From Darkness, I Rise

by Kurenaino

The Jedi are thrust into a war that threatens to tear the galaxy apart, and prospects are bleak when the fearsome Sith Negotiator begins to win key victories against the Republic. Sequel to From Grace, I Fall. Also, more Sith!Obi keeps the sadness away. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

39. The Tranquility

Chapter 39: The Tranquility

Obi-Wan had just settled down for a nap between Yoda and Cody, the rancor's rough skin scraping his bare back as he nestled against the thick folds of the creature's neck, the clone commander already asleep in the bend of the beast's elbow. He had found one of Grievous' lightsabers when he had gone to sweep the planet for the Force sensitive natives, and since he found himself in possession of an extra lightsaber, he decided to begin teaching Cody, as the clone excelled at the electrostaff. He'd never be as good as a Jedi, but with a saber in hand, the clone could cut a bloody swath through their enemies.

After their staggering victory, Sidious had again called his apprentice off, claiming that too many battles like that would end the war in short order. He was, instead, to spend his time in meditation and study, which was something that Obi-Wan did in excess as it was, and wait on direct orders from the Master, or the occasional summons from Dooku and his other allies. With the extra time he gained, Kenobi dedicated himself to study of the three holocrons in his possession, and he slowly began applying the teachings to his captive Korun. The process was slow, but over time, the Force sensitives began...changing. It was slow, hardly noticeable, but the Sith saw the change. They were becoming bigger, stronger, their skin paling, their teeth elongating and becoming sharper. And while they were slowly becoming more like beasts, they were also becoming more intelligent, and, best of all, they were completely subservient to the Sith Lord. After two weeks of consistent work, they hardly resembled the humans they used to be. Obi-Wan made a note to see if he could breed them when he felt they were complete. If this Sith Alchemy was altering their base genetics, which he suspected it was, than breeding an altered creature should be possible.

All other time was spent in combat training with the clones, or bonding with the animals he had collected, or training Cody to feel the one-way Force bond that the Sith had developed with him, or losing himself deep within Satine. They still argued all the time about his place in the war, or the politics in the galaxy, but they had always done that. Satine wouldn't be happy until the war was over. That day would come, but it wasn't soon enough. But this was normal for her, and after he had...corrected her, there had been no more talk of Jedi or Sith. Everything between them was fine.

He was about to slip off into the deep meditation that constituted his naps when a loud slam of metal on wood echoed through the livingroom of his Mustafar palace, and the rancor jolted, knocking him out of his meditation and sending Cody tumbling to the floor with a startled yelp. Kenobi opened his yellow eyes and stared at the tense, lithe body of Asajj Ventress. His lips turned upwards in a sleepy smile.

"Hello, darling..."

"New boyfriend, Kenobi?" she drawled in her husky tone, pointing to Cody as the clone glared and returned to his position against the rancor.

"One can never have too many lovers, Ventress, you know how I love to collect them." He patted Cody on the shoulder. "Shh, let him sleep, I kept him up all night." Kenobi smirked. "Playing with my lightsaber." He laughed when Ventress balked, the clone quietly muttering curses under his breath at him in Mandalorian as he turned over.

"I'm sure your Duchess would love to hear about your other lovers..." She drawled, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.

"She doesn't tell me what to do," he yawned, looking at the irritated woman. "Going somewhere? You seam eager to leave."

She didn't answer him. She just tossed him the metal cylinder that she had slammed on the table, and the Sith Lord caught it. It was a lightsaber. Powering it on, the blade glowed a brilliant green. Before Kenobi could ask, Ventress plainly stated, "Master Tholme is dead."

Obi-Wan's full attention returned to him and he jumped to his feet, striding on long legs to Ventress' side and grabbing her arm, grabbing his tunic and robes and wrapping them around him as he lead her from the room. "Tell me." The assassin just shrugged.

"He just happened to be on Rugosa, and I was on a mission for my Master there. I remembered what you said, and took the opportunity."

"There is no such thing as coincidence..." the Sith mumbled under his breath. "The Force is with us."

"Not entirely," she growled. "I failed the mission, my Master was not happy."

Kenobi's eyes narrowed. "That's the second time you've called Dooku Master, my dear."

"...well he is, isn't he?" She grit her teeth and stared at the ground. "He calls me his apprentice, that makes him my Master."

"You know you cannot be Sith, Asajj," Kenobi said softly, and he felt anger snap within the woman, a fury that had not been there before, the Dark Side flying to her when she called. Dooku had made her strong, but she lacked control. The Dark Side would tear her apart.

"Maybe I can!" she snarled. "I'm so much stronger now than I was before! You were wrong, Kenobi, control is for Jedi!"

