Chapter 8

Xanatos hung from a protruding object with his hands. He looked down to see only a void. Looking back up he estimated he had fallen about three hundred feet. It was far enough that he could barely see the opening of the pit.

/Padawan./ he called through their training bond. Receiving no response, he reached through and only felt a void. Their bond had been torn to pieces. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he called to his apprentice. "Padawan."

That was when he saw a body tumbling toward him. Fear gripped his heart thinking it might be his padawan. Instead he saw Maul's face before he disappeared into the dark yawning pit. Relief flooded through him as he saw his padawan had been the victor of the fight. "Padawan, help me." He called out again, receiving no response. He thought he heard his padawan's voice but instead of joy that his Master was alive he was filled with anguish. He thinks I'm dead. Why? I don't understand.

He drew on the Force once again and sent Bruck a Force nudge, but he was rebounded by what seemed to be a Force shield, yet it lacked in certain qualities typical to a shield formed by the Force. What is going on? /Qui-Gon, I need help/ He called out, almost desperately as his arms began to tremble under the strain.

/Garen, Obi-Wan; where are you/

/Bruck, we are heading to the Sith's ship right now./ Obi-Wan replied.

/Okay, I'll be there soon./ Bruck responded and ran out of the hangar to catch up to them. His sorrow was forgotten for the moment as he began to focus his attention on the mission.

Darth Sidious snarled as he walked through the halls of the palace. He had felt his apprentice's death only moments ago. I'll just have to train another apprentice. Humph, Maul was a disappointment anyway. He came to the room where he had left Anakin and opened the door.

Amidala looked up at Sidious from a small table and smirked. "Don't the Sith know how to knock?"

Sidious only glared at her and looked at Anakin who was just finishing a tart. "Come Anakin! We're finished here."

Anakin nodded his head and took one last sip from his fruit cocktail before standing up. "Thank you for your company, Queen Amidala," he said to her in a formal tone.

Amidala gave him a smile and watched him leave with Darth Sidious. "You're welcome, Ani."

"Sabe," she called as soon as they left.

Sabe came out of the next room and nodded. "You called for me, M'lady?"

Amidala stood up from her chair and went over to her desk where she sat back down. "I want you to get me some information on these people," she said as she finished typing in their names on a datapad and handed it to Sabe.

"As you wish, M'lady," the handmaiden answered as she took the datapad and left the room.

Amidala relaxed in her chair for a few seconds before she sent out a comm call to Captain Panaka.

Bruck met Obi-Wan and Garen at the Sith's ship and approached them. "You know, what is the point of the Queen having a private hangar that is only three-fourths of a mile away from her not-so-private hangar?"

Garen shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me," he replied with a small smile. His face became impassive as Bruck stopped in front of him. "What happened?"

A shadow crossed Bruck's face and he turned away from them. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Obi-Wan nodded his head. "That's fine."

Bruck went to stand by Obi-Wan as Darth Sidious, along with Anakin, entered the hanger. They stood straight and tall and bowed their heads to Darth Sidious when he stopped in front of them.

Obi-Wan fought to keep a neutral expression when he saw Anakin and looked briefly into his blue eyes. Force, it's his son.

Garen took a small step forward and gave another bow. "I am Darth Seront; we are honored that your Council has agreed to let us come." He motioned with his hand to Obi-Wan. "You have already met Darth Redav." Obi-Wan gave a bow in acknowledgement as Garen introduced him. "And this is Darth Khunth." Garen finished as he motioned to Bruck, who bowed in turn.

Sidious grunted with approval and let the ramp of the ship down. "Anakin, show our guests to their cabin and then meet me in the cockpit," he commanded the child as he went up the ramp.

Anakin gave the trio a bow of respect before he led them into the ship and their cabin.

As Master Dooku piloted the ship through the atmosphere of Naboo, he took a few minutes to observe how beautiful the planet was; with its luscious greenery and the Living Force that throbbed strongly from the planet. Still, the sense of urgency was there.

