Chapter Seven

Obi-Wan itched to talk to Vespera, who conversed with Padme and Ahsoka, but his duty to deliver Dr. Vindi to the city of Theed prevented him. So, he left Vespera with Padme, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex in the bunker and escorted a cuffed Dr. Vindi aboard a ship to take him to Theed. Anakin paused on the loading ramp, his eyes scanning the Nubian trees, wind ruffling his hair.

"That was close. If that virus had escaped, everyone on Naboo would be dead now."

Obi-Wan shrugged and feigned nonchalance. "Oh well, just another boring day saving the universe."

Anakin snorted. "Alright, let's take this sleemo back to Theed so we can help Padme, Ahsoka, and Vespera clean up down there."

Obi-Wan nodded. He assumed Vespera would want to come along with them to Theed and return to Azyrion, but it seemed she was in no hurry to return to her home planet. Anakin smirked at Obi-Wan as he walked up the loading ramp.

"Weird running into her, huh? Small galaxy."

Obi-Wan lifted a brow at his former Padawan, opening his mouth to issue a sarcastic reply, but the piercing sound of alarms from within the bunker cut him off.

Dr. Vindi cackled. "The virus is liberated! You are doomed, young Jedi, along with the rest of the planet!"

The ground shook violently, sending Obi-Wan and Anakin stumbling for balance. Anakin widened his eyes. "What was that?"

Obi-Wan and Anakin boarded the ship and shut the loading ramp while Anakin frantically called Ahsoka on his comlink. "What is going on down there?"

"The droids released the virus, but we managed to seal the lab." Ahsoka's voice sounded.

"And Padme?" Anakin demanded.

"Haven't heard from her or Queen Vespera since the bomb."

Obi-Wan tensed as he forced Dr. Vindi into a seat, strapping him in. Haven't heard from her or Queen Vespera since the bomb. He reached out with the Force, relaxing a little when he felt Vespera, still alive but anxious.

"Anakin, can you hear me? Anakin?" Padme's voice buzzed through Anakin's comlink.

"Padme, I'm here. Are you alright?"

Obi-Wan folded his arms and furrowed his brow as Anakin held his comlink close to his mouth, eyes wide with unconcealed worry.

"Yes, for the time being. Jar Jar, Vespera, and I were in a safety chamber when the alarm went off. We're wearing protective suits."

Anakin relaxed, and Obi-Wan released some tension in his muscles, too. Anakin turned away from Dr. Vindi. "The virus is loose but Ahsoka has sealed off the entire facility."

"Yes, but any remaining droids will try to break out. We'll do what we can to stop them. We cannot let that virus escape."

"Be careful." Anakin turned back, a dark look on his face. He drew his lightsaber and pointed it at Dr. Vindi. "Where's the antidote?"

Obi-Wan widened his eyes at Anakin.

Dr. Vindi laughed. "You mistake my role, Jedi! My job was to manufacture a plague, not to cure it."

"We don't have time for games," Anakin growled.

"Patience, Anakin. There's more than one way to skin a womprat." Obi-Wan cut a glare in Vindi's direction.

Anakin jabbed the saber toward Vindi, who cackled. "Yes, kill me now and spare these old bones the blue shadow's dire embrace, because once the first droid breaks out of the laboratory, all Naboo is doomed!"

Obi-Wan scowled at the doctor, but his stomach knotted. And their friends would be doomed first. Anakin curled his lip, contorting his face into a look that Obi-Wan could only describe as murderous.

"Anakin, the fastest way to help Senator Amidala and Ahsoka is to get Vindi back to the capital and find an actual antidote," Obi-Wan said gently. He relaxed when Anakin deactivated his saber.

When they arrived in Theed, Captain Typho greeted them. As guards led Dr. Vindi away to a containment cell, Typho led Obi-Wan and Anakin to terminal.

"You think you found a cure?" Anakin asked.

"Possibly," said Typho, pulling up a holoimage of a root. "A little-known extract made from reeksa root, a weed-like vine found only on Iego, the world of a thousand moons deep in Separatist-controlled space."

"Let's go," said Anakin.

"You must move cautiously if you—"

But Anakin turned away from Typho. "There's no time for caution! My Padawan is trapped down there, and so is Padme!" Anakin froze, meeting Obi-Wan's gaze. The least Anakin could do was try and practice subtlety. Anakin averted Obi-Wan's lifted brow. "I mean, Senator Amidala."

