Chapter 63: The Apprentice
The clones convulsed on the hard ground, tearing off their helmets and gripping their heads as their eyes rolled back, their mouths frothed, the sound of a repeated command echoing in their heads and driving them to madness, the words, "Good soldiers follow orders" on their lips, spoken in the same mindless cadence as the voice in their minds. On a platform above, overlooking the thousands of clones, was Obi-Wan, his eyes closed and his hands extended as he reached into identical minds and tripped the biochip in their brains, altering the command ever so slightly to suit his needs when subservience washed over them. Next to him stood Cody, the clone commander's hand tightly gripping the back of Admiral Shoan Kilian's neck, the gasping commander of the Endurance on his knees and clutching his ribs, which were certain to be broken.
Cody shifted his weight from one foot to the other, watching closely as his clone brothers were freed from the chains the Republic had created them with. This was the last group that needed conversion, and Obi-Wan had done the entire battalion in record speed, far faster than the first time he had done it. His Master was much, much more powerful than he had been a year ago, and liberating the entire battalion seemed almost effortless for the Sith Lord. Of course, Cody didn't know how difficult or easy it was, as he had no knowledge of the Force or Kenobi's command over it. What he did know was that his brothers were being freed, and while these clones would be serving on Mandalore and not with the 212th, Cody was just glad that another battalion was being freed of their shackles. He knew the phrase in three languages, as Kenobi chanted it when deep in his meditations. Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak in Sith. Adol parjai ner mircin cuyir shuk'la in Mando'a. And in Basic, through victory, my chains are broken.
Kenobi let out a shuddering breath as he dropped his hands, his clones of the 212th rushing forward to take their brothers away when they had stilled, and the Sith looked at his work with satisfaction. "Do you remember when I freed you, Cody?" he asked softly, and the clone nodded, tightening his grip on the Admiral at his feet.
"I do, my Lord. It was...liberating. I didn't know I was a slave until you showed me the way."
Kenobi smirked, his golden eyes looking over the clone and his captive. He imagined that Sidious wouldn't be pleased about the capture and indoctrination of another clone battalion, but Obi-Wan had a plan to placate his Master. After all, these clones were meant to be gifts. They wouldn't even be going to the Separatists, they would be going to treasured, protected Mandalore. The clones were a gift for Satine, and Kenobi could see no reason why Cody shouldn't have the Admiral as a gift as well. Shoan Kilian belonged to him, after all. They all belonged to him, and he would do with them as he pleased.
"What would you do with this Admiral, Cody?" Kenobi asked smoothly, watching the clone's strong hand tighten in anger. "After all, he's the one that held the chains of your brothers."
Cody growled in anger as he looked at the defiant Admiral Shoan, and he threw him to the ground, standing over him with his blaster raised. "...what do you wish done with this filth, my Lord?"
"Mm, I think you may have better ideas than me, Cody. He's yours." The clone looked at him in confusion for a moment before a cruel grin spread across his face.
"You are too good to me, Master. You have already given me a Jedi."
"And you made a pleasure slave out of her. I'm impressed, and I look forward to what you will do with this one."
"He enslaved us," the clone said firmly. "Maybe we'll see how he likes slavery."
"There's my boy," Kenobi said, patting Cody on the shoulder as he began to leave. "I'm disembarking. Come to the palace when you're done up here." Cody saluted swiftly, and Obi-Wan was off for the hangar so he could get the Umbra and fly down to Mustafar from the captive Endurance. Cody would repurpose the ship in no time at all, and after that...Obi-Wan hadn't decided what to do with it yet. With its crew going to serve on Mandalore, he simply didn't have the manpower to run another Star Destroyer, and he didn't think he could get away with stealing more clones for personal use. With due time and diligence, he supposed he could staff this ship with his Sithspawn creations. They were a simple thing for him to create now, and there was no shortage of beings in this galaxy that could be easily obtained and converted. The loss of Mon Cala was devastating for the Quarren people. He could start there.
