Chapter Twenty-Three: To Lose and Love
"...we've sent out patrols, we already located their starship in the swamp, it wont be long my lord," said Nute Gunray, sitting comfortably and arrogantly in a chair as he addressed Sidious through hologram.
Siri watched, leaning against a nearby pillar. She disagreed with that assessment. The Queen wouldn't have returned here, to an occupied world, without some kind of plan.
Sidious appeared to agree with that thought. "This is an unexpected move for her. It's to aggressive. Apprentice, be mindful, let them make the first move."
Siri tilted her head in acknowledgement, but didn't respond. The two of them stared at eachother for a moment, an air of awkwardness and uncertainty after what had happened when last they met still around them. Sidious killed the connection and vanished, leaving Siri to have to deal with the bumbling idiot for the time being. She still required him operational, so she held back on Sidious's promised punishment for the Viceroy, but she'd savor it later.
She watched as Gunray lazed about, having his subordinates bring him food and drink while he looked over reports from his droids. Siri pursed her lips, tapping her feet with both impatience and warning. The Viceroy briefly glanced at her, dismissive, before returning his attention to his food...
Siri released a bolt of lightning from her fingertips, blasting his desk clear of commodities and causing him to tip his chair backwards with a yelp. "Do not forget that you are treading on thin ice Gunray. You will give this occupation your full attention, focus, and commitment, or there will be dire consequences."
"Y-yes, of course," stammered the Viceroy fearfully, gulping nervously as he focused on his datapad.
About an hour later Gunray scowled at what he was reading. "Imbeciles! The prison camps are supposed to be locked down!"
Siri narrowed her eyes. "What of it?"
"A few of the Naboo guard have escaped out of the camps," said Gunray with placation, "Nothing our forces cannot handle. It is foolish of them to even try."
"How did they escape? Did they have outside help?"
Gunray hesitated. "We are... unsure."
Siri's lips thinned. "Then find out."
About an hour later, there was a report of a Naboo speeder found on the outskirts of the city, Gunray scowled at the message, "The Queen seeks to stir trouble. A rebellion in the city is pointless, our forces outnumber hers!"
Siri rolled her eyes and settled in as the Viceroy continued to read, command, and send communications for awhile...
"Sir!"
Gunray turned as a subordinate ran into the room, "There are reports of an army gathering in the swamps."
Siri blinked. An army...?
Gunray took an offered report, then started chuckling. "She sends primitives against us, she is desperate!"
Siri frowned for a moment. "Primitives?"
"Gungans if the report is right on their race," said Gunray with dismissive arrogance, "Swamp dwellers, they live underwater or so I am told. They don't even have blasters!"
Siri gave him a skeptical look. "I see."
She really didn't. Either his reports were wrong, because the Queen couldn't be that stupid, or... oh, well now, that made more sense. Divide and conquer. She watched with annoyance as the Gunray didn't even give the situation a serious thought, preparing to send out a large part of his forces to go conquer the army, and then rose to his feet, calling a mobile holoterminal as he began to walk for the throne room, contacting Sidious and updating him.
"She is more foolish than I thought," mused Sidious aloud, though his hood briefly flickered towards Siri, tilting slightly.
He wasn't blind nor stupid. He understood what the real game was here.
"We are sending our troops to meet this army assembling near the swamps," said Gunray as they walked, "It appears to be made up of primitives."
"This will work to our advantage," said Sidious.
And Siri agreed. The Gungans would draw the droid army away, and the Queen would lead a strike force for the Trade Federation's leadership. It would draw her out of hiding, and right into Siri's waiting hands. Not to mention saving Siri the time and effort to hunt her down.
"I have your approval to proceed then, my lord?" inquired Gunray.
"Wipe them out," said Sidious, sending a chill of dark and eager thrill down Siri's spine, "All of them."
Siri smiled a little in anticipation. It was a shame she wouldn't be there, to see the slaughter. Ah well, considering she could feel the Jedi's presence slowly closing in towards Theed, she wouldn't have to wait long for her own fight. A tendril of apprehension killed her mood however. Because it wasn't just any Jedi. It was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his master. She swallowed a lump in her throat. She was going to have to fight Obi-Wan.
Was going to have to kill him...
She took her time as she trailed behind the Viceroy, trying to mentally prepare herself and dominate her conflicting emotions. She couldn't hesitate... she... she had to do this. She had to break this last tie to her past, had to enter into Sidious's confidence, had to walk deeper into this path, to kill him, to bring order to the galaxy, to create her empire, and make things the way she wanted them to be...
Do you?
She flinched and hissed a little under her breath. She really didn't need this right now.
Are you really going to murder him? Murder your love?
"A Sith does not love," she muttered under her breath as an explosion sounded off in the distance.
Gunray turned towards a holoscreen, watching as his troops engaged with a Naboo assault force. "I thought the battle was to take place far from here. This is to close."
Siri shook her head. "Deal with the assault force, I will deal with the Jedi."
She turned and left, a tremor going down her arms. It was time... yet, as she stalked down the hallway, nothing but apprehension filled her. For a moment, Garen's face appeared in her mind... then Master Gallia's, pleading for her to stop. She shook her head and banished the remnants of her past, heading for the Jedi...
Siri approached the door to the hanger bay, feeling the presence of the two Jedi, the boy, the Queen, and the guards on the other side. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let it out, struggling to shove down the conflict and bury it. Sidious's orders were clear, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had to die. There was no other way out of this conflict. She opened her eyes and depressed the door's open switch, watching as its parts split open. The mass of Jedi and guards came to a halt, wide-eyed staring at her. Save for the Jedi, they had expected her then.
"We'll handle this," said Qui-Gon confidently.
Arrogant as always Master Jinn.
"We'll take the long way then," answered… either the Queen or a Handmaiden, Siri couldn't tell.
Siri watched idly as the pair of Jedi stripped off their cloaks, dropping them on the ground behind them. Siri briefly considered not even bothering, keeping hers on as an insult. She thought of a better snub instead, taking her cloak off with the Force and levitating it away to rest on a crate, eyes mockingly on Master Jinn the entire time, daring him to comment.
He did, of course did. "Rather frivolous use of the Force, Padawan Tachi."
