*5*
For crude, corrupted, slimy slugs- the banquet was actually pretty nice. The room was vast and decadent, though in a tasteful way. They had good food for the most part, music, and those who wore clothes were dressed to the nines.
"Nice place for an assassination," Obi commented as the three of them entered.
"//Good evening, Phyre. Who are these men?//" the alien's eyes looked the two up and down.
"These are my associates, Ben Hopper and Scott Barringer," she introduced as the Hutt took her arm.
"//I see. Judging from my experience with Phyre, your brothels must be quite popular, gentlemen//" the slug complimented.
"Aye, Phyre has always been a favorite of our customers," Obi replied in a rough yet proud voice, "I had to put one of the girls in charge of scheduling in order to attend this fine party you've got here."
"We're hoping she can handle the number of calls coming in," Anakin added.
"//That busy huh? Tell me about your recruiting and training methods for the girls, they must be excellent for you to be getting such business.//"
"Indeed they are," Anakin improvised as Obi's eyes scanned over the people in the room. As of yet he could sense no particularly evil intentions, but they were among professional criminals…
Then there it was, like a shining beacon out of a cloudy sky. A tall Rodian, presently by the bar, was holding the intention of assassinating the head Hutt. Their only problem now was they wouldn't know when he was going to do until a split second ahead of time. Slowly Obi-Wan made his way around the room to examine their subject more closely.
he sent out,
they came back.
he got even closer and attuned his hearing to what the alien was saying…
"//…we will strike when the time is right,//" he was assuring his associate, most likely accomplice. The three Jedi could sense the anxiety between the two, it would not be long now. Anakin rotated inconspicuously to better flank the Hutt with whom he was holding conversation- his lightsaber would have more space to maneuver from the new angle. Cadi moved slightly closer to the obese alien and began to erect a Force bubble around them.
Then it came. Obi had less than a flicker of intuition before it happened, but that was all he needed. In an instant three lightsabers were out from their hiding places, ignited and at ready, just in time to deflect the sudden blaster bolts fizzling through the air. The Hutt was protected well enough, and without much delay its own bodyguards appeared. The problem was the defense was attacking the wrong people. The swarm of bulky guards turned the muzzles of their guns on the Jedi- they were drastically outnumbered.
With effortless expertise Obi, Ani and Cadi sliced through their opponents like butter. The defense and assassins had weapons of all sorts, but the Jedi had the Force. Each of them took on two or three at a time, blocking and parrying.
"Call them off!" Cadi yelled above the gunshots.
"//You think I'm going to trust you after you pull a lightsaber out of your garter?//" fear and anger crossed the flat face.
"Do you want to be on the other end of the blade?" she retorted between grinding teeth as she faced the three before her. The assassins were long dead, but the confusion as to who the enemy was had turned the banquet into pure chaos. All the guests, or rather, all the guests' bodyguards, were attacking pretty much anything in sight, especially the Jedi.
Cadi was too busy with her five armed opponents to see a short Twil'lek girl pull a dagger from her cuff. Anakin caught the brief glint of it in his eye, had only a millisecond to realize what it was. He quickly elbowed and tripped his opponents to buy himself a second's time to call to her and Obi-Wan through the Force. They both heard him, Obi-Wan risking a glance and Cadi twisting to avoid the first swipe.
She avoided the first strike, and the second, and the third- but another of her opponents realized the Twil'lek's goal, and forced Cadi into a stance that left her torso open from behind. The Twil'lek was quick; she made a rapid thrust, making a puncture in Cadi's lower left lung.
"No!" Obi's scream could be heard through the whole building. With new, fervent speed he finished off his remaining obstacles and started to make his way across the room to her. Anakin took the liberty of intercepting anything that blocked his Master's path.
The room suddenly grew quiet. Fighting slowed, and was soon at an end. Cadi was gripping the rope of a nearby tapestry, trying to stay on her feet. Had she been at her normal level of health, the wound would have been nothing. But now, it was all the virus within her needed to complete its task.
After what seemed like an eternity, Obi-Wan got to her. Gently he pried her pale, defiant fingers from the rope and sat down on the floor with her in his arms. He felt her body rattling for breath, her lips were colorless, the light of her eyes slowly flickering out.
"You're okay, you're okay," he chanted over and over, "you'll be alright, I- I'll take care of you."
"It's too late, Obi," she whispered back.
"No," he shook his head violently, "it's not bad, we'll get a doctor- and-" he looked up with frantic eyes, "Will somebody get a doctor!" he screamed.
"Shhh," she touched her cold, shaky fingertips to his face, "it's too late now," she heaved for air, "I'm dying, Obi-Wan." She went into a violent fit of coughs, her eyes glazing with lack of oxygen. He clutched her tightly, tried to concentrate all his warmth and strength into her. The coughing subsided, she dropped her head in exhaustion.
A terrible, dark dab of blood stained her pale lips. With a sheer look of horror and disbelief Obi touched his finger to it, stared at the angry red spot it left on his skin. In that instant all his control, all his careful Jedi training, left him. He felt his lip start to quiver.