"I applaud your courage, General Skywalker," said Typho, clasping his hands behind his back, "but it's suicide. Once we contain the virus, we can send troops."

By the time Nubian forces could contain the virus, send troops, retrieve the root, and fashion a cure, everyone in the bunker would be dead. Obi-Wan placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder, but he knocked Obi-Wan's hand away.

"No. Obi-Wan and I can handle it." Anakin stomped off, and Obi-Wan followed him.

"I concur, Anakin."

The tension on their ship as they traveled through hyperspace stretched between them. Obi-Wan sighed after several moments of suffocating silence. "Anakin—"

"Why aren't you worried? Your friends are down there, too!" Anakin snapped.

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. Anakin's words stung. "I am worried."

"You don't seem like it."

"Like I told you earlier, I'm better at hiding it."

Anakin merely huffed.

Obi-Wan's heart clenched. "Padme and Ahsoka will be fine."

"They will be if we succeed."

The ship dropped out of hyperspace, and a soft orange planet backdropped floating debris. Not just any debris—destroyed ships.

"What do you make of this?" Anakin muttered.

"It looks like a graveyard," Obi-Wan breathed. Their ship drifted past a corpse, suspended in the vacuum of space, as Anakin navigated the debris. "Of ships."

Normally, Anakin would make some comment about a situation like this, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. Well, not just anywhere. Anakin's mind was inside a contaminated bunker on Naboo with a certain senator.

As soon as they landed on a platform, Anakin jumped up. "Let's go!"

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. Outside the viewport were dozens of battle droids. "Anakin—"

But Anakin was already halfway down the loading ramp. With a sigh, Obi-Wan followed. He descended the ramp slowly as Anakin cut through one, two, three—and counting—battle droids that repeated, "Welcome to Iego," over and over.

"Anakin, wait!"

But Anakin continued hacking through droids that did not defend themselves. Obi-Wan sighed, still counting the droids. He reached seventeen by the time Anakin realized something was indeed off about these droids. Obi-Wan sauntered over to his friend.

"Very impressive. You just destroyed seventeen defenseless battle droids without suffering a scratch."

Another droid collapsed. Anakin deactivated his lightsaber. "Eighteen, actually."

One of the repurposed battle droids with a painted face said, "The venerable Jaybo Hood requests an audience."

"Jaybo?" Obi-Wan and Anakin said together.

"Hey!" A young boy—no older than twelve—marched toward them. "You guys have any idea how long it took me to repurpose those droids?"

"You're Jaybo?" Anakin queried.

"Well, do you?" Jaybo demanded, scooping up a head of one of the many droids Anakin destroyed. The dirty boy tossed the droid head over his shoulder.

"I apologize for my friend's rather rash behavior," Obi-Wan said.

"Nine months, man. It took me nine months!" Jaybo slapped his hands to his sides, and then jumped onto a hammock. Obi-Wan lifted a brow at Anakin. They needed help finding reeksa root, and this boy might be their best chance of either finding it, or directing them to someone who could. Lives depended on it.

While one droid played relaxing music, another fanned Jaybo. Obi-Wan shrugged at Anakin, who neared one of the droids.

"How'd a kid like you come by this many battle droids, anyway?"

"Simple. When the Separatists took off, they left all this junk behind. I got a whole warehouse full of 'em right over there." Jaybe jabbed his thumb in the direction of some heavy-set doors behind him.

"So, you programmed them to serve you." Obi-Wan couldn't help but be impressed.

"No reason to let a good droid rust, right?"

Anakin hummed, still observing the droids. "Looks like you used a macro protocol to wipe them all simultaneously. Impressive."

Jaybo sat up. "I see you know your droids. You're Jedi, aren't you? Want me to show you how I did it?"

Obi-Wan lifted his hands. "Perhaps another time. What we need now is reeksa root. Do you know where we can find some?"

Jaybo leaned back with a snort. "Here, there, everywhere."

"We don't have time for games, kid. Where's the root?" Anakin's tone hardened.

Obi-Wan nudged Anakin with his arm and frowned. This wasn't Dr. Vindi, this was just a kid. No need to be too harsh with him. "What my friend is trying to say is that we are in a bit of a hurry."

