Shattered Mission, Chapter 5
"Master?" Sikka was suddenly fearful, never having seen panic on her master's face before. He was standing immobile in front of her, staring over her head. Hesitantly, she touched his hand; he brought his gaze down to her face. Now he seemed to be staring through her. Slowly, his eyes focused on her and he blinked several times. "Are you all right, Master?" she asked, quietly.
In response, he dropped back to his knees, closed his eyes and called the Force to him, reaching out to find his brother. Sikka backed up a few steps and waited. Anakin spent long minutes calling out to Obi-Wan, searching every way he knew, but there was no response. He waited, silently, impatiently, trying to remain calm. Nothing. Then he felt the slightest touch, almost imperceptible; it was Sikka. I am all right, Padawan. Have patience. She withdrew.
Anakin went to Coruscant, to the Jedi Temple, to Master Yoda's quarters. The old wizard was in discussion with Mace Windu. Master Yoda, he called, anxiously.
Yoda stopped in mid-sentence, his ears perked. Anakin? "Young Skywalker," he said softly to Mace. He sensed the young master's emotions. Worried, you are about something. Afraid.
Yes, Master, Anakin replied, distressed. It's Obi-Wan. I can't feel him. I can't find him in the Force. I... He didn't finish.
Doesn't want you to, perhaps, hmmmm?
That's not it, Master. I... can always feel him. He is... always there for me. It's a feeling, a... a noise. It's always there.
Yoda nodded. Close, you are, yes. Gone now, this noise is?
Yes, Master. And I've tried to find him, but I get nothing. I can't hear him.
Ah, afraid something has happened to him, you are. Wait. "Master Windu, we will both try to find Master Kenobi in the Force." The two powerful masters meditated, searching the Force for their friend. Eventually, they emerged; Mace shook his head. Find Obi-Wan, we cannot, Anakin. Unusual, this is.
Unusual! Anakin kept himself silent. Yoda continued. On Muunilinst, he and his padawan should be, searching for Shu Mai. Anakin, to Coruscant, you must come.
Yes, Master Yoda. Anakin breathed a sigh of relief; perhaps together they could find Obi-Wan. He opened his eyes and found Sikka watching him. "Sikka, we're leaving for Coruscant now. Gather up your belongings."
"Yes, Master," she replied, not even thinking to ask questions.
While Anakin was training his padawan on the moon Endor, Obi-Wan and his padawan were busy on Muunilinst. Electing to make known their presence in the seamier part of the capital city, they had visited shops, diners, open-air events and public gathering places. Idly gossiping with the local merchants and passersby, Obi-Wan and Oren intentionally wondered aloud about the Separatist leaders. Have any of them been caught? Will they stand trial? I heard Poggle the Lesser had fled to this planet; have you seen him? Is he in jail? Poor Chairman Hill, having to pay that exorbitant fine to the Republic; did it bankrupt him? And so it went.
"I am surprised that we haven't been approached thus far, Oren," Obi-Wan mused at an outdoor table. "I agree, Master," his padawan replied, moving his gaze around the surrounding area. "Maybe there was no trap?"
"No, there is one, I am certain of it. At any rate, I believe Shu Mai is here, based on what we have heard to date. Ah, well, we might as well sit here and relax and see what transpires today." Obi-Wan settled back into his seat, casually looking around the vicinity. Several street vendors walked up and offered to sell their wares to the Jedi, and were disappointed to make no sale.
At one point, Oren leaned forward and quietly asked, "Master, do you see that one over there at the last table?" "Yes," Obi-Wan murmured, "he has been watching us for awhile now." More loudly, he said, rising from his seat, "Come along, Padawan. Let's take a stroll; I am interested in some items I saw in a shop we passed yesterday a few blocks from here. I've thought about it long enough. I am going to buy them." The two of them crossed the street and leisurely walked along, peering into shop windows.
Furtively, the short, squat creature they had noticed followed them, holding close to the storefronts and trying to maintain a discreet distance. Eventually, his quarry turned down a lane and disappeared from view. He quickened his pace in order not to lose them, and turned where they had. As soon as he entered the lane, he realized he had been duped; the two Jedi Knights were standing against the wall, waiting for him. After a small pause, he made as if to continue on his way.
"Hold on there, friend," Obi-Wan said, clapping his hand on their stalker's shoulder. Oren moved to stand between them and the corner. "Do you mind telling me why you are following us?" The small alien stood silently, eyes darting left and right. "Come now, you can speak to us. We mean you no harm. What is your name? Are you a native of this planet?"
