Chapter 16: At War

Anakin watched as everyone prepared for the upcoming battle feeling distinctly left out. He knew that he had already helped Padmé and the Jedi just by winning the money for them to fix their spaceship; but he wanted to do more. Unfortunately in the midst of a battle the best thing he could do to help would be to stay safely out of the way. A point Qui-Gon made abundantly clear by telling Anakin exactly what he expected the boy to do. He was to wait in the hanger bay out of sight until it's been cleared of droids, and then he wasn't to leave; Anakin had had those instructions drilled into his head. Since he was only a boy Qui-Gon's rules were perfectly reasonable and it was perfectly reasonable that Anakin was expected to follow them. But Anakin had ambitions greater than his age.

At first he had consoled himself knowing that Lyyr was also expected to stay out of harms way; a thought that ceased to be consolation when he saw Qui-Gon give Lyyr a lightsaber. He could not help the tinge of envy he felt watching both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan teach Lyyr how to use the weapon. Lyyr had all the luck, she always got to do the cool stuff, Anakin thought sulkily. He tried to keep his sulking to himself but he knew from the occasionally glances she sent him that his sister noticed. He didn't consider the danger having the weapon now put Lyyr in; he never considered the danger what she did put her in and kept him out off. Anakin sat there and watched the impromptu training session imaging that it was him and not Lyyr wielding the lightsaber.

Qui-Gon taught Lyyr as much as he could in the time he had. She was by no means an expert but adequate enough that she could manage to deflect blaster bolts. Lyyr knew that the best thing for her to do would be to find some place for her to hunker down and stay safe. It went against her nature to be helpless but she was smart enough to realize that the marginal skill she had acquired was not enough to make her a hero. It only made her just slightly less of a burden to the Jedi.

The Jedi seemed to sense how uncomfortable she was and took as much time as he dared in training her the rudimentary techniques of fighting with a lightsaber. He had her practice these techniques against Obi-Wan and she just barely managed to hold her own. She could tell that Obi-Wan was holding back, almost treating her with kid gloves and that offended her. She knew that being gentle with her in training was not going to do her any favors. Lyyr also knew that trying to explain to him why it wasn't helpful would get her nowhere. She did her best to learn what she could.

"You've made progress," Qui-Gon encouraged her, "but it still would be best if you found a place you and Anakin can stay out of sight and stay safe. Stick close to Obi-Wan and I until you find such a spot."

Lyyr had nodded her agreement to his plan acutely aware of Anakin watching her. His natural eagerness to help would be tempered by her example. She will ignore her distaste at relying upon others to protect her in order to keep him safe. A bruise to her ego was worth it if it encouraged Ani to follow her example and stay out of trouble. Lyyr was determined to obey Qui-Gon's instructions; at least as well as she could.

It was just as well that she was determined to obey; for at the first sign of battle Lyyr did the unthinkable. She froze in terror. Never before had she witnessed a fight on such a large scale or seen so many cut down by blaster fire. The speed and efficiency of the weapons killing power horrified her.

Lyyr did not see the bolt hurtling towards her until it was too late. Before she could react a blue lightsaber came out of nowhere to block the well-aimed bolt. Startled out of her momentary paralysis Lyyr's eyes traced up the arm that held the saber until her gaze locked with Obi-Wan's.

"You need to pay better attention."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Get inside with Anakin." He commanded urging her forward with a slight shove. She followed in the wake of Qui-Gon, Padmé, and Anakin into the hanger bay, while Obi-Wan remained in the rear of the group. Lyyr was deeply embarrassed by what happened and resolved not to freeze like a startled whomp rat again. When the blaster fire started to fly through the hanger she managed to bury her fear and act. She reached for Anakin and pulled him away from the thick of the fighting even as Qui-Gon instructed them to:

"Find cover, quick!"

Without hesitation Lyyr pulled her brother towards an unused ship. She helped him up the ladder and into the cock pit. She then stood at the base of the ladder and drew her weapon determined not to allow any foe near her brother. The little astrotech droid R2-D2 followed them and got itself installed in the fighter as Anakin's copilot. Lyyr ignored the droids antics, keeping her eyes peeled for stray blaster fire. She was pleased to notice that her hands remained steady despite her nerves.

