Hey! Sorry this is much later than planned- I've been busy plus my muse is being tempremental. I've been devoting time to two different stories also. This one is flowing better now so will be updated more regularly now :)

Sorry for the wait!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4- Mystery Deepens

Previously...

Qui-Gon had just entered the training room when he felt Obi-Wan's call across their bond. / Master! There's something wrong! / Qui-Gon felt the uncertainty pouring down the bond, accompanied by a flash of fear and alarm originating from his Padawan.

/ Obi-Wan? What's the matter? Has something happened? / Qui-Gon demanded, immediately leaving the training room, sweeping past Viza who looked surprised to see the Jedi Master hurrying in the opposite direction. She called after him and on receiving no reply, hastened after him.

Rounding the corner, Qui-Gon arrived quickly at the quarters he shared with Obi-Wan. The door was wide open and he stepped through, hand falling to his lightsaber hanging from his belt, looking around sharply to pinpoint his Padawan.

"Obi-Wan?"

The first thing that hit Qui-Gon was the state of the room.

The expensive looking couches had been upturned; the cushions slashed violently so the stuffing was exposed. Lamps and ornaments had been smashed to the floor, bits of pottery and glass covered the carpets. The long curtains at the window had been partially pulled down, the golden rail yanked away from the wall on the right hand side. The entire room was a state.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon called again.

There was no reply.

Projecting the Force like feelers around the room, Qui-Gon was startled to pick up two life signs from behind the couch. Striding over, gut twisting unpleasantly he found two men, lying unconscious behind the wrecked piece of furniture. Neither was his Padawan.

Allowing his senses to sweep through the room again, Qui-Gon concentrated. There was an unfamiliar presence; not totally of the darkness, nor totally malicious. However, it did not shine of goodness either. It perturbed the Master. Though not as much as returning to their room to find his Padawan missing.

There was a gasp behind them; their female guide had entered behind Qui-Gon, her hand rising to her mouth. "What happened?" she asked, shocked.

"I found the room like this," Qui-Gon said, his tone sharp. He quickly apologised, releasing his pent up frustration to the Force. "My Padawan arrived moments ago but is no longer here," he said, turning to face Viza.

Trying the next available method, Qui-Gon reached out for the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. He was surprised to find the bond was quiet. He was receiving almost nothing from Obi-Wan's end. This sent a chill down the Master's spine. Something had happened. Something had happened to Obi-Wan.

/ Obi-Wan? Padawan can you hear me? Padawan say something / There was nothing coming from the other end of the bond. It was as though someone had pressed mute to their bond. The elder Jedi could neither hear or feel anything from Obi-Wan's end of their bond.

Qui-Gon struggled to comprehend the situation. This was their first mission. A routine overseeing of a planet's elections. This shouldn't be happening. Qui-Gon dug deeper into their bond, searching. There was nothing. If anything there seemed to be a lack of anything Force sensitive issuing from the other end. This was not good in the slightest.

"Who did this?" Viza asked breathlessly.

"I know not. But I will see to it that we find answers"Qui-Gon promised. "The link I share with my Padawan has gone very quiet, which either suggests he is very far away or somehow unable to respond."

"These are Imperial Building Guards," Viza sounded stunned as she spotted the two unconscious men lying on the floor, recognizing their uniforms. "Oh- he's waking up Master Jedi!" Viza had knelt beside on of the men.

Qui-Gon crouched down beside her. "Who are you? What can you tell us of what happened here?"

The man built sluggishly before becoming more alert. "My name is Raidon. I'm a Captain of the Guard here at the Imperial Building, Section 5, 3rd Quadrant," he said in a military fashion.

"What happened here?" Qui-Gon pressed.

"Usually two Guards are stationed along a corridor. Due to the Jedi's presence this was increased to three. We heard a shout from the Jedi's room. We investigated. I felt something hit me from behind when I entered. I saw two figures in front of me. Then everything went black," Raidon reported, sitting up with Viza's help.

