Day 1: A Little Out of the Ordinary
Prompt: "This wasn't supposed to happen"
The atmosphere on the bridge of the Resolute was charged, as if the slightest spark would ignite an inferno. It was so incredibly quiet that every sound, every whisper was nearly deafening.
Helmsmen, pilots, officers, all moved about with purpose, doing their duties and giving the lone figure standing on the bridge wide berth.
Anakin Skywalker stood, gazing out at the stars, something that ordinarily brought him great comfort. And yet today, he just felt the coldness of space. He felt empty, alone, the anger simmering just below the surface not directed at anyone in particular but rather at himself. Well, if he was going to be completely honest, some of it was directed at his former master.
Years of being chastised and told to stick to one plan or another and he had to go and get himself captured, because he, of all people hadn't stuck to the plan.
It wasn't as if the plan had been anymore complicated or different than other plans they'd come up with over the years. It should have been simple, routine even. Break into the separatist facility, perhaps kill a few droids, one of them would allow themselves to get captured, allowing the other to get the data. They had played this game before, and despite Anakin's frequent protests about being the one to get caught, it usually worked like a charm.
And then Ventress had appeared, dropping in like specter from the shadows. And Obi-Wan, for all his plans, for all his tactics, had walked right into her trap, both of them had. They'd underestimated her.
As she'd appeared, the plan of Anakin surrendering had become obsolete, he had to be the one to get the data they needed, Obi-Wan had assured him he'd be fine holding Ventress off on his own. And ordinarily he should have been.
Anakin still seethed that he hadn't taken the time to see the larger picture at work, that the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach hadn't alerted him that maybe, just maybe there was something more to her appearance. It should have at least occurred to him that getting the data they needed, the few guards, nearly no resistance, everything had just been far too easy. Nothing was ever that easy.
Anakin paced the bridge, his gaze moving between the star map before him and the literal stars outside the view port. He probed the bond he shared with Obi-Wan, reaching out with his instincts, looking for anything, a sign, a feeling, a spark of something…but there was nothing, nothing except his own anxiety, his own turmoil of emotion. The very real fear that they wouldn't be able to find Obi-Wan was making its presence known. And yet, through the din of his own thoughts, he could practically hear Obi-Wan's words echoing, Patience, Padawan, do not let your emotions overrule your thoughts…
He tried taking a calming breath, then another.
But hadn't that been exactly what had happened though? For all of Obi-Wan's wise words, maybe he hadn't let his emotions get the best of him, but his arrogance, his pride, all to prove a point to Ventress.
After retrieving the data, Anakin had made his way back to the main part of the building, still contemplating the curious lack of droids in the facility. No destroyers, no tactic droids…
Back in the hanger, the sounds of lightsabers clashing echoed through the hollow emptiness of the room. As if Ventress had been waiting for him to appear, she made her move, leading the fight to a section of floor. Anakin saw the charges a moment to late to call out a warning, as Obi-Wan, quite literally sprung her trap. His foot hit a stun charge, setting off a chain reaction.
Half the building had come down on Anakin. Thankfully between the duracrete pillar he'd thrown himself behind and his abilities, he had remained relatively unscathed. By the time he'd pulled himself out of the rubble, the ship was nearly out of sight. He was certain Obi-wan was alive, that Ventress had taken him captive. He had initially been confident that he would find her, as she had taken their shuttle, but Ventress was no idiot. Of course, she'd disabled everything that could be used to track the ship. Well nearly everything. There had been a few datapads on board and he'd been able to use them to get a vague ping, or at least track which hyperspace hubs they had passed.
It was a longshot, and he knew it, it relied on them getting close enough, to be within range. He'd narrowed down possible paths they would take, possible destinations, followed his instincts…
One of the helmsmen carefully approached, data pad in hand. "We have something General…"
Anakin took in the coordinates, an abandoned separatist facility on a nearby planet. The signal was faint, old. His brows raised as the pieces in his mind clicked. "Set a course and prepare my shuttle."
