OBI-WAN
As they fought back-to-back, it didn't take Obi-Wan long to realise that he didn't need to worry about Thalia being able to hold her own. When he looked over his shoulder to make sure she was okay, she was in the middle of tossing Savage across the base, his double-edged lightsabre flailing in his huge arms. He was easily twice the size of her, but strength was of little concern when the force was involved.
But he couldn't focus solely on Thalia, not when he had Darth Maul bearing down on him. The monster beat him down, his lightsabre crashing against Obi-Wan's relentlessly. The Jedi didn't have time to think about what he was doing. His muscles reacted from memory as his eyes darted feverishly, watching the movement of the red blade.
Obi-Wan directed a blow at Maul, but the Sith was ready, parrying the strike easily and twisting his own blade so Obi-Wan's lightsabre flew from his hand and went skittering across the ground. Maul kicked him to the ground, and stalked towards him, his lightsabre raised for the final strike. From the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan saw Savage tumble to the ground on his right.
"Obi!" He heard Thalia call and he looked up just in time to see her toss her lightsabre to him, her opponent momentarily weakened. Obi-Wan caught it deftly and raised it above his head as Maul's blade slashed through the air towards him.
His old lightsabre felt strong in his hands, more powerful than he'd remembered it. Perhaps it was Thalia's work that had changed it. The press of the hilt felt familiar, but he could tell by the way it didn't match his force signature that it no longer belonged to him.
While Obi-Wan was locked in a battle of strength with Maul, Thalia had retrieved his lightsabre and was bearing down on Savage. The huge man spun his lightsabre at a dizzying speed but Thalia, unperturbed as ever, thrust her lightsabre into the middle of the blade and dragged it upwards. Savage let out a scream as his huge, right arm dropped to the ground beside him and green mist began pouring from the wound. Thalia stood for a moment in shock before seeming to shake herself from her trance and throw both hands towards Savage. The force sent him careening into the far wall. He hit it with a loud crack and crumpled to a heap at its base, his right arm still lying at Thalia's feet. He was still breathing but he wouldn't be wielding a lightsabre for a while.
Thalia swung around and the ferocious look on her face was so far from the passive Queen that Obi-Wan nearly dropped his lightsabre. He loved that look on her. He curled in on himself, raised his legs to his chest and kicked out at Maul, sending the mechanical man stumbling backwards.
"Savage." He cried, a hand outstretched for his fallen brother and Obi-Wan was surprised by the pang of pity that touched his heart. But then Maul rounded on Thalia, his yellow eyes filled with rage.
"You know, when I cut you in half, I should have aimed for your neck instead." Obi-Wan said, trying to turn his attention away Thalia. Maul glared at him.
"Anything else you'd like to say?" He asked, turning towards him and raised his lightsabre.
"I like your new legs. They make you look taller." Obi-Wan continued, ignoring the perplexed look Thalia was giving him.
Maul roared and lunged at the Jedi, but he was ready.
Obi-Wan leapt for the raised walls of the base, looking for the advantage the higher ground would give him. In unison, he and Thalia tossed their lightsabres to each other. With Obi-Wan's now back in his hand, he held it at the ready, prepared for another onslaught. Maul threw himself forwards and their blades crashed together, making a horrible screeching sound.
"Your master, Qui-Gon Jinn, I gutted him while you stood helpless and watched." Maul growled. "How did that make you feel, Obi-Wan?"
An anguished cry tore free from Obi-Wan's throat, and he shoved Maul away, slashing his lightsabre at the man who had killed his Master and, very nearly, his queen. The monster's metal foot collided with Obi-Wan's chest, sending him flying off the wall and back into the sunken area of the base. He crashed into the far wall and slumped to the ground.
Every bone in his body ached, and it took every bit of strength he had remaining to lift his head.
"Your rage has unbalanced you." Maul taunted, landing with a clang a few meters from Obi-Wan. "That is not the Jedi way, is it?"
He tried to push himself to his feet, but his knees gave way under him, and he dropped gracelessly back to the ground. He looked around for Thalia, but she was nowhere to be seen. He was relieved. Maybe it meant she'd taken the chance to escape.
