SO sorry for keeping y'all waiting so long, not really writing much of anything since the summer. Hopefully nice new computer will make muse more co-operative.
/x/x/
Obi-Wan stirred awake, feeling Anakin wrapped around him like a serpent, pinning him securely between the bigger man's body and the mattress, and a tiny frown creased his brow, it wasn't unusual for Anakin to still be holding him after they had slept, but this tightly possessive, protective grip didn't generally indicate anything good. He managed to free one arm enough to dig an elbow into his lover's ribs as he spoke as sharply as he could.
"Anakin," he snapped, feeling the younger man startle awake instantly, but instead of loosening his grip, Anakin tightened it fractionally, holding him even tighter.
"Tell me," Obi-Wan said simply.
"You, alone, snow, nothing but snow and ice, so red with your blood. You, bleeding, dying, cold and alone," Anakin murmured into the bare skin of Obi-Wan's shoulder.
Obi-Wan felt an involuntary shiver slice though him at Anakin's descriptive words, the feelings behind them, and he knew that whatever he had seen, it had been a true vision, not a nightmare, and there was no point in trying to view it through Anakin's memories, for some reason, despite his strong ability in precognition, he could never see visions that directly affected his own well being, even if they were someone else's visions, he suspected that was the reason he had had no real warning that he was going to lose his father, because it had triggered a major shift in his own life on too many levels. He also knew that Anakin's visions tended to the short term, days or weeks, not months, so what he had seen could not be far off.
Sighing, he pushed against Anakin's tight grip enough to make him loosen it a little, and then turned over to face him, ignoring the bruises he could feel developing from Anakin's artificial hand, and stroked through his gradually lengthening curls lightly.
"Wherever, whenever, it is that you have seen, it is unlikely that I will truly be alone, I seldom am now, and you are always but a thought away. Once we have dealt with our traitors, I will be returning to Coruscant, no snow there, so whatever is going to happen, it will be soon, and I know you will come to my rescue, as you have always done," he said, offering the best reassurance that he could. He wasn't going to dismiss Anakin's concerns, tell him that nothing was going to happen, he had learned that lesson.
"Damn straight I'll always come rescue you, but I would prefer not to need to, I don't like seeing you injured," he growled.
"I don't invite trouble Anakin, it finds me of its own accord," he pointed out.
Anakin snorted, his grip on the older man finally relaxing enough that he could pull away if he wanted to, but Obi-Wan was content to stay where he was for the moment, there was nothing pressing to demand their presence right now.
/x/
Luke surfaced from his meditation, aware that Yoda was watching him closely.
"Distracted you are, young Skywalker, not on what you are doing is your mind," Yoda chided.
"No, I'm sorry. I…I found something yesterday when I was probing Artoo's databanks, and I've been trying to pluck up the courage to ask you about it, them."
"So fearsome am I, that you feared to ask?" Yoda asked, faintly amused.
"No, it isn't that, not exactly," Luke sighed, pulling the data-pad out from where he had left it.
"Artoo had these pictures stored in a hidden cache, I was hoping you could maybe tell me something about some of the people, maybe…maybe tell me if one of them is my father," he said hesitantly.
"Show me the pictures you may, tell you what I can, I will," he said.
Luke activated the pad, bringing up the first picture, and turning it so that the old Jedi could see it, the two sad figures sitting in a beautiful garden.
"Is this one Ben?" Luke asked, pointing to the older figure.
"Obi-Wan it is, a day or two I think after a Knight he became, Anakin Skywalker the child is, newly claimed as Padawan to Obi-Wan."
"They don't seem very happy," Luke said, pleased by the confirmation that the boy sitting with Obi-Wan was his father, even if it was a bit odd that the only confirmed image he had of him so far was of a child.
"Happy they were not, grieving they were, wanted a Padawan Obi-Wan did not, wanted Obi-Wan for a Master, Skywalker did not. For the path they were on, neither was ready."
"Then why…?"
"Found young Skywalker was by Obi-Wan's Master, intended he did to take Anakin Skywalker as Padawan, much friction it caused, blame for this the Jedi Council must hold, as well as Qui-Gon's stubbornness. Killed Qui-Gon was, died he did in Obi-Wan's arms, a promise he extracted before he did that Skywalker Obi-Wan would teach."
"It surprises me that he didn't want to teach my father, I kind of got the feeling of a lot of sadness when he told me that my father was killed by Darth Vader."
"Close, they became," Yoda said simply, not mentioning his suspicion that they had become considerably closer than the rules of the Jedi order permitted, he had never had proof after all, and honouring, for the moment, Obi-Wan's request that he not tell Luke that neither Kenobi nor Anakin Skywalker were dead.