Siri gave him a smile that was all teeth. "Why should it be considered frivolous? The Force is ours by birthright to do with as we wish," she levitated her saberstaff off her belt infront of her, reaching out to grasp and activating it, red surging from top and bottom.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan drew theirs, but only Qui-Gon activated his.
"Siri."
Siri couldn't help but tense, Obi-Wan's voice directed at her for the first time in nearly a decade. Her eyes turned to his, and she couldn't help the swallow that ran down her throat. She took him in, drank really, far more than the brief glance she had gotten on Tatooine. A tight padawan cut for hair, a very long padawan braid, full of beads representing so many struggles and triumphs. Much of the boyish look to his face had faded away, revealing a stern and handsome young man. He wore his Jedi tunic well and strong set. His presence was a firm light in the Force, and impressively strong for someone who was only a Padawan. She was actually kind of surprised he hadn't been nominated for his trials yet, he was more than ready to be a Knight if she had to guess.
Her inner voice, was for once her own, instead of his. Obi-Wan... oh Obi-Wan...
"Look at you," she murmured, growing bitter, "All grown up, just about ready to become a Jedi Knight."
There is sadness in his gaze. "It's not too late for you to retake that path, Siri."
There is care in his eyes, pleading. Just like Garen's had held.
Before she had killed his Master and then murdered him. She thought of all her sins on the path she has walked, necessary steps to take, sacrifices to make, her own soul damned, in order to kill Sidious and bring peace to the galaxy. She's gone too far, and done too much to stop now. Even for him.
"It's too late for that, Obi-Wan," her voice is quiet, "Far too late."
She thrust a hand forward and sent Obi-Wan flying across the hanger bay with the Force, sliding along the floor away from Siri and death. If he was smart, he'd run, and she could use the excuse of being on the mission to capture the Queen, offering Jinn's death to pacify Sidious.
She doubted Obi-Wan would though.
Qui-Gon took that as an inclination to start the duel, charging forward and swinging downward from a high angle. She catches it with her saber, spinning out of the way and forcing his down as she swung the other end towards his neck. He ducked it and dragged his saber up, sparking along hers, aiming to take out the handle. She's not stupid nor inexperienced enough to let it happen, and pulls back, spinning her lightsaber and falling back towards the Generator Complex doors, depressing the opening switch with the Force. Not retreating, but taking them away from anyone else interfering. She had scoped out the palace earlier, the long walkways of the Generator Complex, where Qui-Gon's age and lightsaber style would be to his detriment, and to her advantage.
If it even gets to that stage.
Siri is only defending and taking obvious counters at the moment, not even dabbling in Makashi yet. She's studying Jinn's form as he 'pushes' her back. His Ataru is excellent, great sweeping blows, his body a flurry of aggressive motion. Sidious is of course better at Ataru, but he's Sidious, it's to be expected. Despite Qui-Gon's skill, there are problems with Ataru in general, moments where he is doing his spinning attacks that his blade is not in-front of his body, and if she were to truly push herself to outspeed him, she could. Or if she caught his blade and redirected it to offbalance him, or used his positioning against him, she could score a hit, or take a limb. Such as…
He is swinging low for her knees, she leaps over and plants her foot into his face, sending him staggering. She steps forward, her blade arching to tear into his chest, but Obi-Wan has finally joined the duel, his blade blocking and saving his Master's life, pushing her back. She takes a step back, finds her foot half way off the edge of the Generator Complex, and pushes off, backflipping and landing on a walkway.
Obi-Wan doesn't immediately follow, waiting for Qui-Gon to recover and rejoin him before the pair leap after her. Siri could have been nice and let them, but she's feeling a bit nasty about this whole thing; so half way across, she shoves her hand out and throws Obi-Wan back with the Force, sending him to the other side and landing hard on his back.
Which leaves Qui-Gon alone with her again.
She deactivates one end of her lightsaber, holding one hand out two fingers pointed at him, lightsaber held downward at an angle and beckons him.
Qui-Gon's eyebrows furrowed briefly at her opening stance, and she faintly heard him mutter to himself, "Soresu is an odd choice for a darksider."
She is more amused by that comment than anything else, and lets herself grin as he takes the offensive. "You'd be surprised, Master Jinn. Honestly, you should try it sometime, it would be better for you in your old age than prancing about like you're a young padawan again."
Qui-Gon doesn't rise to the bait and doesn't even acknowledge the insult, merely keeps attack with heavy and powerful swings of his lightsaber. Siri doesn't meet any of the attacks head only, and instead parries or deflects aside each attack, redirects them away, or dodges out of the way as much as she can on the small walkways. There is a thump of feet landing behind her and she detects Obi-Wan coming from the other side. Qui-Gon swings a heavy upward blow, rather than block, Siri leaps to another walkway, heat trailing close to her back from the Jedi Master's lightsaber barely missing.
The Jedi pair leap after her, but Siri takes a jump further down the walkway, placing Qui-Gon in between her and Obi-Wan as they land. She feints forward at Jinn, pulling back when he raises his lightsaber to block. She lunges then, and is rather surprised when he was already pulling down to block the stab. She gives him credit for his skill and anticipation, that would have killed lesser Jedi. Then Obi-Wan leaped over the pair, and Siri is amused by the audacity of the move. She ignites the other end of her lightsaber and stabs upward, but the padawan swats the blow away. There is a brief moment where they are both attacking at once, one swinging high and one swinging low. She turns and catches both with the ends of her saberstaff. They shift their grip and make to wrench her lightsaber from her grasp, rather than allow it, she deactivates her lightsaber and watches them stagger offbalanced. She thrusts a hand forward and they are both knocked off the walkway with a burst of the Force.
She winces a little as they hit a walkway below, her voice mocking down after them. "Owch, that's gotta hurt..."
Obi-Wan was getting rapidly tired of being tossed around as they chased Siri up and down the Power Complex. She was a blur of dark robes and raw skill, switching back and forth between wielding her lightsaber as a saberstaff or as a single blade depending if she's fighting one or both of them. Not only was she skilled at Form III both ways, she was constantly moving as well, never allowing them to team up on her for more than a few seconds before either repositioning or knocking one of them off of their current walkway. She didn't look winded at the slightest, and both he and Qui-Gon have more than their fair share of perspiration.
