First of all, merry Christmas and happy New Year! :) Second, I am so sorry about the wait, but like I had said in my notes, life's been quite hellish. Lately it's been rather nice, though! :D What a change! I did promise an update during Christmas break, though, so here it is! Third, this chapter is quite long; sorry about that. I considered shortening it and including stuff in the next chapter, but it would slow the pace even more, so you'll just have to contend with swimming through more words than in some of the other chapters. Also, I finished writing this thing at three thirty in the morning after some wine, so I can't guarantee the grammar/spelling will be stellar, lol... it shouldn't be too awful, though. Anyway, enjoy, and I hope you all are having a terrific Christmas and New Year!
It was a warm and bright day as the sun shone through enormous panes of glass that covered an entire city in a dome. The tall thin spires of the skyscrapers looked like sticks in a snow globe, and there were no birds or air speeders flying through the sky. However, a shadow engulfed a part of the city as an enormous head of a reptile peeked through the glass, rivaling an air bus in size. Most of the people of the city seemed to ignore the sight, and though the creature was fascinated to watch the people walk by, and the children delightfully laughed and waved at it, there was no food for the reptile to eat and it therefore lowered its head from the tall spire on which the city sat.
Moeema paid the entire spectacle little mind. She was rushing home, constantly keeping her senses as heightened as she could and making sure she wasn't being followed. Pushing some of her black hair out of her face, she turned a street corner to see a train station. Quickly walked towards it, Moeema pulled out a pass and flashed it by a reader. Another shadow passed overhead and she jumped, thinking it was a Star Destroyer, but it was just a civilian ship flying by.
Sighing shakily, Moeema collapsed into the nearest seat on one of the trains and shuddered. She couldn't handle this stress much longer; it was a good thing she had arranged for a way she and her family could leave. She just had to get home to let them know.
The train gave a small quiver as it began to hover just above the track and then it began to speed along its way, leaving the globed city to pass through a transparisteel tube leading to another globe sitting atop a different tall platform. As the train went along, Moeema's mind was racing about her escape plan, and she didn't even notice the view that she had not seen in over a year. Enormous reptiles grazed in a field beneath the glass tube, strolling calmly. The colorful—and enormous—plants reflected the sunlight, creating a blinding and brilliant array of colors shining into the train. The highly oxygenated atmosphere made for a rather large difference that distinguished Hynah from many other planets, and Moeema found herself feeling depressed that she had returned home only to uproot her family and go into hiding.
The train traveled through the tube smoothly, and Moeema was occasionally distracted from her thoughts by watching some wildlife outside. Eventually she reached her destination in another encased city and she disembarked, moving as quickly as she could to a small residential area at the edge of the city. A two-story pale blue house came into view and Moeema hurried to it, unlocking the front door and running inside.
Her husband, Molan Norhek, was sitting within view of the front door, and he immediately jumped to his feet when he saw her. He stood with a stocky light skinned build, flaming red hair and moustache, and eyes as green as the oxygen saturated plants that grew on Hynah.
"I managed to arrange a way for us to get out of here," Moeema quickly said as her four out of five children entered the area. The eldest, a daughter, was holding her own daughter closely.
"How are you going to contact your brother?" Molan asked.
"I have his comlink frequency; I already told him what's going on and he said he's going to lay low for a while." Moeema replied. She then faced her children and their spouses. "But where is Erik? He's the only one missing."
Moeema was speaking of her youngest child, a responsible but naïve twenty-year-old who didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation they were in.
"He's down below on a safari," her eldest answered worriedly. "He said he had one more tour to guide and since you were still trying to get transport he figured the last payment would do well."
Moeema's stomach churned. They couldn't afford to waste any time. "When did he leave?"
"About half an hour ago; he ought to be done soon,"
Any reply she had intended to say was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Immediately whirling around and grabbing her blast pistol, Moeema slowly walked to the front door as her family stood in horror. Motioning with her hand to her family, she whispered, "Go out the back!"
Her family seemed hesitant, but they did as they were instructed. Moeema activated the small screen beside the front door to see who was on the porch, dreading the sight of stormtroopers… but instead she saw the people she least expected. On her porch stood Kobayashi, Kenobi, Padmé, and two children Moeema had never seen before.