After a moment of silence, the creature spoke in a guttural voice. "I be Jaden-Ong, and a native. Muun-doh."
"Muun-doh? What is that?" Obi-Wan asked. Oren interjected, "Master, the Muun-doh are native to Muunilinst. They evolved in the northern hemisphere." Jaden-Ong looked up at Oren suspiciously. "When the Muuns began exploring their world, they found these people. They subdued them and brought them back to Niandruun as slaves. When Muunilinst joined the Republic, the Muun-doh won their right to live and work as free beings. Most of them stayed here; a few returned to the north."
Obi-Wan eyed the small fellow in front of him. "Well, are you going to tell us why you have followed us here?" After peering up and down the lane, Jaden-Ong replied, "There be word on the street you two been asking about them Separatists, their leaders. Them's wanted by the Republic, right?" Obi-Wan and Oren nodded. "Knows where one or two of 'em is, I do, and can take you there."
Oren looked at his master. "Now why would you want to do that?" Obi-Wan asked, skeptically. "What is in it for you? Or is it just that you would like to see justice done?"
"Oh, no, no," Jaden-Ong replied, shaking his head. "Don't care about justice, nope, don't care. Expect to be well-paid, I do. I seen a chance for some easy credits." He shifted his eyes from one to the other. "Wait here," Obi-Wan instructed him and he motioned Oren over to the wall. "It looks like our luck has changed, Master," Oren murmured. "Yes, I think we're about to spring the trap. We'll keep our eyes and ears open and Force sense ready." They gathered up the Muun-doh and the three of them settled themselves in the landspeeder.
"Well, where to, Jaden-Ong? Where are you taking us?" Obi-Wan asked from the rear seat. "Go that way," he replied, pointing Oren down the street. "Seen 'em at a big house, I did, with lots of barns and animals and such. Rich Muuns live there. Hiding your Separatists, they are. It's way out west of the city. Got to be careful with this speeder, though. Rough country, lots of gullies and drop-offs, you don't want to fall in." He cackled at this, apparently believing he'd made a good joke.
"No, I don't suppose we do," Oren said, eyeing the creature. "I will be careful. Just you be careful where you direct us."
"Oh, I will, I will. Jaden-Ong don't want to die today." Oren glanced at his master in the rearview mirror and raised his eyebrows. Obi-Wan just shook his head.
The Muun-doh apparently knew his way very well around the city and beyond; they arrived near a large estate in less than two hours. "Go around that way," he warned. "Don't want them to see us. There's bushes and such to hide your speeder." Oren carefully guided the vehicle around thickets and rock formations, being careful not to tip them over into a crevice or off of a cliff. "This is definitely dangerous ground, Master." "Just be careful, Padawan, and we will be fine. There, that looks like a good spot," Obi-Wan said, pointing to a thicket well out of sight of the estate grounds. Oren maneuvered the speeder into the thicket and shut it down.
He hopped out and looked around. Obi-Wan stood next to him and said, "Let's have a look around. We may need to make a run for it." They started away from the estate. "Where you goin'?" Jaden-Ong asked. "It's back over that way." He pointed the way they had come. "Just be patient, my friend," Obi-Wan said. "We're checking out the lay of the land. Perhaps you'd like to join us?" Mumbling something unintelligible, the Muun-doh looked back toward the estate and then climbed out of the speeder and caught up with them. "Well, when does I get the credits?" he asked, peevishly. "I brung ya here, like I said." Obi-Wan turned to him and replied, "Just be patient, Jaden-Ong. You'll get your money as soon as we see our quarry." The little man grumbled, but kept his peace.
Oren noticed that Jaden-Ong kept glancing back in the direction of the estate grounds; he eyed his master and nodded his head toward their guide. "Yes, I see," Obi-Wan said, quietly. "Be ready." They followed along the edge of an ancient water-carved gully that widened and emptied into a deep canyon. At its bottom, they could see hard, rocky ground, scrub trees, and deadwood fallen from its steep wind-eroded sides. The Muun-doh walked along with them, peering down into the canyon. "Quite a desolate place, Padawan. I'm not surprised there are no settlements or—" "Master!"
