Chapter 18

This time, the shutting door didn't have a satisfactory note in it. Obi-Wan would get the cruel death that he deserved, the respirable sharp components of the Tsennax would tear his lungs to tatters. Nevertheless, it still bothered him that Obi-Wan had been that indifferent towards his death. The Jedi had been so apathetic that he couldn't realize his dooming fate, and that made Maul's anger grow. He had even desisted from breaking his other arm because it wouldn't have shown any further effect. And because of the passing time.

He irritatedly looked at his controller. Why hadn't Savage reported yet? He should have been done with his task long ago. Infuriated, he quickened his steps. They now clanged on the floor, creating a fast rhythm that nearly overtook the thoughts racing through his mind.
He had made a mistake. He had been too preoccupied with his old enemy. So much that he had lost thought of time. And the Jedi did already circle the planet. In the future, he would have to chain his animalistic part, the relict that remained of his insanity, better.
That decision was fiercely tested when he found Savage. Unconscious. And the starfighter gone. His plan had relied on the starfighter's firepower to safeguard their return. Now it was in enemy's hand.

Under great effort, he pushed his anger away, took one deep breath and gave Savage a kick to the side. At least he was instantly awake, Maul was not sure if he would have carried his useless apprentice all the way. When Savage began to stammer an excuse, Maul lifted his hand and thereby effectively stopped him.

"The Jedi are coming. We have to get out. Take our things. We'll meet in the first room."

Savage surprisingly had the brainpower to just nod and quickly go his way. Maul flashed a glance at his wrist controller. He didn't have any false illusions. If one shuttle was there, there were more to follow. And with his weak apprentice, he preferred not to fight against half a dozen Jedi.
He directed his steps to the first room, but decided to make a small detour for the control room. He had to know how serious the threat was.


Obi-Wan regained consciousness through a terrible pain in his chest, followed by a feeling of near asphyxiation. He tried to suck in air, but as soon as he tried, he had to cough hardly. A wet clot landed on his hand. Finally, his instincts took control and screamed at him to get up. Pure agony shot through his arm when he tried to burden it with his weight, and he landed hard on his stomach, coughing and retching.

Obi-Wan tried to regenerate, but the Force and all his senses still urged him to rise, so he patted the floor with his legs until he found a wall. He bit on his tongue and flung his body around so his back landed on the wall. The frantic gap, the only sound that he could muster, didn't correlate to the pain he felt in his abused back at all. His arm – it was broken, he remembered – pulsated like an angry venom-worm, but he had to carry on. Slowly, he pushed his feet nearer to the wall, awkwardly securing his injured arm around the binders with his left arm. Steadily, he lifted himself up, his back scratching over the wall until he was nearly vertical.

The pain and the respiratory distress did not improve, if possible, it went even worse. He needed all of his training and calmness to not panic. Instead of the deep slow breaths he normally used to center himself, he now needed shallow breaths to get at least the smallest amount of air between his coughs. Steadily, the coughs became less frequent, and Obi-Wan could feel the oxygen reach his brain.

He still had to concentrate on his breathing, not to mention his pain, but he could think now. Tsennax. The word appeared instantly in his mind. He was an idiot, Maul had announced it and he had forgotten it right away. Well, one could argument that he was pretty busy being beaten up, but that didn't count.

A new coughing fit hit, and some red splatters joined the ones already on the floor before him. It could be already too late. Obi-Wan had no idea how high the concentration of the Tsennax was in this room, neither his exposition to it. Thankfully, his instincts had made him get up. Tsennax was heavier than air and accumulated on the floor, but it was only a matter of time until it would reach him standing. It suddenly hit him that this room would be his place to die. A broken Jedi with a broken arm waiting for the inevitable to happen. He coughed out a laughter at the counterpart.

On Ard 5, most of the people who had coughed up blood hadn't survived the next two hours, and he guessed that Maul wouldn't leave his death to chance and therefore took a certainly fatal dose for said occasion.

He began to shiver although it wasn't cold. It took all his strength to stay upright. His vision became fuzzy at the edges and he suddenly felt lighter. He was getting weaker, but the pain slowly faded and he felt his connection to the Force strengthen. He would be reunited with Qui-Gon. Anyway, he felt a pang of sadness at the thought that he couldn't speak to Anakin one last time. But the sadness evaporated when the Force's promise of calmness and peace enclosed him altogether and he slowly slid down the wall.