Opening the door, Moeema gaped at the group. "How did you… when did you…?"
"Not now, Moeema," Kobayashi said worriedly as the group rushed inside and closed the door behind them. "Where's your family?"
"They're out back," Moeema immediately replied. She then glanced at Obi-Wan. "What are you doing here?"
Obi-Wan sighed heavily, but Kobayashi intervened. "Moeema, this isn't the time to be getting upset about Taris—"
"I am trying to smuggle my family out of their own home because of what happened on Taris," Moeema snapped.
"The Imperials' pursuit of your family is not Obi-Wan's fault," Kobayashi retorted. "Now get your folks. We have to get out of here."
"We…? I thought we were separating. Wouldn't we attract less attention that way?"
Kobayashi smiled. "We've got an alternative to hiding."
He sighed heavily as he stood staring out the window. The view is breathtaking, but it also unnerved him. Something about that view was familiar to him, and the sunset bathed his body in red light.
Somehow that just didn't sit well with him.
Little One shuddered, backing out of the light and lingering in shadow instead. He felt safer in the dark somehow; it hid him from the red, from the strange images flying through his mind… it hid him from everything.
Except that blasted voice.
Yesterday morning he had managed to defeat the voice, banishing it from his mind. He had been ecstatic and felt triumphant, and it had brightened his whole day. The only thing that remotely worried him yesterday was that the nice lady seemed upset. He had worried over her a little, but the one time he pushed passed his fear of speaking and tried to form a word to ask her what was wrong, she interrupted him, and the word was lost.
What was worse was as much as he banished the voice, it kept coming back stronger and stronger, and it was driving him insane. Everything had been going well yesterday until sunset.
Little One shrugged in the dark. It was strange how shadows were a security blanket to him, yet it was when darkness came over the sky that all his nightmares came.
He heard the nice lady's voice in his head all of a sudden. It wasn't too unnatural at this point; he had started keeping tabs on her yesterday when he came to the conclusion that she was the only friendly face in the big building where they were staying. She felt close and familiar somehow, like he had known her before. He wished he knew how that feeling was there, but every time he tried to think about it his head hurt and his gut clenched like it was something he shouldn't be trying to do. He wanted to know, though; the denial just made him sad and lonely.
So he started to keep to himself.
He had decided last night as he had constantly battled the bad voice out of his mind. The nice lady seemed upset to be around him, and he apparently wasn't supposed to know something about her, so he figured it would be best if he was on his own. The environment was conducive to that idea; the place he was in was so enormous he saw no one in the corridor where he had been lingering for a solid three hours. However he now sensed the nice lady approaching and he heard her call for him, and so he walked further into the shadows and imagined she couldn't find him.
It was strange how he had a feeling he had done this trick before, but whenever he had last done it he must have enjoyed it more. A ghost feeling of excited nervousness at being caught during a game blew through his mind, but now he felt rather empty. This wasn't a game; something urged him to stay away from everyone, and he was never one for not listening to his gut feelings. In this instance they were the only compass he had.
Why did he have to think so hard about everything anyway? Why couldn't he just not care? He felt like he hadn't before, but now everything seemed so much… heavier. It seemed worse, more dangerous, more… something. He didn't know what was wrong with him.
Little One paused, slowing his breathing and stiffening his body. The nice lady ran by, looking worried. He felt sorry for her; he wished he could just hop out of the shadow and laugh and say something to her… but he just couldn't.
As quickly as she had come, the nice lady had gone. She went to the nearest stairwell to search the next floor. He could imagine it would take quite a while before she gave up. Maybe he should just go to her and let her relax. What he really wanted to do was tell her to calm down and stop worrying about him.
Frustrated, Little One smacked a fist into the wall. The lights inside the hall flickered ever so slightly, but he didn't notice.
He wanted to talk, blast it!
Why couldn't today be as good as yesterday?!