Obi-Wan just smiled at her, and slowly touched the Dark Side, the Force roaring as it left Ventress and filled him, abandoning the assassin when it was called to a stronger master. With a gasp, Asajj fell to her knees, snarling in rage as she reached for her sabers, but those too flew to the Sith Lord's waiting hand. Pale eyes narrowed in her wrath, Ventress rose, only to be forced back to her knees, keeping herself upright for only a moment before the Force brought her to the ground in a subservient bow. Still she struggled, but this time, she could not move.

Kenobi knelt next to her, reaching out with a manicured hand and laying it on her shorn head. "My dear, you've been with Dooku for too long," he said, his voice soft and kind and understanding. "He's using you, you must understand this."

"For what."

"For himself, of course. He's breaking away from our Master, he wants to kill him, and I won't help him do it."

"...why not?" The breath caught in Kenobi's throat for a moment. Yes, why not? Together, he and Dooku could defeat Sidious. Together, they could-

He shook his head to clear it. Even together, Sidious was more powerful than the two of them. He still had a great deal to learn from Palpatine, and abandoning the Master during the war would damage the Sith Imperative, one thousand years of work in the making, destroyed by Sith greed. And even if they managed it, what then? Kenobi would never serve Dooku, and he knew the opposite was true as well. He'd have to kill Dooku to become the Master, and after that...then what? He had no apprentice, had no idea how to even go about finding one. When he had imagined training a Sith apprentice, the only one he could think of teaching was his own child so that he could create a Sith Dynasty ruled by the Kenobi line. But the child in question hadn't been created, and Obi-Wan had never seriously bent to making a child with Satine, though they engaged in the act often enough. Still, she had mentioned it before, and though he had erased her memory of that particular conversation, the thought must have still been there. Perhaps it was time to begin that process...

"Dooku isn't strong enough to be the Sith Master," was the answer he settled on. "Neither am I, by the way, not yet, so don't even think about it. The path Dooku is setting for you only ends in your death."

Ventress looked away from the Sith, seriously considering this, and then she nodded, the weight of the Force slowly lifting off of her, and Kenobi helped her stand. "...I will not lose my way again," she growled, her fist clenched tightly, and Kenobi smiled, handing the woman back her twin sabers. It was the closest that Asajj Ventress could come to an apology.

"You seemed eager to leave before, I'm certain that wasn't just impatience to tell me about your kill, which, by the way," he purred, kissing her temple, "I am very pleased about."

"...I need help," she grumbled, looking away from the Sith as though it were a weakness to ask. Kenobi hardly noticed.

"What with?"

"Mas-...Dooku is displeased by my last failure. He's sending me on an important mission so I can prove I'm worthy of him..."

"Oh, this again," he drawled, draping his arm over her thin shoulders. "What's the mission?"

She shot him a sideways glance, reaching with the Force to gauge his feelings and found him wide open to her, patient and calm and listening. There was no ulterior motive in him, and Ventress shuddered at the warmth of it. "Nute Gunray has been captured. I'm to retrieve him."

Kenobi chuckled. "Oh, I hate that Neimoidian..."

"So you won't help?"

"I didn't say that, of course I'll help you." Kenobi smirked. "But you just remember that I hate that Neimoidian. Seeing him in Republic hands would please me nearly as much as torturing the life out of him." He guided her down the hall that would take them to the hanger. "What are the mission details? How did this happen?"

She shrugged her thin shoulders. "I don't know the details. Apparently, he was acting like a fool on Rodia, and Senator Amidala managed to catch him in a political trap by making him try to kill her."

Kenobi smacked his forehead and growled in frustration. "That idiot. How many times have I told him that I handle all matters of diplomacy? He's just no good at it."

"He seems to think he is."

"Yes he does..." Kenobi sighed. "And I happen to have that particular Senator in my sway. This could have been easily solved if he had Dooku contact me." The hanger doors hissed open, the clones there aiding the maintenance droids in running repairs on the ships. The Umbra stood on the far end, her shiny black hull pristine, and the ship's engines were purring smoothly. He grabbed the clone that stood closest to his beloved vessel and asked, "Is she alright?"

"Fine, sir. We were just putting her through the paces. We're nearly ready to instal the stealth drive, as you requested."

"Now?"

The clone shook his head. "Next week, if we move quickly." Kenobi nodded, patting the man on the back.

"I'm taking her out."

The clone stood out of the way. "Enjoy yourself, sir," he said, saluting, and Kenobi and Ventress entered the ship, lifting her off the ground before he even settled himself into the pilot's seat. He tapped in the flight coordinates while he pushed the sleek, speedy ship through open space toward the local hyperspace relay. "Hydian Way to the Corellian Run where they intersect," he muttered under his breath, clever eyes swiftly going over the readouts. "This would be easier if I knew what we were looking for."

Ventress smiled slyly. "A Republic ship, presumably."

"This is your mission, not mine. Do you want to fail it?"

