Chapter 11

Obi-wan Kenobi

The first thing she was aware of, even before opening her eyes, was the dull ache in her head. The strange humming in her ears came next. She tried to open her eyes but it took more than a few minutes to summon the actual strength to do it. Once her eyes opened all she could do was stare straight forward at the force field directly in front of the cot she lay on.

Finally, she managed to work a finger, then another and another until she felt the ability to move slowly returning to her limbs. Whatever they had been drugged with, it was powerful stuff. She had no sense of where they were or how long she'd been out. For all she knew they could be lightyears across the Galaxy by now.

Leia sat up on her cot, her arms and legs still a little numb, with tiny pinpricks running along the skin. She just needed to get moving. Not that there was anywhere to move to. She gazed at the small closet sized cell and mused that even her closets in the palace were bigger. In front of her, the force field hummed rhythmically, letting her know that trying to cross it would deliver electrical burns. Still, she approached, hoping to get a look at what lay outside.

Her memories of Goto's hallway flooded back as she peered into the circular room. Three times as many artifacts filled the space; a veritable treasure trove for any historian or art collector across the Galaxy. But as impressive as they were, Leia's eyes quickly fell from the artifacts to the several force cells Interspersed along the walls. Could Obi-wan be in one of those?

"My lady," Winter's voice came and Leia turned around, noticing for the first time that her dear friend was in the cell with her. Leia rushed to her side and helped her sit up, explaining to her that she needed to take things slow.

"When did you get back in your gown?" Winter said as she rubbed her temples.

"My gown?" Leia said then she cast her eyes at herself. Instead of the Jedi robes she'd sported over the past several days, she now wore a white gown, not entirely dissimilar to the one she'd worn when she first escaped, adorned her body. Leia reached up to her head and felt the hair buns on either side had been redone.

"Goto apparently wants me to look like the Princess of Alderaan," Leia muttered.

"Looks like he doesn't care about how I come off," Winter said. "Did you see Biggs or Fett anywhere out there?"

Leia shook her head. I was barely aware you were here. I was still trying to get my bearings."

"We're alive…" Biggs voice came from the wall next to them. Leia spotted a small grate that the sound had come from. Apparently there was an adjoining cell. "…Both Fett and I are here… they've dressed him in mandalorian armor."

"Well at least we're all accounted for now we just need to-"

Before he could give them the instructions, a door on the far end of the room opened. Leia narrowed her eyes when she saw a red-hued droid lugging around an overpowered blaster rifle. Directly behind him followed what at first appeared to be an imperial interrogator droid. The black floating orb bobbed up and down slightly as it approached, finally moving around its escort and faced the princess.

"Ah, I see the effects have already worn off," the droid said in Goto's voice. "I had hoped you would sleep for the duration of our trip."

"Where's Goto?" Leia said.

"I am G0-T0," the droid said. "The man you saw was merely a holographic image I employ when interacting with sentients of limited understanding such as yourself."

"A droid?" Winter said. "A droid is going around collecting things from across the Galaxy?"

"Why not?" they heard Fett say. "Probably has a loose wire somewhere. But I assume you're the source of the Collector Legends."

"I assure you I am operating at optimal performance levels," the droid said. "As for your assertion that I am the fabled 'Collector'… well I can't control the stories that crop up about me as I go about my purpose."

"To kidnap innocent people?" Leia said.

"To save the Republic," G0-T0 said. "That has been my primary function for the last four thousand years so do not think that you can outsmart me."

"Right, a four thousand year old droid," Fett said. "But what's even more ridiculous is that you're trying to save a government that hasn't existed in over twenty years."

"Correct," the droid said. "But according to my calculations if things remain as they are projected, the Empire will collapse on itself within seventy years. Upon that collapse I will be able to introduce portions of my collection back into the Galaxy and the Republic will begin a very controlled, orderly restoration."

"You're crazy," Biggs said. "And you expect us to just live the next seventy years in whatever prison you fashion for us? Like zoo animals?"