Moaning, Little One sank to the floor, slumped over beside some exotic potted plant. He stared out the window once more, watching the air traffic fly by. He didn't know what the things flying were called, yet he knew how to fly them. He didn't know what the tall buildings were for, but he was familiar with the skyline. He didn't know why the color of the sky bothered him, but he knew why he couldn't find the sun. The planet got its sunlight from orbital mirrors. Rewire the things to activate one and bypass security. The building is called a palace. That side of the city is safer than that other one. All of these random facts were floating around in his head, but he couldn't link them to anything and he had a million more unanswered questions.
He'd had enough. He couldn't just sit here and do nothing, think nothing, say nothing. He had to know!
Little One squeezed his eyes shut, trying as hard as he could to access anything in his head. He felt the same block as before, felt the same dread and warning, but this time he didn't care. Pushing passed all of that, he just saw one image. He was in an alley of some sort. It was cold; there was frost coming from his mouth. While it was cold, though, he felt warmth to his right side and around his back and left shoulder… someone was holding him. He turned his gaze to the right to see a man with his eyes closed bending over him. The man's hand was on Little One's forehead, and his brow was furrowed in concentration.
"You'll be safe," a voice whispered in his head. This voice wasn't the bad one, nor was it the nice lady's, and yet it seemed the most calming of all the voices he had heard. "Don't break the seal… this has to be the most harebrained idea you've ever invented."
He heard himself laugh, but it was still in his head. This was weird.
"I'm known for my insane ideas." That voice… that wasn't the same as the other guys… was that his own voice? It sounded like the one he had used in that memory of cooking, but it also sounded different somehow…
"I will come for you, Anakin."
Little One's eyes opened abruptly as he gasped. What was… who was…?
"O… Obi…" he breathed. He was almost there… that man… he could almost remember his name… he was almost saying a word!
Lord Vader.
Little One's world seemed to shatter around him. Not that voice again… he had banished it not too long ago. He had to remember the man's name. He had to know that face. He had to speak!
Again, the voice rumbled, Awaken, Lord Vader. Do my bidding.
The word, the man's name, which had come so close to forming in his mind, disintegrated. So did any control Little One had left.
Yelling out, Little One slammed his fists into the ground, unaware of the wave of energy it sent surging through the hall, breaking the pot in which the plant beside him had been situated.
He couldn't take this anymore! He didn't know where to turn! He didn't know what to do! He couldn't stay here anymore, he couldn't have that voice in his head anymore, he couldn't handle the stress that he didn't even understand anymore!
Little One froze. The nice lady; she'd know what to do. He didn't care that being around her brought memories he wasn't supposed to know. He just wanted to leave.
Feeling her out, Little One found her on the floor just below, searching in a panic. Getting up, he put all of his resolve into pushing out the presence one last time, and then he ran for his salvation.
Ryatsi wasn't one for using swear words, but at the moment every swear word she knew was issuing forth from her mouth. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and her stomach continuously twisted itself into such tight knots she couldn't breathe.
Where had he gone?! Had the emperor gotten to him?! Why did he disappear?! He hadn't spoken yet, had he? The emperor was supposedly going to leave him alone until then!
She didn't know why she had been having any hope whatsoever. Anakin's ignorance wouldn't have lasted; he learned to talk within his first day on the Executor. What was her plan after that? She had no idea what she was going to do. Ryatsi had just been hoping things would somehow just get better before they got any worse.
"Kriffing idiot," she muttered under her breath. What in the blazes possessed her to even think that way?!
Hopelessness filled the emptiness that had been in her chest. She had no idea what to do. She was entirely lost to the abyss of darkness that Palpatine created, and what made her sick was she was sure the emperor himself knew that predicament was heavily upon her shoulders.
If there was one emotion that was starting to stab through the rest, it was hatred for that abominable man—if he could even be called a man.
Ryatsi was shaken from her musings when she heard someone gasp behind her. She turned to see who it was and was surprised to see Anakin staring at her. He looked horrible; he was sweating, his face pale, and he held a panicked urgency in his eyes. He had frozen upon seeing her, but the moment their eyes locked and she was about to acknowledge him in relief, he ran to her, throwing his arms around her.
"Get him out," he moaned. "I'm not Vader, I'm Little One. Get him out!"
Ryatsi gaped at the man holding her. He… he could speak?! When did that happen?!