He didn't wait for acknowledgement, he turned on his heel, his robes billowing out behind him as he hurriedly left the bridge.
His pace led him across the Resolute within minutes, to the awaiting shuttle in the hanger bay.
Once he was given the all clear that they were in orbit, he piloted the shuttle, trying to calm his raging thoughts to prepare himself for whatever awaited him.
The significance of the planet, the location was not lost on him, it had been some sort of research facility. Of course, the facility itself hadn't been the objective, rather the city, one which they had captured and secured a win for the Republic. The separatist had long fled this world, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake. If he remembered correctly, the locals had put a price on their heads, blaming the Republic for bringing the war to them, and the feeling in his gut was becoming harder to ignore. The initial coordinates would be useless to him, he assumed Ventress, and the shuttle were long gone by now, but he had a hunch he knew exactly what she had done, and if he was right he would find Obi-Wan. He could only hope it wasn't too late.
He wanted to move in, to lay everything to waste, to find Obi-Wan damn the consequences. He knew that although that plan might work, it was risky. He grimaced, he'd have to actually go about this carefully, delicately. He could practically hear Obi-Wan's glee at admitting that and would gladfully listen to his teasing if that meant he was alright.
Anakin have to land on the outskirts of the city. Thankfully, the planet was dark, perpetually gloomy and better yet, this side of the planet was in the night cycle, and he would use that to his advantage. He landed and concealed the shuttle behind a rock formation a few clicks outside the city walls. Although it was open ground between here and the city with very little cover, his dark robes and lack of moonlight allowed him to blend into the landscape. He remembered the mission here, the strange lack of real daylight, the rocky landscape. The locals had been a sentient bipedal felinoid species, similar to Zyggerians, yet larger, stronger, formidable. He'd have to be cautious.
The guards at the city wall never saw him coming. He paused, contemplating jumping the wall when a stray pebble caught the attention of the nearest guard. He waved a hand, reaching out to the guard's mind, "Sleep," and watched with satisfaction as the guard sagged. It wasn't a trick he often deployed, though he'd seen it used often enough. If he was going to be subtle, he might as well go all out. As the other guards moved to check on their fallen comrade, Anakin was gone, up and over the wall.
The streets were dark and empty, and he moved through them, knowing where he needed to go, remembering the layouts he had studied. The building he sought was in the middle of the city, a looming stone structure that served many purposes, and he knew that the lower levels, dank and cavernous, were where the prison cells would be. As he crossed the empty town square, an announcement banner on one end caught his eye.
He felt his blood run cold,
Praise be! Glory to the Stars!
The destroyer of our world, one of the long-sought fugitives captured!
At dawn, we slay the Jedi!
Getting into the citadel wouldn't be the issue. The issue would be that Obi-Wan would most likely be guarded. Judging by the sentiments of the locals, heavily guarded.
He needed to at least get down to the lower levels before any sort of alarm was sounded, otherwise his plan would be difficult. He could only hope that Obi-Wan would be in good enough shape to hold his own, should things become messy.
Pulling his hood lower over his face, he approached the entrance, his stride confident, as if he belonged. There were two guards at the entrance. Anakin's lightsaber was in his hand as he approached, though he didn't ignite it. The guards regarded him warily as he raised both hands, using the same tactic as at the wall. He heard their bodies fall as he made his way through the entrance into the open hall. It was empty, dark.
It took him a few minutes to find a set of steps that led down to lower levels. It was frustrating, slow going and he regretted not having memorized the plans more completely. There wasn't a set of direct stairs leading all the way down. He took steps down to a level, over a series of corridors to the next steps. He cursed a few times as he met walls and dead ends. The construction was most likely on purpose to prevent escapes, but it was maddening. He could feel his patience, what little was left of it running thin.
At the last set of steps, he felt the change in the air, felt the air grow cold and damp. The Force echoed the helplessness, the terror and death in this place. There was a nagging fear in his mind that he wouldn't be able to find Obi-Wan. If he was here, he should have been able to sense something in their bond, but he got nothing, not even a hint of pushing against shielding. The possible explanations for that were not good, and he dismissed contemplating them.