"Did you see a young boy? Of about 13 standard years?"

Raidon considered for a moment before nodding, wincing as his head wound throbbed painfully. "Only for a moment. He was already unconscious. Seemed that he put up a fight before being captured. The room was like this when we entered." He gestured to the smashed vases and ruined couch.

Qui-Gon felt his gut twist sharply and uncomfortably. Obi-Wan was gone then. If he had been hurt in any way… Qui-Gon was surprised at the anger that welled up inside him at the thought of Obi-Wan being taken in such a fashion. The boy was barely 13!

It comforted him slightly that Obi-Wan had fought his captors. He scanned the floor, as if looking for some clue. "You said there were three Guards. Why are there only two of you here?"

Raidon looked down and saw his companion still out cold. His eyes narrowed and he glanced back at the Jedi Master. "Three of us entered the room. Cortez first," he indicated to the Guard on the floor, "Myself second and the third Guard last."

Viza looked between the two men, trying to gauge the situation. "You think the third Guard…"

"I had never seen him on duty before," Raidon said slowly. "The blow came from directly behind me. The only one who could have done that was him."

"An inside job…" Viza breathed.

"Can we trace this Guard?" Qui-Gon asked, helping the Guard to his feet, Viza steadying him.

"All of us have codes. We can find his code, we can find the Guard," Raidon said confidently. Moving past Viza he went to the control panel on the wall, typing in a few commands. "Give me the codes of the Guards on duty in corridor gamma, fourth shift," he spoke into the device. "Authorization code: alpha 5394 pi 26."

It beeped for a moment as the Jedi Master, Guard and Aid watched, waiting for the response. The computer built into the wall whirred as the rest of the ransacked room was silent.

"Guards 5394 and 3621 are stationed in this specific area presently," the computerized voice responded pleasantly.

Raidon shook his head. "There are meant to be three guards stationed in corridor gamma, fourth shift. Tell me the third," he repeated.

Qui-Gon already knew the answer. The Force whispered of deception. Raidon and his partner Cortez had been duped.

"There are only two Guards to report for this shift. 5394 and 3621," the machine said again.

Viza looked confused. "What does that mean?" she asked.

Raidon looked solemn, if not angry. "My registration code is 5394, Cortez is 3621. It is saying that there is no other Guard meant to be present. But we had another one stationed with us. Knew all the codes when we passed through security before arriving here twenty minutes ago."

"Do you have surveillance devices in the corridors?" Qui-Gon asked.

The Guard nodded. "Come with me, we can find them in one of the security rooms. Meanwhile, I'll post extra Guards here and have a search of the Imperial Building ordered. They can't have gone far."

Qui-Gon nodded. "I would like to join the search after looking at the tapes. I also need to talk to Chief Advisor Klone and The First Minister." he stated. It was not a request. "We will find my Padawan."

Raidon stared at the Jedi Master for a moment. "We will find your Padawan," he nodded strongly in agreement.

(somewhere else...)

A dull aching pain told Obi-Wan he was now awake. Grimacing, he cautiously opened his eyes. Thankfully, when he did, the light hitting his retinas was dim and unobtrusive. He opened them fully, gazing around.

He was lying on his back. For the life of him, he couldn't remember what had happened. Slowly, he breathed out, centering himself, feeling for the Force. He gasped in surprise. He tried reaching out for it again. This wasn't possible…every time he tried to call upon the Force it slipped from his grasp, like he was chasing a slippery bar of soap that would not keep still.

Panic griped Obi-Wan's heart and he felt his breaths leaving him in worried gasps. Where was he? Why wouldn't the Force bend to his will? It didn't make sense…

"Master?" he tried, his voice holding firm despite his trembling body. "Master?"

There was no reply. In fact, his voice just seemed to bounce back at him, as though he was in a small room. Or a cave. After calming himself Obi-Wan realized he could hear water, pattering on the floor. A cold drop landed on his cheek, startling him. He brushed it away quickly.

