Thank you all for the enthusiasm! I know, I know, how unlike me, already a new chapter. I just had a great idea of how to begin it, and it just flowed from there. Homework, be damned! All your answers shall soon be revealed - after some more tantalizing and cliff-hanging.. And I swear, the whole Padme thing will be addressed before the end.
Chapter 12
our time, is at an end
It had been a very long campaign. Rainy, muddy, far too long spent entrenched as the troops pounded the city's defenses. Some force field threatened to make their siege a very, very long one. And then Anakin, his young Knight, decided they should go for a swim through the city's secret sewer system. Of course, it ended the whole siege and the battle was won for the Republic's favor.
But what an amazing smell he'd discovered.
All Obi-Wan wanted to do now, after being cramped in his starfighter for the trip back to the cruiser, was a bath. Yes, a bath. Immersion in honest to Force water. Not some vibroshower. Real soap, the kind that actually smelled like something fresh and exotic. Suds, layers and layers of suds, to play with as the warm water sunk into his skin and floated away the grime and stench and days of pain from that muddy trench. Yes, that was all he wanted more than anything in the whole known universe.
But, of course, he knew it was too much to ask when the lift opened on the bridge and Commander Cody was right there, at full attention.
"General Kenobi, you're receiving a classified communiqué from Coruscant."
He felt his shoulders sag. Another mission. They had just finished this one...
"Thank you, Cody. Tell Commander Skywalker to meet me in the briefing room."
Obi-Wan turned to trudge across the bridge but Cody was not yet finished.
"I'm sorry, sir, the message is encrypted for your eyes only."
Now his back straightened. An encrypted message meant only one thing. A message from the Council
"Please forward it to my quarters then. And tell Commander Skywalker to wait for me in the briefing room when he boards."
He heard the soldier snap a salute and trudged on.
His quarters were a welcomed sight, even if they were as Spartan as the Jedi Order required. Especially on a battle cruiser. He walked into the 'fresher, removing his soiled cloak. A sonic shower only. So much for a bath. But then, it was only a dream. He didn't even think there were facilities for a bath on the ship. Bathes weren't up to military specs. He smiled as peeled off the rest of his dirty clothes and dropped them in the washing unit. Maybe I should have the clones fetch me a really big pot from the kitchen.
He splashed water on his face, greeted the haggard man that looked on with concern at him from the mirror. Yep, there it was, gray in his temples. He leaned in closer, pushed his cheek out with his tongue. And there, peppering his beard.
"You're becoming an old man, Kenobi, how does it feel?"
For a moment he saw Qui-Gon in his own reflection, looking back at him, smiling. But he closed his eyes. Thinking about Qui-Gon always meant thinking about Darth Maul. And about how this whole mess started. He sought peace, he sought a good memory to anchor his quick mind on. And there he was, smiling and laughing during lightsaber practice, during space combat, during any combat really. He was always smiling, laughing, fearlessly attacking, as if he had the whole Force behind him.
Well, he is the Chosen One, after all.
Obi-Wan sighed, the water from his face trailing down his chest, to the warm skin under the undershorts he wore. He shivered. Perhaps that wasn't the best thought to dwell on either...
He snatched his spare robe from the wall hanger and returned to the main room, to the large viewscreen, and called up the communiqué with his passcode.
Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda shimmered on. Mace's stern expression looked, by Force, sterner. Obi-Wan grimaced slightly. Sith, the transmission was live.
"I'm sorry, I was not informed the message was a live-cast," Obi-Wan apologized, bowing his head slightly. "I had just returned from the surface."
"Yes, heard something about sewers, we did," Yoda replied, the beacon of calm. Nothing fazed the wizened wizard. "Young Skywalker a good idea he had."
"Anakin continues to impress me, Master Yoda. I have no doubt we can expect great things from him," Obi-Wan responded, beaming with pride - a restrained beaming, but beaming nonetheless.
"That remains to be seen, as far as I'm concerned," retorted Mace. Obi-Wan wanted to counter, but he acquiesced to his senior's wisdom. Mace may have the reputation as a stern taskmaster, but that was only because he had the Jedi Order's best in mind.
"Dare I hope that this conversation means General Grievous has been found?"
"That good news I wish I had," Yoda sighed, shaking his head. "A sighting of Dooku the Chancellor's spies report."
"Dooku? Well, that's even better," Obi-Wan chipped. "Capturing Dooku could put an end to this blasted war."
And I could go home and have a real bath...
"It was only a sighting, and in an area of space I doubt he'd be in," Mace interjected, and slid a datacard into the transmitter.
The image of the two Masters shifted over as the star coordinates of a system came up. Obi-Wan squinted at the coordinates. It was nearby, in the Outer Rim, perhaps a couple lightyears away. A very short jump at least. But he couldn't remember seeing it before from any of the star charts of the surrounding area.
