13
Anakin ignited his light saber once more, and searched around. In the thick blue fog of smoke surrounding him, he could barely see his way. He was in a daze. After some time of jogging down hallways that lead into dead ends, he noticed that, in his hand, was the severed arm of his clone. For a long moment he stopped and stared at it. He could barely even remember taking it from Ollo. The last two hours were nothing more than a vicious blur to him. With another sigh, he ducked low and continued through the halls.
Obi-Wan searched around in the cockpit and found the switch to power on the fog lights. With a familiar whine, they illuminated the dark hangar. All he could do now was wait for Anakin to return and to keep watch over the ailing Afe.
He ordered the Skywalker twins to keep watch for their father while he tended to Afe. They did as told and he knelt at her side in the first aid station of the Constantium.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, sliding his finger across her brow.
She couldn't speak. When she attempted such, only hoarse whimpers escaped from her lips. After a moment of struggling to speak, she gave up and simply nodded.
Obi-Wan adjusted the oxygen mask on her face, letting it fit snugly over her nose and mouth. There he sat staring into her eyes, and at that moment, he struggled with himself. He knew that he needed to go find Anakin and help him if necessary. Though he felt this, he did not want to leave his beloved's side. After fighting with his own heart for an eternity, he kissed her cheek.
"I have to go find Anakin," He whispered into her ear. "If I don't return, I want you to know that I will always love you."
She nodded. He knew that she understood completely. With a final squeeze of her hand, he took her light saber and was off down the landing ramp into the skyhook's interior.
Anakin dropped to his knees, coughing violently. The smoke had filled every corridor, and had filled his lungs. He could no longer bring himself to breathe. Vivid images began to flash through his mind, passing in bright flashes. They were of his family. He saw Obi-Wan teaching Leia the basics of manipulating the force. He saw Padme's beautiful face smiling as he returned home. When the images returned to present day, they did not stop. He witnessed his two children passing their Jedi trials. He saw himself as the best man at Obi-Wan's wedding. It was in those final moments that the light of his soul began to fade. Fading glimpses of his past and future began to unwind, unraveling into the abyss of his mind. Anakin knew he was dying, and he did nothing to stop it. It is the will of the force, he discerned.
In the dense black smoke a green light flickered. At first Anakin believed it to be a mirage or simply the final moments of his mortality coming to an end. He embraced it, reaching out into the darkness for it's warmth. Then something happened that startled him. It spoke.
"Anakin." It was Obi-Wan's voice. "Follow my light."
Anakin coughed and made his way to his feet. He watched the green lightsaber dwindle in the distance, and he followed it. Apparently, it wasn't the will of the force for him to die. Yet.
After what seemed like an eternity, he saw the bright fog lights of the Constantium. He smiled through his coughing fits. He was going to be able to see his children again, and that warmed his heart.
Obi-Wan strapped an oxygen mask to Anakin, and took his seat at the helm of the Constantium. The ship's engines were already whining and humming idly, shaving off a few needed seconds to escape. The repulsors kicked in, lifting the large craft from it's position on the obsidian hued tarmac, and Obi-Wan pitched the ship around so that it faced the opening of the docking bay. He could clearly see the golden dawn as the skyhook was falling into Dantooine's atmosphere. The light began to fill the pitch black hangar, and Obi-Wan knew they needed to get out of there quick.
"I really do hate flying."
Ollo watched the auburn light of Dantooine's dawn as it encased him. It was warm and inviting, filling his soul with a sensation of hope and love. For once in his life he was happy. He hoped that Anakin made it safely from the depths of the skyhook. For a moment he lay in total silence, gazing as the stars faded from view in the sunlight.
As the fatal wounds on his body began to take full effect, he envisioned himself on Corellia walking among the blue fallorn leaves. The crisp touch of their sapphire branches. The warmth of the dirt in his hands. In the final seconds of his life, his soul was on Corellia. He had made peace with the Universe.
The shields began to fail, allowing the friction to tear into the durasteel frameworks of the skyhook. Outer railings simply burned away as the heat cooked the metal into molten liquid. The six spires charred into oblivion quickly, exploding into tiny fragments that would pock mark the surface of Dantooine.
Ollo felt the cold clutches of death, and before he closed his eyes for the final time in his life, he saw the Constantium blast free of the skyhook. It soared through the upper atmosphere of Dantooine, disappearing in a beautiful shimmer of silver and gold. That was all he needed, and his eyes closed. He died with a smile on his face.
Most of the skyhook had disintegrated by the time it slammed into the surface, crashing in a wash of orange flames. A charred crater of smoking metal was all that remained of the Sith Lord's spacestation.
Obi-Wanheld the ship steady as the violent winds rocked it back and forth. Behind him, though he could not see, he was sure the skyhook continued to it's explosive demise. They had succeeded in their mission, and he was happy.
As soon as the ship was safely in orbit, Obi-Wan attended to the two ailing Jedi, and found that they were doing surprisingly well. Anakin was sitting up and giving Afe bacta serum injections. As Obi-Wan entered the room, Anakin tossed him back his light saber.
"I guess I didn't need it after all, Master."
Obi-Wan grinned and pointed at him. "You sir, are one lucky man."