CHAPTER 2: THE PRISON BREAK
He opened his eyes, but the room was so dark, it didn't make much of a difference. His eyes strained, trying to find the smallest glimpse of light that he could. He stumbled in the dark to the other side of the room and turned on the lights. The dull florescent bulb, filled the tiny room of stone walls with a dim glow. Obi-Wan hated this place. His room was cold, dark and small. Even though he was free to come and go as he pleased, he felt as though it were a prison. He felt trapped. It was similar to his anger, he thought. Although, he knew he could control it, he felt like it's prisoner.
The morning was a bitter cold as Obi-Wan dressed. He could complain about his quarters but he knew the response he'd get: "It's the Jedi's fault you are made to suffer. They are the reason we must hide away in the seedy bowels of this city. The Jedi are responsible for your pain. They are allowed to roam free across the galaxy and live lavishly in their ornate temple. Your suffering will end when they are dead and their temple is in flames." Obi-Wan had heard the Dark Lord utter those words or ones like it several times. Oddly enough, he'd never seen the Dark Lord's face. "Only a Sith Lord may look upon me. Kill a thousand Jedi and you may see my face." Obi-Wan wondered if he were the only one who had a problem serving this man blindly, not knowing who he really was.
Once he had dressed, Obi-Wan headed dome the main corridor and into the main dining lounge. Only insect-infested bread and stale tea awaited him. It was a fairly typical meal here. He made the best of it and picked around the insects and choked down the tea which was more than likely a few days old. "You don't need a lavish Jedi spread! Let hate fill your belly and anger power your muscles." More "wisdom" of the Dark Lord poured through his head. He looked around the room trying to get his mind on something else. At the other end of his table, he noticed a young girl with long red hair, playing with a doll she obviously made herself out of rags. "You have a beautiful doll." Obi-Wan said to her. "Thank you." The girl said with a bit of a smile. She was obviously surprised to have some one give her a kind word and it also seemed as if she weren't sure how to respond to kindness. "Does she have a name?" Obi-Wan asked trying to assure her that it was okay to be courteous. "Mara Jade." The girl said after a moment of hesitation. "That's a beautiful name." Obi-Wan said "Perhaps if you have a real daughter one day, you could name her Mara Jade."
The girl said nothing instead a look of dread and sorrow crossed her face and she seemed to be looking past Obi-Wan. "I'm sure Mara will make a fine servant for the Dark Lord." Obi-Wan heard a voice speak those words behind him. He didn't need to turn to know who it was. "Hello Maul, welcome back." Obi-Wan said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "Can I have a word with you, Kenobi?" Maul said to him. "Fine," Obi-Wan said, getting up from the table and now displaying complete annoyance in his voice. He followed Maul down the main corridor and into the comm. room. This is usually where they received transmissions from the Dark Lord, but Obi-Wan was sure they were here because it was quiet and private. "What are you doing back?" Obi-Wan began the conversation, "I thought you were supposed to be tracking a ship." He teased, sensing that Maul had let it escape. "I ran into some problems." Maul said with frustration in his voice. "Those problems didn't happen to carry lightsabers did they?" Obi-Wan continued his onslaught. Maul was usually so pompous, that Obi-Wan loved the opportunity to bring him down a peg or two.
"I'm not in the mood for you to be a smart-ass." Maul snapped. "We have business to take care of." At those words, Obi-Wan's mood changed instantly. "It's about time. I'm tired of just sitting here all the time." "You'd better be mindful of your feelings. The reason you haven't been on a mission in a while is because The Master senses a change in you. I sense it too. We feel like too much of the light is still in you. Make sure your feelings on the Jedi are clear." "They are clear." Obi-Wan said with confidence though in his mind he wasn't clear on his feelings. It was so long ago and he felt guilt eat away at him for holding a grudge over something so trivial. Maul, however was either convinced of Ob-Wan's feelings or he just didn't care because his mood changed enough to allow a menacing grin to escape his lips. "The time has come, brother. The time has come to make the Jedi pay." Maul said patting Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "There is a Jedi Master known as Sypho-Dias whom The Master sometimes poses as for certain errands. Sypho-Dias is becoming a bit suspicious of our Master's activities. You must kill him." Maul said with a hint of pleasure in his voice.
