Title: The Death of All Hope
Author: Bonhomie/BaBaKaNuSh-13
Rating: PG
Summary: AU for "The Death of Hope." Qui-Gon leaves Obi-Wan behind with the Rock Workers after his leg is injured, and the Jedi Master must fight to not lose all hope in his life.
Genre: Action, Angst, AU (again, the three 'A's) (Age 16)
Spoilers: Minor ones for the JA books, but mainly for "The Death of Hope."
Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars Universe, George Lucas and Jude Watson own all the characters and concepts here. I'm just borrowing them and making no profit, so please don't sue me. I have no money.
A/N: Okay, although I couldn't remember, I was lead to believe that Tahl didn't ever have her last name mentioned in the JA series. Please tell me if I am wrong, and I will include the information. For now, however, I gave her a new surname: Kasi. Hope that's all cool with everyone. :)
Oh, and I'm so sorry, everyone … that this took me so long, I mean. Well, I got it here eventually :) Yeah, I'm hopeless, I know. Hmm, well, hopefully my posts will be closer together from now on, since I think I'm finally getting into the swing of uni. Well, good news – I was going to post this chapter later than today, sometime next week, actually, but unfortunately my grandmother died a little over 24 hours ago and her funeral is on next week, so you're getting this now instead.
Oh, and a big "Happy Birthday!" to my Dad for today (it's the 20th here), even though he's never going to actually see my work :) I won't let him! ;D
So, hope you enjoy.
WARNING!
This chapter contains the death of children. If you are uncomfortable with that, then please desist in reading Chapter 3.
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Chapter 3
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Obi-Wan opened his blurry eyes. A familiar face swam into view in front of him.
"Yanci," he murmured.
Relief split her face, but her eyes remained sad. "Hold still," she said quietly. "You have a concussion, a severe blaster bolt trauma in your right arm and a deep vibro-blade wound to both your left shoulder and thigh. Don't aggravate them further."
Obi-Wan let his fuzzy mind wander. "What happened?" he asked. He could vaguely hear the thrum of a large transport under his body, and he lay on some sort of cold, hard surface.
Yanci bowed her head. Sorrow emanated from her in intense waves.
The memories came flooding back to Obi-Wan before she had to even speak.
The Rock Workers had fought desperately alongside him to save their last explosives. It had been futile, however. The enemy, with their superior numbers, had broken through their defence line.
Obi-Wan had swiped at a blaster bolt, but another had whizzed past and slammed into his arm.
Pain. Dizziness.
He mentally berated himself to focus. He should have easily seen that coming.
But there were simply too many of them.
The Force screamed out to him and he dived to the left, swinging his lightsabre to the right. Yanci gave a gasp of surprise as he barrelled into her, and she fell backwards. The vibro-blade aimed for her head sliced into his left shoulder instead. He faltered, but within a moment's breath regained his battle rhythm.
"Bini!" Yanci screamed out behind him. Merely a few metres away a middle-aged woman collapsed to the ground.
Yanci moved as if to run towards her. Obi-Wan grabbed her around the waist and held her back. It was too late for the other woman, he could see that. Yanci continued to struggle, however.
Fire suddenly burned into his thigh with agonising suddenness, from another Absolute warrior's slice.
He should have felt that coming!
Focus. Obi-Wan, once again, sternly drew his mind into a deep awareness of all of his surroundings. He was going to get either he or someone else killed, otherwise.
He sent a concentrated Force wave out, and the Absolute fell back.
Yanci shrieked in horror as she saw the wound Obi-Wan had taken because of her. She stopped struggling and Obi-Wan finally let go of his fierce grip on her. Blood now spilled down his left side, and dizziness buzzed in his mind.
Rock Workers fell around them.
Where was Eritha? Obi-Wan suddenly wondered with dawning realisation. He'd told her to stay behind him. She was nowhere to be seen, but he could not leave his position … he could not move to merely save the life of one, when there was so much more at stake, no matter their position in society.
All too frighteningly soon it was only he and Yanci left standing, defending the storage shed. In contrast, the Absolute ranks seemed as numerous as ever.
And his strength was faltering.
Obi-Wan blocked another laser bolt hurtling towards him at close range, but the power behind it sent him reeling, swaying for a moment before collapsing to the ground in a heap, all strength gone.
"No," Yanci said desperately. She quickly dropped down beside him and pressed her hands against the bleeding wound in his thigh.
"Hands up, scum," said what looked like a ranking Absolute warrior.