He crept through the halls, peering into cells. He should have seen more guards by now, but the corridors were curiously empty. The smells were overwhelming, blood and waste, and the overwhelming misery was palpable in the air. If despair had a smell, this would be it. He turned another corridor and peered through the bars, his breath catching as he caught a glimpse of familiar robes and auburn hair.
With his back to the door of the cell, he broke the mechanism with a flick of his wrist, wincing at the echoing clank. He could practically feel his heart beating in his ears as he gazed down one side of the corridor to the other, waiting for guards to appear, for something to happen…nothing.
He waved the door open, stepping inside. Obi-Wan was shackled and chained, hanging limply. Both the cuffs and collar around his neck were of the force suppressing variety. To Anakin's surprise, Obi-Wan's eyes opened, regarding him warily, and then with relief.
"Did you take the scenic route?" Anakin had to smile, at least his wit was intact.
"Absolutely. Did some sightseeing. Then I decided to come get you, because you had to get yourself kidnapped," Anakin quipped as he made short work of the cuffs and chains with his saber.
He helped Obi-Wan to the ground as the chains no longer supported his weight. "Is that just a force suppressing collar or is there an explosive?" Anakin asked him, examining the collar closely.
Obi-Wan winced, trying to catch his breath, "I'm not sure. I'm afraid I was unconscious when it was applied."
"Lot of help you are…" Anakin grumbled good naturedly as he reached out with the Force, in his mind the components of the collar becoming clear to him in all their individual pieces. He could read them as easily as a schematic and disabled the mechanisms one by one, watching in satisfaction as the collar fell away. At last, he felt a familiar and comforting presence light up like a beacon in his mind.
Obi-Wan rubbed his wrists and his neck, Anakin could see the bruising left behind. "This wasn't supposed to happen…" he muttered,
"What?" Anakin asked.
"Getting captured. The mission, it should have been straight forward…"
Anakin strained his hearing and reached out to scan the immediate area. There was…something. If they moved quickly maybe they'd avoid it.
"Well, we can break down and discuss what went wrong later. We need to move, can you walk?"
Obi-Wan nodded, attempting to get to his feet, only to hiss in a breath and immediately sit back down. Anakin watched his former master's pale face, saw the bruising and the pain written all over his features.
"I'm afraid I might have broken something…" Obi-Wan reluctantly admitted. Anakin felt their chances worsening by the minute. Then to his astonishment, he watched as Obi-Wan, free of the force suppressing cuffs, used the Force to summon to broken pieces of metal from the door frame, making a makeshift splint around his lower leg, binding it tight with his belt.
"Happens when you oversee a series of charges." Anakin told him, trying to keep the accusation out of his tone.
Obi-Wan snorted at that, "Yes well, Ventress usually doesn't have such sophisticated plans. Someone else was behind that set up."
"Yeah, maybe," Anakin admitted, "But had you stuck to the plan and not gotten caught up with trying to prove a point to her, or whatever, she wouldn't have been able to capture you."
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped to Anakin, and Anakin could sense the surprise and irritation rolling off him in waves, "After all the best laid plans you have gleefully trampled on, I'm not sure you have the room to lecture me on sticking to a plan."
It took everything in Anakin to not take the bait, to argue with Obi-Wan, but reluctantly he swallowed back the retort, "We can discuss this on the ship."
"Fine, now help me up, we need to leave, quickly," Obi-Wan's tone was still irritated, but the irritation gave way to sharp focus. He could practically see him calculating their situation.
Anakin obeyed, pulling Obi-Wan to his feet. He managed to keep pace with Anakin, though his limp was pronounced, and his features pinched from pain and exertion.
They nearly made it to the first set of steps when both came to a sudden stop, the question of where the guards were answered. Six of them stood before them, weapons drawn, a variety of bladed electro staffs. Something glinted from the belt of one of the guards, and before Anakin could point out the obvious, Obi-Wan had already summoned his lightsaber to his hand, his blade igniting with a familiar and comforting hum. He glanced at Anakin and Anakin didn't need to be told twice, falling into a familiar stance beside Obi-Wan, the two of them in sync as they moved forward.