The fight in the docking bay finished quicker than she imagined it could. In the wake of this small victory they conferred on how best to proceed to the throne room. They were going to split up and Lyyr was not about to be left behind. She put away her mother's weapon and joined the back of the nearest group. Neither Jedi appeared to have notice her but Anakin did.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Ani yelled.

"No Ani, stay in that cockpit." Qui-Gon commanded and Lyyr reinforced that command with a look the boy knew not to argue with.

At that moment the doors at the end of the docking bay opened to reveal an imposing figure dressed in black. The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal a face Lyyr that horrified her. It was not his appearance that frightened her, instead it was the malevolence she felt radiating from him that put a chill down her spine. More importantly that face haunted her worst nightmares the ones from childhood she tried and failed to repress. Even the horrors she had suffered at the hands of Gardulla could not wipe them out. Seeing that face again shocked her to the very core of her being and Lyyr found herself rooted to the spot.

This new adversary had a face that looked more like a mask (which was not uncommon for a Dathomirian Zabrak) with his red skin, black facial tattoos, and the vestigial horns crowning his head. It was still an unsettling sight. Even more unsettling were his eyes, red with yellowish orange irises that lacked any traces of compassion. All of her attention was riveted on the new familiar enemy who could only be the warrior trained in the ways of the Sith that had attack on Tatooine. She managed to take one hesitant step backwards catching the Sith's attention. The heat of those eyes focusing on her was more than she could withstand.

"We will handle this," she vaguely heard Qui-Gon announce. The Dathomirian smiled chillingly at her before attacking the Jedi. It held a promise that she did not want to see fulfilled.

Padmé and her group left the Jedi to deal with this new enemy while Lyyr remained frozen by the fear she could no longer control. The sound of heavy blaster fire caught her attention and she turned around to find Anakin using the weapon system in his borrowed N-1 starfighter to destroy a pair of droidekas. He then managed to get himself a free joyride out of the hanger. She closed her eyes and murmured a silent plea for his continued safety. There wasn't a damn thing she could do to help him now. Lyyr stood there alone in the docking bay caged by her sense of failure and lingering fear; utterly confused as to what she should do.

"Damnit I can't just stand here!" She scolded herself in an attempt to rally herself into action. Lyyr took a moment to close her eyes and attempt to regain control over her increasingly wild emotions. When she opened them she followed after the Jedi.

Obi-Wan had been fighting the Sith side by side with Qui-Gon one moment and then he was flying through the air the next. He landed painfully on a bridge a level below then rolled over the edge to dangle precariously off the side. He was trying to regain his footing, and stable ground, when he felt hands on his own. Obi-Wan looked up startled to find Lyyr trying to help pull him back up on the bridge. With a small application of the Force he managed to pull himself up and knock Lyyr off her feet. He reached for his lightsaber first before turning to help her up. She had already regained her footing and was glaring at him.

"What are you doing here?" He shouted, "I thought we told you to find somewhere safe to hide." He continued in a more modified tone.

"I'm trying to help," she retorted with equal heat.

"Don't you understand you'll only be in the way."

"I need to be here, I feel this!"

Obi-Wan sighed in aggravation and rolled his eyes before grabbing her roughly by the arm and Force-jumping them both on to the upper bridge where Qui-Gon stilled dueled with the Dathomirian Zabrak. Once they were safely on the bridge he Force-pushed Lyyr away from him, towards safety. He was careful to make sure that she wouldn't lose her balance and fall of the bridge. Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon would never forgive him if anything happened to the girl. He took one quick look to ensure that she was on the bridge and a good distance away from him then he sprinted to catch up to his master and the Sith. Behind him he heard a scream of vexation. A quick small smile tugged at Obi-Wan's lips, it pleased him to know that he could frustrate her just as much as she frustrated him.

Obi-Wan skidded to a halt in his headlong rush as a series of electron gates connected blocking the way into the power generators melting pit. He had only managed to make it halfway through the series of shields before they reignited. Qui-Gon took advantage of the pause in the action to meditate while the Sith paced like a caged angry nexus. Occasionally he would scrape the edge of the electron gate with his weapon, impatient to resume his fight with Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan found it just as difficult to wait and had no idea how Qui-Gon managed to be so composed.

