Author's Note: Thank you all for your patience and support. Warning; Cliffhanger ending.
Part 22: The Shroud of the Dark Side.
Obi-Wan did not have time to reflect on the encounter with Count Dooku, for two Geonosian guards entered his cell to release him from the forcefield a few minutes after the former Jedi Master - and now probable Sith - left. His freedom was brief, leaving him no time to summon the Force to his side before he was handcuffed and escorted down a dark hollowed out stone tunnel into a large arena.
Four tall simply craved pillars stood in the middle of this expanse, one of which his escort fixed the chains attached to his handcuffs, raising his hands above the rest of his body. From the sound of the cheering and the sight of the crowds in the many viewing balconies which circled the arena, he concluded that his death sentence was about to turn into a show.
Directing his gaze to the tunnel entrance, he descried another tumbrel emerging from the darkness, carrying two more condemned prisoners. The sight of brilliant white cloth, still startling even in this desert climate, instantly brought some relief to him. As the tumbrel travelled into the arena, more of Padmé's figure came into view, along with that of his Padawan.
Both were defiantly calm, the Senator carrying herself as regally as she had done during her sovereign youth, while Anakin, though his mental shields leaked some turmoil into the training bond, wore a solemn expression which befitted any knight when faced with such a fate. If Obi-Wan had time to realise his emotions, he would have known that he had never felt prouder of his apprentice than at this moment.
Naturally, his eyes returned to Padmé, whom once she had descended from the tumbrel, discreetly reached into a small space between a purse on her belt and retrieved what he presumed was a piece of wire which she put in her mouth before the Geonosians chained her to the furthest pillar. Silently he admired her resourcefulness once more before turning to his Padawan. "I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten my message."
"I retransmitted it as you requested, Master," Anakin replied, his tone betraying his emotional state as somewhere between irritated and angry. "Then I decided to come and rescue you."
Obi-Wan glanced up at the chains which secured them both to their pillars before he replied with, "Good job!" deciding to use the banter between them as a way to keep his apprentice focused on the task at hand; securing an escape out of this. The odds might appear to be insurmountable, but he knew that there was a reasonable chance they could delay proceedings long enough for the rescue the Order would send.
It was difficult to see Padmé with Anakin chained between them now, and there was too much going on around them for Obi-Wan to use the Force out of a purely selfish desire to rescue her. He had no doubt of her resourcefulness in such a situation as this, so he turned his focus on the entrance of the dignitaries in the widest witness balcony which encircled the arena, then on the words one of the Geonosians was speaking.
"The felons before you have been convicted of espionage against the Sovereign System of Geonosis. Their sentence of death is to be carried out in this public arena henceforth. Let the executions begin!"
A loud cheer from the large crowd erupted, echoing around the arena. In the midst of this ruckus, three gates opened to reveal the chosen weapons of death; a Reek, a Nexu, and a Acklay. All equally fearsome creatures to face even with the Force, not to mention the guards which escorted them, one which did not survive his moment of dubious honour for long, as his efforts to restrain the animal he was in charge of proved unwise; the Nexu turned on him, leaping up and taking his head in it's vicious mouth.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Anakin murmured, unconsciously quoting his Master from a decade ago. Obi-Wan briefly recalled that moment aboard the Trade Federation ship; when he had been a padawan with his own master, before he had ever met Anakin or Padmé. The innocence he felt back then seemed like a lifetime ago, heady, yet tranquil, something he almost longed for in light of the chaos this fight would inevitably plunge him, his apprentice and the woman he loved into.
He was grateful Qui-Gon was resting at the temple, and he hoped neither Mace nor Yoda chose to inform him of the events which were about to transpire. The last thing his former Master needed was a full scale opening battle that he was facing now, one which Qui-Gon would not hesitate to enter, trusting in the Force to carry him through, without care for the disease which resided in his body.
