Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.

CH. 1

"ARRIVALS"

Obi-Wan Kenobi calmly kept his eyes locked on the group of battle droids that charged down the long hallway towards him -- easily deflecting their blaster fire with his lightsaber. Leaping forward, he cut his attackers down with his blade once they were within striking distance and quickly checked both ends of the hall to make sure he had taken them all out.

"Scrap metal," he muttered to himself as he glanced down at their remains.

Without another word, he turned his attention to the ceiling just above him and called upon the Force to pull a panel from its place. He immediately deactivated his lightsaber and jumped up through the large opening the missing panel provided him, squeezing his oversized form into the cramped air ducts.

Not as spacious as I would have hoped, he thought. With any luck I won't have to be up here for an extended period of time…

He made his way through the narrow shaft – using his forearms to pull himself along – and reached his destination within a matter of mere minutes. Any longer and he felt as if he would not be able to move by the time he got out, but thankfully the search was short. Below him was the communications room he was looking for.

Climbing out of the air ducts, he dropped to the metallic floor and retrieved his lightsaber from his belt.

"Aah, General Kenobi."

Obi-Wan whipped around as he ignited his glowing blade. "Grievous…I wish I could say this was a pleasant surprise."

"Jedi scum," the General's bionic voice spat. "Soon you will join the rest of your kind!"

Grievous' own lightsabers sprang to life -- one in each of his robotic hands. He crouched low in a threatening position as Obi-Wan began to cautiously circle him.

I should have known there would be complications, Obi-Wan told himself. Since when does anything go as planned?

"You have caused enough trouble, General," he said, sizing up his adversary.

Grievous let out a sinister cackle before going into a short coughing fit. "You will never escape alive, Jedi!"

"Is that so?" Obi-Wan retorted as he raised his eyebrow in mock curiosity. "You sound like you are in no condition to be fighting. Perhaps you should save us all the trouble and give up right now."

Grievous growled as he moved forward.

Here we go… Obi-Wan instinctively braced himself for the General's attack.

He parried the first swipes of Grievous' blades and effortlessly flipped out of harms way. His lightsaber came up in front of him to block the next assault, but Grievous attempted to stab him in the chest with his second weapon and nearly ran him through with the blade he had no doubt acquired from one of his several Jedi victims. Obi-Wan was caught off guard and barely managed to move out of the way in time.

"You're quicker than you look," Obi-Wan remarked with a slight grin, creating some distance between the two of them. "I'll be sure not to underestimate you again."

"Your luck has run out, General Kenobi!"

Obi-Wan let out an exasperated sigh when he spotted a group of more battle droids rushing into the room to join in the battle.

"This is just what I needed…"

"Senator Amidala?"

Padme lifted her gaze from the datapad in front of her when she heard her newly appointed secretary speak up from the doorway of her office. "Yes?"

"Senator Organa is here to see you."

"Of course, send him in please," Padme replied.

She watched the young woman leave and began to clean off her cluttered desk. Work was piling up and she was falling behind. Bills, legislatives, proposals…rebuilding the Republic was proving a daunting task, but one that she knew was worth striving for.

"Busy?" Bail Organa questioned as he stepped into the room.

"When am I not?" Padme asked teasingly, greeting her friend with a weak smile. "Just don't tell me you have more work to give me."

"No, not today," he replied wryly. "How is your new secretary working out?"

"She's doing very well. Please, sit down."

Padme could detect some tension and foreboding coming from the other Senator and curiously watched him as he sat down in the chair that rested directly in front of her desk. He was clearly upset about something. I don't know if I can take any more bad news, she thought to herself.

"Something is wrong," she stated, intently studying his face. "What is it? What's going on?"

Bail shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat before speaking. "There has been…a mishap of sorts."

"What kind of mishap?" she pressed on.

"I don't know how to tell you this, Senator," he finally said after a short hesitation. "Master Kenobi never returned from his latest mission. He was due back nearly six hours ago, but we have yet to hear from him."

Padme felt nausea rise in the pit of her stomach. Obi-Wan? This can't happen to him! He can't die after everything he has been through, after everything he has overcome! There are too few Jedi to lose another to this awful war -- is there no justice in the galaxy?

"I'm sorry, Padme."

"He will be alright," was her blunt response. "Believe me, Obi-Wan Kenobi is not one to dismiss so easily. If anyone can get out of a tough situation, it is him."

Obi-Wan slowly lifted his head.

Where am I?

The pain in his neck protested as he turned his attention to the nearby door and saw the glowing energy field that blocked his only escape route.

Oh, yes…now I remember.

He was still aboard General Grievous' space station. He had failed to carry out his assignment and had apparently been taken as a prisoner. The last thing he remembered was being swarmed by droids.

He looked around the small room, thinking back on the last time he had been confined to a cell like the one he was in now…Darth Vader had interrogated him.

I wonder where he is now? he pondered to himself. Someplace better than this, I am sure.

For miles there was nothing but the golden sand of Tatooine. He could see nothing but the baron land of the endless desert stretching out over the horizon.

Eventually, he spotted something off in the distance. It appeared to be some kind of a hut. He knew that the nearest town was at least an hours journey from this location and it was rather odd to find a place of residence out in the middle of nowhere -- isolated from the rest of civilization – unless you were a farmer or a Tusken Raider. He, however, knew that this was not the dwelling of any creature and there were no crops in sight, so he could only assume it wasn't a farmer either. That left only one obvious possibility…

This was where he would find him.

He was here. He knew he was.

This place was secluded. He was hiding from a past he could not get away from, but he continued to run from it nonetheless.

As he approached the hut he could feel his signature in the Force grow stronger. He was nearby.

What are you doing here? I know you would never wish to step foot on this planet again – there are too many bad memories here, Qui-Gon Jinn thought. Are you trying to punish yourself?

He could make out the faint sound of metal scraping against metal as he rounded the corner of the small hut and a wide smile spread across his face when he saw the scene before him. An old speeder was propped up on a lift while a lone figure worked beneath it. He could hear him utter a few curse words to himself in Huttese as he used the Force to call a tool to his hand.

"I can see you are keeping busy," Qui-Gon commented.

He startled the figure and his smile broadened when it jumped and hit its head on the bottom of the speeder. More curse words followed as the figure slid out from under the vehicle and rubbed his head, looking around to find the intruder with a look of pure frustration. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Ani," Qui-Gon replied. "I have finally tracked you down."

Anakin Skywalker's eyes widened at the sight of his old Master. "Master Qui-Gon!"