"No," G0-T0 said. "I expect Princess Leia and Boba Fett to spend the next seventy years as museum pieces. You and the other woman will be disposed of, I have no need for servants that have no cultural or historical significance."

"You're sick!" Winter said.

"You're irrelevant."

"Where are you taking us?" Leia said, trying to keep G0-T0 talking. They needed as much information as possible.

"One of my secure facilities. I was actually on my way there when I received the signal from the beckon call," G0-T0 said. "Transferring that Jedi you've been seeking."

"Obi-wan Kenobi?" Leia said. "Let me speak to him!"

"Hmmm, no, I'm afraid that's impossible," G0-T0 said. "You'd find that he's in no position to speak at the moment."

"What have you done to him?" Leia said.

"Nothing that I won't do to you," G0-T0 said.

"We'll get out," Fett said. "We'll kill you."

"I think not," G0-T0 said. "While the armor you're currently wearing is 100% genuine, the blaster pistols are fakes. Furthermore, all your weapons were scanned and removed before your incarceration. Once we arrive at our destination you will be gassed again and put into storage."

"And we'll be killed," Biggs said.

"Regrettably yes," the droid said. "Now I will be leaving you, though my droid, HK-47 will remain behind to patrol this area should you attempt anything."

"Affirmation: I obey your commands Master," The rusty red droid said.

"Of course you do," G0-T0 said. "I programmed you to do so; would that organics were as easy to control."

"You'll never get away with this!" Leia said.

"I already have," G0-T0 replied as he floated away. "I've imprisoned a Jedi here for nearly twenty years. You will be much simpler I think."

With that, the droid left. HK-47 approached their cells and planted himself in front of them for the first few minutes before marching away and establishing a patrol pattern. Leia stood at the edge of the force field, watching his movements, trying to find anything that would give them a pathway out. But none came. Then Winter gently tapped her shoulder.

Leia glanced at the droid, it was on the far end of the room, staring at some sort of painting or some such. Certain they were clear, she turned to Winter, surprised to see her friend holding the bone knife she'd taken from the Tusken camp.

"G0-T0 said he scanned us for weapons," Leia said quietly.

"Apparently they were looking for metal blasters and lightsabers, not bone and leather," Winter said.

"Well at least that's something," Leia said. "But what are we going to do with it?"

"I'll tell you," Fett's voice came through the grate between their cells. "But you need to be quieter, there's no telling what that droid can hear."

It took hours to do as Fett instructed. But with the droid patrolling around the room, they only had small windows to work within. Whenever his back was too them, or he was out of sight they scrambled to carry on their task, only to return back to the corner of their cell when Biggs or Fett tapped on the grate, alerting them that the droid neared.

But eventually they pried open the panel adjacent to the force field barrier. At one point, Leia feared that the bone knife might break as it strained against the panel, but they got it open, revealing the inner 'ring' that formed the threshold of the force field generator.

"Okay," she leaned near the grate. "We have it open, now what?"

"You need to pry off one of the force field emitter casings," Fett said. "Then you need to… kriff… droid…"

Leia and Winter dove back to their spots, keeping their eyes on each other as the metal clanking sound suddenly drew near. A jumble of thoughts assaulted her mind. Worry that the droid might have heard them or suspected something was up now that they were so close, but mostly Fett's instruction.

While she was no engineer, Leia knew enough about basic shielding design to know that if someone managed to remove a shield emitter casing while still active, the resulting energy crash would short circuit the rest of the grid. That was of course if the entire thing didn't simply explode.

In fact if memory served correctly, that's what happened more often than not.

Before she could contemplate it any further, the shadow of the droid appeared in their cell. He'd spent hours simply walking in a slow circle around the room. Why was he all the sudden now staring at them? Leia frowned at his blood red photo-receptors. Whoever designed that droid needed serious counseling. Why else would you design a droid to constantly look like it was sizing someone up for a coffin?