What's more irritating is the mocking.
"Come now Obi-Wan, weren't you right behind me in saber classes?" she teased, deflecting a blow and lashing out with a foot, booting him backwards and to the floor, "Surely you can do better."
Qui-Gon comes at her from the other side, but she kneels forward, raising the other end of her lightsaber overhead to block. She rose to her feet and spun, swinging at Qui-Gon's leg. He jumps over the attack, and Siri takes the opportunity to jump off the edge to another walkway. "Come down and play boys!"
Neither of them do, taking a moment to breath.
"What's the matter? Tired already?" she called up.
"Force Siri," he cant help but say, "You run your mouth worse than Bruck did!"
She immediately scowls up at him. "I'd appreciate you not making that comparison."
"Then stop giving me a reason to!"
She sniggers in response. "Temper temper Obi-Wan, is it that time of the month?"
Obi-Wan glared down at her. Force, she was more of a taunt and a tease than she used to be.
"Don't let her get to you Padawan," advised Qui-Gon, "She's using her words as a weapon to distract and irritate you. You need to focus."
Obi-Wan nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out, lowering his voice. "We need to pin her down. Her form and mobility will let her tire us out if we can't."
"She's intentionally separating us and not giving us the chance to," commented Qui-Gon mildly, taking a moment to breath before speaking again, "She won't face either of us head on unless its one on one."
"I don't think that's wise," said Obi-Wan before going silent, "I've never seen anyone use Soresu like this, not even Master Drallig. I..."
He trailed off for a moment, unease rippling through him. "I thought we'd be able to take her together and bring her back to the temple for help, that we'd have to try to hold back. I never expected this, I should have, she's walked away from fights with Grandmaster Dooku. I...don't think either of us can win alone. Even the moments we do fight her together... she still holds us off."
Qui-Gon didn't respond, eyes starting down at Siri, who raised an eyebrow at them as if to say 'well?'.
"We're the most active Master and Apprentice pair in the temple," said Obi-Wan, trying to release his frustration into the Force, "But she's picking us apart. Where did she learn to fight like this? What kind of training..."
"Padawan," said Qui-Gon grimly, "Darksiders and their various cults are absolutely ruthless. That includes in how they train their acolytes. I'm not surprised by her strength and mobility. It's the skill I didn't expect, someone with an above Master's skill level taught her to wield Form III like that. What's more..."
He shook his head. "We shouldn't have followed her in here, this battleground favors her far more than it does us..."
"You know, I think you boys need an invitation," called up Siri.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both gave a yelp as they felt the Dark Side coil around their ankles and yank. They barely managed to hang onto the side of the walkway for dear life. Obi-Wan heard a buzzing noise and turned his head, eyes going wide to see Siri's saberstaff spinning through the air towards him. He glanced down quickly, sighting a walkway far below, and let go. He felt heat briefly pass over his head as he plummeted. His eyes and Siri's briefly met, and he saw nothing but dark amusement on her face. It was like she wasn't even treating this seriously...
He braced himself with the Force and landed hard on the walkway. He staggered a bit and cringed. If he didn't have the Force, he'd have broken both his legs. As it was, he briefly knelt, set down his lightsaber, and rubbed his knees, pushing the Force through them. He was piss all for healing, but it'd have to do. He look up to see Siri yet again going after Qui-Gon. He wasn't blind to how she was targeting his Master, but it didn't make sense to him. It would be smarter to isolate the padawan and kill him before facing the master, yet it was almost like she was intentionally avoiding him and throwing him out of harms way...
He paused when he felt a murmur of 'Yes' from the Force. But... why?
He shook his head and launched himself upward, one walkway at a time, and made to rejoin his Master...
Siri eyed the two Jedi as they rushed at her from opposing ends, a smirk on her face. She considered whether she should jump to another walkway or just throw one of them off again, they were terrible at combating Force attacks from her. If she bothered to hit them with an illusion, they'd probably fall or stumbled off a walkway to their death. She readied herself...
...and the duel briefly paused when a ripple of childlike –awe-excitement-glee-triumph- crashed into the trio through the Force like a nova. They all stood motionless for that moment, and glanced upward.
"The child," murmured Siri, stretched out her senses and feeling… wait, seriously? Her voice grew incredulous, "He took out the control ship?!"
"Well Master, considering how well he listens to orders, I'd say he's already your padawan at heart," commented Obi-Wan.
Siri couldn't help but snort in amusement.
Qui-Gon briefly chuckled, though, there was added stress there now. "If I could padawan mine, I'd be pulling on your braid right now."
"Allow me," said Siri, shoving out with her hands, throwing Qui-Gon down the walkway with the Force and then lashed out with her blade. Obi-Wan caught it with his, and then his eyes went wide with disbelief and incredulousness as Siri dangerously reached overtop of the cross sabers and yanked on his Padawan braid playfully.
"So serious Obi-Wan," she mocked, pulling back, "Perhaps you should go take a trip?"
She wrenched upward with her lightsaber and then lashed out with her foot, kicking the side of his knee and sending him careening off the walkway to another one down below. She didn't pursue Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon, taking a moment to reach out and assess the area. The droid control ship was down, and she could feel the fear of Gunray/the smug triumph of the Naboo. The entire mission was rapidly going downhill outside of her duel, she had wasted too much time here.
She needed to end this soon. Her eyes briefly looked downward at a walkway leading into one of the laser gated hallways. She considered briefly whether or not she needed the forced separation to actually win, but decided it couldn't hurt. If she killed Qui-Gon before then, so be it, if not, she'd use it. She turned when Obi-Wan leaped up again, and proceeded to grip him with the Force, lifting him into the air as he struggled. She slammed him down into the walkway and then threw him back, turning to see Qui-Gon charging at him with a scowl etched into his face.
"You don't look impressed," said Siri, pouting a little, deflecting a blow and retreating along the walkway.
"You're being rather obvious with your strategy to separate us," commented Qui-Gon mildly.
"And you're not doing much to try and counter it rather than throw yourselves at me," she rebutted, voice mocking out, locking down his lightsaber with an angry screech of their blades as they melted into the walkway, "Always rushing on ahead and leaving your padawan behind, honestly, nothing's really changed between you and…"
Siri staggered as his hand came up and backhanded her across her face, and then slugged her collarbone hard, sending her careening off the walkway and landing roughly on her back on a walkway below.
