Obdurate Heart – XXV

Yes indeed, so I've introduced the romance part of the story. Hope it doesn't come off too…corny? And I hope you have fun with the story from this point on. Thanks to all who said that the relationship was bridged realistically, because there was a point in this story where I said 'ah fuckit' over that particular aspect. Oh yes, and do I need to mention that I own Dulan, Omad, and various other minor bothers? Well, I can't imagine anyone has a good reason to steal them. I'm not sure I'd care if they did. I just remember creating a minor character in a story once, and someone said, "That guy's totally out of character though,". I made him up! How would you know? Alright, alright, I'm done rambling on.

"Men should be what they seem."

- William Shakespeare

"I scarcely believed it myself." Dulan sighed as he swept a hand down the right side of his face, sending a few short gray locks spouting from the headband above. "But it is nevertheless true. The Jedi Council is willing to spare his life."

"It's contemptible, that's what it is." Came the sharp reply of Dulan's young male Twi'lek companion and he pushed one fist into the table. "Damn their whole race if this is how they meet terrorism—with mercy!"

"Calm yourself, Iseir, calm down." Dulan held up one hand and rested the other on the surface before him.

"I have been more than patient." Said the blue-skinned creature as he took a moment to pace. "We all have. Patient with the antics of this Jedi Code, and look what it has gotten us. By what divine doctrine must we entrust them with our justice?"

"We do not have any other choice. Our only hope is to try and persuade them."

"That's a futile expectation and you know it." Iseir growled, pacing again. "What reason have they to listen to our pleas? What reason do they have to offer us reparations for our sufferings when most of them overlook our existence entirely? They are so absorbed in their damn politics that they don't even recognize the innocents being slaughtered amid their battles. They have forgotten that there are victims in this war—not just soldiers."

"If they had no concern, they would not be willing to listen to our case at all." Dulan protested with a tired expression.

"They are humoring us to keep us quiet." He scoffed in return, tossing out a hand in disgust. "I'm beginning to think that nothing short of action will catch their attention."

Dulan folded his hands and narrowed his eyes warily, leaning forward in his seat. "You should hold your tongue before it tangles, Iseir. You're starting to sound like Omad."

The Twi'lek paused, regaining his composure and eyeing the older man in an icy way. "Well perhaps he was not as far from the solution as we thought."

"You had best reconsider that." Dulan responded gravely.

"Think about it, Dulan," Iseir's tone took a more pleading tone. "If they do not make the decision to execute Darth Maul, this is our only window to take matters into our own hands. Omad made a point, did he not? That this is the only time we shall have to act before he is moved into a prison."

"Very well then." Dulan answered flatly, crossing his gaunt arms across his chest as he leaned back. "Shall I reconvene the rest of the assembly and inform them of our shift into cutthroat assassination?"

The other scowled inwardly, but said nothing.

"And I did not see this sort of passion in you when the assembly was here. Where was your adamancy then? Or are your words only brave enough to face a single old man?"

Iseir shook his head and sighed gruffly, gazing out the window of their shelter onto the long deserts of Tatooine. "…I was not as certain then as I am now, knowing that the Jedi will allow him to live. We are dealing with evil, Dulan. If the best defense against evil is that there is nothing we can do, there is no point in the façade of making a plea. Evil must die, and there is no wrong way to facilitate that. Perhaps there is a point where you are willing to drop the fight, but I will not stand by and—"

The men's brewing disagreement was suddenly cut short as the soft clearing of a throat interrupted them. When they turned to face the entrance to the room, a young human woman stood to meet their gazes, sand-covered dressings wrapped about her frame and mussed, russet hair tied up away from her face. Her wide eyes danced cautiously between Iseir and Dulan, eventually settling onto Dulan before her head nodded in a small bow. "…Sir…there is something I've come to report."

Dulan gave one last contemplative glance to Iseir before turning his full attention to the young woman, motioning for her to come closer. "Is it urgent?"

"I…am not entirely certain, Sir. But you really may want to look over this." She confirmed. Iseir straightened up in interest.

"Regarding?" Dulan pressed.

