Knightfall: Part 7
Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber blazed a brilliant blue as he and the other Jedi jogged their ways through the hallways of the Invisible Hand. The turbolift that had originally led directly to the wizard's tower was now covered in the flaming wreckage of their fallen comrade. Battle droids and their upgraded cousins poured fire towards them, forcing the Jedi to take their time traversing the blackened halls.
Metal fell to the floor as the redirected blaster fire felled their firers. The Jedi steadily advanced towards the end of the hall where another turbolift was positioned. Their reaching it wasn't going to be easy, however. Two droidekas rolled into the hallway near the turbolifts and unfurled themselves. Their shields went online right before they poured blaster fire into the hallway.
The Jedi crushed themselves behind small outcroppings in the hallway as the torrent of blasterfire flew their way. "Cover me!" Valin Halcyon cried out as he jammed his silver-bladed lightsaber into a locked door. Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan dug deep into their reserves, making their reactions even quicker as they deflected the rapid shots towards their enemies. A few standard battle droids were blown to pieces in the process.
"Got it!" Valin cried out nearly a minute later as he kicked the door in, crying out in pain as part of the molten slag set his boot on fire. As his compatriots stormed into the room to avoid the droids, the Corellian Jedi snuffed the burning boot against the wall. Without another word, the three Jedi moved down the hall, Obi-Wan running backwards to cover the group. It would still be a long way to go.
"By the Force," Obi-Wan Kenobi swore 15 minutes later as he viewed the carnage that once was the Wizard's Tower of the Separatist ship. Darth Sidious lay cleaved in half near a chair at the far end of the room, his lightsaber laying a meter next to him.
"What happened here?" Valin Halcyon said as he spied the fallen form of Darth Vader, the once fearsome Sith Lord laying dead below the uprised platform. Sitting over him was the senator that the two Sith had kidnapped.
"He wouldn't kill me," the shocked senator finally said as the Jedi descended the stairs. "He said he couldn't…"
Obi-Wan Kenobi cautiously walked over to the fallen Sith and noticed the lightsaber wound that burned across his chest. The fallen Sith's eyes were open and had reverted back to their natural blue. He checked for a pulse as a formality, knowing that he was already dead. He pivoted on his knee to face the stunned senator from Naboo. "What exactly happened, Padmé?" he asked.
The senator replied to his question shakingly, as if she were trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. "Palpatine ordered him to kill me," were her first words. "He seemed kind of confused about it. He said that it wasn't necessary."
"They turned on each other?" Shaak Ti asked.
"No," Padme replied. "Not really." The Jedi looked at each other in confusion. How could this have happened if they hadn't? "Palpatine drew his lightsaber," she continued, "and Vader did the same. Only he did it to protect me."
"Are you saying that Darth Vader actually attempted to prevent a murder from taking place?" Valin Halcyon asked, the unbelievable nature of the story overriding the skill he had for investigation.
"That's what it looks like," Obi-Wan replied. "Strange…"
"They fought each other," Padme continued. "Vader seemed to be outmatched at first, but he soon gained an upper hand. Eventually," she added after a brief pause to catch her breath, "they killed each other."
Padme finally stood up. "He said—as he lay dying—that he could sense you coming. He wanted to say that he was sorry for everything that he did."
Obi-Wan probed the senator with the Force, looking for any sign of deception or mental tampering. Hostages, he knew, sometimes had a particularly nasty habit of forming a type of attachment with their captors. There was, however, no deception in her words, he learned. She believed everything that she had told them.
"Come with us," the Jedi Knight said as he stood up himself. "We need to get out of here, the droids have not given up in this battle and we must make it out of here before a Republic Admiral gives the order to return fire."
Senator Amidala agreed with Kenobi's assessment and began to head up the stairs, flanked by Valin. Obi-Wan gently tapped Shaak Ti on the shoulder as they began to leave, causing the Jedi Master to stop. "Do you think that what she said happened was entirely true?" he asked her.
"Through the Force," Shaak Ti replied after a few seconds of thought, "stranger things have happened. Keep in mind the lesson of Rhen Var four millennia ago," she began.
"Meditated on the recent occurrences, I have," Yoda said three days later as the remnants of the Jedi Council along with those involved in the mission sat in silence in the vandalized council chambers. The battle was long over with, and the CIS leaders had surrendered themselves to the Republic just a few hours previously. The aged alien rubbed his right hand against his jaw before continuing. "Truthful the young senator was. Through the Force, visions I have seen of this conflict. Away from the dark, Vader was."
"It just seems so out of character," Obi-Wan replied. "A man who has killed nearly indiscriminately in the past to suddenly protect a person that he never really knew."
"I went through the security archives of the siege," Valin replied from his seat in the middle of the chamber. "And he did not take well to Palpatine's slaughter of the younglings," he reported. "Although he did mention that they would make good apprentices… Still," he supposed, "it was a start."
"Or a quick way to explain his change of heart," Quinlan Vos replied, causing Yoda to nod his head in agreement.
"A long to go we will have before explained this whole incident is," Yoda stated. "And more pressing matters we have before us."
"With Mace Windu killed by Vader, we lost an entire High Council to the Clone Wars," Shaak Ti reported. "Even now, our current incarnation is down to 10 members." She took a deep breath. "It is our responsibility now to choose the succesors of the fallen."
"I take it that you're done with us, then," Obi-Wan said as he and Valin stood up and prepared to exit the council chambers.
"You may stay, Obi-Wan," Shaak Ti replied. "We know that you have had your run-ins with the dark side in the past," she stated, her eyes not leaving Obi-Wan's. "Your fall, however, was relatively quickly resolved with little loss of life or injuries to the Republic and the Jedi order. After your redemption, you made your amends to the Republic, those you did injure, and us. Most importantly, you made your amends to yourself."
Obi-Wan stood in the middle of the council chamber, confused about what was happening. They wouldn't, he thought.
"We know that you had feelings for Siri Tachi," Shaak Ti continued, "and that those feelings remained with you while she was killed by Darth Vader. Despite this, you should a remarkable control of your anger. You did not allow it to once again cloud your memories and control your actions."
"For your actions now and in the past, confer upon you the rank of Jedi Master we do," Yoda said. "A seat on the council we grant to you as well."
Obi-Wan Kenobi opened his mouth to thank the other Jedi Masters as they sat in their seats but no words could come out of his mouth. He had never expected to attain the rank of Master in his life after his fall, let alone being granted a seat on the High Council. Finally, a single phrase managed to worm its way out. "Thank you, Masters."
"There is no thanks necessary," the holographic form of Plo Koon—the Jedi Master that Obi-Wan had been apprenticed to shortly after Qui-Gon's death—said from the CIS purse world of Cato Nemoidia. "In the past decade you have proven yourself despite your falling. The decision to elevate you was unanimous."
"Sorry to interrupt this, I am," Yoda said, tapping the end of his cane against the floor, "but a lot of work must be done. Rebuilt this Jedi order must be."
"Rebuilt?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"Flawed we all were for the past millennia. Allowed this to happen in our arrogance we did."
"What are you suggesting?" Shaak Ti asked.
"Over the next three decades or so, phase out the effects of the Rusaan Reformation we will," Yoda suggested.
"What of the Republic," Obi-Wan asked, wanting to change the subject for the time being. "Their leader is dead and several laws enacted by him are now clearly unjust."
"Yes, our problems they must wait," Yoda conceded. "Temporary Chancellorship of the senate have Bail Organa take. Our council we will provide if asked."
"Agreed," Plo Koon said.
"I agree as well," Obi-Wan said. "We have a long way to go though. A long way…"