"No, Cadi!" he whimpered, "I can't go on-"
"But you will," she rasped, "you will, Obi-Wan. You've got so much to give…" Obi felt her start to go limp, the last flicker of light fading from her eyes. He pressed his lips tightly to hers, grasped her hand in his, squeezed it hard.
She did not squeeze back. He pulled away to search her eyes. There was no life there- that glowing sheen he'd always known, he'd always loved, was replaced by empty darkness. He brought her close to him again.
"No, please no," he shut his eyes tight, buried his face in her hair, "I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Suddenly he felt a soft touch through the Force, one rapidly gaining strength, in the very back of his mind- and his heart.
/I love you/ it whispered.
"Cadi?" he moaned softly. And at that moment he let go of whatever restraint he had left, and he cried. He rocked back and forth, never letting go of her, sobbing uncontrollably.
Anakin padded softly up to him, dropped on his knees to the floor beside his Master. He squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder, who relaxed his hold on Cadi to let him look at her. The young man reached for her hand, felt the cold weightlessness of her fingers…
Abruptly Anakin stood up and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and threw it to the ground. Without a word he stomped off across the ballroom and within moments had pulled the Twil'lek girl from her hiding place. He dragged her out roughly, then stood her up against the tapestry Cadi had been clutching only moments ago. She cursed and spit in his face, Anakin responded with a blow to her head that could be heard around the room.
"Anakin!" Obi shouted in shock, "Stop!"
But the boy seemed unable to hear him. With thoughtless efficiency he bound her arms and legs with the dangling ropes of the tapestry. Then he took a step back from her. One of her colleagues stormed him, but his lightsaber was in his hand and through the opponent in the blink of an eye. No one else dared stop him. Breathing hard, he clenched one hand. The Twil'lek started gasping for air as the sound of her throat being crushed seemed to ring through the room.
Within seconds it was over, the young alien hung limp and very dead. Anakin leaned toward her to retrieve her dagger from her cuff. Adjusting his grip once or twice, he drew his arm back-
To feel his wrist grabbed firmly. He spun around to find the tear-streaked face of his Master. The boy gritted his teeth and lurched to pull free, but Obi's grip was steadfast. Anakin cried out and kept trying, the tears flowing freely from his eyes. Working himself into hysterics, he finally let the knife drop to the floor and fell into Obi-Wan's embrace.
"Help me carry her," the elder asked in a hoarse whisper. Anakin sniffled and gave a nod.
For crude, corrupted, slimy slugs- the banquet was actually pretty nice. The room was vast and decadent, though in a tasteful way. They had good food for the most part, music, and those who wore clothes were dressed to the nines.
"Nice place for an assassination," Obi commented as the three of them entered.
"//Good evening, Phyre. Who are these men?//" the alien's eyes looked the two up and down.
"These are my associates, Ben Hopper and Scott Barringer," she introduced as the Hutt took her arm.
"//I see. Judging from my experience with Phyre, your brothels must be quite popular, gentlemen//" the slug complimented.
"Aye, Phyre has always been a favorite of our customers," Obi replied in a rough yet proud voice, "I had to put one of the girls in charge of scheduling in order to attend this fine party you've got here."
"We're hoping she can handle the number of calls coming in," Anakin added.
"//That busy huh? Tell me about your recruiting and training methods for the girls, they must be excellent for you to be getting such business.//"
"Indeed they are," Anakin improvised as Obi's eyes scanned over the people in the room. As of yet he could sense no particularly evil intentions, but they were among professional criminals…
Then there it was, like a shining beacon out of a cloudy sky. A tall Rodian, presently by the bar, was holding the intention of assassinating the head Hutt. Their only problem now was they wouldn't know when he was going to do until a split second ahead of time. Slowly Obi-Wan made his way around the room to examine their subject more closely.
he sent out,
they came back.
he got even closer and attuned his hearing to what the alien was saying…
"//…we will strike when the time is right,//" he was assuring his associate, most likely accomplice. The three Jedi could sense the anxiety between the two, it would not be long now. Anakin rotated inconspicuously to better flank the Hutt with whom he was holding conversation- his lightsaber would have more space to maneuver from the new angle. Cadi moved slightly closer to the obese alien and began to erect a Force bubble around them.
Then it came. Obi had less than a flicker of intuition before it happened, but that was all he needed. In an instant three lightsabers were out from their hiding places, ignited and at ready, just in time to deflect the sudden blaster bolts fizzling through the air. The Hutt was protected well enough, and without much delay its own bodyguards appeared. The problem was the defense was attacking the wrong people. The swarm of bulky guards turned the muzzles of their guns on the Jedi- they were drastically outnumbered.
With effortless expertise Obi, Ani and Cadi sliced through their opponents like butter. The defense and assassins had weapons of all sorts, but the Jedi had the Force. Each of them took on two or three at a time, blocking and parrying.
"Call them off!" Cadi yelled above the gunshots.