"We found something on the body of Omad that we believed you would like to study for yourself." The girl explained, producing a small disc from her robes and placing it on the table in front of him. "It's a storage unit for a holo-recorder."

"So I see." Dulan touched his fingers over the surface of it, a brief ghost of remorse in his eyes.

"Images have been relayed from a separate recorder. It contains…Omad's last message, Sir." The girl again bowed her head respectfully.

After giving Iseir a rather uneasy look, Dulan returned his eyes to the recorder before them and tapped his chin. "…And have you reviewed this recording yourself?"

"Yes Sir."

"And what was your impression?"

The girl hesitated. "It was…disturbing, if I may say so, Sir."

Making his expression sturdy, Dulan took the disc in his hand and activated it, setting it back upon the table with a gaze of anticipation. Iseir quickly gathered himself closer to view.

Surely enough, with a small fizzle, the grainy three dimensional image of the late Omad Vavesto appeared to greet them, croaking out a somewhat distorted audio.

"—cording as a precaution in the case I am unsuccessful in my attempts. Meaning that if you are viewing this message, I am either in custody or in a state far worse." Omad's rough voice broke out with slight static, his mildly grizzled and darkly stubbled face meeting them for the last time. "As you can guess, my intentions went beyond the mere suggestions you may have taken them for. Know that I hold no resentment for the assembly in their wish to remain peaceful, but I nevertheless think them in the wrong approach. So now I go against the wishes of my fellowmen in favor for the wishes of my people. It was said to me that needless killing does not condone another needless killing, but I will insist that there are those of us who very much need to witness the death of Darth Maul. If a wound is left open, it shall never heal, and I long for the heart of my brethren to be whole again. And I can assure you that while this death will bring peace to many, it will bring sadness to none. …Dulan,"

There was a small disruption in the image before it continued, and Dulan leaned forward almost unintentionally.

"If I should never meet with you again, please know this was not an act of defiance, but an act of love. As a friend and as the mentor you were, I ask you not to scorn my decision. And I ask, as the only favor I will ever ask of you, that you show our people what it is I am about to do. That you offer them this as proof of retribution for the horrors they have been so needlessly subjected to. The following captured recording will be transmitted into this unit, which I shall ensure makes it to you in one way or another." The figure's features softened for a moment. "I do what must be done. I would ask of you no less." And with that, the image of Omad vanished.

Dulan slowly raised a hand to smooth over his facial hair as he watched the image shift quickly to a different scene, teeth worrying a thumbnail and a mournful shadow falling across his face. What they viewed now was the inner quarters of the chamber in which Darth Maul was being held.

"The audio is irreparable, but the images are quite clear." The girl noted, and Dulan regarded this distantly.

"…Who is that boy?" Dulan straightened up curiously, stroking his temple.

"His name is Obi Wan Kenobi. He is apprenticed to Master Jin—apparently employed as a sentry for their prisoner." Informed the messenger.

"Of Master Jin?" Dulan stared at the young man carefully, who was looking to be very tired where he sat at Maul's bedside. "Master Jin made no mention that his apprentice was present at the time of the attack."

"Well why should he?" Iseir murmured in addition. "Aren't the Jedi above honesty these days?"

"Quiet yourself, Iseir." Dulan shook his head, not taking his eyes away from the recording. The scene unfolded instantly as Omad appeared from the shadows and sent Obi Wan onto his back on the tile floor. The spectators of this recording went rather tense. Omad quickly turned from the assault on Qui Gon's Padawan to the bed upon which a still-unconscious Maul lay helpless. He raised the saber in ready to plunge it downward, before suddenly, a quick tackle from behind prevented his success. Obi Wan and Omad struggled for a moment before launching into an all-out battle, moving around the room in a whirl of sabers and flashes of light in an otherwise darkened room. Both of them had clearly been trained well in their respective element.