"Perhaps," came Qui-Gon's voice, "You should spend less time talking and acting like a child instead of focusing on the fight."
Siri's vision turned red with rage as Qui-Gon began to leap down. She rose to her feet and aimed her a hand, lightning ripping out of it to catch Qui-Gon. The man roared in shock, surprise, and pain as Siri lifted him and threw him down the walkway with her lightning towards the laser gates, watching satisfactorily as he landed in a heap, the electricity slowly dissipating off him.
"Perhaps," she said icily, the Force shivering cold around her, "You should prefer me that way. I am far more, unpleasant, when angry."
There is an air of shock and disbelief not just from Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan as well. She briefly glances behind her, sighting Obi-Wan having leaped down to their current walkway. Qui-Gon shakily rose to his feet, his pain radiating through the Force. Both master and padawan were, if it were possibly, even more wary then they had been before. So, a bit of lightning had them so fearful? The absurdness of it cooled her anger, because that was frankly disappointing.
To be honest, this entire fight was disappointing. She had hardly used the Force at all save to toss them around a bit. She hadn't dabbled into her Sith Sorcery, nor attacked their mental shields, nor used the Dark Side in any really active way aside from that brief lightning attack. Hell, she hadn't even wrapped the Veil of the Dark Side around herself or them, she could make it nigh impossible for them to receive the Force's guidance during the fight or anticipate her movements if she so chose to. They were a decent lightsaber fight, managing to somewhat keep up with her, but that was about it. Dooku was a much harder challenge then the both of them combined (Not that she had used her Sorcery against him either). She would have thought he'd have warned them of her capabilities. Guess not...
The Jedi…
They had no idea how to fight Sith anymore. A thousand years between the last war with the Sith and now had seen them shift their focus. At most they fought fallen Jedi every so often. They had no real experience facing the Dark Side. For these two specifically, Xanatos was their last encounter with it she assumed over a decade ago, and he had nothing on Siri. Probably a mere fraction of the Jedi had any experience with Makashi or any kind of real lightsaber fight outside of sparring (not that she had even tapped into that yet either), forget trying to counteract dark uses of the Force. Jedi were used to facing blaster wielding opponents, the Sith however?
Sidious and Zannah were right, this was going to be a complete slaughter of the Jedi Order when the time came. They had no understanding of the Sith's abilities let alone how they operated. Whatever machinations Sidious had to wipe them out, Siri doubted they'd see it coming...
Not unless we save them...
She scowled at that little voice before a buzz howled towards her ears and she barely reacted in time to turn and deflect Obi-Wan's blade, chiding herself for her lapse in concentration. She snarled in anger, savagely smashing his blade aside and kicking upward, planting her foot into his chin and knocking him off the walkway. She turned and sprinted towards Qui-Gon, leaping over him as he lashed out. She landed on the otherside and then struck out, turning from defense to offense as she angled her blade to skewer. He caught and deflected the blow, countering, but she she batted the blow above and knelt, riposting right for his middle...
And was rather surprised to see him sidestep and spin the blade overhead and downward for the handle of her saberstaff's handle, as if he expected it, yet there was surprise on his face, so he reacted out of instinct, or a learned reaction...? She fell backward and dragged her blade down to avoid the hit and rolled, springing up, eyebrows furrowed. She struck out in quick stabs and slashes, he met them with equal elegance, and for once, he held his own. Ever strike was turned aside, and every riposte was dodged, blocked, or redirected. He matched her blow for blow, it was almost like facing Dooku. It was as if...
"You're experienced with Makashi," she said mildly, just a tad upset that her surprise was ruined.
Qui-Gon scoffed. "I was the padawan of Yan Dooku, of course I'm experienced with it."
And then he slipped his blade over hers and stabbed, she barely twisted in time to only have it burn through the side of her arm's tunic. She hissed and sprang back, forget that then, he would be able to counter her Makashi with his own. So much for that being a trick up her sleeve. Stupid, she should have remembered that about him, that moment of weakness might have done her in had Qui-Gon properly been able to abuse the moment. "Why the hell haven't you used Makashi before now?"
Qui-Gon answered by striking forward at her, muscles tensed to react to whatever way she made to counter. Instead she just battered the blow into the ground, activating the other end of her lightsaber and going for his head. He pulled back a bit, and Siri took that chance to turn and sprint into the laser gate hallway, Qui-Gon on her heels. The gates activated towards the end of the hallway, separating them. Siri tapped the gate for a brief confirmation, and then turned off her lightsaber. She glanced behind him to see Obi-Wan at the far end of the hallway. She didn't think he'd make the last gate; if he did, she'd be forced to fight them both at once. She knew she could take them both, but having Jinn isolated would make him a guaranteed kill without Obi-Wan to swoop in at the last second.
"To answer your question," said Qui-Gon, kneeling down briefly to lightly meditate, breathing hard, "For all my Master hammered it into my head, I dislike Makashi."
Siri didn't respond, merely beginning to pace, her eyes flickering up to Obi-Wan. She swallowed a bit, and watched his eyes track the bob. This was it... there was no more playing around. There would be no more chances for him to flee once he pursued her down the hallway. She'd kill his Master, and then he would look at her with the same anger and betrayal Garen had... and she'd kill him. Her hands briefly shook before she focused on control, struggling to push the emotions she didn't need down...
And growled when she felt a brief pass from Obi-Wan against her shields, his eyebrows widening as he got a taste of what she was feeling leaking through them. "Siri..."
She glared at him. "Shut up Obi-Wan!"
"You don't have to do this Siri," pleaded Obi-Wan, "Please, I feel your conflict, let us help you."
He wants to help...
"I don't need your help," she spat, denying the way his words ripped at her.
He wanted to help, not kill...
Like Garen had at first...
Like Siolo Ur Manka had...
She shoved the emotions down, drawing on the Dark Side more actively, trying to smother it.
Qui-Gon had broken his meditation, studying her. "Is this what Master Galia would have wanted of you?"
Siri flinched briefly before glaring full force at him, snarling, "Galia was WEAK! It was her weakness... she died and abandoned me to this!"
