Thank you to the 16 people who reviewed the last chapter and I hope that you like this chapter. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
Chapter 21
Jenica stared in horror at the many bombs that lay situated around the circular room they were standing in. After leaving the ventilation shaft when the corridor beneath them was clear of droids, the three had began looking for a way to get back to ground level without taking the lift that brought them down to begin with. There were likely going to be too many droids there and Ferus didn't want to risk it. As he was the older Padawan, and a respected one at that, Jenica decided to follow his lead. She was learning through observation just as she told her master.
However, upon entering the room, she had to admit she was surprised and horrified to find the vast room filled almost to the ceiling with bombs all rigged to explode in one hour.
And that had been fifteen minutes ago.
"We need to get out of here," Fhernan gasped.
"Master Tachi and Master Kenobi are already on their way out," Ferus reported. "Master Kenobi said he would contact Skywalker and warn him. We should get out of here too."
"But how?" Jenica asked fearfully eyeing the chrono that was counting down the minutes and seconds.
"We're going to have to go back the way we came," Ferus said.
"I seem to remember that that way isn't exactly safe."
"We have a lot of droids to get through, yes, but at least we know that way will take us to the courtyard. We could spend hours wandering around here looking for another way out and we don't have that kind of time."
Fhernan looked worried as she gazed at the diamotite bombs. "I didn't know they built these," she whispered. "I only drew up the schematics for the bioweapon but I didn't know they built these too."
"Why did you agree to draw up the schematics for the bioweapon?" Jenica asked narrowing her eyes. "I mean, you weren't tortured so it's not like they forced you to do it."
"In a way they did force me to do this," Fhernan said quietly. "They have my family, Master Jedi. They took my family and are keeping them hostage onboard the dreadnought where the bioweapon is to be placed."
Jenica's eyes went wide. "But Master Skywalker and Ahsoka...they're going to try to destroy the bioweapon."
"But if they do," Fhernan whispered eyes bright with horror, "then they may kill my family as a result. I...I can't let that happen!"
"Ferus, can you contact Master Skywalker and warn him about Dr. Fhernan's family?" Jenica asked glancing back at Ferus.
"I can but I doubt he will listen to me. He and I don't get along whatsoever but if he understands that this is important then he should listen to me," Ferus said before he closed his eyes and Jenica felt him reach out with the Force before silently gesturing for Jenica and Fhernan to leave the room.
Jenica and Fhernan dashed out of the room and Jenica kept her lightsaber in her hand as Ferus dashed to her side. "I warned Skywalker," he said. "Whether he listened to me or not, I don't know but I warned him. We should keep moving."
Jenica nodded before swallowing as they neared the corridor that would take them to the turbolift. Ferus stepped forward. "I'll go first," he said before he ignited his lightsaber and dashed forward and Jenica, igniting her lightsaber, followed with Fhernan just behind them as they dashed toward the droids and the turbolift that lay in front of them.
Anakin dashed toward the crates that lay near the transport on which was the bioweapon. They had left the ground floor of the base a while back and were now in a hangar bay jutting out of the base about five meters from the main entrance to the base. Droids were walking into and out of the transport and some of them were guiding hovercarts filled with crates.
"We need to get on that transport," Anakin whispered. "Olin told me that Dr. Fhernan's family was being held hostage on the dreadnought where that bioweapon is going. I'm going to rescue them before we take out the weapon."
Ahsoka nodded before glancing at the weapon. "How do we get on that transport though?" she asked.
Anakin gazed around. "Follow me," he whispered before he dashed around the crates and crouched near the landing struts of the transport. Ahsoka walked over to join him before the two of them gazed around but none of the droids noticed him.
"Those alarms are still on. Couldn't we just take the direct way?" asked Ahsoka.
Anakin smiled at Ahsoka. "I'm rubbing off on you, Ahsoka," he said before he stood up and grabbed his lightsaber before igniting it and dashing toward the boarding ramp slicing through the droids around him. Ahsoka took care of the droids that Anakin missed and the two of them dashed onboard the transport.
"Okay now let's find a place to hide out for the time being until we get onboard the dreadnought," Anakin said closing down his lightsaber before clipping it to his belt and looking for some place to hide. It took him and Ahsoka a good ten minutes before they found something big enough for them to hide in and, even then, the biggest storage compartment they could find was still a pretty tight fit.
Anakin shifted before peering out from the crack he left in the entrance to the storage compartment as more droids walked into the transport. The storage compartment they had chosen was located beneath and to the right of the bioweapon, which took up the majority of the cargo hold onboard the transport. It was also in pieces and Anakin figured they would reassemble the weapon when they reached the dreadnought. That would certainly explain the many crates that were being transferred onto the transport.
"Is everything ready yet?" Durd's voice snapped through the hologram that the commander droid was holding in its metallic hand.
"Almost sir," the droid replied.