"What about you?" Obi-Wan mused. "I thought you wanted to be the one to kill Jedi." "I'll get my chance." Maul said with a delighted sneer. "The Master has informed me that Queen Amidala is returning to Naboo. I'm heading there to meet her Jedi escorts head on. I will make that Qui-Gon Jinn pay for making a fool of me. I'll taste his blood, I'll watch the light drain from his eyes, I'll." Maul probably would have continued at great length about the impending demise of the Jedi Master had it not been for Obi-Wan's interruption. "Qui-Gon Jinn?!..." He said with a start. "Let me go." Maul gave him a steady look and then chuckled to himself. "I thought you might want to. After all, it was the great Qui-Gon Jinn that made it possible for you to stay with the Jedi heathens for as long as you did. I thought you might want to be the one to kill him." "Yes." Obi-Wan said flatly in order to not seem to anxious. "Jinn is mine." Maul said in a commanding tone. "The Naboo mission is too important to send a mere assassin, besides it's personal for me too. He's the reason I failed and I don't like failing." Obi-Wan felt like laughing. If only Maul realized how lame that sounded. Instead he remained silent when he saw the look of intensity on Maul's face. "You can have Sypho-Dias or nothing." Maul said as if negotiating. "It doesn't matter to me. If you don't want the mission I can give it to the old man." "Let Dooku have it, I don't want it" Obi-Wan said. "Alright I'll let him know." Maul said turning to leave. "I'm sure he'll jump at the opportunity." "Let me go with you." Obi-Wan blurted out, stopping Maul with only his words. Maul merely looked over his shoulder, said: "You know I work alone," and walked out the door.
Obi-Wan let out a sigh of frustration as the door closed behind Maul. The truth was the only one who had believed in him. He had to stop Maul from killing him. Perhaps he could convince Qui-Gon to join the darkside. It was worth a shot. He had to try. He had to do something, but first and foremost: he had to stop Maul.
He opened his eyes, but the room was so dark, it didn't make much of a difference. His eyes strained, trying to find the smallest glimpse of light that he could. He stumbled in the dark to the other side of the room and turned on the lights. The dull florescent bulb, filled the tiny room of stone walls with a dim glow. Obi-Wan hated this place. His room was cold, dark and small. Even though he was free to come and go as he pleased, he felt as though it were a prison. He felt trapped. It was similar to his anger, he thought. Although, he knew he could control it, he felt like it's prisoner.
The morning was a bitter cold as Obi-Wan dressed. He could complain about his quarters but he knew the response he'd get: "It's the Jedi's fault you are made to suffer. They are the reason we must hide away in the seedy bowels of this city. The Jedi are responsible for your pain. They are allowed to roam free across the galaxy and live lavishly in their ornate temple. Your suffering will end when they are dead and their temple is in flames." Obi-Wan had heard the Dark Lord utter those words or ones like it several times. Oddly enough, he'd never seen the Dark Lord's face. "Only a Sith Lord may look upon me. Kill a thousand Jedi and you may see my face." Obi-Wan wondered if he were the only one who had a problem serving this man blindly, not knowing who he really was.
Once he had dressed, Obi-Wan headed dome the main corridor and into the main dining lounge. Only insect-infested bread and stale tea awaited him. It was a fairly typical meal here. He made the best of it and picked around the insects and choked down the tea which was more than likely a few days old. "You don't need a lavish Jedi spread! Let hate fill your belly and anger power your muscles." More "wisdom" of the Dark Lord poured through his head. He looked around the room trying to get his mind on something else. At the other end of his table, he noticed a young girl with long red hair, playing with a doll she obviously made herself out of rags. "You have a beautiful doll." Obi-Wan said to her. "Thank you." The girl said with a bit of a smile. She was obviously surprised to have some one give her a kind word and it also seemed as if she weren't sure how to respond to kindness. "Does she have a name?" Obi-Wan asked trying to assure her that it was okay to be courteous. "Mara Jade." The girl said after a moment of hesitation. "That's a beautiful name." Obi-Wan said "Perhaps if you have a real daughter one day, you could name her Mara Jade."