"...it's called the Tranquility." Kenobi nodded and entered the name into his ship's computer as they flew underneath the colossal might of the Negotiator and the Liberator, two of the largest, best armed ships in the Separatist fleet, now that the Malevolence had been carelessly lost. He hadn't seen Grievous since Haruun Kal, but the cyborg had been losing fight after fight against what was shaping up to be the formidable duo of Jinn and Skywalker. Losing the Malevolence was just the icing on the cake, as far as Kenobi was concerned. Dooku was surely losing patience with him, and Obi-Wan wondered when he'd get the call to bring punishment to the failing General. For...motivational purposes, of course.

"Shouldn't we bring one of those?" Ventress asked, her nose to the viewport and pointing to the Sith Lord's dreadnaughts.

"We don't want a battle, no. This is an extraction. It should be easy enough." The hyperdrive engaged as they made the jump, the stars blurring into white lines around them. He whistled when he turned his eyes back to his computer readout. "We're in luck, Asajj, the Tranquility is under the command of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli."

Ventress looked at him blankly. "Should I care?"

"She's an old friend." He rolled his shoulders back, a smile on his lips. "Her Padawan will be with her. I'll deal with the Jedi, you extract the Viceroy. I don't think we should have a problem with the Jedi."

Ventress crossed her arms, grumbling. "Why do you get to deal with the Jedi..."

"I don't trust myself with the Viceroy. You may find him...irreparably damaged. You don't want that happening to your mission objective, do you?"

"...have fun playing with your Jedi, Kenobi." Ventress smirked at him. "Try not to play with your food too much, that's how the last one got away."

"I'm not worried about Mace Windu. And I'm not going to kill the Jedi, not here." He grinned, closing his eyes as he touched the Force. "There's a Senator on board, my dear. I don't want to leave a bad impression."

---

All attempts to interrogate the Viceroy had failed, and it was making Luminara agitated. Her fingers drummed on the holotable, lost in thought, as she tried to work through a new approach. The Senate would not be as gentle on Gunray as she had been, and while the methods of the Senate Commando, Captain Argyus, may yield results, the Jedi did not approve. Torture was the way of the Sith, and engaging in such was a certain way to the Dark Side. Patience and perseverance was the way of the Jedi, and she would not relent.

The bridge rang with the sound of a communication from the cargo hold. They had recently jumped to hyperspace, and the clones ran customary checks through the ship to be reported when the ship was safely underway. She had fielded several herself in the past few minutes from the detention level, from the hanger, from the living quarters where the Senator resided. Cargo was often last to report, and this check was taking longer than usual. Luminara answered the call without looking, her eyes fixed to the floor in concentration as she ran through ways to make the Neimoidian talk.

"Report," she said absently, and a chill ran down her spine when a soft, cold chuckle was her response. Her blue eyes widened when she fixed her gaze on the smirking holographic image of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Hello, sweetie..." the Sith drawled, and Luminara backed up, calling for the clone commander on the bridge and her Padawan, both hastening to her side.

"Put the ship on lock down, commander," she whispered to the clone. "It won't stop him, but it will slow him down." Without a word of acknowledgment, the commander rushed off the bridge, issuing commands to his brothers.

"Is that any way to treat an old friend, Luminara?" Kenobi said in mock hurt, laying a hand on his chest and sighing dramatically. "My, how time has changed you..."

"If you think to make off with the Viceroy, Obi-Wan, I'm afraid you will fail."

Kenobi scoffed. "I've no interest in the Viceroy. Keep him, torture him, execute him, I don't care. He's a liability, and I'm still angry about his invasion of Naboo."

"That was over ten years ago, Obi-Wan."

"I know! I've always been stubborn." He smiled when Luminara's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"If not for the Viceroy, why are you here? How are you here?"

He shrugged. "I just walked on! Your men are so accommodating! And I'm here for the Senator."

A pit dropped into the Mirialan's stomach. The Jedi had suspected that Padmé had been influenced by the Sith, but they only had Anakin's word to go on, and he was...unreliable at best. She didn't believe he lied to them, but Skywalker's obvious attraction to the Senator was clouding his perception. It seemed to be true, though. "We won't allow you to have her, Obi-Wan."

The Sith laughed, his voice light and easy, and Luminara could see how the man had so quickly risen in galactic esteem. He was charismatic, terribly so, which wasn't a far departure from what he used to be. It was just...changed. "I don't want to have her, I just want to talk. Finding her in a situation where that has been possible has been difficult. But you, Luminara...you're reasonable. You've always been dedicated to peace. We can find a way to end this war, isn't that what you want?"

Luminara muted the feed and steepled her fingers, bright blue eyes observing the Sith's easy, carefree form. "Master?" her Padawan quietly asked, and Luminara inclined her head, but did not look away from the Sith. "We do want peace, the Jedi shouldn't even be involved in this conflict."