"Well hurry up. The base is rigged to explode in less than forty-five minutes," Durd snapped.
"Roger, roger."
Ahsoka's eyes were wide and she glanced at Anakin who was gritting his teeth. He had been warned that the base was going to explode but that didn't mean he liked the idea of leaving Obi-Wan behind. Obi-Wan had assured him that he and Siri, along with Ferus and Jenica, would get out of there before the base exploded but Anakin couldn't help but feel worried for his former master.
"Master?" Ahsoka whispered once the droids were beyond earshot. "Will Master Obi-Wan, Master Tachi, Ferus and Jenica be all right?"
Anakin took a deep breath before releasing his worry into the Force, well most of it at least. "I hope so, Ahsoka," he whispered. "We need to focus on rescuing Fhernan's family and destroying the bioweapon. Obi-Wan can take care of himself."
Ahsoka nodded before she shifted slightly but froze when Anakin gestured sharply to her as more droids entered the transport guiding another hovercart carrying three large crates. "This is the last of it, commander," one of the droids said.
"Roger, roger. Prepare for take-off," the commander droid said. Anakin couldn't see the commander droid but he did hear it.
Anakin waited until the droids were out of eyeshot and earshot before he moved the door to the compartment above his head to completely close the compartment then he settled down to wait.
Obi-Wan dashed out of the turbolift as the alarms continued to blare mentally counting down the seconds. Forty minutes had gone by since Ferus warned him about the diamotite bombs beneath the base and Obi-Wan knew that he had about twenty minutes to get out of the base. However, the fact that there were many droids separating Obi-Wan and Siri from the main gates of the base didn't help matters.
"We still have five floors to go through, Obi-Wan," Siri said from where she was running beside the Jedi Master.
"I know," Obi-Wan said igniting his lightsaber before slicing through the droids that were in the corridor they had just entered. Siri followed suit with her own blade and they dashed into the next turbolift before whirling around and preparing for the next onslaught of blaster bolts and droids as the turbolift descended to the floor beneath them.
Once the turbolift came to a stop, they rushed out of the room together before slicing through the droids that got in their way. They repeated this process until they reached the ground floor of the base with about ten minutes to spare.
Unfortunately, the droids were determined to make sure they didn't escape.
The corridor they entered upon leaving the turbolift on the ground floor was filled entirely with battle droids, super battle droids and a few droidekas.
Obi-Wan's lightsaber flashed to block the blaster bolts that flew at him before he glanced at Siri. "There," he shouted pointing with his free hand toward the door leading into a room lying to the right of where they were standing.
Siri nodded before flipping over the droids slicing through them and landing on her feet in the doorway .She dashed into the room and Obi-Wan quickly followed before gazing around. They were in what appeared to be a control room with blinking consoles and several droids.
"Blast them," the commander droid in the room said and the control room immediately filled with blaster bolts. Obi-Wan and Siri fought back to back as the droids in the corridor slowly entered the room and the droids in the room continued to fire at them.
They fought rapidly lightsabers flashing as they sliced through weapons and droids. "Is there another way out of here?" Siri called from where she was blocking the blaster bolts of a nearby droideka.
"I'm still looking," Obi-Wan called back gazing around as he sliced through another battle droid. The commander droid was working at the console and Obi-Wan didn't like the feeling he was getting at that moment.
Something wasn't right.
The sound of lightsabers igniting sounded and Obi-Wan glanced up sharply before watching as Ferus and Jenica leapt into the middle of the fray their lightsaber's flashing. Jenica, Obi-Wan noticed, stayed close to the back of the room where there weren't as many droids and where a light brown haired woman that Obi-Wan knew had to be Dr. Fhernan was located but Ferus fought his way through the droids to the two older Jedi's side.
Between the four of them, with Fhernan blasting away at the droids that got too close to her, they managed to destroy all the droids in the control room including the commander droid.
Siri closed down her lightsaber. "How much time do we have?" she asked.
"By my calculations, we have five minutes," Obi-Wan said.
"Master, look at this," Jenica cried and Obi-Wan dashed to his apprentice's eyes before swearing when he saw the order on the console.
"Blast it," he said.
"What is it?" Siri asked.
"The doors are on manual control only and there are at least four doors between here and the main gates, including the main gates themselves," Obi-Wan said.
"Can't we just cut through the doors?" Jenica asked.
"It would take too much time," Ferus said with a shake of his head looking sorrowful. "Someone's going to have to stay behind and hold the doors open for the rest of us."
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth before releasing his anger and frustration into the Force easily regaining the calm serenity that always existed around him. He took a deep breath before glancing at the console. "Ferus, take Jenica and Dr. Fhernan and go," he ordered. "I'll keep the doors open for you. Siri…"
"No, you go Obi-Wan. I'll stay here," Siri said.