"Hello?" Obi-Wan tried again, sitting up. He winced as a sharp pain lanced through his head and threw up a hand to cradle the back of his skull. Probing fingers soon found a large egg sized lump on the back of his head.

"That explains the headache," Obi-Wan commented dryly, wincing again as he removed his hand. The fact that he couldn't feel the Force meant he could not call upon it to sooth the injury. He would just have to put up with it.

The floor beneath his fingers was covered in reed mat, but after finding the edges, his fingers danced across cold, rugged stone. A cave indeed. It was rather chilly too. Looking around, Obi-Wan saw that there were various candles burning softly in brackets hammered into the rock face.

It was slowly trickling back into his mind. He'd been at the Imperial Building, with his Master, Chief Advisor Klone and the First Minister. Obi-Wan had decided to return to his quarters for some reason or other. Then trouble. The Force had swirled around him- warning him- too late had he paid attention. Now he was here, wherever here was…

He had been captured.

Obi-Wan gulped. Captured. He had heard terrible stories about Knights and Masters being kidnapped whilst on missions. The tortures some had undergone. He hoped a lot of it had been exaggerations through the retelling of the tales.

Obi-Wan wished Qui-Gon was with him.

"Hey- are you awake?" a quiet voice said from behind Obi-Wan.

Turning around, startled, Obi-Wan yelped as he moved his head too quickly- a flash of pain burning through his skull. Sith that hurt! Obi-Wan thought. Damn that he didn't have the Force, he would have been able to sense the other presence.

"Yes I'm awake," the Padawan grumbled, somewhat disgruntled as he carefully supported the back of his head. Having finished turning to face the speaker he was surprised when he laid eyes upon a young boy, who could not have been older than himself, emerging from the shadows.

"That is good. I had hoped you were not too badly injured," the young boy said, offering a smile.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. Right...that did not sound like typical torture style conversation. "Where am I?" he asked instead.

The young boy fiddled with a loose thread on his grey tunic. "I can't tell you that. I was only supposed to sit with you until you awoke. I saw you sit up and came over to have a look."

"Well, I'm awake," Obi-Wan said slowly. Now what? He wondered. I have no idea where I am, I can't access the Force and Master Qui-Gon is nowhere to be found. Oh this is great Obi-Wan. You've gone and gotten yourself captured. On your FIRST mission. Gods Qui-Gon must be mad…who gets captured on a simple mission such as this? Such a failure Obi-Wan…

The young boy, Karsten, titled his head, watching the mixture of emotions flowing over his charge's face. The first, he made out in the candle light as confusion, followed quickly by frustration, then exasperation and finally dejection? Then suddenly all was wiped blank- like a slate being cleaned.

"Are you alright?" Karsten asked tentatively.

He watched as the boy's braid swung over his shoulder, eyes widening. "Am I alright?" he repeated. "I need to know what is going on here." The boy folded his arms in front of his chest, arranging himself so he was sitting cross legged. He looked the epitome of serenity. Karsten blinked at the sudden change.

"My name is Karsten," he tried. "What's yours?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan said formally. He had to sort this out. Perhaps a mistake had been made…"Now. You must tell me what is going on here. Where am I? Why was I brought here?"

Karsten rose to his feet, in a smooth, well practiced move. "Now you are awake the leaders will want to see you. I can take you to them," he said. He watched as Obi-Wan followed his lead, moving more slowly, as if mindful of injuries. He held his left side awkwardly and Karsten winced. The others had obviously not been careful when they had brought Obi-Wan in.

Obi-Wan winced as he felt his left side protest at the movement. It was where he had been beaten in the struggle. Suddenly, his heart clenched as a sudden fear washed over him and his hand dropped to his waist in a frantic search. It was gone. It couldn't possibly be gone. They had taken his lightsaber!

"What's the matter?" Karsten asked, watching Obi-Wan struggle to control himself.