Yanci eventually warily pulled her bloodstained hands away, and held them aloft. The Absolute sneered grotesquely, raised his blaster, and took aim at the middle of her forehead, finger tightening ominously on the trigger.
"Hold!"
The man immediately lowered his weapon. Eritha walked up behind him, pushing a path through the other Absolutes.
"Can you heal him?" she asked Yanci without preamble, nodding toward Obi-Wan.
Yanci snarled, but stayed by his side. "You! You're with these foul nerfs! We sheltered you and this is how you repay us! You filthy … filthy rancor-breath, podoo sucking tooth face!"
Even through his distorted, hazy grasp of his surroundings, Obi-Wan knew that Yanci had pushed it too far. He reached out to her and tried to sit up, his voice coming out in a harsh wheeze as he attempted to quieten her. She didn't seem to notice his weak grip on her hand, and he slumped back down to the ground in weak futility. He was helpless to do anything in his state. He had just lost too much blood.
Eritha's cold face tightened at Yanci's outburst, and she briskly flicked her fingers in a signal. Her men raised their weapons and took aim at the young woman.
"Silent medic, or it will be your life," Eritha said with unnerving calmness. "Can you heal him?"
"Yes," Yanci ground out.
"Get to it, then," Eritha said, turning her back.
"I cannot do anything here, nerf. I have no resources, no equipment."
Eritha stilled and turned to one of her men. "Get them to one of the ships. Give her a medpac and anything else she needs, but guard them both heavily, at all times."
The Absolute nodded and bowed. He and two others stepped forward. One grabbed Yanci roughly and shoved her forward, keeping his blaster trained on the middle of her back. The others picked Obi-Wan up between them. They began to haul him to one of the Absolute ships. He struggled in their grip and they dropped him in surprise. He fell hard to the ground, banging the back of his head on a large rock with a sickening jolt.
Stars blossomed in front of Obi-Wan's eyes. He tried to blink them away. By the time he was successful, however, he was once again being carried by the armoured men.
He began to panic in confusion, and nausea swamped his senses. He writhed frantically. The Absolutes carrying him swore and tried to hold him still. It only panicked him more.
"Poodoo and tauntaun spit! What is wrong with this kid?"
The other man leaned in close to his face. Obi-Wan could smell the Eisley weed smoke on his breath. "Concussion," he said. "Let's get him back to the ship quick before he hurts himself any more. With Eritha around, quite frankly, I would rather be fed to a rancor." He tugged on Obi-Wan's arms again, but the first man didn't follow suit.
"Wait," he said. He dropped his grip on Obi-Wan and walked off to talk to another nearby Absolute for a moment, gesturing animatedly. The second man sat on Obi-Wan to keep him still.
The Absolute shook his head and the first man shrugged. He came back over to them.
"Can't find a hypo. Give me your blaster." He adjusted the settings with a proficient flick of his fingers. He stood back and aimed it at Obi-Wan's head. "Hold still, Jedi scum."
Obi-Wan slowed reactions weren't quick enough. He sent out an uncontrolled burst of the Force.
It was too late.
The stun blaster bolt had hit him straight in the face, and, with a bright flash, he had known no more.
"I'm sorry, Yanci," Obi-Wan said, shifting awkwardly on his back to turn to the distraught woman. He grasped her hand gently.
Yanci shook her and bit her lip. "Don't. You helped my people. Thankyou, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You saved me more than once and took these wounds for me," she said, jutting her chin out to indicate his battered body. "It's my fault that you are like this. I am sorry."
"No. It's not your fault, at all." Obi-Wan shook his head. He didn't know what to say. He didn't think he had done that much for the Rock Workers. After all, he had been unable to save any of them beside Yanci. She had rescued him as well, anyway, had nursed him back to health.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath.
All of them had been killed.
He closed his eyes as pain swept over him with realisation.
The children.
He and a number of the Workers had tried to hide them. They'd tried to distract the Absolutes, draw them away from the children.
But the Absolutes had been too ruthless, too quick.
He had seen them enter the school.
He had heard the young screams of terror.
The confused wails of babies.
And then silence.
Nausea swept over the young Jedi. He pressed back down onto the cold surface of the dura-steel floor beneath him.
So many deaths.
Yet he was still alive.
He reached out to the Force and dampened his sense receptors. It would do him no good to be weak now. He could not change what had passed. He had to find a way for he and Yanci to escape.
Gingerly wary of his concussion and his healing wounds, Obi-Wan sat up slowly. Yanci lurched forward to help him.
"I would prefer it if you wouldn't move, thankyou very much. You'll undo all my hard work."
