AN: Hello everyone, I know it took me longer than usual, but here is the next update. Please tell me what you think, because I'm not sure if I got it fitting and right. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I don't complain about positive reviews either. Have fun!
Chapter 9
Obi-Wan stood at the door frame, all his senses alert. They had been for over two hours now, but he couldn't risk not hearing Opress come. He would only have one chance of escape, and he had to be ready for it. It would be hard enough, his right arm was a mess. He still felt sick when he looked at it, getting a glimpse of black flesh beneath the charred tunic, and the smell of burning skin still lingered in the air.
It had not helped that he had to bring his arms in front of him. Obi-Wan had nearly blacked out when he laid on the ground, winding his body through the narrow gap his bound arms provided.
He was a bit bugged when he imagined Qui-Gon's satisfactory grin, because there was another thing he insisted on training his uncooperative padawan in, that finally paid off. He remembered the long discussion that involved complaining that gymnastics was only for girls, a long and strict stare of Qui-Gon, the argument that his time was better spent on saber training, an even longer stare of Qui-Gon, and finally disgruntled compliance.
He was brought back to reality when the Force shifted slightly and Obi-Wan heard heavy steps emerge. He strained, put his boot on the door frame for support and catapulted himself outward as soon as the gap the door provided was large enough for him.
His hands went straight to the lightsaber at Opress' hip, but Obi-Wan noticed that he would not have enough impact to overthrow the giant in front of him. He slightly altered his path, so he sailed past Opress, taking the lightsaber with him.
With a roll on the ground he regained his balance, quickly ignited the saber and destroyed his binders.
When Obi-Wan looked up, he saw a wall of an angry Sith fly at him. Opress was a fighter of brute strength, and the force that slammed Obi-Wan into the wall was breathtaking. He managed to keep his grip on the saber, but his hand was enclosed by the Sith's hand, fighting for dominance over the red plasma ray.
In the end, Obi-Wan would lose this fight, but he was not defeated yet. He kicked Opress' leg, and while he heard the angry grunt, he took the minimal space that he got with his action and shifted himself away from the wall. He quickly added the strength of his other arm to the battle over the lightsaber, ignoring the flashes of agony his overly strained burnt arm sent him when its capacity was once again abused over the limit.
The saber was slowly moving away from him, but in the eye of possible defeat, Opress regained his spirits and added his other hand to the tangle on the saber hilt.
Obi-Wan realized that he had maneuvered himself into a dead-end. The blade was now slowly searing toward him, the hum loudly in his ears, the smell of ozone in his nose. Even if he wanted, he could not let go of the saber, for the Sith's claws crushed his hands firmly against the hilt. All he could do was watch the blade come nearer. He felt the heat exude from the blade, like the sweat in his face that cooled his skin in small trails before it vanished in his beard. Was that how he should die? During an attempted escape, doomed to lose on account of minor muscle power? That was not how he imagined it.
And in the turmoil of unsettling thoughts, the Force offered the possibility of a solution. Just a slight one, but these were his specialty. With one last exerted groan, Obi-Wan forced his arms to relax, while similarly rotating sideways, hoping that the blade, now swung by all power the Sith could muster, would miss him.
His fingers were still around the blade, and merely on instinct, he extended the arc the saber described. He did not even need much strength, he just had to channel that of his opponent.
It worked. The blade barely missed him, but he could scent the distinct smell of burnt hair indicating that it was a close call.
The saber moved on, now toward the Sith, who realized what was going to happen. But in the split-second everything happened, he could do nothing more than wide his eyes in terror. Obi-Wan was now totally led by the Force. He steered the pulsating saber at his opponent, left a trail of glowing metal on the floor, exerted more power when he felt Opress' joint block, heard the scream when the joint broke and the horrified silence when the blade finally cut through the arm, severing it right at the shoulder.
Savage Opress made no sound. His other hand went slack, too and he stared incomprehensibly at the arm that fell to the floor as Obi-Wan altered his grip on the red lightsaber. The giant slowly sank to his knees, his eyes never leaving his limb.
Obi-Wan realized a slightly green mist emerge from the wounded spot, along with a strange altering in the Force. It was the same thing he felt in the Force around both the Sith, just a hundredfold stronger. But that was a question he could wreck his brains on later. His first priority was now to leave this darn planet and return to the temple.
Obi-Wan's gaze left the Sith on the ground and he turned around. He could kill the Sith now, but he was unarmed and clearly no threat in his state of shock. It would not be the Jedi way to end his life now.
At the moment, his top priority was to find a ship.
While he ran through the corridors, he tried to shut out the obtrusive thought that there might not be a ship to escape with. Maul was off planet and if the ship he used was the only facility of transport, Obi-Wan was doomed.