"My lightsaber. Have you seen it?" Obi-Wan asked urgently. His brown cloak was also missing he noted absentmindedly. That could easily be replaced though. But his lightsaber…

"I haven't seen anything," Karsten looked apologetic as Obi-Wan described his lightsaber. "They brought you in alone. Come follow me. I'm sure the others will explain."

Karsten walked away, soft kid boots barely making a sound on the rock. Obi-Wan followed him. Karsten drew back a drape that hid the entrance to the cave.

It took almost all of Obi-Wan's Jedi training to prevent his jaw from dropping.

(Imperial Building)

"Chief Advisor Klone," Qui-Gon said, turning to the man as the Advisor entered the room, Viza hurrying along behind him. Guard Raidon stood beside the Jedi Master. It was circular, with a white stone floor flecked with black and grey bands of mineral impurities, large bay windows allowing light to stream in. They were in one of the smaller domed buildings- an ante-chamber to the First Minister's audience chambers.

"Master Jinn," Klone looked stressed. "When my aid told me what had happened...if there's anything I can do…"

"There is Chief Advisor," Qui-Gon said, moving swiftly to the point. "We need to see the video footage. Apparently it needs your identification code." Though Qui-Gon looked calm on the outside, inside his brain was rapidly ticking over all the information he, Raidon and Viza had so far gathered.

The video tapes could not be accessed. Raidon had at first been confused- usually accessing tapes was simple for any guard of his rank. Now, he couldn't access any files.

Viza's search of Guard records had drawn up a blank. There was no Guard matching the description Raidon or Cortez had given on the mysterious third Guard. Qui-Gon was beginning to suspect it had been an outside job. That intensified his worries. He had no leads on where Obi-Wan was at all.

"Of course," Klone gabbled. "There is an access terminal in my office, come we can search the tapes there." A flap of his robes and the Chief Advisor was leading the party back through the immense marble and granite foyer towards his offices.

Jabbing in the code to grant access to his offices, the group waited impatiently as the doors hissed open, revealing the lavish interior of the Chief Advisor's main office. A plush carpet covered the stone floor and a long, ornately carved wooden desk stood in the centre with a large red chair tucked in neatly behind it. The large bay windows behind the desk showed the Imperial Building's Official Gardens.

Klone seated himself at the desk, holographic monitors flashing up in front of him as he began to access the security. Qui-Gon ever serene stood by the man's side as Viza and Raidon stood on the other, staring as the fast forward images sped across the screen.

"Stop," Qui-Gon said pointing to an image. "There."

Raidon nodded. "That is myself and Guard Cortez. That is the third Guard," he indicated to the slightly blurry holographic screen which was on pause. The video continued, in clear colour at normal pace. Qui-Gon watched as Obi-Wan approached the room from the opposite end of the corridor, opened the door and stepped through. The Master felt his heart clench of its own accord. The last footage of Obi-Wan.

There was a sudden noise on the video; Qui-Gon watched as all three Guards glanced at each other, before hurrying towards the Jedi's room. There was another muffled shout and everything went quiet. Nothing else moved along that corridor for three more minutes.

"There is nothing else it could be…" Klone sighed.

Qui-Gon turned sharply to look down at the slumped figure of the Chief Advisor. "What is it?" he demanded.

"Master Jedi…we may not have been entirely truthful when we contacted the Jedi Temple and requested a Jedi presence during the midst of our elections," Klone began wearily. "We have been experiencing trouble here on Malrion. Insurgents. The attack at the Airdrome this morning…intelligence has reached me that it was masterminded by the rebels."

Qui-Gon exhaled deeply, releasing his frustration to the Force. Of course. It made sense. He was also irritated. He had brought Obi-Wan to this planet precisely because of its reputation for being a peaceful planet and a mission of simplicity without this sort of complication. There had been little to warn Obi-Wan about.

From the looks on Raidon and Viza's faces- they had not heard of this before either.

"Chief Advisor- why was this not brought up?" Qui-Gon asked as diplomatically as possible.