Obi-Wan looked down. Yanci indeed had done an excellent job of bathing his injuries in bacta and binding them up. If he'd had time to bury himself in the Force, they could have been completely healed by now. In the present circumstances, however, Yanci had done brilliantly.
He looked at her closely. Grief clouded her eyes and she seemed so far away.
What would Qui-Gon have done?
Distract her from her sorrow, give her something to focus on.
Thoughts of his Master brought up questions in Obi-Wan's mind.
Had he found Tahl? Was she alright?
He had been too preoccupied to even think about their mission earlier. Now hope and doubts swam in his mind, each in a desperate fight for precedence. He couldn't tell which was winning.
Obi-Wan pushed them away and reached out to Qui-Gon. He came up against resistance. Nothing. He couldn't sense a thing outside of the large storage container they were in. He could feel Yanci sitting by his side, but it was if there was a solid wall between his Master and himself. The room was Force-shielded.
Obi-Wan longed to somehow break through the shielding. He knew it would be impossible, but he needed to reach Qui-Gon. He took a deep breath to calm his racing mind, and shifted his focus.
"Yanci," Obi-Wan said quietly. He let urgency seep into his voice.
Yanci's head shot up, and she focussed her attention solely on him. "Obi-Wan. What is wrong? Are you hurting much? They would not give me a hypo for your pain."
It had worked. The healer in her had come out in her worry for his well-being. Now he could focus her efforts on escaping.
"I am fine," he said. He leaned close to her and she bent her head toward him as well. He placed his hand on her shoulder, wincing as his blaster wound pulled. "I know this hurts, Yanci. I have lost many close to me as well." He paused. "But the time to grieve is not now. It will come, but not yet. Now is the time to get away from here. We need to warn New Apsolon about Balog and the twins."
Yanci nodded, and her dull gaze fiercened. The sadness was still there, but she was managing it.
"We will escape," she said confidently. "We will save the rest of the planet from those barbarians."
"Good," Obi-Wan said. "Now you must tell me everything you know."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Qui-Gon unsheathed his lightsabre. He rebounded the blaster bolts into surrounding control panels. They sparked and died, some bursting into flame and creating a dancing pattern of light across Balog's frightened face. Sweat rolled down his skin. His blaster overheated with the constant barrage of shots that he'd fired off. He yelped and dropped the weapon from burnt fingers.
Qui-Gon took advantage of the opening and leapt forward. He held the glowing blade to Balog's quivering throat.
"Tell me where Obi-Wan Kenobi is," he snapped.
Balog shook his head. "I – I don't know." Qui-Gon pushed the blade a little closer. "Okay! Eritha. Eritha said something about him."
Qui-Gon's brow furrowed. Eritha? What did she have to do with this? Why did Balog mention her? Qui-Gon's stomach dropped with realisation. She was in league with her twin sister and Balog. He was reluctant to believe the head Guard's words, but with everything she'd done … it all added up.
What did that mean for Obi-Wan?
He swallowed down the fear that rose up in his throat. "What did she say?"
Qui-Gon sensed Mace run into the room behind him. He ignored the Councillor.
Balog looked as if was going to remain silent, but Qui-Gon flicked the lightsabre under his nose, and he blanched. Qui-Gon felt Mace shift behind him, but he otherwise remained still. He trusted Qui-Gon's judgement just enough to restrain from leaping forward and stopping him.
"Alright! Eritha said – said she was going to keep him."
"Why?"
"I don't know! Ask Alani. I have nothing to do with it," Balog said. He cowered away from the blade, raising his hands helplessly.
"Where are the twins?"
"Hiding. Underground storage room. I'll give you the co-ordinates, just let me go."
Qui-Gon nodded. Balog wrote them down on a scrap piece of durasheet and handed them to him with trembling hands. Qui-Gon stepped back, glancing down at the shaky numbers.
"These had better be right," he said fiercely, glancing up at Balog with one raised eyebrow. "I will soon know if they are not, and I will personally take it up with you."
Balog swallowed, but his gaze remained steady. He raised his head defiantly. "You don't frighten me, Jedi." He moved to step past Qui-Gon, but Mace stopped him.
"Not so fast Balog," Mace said, pulling out his own lightsabre and raising it in warning. "You are under civil arrest for the death of Jedi Knight Tahl Kasi."
Balog snarled. "You said you would let me go for the information."
"And I did," Qui-Gon said. "I cannot account for Master Windu's actions, however."