Jaybo laughed shortly. "Not anymore you're not."

Anakin lurched forward, fists clenched. "Look, you little—"

"This system is haunted, cursed, whatever. Anyway, Jedi or not, no one gets off this rock alive. Not past Drol." Underneath Jaybo's drawling tone seethed something else—bitterness, or disappointment, perhaps. This was something Jaybo was tired of saying.

"Drol?" Obi-Wan lifted a brow as some of the droids around them trembled at the mention of Drol.

"Yeah, Drol. The phantom ruler of Iego. He destroys everything that leaves the planet. Fifty of the best star pilots in the galaxy have tried. Fifty tried, fifty died."

"I suppose that explains the ruined ships in the moon belt." Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. Perhaps the ghost of Drol was a legend, but whatever created that graveyard in Iego's atmosphere was very real. It would probably prove problematic when it was time to leave.

"First things first. We'll have to deal with this Drol later," said Anakin. Obi-Wan nodded. There was no need to worry about leaving Iego until they had what they came for.

Half an hour later, wearing a pack to store the reeksa root, Obi-Wan and Anakin clambered over a ledge to scale a cliff. Thick vines snaked up the cliff face. Jaybo, on all fours, peeked down at Obi-Wan and Anakin as they descended toward the darkness below.

"Are you coming?" Obi-Wan challenged.

"You've got to be kidding. No way I'm going down there."

"You trying to tell us something?" Anakin queried, a few feet lower than Obi-Wan.

"Don't worry, it's simple: follow the vines to the bottom, dig up the roots, but don't touch the vines."

Obi-Wan inched away from one of the vines. "Aside from the obvious, why not?"

"Because the plants don't like it, and they have big, sharp teeth!" Jaybo cried.

"Teeth?" Anakin demanded. "This is getting better by the minute."

"And watch out for the flying xandu!"

A sharp pain cut through Obi-Wan's left arm. He gritted his teeth and dropped onto the ledge below him. The pain in his arm felt akin to blaster fire.

"What's a xandu?" Anakin queried.

"I'm not sure," Obi-Wan said tightly, rolling his shoulder. The pain vanished as quickly as it happened, though it still unnerved him. A deep rumble within the cliff shook the ground under his feet. A flying creature burst from an opening in the cliff, screeching. It knocked Anakin into the air, but he caught the back foot of the creature—the xandu—which flapped around frantically, unable to ascend any higher. Anakin was too heavy for it.

"Master, hop on!"

Obi-Wan waited for the xandu to circle around, and then leaped forward and caught the other foot. "This isn't going to work!"

The xandu descended, though it still struggled to fly upwards. As it descended, Obi-Wan's throat ached and his lungs seemed constricted. The physical ailment vanished quickly, though it ebbed in and out. He swallowed. He didn't have time to feel unwell; they still needed to accomplish their mission.

The xandu descended toward the cavern floor. Obi-Wan widened his eyes.

"There! Those are the roots we're looking for!"

"Oh, poodoo," Anakin muttered. Poodoo was right: They were moving too fast and would need to jump. Obi-Wan and Anakin dropped to the ground. The impact shocked up Obi-Wan's legs as he rolled—right over one of the vines they weren't supposed to touch.

Out of the ground burst enormous vines with heads. Four heads, with four mouths full of very sharp teeth. Obi-Wan gritted his teeth as the discomfort in his lungs returned, dizzying him. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Anakin withdrew a small shovel from his pack and dropped to the ground.

"Don't take too long with that."

"I'll go as fast as I can," Anakin grunted, digging into the ground.

Obi-Wan's throat burned and there did not seem to be enough air. The dizziness returned and disappeared.

"Anakin, hurry."

The four heads seemed blind, as they twisted and hissed without seeing, but a particularly loud clang from Anakin's spade caught their attention. All four heads whipped in their direction.

"Anakin, now!"

"Okay, okay! Got it!" Anakin ripped the root from the ground and stuffed it in Obi-Wan's pack. They sprinted away as the plants dived for them, hissing and screeching. As Obi-Wan ran, his lungs seemed to constrict and burn more. The lightheadedness returned, but he pushed on. Channeling the Force, he leaped up and grabbed hold of the rocks, climbing the cliff wall at a miraculous speed. Anakin was only a few inches ahead of them. The monster screeched behind them. Anakin and Obi-Wan ignited their sabers at the same time. When the creature swiped toward them, Anakin cut off all four heads in one fluid motion.