"Well, this should be fun, for them at least," he remarked, causing his apprentice to glance at him, verbally asking for clarification, revealing that he was not as focused as Obi-Wan would like him to be.
"Never mind," he added, "you ready for a fight?"
"The fight?" Anakin echoed the word with heavy scepticism.
"You want to give the crowd it's credit's worth don't you?" Obi-Wan asked him. "Just relax. Concentrate. You take the one the right. I'll take the one on the left."
"What about Padmé?" Anakin asked, turning to look at her, giving Obi-Wan the chance to see her as well.
Just as he had suspected, the resourceful Senator had successfully picked one lock of her restraints and was now using the chain as a climbing aid to ascend to the top of the pillar.
"She seems to be on top of things," he remarked to his apprentice and then there was no more time for talking as the Acklay charged him. The beast was a ghastly fearsome looking creature, his sheer size giving Obi-Wan no option other than to duck and hope for the best. Within seconds the animal's charge managed to destroy the chain, and Obi-Wan adopted a dodge and weave tactic to avoid being struck by the vicious stone like claws whose ability to injure left compelling evidence by way of a sizeable dent in the pillar behind him.
Atop her pole, Padmé gripped the chain with both her hands, watching the Nexu who prowled the floor menacingly, waiting for a moment to strike. He scrambled up the pole towards her, and she used the chain to strike him, managing to hit him twice before she received a blow in return, harsh claw marks to her back, causing her to emit a sound something between a growl and a scream for the pain. Grimly she focused, allowing her emotions and mind no time for nothing more than that single sound of weakness.
Then she let go of the chain and leapt off the pillar. When the metal links went slack, she used them to send her body into a swing, just as the Nexu leapt towards her. Raising her feet, she aimed a powerful kick into his abdomen, sending the beast to the ground, causing it to mewl pitifully. Seizing this brief pause, she retrieved the wire and began to pick at the other lock on her cuffs. When she was free, the Nexu was waiting for her, only to be crushed by the Reek, whom Anakin had managed to tame into a mount.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Sure," she replied.
"Jump on!" he added, and she leapt from the pillar to land behind him, before casting her gaze around the arena to find Obi-Wan.
The Acklay soon tired of the Jedi Master's dodge and weave game and opted for a more direct method of kill, using its body strength to send the pole he had dented down on top of the man, crunching the stone between his diamond shaped paws. Obi-Wan seized this relative freedom and ran for one of the guards, trusting in the Force and in the nature of the animal to follow him, which it did, climbing over the remains of the pole.
The Genosian pointed his weapon towards the jedi, but Obi-Wan moved passed him, his hand reaching out instinctively to take the spear into his grip, the force sending the guard off his steed on to the hard floor of the arena. The Acklay crushed the Geonosian's chest with one strike of it claw as it neared Obi-Wan, who chose to dodge from the claws again and again until he could strike what he hoped was a vulnerable part of the beast's body; the front join from it's neck to his first claw. Such a moment came and such a wound was made, but it did not subdue the Acklay, who used his mouth to take the spear out, breaking the wood between his teeth.
Obi-Wan ran for the Reek which Anakin had tamed, leaping on to the back behind Padmé, who rested her hand upon his thigh, caressing in a smooth line to his knee before letting go. He touched her back near her belt in silent reply before fixing his gaze on their new enemy which the Geonosians had summoned into the arena, seven droidekas who swiftly surrounded them, unrolling into strike positions.
Before they could fire however, Obi-Wan felt the Force signal, and he glanced towards the large balcony in which Count Dooku, the Fetts and the members of the various delegations from the Separatists stood. The purple flash confirmed Mace Windu's arrival, and he allowed a brief smile to cross his face as he saw the rest of the Jedi the Councillor had brought ignite their lightsabers and prepare to strike.
Then the droid army emerged from the tunnel, causing the Jedi to jump from their balconies to face the oncoming force. One Jedi tossed a couple of lightsabers towards them, and Anakin was the first to ignite his blade, aiming it carefully at his master's cuffs to break the metal which restrained him.