What was she going to do?!
"Stop it, stop it!" he yelled into her shoulder, beginning to tremble.
And it clicked. Palpatine's trying to get into his head.
Oh, sithspit.
Ryatsi didn't know what to do. She hated that feeling; she as a doctor and as such she always had to know what to do. Yet here all she could do was stare in horror at Anakin as his knees grew too weak to hold him up properly. Ryatsi caught him as best she could before they both started to stumble to the ground. All she could hear was his pleading words as he repeated over and over, "Get him out… get him out…"
Suddenly all Ryatsi could think to do was just get themselves out of the palace. Palpatine's reach could only go so far, right? She had no other alternative; Anakin could speak now. The arrangement that Palpatine had made was that Ryatsi would look after Anakin until he learned to speak once more. Anakin was begging her now… he had obviously done some trick to either access his own memories or read someone else's mind to learn Galactic Basic. If he'd read someone else's mind, though, he wouldn't know they called him Little One…
Oh merciful heaven, how much did he know?
They had to leave. Now.
"Don't worry," Ryatsi whispered to him, looking around frantically for security cameras. She was in the most secure building in the entire Empire; how in the blazes was she going to smuggle Darth Vader out?
Then a thought occurred to her. Little One would be clueless in this situation, but Darth Vader would know the secret passages of this building. She looked down at Anakin once more. "Little One… is this building familiar to you?"
"I… I don't know…" he cried quietly.
Ryatsi took him to the side in a corner of the hall mostly hidden in shadows. She let him sit on the floor and then kneeled beside him. "Try to remember this place. We have to get out of here, but we can't do that if everybody's watching us. You're very good at vanishing, Little One; teach me your trick."
Looking like he was actually getting some hope in his situation, Anakin paused, looking around the hall. He then closed his eyes, furrowing his brow in concentration. They stayed like this for a while, and Ryatsi began to grow more and more nervous; she felt exposed in the palace now. Any semblance of cover that she had was gone since Anakin could now speak.
Finally Anakin reopened his eyes, smiling confidently. "There's another hallway that they don't know about!"
"Not so loud!" Ryatsi hissed, but she was just letting her nerves get the best of her; Anakin had barely spoken above a whisper.
Letting Anakin lead the way, the two walked along the wall until Anakin went behind a tapestry and opened a hidden control panel that accessed a door in the wall. The two entered the dark hallway and Ryatsi was finally starting to feel some of that hope that Anakin's face was exuding.
They were getting out.
Little One was ecstatic. The nice lady was the right person to go to. She had helped him find a way out and now they were leaving. That presence in his head wouldn't be there for much longer. They would be free—he would be free!
The two had been traveling through the hidden hallway for some time now, steadily going down to the main floor of the large building. He knew an exit that was hidden from view that they could use. He didn't quite know what would happen afterwards, but he didn't care either; it would get him out of this wretched place.
His freedom suddenly appeared ahead of him, and he pointed it out to the nice lady. "There's the exit!"
He felt the relief of the nice lady emanate from her, and she happily led the way to the exit. The door automatically opened for them, noiselessly sliding into the wall as the light from the red sunset shone into the area. Little One blinked a little before exiting and breathing in the fresh air with a smile on his face.
The nice lady took his hand and led the way as they began to head towards an alley that was near the big building. The wind whipped through the two of them, and it whistled loudly in his ears, preventing him from hearing much else. He was so happy—they were out of that building. They were home free.
Just as those thoughts occurred in his mind, Little One felt a strange tickle in the back of his head. The wind suddenly quieted, even though he knew it was still blowing. The hair on his body bristled, and he noticed a strange red dot on the nice lady's hair. What was wrong? Why did he feel so off?
His stomach churned so badly he felt like he was going to throw up. Suddenly all noise vanished just as he realized the nice lady was in danger, but then one noise deafened him. It sounded like a loud bang, and it made him jump. The nice lady flinched and then fell to the ground. What had… wait… no… no…
Whirling around, Little One saw a man sitting on a rooftop with a sniper rifle. He then whirled once more to look at the lady… to look at… at…
Ryatsi.