"We go when its our time to join the Force, not because we are weak or strong," he said softly, "Adi cared for you, perhaps even loved you like a daughter, she would have been heartbroken to see what you've become."
Siri let a pained hiss through her lips. She had only really ever thought of her Master's fate as a source of pain to fuel her power in the Dark Side... but... her Master would have...
We've shamed her...
She shook her head and activated her saberstaff in preparation, drawing on that pain, that self-loathing, and fueling herself with it. She dove into her memories of her Sith apprenticeship, recalling one painful, angry, or hatred inducing memory after the other, the area noticeably chilling. "What she would have felt is irrelevant. She's dead. She died years ago to a tool that was far weaker than I am. You'll be as dead as she is in a minute, Jedi, and the rest of your kind will follow soon enough."
She called out the Dark Side and wrapping it around herself and the area, draping the Veil of the Dark Side around them all. She watched them as her eyes turned ice cold, the tension rising through their shoulders, alarm in their eyes. Perhaps now, as the guidance of the Force abandoned them, and the Dark Side suffocated the area, they realized she was something more than mere Fallen Padawan. Perhaps they realized how easy she had been going on them. No more. She had wasted enough time with an old man and a memory of a boy she had once cared for, who couldn't possibly feel the way she had once felt for him.
When the laser fields dropped, there was a brief moment of hesitation from Qui-Gon, considering if he should wait. Siri didn't give him a chance, springing back into the room and dragging him forward with the Force tyrannically. He staggered in and she swung at him. He rolled and rose, green blade arcing through the air. She deflected and countered, other end snapping at him with such speed he had to heavily drag on the Force to block it. She watched Obi-Wan get caught behind the last laser field and grinned savagely.
This was the end.
She jabbed against Qui-Gon's mental shields with the Force as she lashed out with her blade against his, and he flinched at both impacts. Qui-Gon stumbled back, grimacing with pain and trying to throw her mental attack off. She chanted quietly under her breath, as Zannah had taught her years ago, and stabbed with pinpoint precision against his mind, driving the Dark Side in and flooding his perceptions with sounds and images that weren't there, tilting his equilibrium. He staggered, off-balanced, as she approached. She was mildly impressed he was able to fight at all, barely managing to deflect her blows as he jumbled around like a drunken man. She slashed down, he deflected upwards, she brought the other end of her blade up to sever through his head, but he stumbled back in time. She ground her teeth in frustration and surged forward, blade twirling and lashing out from every which angle...
THERE!
He blocked another high attack, and instead of using the other end of her saberstaff, she lashed upward with her boot and kicked his hand with Force enhanced strength, sending his lightsaber out of his hand. She spun, pulled her lightsaber back, and thrust forward...
Don't kill him!
"SIRI NO!" screamed Obi-Wan, his panic, fear, and what felt like heartbreak rippling through the Force.
Siri swerved and drove her lightsaber through Qui-Gon's side instead of his heart. The man cried out as she withdrew her lightsaber. She watched silently as he fell to his knees, clutching his side. She clenched her fists tightly and let loose a scream of frustration before picking him up with the Force and tossing the Jedi Master across the room.
She whirled and glared at Obi-Wan through the laser field. "WHY! Why do you always hold me back Obi-Wan? Why is it always your voice filling me with doubt of the path I walk? Always your voice holding me back or trying to stop me from doing what needs to be done?"
Obi-Wan's eyes went wide. "Siri..."
Again, the way he said her name, it made her ache, it made her feel weak, it tugged away at the Dark Side, trying to steal her power away from her, holding her back, chaining her down...
She suckered in a breath as it hit her, as she finally understood. She turned away from him and walked up to the wall of the room, staring silently at it, lightsaber loosely touching the floor and burning into it. Darth Bane had been right all those years ago. Obi-Wan was her weakness...
No!
It was no longer his voice in her head anymore, but her own panicked one, because she had accepted, truly accepted at last, that Obi-Wan was her final chain...
Please don't!
He was holding her back from her true power and potential...
You can't!
The only way to truly be free was to break that chain...
You love him!
That foolish love, something born from such a short time spent together, that never should have become what it had. It was ridiculous even, they had spent one mission together, kissed once, and suddenly she was pinning for him for nearly a decade? Letting his voice hold her back and argue with her? It was ludicrous! He would always hold her back, never let her grown strong enough to kill Sidious, make her empire or seize his, and take her rightful place as Empress of the Galaxy.
Please...
That love had to die, Obi-Wan had to die. He didn't even feel anything specifically for her, just that stupid overarching Jedi compassion.
Pl...e...se...
The voice was getting so quiet now.
I... don't... want... this...
So very quiet...
Obi-Wan stepped into the circular room, one eye on Siri who was just... staring at a wall for some reason, as he moved to check on his master. Qui-Gon was crumpled against a wall on the far side, panting with pain and exhaustion. He could feel his Master mentally struggling, a darkness clouding their bond. He knelt down, pressed his head against his Master's, and focused his attention, pushing in and helping to drive the Dark Side from his head. Qui-Gon's cloudy eyes cleared up in moments, and he took a ragged breath.
"Obi-Wan," he rasped, "The Force... Siri... stop her... save her..."
"What?" he asked.
He rose to his feet and turned, eyes going to the Fallen Padawan. "Siri?"
"Obi-Wan."
Her voice was... cold. In a way it hadn't been even when she had threatened Qui-Gon minutes ago. Something was wrong, the Force was darkening by the second, deeper and deeper, colder and colder, a deep vortex of darkness and pain seeming to be eating her from the inside out from what he could feel. "Siri please! I can feel your pain! Turn away from it!"
"My name isn't Siri," she snarled, turning, her eyes blazing a sulfuric yellow, "That name belonged to a weak little girl! I'm not weak anymore! I'm not her anymore!"
"I've broken my last chain." He took a horrified step back as the Dark Side howled through the Force, echoing and baying. "My name, is Darth Tyrosus, and you will be the first Jedi I kill."