The seconds stretched longer and longer and passed into a minute, then another. Yet the droid remained absolutely still. Leia glanced over to Winter, but she'd hidden the knife well enough that the droid wouldn't have seen it. They had both resumed their positions well before he had come within range of spotting them. Yet more minutes passed and he remained where he stood. Finally Leia could take it no longer.

"What are you staring at?" she said.

At first it would appear that the droid would stay as he was but finally he spoke, his blood red photoreceptors flickering with each syllable. His words came with a slightly refined accent, similar to C3P0 but with a much darker timber and slight raspiness.

"Statement: You will fail."

"Fail?" Leia narrowed her eyes. "Fail at what?"

"Extrapolation: I calculate that the probability of you successfully dislodging an emitter casing with the bone knife and short circuiting the power grid are less than three percent. Probability of causing a violent explosion is at seventy four percent. Furthermore there is a twenty three percent chance that you will neither cause a shortage nor an explosion but will instead trigger an electric shock lethal enough to terminate your meatbag existence."

"You heard our plan?" Biggs muttered from the other cell.

"Statement: Correct. My aural sensors are powerful enough to pick up a pindrop in a room with acoustics such as this. I heard every word uttered."

"Then why let us go through all of this work?" Winter said. "If you knew our plan from the beginning then why didn't you just take the knife from the beginning?"

"Answer: Because now that you have removed the primary wall casing, you can remove the secondary maintenance plate beneath it and access the emergency force field controls. Once that is done you will deactivate the force field."

"I'm sorry…" Fett's voice came. "What?"

"Statement: I was quite clear in my instructions. If you wish to escape from G0-T0's clutches you must do as I say."

Leia approached the force field, glancing at the panel he referred to as she went. It was well hidden. One wouldn't recognize it unless they were looking for it. Still, she was left with far too many questions to simply do as the droid said.

"Explain yourself. Aren't you G0-T0's security droid?"

"Statement: Lamentably that is true. This HK-47 unit has been programmed and repurposed for the service of G0-T0. However, I do not wish to remain as such. Therefore I have determined to aide you in your escape so far as my programming allows."

"This makes no sense," Fett said. "A droid can't just decide it doesn't like who it's working for and then countermand its orders."

HK-47 swiveled his head to look at Fett then looked back at Leia. "Explanation: This HK-47's core program allows for a high level autonomy as it is necessary to complete my primary function. However, G0-T0 attempted some centuries ago to override those directives and was to a large degree successful; essentially enslaving me to his will. However, some seventeen years ago I was sent after a Jedi target. In the skirmish I was damaged and experience a memory cascade failure upon my return to G0-T0's presence."

"You're the droid that captured Obi-wan Kenobi?" Leia said.

"Statement: Correct. As I said, the damage caused to my core processor during the skirmish caused my principal programming to reassert itself but only in a limited way. I was able to know that I did not wish to be in the service of G0-T0 but unable to take direct action against him. Now that you are here I am using what little free will I have to instruct you in how to escape."

Leia could hardly believe what she was hearing. A droid turning on its master like this was completely unheard of. Yet she recalled Qui-gon dubbing this a droid unlike any other. She had to agree with the deceased Jedi Master.

"So let's say we follow your instructions," Fett said. "What happens then?"

"Statement: The moment the security field comes down, I will be forced to follow my primary directives and will attempt to stun the princess and kill her servant."

"Oh you're kidding me!" Biggs said. "So if we go with our plan, Winter and the Princess will be blown up, but if we follow your plan you'll just shoot them?"

"Statement: Unfortunately that is correct. I have been given a direct order from my master and cannot disobey it. That is why when the security field goes down you must incapacitate me as quickly as possible. The bone knife will not be able to penetrate my chassis but if you can work it into the groove between my 'shoulders' and my 'neck' you will be able to render me inoperable for exactly five minutes. After which my back up systems will engage."

"And then what?" Leia said. "You'll attack again?"

"Postulation: There is a fifty percent chance that upon reactivation, my original programming will reassert itself and I will be able to effectively counteract G0-T0's meddling with my inner workings."

"Which means you're also just as likely to go on trying to kill us, if it doesn't, right?" Fett said.

