Chapter Fifteen – An Uncivilized Obstacle
Anakin parked his speeder in a small cave. He sensed through the Force that Obi-Wan was very close. During the journey, Anakin had decided to opt for a stealth operation, with the intentions of keeping the death toll to a minimum. He would sneak in, get Obi-Wan and sneak out again. He just hoped Obi-Wan would be able to walk otherwise sneaking out would prove to be a problem. When Anakin was satisfied his speeder was hidden well enough, he left.
He eventually stopped when he noticed a small building a few hundred yards away which was no higher than one storey. There were four armed guards posted at the entrance to the base. Anakin decided to take a closer look at the base, and so he reached out to the Force and jumped up. Before falling to the ground he saw that the building consisted of only two rooms. Once Anakin was in through the entrance, he would come to a large square room. At the far end of that room he would come to a smaller room.
Anakin was confident that Obi-Wan was being held in the smaller room. He walked up to the guards at a slow pace with his lightsaber in his right hand. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it, but he didn't want to take any chances. As he got closer, he saw the guards stiffen up, their hands moved towards their assault rifles and their eyes watching Anakin's every move. Anakin sensed they had hostile intentions. They knew who he was, and they weren't going to let him pass.
Anakin got closer still. The guards now had their assault rifles pointed at him, and Anakin knew the time to strike was upon him. If he delayed any longer, he would be dead in an instant. He ignited his lightsaber and a bar of blue plasma sprouted out of the hilt. The guards wasted no time in firing on him. Anakin's lightsaber moved swiftly and elegantly through the air, blocking and deflecting blaster bolt after blaster bolt. One of the guards cried out in pain as his own blaster bolt struck him in the chest. He crumpled to the ground dead.
Anakin advanced like a predator advancing on his prey. His lightsaber was a blur, blaster bolts bouncing off the brilliant plasma, and soon another of the guards lay limp on the ground. The remaining guards suddenly felt fear rising from deep inside them. They were about to meet their end and they knew it. Anakin still moved towards them as they backed away. He saw the fear in their eyes, the fear of death. The fear of him. They had stopped firing on him now. They were helpless. Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and, with help from the Force, violently pushed the two guard's heads together. They fell to the floor knocked out.
Anakin stepped over the bodies and approached the entrance. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside. As the entrance closed, the only light in the room escaped, leaving him in a pitch black room unable to see. He ignited his lightsaber once more. The blade illuminated the room and Anakin saw someone in the centre of the room. Someone he didn't think he would ever see again.
"You! What are you doing here?" Anakin blurted out.
"I came to fight you, Master." He spat the last word with venom.
"I'm not your master any more. The days of you being my secret apprentice are over."
"I suppose you've told that infuriating master of yours about me then? And what about the troll?"
Anakin didn't humour his former apprentice with an answer. He hadn't told anyone about his secret apprentice. In truth, he had hoped he would never lay eyes on him again, let alone fight him. His former apprentice sneered.
"I knew it. You can't even tell the man you used to call your brother about your filthy past. You're weak Vader. I will give myself to the Dark Side and destroy you. And then, I will bring your dead body to the Emperor and become his Apprentice. I will learn from him, and when I am strong enough with the Dark Side I shall crush him and the remaining Jedi like the worthless fools they all are. Then, I shall assume the title of Emperor and rule the galaxy!"
"My name is Anakin, not Vader. Vader is gone. Your old master is gone. If you wish to kill me, go for it. The will of the Force shall decide whether I live or die."
"The Force has already made that decision for Kenobi." The Apprentice reached for his belt and unhooked two lightsabers, one Anakin recognised as the Apprentice's, and the other he recognised as Obi-Wan's. He grinned.
"If Obi-Wan had died, I would feel nothing where our bond is. You never did understand much about the bond between a Master and his Apprentice." The Apprentice snarled and ignited both lightsabers. Anakin ignited his own lightsaber, and moved into a defensive stance.
The Apprentice stormed forwards, a blue blade in his left hand and a red blade in his right. He held both sabers high, getting ready to viciously strike the man he had grown to hate so much. Anakin could read this. He could always read his former Apprentice's attacks when they sparred together. This was no different.
The Apprentice leapt through the air and slammed both lightsabers down. The blades were stopped by Anakin's horizontal block. The Apprentice landed softly, and began his flurry of attacks. He struck low with one blade, then high with the other. Both strikes were met with blocks. The Apprentice attempted a stab with both lightsabers. Anakin sensed the stab just in time to roll out of the way and dodge the attack.
Anakin stood up and again assumed his defensive stance. Obi-Wan had been tutoring him in Form Three, Soresu. Anakin had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to put Obi-Wan's teachings into action. Soresu was the most defensive of the seven lightsaber combat forms. It demanded a lot of concentration, and consisted of little offensive techniques. Most practitioners of Soresu would wait until their opponents became tired before unleashing aggressive attacks when their opponent had a lapse in their own defensive techniques.
The Apprentice was applying his knowledge of Form Four, Ataru. Ataru was an aggressive form of lightsaber combat which relied heavily on power, strength and speed. Practitioners of Ataru often performed amazing feats of acrobatics to attack and dodge. Ataru was a form that was highly effective in close quarters combat against single opponents.
The Apprentice attacked once more, striking both lightsabers to Anakin's right. Anakin blocked the attack, but the Apprentice pushed against Anakin's blade. The three blades were now in a lightsaber lock, with both opponents pushing against the others blade. Anakin gazed into the Apprentice's sickly yellow eyes. He gave himself to the Force, releasing all his emotions into it and allowing it to give him strength. Making sure not to break the gaze, Anakin ducked and deactivated his lightsaber. The Apprentice was taken by surprise, and the force which he was exerting on Anakin's blade caused him to fall forwards to the floor.