They all spun around as a blaster shot pierced the quiet of the afternoon; Jaden-Ong flew backwards off the cliff, dead before he disappeared over the side. As they whipped out their lightsabers and began deflecting blaster bolts, they could see more Muun-dohs charging straight at them, almost twenty of the squat-bodied natives. Several taller beings, Muuns, were behind them.
"Separate their fire! Move!" Obi-Wan shoved Oren off to his left, hoping to lessen the concentration of bolts flying toward them. "Yes, Master!" Oren yelled back as he slid along the hardscrabble ground, deflecting blaster bolts along the way. He tried directing them back to their attackers and some shots actually did drop a few of them; fortunately, his master's efforts were much more successful and it looked as if master and padawan might soon be standing victorious. "Oh, blast!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, as more Muun-dohs charged from right and left of them. "To me, Oren!" he yelled; now they needed to be together with fire coming at them from several directions. "On my way, Master!" Oren yelled back as he began side-stepping back to his master. The blaster fire was fierce with the young man barely holding his own, when he was tackled from his left and knocked to the ground, his lightsaber flying out of his hand. As he reached out to call his weapon to him, he saw a bolt strike Obi-Wan off-center at the waist, spinning his master around and over the cliff edge.
Stunned, he cried out, "No-o-o! Master!", and dropped his arm to the ground, staring at the place where his master had been only a moment before. Instantly, several more natives were upon him, pinning him face down on the ground. Oren struggled to throw them off, but more were piling on all the time. He tried to relax and call to his master in the Force, but was unable to center himself. Finally, he just lay still, listening to his attackers talking excitedly to each other. Their talk soon died down, and he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He lay still.
"Are they both dead?" a voice of authority asked. "This is the student, isn't it? Where is the master? Where is Kenobi?" the voice demanded. Oren closed his eyes tightly, afraid of the response. Other voices clamored to be the first to provide the answer. "Stop! You! Answer me!"
From Oren's other side, a voice responded. "The master went over the cliff, capt'n. Someone shot 'im and he's gone. He must be dead."
"Oh, he must be dead? You and you! Climb down and see if he is dead. If he isn't, kill him."
"This one is still alive, capt'n."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" the Muun captain asked, incredulous. "Kill him!" Oren tried to prepare himself for death as well as he could. It's just as well, since my master is gone. Two masters... both dead...
"But, capt'n, what if the Chairman wants this one alive? He didn't say to kill both of 'em, just Kenobi."
The captain paused, thinking. "You may be right. Best to be sure, I suppose. All right, bind him and bring him with us. Put him under the draft horse barn. The Chairman can decide what to do with him." Oren exhaled and heard footsteps receding. He felt his wrists being bound behind him, and then someone grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him up to his feet.
He looked around and saw that most of the combatants were retreating back to the estate. Several of the smaller natives and one Muun surrounded him and someone propelled him forward. "Come on, Jedi. You can walk back with us," the Muun said, continuing to push him from behind. "Murgo-Nal, go get their speeder and take it to the garage."
The small procession marched to the estate's main gate and followed a dirt road around to an area where there were several barns and paddocks, some containing slender long-legged horses grazing on a kind of grass, and one with what appeared to be similar, but much heavier animals munching out of a large bin. Oren was steered to a barn smaller than others. "Here we are, Jedi. Expect you won't be here long; the Chairman don't like your kind." They entered the dingy building and stopped in the middle of the straw-littered floor. "Come on, open it up," his captor said to an underling, who pulled up a trapdoor and then went to get a ladder. "Nah, we don't need that," the first said, shoving the young man forward and into the hole in the floor.
Oren tried to roll as he hit the bottom of the hole, and managed to ease the fall somewhat. Before the trapdoor slammed shut to a chorus of cackling above, he saw that he was in a room about five by four meters, bits of straw and other kinds of grasses scattered about the hard dirt floor. There were also some bales of the same vegetation along the walls. His prison darkened considerable after the door was shut, and he waited for his eyes to adjust. A few pitiful rays of light made it through the boards above him, but not enough to push back the darkness.
Staring out into his small prison, Oren moved not at all for long while. Fearing his master was dead, he wanted only to empty his mind and not think about anything that had happened. Finally, he got to his knees, and took some centering breaths, trying to enter a meditative state. He would try again to find him, even though he feared it was hopeless. Master? ... Master Kenobi? ... He felt nothing, only silence, emptiness. He tried again and again, finally accepting the truth. Slumping sideways, he leaned against the straw bales, tears falling from his eyes.