Panting, Obi-Wan deactivated his saber and belted it. He resumed climbing, though at a slower pace than Anakin, who reached the top first.

"You made it!" Jaybo cried. "I knew you would."

Obi-Wan reached the top and smirked. "Oh, did you?"

Using a trick Qui-Gon taught him, Obi-Wan breathed in and allowed the Force to replenish his energy. The lightheadedness, burning lungs, and aching body disappeared. Where in the universe was that coming from?

Obi-Wan and Anakin followed Jaybo along the walkway they used to get to the cliff to return to their ship. Jaybo seemed happy to have company, as he talked the entire way back.

"The place dried up once the spice convoy stopped running. Out here we're just one of the millions of little backwaters no one cares about. Those of us who are left can't leave because of the curse." The nonchalance that coated Jaybo's tone sent a surge of sympathy stabbing through Obi-Wan.

An elderly voice wailed. Obi-Wan and Anakin turned toward the source. A quarren stepped out from behind a stack of crates. "Cursed, we are! The planet is cursed."

Obi-Wan folded his arms. "Cursed by whom, my twitchy friend?"

"The ghost of Drol, that's who!"

"A ghost?" Anakin muttered, eyeing Obi-Wan. It was odd that it wasn't just the young Jaybo who believed in this curse.

"The spirit of the thousand moons, our protector and destroyer." The quarren bowed his head.

"If you ask me, it sounds like a load of—"

"Superstition?" Obi-Wan cut Anakin off.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "That's one word for it."

"Superstition, you say?" The quarren slapped a transmission device onto a crate. A holovid of a Rodian pilot flickered into view.

"Can't hold on much—" He broke off as electricity surged over him. His body jolted and jerked. It was a pain Obi-Wan was too familiar with. "Someone, help me!" The terror in the Rodian's voice sent a chill down Obi-Wan's spine. Then, the Rodian exploded. Obi-Wan widened his eyes.

Sorrow rolled off of Jaybo, who hung his head. "That was Taquito. He was a friend of mine."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a fresh sting of sympathy.

The quarren scooped up his device. "Try to leave this planet, and your fate will be the same."

Perhaps Obi-Wan and Anakin had been harsh to criticize this ghost of Drol. While Obi-Wan did not believe it was an actual ghost, he believed Jaybo's grief and the holorecording. Something killed Taquito and the other pilots. The people of Iego just gave name to the destruction as a way to cope and comprehend it.

But they also had to get to Naboo. Whatever this Drol was, Obi-Wan and Anakin had no choice but to face it. So, they returned to their ship.

"The ghost of Drol may be a local superstition, but something real blew up those ships," Obi-Wan mused as he took his seat.

"Real we can handle," Anakin muttered. Then he added to his comlink, which was connected to Jaybo's com: "Thank for your help, kid. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Have you run into Drol yet?"

Obi-Wan smirked as the ship cut through the ship graveyard in Iego's moon belt. "Not to worry, Jaybo."

But Obi-Wan spoke too soon. Golden lasers zigzagged across their path, creating a kind of deadly net. "There's our ghost!"

"Lasers!" Anakin growled, steering away from one that nearly cut through their ship.

"We've triggered an energy field. Turn the ship around. We'll never make it through."

With a sigh, Anakin turned the ship around and returned to the port.

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. "The Separatists must have installed those lasers to prevent the people from leaving the planet."

As they unbuckled their seatbelts, a holotransmission sputtered into view. Obi-Wan froze. Ahsoka, Padme, and Vespera looked terrible. Wrapped around Vespera's left arm was a bandage. Absentmindedly, Obi-Wan touched his arm in the place where it hurt earlier.

"Master, can you hear me?" Ahsoka's voice flickered.

"Artoo, amplify the signal!" Anakin yelled. Artoo beeped.

"Destroyed… all the battle droids… inside the compound, Master." Ahsoka swayed.