The girl said nothing instead a look of dread and sorrow crossed her face and she seemed to be looking past Obi-Wan. "I'm sure Mara will make a fine servant for the Dark Lord." Obi-Wan heard a voice speak those words behind him. He didn't need to turn to know who it was. "Hello Maul, welcome back." Obi-Wan said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "Can I have a word with you, Kenobi?" Maul said to him. "Fine," Obi-Wan said, getting up from the table and now displaying complete annoyance in his voice. He followed Maul down the main corridor and into the comm. room. This is usually where they received transmissions from the Dark Lord, but Obi-Wan was sure they were here because it was quiet and private. "What are you doing back?" Obi-Wan began the conversation, "I thought you were supposed to be tracking a ship." He teased, sensing that Maul had let it escape. "I ran into some problems." Maul said with frustration in his voice. "Those problems didn't happen to carry lightsabers did they?" Obi-Wan continued his onslaught. Maul was usually so pompous, that Obi-Wan loved the opportunity to bring him down a peg or two.
"I'm not in the mood for you to be a smart-ass." Maul snapped. "We have business to take care of." At those words, Obi-Wan's mood changed instantly. "It's about time. I'm tired of just sitting here all the time." "You'd better be mindful of your feelings. The reason you haven't been on a mission in a while is because The Master senses a change in you. I sense it too. We feel like too much of the light is still in you. Make sure your feelings on the Jedi are clear." "They are clear." Obi-Wan said with confidence though in his mind he wasn't clear on his feelings. It was so long ago and he felt guilt eat away at him for holding a grudge over something so trivial. Maul, however was either convinced of Ob-Wan's feelings or he just didn't care because his mood changed enough to allow a menacing grin to escape his lips. "The time has come, brother. The time has come to make the Jedi pay." Maul said patting Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "There is a Jedi Master known as Sypho-Dias whom The Master sometimes poses as for certain errands. Sypho-Dias is becoming a bit suspicious of our Master's activities. You must kill him." Maul said with a hint of pleasure in his voice.
"What about you?" Obi-Wan mused. "I thought you wanted to be the one to kill Jedi." "I'll get my chance." Maul said with a delighted sneer. "The Master has informed me that Queen Amidala is returning to Naboo. I'm heading there to meet her Jedi escorts head on. I will make that Qui-Gon Jinn pay for making a fool of me. I'll taste his blood, I'll watch the light drain from his eyes, I'll." Maul probably would have continued at great length about the impending demise of the Jedi Master had it not been for Obi-Wan's interruption. "Qui-Gon Jinn?!..." He said with a start. "Let me go." Maul gave him a steady look and then chuckled to himself. "I thought you might want to. After all, it was the great Qui-Gon Jinn that made it possible for you to stay with the Jedi heathens for as long as you did. I thought you might want to be the one to kill him." "Yes." Obi-Wan said flatly in order to not seem to anxious. "Jinn is mine." Maul said in a commanding tone. "The Naboo mission is too important to send a mere assassin, besides it's personal for me too. He's the reason I failed and I don't like failing." Obi-Wan felt like laughing. If only Maul realized how lame that sounded. Instead he remained silent when he saw the look of intensity on Maul's face. "You can have Sypho-Dias or nothing." Maul said as if negotiating. "It doesn't matter to me. If you don't want the mission I can give it to the old man." "Let Dooku have it, I don't want it" Obi-Wan said. "Alright I'll let him know." Maul said turning to leave. "I'm sure he'll jump at the opportunity." "Let me go with you." Obi-Wan blurted out, stopping Maul with only his words. Maul merely looked over his shoulder, said: "You know I work alone," and walked out the door.
Obi-Wan let out a sigh of frustration as the door closed behind Maul. The truth was the only one who had believed in him. He had to stop Maul from killing him. Perhaps he could convince Qui-Gon to join the darkside. It was worth a shot. He had to try. He had to do something, but first and foremost: he had to stop Maul.