He traversed the dimly lit rooms, barely noticing them. Finally, the Force gave him a nudge that he fluently transcribed into a sharp turn to his right. He found himself in a console-packed room, which he quickly scanned for a console to extract a layout plan of, to find a hangar if there was one.
Thankfully the consoles were not secured very well and he quickly found what he needed. Even better. It was not a plan but a hologram, and when he saw the unfamiliar starfighter standing in the small hangar, he nearly staggered from the wave of relief that unfurled through his body.
Obi-Wan had no time to collect his breath and he found himself again storming through the halls, his heart thrumming in his ears together with his steps on the metal floor.
There was a light tap of the Force at the back of his mind, but he subconsciously shut it out, together with the exhaustion and the numerable requests his body accumulated over the time. The thing that kept him going was that he had his hope back. That was all the incentive he needed at the moment.
But the Force grew more insisting and Obi-Wan was - due to his large experience with it - no longer able to ignore it. He quickly took the next door that led out of the hall.
In the empty room, when his heavy breath slowed down a little, he heard what the Force warned him about. There were clanging footsteps coming nearer. He did not have to be a Jedi to know who they belonged to, but he double-checked in the Force anyway. Yes. There were now two Force-presences in the complex beside him. He could spot the devastated presence of Savage Opress and one very angry - not even attempted to be shielded - presence of Maul.
Obi-Wan was cornered. The hangar was in Maul's direction and Opress and the cell were in the other. As the sweat cooled on his skin, leaving a chilly feeling, it found a resemblance inside him. He had been so close away from escape and now it was over. Soon, Maul would reach him, so Obi-Wan shoved away the despair, centered himself, took some deep breaths and wiped the clinging hair off his forehead.
He took the lightsaber in his undamaged left hand, waiting for his nemesis. He would fight Maul, regardless of his poor state. There was no other option. He would fight over life and death now.
But the steps stopped, just a few meters away from the hangar door.
"Kenobi! I know you are in there. Come out and face me."
Obi-Wan did not seem to be the only one eager to fight. With firm steps, he went out of the room. In the corridor to his right stood Maul with an ugly satisfied smile. But Obi-Wan's eyes were already attracted by something else. Besides the Sith laid a human shape on the ground. The curly brown hair, now stained in mud like the black tabard could only belong to one person.
"Anakin?" he gasped horror-stricken.
He got no response from the Jedi, but Maul obligingly answered.
"He's unconscious. But I will kill him right away if you don't hand over my lightsaber."
And with that, Maul ignited his weapon, startling Obi-Wan with the sound. The Jedi was completely off-kilter. All his hope was shattered in one devastating blow Maul gave him, not pysically, but mentally. And he clearly projected his desparation on his body. His "borrowed" saber hang down limply, only held by the occasional twitch Obi-Wan's hand made. He had totally dropped his defense when he saw Anakin.
Because Anakin here, in this place, was probably the worst thing that could happen to him now. Maul seemed to know that he was very close to him and he would use Anakin to break Obi-Wan.
The hovering red blade over Anakin's chest raised the remote question if it would be more merciful for them both to die here fighting than enduring whatever the Sith had planned.
But he could not do that. He told himself that it was because there was still the chance of escape, but deep down he knew what held him from sacrificing Anakin. Attachment. Simple as that, but he deeply cared for Anakin, whom he raised since he was a small boy, who annoyed him to death sometimes, but who still had his back when necessary.
And like that, his deep exhale, the relaxation of his left hand and the clattering of the lightsaber on the floor surprised none of the present people.
The lightsaber flew into Maul's other hand, the satisfaction only a short tremor in his raged force-presence. The Sith quickly closed the space between them, his eyes flashing with anger.
"And now, you pay for what you did to my apprentice. My brother."
The Sith extended his arm and Obi-Wan braced himself for another force-choke. But to his horror, a web of lightning came out of Maul's hand, hitting him square in the chest.
It was not like the choke. It was much worse. This time, his soul suffocated in darkness and his body in agony. He had no anchor, no center. As if the light was extinct. He tumbled through chaos, pain and despair for an indeterminate amount of time.
Later, Obi-Wan found himself face first to the floor, his senses slowly coming back to him. The whole thing could not have lasted longer than seconds, since Maul was still standing before him. Obi-Wan's throat was raw, although he couldn't remember screaming and through the dust that came – Force forbid – from his own body, he saw the Sith stare suspiciously at his gloved hands, the surprise quickly turning into triumph.
He extended his hand once more and Obi-Wan was surrounded by flashing pain again. This time, the agony did not end with him waking up but falling deeper into darkness, and eventually into mercifully painless unconsciousness.
