Chapter VIII
Obi-Wan strode purposefully down the streets. The streets were filled with New Apsolon forces massing together. Odd how the commanders seemed to have deserted; the troops numbers were impressive, but there was no real leadership behind them. A smile tugged at Obi-Wan's lips. There was a job that he could use.
Approaching one of the soldiers, Obi-Wan spoke calmly. "My orders are clear. You and your troops are now under my command."
The man's jaw dropped open in surprise, but he nodded. "Where do you want us?"
"Qui-Gon Jinn will be heading for Balog. Surround the Central Palace with your men. I want sharpshooters on the roof and teams of five to storm the building and secure the exit ways. Qui-Gon Jinn must not be allowed to escape."
The man inclined his head. "And?"
"Give me three men. They will follow me." Obi-Wan studied the mass of men carefully. "That one. That one. And that one. Come with me." He turned heel and strode towards the palace, one hand impatiently tapping on the hilt of his lightsaber.
Bruises still matted various parts of his body and a visible limp was detected in his stride, but that didn't seem to falter Obi-Wan at all. The Force swirled dangerously around him and at first glance, he was not identifiable as a Jedi. He was dressed in black; a black cloak swirled around his shoulders, hiding the majority of his injuries. His hair had grown out of the traditional Jedi padawan style and his braid had been neatly sheared off. A lightsaber hung from his belt, the handle shining.
But more interesting was the look on his face. A pure innocence seemed to shine from the boyish face, but if one looked deeper, they could see the determination and carefully controlled desire for revenge in his eyes.
***
Obi-Wan neared the palace walls eagerly. "You," he pointed at one of his guards. "Tell me your name."
"M – my name is Mikel," the man stuttered. "I'm an Information Broker, not a fighter."
Obi-Wan whirled on him, his lightsaber in hand and activated. "The scent of Qui-Gon is on you!" he shouted, "Were you aiding him?"
Mikel stumbled backwards. "N – no, my lord. N – never."
The other two guards sent each other helpless looks then turned to help Mikel. "Lord Kenobi, we should be moving into position," one of them, obviously a senior leader said. He tugged at his blaster rifle and loosened so it would be a quicker draw. "The troops you have commanded are in place."
"Wait," Obi-Wan said coldly, pointing his blade at the trembling man before him. "There remains the matter of this traitor. He helped Qui-Gon Jinn for money! Money!" he spat out. "You weak fool."
"Kenobi!" the second soldier, a younger one who looked like he could have been Obi-Wan's older brother, leaped forward and positioned himself between Mikel and Obi-Wan's lightsaber. It struck him odd that such an innocent boy could look so – evil. Dangerous, even. "Please," he pleaded. "Mikel is a known hater of the Jedi. He works for Balog."
Obi-Wan's lips twisted. "Another fool."
The soldier hid his surprise well. "He works on the department of Jedi and personally helped restrain Tahl in that chamber. He is respected amongst all the people."
"A coward," Obi-Wan sneered. "Very well. I will spare him, for now. All of you, come with me. I do not want to wait much longer for my revenge. I sense Qui-Gon is near." Another presence also touched at his mind, but it meant nothing to him, anymore.
***
"Obi-Wan!" Bant cried out in surprise. She raced forward towards her friend, but was brought up short by Obi-Wan's appearance. "What are you doing?" she asked, confused, taking in his bruises and injuries, and also sensing the subtle changes within him.
Obi-Wan fixated confused eyes upon her. "Who are you?"
"I'm Bant, your friend," Bant said. She stared at Obi-Wan. "Obi – "
Kenobi's cold glance took in her lightsaber and shoved her viciously away. "Jedi," he breathed hungrily, one hand going for his lightsaber. Bant met the first blow and twisted it to the left.
"Obi-Wan!" she cried startled before dodging another blow. She couldn't sense Obi-Wan's presence at all in the Force. She didn't have time to say anything else before Obi-Wan suddenly drove his 'saber back and forth in a blinding flash of blows and she was forced to parry.
"This – isn't – you," Bant forced out through parries.