Sidious paused briefly on his way to give a speech in the senate in 'support' of his homeworld. He felt the howl of the Dark Side ripping through the Galaxy, his eyes going wide with surprise, and then pure dark delight. Finally... FINALLY! After nearly a decade of molding her, his Apprentice had finally accepted her destiny. Perhaps he was a little irritated she had announced her ascension to Sithdom for the entire Galaxy, and the Jedi, to feel and hear, but he subdued the irritation. Siri Tachi was finally dead, the last trappings of the Jedi Padawan cast aside. When his apprentice returned from her mission, he would gaze into the molten eyes of Darth Tyrosus, revel in the completion of years of work, the next stage of his dynasty, and she would truely take her place by his side as she was always meant to...
Master Yoda gasped, dropping his glimmer stick and staggering, clutching a hand to his chest.
"Master Yoda?" questioned Mace Windu.
"A mistake we have made," rasped the Grandmaster, "A grave mistake we have made. To Naboo we must go, now, if anything to be salvaged, there is."
Darth Tyrosus...
Obi-Wan's heart was hammering with agony, with fear, and despair. The Dark Side oozing out of the Fallen Padawan was enough to drown in. No, she wasn't a Fallen Padawan... she... she had just implied...
"Sith," he said in disbelief.
Siri's lips peeled back with cruel delight. "Yes, I am, little Jedi."
She aimed a hand forward, and lightning ripped from her fingertips with a brutal intensity. Obi-Wan threw himself out of the way, the lightning exploding into the wall, and then yelped when the Force gripped him, rocketing him into the ceiling with a brutal impact, and then flinging him to the far wall. He crumpled to the floor, wincing with pain, only to hear the cackle of electricity again. On reflex, he raised his lightsaber, and was surprised to see that the blade could catch and absorb the attack. She lowered her hand, and dragged her tongue across her lips hungrily.
"Do I take my time?" she mused, "And kill you slowly? Or perhaps..."
She raised and clenched her fist, and Obi-Wan began to choke, his airway forced closed. "Do I snap your neck and kill you in an instant?"
Obi-Wan struggles to fight against the oppressive darkness, against a dark power he had never faced before. This... this was insane...
"No, I think I'll do it slow." She opened her palm, and Obi-Wan took a ragged breath. "After all you've held me back over the years, I'm going to pick you apart piece by piece."
Oi-Wan looked at her in horror. He could hardly recognize her anymore, her Force Signature had darkened to the point where it almost felt like she was a completely different person, almost all light he felt blotted out or smothered. He tried to steel himself, tried to force calm and focus... but all he felt was pain and loss. It was like Siri was gone... he had gotten her back for so short a time, and now it was like something inhuman was wearing her flesh. It was the loss on that fateful mission all over again, except so much worse.
She slowly circled the pit, chanting in a harsh language he didn't understand. She pointed a finger at him...
He screamed in pain, dropping his lightsaber and clutching his head as agony ripped through him. Harsh howling laughter echoed in his ears from all around him. The entire room distorted, black and red splattering across his vision, tilting and swirling like clouds through the air as the floor disappeared from view. The smell of rotting flesh filled his nostrils, making him gag. It felt like he was plummeting and yet rising through the atmosphere at the same time. He had to force down the urge to hurl as he lost his sense of up and down. What... what had she done to him...?
"Come now Kenobi," came Siri's mocking voice, her form rippling and walking through the haze, her lightsaber's blood red hue shifting sinister through the dark clouds roiling through the area, "That was a low grade incantation. Surely you can resist it better than this?"
He tried to rise to his feet, but buckled, feeling like his foot was slipping off the edge of a cliff. He knew he was on solid ground, but his senses were screaming otherwise...
"I'm going to rip your mind asunder with childish ease," she purred with dark delight, deactivating her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt, kneeling down in front of him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to meet her blazing yellow eyes, "You Jedi are so focused on your fancy glow-sticks that you forget the Force is your true strength. You have no defense against such an intrusive mental attack, you're defenseless, and you have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy driving you insane before I kill you."
"Siri...," he whispered, "Please..."
She laughed. "Oh Obi-Wan..."
She raised a finger and pressed it against his forehead, her voice hungry, "Let's begin."
I don't want this!
He had a moment before the pain hit him, of such terrible clarity, of feeling and hearing her voice scream in despair from the Darkness she was drowning in. The Dark Side was eating her alive, it was going to leave nothing of her left but this hollowed out monster. Then he was in agony as she easily pierced into his shields and into his mind.
"Mmm, what shall we do first, hmm?" her voice echoed aloud and in his mind, "Shall we make you live your worst fear again and again? Shall we take your memories, one by one, until you have nothing? Shall we put delusions in your head of things that never were, only to reveal the lies and rob you of them? Or perhaps you should suffer as I did once, early on before I began my Sith Apprenticeship, with all the fears of the Order shunning me. Perhaps I'll make you believe the entire Order thinks you are worthless? That you are some fallen leper to be shunned and degraded, your name dragged through the mud for something so out of your control."
"What..." he rasped, "Are you... talking about...?"
She snarled at him, her red rage searing his mind and making him scream. "Don't play coy Kenobi! Just how much did you drag me down? How much did the Temple's rumor mill tear me apart? How many loathed and cursed and spit on my name like I was vermin when you and your Master told them I had fallen and died? Tell me who spoke ill of me, so that I may make them suffer before they die when the Temple burns!"
"No one!" he screamed in agony, "We didn't tell anyone!"
"You lie," she hissed.
"I made him promise not to tell!" Obi-Wan screamed, "PLEASE SIRI! YOU'RE IN MY HEAD! YOU CAN SENSE THE TRUTH! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!"
And then the sharp, stabbing, burning pain stopped.
"You're telling the truth," she murmured, confused and baffled, the area slowly draining of its red and black, the distortions and smells and sounds fading back to normal, "Why would you hide that piece of information? Why shield a fallen padawan you didn't give a damn about?"
He stared into those molten eyes, tears of agony streaming down his face. Did she... really think... he would have done that to her...? That he didn't care?
Through the agony, through the Dark Side clouding the area, smothering them both, he felt something, it was the dimmest of lights from Siri, down the current connection between their minds, fading fast, but through it, he heard the Force, 'Yes'
Did she... not know how he felt? 'Yes'
"Why Kenobi?" she snarled, "What game were you playing?"
'Tell her', the Force whispered desperately, as if with it's last breath.