"He's lying, Padawan. He may wish to talk, but he does not want peace."

"He isn't acting hostile, Master..."

"And if we go into that cargo hold, we'll find bodies, I'm certain of it. He killed his way on to this ship."

Barris nodded, accepting her Master's wisdom, her bright blue eyes observing the Sith as he waited, head tilted to the side and observing them in return, those eyes intelligent and analytical, apparent even over the flat blues of the hologram. "Did he come here with help?"

"Obi-Wan is never alone," Luminara said softly. "Every time we've encountered him, he's come in with a partner. Mark my words, he isn't alone now. Now," she drawled, looking the form of her old friend over, "are you the distraction, or the main event, Obi-Wan..."

"Can't he be both?" Barriss asked. "He can control people, we know this. He can commandeer our own soldiers."

"I'll admit, the situation is tricky..." Barriss had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, the very fabric of the Force disturbed, and she stood closer to her Master when the Mirialan un-muted the feed. "I thank you for bringing yourself to the Republic. It saves us the trouble of attempting to capture you."

Kenobi sat up on one of the boxes stacked around the hold. "If you would like to think of me as your prisoner, by all means. But I expect to be treated like any other valuable capture." He smirked. "Come interrogate me, Jedi, I love a good interrogation."

"We'll pass, thank you. Master Yoda can handle you better than I."

The smile dropped from the Sith's face. "You know that isn't going to happen," he said, his voice low and dangerous, and Master Unduli could feel her chest tighten. "Let me tell you exactly how this is going to go, my old friend. I'm going to have free reign of your ship in...oh, give it three minutes, I'll be generous. And when I'm out of this hold, which you seem to foolishly think can hold me, I'm going to go see Senator Amidala, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"You were quite insistent that peace could not be achieved in your last meeting with the Senate," Luminara said, harder than she intended. "She will not accept your terms, not after your slaughter on Haruun Kal."

"Mm, how right you are. But I'm not here to discuss peace with her, I wanted to discuss it with you. I have...a keen interest in maintaining a close friendship with my former Jedi brothers and sisters." Kenobi laughed lightly. "No, the matter I have to discuss with Padmé is...personal."

"I won't allow you to influence her further," the Mirialan said, eyes narrowing with determination, but Kenobi just smiled.

"Three minutes, Luminara. May the Force be with you."

Kenobi cut the com, and he leaned back, bracing his hands on the back of the crate he sat upon. Yawning, he looked over to where Ventress calmly stood with the enthralled Captain Argyus, safely out of range of the holographic projector. "Captain," he purred, and the Senate Commando shook, the last shreds of resistence leaving his body. "I need you to go to the bridge. Luminara's too smart to leave Gunray unguarded, and I want you to take charge of his protection. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Master..." the man droned, and Kenobi grinned wickedly, leaping off his perch and striding over to pat the man on his cheek.

"There's a good boy. When Ventress arrives, you are to aid her in transporting the prisoner back to my ship in whatever way she deems fit. I don't care if you are commanded to fight your way out, or fake an escort to safety, you just do as she commands." The man simply nodded absently, but Obi-Wan knew he had heard and understood the command. They always did. "Go now, run to the Jedi. Do as you're commanded." With a salute, the commander ran off, using his access codes to override the lock down and leave the cargo hold, the heavy doors sliding closed behind them and hissing as they locked.

"You shouldn't have given the Jedi any time to prepare!" Ventress hissed, and Kenobi simply rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead, much to her displeasure.

"Ventress, dear, if we simply rushed in, the entire ship would be on high alert."

"They're on high alert now!"

"Yes, but now I'm the Jedi's focus. Luminara is smart. Very smart. She will not allow her Padawan out of her sight."

"Maybe you can succeed in killing these Jedi, Kenobi." Ventress held her breath when fear teased at the edges of her mind. The Sith's face had darkened, and she could feel the Dark Side stirring.

"Patience," he hissed, those yellow eyes glowing. "No Jedi will die here today. Luminara will fall. Her Padawan will fall. Maybe not today, but soon, before the end of this war."

Ventress crossed her arms. "Dooku says you're either a coward or incompetent. He says there's too much Jedi in you still."

"Dooku clearly doesn't know me very well." He closed his eyes, breathing deep and even, the anger within him a low simmer. "That, or he's very short-sighted. I'll admit that my failure to kill Mace Windu was...unfortunate." He took a deep breath. "But it was also the will of the Force that he live, or he wouldn't have escaped. Besides, a living example of how one of the greatest Jedi to ever live can fail in battle against the Sith may be exactly what I need to further weaken the Jedi."

"Wouldn't his death accomplish the same thing?"

Obi-Wan growled dangerously. "I thought so, but the Force disagreed."