Frightened by the sudden onslaught of blaster fire, the Reek reared, causing them to fall to the floor of the arena. With a roll they were soon on their feet again, Padmé grabbing a blaster to defend herself, aiming the weapon at the rider of a tumbrel before mounting the beast, using its pace to her advantage while she picked off droids one by one.
Anakin soon joined her, mounting the tumbrel behind her, using his lightsaber to deflect and return blaster shots. Their makeshift teamwork bore fruit until one blaster shot mortally wounded her mount, sending them to the ground. Padmé sought the shelter of the tumbrel as she continued to fire, while Anakin continued to deflect, return and protect.
Mace landed before Obi-Wan and the Masters fought back to back for a while until the frightened Reek charged, separating them. The Councillor went to deal with the animal, while Obi-Wan continued to deflect blaster shots back at the droids. Abruptly they began to back away from him, and he heard growl which caused him to turn round.
The Acklay was back to try and kill him, but this time he had a weapon mightier than the spear. Aiming for the front claws, Obi-Wan dismembered the beast, sending the front of the animal to the floor, hitting its face away from him, before flicking the hilt of his saber back and forth in his hands in time to bury the blue blade in the creature's chest.
The droid forces caused the Jedi to retreat into a protective circle upon the floor of the arena. Obi-Wan knelt before one of the fallen, touching the side of his colleague's head as his senses appealed to the Force for assistance. Unhappily his healing talents could do no more than send relief from a painful death. Regretfully he performed such duty before rising to his feet and raising his eyes towards the balcony where the Separatists leaders stood in witness.
Gradually the blaster fire lessened in intensity and furore before a signal from Count Dooku caused the machines to come to a complete halt.
"Master Windu!" He called out. "You have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the history archives of the Jedi Order. Now it is finished. Surrender - and your lives will be spared."
Mace's answer was deadly and precise. "We will not be hostages for you to barter with, Dooku."
"Then, I'm sorry, old friend," the Count replied. "You will have to be destroyed."
Droids raised their weapons and the Jedi raised their lightsabers, prepared to fight the inevitable. Dooku made the motion to order the machines to fire, when the sound of engines caused another pause.
Padmé raised her gaze to the sky and caught sight of countless ships, bearing what appeared to be the clone army from Kamino and..... Master Yoda? She was amazed how serene he looked in the face of such chaos. "Look!"
Six gunships landed before the surviving Jedi, and clone troopers flooded the space between them and the droids, allowing for the former to seek the safety of the ships. Deflecting the blaster fire, Obi-Wan followed her and Anakin on to one of the vessels, which ascended into the sky, journeying towards the Trade Federation ships they had seen on their arrival upon the planet.
"Hold on!" He ordered as the vessel swerved dangerously, causing them to take hold of the supports above their heads.
"Aim right above the fuel cells," Anakin directed the clones, who obeyed, causing the enemy ship to explode.
"Good call my young padawan," Obi-Wan complimented. His blue grey eyes saw the rapid desire to exit felt by some of their opponents. "Those Federation starships are taking off. Target them quickly."
In combination with the ground troops, they managed to destroy one of the spherical starships. As the ensuring dust cloud from the explosion began to dissipate, Obi-Wan caught sight of a tiny Geonosian speeder escaping. "Look over there."
Anakin identified the rider. "It's Dooku! Shoot him down!"
"We're out of ordinance, sir," the clone pilot informed him.
"Follow him!" Anakin ordered.
Padmé glanced around at their numbers. "We're going to need some help."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, there's no time. Anakin and I can handle this."
He felt her worry in the Force and turned to reassure her, but before he could the gunship lurched from a hit, titling in an extreme side angle, sending one clone trooper to the ground, and Padmé along with him.
"Padmé!!!" Anakin cried out in terror. His eyes never leaving her form he shouted an order at the pilot. "Put the ship down! Down!"