Obi-Wan squinted at her. Dark shadows wreathed under eyes and darkened her veins, like poisonous branches. The same dark blue stained Padme and Vespera, though it appeared in an earlier stage than Ahsoka's. Obi-Wan's stomach knotted. They were infected.

Ahsoka dissolved into a fit of coughs. Padme comforted her, and Vespera stepped forward. "Naboo is safe from further contamination. I repeat: Naboo is safe."

Padme looked up; her brow curved with sorrow. "Promise me that no one will ever open this bunker. Goodbye, Anakin. I…" Padme coughed, and the transmission ended.

"No!" Anakin cried. He jumped up before Obi-Wan, who still felt winded by what he just witnessed, could say anything. Obi-Wan hurried after Anakin, who was already halfway down the loading ramp. "We'll borrow a power converter from Jaybo and reprogram it to feed our—"

"Slow down, Anakin," Obi-Wan insisted.

Anakin wheeled around. "Slow down? Slow down? You saw them, Master. They're dying!"

Obi-Wan's chest clenched, but he forced himself to remain calm. "A great leap forward often requires first taking two steps back."

"And sometimes all it requires is the will to jump," snapped Anakin.

Obi-Wan sighed. "At least hear me out on this."

For a moment, it looked like Anakin might argue. But then, he gave the slightest inclination of his head.

It took some convincing of the citizens of Iego, but Obi-Wan and Anakin finally managed to convince them of their plan to disable the laser field. Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to their ship.

"Ready, General Kenobi." Jaybo's voice filled the ship through their comlinks.

"Jaybo, activate the vulture droids. Now, transfer control of the droids to Artoo," said Anakin. Artoo beeped and wheeled to the ship's console when Jaybo did as Anakin said.

The ship sped forward, triggering the energy field as planned. Obi-Wan's fingers hovered over the triggers for the blasters. As the lasers cut across their path, Obi-Wan shouted, "Artoo, intercept the lasers! Send the vulture droids directly into the laser generator."

Artoo beeped an affirmative. The vulture droids sped forward and exploded in the generator. Wrinkling his nose, Obi-Wan opened fire on the primary node. It burst into flames and debris, deactivating the lasers and energy field.

"You guys okay? Guys?" Jaybo sounded frantic.

"We're fine, kid," said Anakin as they sped away from the debris. "I'm afraid you'll need some new droids to boss around, Jaybo. The ones you lent us are pretty much toast."

Obi-Wan smirked. "But the good news is that you're now free to leave Iego whenever you choose."

Anakin ended the transmission with Jaybo, and then swiveled in his seat. "Artoo, set a course for Naboo."

When they entered hyperspace, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. Following the tether that still connected him with Vespera, Obi-Wan held his breath. He released it when he felt Vespera on the other side, still alive. She was weak—so weak she probably did not even feel him reaching out to her—and in a lot of pain. Obi-Wan concentrated, reaching further until he could see her as he had before.

Her surroundings were a white void, but Vespera was as clear as if she were right before him. Obi-Wan frowned at her, and his chest clenched. She lied on the floor, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her veins were nearly black, and the poisonous branches of the blue shadow virus crept up her throat and out from under her eyes. She met his gaze. "Obi… Wan…?"

Obi-Wan withdrew from the vision with a jerk. He doubted that vision was the right word for it, since he viewed Vespera in the present moment. The Force bond they seemed to share felt oddly intense for its brief life. He felt it when Vespera got shot, and he felt Vespera getting sick—that explained the burning lungs and lightheadedness—which meant their bond possessed a strength that usually came with years of companionship. As soon as Vespera recovered, Obi-Wan needed to discuss this connection they shared.

"Master? You alright?" Anakin queried.

"Yes, just tired." Obi-Wan stared ahead, still dazed.

When they dropped out of hyperspace and landed on Naboo, all they had to do was wait. Already, Nubian doctors and scientists had set up a pressurized enclosure over the entrance hatch to the bunker to prevent any gas from leaking. The reeksa root was quickly transformed into a cure, both in liquid and gaseous form. The reeksa gas neutralized the blue shadow gas within the bunker, and an extraction team retrieved the survivors from the facility.

Anakin immediately rushed to Padme's stretcher. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, but walked over to Vespera, who already seemed to be recovering, though still weak.

"I don't see you for over ten years and now I see you twice in mere weeks of each other?" Obi-Wan teased.