Obi-Wan glanced at the woman he loved; he saved her life when Magus nearly killed her and he didn't want to lose her again. "I'll stay, Siri," he said.
"No I'll stay," Siri said firmly.
Obi-Wan locked eyes with the stubborn blonde Jedi before he glanced at Ferus. "Get Jenica out of here, Ferus," he ordered.
"Yes Master Kenobi," Ferus said gently but firmly grabbing Jenica's arm.
"But master, what about you?" Jenica cried.
"I'll be fine. Go with Ferus, Jenica."
"Master!"
"Go!"
Jenica swallowed before nodding and she, Dr. Fhernan and Ferus dashed out of the control room. Obi-Wan returned his gaze to the console before manually opening the four doors that Ferus and Jenica would need to go through. The minutes were ticking down and Obi-Wan knew he was running out of time.
Siri rested her hand on Obi-Wan's before taking his spot as she pushed him away from the console. "Go, Obi-Wan. You can still make it out," she ordered.
"I can't, Siri, I can't just leave you," Obi-Wan protested.
Siri smiled gently at Obi-Wan. "You saved my life when Magus would have killed me, Obi-Wan and I would pay you back poorly if you got killed here," she said.
Obi-Wan shook his head; he saved Siri's life because he knew that he could, that it was one of the things he could change. Was it really the will of the Force that Siri die? If not by Magus then by this?
Love can ignite the stars.
Qui-Gon's words chose that particular moment to enter Obi-Wan's mind and he realized that he would not let the Force take Siri away from him again. He needed her, he loved her and he realized that Qui-Gon was right when he said those words weren't just for Anakin.
Obi-Wan rested his hand on Siri's. "Siri," he said quietly. "I'm not leaving you."
Siri narrowed her eyes. "Obi-Wan, you'll die if you stay here," she said quietly.
Obi-Wan gazed at Siri. "I will not leave you," he repeated letting the love he felt for the beautiful blonde Jedi in front of him appear in his eyes and through the Force.
Siri stared at him before she squeezed his hand and leaned forward. "Please Obi-Wan," she whispered.
"Either we both get out of here alive or not," Obi-Wan said firmly. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, if his decision to remain with Siri would have repercussions that would forever ruin the future, if he was being selfish in wishing to remain with Siri. His heart was telling him that he was doing the right thing and the Force...
Obi-Wan frowned. The Force was telling him something, something that he felt was important and yet Obi-Wan couldn't figure out what was going on.
"Obi-Wan please go," Siri whispered keeping her hand on the control that kept the doors opened.
Obi-Wan gazed around the room for the Force was trying to tell him something. Was that hope? Was the Force trying to tell him that there was a way to get out of the predicament they were in alive? Obi-Wan decided to trust the Force and he used it to determine if there was any way he and Siri could both get out of the base alive. They were running out of time. If his calculations were correct then he and Siri had less than two minutes to get out of there.
Suddenly, the Force nudged him toward something and he spotted a droid's arm, the arm of the commander droid, lying nearby. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes as an idea came into his mind; he didn't know if it would work or not but, at the moment, it was the only thing he could think of.
He stretched out with the Force to pick up the droid's arm before glancing at Siri. "Release the control," he said.
Siri looked startled before it dawned on her what it was Obi-Wan was going to try before she nodded and removed her hand. Obi-Wan gently lowered the droid's arm so that the mechanical fingers were pressing down on the control. "Now we need something to hold it in place," he said.
Siri dashed to the other end of the room before returning with some bits and pieces from the destroyed droids in the room. She and Obi-Wan worked together to arrange the scrap metal to form a makeshift clamp that should keep the droid's arm in place.
At least temporarily.
"Where did you get this idea, Obi-Wan?" Siri asked stepping back to look at their work. The control was still being held down but Obi-Wan didn't know for how long.
"The Force. Now come on, we're running out of time," Obi-Wan said grabbing Siri's hand and running toward the door. He didn't release the Jedi's hand as the two of them dashed down the corridor past the first door and the second door and ran toward the third door.
Unfortunately, it was when they reached the third door that their time ran out.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: okay so in the next chapter, I will reveal my decision to the poll I posted on my profile at the END of the chapter
Darth: If anyone seems out of character, Blaze is sorry
Blaze: I am, I really am sorry. I hope that you like this chapter though
Anakin: YOU LEFT US WITH ANOTHER KRIFFING CLIFFHANGER!
Severus: she did that on purpose
Harry: she always does that
Anakin: HOW DARE YOU?! (Slices Palpypie in half)
Palpypie's ghost: what did I do?
Anakin: Blaze wouldn't put in a cliffhanger of her own free will so I'm blaming you
Palpypie's Ghost: not again!
Blaze: (chuckles) please review and I will post chapter 22 next Friday or Saturday. I would post it earlier but I really need to focus on my college work so I'm sorry that you will have to wait until Friday or Saturday for chapter 22.