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

CH. 5

"SITH OR SAVIOR"

Obi-Wan still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Beside him was Darth Vader, dark lord and former Emperor of the galaxy, wielding the blue lightsaber of a Jedi Knight and helping him fend off the onslaught of blows coming from a multi-limbed General Grievous. It was a surreal situation to say the least.

He thought his apprentice had been lost long ago – devoured by the raw power of the dark side – but there he stood, acting more like his old padawan than a vicious Sith.

"We can't keep this up forever," Obi-Wan called out to him as he dodged another swipe from an infuriated Grievous.

"We won't have to," Anakin retorted, deflecting another blow with his lightsaber.

Calling upon the Force, he attempted to shove Grievous away from them. He silently cursed to himself when the cybernetic General resisted the shove and was only pushed back a step, quickly resuming his assault.

"Your tricks won't work on me, Jedi!"

Anakin flipped back through the air – moving out of the path of one of the lethal blades meant to slice through his torso – and landed in a graceful crouch.

Obi-Wan jumped back as well, narrowly avoiding the next strike. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy, Anakin."

"You are hopelessly outnumbered," Grievous sneered. "There is no hope of escape…you will not survive this time. You are mine!"

Without another word, he leapt forward and thrust his four arms out in front of him, trying to impale the two Jedi. They both dove aside and rolled to their feet without the weapons making contact.

Obi-Wan anticipated his following attack and managed to catch him by surprise, swinging up towards his nearest arm and severing it just above the elbow. Grievous howled in anger and slammed a closed fist into Obi-Wan's gut, hitting him with the hilt of the lightsaber in his hand and knocking the wind out of him on impact.

Anakin watched in shock as Obi-Wan collided with the wall directly behind him. "Master, are you alright!"

"I'm fine," Obi-Wan gasped for air, struggling to pull himself up from the ground. "I should consider myself lucky he didn't get me with the other end…"

Anakin glared at the now three-armed Separatist leader standing before him and eagerly awaited his next move, tightly gripping his lightsaber.

He didn't have to wait long.

The General swung again, his glowing blades moving in a blur as they flew mere inches above Anakin's head. He could feel the heat radiating off of them and could detect the smell of burnt hair in the air a moment later…apparently he had been grazed by the swipe.

That was a little too close for comfort, he told himself.

Lightsabers once again clashed as he steadily began to take the offensive. The sudden change in his movements startled Grievous and he was able to force him back several steps, abruptly turning the direction of the battle in his favor. Then, with a swift slice of his blade, two hands were separated from the wrists of his opponent in the blink of an eye.

Two hands and two lightsabers clattered to the ground while he used the Force to knock Grievous off balance.

A crude smile formed on his lips as he watched the fallen General stare up at him in stunned silence. "Not so high and mighty anymore, are you?"

Without another word, he raised his lightsaber above his head and prepared to bring it down.

"Anakin, stop!" Obi-Wan cried, shakily climbing to his feet. "Don't do it!"

Lowering his arms, Anakin glanced back over his shoulder. "Why not? He doesn't deserve to live!"

Obi-Wan felt a chill run down his spine when he saw his eyes…the same disturbing yellow from before seemed to be growing in them, taking over their usual blue. The dark side still had a hold on him.

"You can't kill him," Obi-Wan calmly replied, intently studying his face. He hesitated before speaking again – knowing that what he was going to say next might trigger something in his old padawan. Whether it would provoke a positive or a negative reaction, he wasn't sure.

"Jedi do not kill in cold blood."

Anakin's hardened expression didn't waver in the least bit. "Incase you don't remember, Master…I broke my ties with the Jedi long ago."

Watching as Anakin turned his attention back to Grievous, Obi-Wan noticed something he had never seen in the merciless General before.

Fear.

Anakin stood over his defeated adversary and proceeded to get in position to finish him off with one final blow from his lightsaber, but the doors to the room slid open before he could carry out his execution. All three of them looked over as several droidekas rolled through them.

"Destroyers!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.

Grievous took the opportunity to roll away to safety while Anakin was momentarily distracted. Back on his feet, he barked his orders. "Eliminate the Jedi!"

"I think we have overstayed our welcome," Obi-Wan stated, watching the approaching droids with obvious concern. "Perhaps it is time to go."

Anakin glanced back over in Grievous' direction – only catching a glimpse of his retreating form as he disappeared down a corridor at the opposite end of the room, hacking and coughing. He turned back to Obi-Wan when he felt his hand clasp his shoulder. "Forget about him, Anakin. Come on."

Casting his gaze towards Grievous one last time, he reluctantly took off at a full sprint after Obi-Wan. They reached a set of doors while the destroyers continued to pursue them.

"Quickly!" Obi-Wan shouted as he slammed his palm against the keypad on the wall.

Anakin dove through the narrow passage and seconds later the doors were sealed behind him.

Obi-Wan held his injured side, leaning heavily against the cold metal of the wall as a sigh of relief escaped his lips. "That was a close call."

"You should have let me finish him off," Anakin angrily replied. "Now he got away!"

"We will discuss this later," Obi-Wan said, turning to walk away. "Right now we need to get out of here."

Anakin glared at him, but followed suit after a short hesitation. "Yes, Master."

Yoda's eyes shot open when the image filled his mind. He knew something was happening…something bad.

Bail Organa curiously watched the Jedi Master from the seat beside him. "Master Yoda?"

Yoda silently regarded the Senator, seemingly snapped out of his daze at the sound of his voice.

"Master Yoda, what is it?" Bail questioned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Danger," was his worried response. "Much danger, I sense. In trouble, Obi-Wan and young Skywalker are."

Bail said nothing else, but thoughtfully considered Yoda's words. Danger? Vader, if this is your doing…

The group of battle droids whipped around when they heard the hiss of doors opening behind them. They had no time to react or defend themselves – the two Jedi charging forward and effortlessly cutting them down with great speed and accuracy.

"Let us find our means of transportation," Obi-Wan remarked, deactivating his lightsaber and attaching it to his belt while he glanced around at the various ships in the large hangar. The wreckage of Anakin's starfighter was still present, but it was in no shape to fly. "Aah, this should work."

Making his way across the silver floor, he jumped up onto the wing of a two-seated fighter. "Get in, we have no time to waste."

"Take it," Anakin replied coldly as he spun on his heels. "I'll find my own ship."

"What?" Obi-Wan asked. "Don't be ridiculous, Anakin, we – "

"I'm not going back there."

Obi-Wan looked down at his apprentice from the wing he stood upon in absolute confusion. "What do you mean? Anakin, we have no time to argue about this."

"Then don't argue…"

Anakin jumped up onto the wing of another fighter and hopped into the cockpit. Flipping the switches on the console in front of him, its engines roared to life.

At a loss for words, Obi-Wan quietly stood and watched him until he suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye. They widened at the sight of droidekas rolling into the hangar. He was getting ready to shout out a warning, but it was too late. They were already in place – deflector shields activated – and taking aim…