And with that, he turned his back on Balog's abusive swearing and left Mace to deal with the head Guard. He had no sympathy for the man. He had taken Tahl away and had tortured her, and had consequently caused her death.
Qui-Gon left the building, jumping onto his speeder. He needed to find his Padawan, and to do that, he had to get to the twins.
He quickly typed in the co-ordinates that Balog had given him and sped off.
Sure enough, Qui-Gon arrived at the underground storage room. He tugged open the hidden trap door, camouflaged amidst the worn surface of the dura-crete ground. The Force gave no warning of any danger, nor did it indicate that he was walking into a trap. He pulled it down behind him. His eyes were met with the pitch black of the lightless room. He blinked and used the Force to adjust his vision to see around him. He powered up the lights from a panel near his head.
Pressed against the furthest corner away from him was Alani. Her long golden hair was frazzled and her eyes were both curious and worried.
"What do you want, Jinn?" She asked, voice wavering only slightly.
He stepped forward. The room was full of supplies, obviously as preparation to wait for the Jedi to leave New Apsolon so that she and her sister could take over the planet.
"Where is your sister?" he said, realising Eritha wasn't there.
"Never you mind," she snapped.
Qui-Gon could see something shift in her eyes.
"Where is she, Alani?" he pressed. Eritha was the strong decision-maker, the leader. He would be able to get through to Alani if he pushed. It wouldn't take much.
"Where is Eritha?" Qui-Gon took another step, resting his hand casually on the hilt of his lightsabre. A baseless threat, but Alani's eyes widened.
"She's not here," she rushed. "Eritha has gone."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Eritha reclined in the starliner's luxurious seat. "How long until we get there?" she asked.
The young attendant who had just brought her a glass of muja juice bowed. "Only a few hours longer, my lady."
"Good." She took a sip of the juice. "Send one of my guards in."
The attendant bowed again and left the richly-furnished room.
A few minutes later one of Eritha's Absolute guards entered. He bent down low before straightening again at her prompting. "Yes, my lady?"
"What are my prisoners doing?" she asked, taking another sip.
"The Jedi has woken, my lady. Now all he does is kneel, yet he acts as if he is asleep. The medic constantly checks him, but they no longer say anything."
Eritha frowned. "We shall be arriving in a few hours. Ready a bath here in my room, and send my handmaiden in. She will know what to bring. Help her."
Eritha closed her eyes and waited. She listened to the quietened, hurried bustle as each of her orders was undertaken. The movements slowly receding, the room was eventually once more bathed in silence. She cracked open her eyes. The handmaiden was kneeling by her side, bowing her head patiently. The guard stood by the door.
"Good," Eritha said, glancing at the readied bath and the clothes laid out next to it. She reached out to pat the handmaiden's head. The twi'lek girl remained still. "Call the other servants."
The girl scurried off, never looking up. Eritha turned to the guard.
"Now bring me my pet."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
So, here's another chapter!
And we finally found Obi-Wan! Yay! I missed him.
Whoops, crazy Eloise on the loose.
Oh, yeah, by Eloise I mean me. My name is Eloise. Yeah. Anyway …
Moving on (oh, and in advance, I'm sorry to everyone about their replies … I'm so exhausted for absolutely no reason, and so my brain has gone a bit mushy. Please excuse me if I've said something weird … well, weirder than normal, anyway :) ). Anywho, replies:
master kaym: Yes, he's alive. I couldn't kill of my Obi that fast! Though, it would make it interesting, but then I couldn't have any more angst in my story, could I? Well, not Obi-angst, anyway, and that's always the best sort:) So, now our ideas really are the same, aren't they? Great minds think alike, I always say. I'm sure you'll agree. :) Anyway, thanks for the review, as always!
i luv ewansmile: Thanks! And I love hearing from you, too! But you've made me nervous now, about the title. I hope I can make my fic live up to its title now! Eeeep! … Anyway, thanks once again for your support!
Tiamath: "Graphic and gritty, with an overwhelming sense of relief at the end". I love it! I was so thrilled when I read that that I squealed like a little piglet! If I ever practice enough and become a professional author, I am so getting you to write my blurb and commenty-things they have on the back cover. Oh, yes, I can see a future author there: "commenty-things" … well done to me. I have such perfect English :) And I would absolutely love a beta! I need all the help I can get. I'm sure you'd do a brilliant job, if you still wanted to! Anyway, thanks for the totally awesome review! I'll get back to you.