"Because I loved you," he whispered, "Even now... I still do."
Her eyes went wide, and that sulfuric yellow dimmed. "That's... you... no, no you're lying!"
She began to pull out of his mind, but he grabbed ahold, and he poured what he felt down the connection. All the memories they had during the times they had met during their apprenticeship, what he had felt during their last mission together, all the misery and loneliness and longing he had felt over the years. The acknowledgement that he was refusing to let go of his attachment, so briefly born and acknowledged, but held onto and embellished with an un-Jedi-like obsessiveness. Of how he and Qui-Gon would often spend their down time drinking tea and lost in their past, Qui-Gon's stories of he and Tahl giving rise to fantasies of Obi-Wan's own. Of the thought of what could have been, of growing old together in love as Qui-Gon and Tahl once had. No matter how much it had shamed him, made him feel like he wasn't the Jedi he should be, he showed it all to her and shoved it through.
Siri screamed and ripped away, the feedback of it making Obi-Wan cry out as well and roll away, clutching his head in agony. He struggled to get his shields together, struggled to subdue and release his pain to the Force. It was going to take days of meditation before he could repair this, he knew it, but he needed something workable NOW. So he struggled, and when he felt Qui-Gon nudge his end of the bond, he let his Master in to give him strength.
Obi-Wan blinked a few times, taking ragged breaths. He felt beyond jittery and shaken, but he could focus. He tilted his head, hearing...
He looked at Siri, she was sobbing to herself, arms clutched to her chest and shivering. Her Force Signature was an utter jumbled up mess he could hardly make sense of, light and dark roiled and struggling for dominance. Her emotions were all over the place, her shields in tatters, leaking her feelings for all to feel, if they could make sense of the chaos. "Siri...?"
She looked up at him, and her eyes were blue. "Obi-Wan... I..."
It felt like a balm, seeing those eyes, and he pushed through his own pain, staggering to his feet, stumbling over, and half-collapsing into an embrace, wrapping his arms around her. She buried her face into his shoulder, shaking uncontrollably...
A man in a dark cloak hurled lightning at him, yellow sulfuric eyes boring into him as a girl's scream filled the air...
Obi-Wan flinched as a memory not his own overtook him...
He, no, she, walked into a room, finding a bound family of Togruta. The dark man's voice hissed in her ear, "You're task is simple, my apprentice, Kill them all..."
He/She defied him, but he was not to be denied, so she killed the parents, hoping it would spare the children...
The dark man turned, aimed his hands, and unleashed a brutal barrage of lightning at the two children. He/she watched, horrified even through the numbing cold, as the children melted. Clothes caught on fire, skin bubbled, eyeballs burst, bodies spasmed. In a moment, both were dead in what had to be one of the most painful deaths they had ever seen.
"Let that be a twofold lesson, apprentice," spat the dark man, "One, to never trust the words of another. And two, to not believe the easy path is not laid with traps. You thought by killing the parents you spared the children. Instead, you made their deaths agonizing instead of quick and painless."
Obi-Wan choked a bit, horror bleeding out of him. "Siri... who is that?"
Siri suckered in a terrified breath, and he felt he reign in her emotions, her memories, and Force presence through sheer strength of will, tightening her shields and filling the holes with a honed, desperate practice that spoke of a do-or-die pressure. She broke away from him, staggering to her feet and trying to bolt away, only to find the laser gates active for the moment. Obi-Wan struggled to his feet, walking over and gripping her shoulder firmly.
"Siri, who is that?"
"You weren't supposed to see," she whispered, "I didn't want... I'm sorry..."
"Siri," he demanded, "Who?"
"My Master," she answered, "Sidious, Darth Sidious."
A dry swallow ran down Obi-Wan's throat. "A sith lord."
Siri laughed, it was a dejected, dark, broken sound. "The Sith Lord. The most powerful in a thousand years since the Line of Bane began."
Obi-Wan didn't know who the hell Bane was, but line sounded like a legacy line, and a thousand years was when the Sith had been assumed defeated. "They've been hiding this entire time."
"Hiding," she spat, breaking his grip and turning to narrow her eyes at him, "You think the Sith have been hiding all this time? Ignorant and foolish. They haven't been cowering in a hole somewhere. No, they have been growing, planning, plotting, moving pieces on a holoboard and setting up for their revenge against the Jedi. There are machinations in play, Obi-Wan, a thousand years of them, that you have no concept of. Beyond that, each Sith Lord expands upon the last, is more powerful than the last."
"He's one man," said Obi-Wan, "Come back with us, tell us what you know, lead us to him, and we can defeat him."
She shook her head, and... he felt her Force Presence settle, the chaos and swirling mass gone. It was... grayish, but... he could feel tints of darkness spreading. "You hear but you do not listen Obi-Wan. You have no concept of the power Sidious wields. I've seen it firsthand Obi-Wan, you... you're sheltered by your ignorance of the true Power of the Dark Side. I'm still decades away from being ready to face him and take his place."
"Why would you want to take his place?" exclaimed Obi-Wan, "Why would you want to become him? Why would you want any of this?"
She glared, but beneath the heat was nothing but pain. "It's not about what I want, it's never been about what I want. It's what must be done, only another Sith Lord can defeat him, only with the power of the Dark Side can he be beaten."
"Do what you want for once," he pleaded, "Walk away, come back to the Jedi with me."
She stared at him, and he could see, could feel the conflict, but she turned away. "It's not enough."
"It is!"
"No! It's not!" she snarled, "If I thought for a moment it was enough, that the Jedi could beat Sidious, I would, for you. But it isn't. The Jedi are weak fools, complacent, unchanging, blind slaves to the corrupt senate and their old archaic ways. They can't even get out of their own rut, let alone prepare to face Sidious."
She shook her head, eyeing the hall of laser gates as it deactivated. "Forget it Obi-Wan. I'll create some excuse or another for failing the mission. He'll punish me worse than before, I know that, but you'll live. You should find somewhere to hide until it all blows over, then I'll come for you, and we can be together at last."
"Give the Jedi a chance Siri," he said, "Give me a chance to help."