It had been three weeks since the attack on Serenno, and Kenobi hadn't stopped moving since. The morning after the attack as he was about to leave for a covert mission to Dathomir, Sidious had contacted Kenobi and demanded his immediate departure for Coruscant so that they may meet deep in the shrine beneath the Jedi Temple. The Sith Master had felt the change in the Force as well, and he was deeply concerned by the turbulence in the Dark Side. Together, they had sorted through the new visions the Force had given Kenobi, and Sidious agreed that the problem lay in the failed apprentice and Sith pretender Maul. The creature was alive, though Sidious could feel he was not on Dathomir. Where he was, he could not say, but if the son of Talzin had found his way home, Sidious would know about it, of that he was certain.
Finding Maul had become their top priority. The Force had demanded it, as had the Master of the Sith, and Obi-Wan immediately set out on his search. Dooku was capable of taking care of himself. He was a Sith Lord, after all, not some mewling Jedi youngling. From that moment forward, Kenobi had been pulled every which way by Sidious with new places to check, by Dooku, with new targets to attack for the war effort, by Satine, who was in desperate need of reenforcing her boarders with the fighting in the galaxy reaching a new level of ferocity. Now, three weeks of hardly any sleep had left the Sith Lord tense and strained and irritable, and he shuffled into his room and threw himself onto the bed with such finality that not even Yoda rose to greet his Master.
Sleep immediately took him, allowing Obi-Wan to walk his visions. They were so clear now, so vivid that the sharpness of them and the bright, vibrant colors were almost painful to look upon. The Jedi holocron on precognition had taught him a great deal about control and focus and how it applied to the visions he had, and Obi-Wan had grown so frightfully exceptional at the skill that he now walked the Force as one would walk in a park. The vision of the dead Jedi was always a constant, but now, it was changing ever so slightly. The Togruta remained hazy and vague, but the other, the human, the lone Padawan, had suddenly come into focus. He was still obscured in shadow, but Obi-Wan could clearly see the mused dark hair, the teal eyes that belied an inquisitive, intelligent nature, and while before, he could not take a step toward the boy without the vision moving more distant, now, it stood fixed.
Even close, Kenobi couldn't make out the details of the Padawan's face, and when he looked away, it was as if he had suddenly forgotten every detail he could see. He remembered the eyes of the boy, but little more. He frowned, drew his lightsaber and cut through the young Jedi, but the red blade passed harmlessly through him, as he suspected it would. In most visions, Kenobi was a passive observer, watching closely and carefully as events that would be or could be played out before him like a holovid, but this was different, and for a moment, Obi-Wan couldn't help but wonder if this Padawan was observing him too. What was it that made this child so special, so vastly important that he would stand out like a beacon in the waters of the Force? He didn't know, but his path was clear. His focus had been on the Jedi Masters and Knights that posed a much more serious threat to the Sith, but clearly, this needed to shift. He'd have to let Cody know that from this moment on, the deaths or the capture of the Padawans were a priority.
Obi-Wan moved away from the vision, despite the Force's pull to keep him there, but the other visions proved to be largely the same. Still there was the face in flames, as vague and shifting as before, the burning planet, the face of Maul, and now, the small, faint vision of a child with pale blond hair and bright blue eyes, a Sith holocron open and floating before him, and even through the vision, Obi-Wan could feel the child's power and feel the grim delight of the Dark Side. Kenobi had felt the subtle shift in the Force nearly a week ago when the child of the Dark Side had taken root and began to grow within Satine. She had yet to know, and he had been too busy to tell her about the visions, but he suspected that she would know soon. He suspected that she would feel it, as suddenly, the Force was a part of her in a way it had never been before. He would be leaving for Mandalore soon to deliver the clones he had promised. He'd be certain to tell her then.
The Force tugged at him so sharply, it ripped him out of the vision, out of his restful state, and he shot up in his bed, all his senses alert, and stared at Cody, his hand on the rancor's nose and staring curiously at the Sith Lord. "It's about time," he mumbled when Kenobi fell back on the bed, his arm covering his eyes. "I called you several times, but you didn't respond."
