OBI-WAN
Even though every muscle in his body screamed against it, Obi-Wan ignored the exhaustion and hauled himself over the edge of the landing platform on Utapau. He pushed himself to his feet before turning to the burning heap of metal that had been General Grievous only a few moments ago. Turning his nose up at the blaster at his hands, he tossed it aside, letting it skid over to the general's remains.
"So uncivilised." He sighed, reaching for his lightsabre where he'd lost it during the battle.
The planet of Utapau was dotted with remote sanctuaries, which utilised the deep sink holes as common places for the people. They were the centre of life for each settlement housing the eateries, shops and landing platforms. The sink holes also acted as balconies for the homes built into the sides of the vast tubes.
It was in one of these sink holes that the battle between Republic Clone Troopers and Separatists Droids was currently taking place. With the destruction of Grievous, the droids had no orders, so Obi-Wan knew it wouldn't be long before this particular skirmish would be over.
"Commander Cody, move your troops up to the higher levels." He said into his communicator.
"Already done, sir." Came the crackled reply. "We're chasing down the last stragglers now."
"Very good, Cody. Well done." Obi-Wan sighed, allowing his eyes to shut for a moment before he forced his legs to walk him to his Starfighter.
R4 beeped excitedly at seeing his Master returned. "Yes, yes. I'm fine." Obi-Wan nodded, waving off the droid, but it continued to beep at him urgently. "A transmission from who?" He asked. "Senator Amidala? Well, put it through then."
"Master Kenobi. I'm sorry to bother you." The message began as Padme appeared in the small hologram. Judging by the time stamp, it had arrived early that morning, before the Senator's schedule return from Troska. "There was fighting on Troska. Class Five were trying to take the planet with help from Darth Maul. I don't know the current status of the battle, but Maul is planning on using Thalia to get to you."
Obi-Wan felt his stomach drop to the toes of his boots. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. He had cut Darth Maul in half, and thrown him down a reactor shaft for good measure, fifteen years ago. If he truly was alive, he'd had almost two decades to stew in his hatred of Obi-Wan.
"R4, contact Thalia on Troska." He ordered, the words tumbling frantically from his lips as he wrapped his hands around the edge of his fighter's wings. His knuckles were white and he felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart tighter and tighter as he waited for the connection to link.
He dropped his head, feeling an unwelcome lump forming in his throat. If Maul got his hands on Thalia he would never forgive himself. He should never have left her. He should have stayed and protected her. He'd known Troska was a dangerous place to be during this war, but he'd never imagined an old enemy with that much darkness festering inside him would ever make his way to Troska.
Obi-Wan raised his head and stared imploringly at the blinking red light as it searched for a connection somewhere throughout the galaxy. But the light faded and Obi-Wan's heart sank through the soles of his boots.
"Every last clanker accounted for, sir." The joyful voice of Cody called from behind him and Obi-Wan tried to compose himself for his troopers.
"Well done, Commander." He said confidently, but even he could feel his smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you alright, sir? You're not injured, are you?" Cody asked, stepping closer to the Jedi as his squads chattered happily.
"I'm fine." Obi-Wan nodded. "I've just had some rather bad news from a friend…How do you feel about making a pitstop on the way home?"
"Anything for our General, General." The Commander grinned, clapping Obi-Wan on the shoulder.
. . .
The trip from Utapau to Troska took almost twelve hours and had the Clone Troopers wondering just much of a pit stop this pit stop was. For Obi-Wan, it was the longest twelve hours of his life. A few times, he'd tried to reach across his force connection with Thalia, trying to sense her presence, but all he ever felt was the cold whisper of the Dark Side, which seemed to be growing.
Finally, after what felt like days, the Republic cruiser entered Troskan airspace and Obi-Wan descended to the planet below in a troop carrier, accompanied by Cody and a few of his best soldiers.
Everything seemed calm on the planet's surface, but when he saw Minister Guin waiting for them on the landing platform, he knew something was wrong.
"Master Jedi. We saw your cruised on our radar. We weren't expecting you. How did you know to come?" Guin asked, wringing her hands together. There were dark circles under her eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept for days.
"A message from Senator Amidala of Naboo." Obi-Wan answered quickly. "Minister, what's happened?"
"Oh, Master Kenobi. It is too terrible." Minister Guin cried despairingly. She gestured for him to follow her into the palace and lead him over to a large table used for holoprojections.