Klone sighed. "It is…embarrassing for a planet such as ours to be entangled in such an event. This matter is known only to the top officials. So far they have not demanded much. Just that the elections should not go ahead. They believe them to be 'rigged'. Can you believe it? Rigged!" The Advisor thumped a fist on the desk.

Qui-Gon nodded. "So their first act of violence was at the Airdrome this morning?"

Klone looked serious. "I believe Master Jedi that that was their second. Their first was the attack on your ship as you travelled here."

Qui-Gon thought about it. It was plausible. Not yet proven. The Force could not provide a certain answer. "We do not yet know for definite whether these rebels you speak of were behind the attack on my ship Chief Advisor," he said politely.

"I beg to differ Master Jedi," Klone disagreed. "These rebels have made known their aims. Now they have your Padawan."

"We still do not know that," Qui-Gon said. Inwardly he recognized it as one of the only likely leads so far. It was not as if Obi-Wan had jumped up and just disappeared by himself.

"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, where are these rebels? Give me enough men and I can help hunt them down," Raidon interjected.

"We have been unable to track the rebels' movements," Klone explained heavily. "They move quickly- rarely staying in one place for very long. Every time we are upon them we find empty hideouts. This needs to be kept quiet. If the citizens find out…"

Qui-Gon nodded. Panic just before elections was not what was wanted. "If you would excuse me Chief Advisor. I must place a call and also meditate. My emotions are becoming quite…distracting."

Klone offered a weak smile. "Please Master Jedi- whatever you require is yours. You can make the call from my private office over there."

Qui-Gon gave a short bow in thanks and left, brown Jedi robe flapping behind him as he left the main office and entered the small, quieter one off of Klone's main office. He accessed the main terminal, typing in a few choice commands. He spoke briefly to a connector before the call was patched through.

"Windu here," the bald council's image swam into view.

"Mace," Qui-Gon acknowledged, allowing a touch of frost into his voice.

"Qui-Gon," Mace replied cheerfully. "What can I do for you? How's the mission going?"

"I remember you saying about this mission- direct quote: "a simple overseeing of a planet's routine elections. Nothing too strenuous." I disagree," Qui-Gon answered, brows drawing in together.

Mace looked puzzled. "Qui-Gon what has happened?"

"There's a rebel base here. Things have become a lot more complicated then we first anticipated. The Government here has kept quiet about the rebel activity in a hope it will not interfere with the elections," Qui-Gon informed him.

Mace's eyes widened. "They did not inform us of this."

"No, Chief Advisor Klone admitted that a moment ago," Qui-Gon said, feeling the frustration seep back.

"Qui-Gon? Something else is wrong," Mace concluded, studying the grainy image of his friend's face knowingly. Something more had irritated the other Jedi Master.

"It's Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon managed.

"What's the matter with him?" Mace ventured.

"He's gone Mace. Klone believes it's the rebels. There is no conclusive evidence yet," Qui-Gon said heavily.

Mace looked stunned for a moment. "They've kidnapped a Jedi Padawan?" he demanded, a frown marring his face as Qui-Gon nodded the affirmative.

"Continue to investigate Qui-Gon. I will see what I can dig up from this end," Mace promised. "Do not worry- Obi-Wan is capable."

Qui-Gon nodded. He knew what Obi-Wan was capable of. He paused.

Did he?

They had only been with Master and Apprentice for the past two weeks. He knew of Obi-Wan's capabilities in a controlled environment in the Temple- where there was little danger from unexpected enemies and rebels.

Now on planet with little information about this so called enemy- Qui-Gon did not know how Obi-Wan would react. Could the boy rise to the challenge? He hoped so.

No- that was not fair to Obi-Wan. The boy was strong. He would survive and do credit to his Jedi training as expected.

Obi-Wan…I will find you…

"I'll message you soon," Qui-Gon informed Mace who had waited patiently as his friend had sunk into his mind. "May the Force be with you."

"You too Qui-Gon. Allow it to guide you."

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AldabaranFox