"I was sleeping," he growled softly. "How long was I out?"
Cody shrugged. "I got here ten minutes ago, but it took me a few hours to get the clones and the ship squared away." Obi-Wan groaned and slid off the bed, stretching as he stood. It was far more rest than he had gotten in the past few weeks, and it was good enough. "You have messages, sir," Cody said, holding out a datapad to the Sith Lord, but Obi-Wan passed by him without taking it, yawning as he called his Sith holocrons to him, the pyramids floating in orbit around him, and Cody sighed, looking at the screen. "Dooku called, he says he has a new project he wants you to look at."
"I dislike his projects..." Kenobi growled, and Cody rolled his eyes.
"In the interest of your partnership, perhaps you should go. At least he is telling you about his plans now, it's an improvement to all your secret...Sith dealings."
Kenobi snatched a gold and cream colored Shuura fruit from a bowl on his table and bit into it, chewing pensively as he considered Dooku and his request. "Perhaps you are right, Cody. Did he say when?"
"Immediately."
He growled in irritation and took another bite of the fruit in his hand. "I feel less of a partner and more of a servant..." Yoda sniffed at the fruit in Obi-Wan's hand, and the Sith dropped it into the rancor's mouth. "Anything else?"
"Lord Sidious would like to direct your attention to the planet Umbara in the Ghost Nebula. He feels something dark stirring there, and he believes it may be the Zabrak you are searching for."
"I'll contact him shortly." Obi-Wan muttered softly. So far, his searches had turned up nothing, but he hadn't gotten a directive so specific from Sidious before. Something was on Umbara. He could feel it. Dooku would have to wait, the will of his Master superceded some project of Tyranus.
"Satine also called, sir."
Obi-Wan smiled almost gently. "And what did our Mand'alor have to say?"
"I doubt you would appreciate it if I said it, sir," Cody said, a smirk on his lips as he looked his Master over. "It may make thinks awkward between us, and I'd hate for you to get the wrong idea."
Kenobi nodded and smoothed out his robes. Satine took precedence over the assignments of the Sith. After all, this was the only moment of rest he managed to get in weeks. He was going to take it before he ran back into the fray. After all, Umbara was said to be fiercely fought over. He'd have to bring his full might down upon the planet to rid it of the Republic to clear the way for his search for Maul. He beat him once before, but he would take no chances of distraction when he fought him again.
"Put me through to her," he quietly commanded, and Cody did as he was told, the datapad interfacing with the holoprojector in the room, and a moment later, the regal image of Satine appeared in the room. Obi-Wan bowed deeply. "Mand'alor Satine."
Her noble features melted into a warm smile, and Kenobi relaxed. She was alone. "I've been trying to reach you for some time, my love."
A playful smirk drifted across his face. "I never took you for the needy type."
Satine rolled her eyes. "Needy has nothing to do with it, your war is right on my doorstep. Death Watch has been holding them back so far, but we had to focus our attention around Mandalore. My sister needs more men to defend the rest of our territory."
"Then will it please my queen to know that I have secured her army?" Kenobi grinned to see the woman's eyes light up, her entire countenance brightening.
"When can you have them here?"
"The end of the week, at the latest. I'll have Cody run through their basic training while I investigate a situation on Umbara." He looked away and gathered his thoughts, thinking of the best way to tell the woman about his visions of their child, about how he could feel its presence in the Force, but the words caught in his throat when he looked up and saw Satine glaring at him. "W-what is it, what's wrong?"
"Did you happen to...investigate a situation on Devaron yesterday?"
Kenobi shook his head. "I was above Mon Cala yesterday securing your army." That familiar pit in his stomach returned as the Force pulled at him in warning. Devaron had been home to a Jedi Temple before the war, and now served as a vital Republic outpost. Attacking it was seen as a recipe for disaster under the best of circumstances, and while Kenobi knew that it was possible to capture the Temple, he wouldn't have done it without being there to oversee the fight personally. There were too many things that could have gone wrong. "Why..." he asked cautiously. "What's happened on Devaron?"