"Two nights ago, the Queen disappeared." Guin explained. "Authorities said she'd been at home, in the garden, when she was abducted. Security footage showed two, horned men boarding a ship with her. They left Troskan airspace before we knew anything was wrong, so couldn't trace them. Up until this morning we've been trying to work out what to do, but then this came through only hours ago." She finished and typed a few commands into the holoprojector.
Above the table's surface appeared a flickering, blue image of the man Obi-Wan had thought he'd seen the last of on Naboo. The eyes of Darth Maul glared back at him.
"This is a message for Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi." Maul growled as the message began. "You may have forgotten me, but I would never forget you. You cannot imagine the depths I would go to to stay alive, fuelled by my singular hatred for you." Maul snarled as he paced back and forth in the hologram. Obi-Wan ran his hand along his jaw. It was unnerving knowing someone could feel so much hate for him. "I am waiting for you on Dathomir. You will come here, face me, and die by my hand. You will come alone, and if you do not…" He grimaced and stepped aside to reveal a sight that had Obi-Wan's fingers curling into a fist under his chin and Minister Guin whimpering in horror. Thalia was hanging by her wrists from a tall, curved electrical generator. It was shaped like the letter C with a thick base and a curling top, which Thalia hung from, her feet dangling above the ground. Her head hung back and she seemed to be unconscious. "…if you do not, her blood will be on your hands too, just like your Master's."
"No, Obi…" Obi-Wan's eyes flew back to Thalia as she murmured, barely conscious. "Stay away."
A cruel smile twisted Maul's lips and he held up a small, control box and jammed his finger against it's single switch. The electric generator suddenly came alive and blue tendrils of voltage flew around to the tip of the curve, covering the entirety of the generator and Thalia. Her body convulsed violently as it was filled with electricity but she wasn't conscious enough to cry out or strain against her bindings.
"You will come to Dathomir, or she will die. What will it be, Kenobi?" Maul finished and the hologram disappeared.
"Oh, Master Jedi." Minister Guin whimpered. "What are we to do?"
"Darth Maul is my problem and my responsibility to deal with." Obi-Wan replied steadily, trying to keep a lid on his emotions. "I will go to Dathomir and I will return the Queen to you, I promise."
"Shall I ready the men for an assault, sir?" Commander Cody asked as Obi-Wan re-joined his troopers in the palace's courtyard.
"Have them prepare, Commander. Maul has requested I come alone, but I may call on you for an extraction." He replied as they stepped back into the shuttle.
"Very good, sir." Cody nodded, and began relaying messages to his squads back on the cruiser.
Thankfully, the journey to Dathomir wasn't a long one, but that didn't stop Obi-Wan from pacing the entire trip. At one point, he took a seat and dropped his head into his hands, slowly running his fingers through his hair. He was exhausted from the battle on Utapau. A battle that should have left him feeling hopeful that this war was coming to an end. He thought he'd seen everything in the galaxy, that nothing could still surprise him, but he had never thought it would come to this.
Obi-Wan took a tri-wing shuttle down to the surface of Dathomir. He didn't know where on the planet Maul was, but as soon as he entered the planet's airspace he could sense the pull of the Dark Side, so followed it to what looked like an old outpost. As he descended the ramp, the planet was eerily quiet, the only sound was the gentle hiss of the ship's three wings as they folded upwards into a triangle.
Silently, Obi-Wan moved towards the outpost, his hand already wrapped around the hilt of his lightsabre. He could sense Thalia inside, surrounded by the fog of darkness that was Maul.
The entrance hatch was positioned on the top of the outpost's delivery bay, a large, grey box-like structure with a corrugated door at the front.
"Kenobi." An anguished growl came from the top of the bay and Obi-Wan's eyes snapped up to see a man with metal legs standing above the entrance hatch. His torso was red and tattooed, his head bald, but in place of hair were short horns. What was most unnerving about this figure were the bloodshot, yellow eyes. "I've been waiting for you." He snarled.
"I'm not sure I've made your acquaintance." Obi-Wan replied pleasantly. Half out of spite and half out of his desire for this man to confirm that he really was Darth Maul.
"I am surprised you could have forgotten me so easily after I killed your Master and you left me for dead on Naboo." The creature grinned madly.