"Xaantiis? I've never heard of the system."
"It's not the system, just the planet," Mace corrected.
"Well, either way, what's the system's name?"
Mace and Yoda exchanged a quick glance - as if someone with Obi-Wan's keen perception would miss it.
"Unnamed, the system is."
"But then why does the planet have a name?"
"Several from the Order studied the planet about a century ago because it has a primitive race of sentient beings," Mace replied, face the perfect picture of composure. "The planet is largely a water world, save for some clustering of islands. We could detect no valuable resources in the planet, so the Republic and other federations have left it alone. The Jedi's interest in the planet is purely scientific."
Scientific? He'd heard of other such expeditions. Some Jedi took it as their mission to understand all facets of the Force, which meant understanding all life in the universe. Obi-Wan found their reports interesting, naturally, awe-inspiring really for being such a daunting mission. But he'd never come across any reports for this Xaantiis planet.
But now was not the time to tarry on such thoughts. The possibility of finding Dooku and bringing him to justice was the matter at hand. A matter he was certain Anakin would enjoy handling. And, he had to admit, after his last run-in with the Count, he also relished capturing the former Jedi Master. He had really disliked being held in those shackles like the latest speeder on display. It was so humiliating.
"Our mission then is to go to this planet and search for any sign of Dooku?" Obi-Wan asked, stroking his beard.
"And to avoid any contact with the Xaantiins," Mace added.
Obi-Wan nodded. "But of course. I have no wish to involve innocent people in this war, any more than they already have been."
Another sigh from Yoda, who nodded in agreement. "A wish we all share, Obi-Wan. With you may the Force be."
"And with you, Master Yoda, Master Windu."
The three Jedi Masters bowed respectively to each other and Mace cut the transmission, leaving only the planet Xaantiis illuminated on the viewscreen. Obi-Wan leaned against the wall, watching the watery planet from an unknown system, his mind recalling the last time he went to a watery world in an unknown system.
"Great, nothing good ever comes from an unnamed system," he murmured, pulling out fresh clothes. He chuckled, pulling on the tunic. "Look at it this way, old man. Perhaps you'll get your bath after all."
The Jedi's interest in the planet is purely scientific.
The words played over in his mind as the entire scene flashed back into consciousness. Scientific? No, it couldn't be that kind of science.
But, then again, Sifo-Dyas had gone behind the Jedi Council when he ordered the clone armies from the Kamino. Could the same have happened here?
But no, Yoda and Mace had no idea about the Kamino armies. And they knew about this planet?
Could they have been lying about knowing what Sifo-Dyas had done? Could they be lying now?
He was vaguely aware that Anakin and Dree'la were shouting at each other. Anakin calling her a liar, Dree'la calling him blind. He saw Eyuria continue to struggle, but he knew there was no way she was breaking the Merr'yl Jedi's strength. Dree'la's clan prides itself on being as strong as a Wookie. He doubted anything Eyuria could do would affect her.
Especially as she was now, a fallen Jedi. But did that mean she had turned to the Darkside?
He could remember as a young boy running around the temple with the other younglings. One day he tripped and skinned his knee. Dree'la found him, his face all tear-stained. She scooped him up, brought him to the infirmary. He could remember how soft her fur was, and how warm, like his pet Peravian flitterbeast he could remember playing with before he was brought to the temple. His first - his only - memory from before the temple and his training to be a Jedi. He pet her, Force help him, he actually pet her while she carried him, and she had purred. Whenever she was in the temple from then on, she always sought him out to play with. Her purr was always so soothing, just like his flitterbeast.
She was already a Jedi Master at that point, and would spend a lot of her time with her Master, Greystil. They would train their padawans together. He knew they must have had many. Although they were of different species, they both had lifespans far longer than a human's. He'd only met Greystil once, many years later, when he was already ill. Obi-Wan remembered the kind smile on the tired man's face. But, yes, in those eyes. Back then he had thought it was the illness, the fatigue. But now...was that a haunted look?
He didn't see Dree'la much after Greystil died. He thought she'd just been assigned to some far away planet. Then Naboo happened, and he became, well, rather busy, and soon came to not miss her presence.
But how could he have missed this turn of events?
Wait, did she just mention Dooku?
He snapped back to the present when Anakin growled, "You are going to take Dooku's word over that of the Council's?"
Dree'la laughed. "What reasson do I have for trussting the Council?"
"What reason do you have for not trusting them, Dree'la?" Obi-Wan responded quietly.
Dree'la glared back at him. "Becausse I remember now. The Council tried to sshield my own thoughtss from mysself!"
"That's impossible, even for a powerful Jedi!" Anakin shot back.
Obi-Wan ventured a sidelong glance at his young friend, suddenly concerned. He hadn't noticed, but Anakin was getting rather riled up.