He felt for his former padawan's presence and navigated his ship to a hangar. Landing the ship outside the hangar he rushed down the ramp and into the hangar with his hand on the hilt of his lightsaber. He reached Qui-Gon and placed his hand on Qui-Gon's forehead and let the healing power of the Force flow into him.

Qui-Gon began to stir and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times before his eyes came into focus and looking into his former Master's face. A small smile appeared on Qui-Gon's face. "Master Dooku."

Dooku gave a gentle smile. "You always seem to have a knack for winding up in the most interesting situations."

Qui-Gon snorted. "I wouldn't call it interesting," he said as he sat up.

Dooku helped Qui-Gon get into a sitting position and sat down next to him. "Where is everyone else?"

Qui-Gon winced and placed his hand on his side. "Xanatos and Bruck went to fight the Sith apprentice. I don't know where Garen and Obi-Wan went," he replied, the mention of Obi-Wan's name renewing his anguish of his padawan's sudden betrayal.

Dooku's eyes narrowed as he felt a strong wave of emotions from Qui-Gon before his former padawan slammed his mental shields firmly in place. "My ship is just outside the hangar, you can go and wait there while I round up the others." Dooku stood up and helped Qui-Gon to his feet.

"I'll be fine. I need to find Xanatos," Qui-Gon responded and headed in a different direction.

"You need to tend the wound on your side first." Dooku protested. Of course he won't listen to me and convince me otherwise.

He went to follow Qui-Gon when he stepped on something soft. He stepped back and looked down toward the floor. There he saw a severed padawan braid. He bent down, picked it up and examined it. The hair color is the same as Obi-Wan's.

Prodded by the Force he looked around the floor where he stood and found another severed padawan braid. Qui-Gon is not telling me something and I'm going to find out what it is. He picked the second braid up and tucked both braids into his belt. Oh yes, we are going to have a lot to talk about, he remarked to himself as he followed Qui-Gon. He had just reached the power room when he heard an implosion behind him. Turning his head he saw the remains of the other Jedi ship fly through the hangar. Another ship down the drain, he thought to himself as he ran to catch up to Qui-Gon and away from the flying pieces of debris. Ships are hard to come by these days.

The Sith's ship blasted out of the hanger with a thundering roar and left the planet of Naboo. It entered hyperspace and the three former padawans' mission began.

Xanatos' right hand slipped for the fifth time as he hung over the void. His hands had become sticky with sweat and slick every time he managed to wipe one of his hands on his tunic. He was growing weary and his cries continued to go unheard.

Lancing pain shot up his leg and Xanatos looked down to see blood seep through his pant leg. His leg had smashed into something when he had fallen into the pit and had opened the wound that the lightsaber had cauterized.

Dizziness enveloped his vision as he lost more blood, black spots danced before his eyes. Unable to focus on the Force to replenish his strength and enhance his voice, all he could do was yell for help as best as he could.

As the minutes ticked aguishly by, Xanatos' leg grew numb and his fingers felt like they were going to fall off from gripping the metal object. He had begun to lose hope of rescue when he heard Qui-Gon yell out his name.

"Xanatos!" Qui-Gon yelled as he reached the pit. He could feel his former padawan's presence below him, his life force dimming with every second that past. He laid down on the floor and looked down into the pit and enhanced his senses. Then he heard it, a cry for help. Standing back up, he began to work on how he was going to get down there.

"Qui-Gon, don't you even think of going down there," Dooku admonished as he passed the last laser beam. "You are in no condition to do it."

Qui-Gon turned around to look at Dooku. "Then what are we supposed to do? I can't get a grasp on his Force signature enough to Force lift him up and there seems to be no way to get down there except by using some climbing rope."

"Plus the fact we don't have any rope," Dooku reminded him. "Calm yourself. Remember your own lessons."

