Before Anakin even entered the Halls of Healing, he knew there wouldn't be good news. Obi-Wan's shielding was slipping, a rare occurrence, bombarding Anakin with a wave of emotions. Desperation. Fear. Anxiety. Anakin had to struggle to keep his own emotions from mixing with Obi-Wan's. Walking into the Healer's ward didn't help quell of fears. He was met by Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda who were already gathered in the Healer's ward when Anakin arrived. Bant's eyes were wide and watery. Anakin immediately stood next to Obi-Wan. He looked unnaturally calm; he had clearly tightened his shields again. Still, Anakin moved closer a step closer to Obi-Wan so they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
Your results were confirmed.
Unfortunately, yes. The drug in my system matches Arbor's formula. No known antidote.
Could she make one?
Even if she could, there's no easy way to test it.
"Knight Skywalker, discuss Master Kenobi, we must."
"We need to find an antidote."
"I agree. But the Jedi library has the galaxy's most extensive medical research. We need to figure out how the drug works before we can even try to find a cure. We have the formula, we just need to recreate it and figure out how it attacks the bodies cells, particularly the midi-chlorians."
"We need to find Ventress or Arbor," Anakin demanded, "they're the only two that will have it."
"Skywalker! How do you plan on finding either of them? You're going to be gallivanting around when there are more important matters to deal with. You are needed in the war. It is too risky to hunt down Ventress. Or Arbor."
"Hmm. Risky, it is. No choice, we have. A cure, we must find, if such a poison the Dark Side has. Go, Skywalker and Kenobi must."
Mace glared slightly at Anakin. "Is that wise? Master Eerin?"
"I would advise against it. Until we do more extensive research on his blood, we won't know how long it will take for side-effects to appear."
"With respect, Masters, I would like to do as much as I can before – before I won't be much help to anyone."
"Obi-Wan, that really isn't a good idea. We don't know when these symptoms will hit." Bant hesitated, looking for a tactful way to make her point, "What if you suddenly lose your sight? You could be in any number of situations!"
"I am physically fine at the moment."
"At the moment. That could change! What will you do if it does? I know you want to feel as useful as possible, Obi-Wan, but you do not need to be reckless."
"If anything should happen, I trust Anakin." Obi-Wan said simply.
"We will return to the Temple if anything happens. I promise. I will not jeopardize his safety."
Anakin said it with such confidence and such power that no one was going to doubt him. Bant looked more relieved.
"Leave tomorrow, you will. May the Force be with you."
Anakin and Obi-Wan both bowed respectfully and then made their way to their quarters.
"So, are we going to talk about this?"
"Talk about what, Anakin? We will head to Vanqor. The Zone of Self Containment was Arbor's last known facility, we can start there."
"That isn't what I meant."
"Anakin, I appreciate the concern, but I am fine. I will at least be well enough for us to track down Arbor or Ventress."
"You don't know how long that will take. I promise you, we will find an antidote, Obi-Wan, but I don't know how long it will take."
"Anakin. We will find a cure. It will be a few months before I am completely useless to you."
"What if we don't?"
"Focus on the present. Right now, I am in control of all my senses and we should be thankful for that."
Anakin was still hesitant, "I'm always here you know."
Obi-Wan's voice softened. "I know, Anakin. Thank you. Goodnight."
Anakin bid him goodnight as well and then headed off to his own quarters. There was no way Obi-Wan should be so calm. He was facing a life of being blind, deaf, without the Force….but he seemed unperturbed. Stoicism was not a new trait of Obi-Wan's, but it was one of the most difficult to overcome. He was going to have to face this eventually. Was it the onset of shock? Possible. Something wasn't right if Anakin was more concerned than Obi-Wan. That never happened. Perhaps Padme would be able to help. She always provided Anakin with a new perspective. He tried the com to her apartment. C3PO answered.
"My apologies, Master Anakin. Mistress Padme had been called to Naboo. Might I take a message for her return?"
"No. Thanks 3PO." He shut off the com. So it would be solely up to him to deal with the stoic Obi-Wan for the entirety of their hunt. Wonderful.
The next morning, Yoda sent them off with a solemn, "May the Force be with you," which Anakin thought would be their only goodbye party until Bant joined them. She hugged Obi-Wan, warned him to be careful, wished him good luck, then nicely threatened Anakin with several torture if he did not return Obi-Wan to the Temple at the first sign of trouble. Her gesture would have been touching if her threats didn't seem excessively evil, especially coming from a normally peaceful, soft-spoken Jedi.
