OK, so this is going to be interesting to see how you guys respond to the next part.
But before I continue, I just wanted to thank all the authors on the Fan Fiction site who have inspired me with their amazing stories. When I found this site, I never dreamed I'd even be posting stories here, let alone going down the route of AU, but the quality of writing and the amazingly diverse themes and topics for old Obi's (and others, but let's face it, mainly Obi's!) adventures helped me really experiment with my work, so if you haven't done so already, check out my story favorites, you might find something you hadn't come across before that gets your creative spirit souring! I do have some SLASH fics in there, so check the ratings if you're not into that kind of thing.
Right then, on with it.
Obi-Wan awoke feeling completely refreshed. He was lying in a large, very comfortable bed with soft sheets, which was the last sensation he was expecting. The room was expansive, gleaming white and the architecture was smoothed and rounded, giving the room an odd combination of clinical yet nurturing.
He swept the sheets off his body to rise and examine his luxurious prison and noticed the white pajamas he was now wearing, a similar soft fabric to the sheets on the bed. This was all very confusing. He had expected to find himself in a sith torture chamber, or at the very least a dingy cell somewhere in the bowels of a wretched fortress. His current surroundings had thrown him for a loop.
/So, they intend to break me with opulence. Can't say I don't approve!/ he thought as he continued his examination of the accommodations.
He looked out of the panoramic, domed window to see a turbulent ocean, dark gray-blue storm clouds rolling above. Lightening truck the swirling waves in the distance, but no sound reached him. There was a constant sheen of rain water descending the window and yet the view was crystal clear through the storm. He could see the domed buildings around him. They seemed to form an artificial island in the turbulent ocean.
/No escape that way,/ he thought to himself. He continued to survey the island when he saw the landing pad with the bounty hunters ship parked in the rain. If he could get to that he might be able to get off world, now he just had to figure out how to get to it.
As he contemplated his options, the growing sense of the living force that he had noticed when he first awoke, was steadily accumulating. He came to the realization that there was finally no need to hide his true nature here, everyone knew what he was, so he opened himself fully to the flow of the force, a move he had not performed since the death of Qui-Gon.
The force greeted him warmly, like an old friend, and he allowed his perception to be carried along its flow around the island. There was a mass of living force here. New life was being created on an incredible scale, the living force was practically visible in its eddies and waves and Obi-Wan could sense that the turbulence of the atmosphere on the planet was being fueled by this abundance of living force. It was intoxicating and invigorating. The thing that had Obi-Wan concerned, however, was its innocence and the presence of the sith was working its way through the flow, manipulating and influencing the direction of the eddies ever so subtly. If Obi-Wan hadn't already become familiar with the sith's presence, he doubted he would have noticed it was even there.
/What is this place? Some kind of thriving colony?/
"They're cloners," the sith's voice suddenly coming from behind Obi-Wan caused him to instinctively use a force push on the nearest piece of furniture, a chair as it happened, towards the dark lord's head. Maul, not even flinching, caught it without looking at it, his yellow eyes locked with Obi-Wan's deep blue orb.
"I have the natives here building me an army," he said lowering the chair, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. Although he didn't show it, he was very pleased with the response his presence had elicited from the former Jedi. He could feel the fear and frustration building in the man before him, his confusion at his pleasant surroundings fueling that fear with the anticipation of what was to happen to him. This had been a much better idea than straight forward torture, but he knew he always had that option if the need arose. Now was the time to really mess with the Jedi's head.
"An army I had hoped you would join me in leading." He studied the face of his adversary, looking for signs of shock or surprise and smiled at the glint of both that the Jedi quickly suppressed.
"And what makes you think I would ever take such an insane course of action?" asked Obi-Wan as coolly as he could. Internally his mind was flipping. How could this creature even contemplate such a thing, it was complete insanity. Of course, he was dealing with a sith, so it was anyone's guess as to what it was thinking.
"Because I trust you," the dark lord spoke quietly and calmly, moving closer to Obi-Wan, who instinctively stepped back towards the domed glass window.
"Come again?" said Obi-Wan, no longer hiding his complete confusion.