"Capture the second Jedi! It's just as the witch said, he'll show up and we'll be able to execute both of the destroyers!" The lead guard said, as if to motivate his men. That had been the plan all along. Ventress had hoped to get rid of them both in this way. That is why getting into the citadel had been so easy.
The guards didn't have a chance. He noticed Obi-Wan's unspoken disapproval as one of the guards fell, run through by Anakin's blade, where as Obi-Wan had disabled the guards, preferring to disarm them and knock them unconscious. He could hear the lecture now, but that didn't matter, because that was preferable to the alternative.
It was a slow process, between the guards and the steps and corridors, but they eventually made it outside, only to find themselves surrounded, by what appeared to be the local citizens, who had all too gladly taken up arms.
Obi-Wan panted, back-to-back with Anakin. Anakin could sense he was in no shape to continue fighting, though he would, to the last breath if necessary.
"I don't suppose your ship is parked around the corner?"
Anakin nearly laughed at the lighthearted quip in the face of certain death.
"Unfortunately, not. Decided to be discrete, you know, subtle?. Thought you'd be proud,"
Obi-Wan raised a brow, "That's a little out of the ordinary for you, now isn't it? You pick today of all days to start listening to me?"
"Any ideas would be great—" Anakin started, the crowd had gotten closer but suddenly stopped, parting to let someone through.
"General Kenobi! Leaving us so soon?" An accented voice boomed as a figure approached. The tall lithe felinoid form in armor. There was something vaguely familiar, and a glance to Obi-Wan showed he was right. Obi-Wan had straightened to stand tall, despite his injuries.
"General Daraay, always a pleasure. I found the amount of hospitality I was shown a bit stifling."
The fellow General made a sound that could have been anything from a purr to a snarl, Anakin assumed it was a chuckle.
"Always a smart comment." He approached looking them up and down, shaking his head. Anakin eyed him warily, tensing. "The witch was to deliver you unharmed, pity…"
"What was your plan? Capture us and have us executed for what the Seps did to your planet?" Anakin asked him, trying to keep his tone conversational.
Daraay's face was in Anakin's in an instant, so close he could see the slit pupils in cold green eyes contract and the gleam of the General's fangs, smell his fetid breath. "The Republic brought the war to this planet, you two paraded your troops around and destroyed my cities…" He hissed, "And then the Republic disappeared and left us to pick up the pieces! So yes Jedi, someone has to pay…"
"We offered aid," Obi-Wan told him, pointedly, earning another hiss from Daraay.
"Aid with strings attached for the Republic! You Jedi, you call yourselves peacekeepers, negotiators, yet you negotiate unfairly!" He'd moved to stand before Obi-Wan, his eyes never leaving his even as he paced.
"We offered aid and representation in the Senate in exchange for use of a base on your planet. But you wanted weapons Daraay, weapons the Republic did not feel comfortable putting in your hands…" Obi-Wan's tone was almost regretful, sympathetic and that seemed to enrage Daraay even more. Anakin tensed, for a moment, he was almost sure Daraay was coiling for an attack, but he seemed to gather himself.
"That is not your decision to make. But that is irrelevant, dawn is but hours away, and my people will get their justice. They will have the opportunity to execute you…"
Daraay motioned to the square, to the dais that had been build and Anakin again felt his blood run cold, understanding what the General was implying. He was going to chain them and have the townspeople tear them apart. Anakin had the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind, and he only hoped Obi-Wan was up for what the mission entailed.
He gazed at the General coldly, "You want blood Daraay? Jedi blood spilled in payment for the wrongs we have done. Then take me."
He glanced at Obi-Wan sharply willing him to keep quiet for now, to play along. Daraay looked at him with interest.