"You're right. I am stronger now. Qui-Gon will never hurt me again."
"He never did hurt you," Bant insisted, dancing to the left. "They did something to you, Obi-Wan. Alani is not your friend. She's the one who tortured you like this and now she's twisted your mind and filled it with lies!"
"How dare you!" Obi-Wan shouted and kicked out viciously. The blow snapped Bant's head back and sent her flying backwards. Obi-Wan advanced on his helpless prey, lightsaber gleaming. Smiling, he lowered his lightsaber down towards her neck, preparing to take his first Jedi kill and claim the honor.
No!
A blinding flash of images hit Obi-Wan. An image of a younger Bant, playfully splashing him with water. Bant comforting and tending to his wounds after a tangle with Bruck. Bant sticking up for him during the worse of the teasing. Her gentle voice whispering words of comfort in his ear.
Shaking, Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and stared blankly down at Bant, one hand gently brushing her bruised chin. He didn't quite know what to believe in, anymore.
***
"This way," Eritha trembled, shooting a frightened glance back at Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon glared narrowly at her and then turned a flat glare on Adi. He had come so close--!
"I do not think we should trust her," Qui-Gon finally spoke up tersely.
"I am not in a position to trust you, either," Adi replied sharply.
Qui-Gon fell silent.
"You are a Jedi, Qui-Gon, not a padawan yearning for revenge. You should have a grip on your emotions. We don't have time in this mission to go off killing everybody and then acting like everything's all right."
"You don't know what it's like to have the Dark Side flow within you."
"I don't intend to ever experience that."
Another tense silence fell between them. A moment later, Eritha broke it by saying, "The palace is where your padawans are, along with Balog."
"Where's Obi-Wan?" Adi asked.
Eritha smiled. "With Alani I would presume. Or hunting for you. Whatever."
"Hunting for us?" As she spoke those words, a chill suddenly fell over both of the Jedi as the Force circled in a new disturbance. "Something's gone wrong," Adi whispered, rubbing her hands together to ease off the coldness in the air. "Very wrong."
Qui-Gon breathed sharply out and saw his breath in the air. It wasn't literally cold, but something in the Force – "Obi-Wan," he said, his tone switching back to one of a concerned Master. "Obi-Wan."
Eritha took advantage of the moment to run. Adi started towards her, but then stopped. She could sense guards down that street, and no doubt Eritha would bring those guards back soon enough. She drew her cloak tighter around her. "Let's go, Qui-Gon. We won't find Obi-Wan just standing here."
"He's looking for me," Qui-Gon said, troubled. "Looking for me."
"Then go find him." Adi hesitated. "Qui-Gon, beware of the Dark Side. Do not let it engulf you."
"Mm," Qui-Gon said, his head cocked as he listened to the Force.
***
Obi-Wan stood over Bant's limp body, his hands trembling. He quickly tucked them into the fabric of his cloak to hide it from his guards. One of them stepped forward eagerly. "We should kill her, Lord, and rid all the galaxy."
"No," Obi-Wan finally managed out. "She once, was an ally of mine."
"If you will not kill her, I will," the older commander snapped, drawing his blaster.
Two quick swipes of the humming blue blade and the commander wouldn't be drawing his blaster anymore. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber once more and met the startled looks of Mikel and the other young soldier. "We should go back," Obi-Wan finally said.
***
Obi-Wan dropped to one knee, wincing visibly as he waited for Alani to speak.
At last, her cold voice entered his range of hearing. "So..."
Obi-Wan gave a start before lowering his head further more. He heard her footsteps approach him and a moment later he sensed she was right behind him.
"You have failed your mission," she said icily.
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan mumbled. "I will endeavor hard to not disappoint you again."
"Your Jedi training betrayed you!" Alani shouted, her voice echoing in the small chamber. "I told you that you still felt strongly about the Jedi. Because of that, Qui-Gon Jinn lives and plots while we sit here and watch. Our Apsolon is being destroyed, Obi-Wan! We must strike back quickly."
"With permission," Obi-Wan began. "This Bant holds a spell over me. No matter what crimes against me the Jedi has committed in the past, a part of me is willing to forgive everything." A sharp pain resounded off his ear as Alani clipped him, hard.