His senses flared up once again. A guard had approached and was about to stun him.
Images of memories pertaining to Ryatsi, which he didn't even realize he'd had, flashed through his mind in an instant. They'd been through so much, she had done so much, and…
"Ryatsi," he breathed, staring at her body.
He'd lost her. He'd… he'd…
He thrust his hand out to the guard without looking at him. A crunching sound followed, and then he threw the man's corpse at the sniper who had shot Ryatsi.
This wasn't the guard's fault. This wasn't the sniper's fault.
This was that man's fault.
He remembered this haze. He remembered this hatred. He remembered it made him stronger, and it killed those he despised all the faster.
Facing the palace, Little One let the rage take over. He was going to get vengeance for Ryatsi. He was going to murder that man.
"Are we sure this is the best idea?" Kobayashi asked as he followed Moeema.
"I'm not leaving without Erik," she replied.
Kobayashi put his hands up defensively. "I understand that, Moeema, but why do we have to retrieve him? Your daughter said he'd be back soon."
"I'm not risking something going wrong. Everyone else is going to the transport with Padmé anyway."
"So it'll just be us getting killed, then," Kobayashi muttered, garnering a chuckle from Obi-Wan.
Moeema glared at Obi-Wan. "You think it's funny that we might die because of this mess?"
Kobayashi sighed, but Obi-Wan shook his head to him. Moeema had a right to be angry, though Obi-Wan would admit her over protectiveness was starting to get tiresome. It would get them nowhere, after all. Instead, he opted to appease her. "No, I don't find any of this amusing. We should hurry, though. Where is your son?"
Moeema's glare softened and she looked worriedly around the wilderness. "The safari normally ends here."
"What exactly is this safari about?" Kobayashi asked.
"We have quite the exotic line-up of reptiles here on Hynah," Moeema explained. "Many people come from all around the galaxy to see them, and only a select trained few know where and how to get about these forests."
"I'm hoping you're one of those select few," Obi-Wan intoned a little worriedly.
"Erik is," Moeema answered. "I don't know much, but I know enough that this area is safe."
"Oh, good," Kobayashi laughed shakily.
A hair raising roar was heard off in the distance as if to prove Moeema wrong, and Kobayashi nearly jumped a meter into the air. Despite the situation, Obi-Wan gave an amused smile. "How can you be so nervous around large reptiles when you live around dragons?"
"I know how to deal with nooks," Kobayashi answered nervously. "These things aren't dragons; they're dinosaurs."
Another roar, closer than the one before, was heard, emphasizing his point.
"Wait a minute…" Moeema muttered, looking around her. "This isn't the right spot."
Kobayashi and Obi-Wan both gawked at her. "What?"
"The sign… it's blacked out," Moeema pointed to a sign that had mostly been painted over. "I thought this was the starting point, but they must have moved it…"
"You can't be serious," Kobayashi said.
The ground shuddered and the thunderous footsteps started to approach them. Off in the distance, Obi-Wan could see a bipedal reptile with small arms and an enormous head walking their way. It opened its gaping jaw lined with sharp teeth and emitted another roar.
Pointing out the animal, Obi-Wan hastily said, "I think we should find the actual safe zone, then."
Kobayashi's eyes widened to an alarming size and Moeema let out a small gasp. Looking around wildly, Moeema finally seemed to get her bearings and she took off heading north, yelling, "Follow me!"
"You'd better know where you're going this time!" Kobayashi yelped as the three tore through the forest.
Obi-Wan tossed a glance behind him to see the animal quickly gaining on them. "I hope that safe zone knows how to get rid of these things!"
When Kobayashi looked to see the distance between them and the animal decreasing, he let out a scream of terror. "We're not going to be able to outrun this thing!"
Obi-Wan looked once more. The animal was nearly on top of them. Running wouldn't solve the problem now. Slowing his speed, he began to turn on his heel and reach for his lightsaber, which he had concealed up his sleeve, when he was suddenly hit with a wave of emotion that knocked him to his knees. Gasping for breath, Obi-Wan stumbled to the ground, catching Kobayashi and Moeema's attention.