Luke nodded and clicked to the next picture, a big man with long hair and a beard, towering over Obi-Wan, one arm slung around his shoulder, against a backdrop that looked suspiciously like Tatooine to Luke.
"Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan's Master," Yoda identified.
"His father," another voice corrected, making Luke jump out of his skin as a shimmering blue figure appeared, unchanged from his appearance in the picture, apart from the glowing and see through thing of course. The newcomer looked at the picture and smiled faintly, sadly.
"That was immediately after we arrived on Tatooine, before everything was thrown into chaos, before I very nearly destroyed my child's trust in me," he said, insubstantial fingers ghosting over the smaller figure in the picture. He knew he still owed Obi-Wan an apology for what he had done after finding Anakin, even if it had all worked out for the best in the end.
"Why you are here, Qui-Gon?" Yoda asked, frowning.
"I wanted to meet your new student Master. I could have sworn you said 'never again' after you managed to get rid of me," he teased.
"Impudent Padawan, someone else you should be haunting, is there not?"
"He's busy, and soon to become busier. He's in enough danger right now without me distracting him at a bad moment."
"Danger?" Yoda queried, his ears rising in curiosity.
"A few days away yet, and his companion has warned him," Qui-Gon said, shooting Yoda a dark look.
Accepting the implied rebuke from Qui-Gon, Yoda gestured mildly in the direction of his new student.
"Young Skywalker a collection of pictures he found, perhaps help identify some of the occupants you can."
"Glad to," Qui-Gon agreed.
"Um, will Ben…Obi-Wan…be able to visit the way you are?" Luke asked hopefully, looking at the Force spirit in fascination.
"I dare say you will see him again, when the time is right," Qui-Gon said smoothly.
"I hope so, I didn't really get a chance to know him, but I liked him," Luke sighed.
Yoda refrained from commenting that he had known Obi-Wan for years, and never really known him, and turned his attention back to the pictures his new apprentice had found.
/x/
Anakin and Obi-Wan were in one of the briefing rooms, going through the latest reports and trying to pick up the latest position of the Shining Sword when the door-chime sounded. Obi-Wan sighed at the interruption and nodded to Anakin to hit the unlock command for the door. Clipper stepped in from his post on guard outside the door when it opened.
"Your Majesty, Lord Skywalker, Captain Vernet is here with an update," he reported.
"Thank you Clipper, let him in," Obi-Wan said without looking up.
The grey uniformed man stepped in smartly as Clipper left, and snapped to attention as the doors slid shut once more.
"Report Captain," Anakin said impatiently.
"There has been another attack against a rebel supply convoy, what survivors there were have been sending distress messages to the rebel fleet, although I doubt they are strong enough for them to pick up in time to help them. The convoy was headed to a rebel base on Hoth, they think the Shining Sword is going to head there next, but they don't have the range to warn them."
"Co-ordinate with the Dominator, I want them to head directly to Hoth, to intercept the Shining Sword if she turns up there, Vengeance will detour only long enough to try to pick up survivors from the attack, I want to talk to them," Obi-Wan ordered Anakin, who nodded sharply and rose from his seat, although not without a worried look at his Master; Hoth, planet of snow and ice. Obi-Wan gave him a wry look, but waved him away without comment, there wasn't much to say really, they had known that Anakin's vision would be close.
It was a relatively short jump to where the convoy had been attacked, and Obi-Wan thought they could probably offset much of the time difference between the Dominator's arrival time at Hoth and their own, by making a slightly riskier hyperspace jump, he didn't want to leave them facing the Shining Sword alone for too long, the rogue ship had enough of a lead on them to get well positioned to defend against an attack, although hopefully they would only be expecting one ship, as that was all that had been hunting them all along.
He stood in the gallery above the landing deck, watching as a squad of TIE fighters guided the two badly damaged X-wings and the single surviving cargo ship out of the debris field that was all that was left of the convoy into the bay. The crews got out under the watchful eyes of two squads of storm troopers, the rebel pilots automatically knelt on the deck and put their hands behind their heads, well away from their weapons, and they were efficiently but gently disarmed before Anakin strode out onto the deck, casting a sharp eye over them, feeling for any hint of threat, but there was none, they felt beaten, dispirited, afraid that they had failed their comrades on Hoth, leaving them vulnerable to the coming attack.