"You are mine," she hissed. "You have weakness. Fool."
"You need not treat him so harshly," Eritha spoke up from the corner of the room, one hand covered with bacta packages. "I have seen how close these Jedi are coming. Only another Jedi can fight them."
Alani whirled. "Eritha!"
"I captured him. He belongs to me," Eritha said, striding forward. "Rise, Obi-Wan."
"He is mine!" Alani cried out.
"Because you failed to – remind him correctly of who he is and what he used to be, he has failed his mission. I don't make your mistakes." Eritha removed a syringe from her pocket and drove it into Obi-Wan's neck. "This will help him remember."
"So now what is he to do?" Alani snarled. "He has lost his purpose. He should simply be our slave."
"You forget. With his powers he is much more than that. We just need him trained up properly and he can be our greatest tool." Eritha smiled and patted Obi-Wan on the head. "There will be time for pleasure and games after we secure our position."
Patrik burst in the doorway. "The palace is being stormed!"
Eritha faced Obi-Wan. "This is your test. Do not fail. See to it those Jedi don't get a chance to leave. And while you're at it...rid us of Balog."
Obi-Wan gave a quick bow and left the room
***
"Bant?" Siri reluctantly left her position standing watch to find her comrade. What she saw stunned her. There was a dead New Apsolon guard, and her friend was propped gently against a wall, her hair brushed out of her face. What was more interesting was the guard's wounds. Lightsaber wounds.
Ignoring that for a moment, Siri stepped around to Bant, forcing the Force between them to surge. "Wake," she said softly. Healing had never been her talent, but all Jedi knew a bit of Force-healing.
A moment later, Bant's eyes fluttered open. "Ow..." she mumbled.
"What happened?"
"Obi-Wan...think he was possessed. Attacked me." She blinked. "I have a headache. Where's Qui-Gon? Balog?"
"Nield's watching him," she said. "Just lay there and relax. I can sense Adi. She's getting closer."
Bant struggled up. "Good," she whispered. "Can you sense Obi-Wan?"
"He is...close. And yet far."
"That helps," Bant said.
"Siri!" Nield shouted from the next room, "I think some guards are coming!"
Siri drew her lightsaber in a flash. "Stay here, Bant!" Then, she ran towards the next room, no doubt to secure Balog and move him to a new position. If what Bant thought was true, he was their only bargaining chip left.
Most unfortunately, he was a useless piece in the game now.
Except he still had one move that could be played.
***
Adi neared the palace, sensing the presence of the guards nearing the opposite entrance. With a frown, she glanced upwards, sensing Siri nearby. She was on the third floor. Quickly, Adi launched her cable, swinging upwards.
Drawing her 'saber, she carefully cut a hole in the window and popped in. Siri whirled at the sound, but deactivated her 'saber once she saw her Master. "Master! I'm so glad to see you," she blurted out.
"Later," Adi said quickly. "Guards coming up."
"What are we going to do?"
Adi frowned. "There's a hanger below us," she said, "We can take a ship and blast out to Coruscant."
"Bant is injured. Obi-Wan attacked her."
"Eritha said that Obi-Wan was hunting us down," Adi admitted darkly.
"You captured Eritha?"
"She escaped. Qui-Gon fought her."
"And Master Jinn was unable to win against an untrained girl?" Siri sounded slightly scornful.
"I'm almost positive he was toying with her," Adi said sternly. "Let's go inform Nield and Bant of our news."
Nield suddenly burst in, brandishing a blaster. "I hacked into the main communications channel," he burst out breathlessly, "You won't believe this."
***
The image of Obi-Wan was distorted, but nothing could hide his wounds and bruises. Adi and Siri drew sharp breaths at the view of the promising young man. But more stunning were his words.
"My Masters have shown me victory is easy. The Republic is weak. I have seen this myself. We can defeat them easily. That is why I speak today. I need loyal citizens to enlist in the armed services, to fight for all the glory of Apsolon." Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "We will win. We will win because it is written in our destinies."