"Obi-Wan!" they shouted, but he couldn't hear them. He couldn't see the animal that had just gotten within reach to devour him. All he could see was a red glow around him. All he could hear was the whipping wind. All he could smell was blood. All he could feel was rage.
Something happened to Anakin.
The sound of a blaster firing and a loud roar of anger snapped him out of his musings. Moeema had made a good shot with her blast pistol, landing a hit on the animal's left eye. Enraged, the reptile roared and was about to attack when another shot came out of nowhere, striking the beast's throat. The three turned to see a young man around Anakin's age who bore a striking resemblance to Moeema, though his eyes were green instead of her brown ones.
"Erik!" Moeema shouted with relief.
"Mom, what in the blazes are you doing out here?!" he said as he rushed over to them.
"We've got a way out of here," Moeema hastily answered.
"We have to leave." Obi-Wan immediately interrupted. "Now."
Kobayashi and Moeema shot worried looks in his direction. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Obi-Wan shook his head. This wasn't the time to get them worked up about what might be happening on Coruscant. "We just have to leave immediately."
Though he said nothing was wrong, he could tell the two read right through it. However, they didn't push the issue; they sensed his urgency and Erik immediately lead the group to a checkpoint that would take them back to the city. As they were flying to the port where Padmé and the others were waiting, Obi-Wan sat wringing his hands frantically.
"How are we going to get to the others in time?" Moeema asked the group in general.
"I've already taken care of that," Kobayashi answered. "I sent out a coded transmission to everyone. I couldn't reach Marrax or Rowan, though; it has me a bit worried. Nevertheless, the others know. They're meeting us on Yoala."
Moeema gaped at him. "Yoala? Is that the best place to hide right now?"
"No one would suspect it," Kobayashi shrugged.
"It's also not defensible in the slightest!"
"We're not trying to start a war," Obi-Wan shook his head nervously, still on edge about what he had sensed. "We just need to regroup and then sort things out."
Moeema looked like she was going to argue with him, but she held herself in check and the transport went silent. Kobayashi took the opportunity to sit beside Obi-Wan, noting his frantic gestures and whispering, "It has to do with Anakin, doesn't it?"
Obi-Wan shot him a look. "You have this uncanny and irritating ability to read people all too well, you know that?"
"I've heard you have the ability too," Kobayashi smirked.
"Yes, but mine comes with years of practice,"
"Mine comes with royalty,"
"Then learn some subtlety, too. We'll discuss this later."
"What's the matter?"
Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "It's Anakin, like you thought. That's all you need to know right now."
"How bad is it?"
"Bad,'
Kobayashi worriedly looked away before trying to give a reassuring smile. "Well, let's just hope Ryatsi can handle it until we get there."
The Imperial Palace was rank with terror, anger, adrenaline, and death. While one hallway was bustling with stormtroopers rushing ahead with their blasters at the ready, the next hall only held the quiet dead lying in their killer's wake. Security teams were being deployed by the handfuls, but none could land a single shot on its mark.
A window shattered as a stormtrooper was sent flying out of it. Little One didn't even bother to pause to watch the man fall. Instead he only ran ahead, thrusting his hand forward to break down the doors that were closed ahead of him. The turbolifts had been overridden by security, and he was in too much of a hurry to bother hacking back into the system to get them moving. He would systematically kill every security guard who got in his way as he climbed the stairs to reach his target.
He was almost there at this point; he had climbed so many levels that if he weren't so driven by hatred he'd be exhausted by this point. There was only one more flight; he was almost there.
The last flight was climbed in no time, and he had only killed a handful more of guards by the time he reached the floor he wanted. This floor was the most well guarded; it made sense considering his target was a very important man here.
"Stand down," one of the younger troops said. Little One did the favor of killing him quickly, and he spared no time on the others, simply flinging them into the walls and ceiling, a few smashing into the transparisteel window, which barely cracked at their bone-fracturing impacts.
Now no one was in his way.
Marching towards the ornate doors leading to the throne room, Little One yelled and the doors tore off their hinges. Using them as projectiles, Little One sent them flying straight ahead where he knew the man was. He heard he doors crash into something, but when he came into view of the main throne room he could see they had just crashed into each other in the air, where they were still hovering.