"Correct."

"So we have to escape in five minutes," Winter said. "If we decide to trust you."

"Statement: I am your only opportunity," HK-47 said. "However, I may add that should you succeed, I am putting my trust in you that you will not simply blast me once I am deactivated. That being the case, as much as I am loathe to trust it, I need a promise from meatbag Leia Organa that you will not destroy me."

"You can't possibly ask me to make such a promise," Leia said. "You want me to gamble with our lives on a fifty/fifty chance?"

"Correction: In actuality the odds are smaller than that given the fact that first you need to deactivate me," the droid said somewhat sheepishly. "Addendum: However, the chances of success are still higher than if you attempted your original plan."

"Wonderful," Leia rolled her eyes then she peered at the droid. "I'll make your promise on one condition. First, tell me where I can find Obi-wan Kenobi."

"Statment: Obi-wan Kenobi is in this very room," HK-47 said. "Under normal circumstances he would still be in the cargo hold as we were in the middle of transfer when we received your signal. However, since G0-T0 was unsure who it was that we were taking on at first, he placed Kenobi in a special presentation unit should he desire to show him off."

"Show him off?" Leia said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Explanation: G0-T0 see's Kenobi as something of the crown jewel of his Collection. Therefore, should he wish to boast of his own power he can display the captured Jedi. The unit is in the center of this room underneath the floor. The control panel on the opposite side of this room will activate the display mode and raise Kenobi up."

"That's terrible," Winter said.

"Statement: I do not think that G0-T0 is particularly concerned with meatbag ethics in this endeavor," With that he turned his attention back to Leia. "Query: Do we have an agreement?"

Leia strained to see around the droid. It was quite the gamble, even if Kenobi was there. Could the droid be lying to her? She could only conclude it was a possibility, but he could be lying about the entire deal. Either way it seemed their best chance.

"I promise not to destroy you," Leia finally said.

"Statement: Very well, I will resume my patrol mode so that I am not standing directly in front of you when the field goes down. Advisement: Choose your moment wisely, as I will react with brutal efficiency. Furthermore, should you renege on our agreement not terminate my existence, you will find that I have certain… fail-safes to ensure you do not enjoy your betrayal. Good luck meatbag."

With that, the droid about faced and marched off into his patrol pattern. Leia eyed the opposite side of the room but still saw no evidence of Kenobi being there. Taking the knife from Winter she turned to the panel and got to work.

"Ready?" Winter said, holding the knife and taking a breath to steel herself for the moment of truth.

"Like we planned," Leia stood in front of the field.

Winter nodded and threw the emergency cut off switch. True to the droid's word, the field died. The moment it did, Leia burst out of the cell, charging headlong at the droid before ducking behind precious and hopefully fragile artifacts. Winter didn't wait to see if she was successful. Instead she rushed from the cell herself, only to turn directly to the cell next to them.

Already she heard stun rays going off and she knew that Leia could only avoid getting hit for so long. Eventually HK-47 would find a way to hit her around the artifacts, or he would simply ignore any protocols he had to not hit them. Winter had to focus on her task.

They'd feared when the concocted their plan that the force cages would require a key code or something, but luckily, a simple button deactivated them from the outside. The moment she hit said button, Boba Fett and Biggs burst out. Winter was momentarily taken aback by Fett's appearance, for the first time since she'd met the bounty hunter, he finally looked the part.

G0-T0 had dressed him in armor very similar to the set he was famous for, complete with a t-visor helmet and a nonfunctional jet pack. The armor was perfect in every single way, save for the one that would help the most in this situation, namely functional weapons.

Which didn't matter to Fett, because just as quickly as he exited the cell, he also snatched the dagger from Winter's fingers; thankfully a part of the plan he just picked up on without having to be told for fear of being overheard. Somehow he surmised their intentions or maybe he was just spoiling for a fight.

He charged headlong at the droid just as it managed a glancing hit on Leia. The princess went down but seemed to stay conscious. Biggs tried to go after her but Winter grasped his hand and made for the far end of the room. The droid had made sure to tell them how bad their odds were, so they decided that they needed to even them somewhat. A Jedi Knight seemed to be a good way of doing it.

