Jarell stood firm in the doorway waiting on his Captain. He had stood by this man for many years now and would continue to stand by him, no matter what. He owed him his life, the least he could offer him was his allegiance.
Kenobi was swiveling his desk chair back and forth, his eyes focused on an uncertain point across the room. It was habit that he had developed whenever he was in deep concentration, so Jarell decided to wait and see what possible plan the man could be forming. What he saw the Captain do next completely surprised him.
Suddenly leaping up from his chair, Obi-Wan opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out a long black box. He sat it on the desk and ran his hand over the smooth lid before flicking the latch and opening it. He reached inside and pulled out the metallic object, bringing it vertically in front of his face. His thumb moved over a red button, and with a flick, the laser sword hummed to life with deadly blue energy.
Jarell was immediately across the desk, his hands clamped firmly down upon the wood. "Are you crazy? Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you are."
"It's time." Kenobi's face glowed blue against the flickering laser light.
"Time for what? To get yourself killed?" Jarell was now pacing back and forth in front of the desk. "I understand, Obi-wan, believe me I do. Maul deserves to be punished, and so does the Empire. I thought that was what we have been doing this entire time. Going to Coruscant and getting yourself killed is not going to serve that purpose."
"I have to get her back."
Jarell stopped in his tracks. "This is about the girl then." Of course it was. He had seen her. She was beautiful, but they had seen many beautiful girls from all over the universe. What was so special about this one? "You're willing to risk your life for her?"
"I'm willing to die for her Jarell. I love her. I can't live without her. I shouldn't have let her go." He disengaged his laser sword, clipped it onto his belt and began attaching other weaponry to his body, a blaster, his knife.
Jarell stood transfixed across from the desk, his intent gaze finally meeting his captain's. He clenched his jaw once and turned abruptly and left the quarters.
Disappointment struck him as he watched Jarell's retreat. What had he expected? For him to volunteer to join him on this suicide mission? No. Jarell obviously didn't understand. He was on his own it seemed. He would gather all the weaponry he could, shuttle to Correlia and catch a transport to Coruscant, and somehow, he would find Padmé and kill Maul. He didn't have a choice.
He headed for the shuttle bay in long strides, two blasters strapped to his side, a knife hidden in his boot, and the laser sword dangling from his belt. The strange and unfamiliar weight of it nagged at his mind. He had created it with his own hands years ago after seeing what Maul had done with that red blade to his friends on Bandomeer. He was determined to someday kill the monster with his own style of weapon. It had taken several years to construct the sword and he had practiced with it as often as he could, in the hopes that someday he would be able to use it. It seemed that that day had finally arrived.
He rounded the corner leading to the bay and was stopped abruptly in his tracks by a group of his comrades, all dressed in battle uniforms, heavily armed.
Jarell stepped forward from the group. "We're going with you."
"This isn't your fight."
"You're our captain. We have sworn allegiance to you. Where you go, we go, even to death." Jarell then performed the traditional unspoken oath of loyalty by grasping his own braid in his fist, bringing it up to his mouth, placing a kiss at the joint of his thumb and holding out his fist in front of his body. Obi-Wan hesitated, but upon seeing the steely determination in each of his crew member's faces, he smiled and offered his own oath, placing his fist on top of Jarell's. The crew of twelve other pirates did the same, before they broke up and headed back toward the bridge to set a course for Coruscant.