Something... changed in her Force Presence, a swirling, a further darkening, not as deep as what he had felt both a few minutes ago and during the entire duel, but getting there slowly, a gleam in her eyes that made him unsettled. "Give you a chance..."
She smiled, and it was a creepy thing. "Yes, that could work, couldn't it? I'm still decades away alone, but together..."
She reached a hand up to caress his face. "Join me Obi-Wan, learn the power of the Dark Side, and we can take him earlier. Perhaps even in time to save your precious Jedi Order."
He stepped back in horror. "Siri, no! I would never turn to the Dark Side!"
She scoffed. "I thought that once too, but here I am."
Her voice grew hushed, hungry, alluring, "You don't know it's power, Obi-Wan, the things you can do with it. I trashed the both of you the moment I started calling on it's power. The Jedi have no knowledge on how to fight Sith anymore, you saw that for yourself. Join me, and I'll share those secrets with you, share that power."
"If the price is my soul, then I won't pay," he countered, "I felt you Siri, it felt like the Dark Side was eating you from the inside out, hollowing your soul out. I won't do that, and I won't let you fall that far again."
"Let me?" she whispered darkly, "Obi-Wan, you don't have any say in the matter of what I do."
Obi-Wan was in a state of panic unbecoming of a Jedi. He had brought her back, brought her out of that awful state, yet it felt like he was starting to lose her all over again. The Dark Side's grip was firm, its taint all through her, refusing to let go. It was spreading and regaining ground...
"We'll remake the Sith, Obi-Wan," she said greedily, "No more of that barbaric Rule of Two. Just you and I, and whoever we chose to uplift. Perhaps even our own children."
"I won't fall Siri," he said firmly.
She snarled. "Are you going to betray me Obi-Wan?"
Betray her?! Was she mad? They had been fighting mere minutes ago, they hadn't even been on the same side for there to even be betrayal. "Siri, the Dark Side is clouding your judgement. I love you, I want to help you, but you won't let me."
"You're a broken record Obi-Wan," she said flatly, "The only help you want is to conform me to your precious light, turn me back into an obedient little Jedi puppet like you are."
He reached out and grasped her hands. "I don't care if you're a Jedi or not, so long as you're you. Not some dark side monster."
She growled. "Is that what I am, Kenobi? A monster?"
"That's not what I said!"
"Really?" she drawled crossly, "That's what it sounded..."
A shadow loomed over them both, and Obi-Wan had a brief moment to look over Siri's shoulder and see Qui-Gon bringing the hilt of his lightsaber down hard...
CRACK
Obi-Wan winced as his Master hit the back of Siri's head and she crumpled into his arms. Qui-Gon took a ragged breath, clipping his lightsaber to his belt, hand going to the wound in his side. "That... wasn't going anywhere, Padawan mine."
Obi-Wan gently laid Siri down. "I... I know."
Qui-Gon sat down on the floor, as did Obi-Wan. "You brought her back Padawan, I didn't think it was possible, but you did."
Obi-Wan laughed bitterly. "Did I? You saw her just moments ago..."
"The Dark Side's grasp is tight and treacherous Obi-Wan," said Qui-Gon solemnly, "Just because you brought her out of it's depths doesn't mean the fight for her soul is over."
Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair, sighing wearily. "It's far from over."
Qui-Gon nodded, wincing briefly. "But for today, it is. I need a dip in a bacta tank..."
"You willingly would get it one?" teased Obi-Wan, desperate for some kind of humor in this moment.
"Considering that I believe I'm missing part of a liver," commented Qui-Gon mildly, "Yes."
Obi-Wan looked at the searing hole in the side of his Master, swallowing hard, could feel the man calling heavily on the Force to fight the pain. "It... could have been your life."
Qui-Gon sighed softly. "Let it go Obi-Wan. We don't have time to linger."
The man struggled to his feet, bending down with pain to grab one of Siri's arms. "We need to get her properly sedated, get ourselves tended to, check with the Queen, contact the Council, and spirit Siri away to the Temple before this 'Sidious' gets a chance to learn what happened and retrieve her. This is only the beginning of a much darker conflict than any of us could have imagined."
A spike of fear ran through Obi-Wan at the thought of that monster getting his hands on Siri again, he swallowed hard. "The Sith... a kriffing Sith Lord, he can't get ahold of her again master. I... I saw a memory, when her shields were scattered, of what he had her do, what he did to her..."
Qui-Gon tugged him forward towards the laser-gate. "He wont Obi-Wan. Forget the Sith for the time being, we will inform the Council, and go from there. Keep your focus here and now, Padawan mine."
Obi-Wan nodded, and they moved, only to get caught behind the laser gates just before they could start down the hallway; he sighed. "This is going to take awhile..."
Author's Notes:
And that's a wrap for the Phantom Menace.
Siri goes full Sith for a few minutes and decks Obi-Wan, but is then defeated by the powah uv love. Or well, Obi-Wan shoving light and love down the brief mental connection, it doesn't mix well with the Dark Side. Of course, Siri is still dark (she didn't choose to turn away), will resist and struggle with what is to come. Because frankly, I severely doubt coming back from the Dark Side is a quick, clean, bells and whistle thing.
If Darth Vader had lived and made it off the Death Star, it, to me, would make sense for him to have struggled with his past and the continued temptations of the Dark Side.
Anyway, part one of the story is over.
Part Two: Post-Phantom-Menace - Clone Wars. Featuring Siri struggling with herself, lots of angst/emotions, and Obi-Wan getting in way over his head as he learns the true horror of what a Sith Apprenticeship is, how deep and damned Siri has made herself, and yet still tries to guide Siri out of that dark pit...
It's not going to be pleasant.
And even if he succeeds in pulling her back, will she stay light in the long run?
Tons of Obi-Wan & Siri Tachi moments ahead!
And eventually we get to interact with Padawan Skywalker under Master Jinn (Maybe better, maybe worse, than being Obi-Wan's padawan, we will see), and see what Siri and Anakin make of one another...
Review Responses:
Nerdman3000: Mmm. IDK about the explosion revealing the Sith, more like its a huge dark epicenter. It signifies something big and dark happened there, but not what. Regardless, Sith are revealed now ^_^. Siri totally stole Sidious's kill.
AACM25: Eh... IDK about that. It would have been a kriffing mess is what it would have been.