Maul raised his lightsabre and Obi-Wan watched, paralysed with exhaustion.
"Justice." Maul snarled.
Suddenly, there was a blinding, white flash in front of Obi-Wan's face. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, but in that time, Maul had fallen to the ground in an agonised cry. He lay beside his metal legs. They'd been cut from the knee down. The flash of white had been from Thalia's lightsabre, which she'd thrown at Maul, barely missing Obi-Wan in the process, before calling it back to her hand with the force. Now, she stood behind the fallen Sith, breathing heavily as she deactivated her lightsabre.
As she limped over to crouch beside Obi-Wan, the roar of ship's engines sounded overhead, and three Troop Carriers soared over the base. Thalia pulled one of Obi-Wan's arms around her shoulders and dragged him to his feet. He stumbled into her, but she didn't falter. She reached her face up to him and pressed her lips against his dirt covered cheek while brushing a piece of his dishevelled hair away from his forehead.
"Let's go home." She said softly and Obi-Wan let his head drop onto her shoulder. He was too exhausted to reply.
One of the Troop Carriers hovered above them, and six Clones dropped from its open doors, their jetpacks petering out as they neared the ground. Two of them ran over to Thalia and Obi-Wan.
"Where are the Sith?" One of them asked, and Obi-Wan frowned in confusion, but sure enough, when he looked around the scene of their battle, Maul and Savage were nowhere in sight.
"Trying to escape." Thalia thought aloud.
"Then let's get out of here, Your Majesty." The trooper said.
One of them took Obi-Wan from Thalia's arms and flew him up to the waiting shuttle. The remainder wrapped an armoured hand around her waist, and she clung to his shoulder as they shot upwards, leaving the base far below them.
Once they landed in the safety of the carrier, she spotted Commander Cody looking smug.
Obi-Wan managed to summon enough strength to pat his commander on his shoulder.
"What happened to making noise?" Thalia asked, grasping one of the hand straps for dear life as the carrier pitched sideways to return to Dathmoir airspace.
"Thought we'd save it till after we got you off the base, Your Highness." Cody replied with a grin.
"Have I missed something?" Obi-Wan asked, looking between his commander and Thalia.
"I think you've been replaced as general, sir." Cody chuckled and then turned to his pilot and gunner. "Alright boys, if those Sith are trying to escape on their ship, let's make it difficult for them. Make some noise, Waxer."
"Yes, sir." Came an enthusiastic reply and there was a loud clunking noise as bombs began to fall from the shuttle's payload.
Obi-Wan watched as the base beneath them erupted in a fireball. It was no assurance that he had seen the last of Darth Maul, but for the moment he was safe, Thalia was safe, and they could live to fight another day.
He looked across the shuttle at her and watched as the orange light flickered across her features. She turned a bruise face to meet his gaze, and despite everything, he smiled.
. . .
Obi-Wan lay on one of the beds in the ship's infirmary. They had returned to the Republic Cruiser, and he hadn't argued when Admiral Tarkin had ordered him straight to the medical droid.
Thalia sat beside the bed. She'd already been seen to, and other than a few scrapes and bruises she'd held up well, despite the electrocution. Obi-Wan bit back a wince as the medical droid poked his ribs.
"You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt. Not with me." Thalia said beside him.
"I suppose it does sting a bit." He replied with a smile, which turned out more as a grimace.
"You have three broken ribs. I advise…" The droid began.
"Rest?" Obi-Wan interrupted and he got the sense that, if the droid could, it would have given him a disdainful look.
"Yes." It replied flatly before clomping out of the room.
Thalia looked over her shoulder and waited for the door to close before she reached out and rested her hand on Obi-Wan's chest. He sucked in a breath as he felt the pressure surround his torso tighten as she channelled the force into his wounds. The pressure increased until it suddenly gave way and when he breathed in, the pain from his ribs was gone.