"Take them to medical and have any injuries attended to, then bring them to the briefing room on deck six. Deck crew, get all ships secured for jump, we need to get moving to reach Hoth close behind the Dominator," Anakin ordered, sweeping out again, he could now feel curiosity mixed with a thread of panic behind him, but he ignored it for now, he had to get them underway.
The jump to hyperspace had been made by the time their 'guests' were escorted to the briefing room by their guards and the medic who would be giving the medical department's report on them. Obi-Wan was waiting hooded and relaxed at the head of the table, Anakin to his right; he didn't want them to be able to describe him when they were returned to their compatriots, not yet anyway, and he certainly didn't want to keep them prisoner, that would not convince the alliance leaders that they genuinely wanted peace.
"Sit down," Anakin said quietly, waving the rescued rebels to seats at the far end of the table.
"Why aren't we in holding cells? You can't seriously think we will be more amenable to betraying our comrades if you treat us well than if you torture us," the man obviously elected as their spokesperson said, as they remained where they stood.
"We are not asking you to betray anyone, you are here to help them. We already know that your convoy was headed to Hoth when it was attacked, we are not interested in capturing any of your bases, we want the ship that attacked you, now please, sit," Obi-Wan spoke from the shadows of his hood, his voice low, smooth, and completely non-descript.
There was another moment of hesitation, then the five rebels sat down, and all but two of the guards left the room.
"Medical report?" Anakin asked as Obi-Wan silently told him to take over.
"Bumps, bruises and a number of electrical burns from shorting systems, but nothing life threatening. All five would be considered fit for duty if they were not guests here," he said.
"Good, dismissed," Anakin nodded.
The medic left, and Anakin turned his attention to the men at the other end of the table.
"When you were attacked, was the Shining Sword alone?" he asked bluntly.
"Yes," the spokesperson said slowly.
"What were the defensive capabilities of your convoy?"
The spokesman narrowed his eyes and remained silent, making Anakin bite back a growl of annoyance.
"I need to know what sort of resistance the Shining Sword is still capable of offering, what they have, what they took from you, what they may be able to take from Hoth if they get there too far ahead of us."
"We were carrying food and cold weather gear, not armaments, we had an escort of six X-wings," one of the cargo hauler's crew said.
"The other four X-wings, were they destroyed or taken?"
"One was destroyed, three were taken."
"Did they primarily attack with TIE fighters or ship board armaments?"
"Fighters, I don't think the ship fired a single shot."
"They know the Vengeance is close on their trail, they are trying to keep everything they can, even as they try to gather more, to fight us," Obi-Wan said softly.
"What about on Hoth?" Anakin asked.
"If they can take the base, they will have access to the turbo-lasers, and more X-wings," the X-wing pilot replied reluctantly.
"It will be a ground battle then," Obi-Wan murmured, earning a quick glance from Anakin.
/You don't intend fighting do you Master?/ he sent worriedly.
/Intend, no, but given your vision, I think that I may end up doing so regardless. Focus on them for the moment, we have nearly two days until we reach Hoth./
"What do you intend to do with us?" the second pilot asked quietly.
"Nothing, return you to your comrades," Anakin responded with a light shrug.
"Really? Will you allow us to repair our ships and assist our comrades if there is a battle when we get to Hoth?" the first challenged.
"You may work on your ships under the supervision of the deck crews, if you complete repairs to their satisfaction, you may do as you will," Obi-Wan said, rising and sweeping from the room in a swirl of dark fabric from his cloak.
Anakin watched him go before returning his attention to the five men across the table from him, and their guards.
"Take them back down to the landing deck, inform the deck crew that they have been given leave to repair their ships under supervision, remain with them at all times," he said to the guards, then he looked back to their guests.
"Quarters will be assigned, you will be escorted to either your quarters or the mess hall any time that you are not working on your vessels."
"Understood," the spokesman nodded, rising as Anakin gestured to the guards, and they all left the room.
Anakin sat for a long moment, allowing the threads of the future to swirl around him, but he still couldn't see anything beyond the lingering after-image of his beloved dying on the ice. Rising he strode out of the room, heading for where he sensed Obi-Wan's presence in the officer's viewing lounge.
"What did you see?" he asked quietly the moment he entered the room.
"Dominator, she's too far ahead of us," he said softly.
"Will she be destroyed?" Anakin asked with a small frown, Dominator was a good ship, a good crew, he trusted them with Obi-wan.
"I'm not certain, there is a fine tipping point in our arrival between outright destruction, and badly damaged."
"I'll go to the bridge and see if we can tighten up the jump any more, get there a little faster."
Obi-Wan nodded silently, turning back to the viewport to stare out into the flashing streaks of hyperspace.
tbc