The electron gates turned away and Qui-Gon was up in a flash, so quickly that Obi-Wan was not sure he saw the older Jedi move. Obi-Wan rushed down the hallway even as Qui-Gon rushed the Sith in a blinding attack. It was his hope that he could reach his master before the gates came up again but he had no luck. He was forced to watch the fight, unable to help once again. He had seen Qui-Gon defeat a mired of opponents before but the ferocity the Sith attacked was not something one Jedi could withstand on his own for long. Almost as if a undercurrent to his very thoughts the Sith bashed Qui-Gon in the face with the handle of his double sided weapon then reversed the blade skewering the Jedi.

As Qui-Gon fell Obi-Wan found he was screaming with an emotion beyond his control. It took an intermediate amount of time for the gate to rotate through and release him. As soon as it did he rushed the Sith. While he raised his lightsaber to deflect the Sith's first blow he heard a voice much like Qui-Gon's murmuring in his mind.

"Harness your emotions my young padawan, control them and you will not fail."

Lyyr's anger at Obi-Wan's audacity knew no bounds and she channeled that into the run she made to try and catch up with the Jedi. She seemed to move at a rate of speed far greater than she could normally achieve. If she had been trained at all in the uses of the Force she would have realized that what she just did was use Force-speed. That's what made it possible for her to reach the electron gates so quickly. Unfortunately she was compelled to skid to a halt, just as Obi-Wan a few meters in front of her, as the gates came back up to block the hallway again.

It was impossible for her to see what was going on, but when the gates opened and she heard Obi-Wan's scream she knew that something awful had happened. She felt his anger and pain reverberate through her and there was a sudden searing pain in her gut. Lyyr knew without having to think about it why she suddenly felt like she had been speared. If she had bothered to think at all and if she had any knowledge of the Force she would have realized that she had managed to tap into the Living Force. That was why she felt Obi-Wan's anger and despair as if it were her own as well as experience the wound killing Qui-Gon.

But coherent thought was the furthest thing away from her mind at present. Her only goal, her only thought was to reach Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Once again the electron gates thwarted her in her attempts. She had to stop once again just one gate away from the melting pit. Lyyr bit her lip and scanned the room looking for Qui-Gon hoping that what she knew in her gut was wrong. Her gaze found his body crumpled and forgotten on the floor; her hands clenched involuntarily at the sight, so fiercely, that her nails dug into her palms.

The flicker of dueling ligthsabers caught her attention and she reluctantly turned her gaze away from the fallen Jedi. She turned towards the combatants in time to see the Sith Force-push Obi-Wan over the edge of the opening and into the melting pit. He then kicked the Jedi's discarded weapon into the pit. From where she stood she could see nothing and had no idea what had happened to Obi-Wan. The only hope she had to cling to was the fact that she could still sense his grief.

Then out of nowhere Obi-Wan reappeared calling Qui-Gon's lightsaber to him as he jumped over the Sith. With one sweep of his of his master's weapon Obi-Wan cut the Dathomirian Zabrak in half. As if it had been planned to do so the electron gate released her from that state of infernal waiting. She rushed past Obi-Wan to the prone form of her father. Gingerly she picked up his head and placed it in her lap. Qui-Gon's eyes fluttered open at her touch and briefly they locked gazes. Obi-Wan joined her in vigil at Qui-Gon's side jostling his focus on her.

"It is too late…It's…"Qui-Gon mumbled his voice barely audible all of his finite attention focused on the young man.

"No!" Obi-Wan retorted vehemently shaking his head.

"Obi-Wan promise…promise me, you will train the boy."

"Yes, Master."

Lyyr could hear the tears in his voice; she clenched her jaw to keep her own tears at bay. She never expected to witness the stoic façade of the young Jedi crumble away. As she witnessed Obi-Wan's palpable grief it became harder for her to keep her own in check.

"He is the chose one…he will…bring balance…train him!" Then the dying Jedi's eyes sought out Lyyr's face once more. "Lyyr…my daughter…."

"Father," she managed to choke out before her grief closed her throat. He smiled up at her then the light in her eyes faded and he was no more.

Obi-Wan cradled his master to him, weeping quietly and passionately. Lyyr sat there overwhelmed by what happened and uncertain as to how to act. Just as she had been since she joined the Jedi. Making up her mind she hesitantly laid a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. When it was not immediately shrugged off she grew boulder and pulled him into a one armed hug, laying her cheek on top of his head. As she settled into the hug she finally felt free to grieve the passing of her father, a man she barely known but felt connected to regardless. They sat that way for some time, Obi-Wan holding Qui-Gon to him and Lyyr holding Obi-Wan, her tears soaking into his hair.