As expected, the journey to Vanqor was dreary. They did not interact with each other much at all, aside from a few sentences. Anakin stayed mostly in the cockpit while Obi-Wan spent the time meditating in his quarters. It was only a two day trip, but Anakin was still ill at ease. He wasn't sure if he should go to Obi-Wan and try to confront him, or just let him meditate and work out his troubles by himself. Usually, the more Anakin pushed the more Obi-Wan clamped up. Anakin decided to let it go. Obi-Wan knew when he was ready he could always confide in Anakin.
The old Zone of Self Containment facility was eerily abandoned. The locals of Vanqor would not habitat near it, mainly because of the nest of gundarks that still flourished in the area. The facility itself was in ruin. The walls were starting to crumple, stairs and floorboards had fallen in, and the sunlight was streaming in through the roof. In all of the research labs, equipment was smashed, vials and bottles had been overturned, leaving only a sparse bit of strange colored liquid left. Jenna Zan Arbor's office had be deliberately destroyed. Her desk and chair remained untouched, but scorch marks and ash from her desperate attempts to destroy any potential evidence. Anakin kicked through the burnt debris with his boot.
"Nothing here worth salvaging. Even those data chips are beyond resurrection. She knew what she was doing."
"What happened to the other prisoners? They must still be on the planet. We should talk to the locals."
Anakin frowned. "I doubt she would let them leave. She's not known for being kind to her subjects. Hold on." He called on the Force, drawing on the facilities past, the ghosts of these walls that still lingered in the living echo. Here, in the heart of the Force, the history of the prison was entrenched. This room stood out as one of the darker voids in the Force. Obi-Wan marveled once again at Anakin's deep connection to the force. Sense life forces was one of the many abilities Jedi posses through the Force, but it was a rare gift to be able to sense the echoes of past lives. Must Jedi – Obi-Wan included – could never fully harness such an ability.
. Jenna Zan Arbor shoving papers into a briefcase. Smashing datapads. Setting fire to vials of the "containment drug". Guards walked into the room, "Take them below." A last fleeting look before she fled the room.
" She had them taken the a basement." Anakin gasped out, with some effort breaking the connection from the past, sending himself back to the present.
Obi-Wan grimaced. "I suppose we had better head there."
Sure enough, the basement was not a pleasant sight. They used their lightsabers to cut through the lock on the durasteel door and it swung open to release a wave of rancid, decaying air that left them gasping for breath. Once they had fought the urge to be sick, they found the source of the smell; partially decayed human remains, tatters of clothes clinging off their hanging flesh, spread throughout the room. Anakin had never thought of Arbor as a monster before. Ventress, she was the monster. She would kill thousands and torture thousands without any remorse. But Arbor had always seemed more of a mad scientist than an evil entity. Anakin amended that though. Arbor and Ventress were just as inhuman.
"They starved to death, but I can't sense anything else from their imprints. Can you?"
Anakin shook his head. "They were all drugged. They didn't know or care what was happening to them. A small mercy, at least didn't…suffer."
Obi-Wan started looking through the side doors. "This is unusual. These are Twi'leks. I checked with the Vanqor immigration sector and they said no one has moved to the planet in over two decades. There are no Twi'lek colonies nearby. Ryloth is past the Outer Rim. What were they doing here?"
Anakin closed his eyes and concentrated again on the Force. These beings were all once alive. They use to be part of the living Force before they were brutally taken from it. Their imprints must still be here, the Force flowing through them must still remember.
A syringe drawing blood. Needles injecting liquids of all hues and consitancies.
"They weren't drugged because they were Force-sensitive. She was running other tests on them. The drug she used on me looked different. She must have wanted them for something else. She was starting tests on Twi'leks. Mildly Force-sensitive, most of them live offworld as prostitutes or dancers. They really stay in units of friends or family. No one to miss them. That make them easy targets for her." Anakin had seen plenty of Twi'lek dancers at his stint in Jabba's palace before being sold to Watto. The few dancers he knew were subservient, desperate to do anything just for a decent meal. Jabba, like so many other crime lords and low life scum took advantage of Twi'leks' plight. Clearly, Arbor has as well.
"Perhaps someone did notice them missing. They might have family or friends. We know Arbor was testing on them – and it's very likely she didn't finish. What better place to test on Twi'leks than their home planet? It's eight day journey to Ryloth from here. It's a long shot, but it is our best lead."
Anakin agreed. It was a lead – as far fetched as it was – but it was the only thing they had to go on.
"Then I'll stop for supplies in town, contact the Council, and we can leave tonight."
A/N: Next chapter Obi-Wan loses his sense of taste. Reviews are appreciated and loved!