"Welcome, Lord Vader," a silky voice said behind the doors, and then they fell to the ground. There he was, sitting in his chair smiling disgustingly at Little One.
"You," Little One snarled. "It's because of you she's dead!"
"Ah, but you were the one who let me find out what she was planning," the man explained in his soft smug tone. "You let me listen to your every thought. You killed her, boy; not me."
He'd had enough of this. As if he needed a reminder of his failures to everyone he cared about.
Roaring in rage, Little One immediately leapt in the air, making the doors rise up once more. He flung the doors at the man, but the man caught them and sent them back at him. Little One dodged them midair, landing on one as it flew by and using it to jump even higher. He concentrated and sent a wave of energy down at the man, wanting to crush him. The man moved in the blink of an eye, and Little One could only blink and watch as the man's chair shattered under the impact.
Landing, Little One gasped for breath but was not drained of any energy whatsoever. He was going to end this here and now.
"What are we going to do about Marrax and Rowan?"
"We can find Marrax pretty easily, I should think," Moeema commented. "I don't know about Rowan, though. What do you think, Koby?"
Kobayashi jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "What?"
Moeema looked at him and then at Obi-Wan. "Is there something I should know?"
Obi-Wan and Kobayashi both shook their heads a little too quickly. Padmé raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing that won't be taken care of," Obi-Wan smoothly said. "Now, about Rowan, I don't know if we'll be able to find him. However, Kobayashi said he knows where Marrax is, so we can start there. Before we do that, though, we need to drop the rest of you off on Yoala."
"The rest of us?" one of Moeema's relatives asked.
"That would be all of Moeema's family and Padmé and the twins," Kobayashi explained. Padmé looked a little annoyed at being told she was going to stay on Yoala, so Kobayashi hastily added, "We're going to Kuat next; that's no place for children. It's a heavily Imperial planet which means we're very likely to run into trouble. Unless you want to trust your children in the care of Moeema's folks… and while I think they're very trustworthy and responsible with children, Obi-Wan, Moeema, and I figured you wouldn't want to leave your children so soon after just meeting them."
Padmé sighed. "All right, the point is made."
"Good," Moeema nodded. She then turned to Obi-Wan. "So how long until we reach Yoala?"
Obi-Wan was focusing elsewhere, however, and didn't answer until Moeema prompted him by saying his name loudly. Jumping, he let her repeat the question before hastily saying, "Probably an hour,"
After the group was dismissed, Moeema, Kobayashi, and Padmé approached Obi-Wan. "What in the blazes is wrong?"
Obi-Wan just shook his head, and Kobayashi quickly said, "I think he's just getting overwhelmed. There are a lot of people with high stress and the emotions might be getting to him. They got to Anakin, after all."
Moeema seemed a little persuaded by this argument, but Padmé didn't buy it. "Anakin and Obi-Wan have never been overwhelmed by that type of scenario, Kobayashi."
"I'll explain later," Obi-Wan interrupted. "Go tend to your younglings, Padmé. There's nothing else that can be done at this point."
Padmé shot Obi-Wan a glare, but all Obi-Wan could offer was an apologetic expression in reply. Once she realized he was more worried than she, her irritation vanished, replaced by nervousness. She listened to his advice, however, and left the cockpit. Moeema looked like she wanted to stay, but a pleading look from Kobayashi dismissed her. Once they had gone, Kobayashi turned to Obi-Wan, but all the Jedi did was shake his head, sitting in a chair and closing his eyes in anguish. Whatever it was, it was worse than what he had previously thought. Kobayashi was tempted to ask, but the Jedi looked too disturbed by the issue. Instead, he just offered up a silent prayer that everything was fine on Imperial Center.
Palpatine dodged another reckless attack from Skywalker, amused and pleased with the amount of rage the boy was capable of feeling. Killing the doctor was the right incentive after all; he had sensed when the boy's panic had risen to dangerous levels and had ordered him to be tailed at all times by the best security the Empire had. Only a focused Jedi or Sith could have outwitted the security, and seeing as Skywalker was neither at the moment, it wasn't hard to follow him and the doctor as they attempted to escape.