"General Kenobi is injured, you said so yourself. He won't survive five minutes up there, and that would rob your people their revenge, wouldn't it? Let him leave the city, give him a head start. He wont last very long out in the wastelands. You can send your hunters after him at dawn. Either the wastelands will kill him, or your hunters will…"
Through their bond, he felt a hot flash of indignation from Obi-Wan, but he kept silent, his features schooled, watching as Daraay seemed to consider the option.
Daraay motioned to guards behind him to move toward Anakin, "You will come willingly and not make a fuss." Anakin nodded, holding out his wrists, "I will as long as you keep your side of the bargain."
"This best not be a trap, Jedi…"
It took everything to keep the smirk off his face and he managed to nod solemnly.
He glanced to Obi-Wan, the ship, he thought, Find the ship.
He waited, seeing a glimpse of understanding in Obi-Wan's face. "May the force be with you General Skywalker…"
"And with you, Master Kenobi,"
Their eyes locked one last time as Obi-Wan was led away. The guards holding on to Anakin shoved him forward, using more force than necessary to get him moving.
As Anakin was chained to the dais, oddly reminiscent of the Arena on Geonosis, he felt himself relax, closing his eyes. The roiling turmoil of emotions calmed as he searched for the bond, trying to get a glimpse of anything that told him that his plan would succeed.
He settled in almost a meditative state, sensing through the bond as Obi-Wan, even as injured as he was, made good time out of the city. He could feel the man's pain with every step, feel his determination. The anxiety for Anakin's well-being surprised him. He had to focus on clearing his own mind of any residual anger and negative emotions, the bond went both ways. Instead, he focused on calm, encouraging thoughts. He focused on the image of the rock formation that he had hidden the ship behind. After what felt like hours, he felt a sense of relief move through his mind and he couldn't help but smile. This nightmare was coming to an end.
He opened his eyes and gazed to the lightening sky, at the crowds gathered for blood, he saw the movement on the horizon.
General Daraay was giving a speech, something to rile the crowd, the words weren't understandable to Anakin, but the overwhelming bloodthirst was universal it seemed. The felinoids were lining up, anxious for their revenge.
He closed his eyes to concentrate. He'd broken the mechanism on the force suppressing cuffs hours earlier, and now he waited for the crowd before him, watching as the cuffs fell useless to the rocky ground. There was a hush in the crowd, a sense of panic, as if they sensed the danger, as if they expected him to turn on them. Part of him was tempted but he fought back the urge as he saw the ship moving into position, hovering above him over the tope of the support strut. He tore the chain from the strut, showing off a bit as each individual link of the chain disconnected, raining down around him. Satisfied that the crowd was too stunned by his demonstration to move, he turned, jumping up the support strut and balanced at the top, waiting for the hatch of the ship to open. He looked down, directly to a seething General Daraay and mockingly saluted him just as the hatch opened.
As soon as he was in the shuttle, he moved quickly to the cockpit. "Punch it, get us out of here!"
Obi-Wan still had hover mode engaged and moved from the pilot seat allowing Anakin to take over.
"You do the honors, while you were napping, I had to cross a desert, I barely survived," his words were a little more pointed than they should have been. Ok, it would seem he might still be angry about being called out in front of the enemy.
Anakin rolled his eyes as Obi-Wan sat heavily in the co pilot chair. His hands flew over the controls, and they were out of orbit in minutes, headed to the Resolute.
"I wouldn't call it napping exactly, more like a…a deep meditation."
Obi-Wan sent a glance at him, before looking away. "Well, there's a first time for everything..." There was something there, something unspoken, something akin to unease that Obi-Wan didn't seem ready or able to address. It took Anakin a minute to realize that as much as he'd used their bond to view the situation, gauge Obi-Wan's condition earlier, the bond was a two-way portal. He'd been so focused, it was unclear exactly what Obi-Wan had gleamed during that time, either that or his less than benevolent thoughts towards the town's people probably irritated his former master. They'd have time to discuss it. He'd probably never hear the end of it.
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan, seeing the exhaustion and pain written on his features, "I think we need to rethink our standard plan Master. You make a terrible captive."
Obi-Wan sighed, giving in to the safety of the ship and exhaustion, closed his eyes, "I think you might be right."