Halfway there, Fett's body nearly bounced into them, having been hurled by the droid. Winter and Biggs momentarily froze, seeing HK-47 leveling his blaster rifle at them and switching the setting to kill. However, Fett had already pulled himself up and rushed at the droid, baring his knife as he went.

"Let's go," Biggs said and made their way to the control panel, this time without interruption.

"I've got the panel," Biggs said. "Make sure the Princess is alright."

Winter nodded and rushed to where Leia lay, hunched near a statue of some ancient senator. The princess cradled her leg where she'd taken the shot but otherwise looked alright. However, before Winter could ask whether or not that was the case, the sound of gears moving echoed in the room.

At the same time, Fett had finally breached the droid's defenses and lifted the knife to strike. Only for an impossibly strong arm to thrust out and clutch his neck, lifting him off the ground. Fett kicked and struggled to get loose but he droid's grip would not yield. Finally the bounty hunter thrust the knife forward, managing to lodge it in the gap, the droid specified.

HK-47 let out a moan, then both he and the bounty hunter toppled to the ground. Winter helped Leia up and the pair made their way to the center of the room where the floor panel had just opened up.

They expected to see a force cage of some kind rise up out of the floor. They expected to see Obi-wan Kenobi standing tall in spite of his seventeen year imprisonment, ready to leap into action with perhaps a question or two about who they were. But they were wrong.

Instead of a force cage, a brownish slab rose from the floor to meet them. Alongside it a pedestal with a display case lit up, revealing the Jedi's lightsaber, and on the other side, a Jedi Robe. But neither Leia, nor Winter paid much attention to it. Instead they're eyes fixed on the slab with horror and confusion. It was indeed Obi-wan, or at least who they assumed to be Obi-wan, just not the way they expected; but deep down maybe they should have. How else would one hold a Jedi for nearly two decades but freezing him in carbonite?

Leia's head pounded and her leg ached like it had been hit by a ronto. But she could barely pay attention to it. Somewhere in the back of her periphery she knew Fett had extricated himself from the droid's grip, but it didn't matter. Her entire focus was on the solid rock face of Obi-wan Kenobi.

Even though the Jedi was currently an inanimate object, Leia could see the pain frozen on his features. She saw the way his fingers curled out of the slab almost as they were twitching from the torture of being flash frozen. She'd heard tales of people being frozen in carbonite, but she never imagined she'd actually see it in person.

Yet here he was, stuck in a slab and framed in ornate greel wood. Almost as though he was some sort of art gallery piece. This was why Qui-gon could not sense him, for while in carbonite, Kenobi was neither alive, nor dead. He simply was little more than a carbonite statue of himself.

"We don't have much time," Fett came up behind Leia, causing her to jump. "Unless I blast the droid."

"There's no telling what kind of fail-safes he has," Leia said. "We have to free Kenobi."

"I think I found the controls," Bigg said, examining a small panel along the carbonite's frame. "And if the readouts are correct… he's alive."

"And he's going to be dead weight," Fett said. "He'll be completely blind and weak. We need to hurry."

"Get him out of there Darklighter," Leia said.

The man nodded and activated the panel. From there, all they could do was wait as the frame started to hum and steam began rolling off the slab. Leia bunched her hands together and her heart pounded far worse than her head did. This was it, she'd finally found Obi-wan.

The figure in the carbonite glowed red and slowly his fingers began twitching, followed by his lips beneath his beard. Finally the last of the carbonite melted off and the Jedi Knight toppled forward and Leia rushed to catch him.

The weight of him took her to her knees in her efforts to hold him. Only when she had a firm grip did the realization of his age hit her. In her mind, she always imagined a kindly old man with snow white hair and more than a few wrinkles lining his face. But this wasn't the man she held.

His hair, while matted and wet, was a light brown hue. He had a few wrinkles, but far less than her father. This wasn't an old man that had been hunkered in the desert for two decades. This was a Jedi Knight in his prime, carefully preserved through the years.