For the first time in that fight Palpatine's thoughts were interrupted by an attack so sudden that even he didn't see it coming. He barely dodged the boy's steel-armed punch, a blow that probably would have broken his jaw.
It was time to end this charade.
Calling upon the dark side, Palpatine drank up the rage pouring off of Skywalker and used it against him, using the Force to throw the boy into the wall. The impact was loud, and the yell from Skywalker unmistakably affirmed that the hit was hard enough to slow him temporarily.
That was all the time Palpatine needed.
Using the Force to quicken his pace, Palpatine immediately sprang over to Skywalker, shoving a hand onto the boy's forehead. Without a moment to spare, Palpatine dug into the boy's mind, tearing through the defenses put up to hide his memories. This was skilled work; what had done this? The blockage of Skywalker's memories was purposeful; someone must have gotten to him and caused this. There was no point in Vader doing this to himself; it would make him vulnerable and weak… so who was capable of doing this? Who, with that power, would do this and then leave Skywalker alive?
Oh, well. He would find out soon enough. The point now was to simply open those memories. Tightening his grip on Skywalker's forehead, which evoked a yelp of pain from him, Palpatine destroyed the barriers and let the memories pour forth like a deluge.
Skywalker screamed.
Palpatine knew the sudden onslaught being forced upon the boy would batter his psyche relentlessly, and possibly even shatter it. Good. He wanted that. It would give him a clean slate to work with. Skywalker would remember being a Sith Lord, he would remember being Palpatine's loyal servant, and with a troubled shattered mind Palpatine would rebuild him on those memories. He would make Skywalker the perfect pet, the perfect tool… the perfect weapon.
"Awaken, Lord Vader," Palpatine rumbled in dark mirth. As he smiled, Skywalker's mind finally succumbed to the strain and he passed out.
Obi-Wan sighed heavily. This was one place he did not want to revisit.
The Yoalans had been stunned to find the Jedi once more, and they had immediately taken them to Wégú-Muä. Luke and Leia were both in awe and nervous at such a completely foreign environment, and they clung to Padmé. Obi-Wan hoped Wégú-Muä didn't mention them. He had more important issues right now… though that did bring up the question as to how in the blazes he was going to explain this situation in terms the woman could understand.
"Wégú-Muä," Obi-Wan immediately acknowledged before the woman could begin to speak. "I can only be brief with you, for time is of great importance right now. Anakin—uh, Boté's… child… has been taken by the dark ones. Before you panic, know that I am going to get him back, but we need your assistance. Can you take care of our loved ones so that they will not be used against us or hurt by the dark ones?"
Wégú-Muä, who had been gaping in horror after his first few words, immediately snapped to attention and nodded. "Whatever assistance you need we will most certainly offer, Wégú-Töfinala-Boté-Tca."
Obi-Wan blinked confusedly at the title before remembering that it was some strange name they used for him. Nodding his thanks, he immediately turned away to return to the ship, and Moeema and Kobayashi hastily went after him.
"Be safe," Padmé called after them.
"Obi-Wan, what in the blazes is going on," Moeema immediately said when they were out of earshot. "I understand you didn't want to worry Padmé if it has to do with Anakin, but it's obviously bothering you."
"Back on Hynah, I sensed Anakin's emotions break like a river breaking a dam," Obi-Wan explained as the shuttle came into view. Kobayashi looked as nervous as Moeema, not having heard the details of what had happened. "I don't know what it could mean, but I know now that it isn't being resolved. I fear the worst may have happened to Ryatsi."
"No… surely you don't think she's…" Kobayashi shook his head in horror, unable to complete the sentence.
Obi-Wan looked at him grimly as they paused on the landing ramp. "Yes, she's most likely dead."
Moeema looked away, unable to say anything. Kobayashi, however, expressed another concern that had been on Obi-Wan's mind. "Then what's happened to Anakin?"
At this point, Obi-Wan could only mimic Moeema, and look away, unable to form words at the terrible idea of what might have just happened on Coruscant.
Hm, how do I always end up publishing some of the least Christmas-y chapters around Christmas? Oh, well. Please review, and again, happy New Year! :)