First chap = disclaimers.

{telepathy}

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Obi-Wan held onto his grasp of the Force with all of the determination he could muster. The wind rushed past him as he plummeted past windows and speeders. His heart was pounding despite his centering. Whether it was from the fall alone or because he was being pursued, he did not have the luxury of considering.

The quickness of the response of his captors did not hearten him. The two eldest had followed him out the window. The others of the party were probably going to join the effort in a somewhat reckless manner.

As a Malastairian veered to avoid hitting him, Obi-Wan considered his options. He needed to get away, but Luke was gaining on him. He did not particularly want to face a Force sensitive of Luke's magnitude without knowing what that person's skills were. The man caused enough ripples in the Force to tell Obi-Wan to beware of him. He was probably in the upper two percentile of midicholorian counts for Jedi. Obi-Wan was in the upper eigth percentile and only a padawan learner. Aversion would have to win over confrontation.

With a burst of Force energy, Obi-Wan flipped from his head first plunge and landed roughly on the top of a grocery delivery speeder. Nimbly, he zigzagged downward jumping from speeder to speeder hoping to get lost in the blur of traffic more easily than in an all-out freefall.

With a huff of breath, Obi-Wan landed on the street of one of the lowest levels of Coruscant. A glance upward showed that Mara was still tracking him and had adopted the same method of descent. Luke, however, had continued plummeting and had just flipped upright to land across the street from Obi-Wan.

Exasperated, Obi-Wan turned and ran. Youth was on his side, but he knew that was only a very temporary advantage when dealing with a Force sensitive. He buried himself in a crowd of people buying the few extra seconds that their shelter provided.

As he dodged through the jostling creatures on the street, Obi-Wan reviewed his options. He could return, but that would only ensure that he would be constantly watched. He could fight, but with two of them, he would more than likely be overpowered, especially without his lightsaber. Confrontation would have to come when he was able to meet up with Qui-Gon.

What could he do?

He almost stopped in his tracks as a thought occurred to him. When apprentices turned seventeen, they were taught how to project or reflect their Force presence on those around them. It was part of the twentieth year trials to figure out a method of defeating the ruse.

The solution was simplistic and basically rendered the trick useless against fellow Jedi. But, Obi-Wan was betting that Luke had never gotten to his seventeenth year in the Temple, let alone made it past his twentieth year trials. Obi-Wan quickly concentrated and pulled on the Force projecting his essence on as many passersby as possible.

Behind him, Luke stopped cold as his Force trace on Ben was suddenly pulled in hundreds of different directions. Mara pulled up beside him as he was about to rush into the crowd. Her hand stopped him.

"Luke, we aren't going to catch him, not right now. Look at the number of people. We're on the lower levels of Coruscant and that kid obviously has a lot more tricks up his sleeve than he let on."

"Mara! If we let him go now, we aren't going to find him later!"

Mara rolled her eyes, "Farmboy, you amaze me. Don't tell me that I'm the only one who thought to put a tracker on that kid?"

"You put a tracker on him?"

"One on each set of clothes and one in that ridiculous braid hanging from his ear."

"How did you get one in his braid?"

"He was having some sort of nightmare about some place called Maileeda-Da'an or some such thing. I slipped a wire tracker in the weave of his braid before I woke him up."

Luke smiled, "You are amazing."

"Not that amazing, I left my tracking homer in my bag in the walkway. Still, it'll probably be good for him to work off some aggression before we chase after him again."

Luke nodded and fished out his communicator, "The others probably went to get a speeder. I'll just comm them and tell them to pick us up."

Mara nodded as they walked out to a landing platform so that they could be picked up.

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Obi-Wan thanked the Force profusely when he realized he was no longer being pursued. Leaning against a wall he blended into the shadows of an alleyway. Gently, he reached out for his Master.

{Master?}

{Obi-Wan. I was beginning to think that you were being chased by a legion of Sith. I could feel you exhaustion.}

{Don't rub it in Master. I almost got caught. I had to resort to cheap trickery and evasive tactics.}

{There is no shame in retreat, Padawan. I would, however, suggest we meet up as quickly as possible. You might fare better if you have your lightsaber if this comes to physical confrontation.}

{I would also like to have my very tall and imposing Master to hide behind.} Obi-Wan smirked to himself.

{That is a rather childish wish, Padawan. What would Master Yoda say?}

{I imagine he would say 'Size matters not.'}

{I worry about you, Obi-Wan. You've even perfected your Yoda imitation in your telepathic abilities.}

{It is a gift.}

"But not a particularly useful one," Qui-Gon said as Obi-Wan trotted up next to his Master.

"Master, I would like to take this moment to say that I do not think I've ever been so grateful to see you as I am now."

"I highly doubt that. We seem to both have extraordinary stories to tell one another. I suggest we go to my room at my five star hotel and discuss them."

Obi-Wan acquiesced and followed Qui-Gon's lead. His face frowned as he took in the accommodations, "You know, I hate to say it, but the people I was with at least provided me with a non-infested bed."

"Picky, picky, my young apprentice. Unfortunately, I must warn you that this may be where you will be living for an extended period of time. We seem to be in the future. The temple on Coruscant has been destroyed. As far as I can ascertain, so have all of the outpost temples. There is an academy on Yavin IV though. We will have to stay here until we can contact them."

Obi-Wan sat down heavily on the bed, "I wouldn't bother Master. I've just spent the recent days of my life with some of them. Or at least people that claim to be them."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm supposedly their son / cousin."

"Ah, I take it they are slightly mentally unbalanced?"

"No, in light of your revelations, I think they might have been attempting to draw a Jedi from the past to assist them. But why did they pretend to be my family?"

"That I do not know, my Padawan. That, I do not know."