." He still seemed to be confused.
The Jedi general, his deputy, and Commander Cody started to move out of the crowd. The troopers needed to clean up the battleground, bury their fallen brothers, and regroup to aid the local fighters. They still needed to take out the remaining battle droids and their sentient commanders.
"Rex, I own you one. I will explain everything to you when I am back to the Resolute ," Anakin said gently before he cut off the connection.
The three of them walked towards the detention center together. "Time to get Slick to talk." The young man shifted to his ruthless mode.
Anakin carried the force pike on one shoulder and pressed a becta patch next to his right eye. The trophy lightsaber hung from his utility belt.
Obi-Wan was determined to confiscate that lightsaber. He would find an appropriate time. He was very certain that Anakin had already figured out how to use the lightsaber in some rudimentary way and he would not hesitate to show off. The idea of a red beam suddenly lighting up the corridor of Resolute was unbearable.
In the detention center, Slick was cuffed to the interrogation desk. Anakin circled the desk with a slow pace. He abruptly stopped in front of the trooper, placing Ventress's lightsaber on the desk loudly. Slick flinched.
"You have committed treason. Your conspirator was eliminated by me ," Anakin pronounced slowly. "Do you have any other collaborators?"
"No. It was only me. Ventress was my only contact." Slick seemed to be relaxed.
"I sense no deception in him. He told the truth," Obi-Wan commented. "But why did you do this to your brothers? Why did you betray us?" he asked with sadness. "For what?'"
"For my brothers. We were created to be slaves." The sparks reappeared in Slick's eyes. "It's the Republic who keeps my brothers enslaved. We do your bidding. We serve at your whim. I wanted something more. Freedom!"
Obi-Wan anticipated that Anakin would deliver a passionate condemnation, but the room was eerily silent. Anakin froze and paled at Slick's declaration.
Cody broke the silence. "If you loved your brothers, you wouldn't have put them at risk."
"I need some fresh air. I will leave you two to handle this." Anakin quit the room with a troubled look. Ventress's lightsaber was left on the desk.
*** 4 ***
Slick was left in the Ryloth prison cell. He soon would be shipped back to Coruscant to stand trial.
He indeed felt sorry for the fallen brothers who had been collateral damage in his fight with the fleet leadership. He had fought an impossible battle, one which he was proud of. He only had one regret. He was unable to wake up other brothers who were still living in a lie. Commander Cody completely dismissed his perspective and called him a traitor and a fool, but Cody was the real fool.
Indeed Slick had committed treason, with his brothers' blood on his hands. The punishment was death. He would embrace it gladly. Death would set him free.
The tragedy started from the moment they were born. No, way earlier than that. All the clones were genetically engineered to be weapons. Powerful, but obedient weapon. He and his brothers had been portrayed as heroes of the war. It was blatant hypocrisy. No heroes were born as tools and sent to war against their will. Only slaves were.
He had been in the background of propaganda films that featured Skywalker and Kenobi. The troopers, the Jedi, and Navy leaders all fought in the same war. Why was there an unbreakable hierarchy?
Some beings were born into privilege while others were born condemned.
He had hoped his speech could reach Cody or maybe Kenobi. Kenobi didn't defend the Jedi. To his surprise, it elicited a stronger response from Skywalker. Anyway, all these three would quickly forget his words and move on. The privileged would lead his foolish brothers to death.
Even though it was midnight, the prison cell's lights were always on. It was blindingly bright. Suddenly, all the lights were gone. The guards ran to check the cause of the outage. The door of his cell opened. His cuffs dropped on the ground.
Slick was in utter shock. Had Ventress come back from the grave? Nonetheless, he took the opportunity to escape.
He ran without stopping. No guards spotted him in the corridor. When he was outside the building, a Twi'lek guard shot at him. The bolt hit his leg. He fell down, bleeding. The guard carefully approached him, blaster aiming at his head.
Slick waited for the inevitable, but the guard succumbed to unconsciousness out of the blue. Not far from him, a dead clone's body was burning.
A tall figure approached him. They wore a black robe with their face hidden behind a hood. Slick struggled to stand up, to run, but his body could not move.
The figure knelt down and put a hand on his bleeding wound. "Heal," the man commanded. The bleeding stopped, the wound gradually disappeared, and a scar appeared on where the wound once was. Slick watched with disbelief. However, instead of feeling refreshed, the flesh near the scar felt like it was on fire.
"What did you do to me?" Slick hissed.
"You want freedom." The hooded figure gestured to the burning body. "That is Slick. He will be announced dead officially." His voice was deep and dark.
"You are a sorcerer, like Ventress," Slick gasped.
"No. We are different," the man said with disdain, "but you can think in that way."
"What do you… What you want from me?" Slick stuttered.
"You live. You will serve me. I demand your loyalty to me," the man said cooly. "You still have the choice to be executed for treason if you wish. What is your answer?"
"I will live and serve you," he answered quietly. "But I want to fight for my brothers' freedom if I still have a breath in me."
"Good. That is what I want as well. Remember. It is the Jedi who enslaved all of you, not others. There are lobbying efforts in the Senate to decommission the clone army. It is not your concern anymore." He paused a few seconds. "But I need something else from you."
"You are on the Republic side... I think I know who you are," Slick exclaimed with disbelief. "Not surprising that you were able to defeat her, but freeing me. You are committing treason, sir."
" I decide what is treason and what is not." The man laughed. Then his voice got darker. "If you wish to utter my name to any living soul, I will know. That breath will be your last." The man put a finger on the scar on Slick's leg. Slick felt his whole body was on flame, but he could not scream. A few seconds later, all the pain was suddenly gone.
He trembled with horror.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I have no interest in torturing anyone for pleasure. I simply showed you the consequences," the man coldly stated.
"Another form of servitude," Slick said with anger. "What is thy bidding? Your Highness?" He anticipated to be punished, but nothing happened.
"It is really unfortunate that you feel that way." The man sounded a little hurt. "Now leave. Lay low. I will contact you when I have an assignment for you." The man tossed some credit chips to him. Then he disappeared in the dark night.