Satine gave a secretive, knowing smile. "You really have been busy, haven't you? It's all over the holonet."
"Satine, don't think I'm above withholding your army from you.
She leaned back in her throne and crossed a slender leg over her knee and smiled easily. Satine had nothing to fear from Obi-Wan, and she knew it. "Apparently, there was a massacre at the Jedi Temple on the planet. The clones and the Jedi Master and the Padawan that held it are all dead." Her smile deepened at his shock. "I had assumed it was you. I can't think of anyone else who could accomplish such a thing, but frankly, that sort of butchery isn't your style."
"It wasn't me. Cody!"
"Already on it, my Lord," was the swift response as the clone ran to his side, datapad in hand, and held it up before the Sith. "This is the recorded data taken from the droids we had on the scene." Obi-Wan watched carefully, his golden eyes widening and his chest tightening when he saw a ferocious Zabrak brutally tear through dozens of clones, ending in a fight against a Jedi Master that was almost effortless in how easily the Jedi was slain. This wasn't just a Zabrak. This was a Nightbrother. Maul.
The rushing pulse of the Force screamed its warning deep within him, and he snatched the datapad from Cody's hands and watched it again. Than again. And then he began to calm as logic reasserted itself. It had been a very long time since Kenobi had seen Maul, but the Dathomiran Zabrak had not been nearly so tall as this hulking beast. This creature wasn't just a Nightbrother, this was a monster, far bigger than any Nightbrother or Zabrak that he had ever seen, much more fierce than any male he had seen in the Nightbrother village. This one reminded him of his own Sithspawn creations, to an extent, and Kenobi couldn't help but wonder if this one had been somehow altered by the Dark Side. Regardless, this was a problem.
"You really are watching out for me, aren't you, Satine?"
The Duchess gave him a coy smile, and despite the tension in the Force, Obi-Wan could feel his heart pound with desire. "I do try for you, my Lord of the Sith. Is this the creature you said you were hunting?"
He shook his head. "No, it's not, but I feel like you've brought me closer than I've ever been to finding him. Cody, prepare the Umbra for a trip to Serenno. I've got a feeling that this has something to do with Dooku's project." The clone saluted and rushed from the room, and Obi-Wan reached his hand out toward the hologram, the Duchess doing the same, and he smiled softly as his fingers brushed through the blue light of Satine's small, elegant hand. "The end of the week at the latest, I promise," he said softly, and she nodded. "I have something I need to discuss with you."
"I'm looking forward to it." Obi-Wan closed his eyes, steeling himself for what he must do, and he turned and left, the hologram flickering off and leaving the room in the soft red glow of the roiling lava rivers that flowed outside the windows.
Darth Lumis strode with purpose through the halls of Dooku's palace on Serenno. In his formative days as a Sith, he had spent a great deal of time there, and he knew every room, every corridor, like the back of his hand. He headed for Dooku's study, which was most likely where the Count would be, sitting behind his desk and plotting something or another. Dooku was always plotting, which Kenobi understood, but he would have respected the aging Sith Lord more if he actually executed his plans personally, instead of relying on assassins or apprentices or partners to carry things out for him. Obi-Wan appreciated a team effort, but if Dooku was unwilling to dirty his hands more than occasionally, than he was just lazy. The Count, truly, was getting old.
"Dooku!" the young Sith called when he entered the study, his voice echoing off the high ceilings, and his golden eyes flying not to the Count, who stood with his crimson lightsaber drawn, but at the creature that stood before him, tall and broad shouldered and monstrous with long, wicked cranial horns protruding from his green, tattooed head. In the beast's hands was held a double bladed red lightsaber, and for just a moment, Kenobi felt like the Jedi Padawan that once looked at a similar creature in the hangar of Theed Palace on Naboo. Kenobi took long, purposeful strides to cross the room, taking two steps at a time to mount the stairs to the elevated floor on which Dooku stood, and he planted himself right between the Count and the creature, arms folded over his chest and looking very cross as the monster behind him softly growled.