The Burninator Named Trogdor: Were you by any chance giving me a hint with the "updated quickly" part? LoL! I laughed so hard when I read that! I know, I know, there's a fair distance between updates. I'm sorry:) I agree with you … Qui-Gon is still a mongrel, but he has an excuse. He's upset over Tahl, and confused and stuff. But he should never have left our poor Obi alone when he told Qui-Gon that there was something wrong! Okay, I totally agree with you now when I think about it … Qui-Gon is a bastard. :) And Bant's reaction in the JA series did shock me so much! Force, I never thought she had it in her! Poor Obi-Wan. It wasn't his fault. Okay, Elo, stop getting so emotional. Calm down, it's only a story. But poor Obi-Wan keeps getting the laser-side of the lightsabre. Wait, what am I talking about? I don't know, my brain does weird stuff when I'm absolutely starving!
And: "I think you captured a jedi's detachment very well. Mace and Qui-Gon simply walked through all of those bodies almost as if it were nothing. They are taught to revere all life, but accept death. It's sort of a paradox. They value all life, but are not allowed to feel the loss of life." I love it. I had never really thought about it that much! Wow! You really made me start thinking. Thanks! Wow, that is a long reply I wrote!
Nelarun: Thanks. I'm glad you found this fic, too, and I'm ecstatic that you like it. I love when I have people reading more than one of my fanfics … it's great to see a familiar, er … penname :) Anyway, thanks for an awesome review!
Writer of all: Hey, you! Once again, you've reviewed both chapters even though only started reading when I posted the second chapter … yeah, I know … you started reading from a little prompting by me because I'm a bit bully, but… well, back on the ranch, meanwhile … :) yeah, I had to chuck that in. But I do love having constant reviewers … it makes me feel so fuzzy inside :) And thanks, I'm glad you like my fics:) Hope I can talk to you soon! You're way too awesome!
--------: Hmm, interesting name :) thanks for your review. I'm sorry I took so long between updates, but hopefully I'll be faster in the future! Oh, and a big fuzzy "WELCOME!" to my review page!
Miz Perfect: And another big, fuzzy wuzzy (because fuzzy wuzziness is just so nice) "WELCOME!" to my review page to you, too! I loved your review! The wording was brilliant and made me feel all warm and wuzzy inside. How many times do you think I can put "wuzzy" in a reply? LoL! Sorry for the slow update, but thanks for the awesome review!
Calliope: Hey! Another "WELCOME!" needed over here! I'm glad you like the angst in this … I always worry about how I put it in, because I love reading angst so much that I don't want to disappoint people. So, I'm glad you like it. And I have to agree with you … Qui-Gon is a mongrel who deserves to feel guilt for what he did to Obi-Wan:) anyway, getting a little emotional over it, here, so I think I'll have to go now. Thanks for the brilliant review … I really love it when readers review with some sort of comment on what they think about the story – as in, real in-depth stuff like your review had. It gives me something to think about. :) Thanks once again!
Masterarcher: I'm flattered that you like my AU even though you said you don't normally like them … I'm blushing:) And don't worry, I do plan on finishing this, it's just that I've been a little busy … sorry! And thanks for sticking with me and not just giving up on me … that really means a lot, and it helped so much in getting over my writer's block to know that there were people out there who still wanted to read this even though I've been way too busy to even update it. Thankyou so, so much! Oh, and "WELCOME!" to my review page:)
Delcy: I love how everyone is getting on the Qui-Gon hating bandwagon! That was kind of my intention for this fic … oh, don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but in that book he was so … well, he was going to be a bastard to Obi-Wan, but pulled through in the end. However, I still felt sorry for Obi-Wan (especially because not only does he neglect Obi-Wan in this book, but he repeats the process and does it in TPM when he finds Anakin, too. Grr!) and so had to write a fic where I could teach Qui-Gon a lesson … ha! My little and meaningless revenge! Anyway, I'm glad you liked this story, and I'll try to be faster in updating. In the meanwhile, "WELCOME!" to my review page, and thankyou for your brilliant review!
Lulu: Angst? Angst I LOVE to do:) I'm glad you like this fic. Oh, a big, warm "WELCOME!" to my review page, too! Once again, I'm sorry I took so long to update, but hopefully I'll be quicker in the future! Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing this fic, and thanks for your sweet response! Thanks!
Anyway, goodnight or good morning or afternoon or … whatever it is for you!
BaBaKaNuSh(underscore)13.
I can never get those underscores to work on this site. And I can never write the name of this site, either. It never shows up on the final copy. GRRR! Oh well, I'll survive. ;) Sorry, can you tell that I'm really tired?