Calm yourself, Ani, she wants you angry.
Anakin pursed his lips, but his shoulders relaxed a little.
You never call me Ani.
Times change...
Dree'la studied their momentary silence, licking her lips.
"Dree'la, how could the Council have changed your memory?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It wass not jusst mine, but Greysstil'ss, too. And the padawanss that were with uss," she snorted. "We were weak, but now I am sstrong, now I remember. I remember what thosse - thesse - " she snarled, hugging Eyuria tighter. Eyuria stiffened as the blades sizzled besides her. "- creaturess did to uss. Greysstil remembered before I had, that iss why he killed himsself. Becausse he did not know what Dooku hass told me."
"And what is this lie that Dooku told you?" Obi-Wan asked, calm in his voice, his posture.
"You ssaw the recordss before coming here, yess? What lie did it ssay?"
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan, questioningly. Yes, Obi-Wan had mentioned nothing about what he had learned about Xaantiis to Anakin. But now was not the time to tread on that issue.
"The record did not show anything extraordinary happening."
"Oh, but it did, I can remember it very clearly now," she snarled, baring her teeth to Eyuria's throat. Obi-Wan had to hold himself from leaping forward. Dree'la turned her narrowed eyes to him. "They are rapistss, vermin, misstakess, that musst be exterminated."
Dree'la brought one blade within an inch of Eyuria's head before Obi-Wan reached out and seized it, freezing Dree'la's blade.
"Why do you sstop me!"
"Because this is not the way," he replied coolly, steeling himself as Dree'la sought to wrench free from his Force-hold.
"That's right, you don't see Obi-Wan seeking revenge," Anakin added, before he could stop himself.
But it was enough to stop Dree'la, allowing Obi-Wan to release the grip. He panted, amazed at how much that took out of him.
Dree'la was laughing again. "The young, foolissh, naive Kenobi, he knowss what I ssuffered and believess himsself sso much the greater Jedi!"
"I only want the truth, like you, Dree'la," he replied, cringing at the laugh, cringing at the feeling that laugh brought up and raked over him. And all Anakin could do was stand there, watching, from so very far away. "The Xaantiin you hold can provide any truth you seek. If the Council has lied, she can be the proof of it."
"Your Council doess not care about the truth!" she roared. "Your Council made thesse creaturess and when we were ssent to sstudy them, they captured uss, tortured uss, played with our mindss, and raped uss for our powerss!"
Her roar drowned out the river, echoed through the forest, made the STAPs scoot back minutely, and tore into Obi-Wan's gut. His knuckles went white around his saber. His feet dug into the ground. Every muscle, every nerve, tensed, as the roar washed over him, tearing open the box, the box he had thought Anakin had closed. The box he had deluded himself into believing that sharing with Anakin had meant it would no longer unleash the demons. The box of abysmal darkness he fought so hard from falling into.
Anakin could sense it, but could not move. Not now, not when they were facing down Force knows what. Was she a Sith, a Dark Jedi, or just a crazed Jedi? And she held Eyuria. Any slip meant the Xaantiin would die, and any chance of knowing the truth with her. And there was still that something he could sense. It was even stronger now, pounding through the Force at him. He had to know what it meant. He couldn't let it end like this.
Dree'la licked her lips and sniffed Eyuria. "Thiss one ssmellss like you, Kenobi. Wass sshe yourss?"
"Shut up, Dree'la," Anakin growled protectively.
He could feel Anakin reaching out to him through their bond, but he just couldn't. He needed to find his footing on his own, or he would be no good to Anakin or Eyuria. Dree'la had practiced with him, so long ago now. He knew what the Merr'yl was capable of. He had to control himself or else his Anakin would fail.
Dree'la sniffed again and ran a talon down Eyuria's front, circling around her abdomen.
"For old timess ssake, I sshould do you the favor and kill it now," Dree'al purred.
Oh Force no...
He was falling. He could feel himself falling. There was nothing to hold on to. It was the metal cylinder again. Only this time, there was no bottom to hit. There was only darkness.
"Obi-Wan already said we need her for the truth, Dree'la," Anakin snapped.
No, Anakin, no, don't...
Dree'la laughed. "No, not thiss creature, Sskywalker. The other one."
She narrowed her gaze at Obi-Wan, but he didn't see her. He didn't see anything except for the walls of the box as he fell.
"The child it carriess."
..darkness, my old friend...
And he leapt with a roar at his former friend, the one who would purr when he pet her.
He brought his lightsaber down in a sharp, quick, hard swipe.
But anticipating, laughing, Dree'la had already spun away, both blades swinging free.
Leaving Eyuria momentarily free.
Until Obi-Wan sliced through her chest.
And she fell.
And he fell.
...our time, is at an end...