Anakin stood up once more and activated his lightsaber. As the Apprentice stood up, Anakin took the pause in battle as an opportunity to open the door to Obi-Wan's cell. He focused himself and used the Force to slide the door open. Inside, Obi-Wan was chained to a chair. The older Jedi Master looked up at Anakin. He did not look hurt, for which Anakin thanked the Force.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted urgently. Anakin turned his gaze to the Apprentice, who was now storming towards him. He just had enough time to somersault over the charging Apprentice. He landed behind the Apprentice and swiftly turned on his heels before swinging out wildly, hoping to catch the Apprentice off guard.
There was a metallic clunk as Obi-Wan's lightsaber hilt flew out of the Apprentice's grip and hit the floor. Anakin focused the Force on the lightsaber and it sailed through the air, landing behind Obi-Wan's chair. Anakin knew Obi-Wan would use the lightsaber to free himself and join in the fight. He hoped Obi-Wan wouldn't waste any time, as he desperately wanted to switch to his preferred form of lightsaber combat, Djem So. The Apprentice growled and began a flurry of attacks in all directions.
As Anakin worked furiously to keep up and block the Apprentice's attacks, he sensed that Obi-Wan was now free. He had manipulated the Force to ignite the lightsaber and cut the chains that kept him prisoner. Anakin was about to block a downward strike from the Apprentice when another plasma bar blocked it for him. Obi-Wan had officially joined the battle.
The Apprentice somersaulted backwards, trying to buy himself some time. He hadn't
anticipated any of this. He knew of Kenobi's mastery of Soresu and of Skywalker's mastery of Djem So. He knew Skywalker would switch to Djem So, and the two Jedi would form a team. Skywalker would attack, while Kenobi would defend. It was a formula that worked, and nobody knew that better than Count Dooku. He couldn't defeat both of them at the same time. As he looked around he noticed that the two Jedi stood between him and the exit.
His eye's glowed for a second as he had an idea. He allowed the grip he had on his lightsaber to loosen as he let his arm drop to his side. He reached up with his left hand and shot out branches of powerful Force lightning. The two Jedi raised their lightsabers instinctively and looked up at the ceiling. Cracks began to form and chunks of rock began to fall. The Apprentice levitated the falling chunks and collected them into a ball, floating in front of him. He smiled as he connected with the Force and dashed them towards the Jedi.
Obi-Wan and Anakin had only a brief second to dive out of the way of the onslaught of rocks that came towards them. The rocks plummeted to the floor behind them, some cracking and crumbling as they did so. The Apprentice wasted no time in leaping with the aid of the Force to the exit. He turned to face the Jedi and bowed slightly.
"We'll meet again. Pray that day isn't soon, for it will be your last in this galaxy."
The Apprentice swiftly turned and shoved the doors open before running off out of sight. The Jedi picked themselves up and dusted themselves off.
"I have a horrible feeling he wasn't lying when he said we would meet again. I'm not sure his second statement was quite accurate though," Obi-Wan said.
"I agree. We will be ready for him when he decides to show himself. After all, you are not known by some as the Sith Killer for nothing!" Obi-Wan turned to face Anakin.
"And you are not known by some as the Hero With No Fear for nothing either."
"You are too kind Obi-Wan," Anakin chuckled. "Shall we go home? You're not as young as you used to be you know, and you desperately need your beauty sleep."
"I find it amazing that you can come so very close to death during a rescue mission and still be able to think up cheeky remarks to fire at me. If you're quite finished, we can go home," Obi-Wan paused and studied Anakin's face. "If I need beauty sleep you need to go into hibernation. Have you got the weekly shop hidden in those bags under you eyes?" Anakin grinned.
"Now who's being cheeky?" he asked as the two Jedi moved towards the exit.
Authors' Note: No, I have not forgotten about Redemption or MAS. I have been having some trouble with this chapter. Several drafts and even more ideas later, and I present to you chapter fifteen. I am quite happy with this chapter, and we will learn more about Anakin's secret apprentice in the next chapter.
I must say thanks to everyone who has taken time out of their schedule to read Redemption. I must also thank all of you who have added this story to your favourites list or your alerts list. I must thank everyone who has added my to your author alerts list. And finally, a massive thank you to everyone who has submitted a review. It really is appreciated. Please keep reading, please keep adding this story or me to your lists and please keep the reviews coming.
Now I will reply to the reviews I received from the last chapter.
General-joseph-dickson: Indeed she can be. Siri will be making a proper appearance in the next chapter. I'm looking forward to writing about her and Obi-Wan. Thanks for your comments.
Jedi Knight 13: I'm glad you liked the cliffy. Thanks for your comments.
Jojotheorange: Anakin's secret apprentice had Obi-Wan. He's a character in the upcoming Star Wars Force Unleashed video game. Not much is known about him, so you could say he's an original character, as I will be giving him my own background which will most likely be different from the canon. Thanks for your comments.
Delta Knight: Sorry about that. That was a British phrase which means to get rid of. I'll try and cut out all British phrases from now on. And no, I don't plan on having Anakin drifting between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. The movies gave us quite enough of that. Thanks for your comments.
DarthKenObi-Wan: Haha, thanks for your constructive comments. The duel is here! I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for your comments.
Alien Roxi: Sorry about the late update. Revision and exams cut my time down a lot, and I wasn't happy with the first few drafts I wrote up. I was considering scrapping this one half way through too, but decided against it in the end. Thanks for your comments.
Jazzyone: Padme was never a favourite of mine either. I like Portman as an actress, but after Episode One her character became incredibly annoying in my opinion. I hope you enjoyed the duel. Thanks for your comments.
Scc1fan: Sorry about the late update. As I said before, I've been very busy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for your comments.
Macaroni.babe: The update is here at last! Thanks for your comments.