Qui-Gon glared at his former Master in irritation. "I know that!"

Before Dooku could respond, Panaka and his men had disengaged the laser beams and began to get to work. Panaka walked up to Qui-Gon and Dooku and gave then a small nod. "We would have been here sooner, however Queen Amidala wanted to make sure that the Sith were far enough away before sending us out."

Feeling confused, Qui-Gon looked at Dooku who seemed to have already figured it out. "How did you know that Xanatos may still be alive and that the duel was in here?"

"We have security cameras near the melting pit, and one of them is able to zoom in all the way down the pit. They're usually used for safety precautions for those who maintain the systems near the pit, and helps to make sure nothing is wrong. Queen Amidala had us track the movement of the Sith in the hangar bay and where they were going next by using the security cameras." Panaka explained.

Xanatos gave small sigh of relief when an emergency lift descended next to where he was. The emergency crew hoisted Xanatos onto the lift where Xanatos fainted from exhaustion and pain. The lift ascended and the medical team got to work.

While Qui-Gon was pressing to find out Xanatos condition Dooku felt another small nudge from the Force and found another severed padawan braid on the floor. What in the galaxy happened here? He wondered to himself as he tucked the third braid into his belt.

"Well?" Qui-Gon asked as his patience wore thin.

One of the medics turned to him, his face grim. "His right leg is in bad shape; there are third degree burns, torn ligaments, fractured bones, and perhaps more damage. He has three cracked ribs on the right side of his chest, and a few bruises that he may have gotten when he fell down the pit."

Qui-Gon bit his tongue at the diagnosis as Dooku came up to him. "We should bring him back to the Temple as soon as possible. He can get the care he needs there."

"We'll take my ship; it's closer," Qui-Gon replied as he watched them load Xanatos onto a hovering medical cot.

"That could be difficult considering that your ship exploded," Dooku replied.

"What?" Qui-Gon exclaimed in surprise. "Don't answer that, we'll just have to take your ship."

Dooku went over to the medics and instructed them to take Xanatos to his ship that was just outside the hanger.

Queen Amidala watched from the balcony as the Jedi's ship lifted away from her private hangar. "May the Force be with you," she said as they disappeared out of sight. She left the balcony and opened a comm channel to Panaka.

"Yes, Queen Amidala?" Panaka greeted.

"The security tapes that reveal the Jedi and Sith's duels are to be destroyed and the remains of the ship in my private hangar bay are to be used if they can; any remaining pieces should be destroyed."

"As you wish, my Queen," Panaka replied and closed the channel.

Qui-Gon sat next to the medical bed and watched Xanatos sleep. Xanatos was hooked up to monitors and other equipment that Dooku had available on his ship. "Out of all my apprentices I have ever had, you always wind up in the worst scrape." A small smile appeared as he remembered a time when Xanatos was thirteen and had caught a bacterial infection that he had hidden from his Master for a week while on a diplomatic mission.

Master Dooku silently entered the room and took a seat beside Qui-Gon. "Do you mind telling me what actually happened?"

Qui-Gon turned to look at Dooku then back at Xanatos. "Yes and no. I will have to give the Council a report anyway." He gave a sigh before continuing. "Obi-Wan and Garen have left the Jedi to join the Sith. I think Bruck went with them too."

Dooku sat in silence as he took in what Qui-Gon had told him. "That doesn't sound like them."

Qui-Gon snorted. "Really? I didn't notice." He said sarcastically.

Dooku frowned. "Perhaps it would help if you told me everything that happened."

"I don't want to talk about it; just leave me alone." Qui-Gon replied coldly. Standing up abruptly, he left the room.

Dooku watched Qui-Gon leave then looked at Xanatos' serene face. "So many things have been going wrong for the Jedi this whole month. Maybe it's just too soon," he said to himself quietly and left the room to contact Yoda.

To Be Continued in Book 2: The Rising Tempest