His eyes, bright and shining looked straight into the camera. "Enlist now. Fight for your Apsolon."
"What happened to him?" Siri asked the moment the transmission cleared out.
"I have a guess," Bant said grimly. "He told me once that on a mission to Phindar, they had a memory-wiping machine. He says he was able to resist it through the help of his strength. The memory-wiper was supposedly destroyed, but Paxxi sold it via black-market. Tahl had been trying to track it down..." her voice broke off.
Adi rested one hand gently on Bant's shoulder. "So Obi-Wan may have been memory-wiped, and perhaps even drugged so he now believes Qui-Gon is his enemy and Eritha and Alani are his friends."
"It's the only thing that makes sense," Nield admitted. He gestured towards the holo. "What of the transmission? If Apsolon attacks the Republic..."
"We have to warn them before Obi-Wan launches an attack," Siri said urgently.
"Remember that ship we were talking about?" Adi asked her padawan quickly. "Go take it. We will go back to Coruscant to warn the Republic. Nield...you take another ship quietly and steal away with Balog. He is still crucial to all this."
"So we're a distraction?" Siri asked.
"Yes," Adi said. "Nield, go for Balog. Be wary of the palace guards. If I'm correct, they'll wait awhile before attacking. Bluff. Say you have many in here. Just hold them off as long as you need. Bant, Padawan, let's go."
Nield watched them go wistfully. Hadn't it been just a few days ago Adi had hardly entrusted him to guard the ship? And now...well things were most certainly different. He tugged his Mandalorian armor into better position and sighed.
***
"What is he doing?" Alani fumed. She rounded on her sister. "Eritha – you said this would help us! Obi-Wan is just staging a war against the Republic. We hardly have things under control here!"
"You're wrong about that," Eritha snapped. "Everything is under control. We just have a few meddling Jedi to get rid of...and Obi-Wan will take care of that, I'm certain."
"How?"
Eritha spread more bacta across her arm. "The drug I gave him never fails," she snarled. "Now, our orders and their success are more important to him than his life. More important than anybody else's life."
"So you're saying his feelings for Qui-Gon won't interfere anymore?"
"Exactly," Eritha said triumphantly. "He's stronger than a Sith Lord now. He has nothing to care for in the universe except for our happiness."
"Stronger than a Sith Lord," Alani mused. "This will be an easy victory. I can foresee it even now."
***
Qui-Gon listened rapidly at Nield outlined their new findings to him. "I need you to meet me on the ship immediately," Nield said, "I'm gonna be blasting off out of the South doors and you can do some fancy Jedi jumping to land. I'll keep the hatch open. Then we have to sneak out quietly."
"Wait!" Qui-Gon interrupted. "What happened to Obi-Wan?"
"Qui-Gon, can that wait? My hands are kind of full right now." In the background, Qui-Gon could hear engines roaring to life.
He sighed. "I'll meet you there."
***
"Is that the Jedi's ship?" Obi-Wan asked briskly.
"Just blasted out of the North Hanger, sir," one of the guards said nervously.
Obi-Wan stared at him. "Well...shoot it down!"
"My men are trying, sir," the guard babbled, "But its too far away. And its evasive maneuvers are incredible." He shook his head dolefully. "We can't hit it, sir."
Obi-Wan glared at him. "You. Are. Weak," he ground out. "Give me that turret!" Within seconds, he had swung into the position, aiming the gun carefully with both hands. Touching out with the Force, he brought it sharply to him, targeting carefully.
Even before he sent the lasers flying he knew it had been a hit.
A grim smile came to his lips as the Jedi's ship blasted apart in midair. A small part of his mind screamed with agony through the Force, but he invited the pain, allowed it to strengthen him. "There. A lesson in shooting."
Obi-Wan wheeled, still staring at the ring of smoke where the Jedi's ship had blasted apart.
Another smile, this time more triumphant, came to his lips.
Chapter XV
Fire! Qui-Gon doubled over in agony as a wave of pain shot through him. A moment later, it ceded and he was able to breathe once more, his face covered in sweat. "Adi! Bant! Siri!" he cried out desperately.