"Dooku says-"

"I don't care what Dooku says!" Ventress shrank back, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the furious Sith Lord, her hands flying to her lightsabers, but too afraid to draw them. She didn't know what might happen to her if she did. Kenobi breathed deeply, and slowly, the Dark Side abated, his tense, angry features relaxing. "The Force," he explained slowly, "has shifted in our favor. We know it has, because if it hadn't, every single Jedi in the Order would be able to sense my Master, who sits right beneath them. If we begin to doubt it, if we try to bend it to our will, as Dooku is trying to do, than it will snap back at us, and we will lose it. The Force will return to the Jedi, and the Sith will be destroyed."

"...it's the will of the Force that the Jedi fall?"

"It is. They will fall, or they will die. There is no other option." Kenobi took a deep breath, smoothing his hair back. "Go, Ventress. Make your way to the target. I'll handle the Jedi." The assassin nodded, deftly jumped up onto the high stacked crates, and activated her lightsabers, cutting a hole into the durasteel ceiling and climbed up into the inner workings of the ship. With a deep breath, Kenobi sauntered to the vault-like door of the cargo hold, activated his own lightsaber and, whistling, began cutting a doorway through the thick, reenforced metal.

It didn't take long for the Sith to get through, using the Force to push the heavy slab away, the strength of it striking the clones that were guarding the hallway, crushing them between the cut steel and the far wall. Blasters immediately began firing into the hold, but Kenobi just stood behind the wall, waiting for a moment for the shooting to stop, the clones taking a moment to prime their next charges, and he extended his hand through the opening, channeling the Force to lift the soldiers into the air, their bodies writhing as the life was choked out of them. Smiling, he stepped around the corner, clipping his saber back onto his belt when he deemed the clones dead. Obi-Wan only managed to step over the bodies of two clones before Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee rounded the corner, the Mirialans balking, their eyes wide in horror when they saw the company of clones all laying dead upon the floor. Eyes narrowed, the Jedi's sabers flew to their hands, the blue and green blades humming to life, and Kenobi grinned, hands in the air.

"I surrender," he purred, smiling when Luminara took a deep, calming breath.

"I accept your surrender." The Master held out her hand. "Give me your weapon." To her surprise, Obi-Wan tossed her his lightsaber.

"You murdered these men!" Barriss gasped, raising her weapon, emboldened by the man's surrender.

"No I didn't, they were shooting at me. What was I supposed to do?"

Luminara stopped her Padawan when the girl looked like she would rise to respond to the Sith. "Let go, Barriss," she quietly warned. "This Sith will prey on your emotions. We have his lightsaber, but he is never without a weapon."

"...yes, Master."

Kenobi grinned, reaching out with the Force to gauge the Jedi, the Master blank, impassive, and the Padawan nervous and uncertain, bothered by the death that surrounded her. He could use this. "Shall we talk? I'm your prisoner now."

"No, you will be silent," Luminara said sternly, pointing her weapon toward her old friend. "I feel it's safe to assume that you won't be a reasonable prisoner and come quietly with us to your cell."

"That's correct."

"Than this is hardly a surrender."

Kenobi shrugged. "Call it what you like, but you have my weapon."

"Than we are at an impasse," Luminara said, her eyes lighting up for a moment before she loudly groaned. "You're stalling for time. Barriss, contact the bridge, tell them-" Kenobi's lightsaber was ripped out of her hand, the hilt flying to his outstretched palm, and before she could see him move, the Sith Lord was bearing down on them, red blade ignited and swinging in graceful, deadly arcs, the burning plasma striking the walls and showering the combatants with sparks, and Luminara flinched, gasping in pain as one of the embers struck her in the eye, impairing her vision severely, and the Sith dashed past them, skidding to a halt behind the Mirialans and using the Force to push the two into the cargo hold.

Barriss jumped swiftly to her feet, rushing to her Master and using the Force to help clear her vision. The eye was red, irritated, but not damaged. Within a few days, it would be fine. Neither Mirialan had to say a word to each other to know what they must do, and they took off down the halls in search of the Sith Lord. Fortunately, he was easy to find, as the halls he had traversed were covered in long, smouldering lightsaber burns in the thick steel. The clones were shouting commands at each other, shooting when they saw him, and tending to their wounded when he disappeared from view. The trail led to an elevator shaft up to the command center, the door hopelessly destroyed, and a group of clones surrounding the open shaft and shooting down inside it. The Jedi looked down, a long, burning trail leading into the depths of the shaft. The elevator was above them, so the Sith had nowhere to go but down into the workings of the ship. The Mirialans jumped down in pursuit.