"What is that?" Kenobi demanded, pointing over his shoulder at the hulking creature, and Dooku retracted his lightsaber, his face fixed in a scowl that Obi-Wan would describe as petulant.
"That," Dooku began pointedly, "is my new assassin."
"Ah. New apprentice, then?"
Dooku shrugged. "If you like."
Obi-Wan groaned and ran his hands over his face. "Oh, is three weeks all it takes for everything to fall apart? I thought you were smarter than this! We were supposed to be in this together, what are you doing!"
Dooku turned his nose up in the air and looked down at the younger Sith. "I told you that I would be increasing my security, and Jedi cut too easily through droids. I needed another assassin."
"I was going to help protect you! We had a partnership, Dooku!"
"And you have been gone for weeks. Your job is more important than being my bodyguard, and furthermore, you are not mine to command." Dooku crossed his arms and glared down his nose, and Kenobi felt himself burn in a cold rage. "And when we rule the galaxy, I will need an apprentice, since you and I will be equals."
"You know, this is exactly what brought our Master down on you and Ventress."
"Yes," Dooku agreed, nodding sagely. "Years into her apprenticeship with me. Do you suspect it will take so long for us to kill him?"
It wouldn't. Now that his child sat within Satine, it was only a matter of time. They were a year away, maybe two, from the end of the Republic, the death of the Jedi, and the dawn of the Empire. "...no," he finally said, his voice low and dangerous, but the intonation was lost on Dooku, who seemed pleased that his point had been made.
"This," Dooku said proudly, sweeping his hand toward the silent Zabrak, "is Savage Opress. Savage." The creature stood up taller. "This is Darth Lumis, a Lord of the Sith."
Savage looked the smaller man over, observed his cruel, golden eyes, the young face that somehow seemed to bear the experience of one who was older than he appeared to be, and felt the dark, furious pulling of the Force within him. He did not look like much, but Lumis was exactly what Dooku had said. A Lord of the Sith. The massive lightsaber deactivated, and the Zabrak dropped to his knee and bowed his head. "Master..."
Kenobi's eyes narrowed. This was a Nightbrother, no question. He had some dealings with the Nightbrothers when he had been a Jedi, and compared to their wilful female counterparts, the males were downright docile, bred for subservience to the women that ruled the planet. This one seemed no different. Kenobi stood back and commanded the Nightbrother to rise, and the command was obediently followed. Obi-Wan walked around him, observing his towering height, the powerful muscles that covered his entire body, the power of the Force within him, and while it wasn't exceptional, it was far from lacking. "Have you heard of one of your kind by the name of Maul?" Kenobi asked quietly, and the Zabrak bowed his head.
"I do not know this name, Master."
He was telling the truth. All he could sense in him was blind obedience, but such a thing could be deceptive. The Jedi had learned that the hard way with Eeth Koth, who fervently believed everything that Obi-Wan had told him was truth, and Kenobi would not be caught in the same trap that he had once set for the Jedi. If Savage knew anything at all, it was gone, at least for now. "Where did you get him?" he asked Dooku quietly, and Kenobi's yellow eyes darted to the other Sith when he felt the Force grow tight with unease.
"He was given to me by Mother Talzin."
"...what."
"She reached out to me after you left," the Count calmly explained. "I have had dealings with her in the past, and she was useful to me then."
"Apprentice, leave." Savage looked to Dooku, and when his Master nodded, the Zabrak collected his lightsaber and left the room, Lumis and Tyranus staring at each other until they hear the door hiss open, and then close behind the Nightbrother. "Are you out of your mind, Tyranus!" Kenobi hissed, his heart pounding in his chest and the Force roaring within him in panic as it considered what it meant to have the leader of the Nightsisters involved in this. "We decided that Nightsisters were the assassins sent to kill you! It's completely in the realm of possibility that not only Ventress, but Talzin was directly involved with that!"