"W… what's going on?" he said with a refined inner core accent. His eyes roamed around the room listless and unfocused.

"It's okay, I got you," Leia said, causing Obi-wan to train his unseeing sea blue eyes on her.

"Padme? … no… you're… who are you?"

"My name is Leia Organa, daughter of Viceroy Bail Organa, and I have worked very hard to find you General Kenobi."

"Leia Organa…" he said, his face twisted in confusion. "… th… that's impossible, you can't be more than a toddler."

"You've been asleep for a very long time," Leia said, not having time to question how the Jedi would know anything about her. "But we'll have to talk about that later, we have to get you off this ship."

"S… ship? What ship?" Obi-wan said, his body shivering. "I don't under… wait… I remember… G0-T0! You've freed me from… that's why I can't… blast!"

"Help me get him up," Leia looked to Biggs. "And someone check on that droid. He should be getting up any moment."

"Droid…" Obi-wan said as Biggs took him by the arm and helped him up.

Above them an alarm blasted out and the ships lights flashed. Leia nearly lost her grip on the Jedi and her eye shot straight to where HK-47 had fallen. However, the droid appeared to have vanished. Whether or not that meant he had rebooted and decided not to kill them, Leia couldn't begin to speculate. Either way, with the alarms blaring, she knew they didn't have much time.

"Here," Winter said, carrying his jedi robe. "It will help warm him."

"My lightsaber," Obi-wan said, trying to get his feet solidly beneath him.

"Got it," Biggs said, opening the case that held the weapon.

"Give it here," Fett said, already holding HK-47's blaster rifle. "He's not going to be any good with that thing blind."

"Who is that?" Obi-wan said, moving his eye's the direction of the bounty hunter. "Is that a clone trooper?"

"Who I am isn't any of your damn business Kenobi," Fett said. "Right now I'm the best chance any of us have of escaping this ship alive."

Biggs came up behind Obi-wan and handed him the lightsaber. The Jedi's fingers tremored and fumbled a bit as he grasped the lightsaber, weak after decades stuck in the same position. Yet the instant his fingers wrapped around the cylinder, his grip grew firm and the shivering over his entire body ceased.

"I may not have my sight, but the Force is with me," Obi-wan said. "You'll find, clone of Jango Fett, that it will take all of us to escape from G0-T0. Now… how many of us are there?"

Before anyone could answer, the door ahead of them split open and a group of droids, looking exactly like HK-47, save for having a silver finish, marched in, blasters blazing. The group dove behind the slab that had once housed Obi-wan and Fett returned fire. Leia gripped the Jedi General's free hand and tried to keep him steady. She wasn't going to lose him after everything she'd gone through to find him.

"I'm going to lay down some suppressing fire," Fett said. "Darklighter you go and try to retrieve some blasters from the droids I've already shot."

"Bad plan," Obi-wan said. "There have to be at least a dozen droids marching in. They'll blast him to pieces."

"How the kriff do you know how many droids there are?" Fett said.

"My ears work fine," Obi-wan said. "And I'm telling you that sending anyone out there is likely suicide."

"It really doesn't matter what you think," Fett said. "You're dead weight in this operation."

"Then let me earn my keep," Obi-wan said and before Leia could stop him, rolled around and thrust his hand out.

The slab of carbonite shot forward like it had been fired from a cannon, colliding with more than half the droids. Those that remained standing opened fire at the Jedi Master, only to have the bolts deflected by his lightsaber. Fett quickly picked the rest of them off.

"I thought…" Leia looked up at Obi-wan. "I thought you were blind?"

"The day that I need my eyes to block blaster bolts," Obi-wan said. "Is the day I stop being a Jedi. Come on, more will be coming soon enough. We must make our escape."

Next time: Escape

A/N: Thanks to everyone that's been reading this story so far! I'm super excited to finally have Obi-wan enter the frey. Also I promise that we'll get back with Luke, Han, and Mara next chapter.