"I know, I'm spoiling you," Vespera replied hoarsely. Obi-Wan's heart clenched—Vespera sounded so terrible—and he backed away to let the doctors treat her. Jar Jar wobbled around, struggling to take his helmet off. Obi-Wan sighed and steadied the Gungan.

"I heard you were quite brave fending off the battle droids, Jar Jar."

"Really?"

"Senator Amidala suggested we offer you training to help hone your skills with a blaster." That wasn't the only reason Padme suggested this. Part of the reason Vespera got shot was by protecting Jar Jar.

"Really?" Jar Jar's eyes brightened.

"Really."

Jar Jar jumped up and danced around. "Oh, boy! I'm a-gonna be trained!"

Rex scowled from his stretcher. "I am not training him."

Obi-Wan swallowed a chuckle. He chose not to bother Vespera with his questions about their connection in the Force until she received the full antidote and they returned to the palace. Before Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to their Venators, Obi-Wan sought out Vespera. He found her in the hangar of the palace, sitting on the floor with her feet dangling over the edge, staring at the brilliant pink sunset.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Vespera's voice sounded less hoarse. Obi-Wan sat beside her, propping one knee up.

"Yes," he agreed. "I don't get many moments like this anymore."

"You don't see the sunset anymore?"

"Well," Obi-Wan said, his cheeks popping with a cheeky smile, "there aren't many sunsets in space."

Vespera chuckled softly. "Of course."

Perhaps now wasn't the time to talk about the Force. But the itch to know if it was entirely mutual burned under his skin. Obi-Wan drew in a hesitant breath. "Vespera, I have to ask you something."

"Alright." She sounded weary.

"There was a moment, back on Azyrion, when I saved your life, and something happened—"

"The Force," Vespera breathed. "It…"

"You felt it, too?" Obi-Wan's chest lightened. He wasn't alone in this, at least.

Vespera nodded. "I was worried you didn't feel it, or that I was losing my mind."

Obi-Wan smirked. "Well, if you are, then I must be, too."

"I meditated, and I felt this pull, and it was like—"

"A tether," Obi-Wan finished quietly.

A wave of anxiety spiked off Vespera. "I saw you. Your surroundings were blurred, but I saw you. I don't know if it was the present moment, or the future, or even the past, but I swear you looked at me. Was that… Was that in my imagination, or could you see me, too?"

Obi-Wan widened his eyes. "Vespera, I reached out, too. I saw you, and Callan—"

"I saw you!" V gasped, turning away from the sunset and wringing her hands. "You were standing behind Callan. I thought it was a vision…" She bit her lip. "I think I pushed you out."

"That would explain why I was abruptly forced out of meditation."

Vespera bowed her head, and shame curled off her. Obi-Wan's stomach twisted. He didn't want to embarrass her, and the urge to be honest with her—to say that what Callan did to her disgusted him and he wished he could help her—but the words didn't fall from his lips. He was usually a skilled conversationalist, but in this moment, words failed him.

"So, what does this all mean?" Vespera's question yanked Obi-Wan from his thoughts.

His shoulders slumped. "I'm not sure. Perhaps Master Yoda—"

"No," Vespera bit.

Obi-Wan frowned at her. "We obviously lack the knowledge and wisdom to understand what is going on—"

"I can't go to the Jedi."

"Don't you want to know what's going on, or why the Force is connecting us?"

Vespera looked away. The sunset painted her face in brilliant gold light. The remnants of the blue shadow virus's touch had nearly disappeared from her features. "I'm not sure. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Obi-Wan's stomach churned and he gritted his teeth. Why wouldn't she want to find answers? Why did she not want to seek the Jedi? It wasn't like she left on bad terms with them. In fact, she was positively remembered by those at the Order. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, but Vespera shut him out with a mental wall as strong and cold as a ship's hull.

"Don't try and read my emotions, Kenobi. The Force might be connecting us, but you're not privy to everything about me," Vespera snapped. She stood, and Obi-Wan followed suit, furrowing his brow.

"I apologize—"

"Until next time, General Kenobi." Vespera bowed her head and stalked away. Her hair gleamed in the last bits of light before shadows blanketed her, and Obi-Wan's heart sank into the pit of his stomach as Vespera's cold tone continued to cut him, even in her absence.

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