The shaft led out into the engines, long catwalks and bridges linking the hyperdrive to the powerful turbines, and the Jedi stalked out cautiously, standing back to back to cover each other. The far end of the bridge they were standing upon had been cut, the saber burns haphazard and random across several walkways. Tracking the Sith would require the talents of no less than Quinlan Vos, so they stood, reaching out with the Force to try and sense a man they knew was cloaking his presence, Luminara taking a moment to rub her burning eye. It was Barriss that saw it, as she was facing the way they came in to properly cover her Master's back. The red lightsaber ignited from over the side of the bridge and dug into the walkway, the weapon easily cutting through the steel, and the entire bridge shook. The Sith was underneath the bridge, and he was cutting out its final support.

They couldn't move fast enough, and the upper walkways were too high to jump up to, even for the most talented Jedi. The Mirialan's braced themselves for impact, grabbing on tightly to the railings as the bridge fell, striking the foundations of the hull far below. The Jedi were knocked from the bridge as it struck beams and supports and turbines, breaking apart as it fell into the unbearable heat of the engine vents. Each breath was searing, and despite their attempts to stay together, the impact knocked the Jedi to separate sides of the rubble. Luminara only just managed to ignite her blade and bring it around to block Kenobi's, the crimson blade blending in with the engine's red lighting and making it nearly imperceptible.

She focused instead on the Sith's movement, his furious assault belaying where his strikes would come from, where he would strike next, and Luminara remained focused in the Force. She could feel the Sith reach to her, feel him clawing at her mental walls, but she would not let him in. There was nothing for her on the Dark Side.

Kenobi's eyes glowed in the red shadows, a delighted, amused smile on his face. "You've improved," he drawled. "I was always better than you, though."

Luminara couldn't keep a small smile from her face. "Not always."

"No, not always," he conceded. "But I was before I left. I was before I fell. And I am now."

The Jedi laughed. "Fell? That's a strange way for a Sith to describe their acceptance of the Dark Side."

He struck high, blade circling above his head to alternatively strike down at either side of her body, but Luminara easily blocked every strike. "I don't delude myself. I fell from the Jedi, and I rose with the Sith. But I did fall, my friend," he said, almost sadly, and Luminara could feel the slightest thread of the Force between them. Their old bond was still there. She bit her lip and looked into those golden eyes.

"It isn't too late, Obi-Wan. You can come back."

"It is too late, Luminara."

"It's never too late." She easily blocked another volley of strikes, high, low, slashing and stabbing, she effortlessly parried them all, but she knew the Sith's heart wasn't in this fight. "I can help you, Obi-Wan, please." He moved almost too fast for her too see, but certainly too fast to avoid the vice-like grip around the wrist that grasped her saber, and she was pulled around to slam against the thick, hot durasteel wall, the hilt of his own saber pinning her other arm above her head, and he straddled her, pressing close, the two sabers burning deep holes into the wall on either side of her.

"Do you mean that, Luminara?" Kenobi whispered, leaning in close to her, those golden eyes seeming to burn a hole into her. He shifted quickly, grabbing both her wrists with his free hand and slamming them above her, the green saber dropping to the ground with an echoing clang. He tossed his own weapon to the side, his now free hand coming to stroke the woman's tattooed cheek, and Luminara wriggled, trying to get free from the Sith's grasp, but she couldn't dislodge herself from his considerable strength. She swallowed hard, and looked into eyes that did not belong to her friend Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"I mean it," she managed to say weakly, and the Sith Lord let out a shivering breath.

"I could use a friend," he muttered, looking away for a moment and breathing deeply. When he looked back to her, Luminara could see fire in the golden eyes. "Can you feel the Force, my friend?" he asked, his voice soft and breathless. "It's shifted. It's different. The will of the Force has changed. It's become dark. Clouded. Your Masters can't see it, can't sense it, because they are on the wrong side of it." Kenobi grabbed her chin when she looked away, forcing her eyes back to his. "But I can. I see things so clearly now. Visions, the future, all of it. I follow the will of the Force, no matter where it takes me. As a Jedi, that's your duty as well."

She looked at him for a long moment, sweat dripping down both their faces in the oppressive heat, and finally, Luminara smiled. "I understand."

"Do you."

She nodded. "But I can't go with you. The Dark Side has misled you, Obi-Wan. I have no doubt you have clarity you never had as a Jedi. You are stronger, for certain. And you are not lost."

Kenobi smiled. "One day, Luminara, you will understand." He pulled her away from the wall, and both sabers flew to their master's hands, and they clashed again, but just for a moment. Using the Force, Kenobi reached out to a ramp above him, jolting it lose and the hinges of the platform broke, dropping large, steel cylinders down upon Master Luminara, the Jedi reaching up to slow the falling metal, but it was too much. She dodged out of the way, the large beams striking the ground with an earsplitting clang, but she found herself wedged between the wall and the beams, and she didn't have the strength to extract herself.