"We most certainly did not decide that," Dooku snapped, his voice unnecessarily harsh as he loomed over the smaller man. "I asserted from the beginning that they were Jedi. Talzin has no qualm with me, Kenobi, but she certainly does with you."
"Alright, yes, that may be," Obi-Wan said slowly. "But that was before you tried to have Ventress killed!"
"I did have Ventress killed."
"She isn't dead, Dooku!" Obi-Wan cried frantically. "There are way too many coincidences here for all of this to not be related! You have Ventress killed, and we are attacked by assassins that look like Nightsisters, and then Talzin contacts you to give you a new assassin!" He jabbed his finger into the Count's chest. "This is a trap."
Dooku scoffed and brushed the other Sith away. "We have nothing to fear from Mother Talzin, Kenobi," the Count said forcefully, walking down the small flight of stairs, Obi-Wan close on his heels. "We are Sith, and she is simply a primitive."
"A primitive that our own Master once considered a suitable apprentice."
"Until she found Maul, and a Jedi Padawan killed him," Dooku said calmly, glancing sidelong at the younger Sith. "Let's assume you are correct for a moment, Obi-Wan. Let's assume this is a trap."
"It is a trap!" Kenobi snapped, but Dooku held up a silencing hand.
"All this will do is bring Ventress to me. If she is responsible for the attack, than she will not stop until she sees me dead, and while my former apprentice is powerful, she is not me." He shrugged nonchalantly. "And if Talzin has betrayed me, she will be dealt with."
"How many wars do you want to fight, Dooku! It was a mistake to involve the Nightsisters in this. You already have one failed apprentice from Dathomir, why invite another in?"
"The male is more easily tamed, and the warriors produced there are exceptional. Ventress was a fine example of that."
"Dooku, listen to me, please," Obi-Wan begged, speeding up to block his path and putting a hand out to stop him. To his surprise, Dooku did stop. Kenobi took a deep breath to focus himself and quiet the screaming of the Force. "Talzin is against the Sith, as an order, and with your betrayal of Ventress, she has a personal vendetta against all three of us. I don't think it's wise to provoke her. I think we need to stay far, far away from Dathomir and all its children."
"Why, Darth Lumis," the Count said lightly, a slight chuckle in his voice that made Kenobi's hair stand on edge. "It almost sounds like you are afraid of these Nightsisters."
"I'm not afraid of anything."
"Then act like it." The Count's tone was firm, resolved, and it was clear that Dooku would hear no more of this. "Talzin, Savage, the Nightsisters, the entire cursed planet of Dathomir will kneel before the Sith, as will the entire galaxy. And if they do not, well, the price of betrayal has become very high as of late."
"I think this is a mistake," Kenobi said through grit teeth, but Dooku just laughed.
"Savage is obedient, powerful, ambitious, and steeped in the Dark Side. The promise of galactic power for a man like that will take priority above all else."
"But will he be subservient to you?"
"He is already," Dooku said confidently. "After all, they were raised to follow a Master." Dooku's eyes narrowed and flashed a dangerous, pale shade of yellow. "And he is mine, do you understand? If you touch him, or tamper with him the way you did with Ventress, there is suddenly a great deal that is yours that I can take from you."
Obi-Wan would have been furious if the Force weren't thrashing so hard, but as it was, he could barely keep the raging of the Dark Side contained. "This little alliance of ours has some problems to work out."
"I feel they will work out fine, so long as we agree not to touch what isn't ours."
Kenobi sighed and sidestepped out of the Count's way. "When this goes wrong, I expect an apology."
"When it doesn't, I expect you to be humbled."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and turned away from Dooku as the elder Sith passed him by. Perhaps Dooku was right. The Sith had nothing to fear from Talzin or the other Nightsisters. If they were a threat, Sidious would have killed them a long time ago. But when he closed his eyes, all the Force would show him was the black and red face and hate-filled golden eyes of a man he had killed a long time ago.