It was Darth Maul. At least now Obi-Wan could accept that. But he also knew this wasn't the first time he'd fought this Sith apprentice. "I defeated you before, and I can defeat you again." He said, pulling his lightsabre from his belt and feeling the familiar weight in his hands as it ignited.
"Don't be so certain." Maul laughed and leapt from the roof of the bay, landing in a crouch behind Obi-Wan, his red lightsabre already drawn.
Obi-Wan spun around in time to parry a swing from Maul. Their lightsabres crackled when they connected, but Obi-Wan pushed back and drove forward, aiming for Maul's stomach. The Sith leapt aside and used the Jedi's momentum to kick him to the ground. As he raised his claw-like foot to trample Obi-Wan's face, the Jedi rolled aside and used the force to send Maul flying backwards into the corrugated door of the loading bay.
In a shriek of rage, Maul lunged forward, but this time Obi-Wan was ready for him. He used his momentum and the force to throw Maul through the air and over the nearby treetops, landing with a thud somewhere beyond Obi-Wan's ship.
He didn't wait around to find Maul.
He launched himself to the roof of the loading bay and dropped down the entrance hatch, landing in a gloomy, dusty corridor. Using the force, he reached out to Thalia before turning on his heels and running down the passageway. He sprinted past identical rooms with no luck until finally, he saw a red light shining from one of the doorways at the end of yet another long corridor.
Obi-Wan paused as he reached the door, careful to peer around the frame for any sign of more enemies, but all he saw was Thalia, still hanging from the generator. He burst into the room, clambering up onto the platform at the base of the contraption.
"Thalia." He gasped, knocking into her in his frantic scrambling.
Obi-Wan held on to her waist to steady her. The soft, white cashmere of her jumper was covered in dirt and stained with blood where a scratch had torn the material at her side.
"Thalia." He whispered again, taking her face in his hands and lifting it in line with his. She had a few bruises on one side of her face and the electrocution would take her a while to recover from, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.
He wrapped his hand around the metal restraints binding her wrists to the generator and, with the help of the force, crushed them in his grip. Her full weight fell onto him, and he carefully lowered them both to the ground.
With her arms now free and the blood flowing back into her hands, the ache from her shoulders seemed to pull her back to consciousness. Obi-Wan held her in his arms as her face contorted in pain and her eyes fluttered open. They took a while to focus, but when her mauve eyes met Obi-Wan's, they widened in surprise.
"Obi." She murmured, straining against the pain in her shoulders to brush her fingers against his beard as if she needed confirmation that he was real. When she pressed her palm to the side of his face, cupping his cheek, he wrapped his own hand around her wrist but didn't pull her hand away.
The hand against his cheek slid around his neck and she pulled herself up to him, wrapping her other arm around his shoulders in an embrace. Obi-Wan's arms immediately went around her, his hands splayed against her back, pulling her closer to him.
"I told you not to come." Thalia said against his neck. The feel of her lips on his skin sent a shiver through him but she didn't seem to notice.
"Well, I took a note out of Anakin's book and decided not to follow orders." He replied, reluctantly releasing Thalia. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." She nodded and Obi-Wan pulled her to her feet. Thalia stumbled away from him, but he caught her arm as she pressed a hand to her forehead, waiting for the dizziness to pass. She tried taking a step but faltered, her legs giving out.
"Together." Obi-Wan smiled encouragingly and Thalia gave him such a fond look that his legs nearly buckled as well.
With one hand keeping a hold of her hand around his shoulders and his other around her waist, they hobbled out of the room and started back down the corridor.
"What happened to Maul?" Thalia asked.
"On his way here, I should think." Obi-Wan replied. In all honesty, he was concerned about Maul's lack of presence. It would take more than being thrown over some trees to stop him.
"What about the other one?" She asked and Obi-Wan stopped in his tracks, almost dropping Thalia.
"What other one?" He demanded.
As if right on cue, there was a growl from the other end of the corridor and Obi-Wan's heart sank for what felt like the twentieth time that day as his eyes focused on another man identical to Maul. This one, however, was about twice the width of Maul and two heads taller. His exposed chest and arms were yellow, also covered in tattoos, but his horns were much longer.
Obi-Wan didn't have time to react as the creature charged at them, his own double-bladed lightsabre ignited in the same red as the Sith. It was all Obi-Wan could do to push Thalia behind him as the huge man lunged at him.