Barriss had finally managed to climb her way out of the burning mess she was trapped in just in time to see her Master trapped. Panicked, she carefully climbed down the wreckage left by the bridge they fell with and started toward Luminara. She didn't get far, seized by the wrist and pulled against the strong body of the Sith Lord. His strong arm reached around her waist and grabbed her saber, tossing it aside and digging his long fingers into her thin hip.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced, young one," Kenobi purred in her ear, the Padawan shivering and struggling against him, but she stopped when she felt the Force around her, his presence using her momentary fear to enter her mind and command her to be still. "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"I-I was there on Mandalore," she stammered, looking to her struggling Master and feeling the Force swell within her. With great effort, she pushed past the Sith's commands and managed to weakly begin struggling again.

"Mm, I remember..." Kenobi gripped the girl closer. "I felt doubt in you then, and I feel it in you now."

"I-I trust in the will of the Force-"

"Yes, yes, as do I, my little Padawan," Obi-Wan said, his tone dismissive. "So tell me, what are the Jedi doing in the war, hmm?" He felt the little Mirialan gasp, and he grinned wickedly against her neck. "All this death, all this violence...what are the Jedi doing contributing to it?"

"W-we're fighting against you!"

"I wanted peace," he purred. "The Jedi allow this war to continue simply by fighting. They have lost their way..." The small body tensed, and Luminara began shouting to her student, struggling against the beams that trapped her and desperately reaching out to the girl. Kenobi let Barriss go, a smirk on his face when the Padawan reeled on him, calling her saber back to her and lighting the blue blade. "And now you want to fight instead of helping your Master?" he chided. "Go, Barriss. Save your Master. I've no quarel with you, and I assure you, you'll be safe. If you turn around now."

Teeth grit, the Padawan deactivated her saber and rushed to Luminara, and Kenobi turned from them, deftly leaping up upon turbines and engines and walkways and leaving the Jedi down below. He had one last thing to do. It was a long way back up the elevator shaft, but the Sith was aided by the Force and the rigorous training regimens that he had been completing with Cody. He'd have to thank the clone when he returned. Kenobi cut the bottom of the elevator out when he reached it, climbing inside and tapping the elevator controls to bring him to the level where he knew the Senator was staying, but frowned when the lights began to flash, a warning siren going off. The lock-down was still in effect, and he no doubt alerted the clones to his location. Kenobi couldn't help but think bitterly that he should have gatten Argyus to give him the override codes. With a sigh, he cut the top out of the elevator, the circular , discarded piece falling through the hole in the floor, clanging as it fell down the long length of the shaft, and Kenobi continued his climb.

When he was certain he had the correct floor, he forced the doors open and leapt up into the hallway, rolling his eyes when clone soldier turned to point their weapons at him, and he brought the Dark Side down upon them, violently entering their minds, which was an easy thing to do made easier by a score of identical brains. The clones fell to the ground, convulsing and writhing, and Obi-Wan easily strolled through the hall to the room where he felt Padmé's presence. He used the Force to pry the door open, and he stepped inside, letting go of his Force hold and the door quickly shut, mechanics whirring as the heavy steel locked behind him. He couldn't help but smile broadly when he saw Amidala, her eyes wide with shock, pull a blaster from her side table and point it right at him.

Kenobi whistled. "I'll admit, I like my women feisty, but this is a little out of my comfort zone."

"Get. Out." she growled between clenched teeth, and the Sith simply indicated behind him with his thumb.

"Can't. Lock down."

"You got in, didn't you?!" The weapon emitted a high-pitched whine as she primed it, and the weapon was torn from her hands, and Kenobi snatched it out of the air.

"I take it that peace is out of the question then," Obi-Wan mumbled, observing the blaster and then tossing it into the corner closest to him with a disdainful sneer. "Have you given my offer any thought?"

"Your offer is crazy!"

"My, such hostility," Kenobi said, almost hurt, and his eyes seemed to soften. Padmé looked away. She wouldn't be taken in by him, not again, no matter how much she wanted it. "What happened?" he drawled softly, taking a careful step toward her. "I thought...I had thought there was an...attraction between us."

The Senator's breath hitched for only a moment. "You controlled me. You messed with my mind. I don't know what you did to me, but I have thought about you constantly. I..." She flushed deeply and shut her mouth when the Sith looked almost confused. "...you made me want you, you made me-"

"I didn't do that, that isn't what I do, that isn't how it works."

"Yes it is! Everyone says that's what you do, Anakin said you were in my mind!"

He could feel himself burn at the mention of Skywalker, and it took all his control to keep the rage from showing on his face. Skywalker seemed to follow after him in ways he didn't want him to. He'd have to make certain to guard Satine. "If I was in your mind, it's because you wanted me there."