Obi-Wan darted to the opening, his keen eyes anxiously searching for her while his mind reached into the Force. When he received the reply that she would be well, he turned to his fearful apprentice. "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way." Then he turned to the pilot. "Follow that speeder."
Anakin ignored him. "Lower the ship!"
Obi-Wan had no time to sigh at his Padawan's stubbornness, his inability to trust in the Force, or to perform his duty when those he loved appeared to be in danger. Nor could he tell Anakin that Padmé would be fine, because it would invite the type of questions that his padawan was not in a fit state to handle answers to at present. Frankly, Obi-Wan doubted that he was ready to face a former Jedi Master either, but neither could anyone after the fight they fought in the arena. The only alternative was to reason and cajole him into obedience.
"Anakin, I can't take Dooku alone. I need you. If we catch him, we can end this war right now. We have a job to do."
"I don't care," Anakin replied. "Put the ship down."
"I am your superior, these troops are under my command. If you chose to listen to your feelings rather than the Force over this, and commit an act of recklessness, you will be expelled from the Jedi Order," Obi-Wan threatened, knowing full well he and Qui-Gon probably wouldn't let him be, but hoping the point would hit home.
Anakin still resisted. "I can't leave her."
"Come to your senses," Obi-Wan tried one last time. "What do you think Padmé would do if she were in your position?"
His apprenticed sighed, relenting. "She would do her duty."
"And so will we," Obi-Wan returned, before turning to the clone pilot. "Follow that speeder!"
The gunship trailed the speeder to a stalagmite tower from which a landing port waited. Leaping from the vessel Obi-Wan and Anakin followed the smaller craft inside, coming upon the former Jedi Master as he stood before a slender control panel.
"You're going to pay for all the Jedi you've killed today, Dooku," Anakin announced with deadly intensity, while his Master sought guidance from the Force and his years of experience in the field.
"We'll take him together," he instructed his apprentice. "You go in slowly on the..."
Anakin cut him off. "No, I'm taking him now!"
Obi-Wan only had time to cry out "Anakin, no!" but it was useless, as Padawan rushed forward, his lightsaber raised.
Dooku raised his arm and sent out a torrent of Force lightning, sending his opponent across the room, into an adjacent wall.
Anakin slumped to the floor semi-conscious. Obi-Wan directed some of his healing aids to the boy before he readied himself to face Dooku.
The Count was confident he could defeat the Master just as easily as the apprentice. "As you can see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now back down." He raised his arm and summoned another barrage of Force lightning.
Obi-Wan held up his lightsaber, letting the blue blade take the full brunt of the fire, absorbing the power. "I don't think so," he replied, his voice rich and deep in the confidence of his ability.
Dooku ignited his own blade, the red colour confirming Obi-Wan's previous' suspicions. Falling into the form he learned under Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan advanced fast, swinging the blue blade towards his opponent. Speed however was no match for the Sith, whom soon showed that he had not taught everything he knew to his old Padawan.
"Master Kenobi, you disappoint me," he goaded Obi-Wan. "Yoda holds you in such high esteem. Surely you can do better."
Breathing deeply, summoning more of the Force, Obi-Wan struck again. He knew he could not hold Dooku for long, the battle in the arena had depleted a lot of his energy. While Anakin was recovering, as was Padmé, for he could sense her even now, so far away, however, he would do what he must.
Then Count Dooku held his blade into a tight thrust between them, moving the hilt in an arc until he caught Obi-Wan out with a quick strike at his wrist. Obi-Wan flung his arm away, but not in time to avoid the red blade wounding the upper part. Dooku then struck his thigh, sending him to the floor.
His lightsaber was too far from his fingers, and he could not summon the weapon to his side through the Force in time to meet the onslaught of the red blade which descended towards his body. Obi-Wan was not afraid to die, his senses reaching out to his love as he felt the heat from the laser steadily increase.
And in the mists of the Force, Padmé answered him.