The situation took on a complicated turn in a matter of moments. As Omad pushed Obi Wan back away from the bed, Maul could be seen shifting from his own position. The Zabrak's eyes opened quickly as he came around, and he heavily pushed himself up onto a shoulder to look over at the fight in alarm. In the next instant he was clutching his side and slinking out of bed with an obvious amount of physical stress, though unstably finding his feet in a serpentine poise that was present but wounded nonetheless. On the other side of the room, Obi Wan hit the floor once again with a tremendous blow and one thick, dark spurt of blood painting a blackish streak from where his head collided. Even with this gruesome wound, the young Padawan amazingly retained consciousness and struggled to right his tipped world while the enemy was coming down upon him. Omad approached his fallen opponent once more, and in doing so, was completely oblivious to the Sith Lord looming behind him. Maul silently retrieved Obi Wan's dropped weapon from the ground and, appearing to draw up his strength, crept closer to his intended assassin.

Omad raised his saber. Despite his lacking in proper health, Maul's deadly speed and precision were acute. In the briefest flicker of an eye, he had struck, and Omad was cut away before he had the chance to understand he was in danger.

Dulan quickly turned from the projection in horror, one hand to his brow. Iseir could only stare in shock.

As the recording ran, Maul's stance fell lax, one hand returning to his injured side and the other casting the saber away carelessly. His eyes fell fast upon Obi Wan, who was limp and unmoving by this point. His lips made some unheard comment to the unconscious figure, and he moved towards him, dropping to one knee swiftly and prying a hand up under Obi Wan's head against the wound. He seemed to yell out something and wait, which, after a few seconds, drew a sudden flood of guards into the room. There was momentary chaos. A guard could be seen motioning for Maul to move away with his blaster, to which Maul snarled and gestured to Obi Wan as though pointing out something painfully clear. With guns on him, however, Maul was forced to back away, a thin rope of blood drizzling from the hand that had touched his Jedi guardian. Obi Wan was then subject to a great deal of fussing from the guards' end.

"Turn it off." Dulan waved a hand and turned away, unwilling to see more now that the point had been made.

Iseir reached to shut off the device willingly, but he was stopped as the girl protested. "With all due respect, Sir, there is…" she paused as the eyes of both men fell back upon her. "…more."

"What do you mean, more?" Dulan cocked an eyebrow slowly let his gaze rest back upon the image.

"See for yourself." The girl bent forward and began to tamper through the unit, passing quickly by various scenes of unimportance until a particular incident came into view. "…This, Sir." She spoke quietly, stepping away.

Dulan was rendered speechless for many moments, eyes locked onto the images before him the utmost disbelief. Surely this could not be true.

"Sweet deity…" stammered Iseir, equally absorbed. There was no lie in a captured recording. That was, undisputedly, a Jedi Padawan and a Sith Lord in bed together.

"Is it recording still as we speak?" Dulan asked quietly, but his eyes didn't move.

"No Sir. The unit has filled up."

"This is an outrage…" Iseir snarled in a wavering tone.

"Now, calm yourself, Iseir." Dulan advised again, sensing his fellowman about to erupt.

"Don't tell me to calm myself!" Iseir brought a hand down hard on the table, causing the image to crackle slightly. "Do you realize the implications of this? That monster isn't being kept alive because he can offer information—no! Because apparently they've found another use for him!"

"Iseir—"

"Or perhaps the Sith and the Jedi have become allies! Why put that beyond the line? First bedmates and then—"

"That is enough, Iseir!" Dulan snapped, and upon that raised tone, the Twi'lek promptly shut his mouth. "You look so hard for corruption, I will not hear another word of it."

"Hear nothing, only look!" Iseir gestured to the image, his voice a bit higher than it had been before.

Dulan licked a lower lip and nodded, watching the scene now with a much more interested expression. "…This may be a breakthrough in our cause…"

"What are you talking about?" Iseir shot the female messenger an incredulous look.

"You may be young and full of hate, but I at least have a sense of faith left in me for the Jedi Order." Dulan drew the disc towards him and sighed softly. "…Enough to know that this is not a conspiracy. Look at how they fight…"

"Then what is it you propose?"

Dulan rubbed his chin and raised his eyebrows at his companion. "Persuasion. I am talking about persuasion, as I told you before." He paused, leaning back as the recording played on. "…I wonder…if perhaps Master Jin would be interested in another meeting."