"No, it can't, I..." She was becoming frantic. For weeks, she had told herself that she was driven mad with lust because this...Sith had demanded it of her. She never wanted to consider that it was her own desire that drove her to crave the handsome former Jedi. Besides, Anakin...she shook her head to clear it, but found she could not. "Anakin was with me, he said he heard you in my mind, we...I-I slept with him because I was driven completely mad with lust, Obi-Wan!"

It wasn't what he was expecting, and he would have taken more delight in the Jedi's seduction if a much more distressing thought wasn't raging through his mind. He left the girl with a suggestion over a month ago on Mandalore, the suggestion that he wanted her, not the other way around. The only thing that accounted for this behavior was her own desire for him, or...or...

Or another Sith Lord was manipulating her, and his Master had asked about her. But why. His confusion was obvious, unconcealed, and the perceptive Padmé stepped forward, biting her lip and cautions, but she felt that Obi-Wan was actually ignorant of what she was accusing him of. "Padmé," he began softly, "what I did to you was simply tell you I wanted you. If that stirred something within you, that wouldn't be my doing, not in the way you're describing it."

"T-the Jedi say you control minds, they say-"

"And I do," he insisted, moving closer to her, close enough to reach out and touch. "But I deal in commands. I can't control people over long distances, not for long, and not without prior contact." The brown eyes were curious, confused. She didn't understand, and Kenobi sighed. "I'll explain. Take off your clothes." The Senator's breath caught in her throat, her brown eyes wide and beginning to haze over, and she slowly began doing as commanded, allowing the belt cinching her pants to drop to the ground. "Stop." Again, she did as commanded. "Kneel, tell me you love me."

With a whimper, the Senator dropped to her knees whimpering as she looked up at the Sith and in a voice dripping with desire, she whispered, "I love you."

Kenobi sighed, withdrawing the weight of the Force from the Senator's mind, and she collapsed upon the ground, breath deep and heavy. "That is what I can do," he drawled, but he wasn't focusing on the Senator anymore. His thought drifted to his Master and his inexplicable manipulation of Padmé. Why would he do this? Kenobi understood that the girl was an ever-present thorn in the Sith's side, but if she was so bad, Sidious would arrange to have her killed. What was the purpose of driving her mad with lust? Was it to produce a scandal that would ultimately discredit her? Or, more disturbingly, did it have nothing to do with her at all, but with her Jedi paramour, Anakin Skywalker? He couldn't think about this. Not here. Not now.

"Did you mean it?" Padmé asked softly, rising to her feet and staring at the Sith Lord with big, brown eyes that conveyed the depths of her emotions. Obi-Wan looked at her, but had to quickly look away. It was nearly the exact same look Satine gave him before they tumbled together into gentle lovemaking. "Did you mean it when you said that you wanted me?"

How was he supposed to answer that? He looked at her cautiously, reaching out to her feelings but recoiling quickly when he looked at the absolute mire of confusion within her. He was used to sensing Jedi, who were emotionally stunted in the very best of times, his clones, who expressed nothing but loyalty, his victims, who showed nothing but fear, and his rancor, who...well, they were usually just hungry. But this mess...despite the embrace of his passions, Kenobi was not used to the full weight of emotional confusion. Things had always been so clear for him.

He settled on a non-answer, whispering, "I think...you need to puzzle out what you want before you start worrying about that I want."

"I can't do that if I don't know, Obi-Wan!"

"Of course you can," he dismissed. "Padmé, I feel your distress. Your confusion, it's...well, it's enough to keep even me out of your head." He smiled gently, running a long finger down her neck, across her shoulder, down the length of her arm, and he delighted in the shiver that ran through her, the spark that began fueling her desire. "If you ever do figure it out..." He leaned over and planted his lips on the soft skin of her neck just below the ear, the Senator whispering pitifully. "You do know how to contact me." He turned, using the Force to hold open the door, and stepped out into the hallway, the metal slamming together as it locked once again. He ran a hand through his hair as he activated his comlink, smirking when he saw the lithe figure of Ventress.

"Kenobi, where are you?" she growled, her voice just above a whisper. "I've been waiting!"

"Are you back on the ship?" She nodded. "Any complications?"

"Not any I couldn't handle. The Viceroy and Argyus are on the ship, we're ready to go!"

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll be there in a moment. Every guard on the ship is going to come looking for me after I trip the alarms up here. Make sure to throw Genray in a cell, I don't want him stinking up my ship. I just had her re-upholstered."

Ventress chuckled deeply. "What of the Jedi?"

"I'll fill you in when I get there," the Sith drawled, slamming the hilt of his lightsaber into the electronic console on the wall, and the emergency warning lighting went on, bathing the hallway in red as an alarm began to wail.

"What about Argyus?" Asajj asked swiftly, and Kenobi shrugged indifferently.

"Take him off the ship and kill him. We have no use for him anymore." He cut the com, and, whistling, Darth Lumis made his way down the hall and disappeared down the elevator shaft.