"//You think I'm going to trust you after you pull a lightsaber out of your garter?//" fear and anger crossed the flat face.
"Do you want to be on the other end of the blade?" she retorted between grinding teeth as she faced the three before her. The assassins were long dead, but the confusion as to who the enemy was had turned the banquet into pure chaos. All the guests, or rather, all the guests' bodyguards, were attacking pretty much anything in sight, especially the Jedi.
Cadi was too busy with her five armed opponents to see a short Twil'lek girl pull a dagger from her cuff. Anakin caught the brief glint of it in his eye, had only a millisecond to realize what it was. He quickly elbowed and tripped his opponents to buy himself a second's time to call to her and Obi-Wan through the Force. They both heard him, Obi-Wan risking a glance and Cadi twisting to avoid the first swipe.
She avoided the first strike, and the second, and the third- but another of her opponents realized the Twil'lek's goal, and forced Cadi into a stance that left her torso open from behind. The Twil'lek was quick; she made a rapid thrust, making a puncture in Cadi's lower left lung.
"No!" Obi's scream could be heard through the whole building. With new, fervent speed he finished off his remaining obstacles and started to make his way across the room to her. Anakin took the liberty of intercepting anything that blocked his Master's path.
The room suddenly grew quiet. Fighting slowed, and was soon at an end. Cadi was gripping the rope of a nearby tapestry, trying to stay on her feet. Had she been at her normal level of health, the wound would have been nothing. But now, it was all the virus within her needed to complete its task.
After what seemed like an eternity, Obi-Wan got to her. Gently he pried her pale, defiant fingers from the rope and sat down on the floor with her in his arms. He felt her body rattling for breath, her lips were colorless, the light of her eyes slowly flickering out.
"You're okay, you're okay," he chanted over and over, "you'll be alright, I- I'll take care of you."
"It's too late, Obi," she whispered back.
"No," he shook his head violently, "it's not bad, we'll get a doctor- and-" he looked up with frantic eyes, "Will somebody get a doctor!" he screamed.
"Shhh," she touched her cold, shaky fingertips to his face, "it's too late now," she heaved for air, "I'm dying, Obi-Wan." She went into a violent fit of coughs, her eyes glazing with lack of oxygen. He clutched her tightly, tried to concentrate all his warmth and strength into her. The coughing subsided, she dropped her head in exhaustion.
A terrible, dark dab of blood stained her pale lips. With a sheer look of horror and disbelief Obi touched his finger to it, stared at the angry red spot it left on his skin. In that instant all his control, all his careful Jedi training, left him. He felt his lip start to quiver.
"No, Cadi!" he whimpered, "I can't go on-"
"But you will," she rasped, "you will, Obi-Wan. You've got so much to give…" Obi felt her start to go limp, the last flicker of light fading from her eyes. He pressed his lips tightly to hers, grasped her hand in his, squeezed it hard.
She did not squeeze back. He pulled away to search her eyes. There was no life there- that glowing sheen he'd always known, he'd always loved, was replaced by empty darkness. He brought her close to him again.
"No, please no," he shut his eyes tight, buried his face in her hair, "I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Suddenly he felt a soft touch through the Force, one rapidly gaining strength, in the very back of his mind- and his heart.
/I love you/ it whispered.
"Cadi?" he moaned softly. And at that moment he let go of whatever restraint he had left, and he cried. He rocked back and forth, never letting go of her, sobbing uncontrollably.
Anakin padded softly up to him, dropped on his knees to the floor beside his Master. He squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder, who relaxed his hold on Cadi to let him look at her. The young man reached for her hand, felt the cold weightlessness of her fingers…
Abruptly Anakin stood up and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and threw it to the ground. Without a word he stomped off across the ballroom and within moments had pulled the Twil'lek girl from her hiding place. He dragged her out roughly, then stood her up against the tapestry Cadi had been clutching only moments ago. She cursed and spit in his face, Anakin responded with a blow to her head that could be heard around the room.
"Anakin!" Obi shouted in shock, "Stop!"
But the boy seemed unable to hear him. With thoughtless efficiency he bound her arms and legs with the dangling ropes of the tapestry. Then he took a step back from her. One of her colleagues stormed him, but his lightsaber was in his hand and through the opponent in the blink of an eye. No one else dared stop him. Breathing hard, he clenched one hand. The Twil'lek started gasping for air as the sound of her throat being crushed seemed to ring through the room.
Within seconds it was over, the young alien hung limp and very dead. Anakin leaned toward her to retrieve her dagger from her cuff. Adjusting his grip once or twice, he drew his arm back-
To feel his wrist grabbed firmly. He spun around to find the tear-streaked face of his Master. The boy gritted his teeth and lurched to pull free, but Obi's grip was steadfast. Anakin cried out and kept trying, the tears flowing freely from his eyes. Working himself into hysterics, he finally let the knife drop to the floor and fell into Obi-Wan's embrace.
"Help me carry her," the elder asked in a hoarse whisper. Anakin sniffled and gave a nod.