When finally the small blue-striped starfighter with three clone-transporters on its coat-tails arrived, Anakin couldn't be more relieved. Now he could do something. Sitting in this starfighter and having to wait for reinforcement, while similarly having the desperate need to go back to the planet and just help Obi-Wan had killed him. It hadn't helped that the Force did jealously conceal everything that happened on the damned planet underneath.

Anakin quickly briefed Plo Koon about the only landing-spot big enough for six ships they had found near the Sith's lair, and finally, he could steer his ship down, towards Obi-Wan. He just had to be in time, it wasn't possible that he could already be too late.

"Master, relax, we will save him."

His padawan's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he slowly untightened his grip around the steering stick so that his blood could flow back into his whitened hand. Strange that his padawan had to appease him, it should be the other way around. He looked to his right and saw Ahsoka in the round glass-cockpit of the shuttle, flashing him a short smile. Sithspit, the Obi-Wan- and Yoda-conspiration had been right again. He could really learn something from his apprentice, even if it was just the smallest amount of a Jedi's calmness.

As soon as they landed, Plo Koon exited his starfighter and the clone troops deboarded. Anakin quickly considered leaving Ahsoka behind to keep her out of danger, but decided that they needed everyone in the upcoming battle. Plo Koons face was impossible to read, but Anakin guessed that his thoughts went into the same direction. And really, he turned to Ahsoka, who ran down the ramp of the shuttle.

"Ahsoka," he ordered, "you come with us but do not attack Darth Maul. That is not your fight."

Anakin had to stifle a grin at her insulted face, but his amusement ceased abruptly at the Jedi Master's penetrating stare.

He remembered that he had to look like a mess. He pulled the tatters of his tunic over the wounds on his back, as if covering them made them less real.

"I'm fine, let's find Obi-Wan," he answered the unspoken question and took the lead. He could feel Plo Koon's stare in his back, but he also saw Maul's freighter through the rough metal shards, and that improved his mood significantly. Sadly, the way was hard to find and straining. It was a miracle that there was a way in the first place. Or maybe not so much, if the planet and this hideout had really been built as a base for the Sith. They had to go in single file and every time he had to climb a cliff, he cut his fingers on the sharp rocks, a supplemental ache to the ever-present pain in his back.

Finally, the shards revealed an opening, the Sith's freighter neatly parked in the middle of it. Plo Koon came out behind him, followed by Ahsoka and the clones.

"I guess the rest of the way won't be any better, will it?"

Anakin gave the unimproved scenery before him a bad look. "No, it – wait, have you seen movement behind this rock?"

His outstretched hand proved useless because the two figures now came in sight, entering the small plateau. Two scary figures, one of them minus an arm.

"Maul and Opress," Plo Koon assessed, "into position!"

The clones moved around them and readied their blasters. The Sith on the opposite side, only twenty meters away readied themselves, too.

Anakin tightened the grip on his saber, when the realization hit him. The Sith were on their way to the ship, they wanted to leave. That could only mean one thing for Obi-Wan.

He breathed deeply, the only thing he could do to not explode or choke on his emotions.

The object of his rage began to speak and he heard the words through a veil of anger.

"I see that you've brought some friends after your defeat. Go on, try again. Or have you come to save your beloved master? He should be dead in the next three minutes, so you're too late for that."

He spoke the words with his evil mocking grin, but Anakin was actually hit by relief. Obi-Wan was still alive? Without a second thought, Anakin knew that he at least had to try to save him, he deserved that. And Anakin needed it. If he didn't at least try, he could never forgive himself.

And so he ran at Maul, activating his saber in full sprint, and jumped as high as he could in the last moment. He landed with a roll behind the Sith and ran towards the hideout were Obi-Wan was. When he glanced back, he saw that the Sith didn't follow him. They just wanted to escape, no matter the cost.


AN: Yeah, I finally got a new chapter done! As you can see, the story nears its end, it will probably be only 2 or 3 more chapters. Big thanks for all the nice reviews, you keep me going and it's great to know that somebody reads and enjoys your story. So keep reviewing and constructive criticism is always appreciated.