Nield paled and ran towards the window. "Oh hell no," he swore.
Qui-Gon groped for his lightsaber. "Balog," he croaked. "He's responsible!"
"He's almost dead, Qui-Gon!" Nield shouted, grabbing Qui-Gon's arm in one hand and refusing to let go, "He didn't have anything to do with this!"
"He started it..." Qui-Gon groaned, trying to quash the internal pain deep within him. Grief flooded his every being. Not more...lost. His 'saber blazing to life, he pushed the young man away. "Let me go, Nield."
Nield stubbornly refused. "No, Qui-Gon. He's worthless now."
Qui-Gon tried shoving the man away. Two barrels of a blaster were suddenly aimed at his arm. "I don't want to, but I'll shoot your lightsaber," Nield threatened. "Adi made me promise not to let you kill him. She said something in you will die. Qui-Gon, listen to me! I went through grief too. I wanted revenge. But it nearly cost me one of my friends."
"It already cost me. I can't lose anything else." Qui-Gon gazed at Nield warily. "Nield, stay out of this."
"This isn't a game, Qui-Gon."
"I have to win." Qui-Gon raised one hand and pushed Nield backwards. The boy stumbled, his blaster flying from his hand. Qui-Gon called it to him in a flash and moving surprisingly quick, he kicked open Balog's door.
The man raised wary eyes. "I have already lost everything. Do me a justice, Jedi, and kill me."
"All too happy to comply," Qui-Gon growled, drawing his 'saber once more.
***
Shoving Balog Nield's blaster, Qui-Gon raised his 'saber and invited a shot. "Let's play fair, Balog, since that's always the way you wanted to play. I'll even give you five free shots."
Dully, Balog lifted the blaster. All the fight had left him. He knew from past experience any Jedi could deflect five shots, even if all five were just a hundredth of a second apart. It was useless. He could tell Qui-Gon was playing with him.
"Kill me already," he said, dropping the blaster once more. "Everything I have worked for has gone wrong. I have been betrayed."
"So have I," Qui-Gon snarled. "And I can add you to my list."
"She wasn't supposed to die," Balog said, "Everything went wrong."
"And everything will continue to unless you die."
Balog lifted his head, baring his throat. "Kill me now!" he ground out. "I won't stand any more of your torture!"
Qui-Gon smiled and sank his 'saber into Balog' throat.
For a full second, Balog met Qui-Gon's eyes. "We are – on – the s – same path," he managed out, before slumping down, dead.
***
"Well you've killed him," Nield said, pacing the room. "You won, Qui-Gon."
Qui-Gon stared blankly at his lightsaber, still pulsing a bright green. Slowly, he deactivated it and hooked it back to its rightful position. What he really wanted to do was fling it across the room until it shattered into a million pieces...
You won, Qui-Gon.
But at what price? Obi-Wan was as good as dead. Adi, Siri, and Bant were dead. All because of him. All because of his desire for vengeance and his friend's determination, determination that he had taken advantage of to fulfill what he had thought were his deepest desires.
Yes, the Dark Side had touched him.
It done worse.
Hate leads to suffering...
Qui-Gon felt tears prickle at the edge of his eyes. Obi-Wan and Tahl were both lost to him now. The only two people he had known he could confide in were gone. Because of him. Again.
You won, Qui-Gon.
Then why do I feel like I've lost?
With a heavy heart, Qui-Gon turned towards the young man. "We have a lot of work to do," he said stoically. No emotion. He wouldn't let himself feel anything. Feeling had cost him everything.
Nield stared at him, his gaze unsympathetic. "Yes," he said at last, his dark brown eyes never leaving Qui-Gon's green ones. "We do."
The End
Okay, last line, "You won, Qui-Gon - - why do I feel like I've lost" is borrowed from the X-Files Episode...actually, I'm not sure which episode or season. Best guess is it was season 2. So anyway, those two lines belong to Chris Carter not me. =( But it seemed an interesting way to end PTV. There might be a sequel since the whole thing never came to a real end, but that'll be after I finish a few other WIP's that I have.