He lifted his hand to rest on top of hers and watched her lips part slightly as he rubbed his thumb over knuckles. Her eyes dropped slowly to his lips before dragging back up to meet his gaze. He swallowed dryly as he pushed himself up onto his elbow. Obi-Wan removed his hand and brought it up to Thalia's face, his fingers pushing behind her ear and into her hair as she leant into his touch.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, as did Thalia's at the sudden, violent shift in the force. The Dark Side was overwhelmingly strong, and the Light Side felt like it was being crushed into submission. A moment later, the lights in the infirmary went out before the emergency power kicked in and the room was doused in a red glow.
"What's going on?" Thalia asked, jumping to her feet and out of Obi-Wan's arms.
"I don't know." He replied, leaping off the bed and running around to the holo-table. "Admiral Yularen." He tried, opening the channel to the ship's helm.
The visual appeared, but Yularen was nowhere to be seen. Out of the hologram, they could hear people shouting and the sound of blaster fire met their ears. Someone ran past the holoprojector. It was a Republic pilot in their grey suit, and they suddenly fell to the ground. A Clone Trooper stepped over them and, after seeing they were still moving, aimed his blaster at the pilot and fired two shots in their back until the pilot was still.
"What?" Thalia breathed.
A face suddenly appeared in front of the hologram. It was Yularen. "Master Kenobi. The Clones had turned on us. Help us, plea…" He cried but there was the sound of a single blast and the Admiral's eyes rolled back in his head before collapsing out of view.
Thalia gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the infirmary door. Obi-Wan ran to it and drove his lightsabre through the control panel.
"Something terrible has happened." Thalia said, staring blankly ahead.
"I know." Obi-Wan agreed, running a hand over his jaw as a multitude of thoughts ran through his mind. He marched back over to the holo-table and flicked through all the Republic channels used by the military, but every station was empty. He thought for a moment before trying the Senate channels.
"Emergency code nine one three." He recited. "I have no contact on any frequency."
As the seconds ticked by, Obi-Wan thought that he'd had no luck on this frequency either, but finally, a hologram flickered to life.
"Master Kenobi." A distorted voice said in surprise and the stuttering image of Senator Organa appeared.
"Senator. My Clone Troopers have turned. What is going on?" Obi-Wan asked.
"We have just rescued Master Yoda." Organa replied. "It appears this ambush has happened everywhere…Send us your coordinates."
"I'm not sure that'll be possible. We're travelling through hyperspace. I'll take my transceiver. Once we're stationary, it'll be safer for you to meet me." Obi-Wan instructed and ended the hologram, transferring the receiver to the communicator on his wrist.
"Come on." He urged, holding out his hand to Thalia. "We're need an escape pod."
Thankfully, the infirmary was near one of the escape pod points. As the Clones continued hammering on the main door, Obi-Wan drove his lightsabre through the far wall, creating a hole big enough for them to squeeze through.
They emerged into the corridor beyond and Obi-Wan immediately pushed Thalia into a niche as a squad of Troopers jogged past, their blasters at the ready. They would be looking for them.
He peered around the corner before dragging Thalia further down the passageway.
"Hey! Stop!" A shout came from behind them, and the pair picked up the pace. They sprinted towards the end of the corridor and skidded round the corner, coming face to face with a full squad of Clones. Before they could react, Obi-Wan threw out his arms and sent them flying down the passage.
The escape pods were at the end of the corridor. A blaster bolt narrowly missed Obi-Wan's head, but they kept running. It felt like miles away, but he finally managed to slam his hand against the escape pod release and Thalia flew past him into the round shuttle. He dove in after her as a wave of blasts peppered the pod's controls. He lunged for the release lever and the door slammed shut before the shuttle dropped from the bottom of the cruiser.
It was sent plummeting through hyperspace. Thalia and Obi-Wan tumbled around in the spinning pod, but as they slowed and left hyperspace, the pod evened out and rocked gently as it floated through space. A wave of relief almost washed over Obi-Wan, but the control panel suddenly sparked violently, and his pulse shot skyward once again.
The pod creaked and then pitched sideways, it's navigation systems shot through completely. Once again, they tumbled through space, this time falling towards the planet below. As it picked up speed, flames began to flicker against the pod's windows.
Obi-Wan reached for Thalia's hand, her face stricken. Her fingers just managed to brush his before the pod exploded and everything went black.