Precipice by shadowsong26
Original Author's Notes: As a note, this chapter references a significant Noodle Incident from the Thrawn novel, the timing/specifics of which I made up, and therefore may be contradicted by later canon. Also, as before, tactical/strategic errors are mine, not our narrator's.
~shadowsong
Part 4: Commander
Commander: Chapter 9
Obi-Wan, Moonshot, and Reckoning had been pinned down in the magazine for nearly half of a standard hour, and nothing had exploded. Which, of course, meant every second made that eventuality that much likelier, but they had still had that time to regroup and try to figure out their next move.
Moonshot had had far more luck with her appointed task than Obi-Wan had with-not at all surprisingly, there was a medkit available, even easily accessible, securely bolted to the west wall of the storeroom. It wasn't particularly extensive at its best, and needed a few things restocked on top of that, but it was sufficient to tend to Reckoning's injury, at least in the short term.
Finding an exit, unfortunately, was not nearly so simple.
Cutting through the back wall and then scaling the mountain behind the base was an option, but Reckoning would never make it. Besides, it would be a long, roundabout route to rendezvous with the rest of the cell, which increased the chances for getting recaptured.
Obi-Wan had checked the ventilation shafts as well, but they were too narrow for either him or Moonshot. Reckoning might manage, though; he held onto the thought in case splitting up proved the best option. He'd prefer not sending Reckoning off on his own, but if he had to, he would do it.
There was also, of course, the task of removing some of the ammunition if they could. Which had been their mission to start with; the entire reason they were trapped here now. The potential firepower would be a great asset to this cell or any others they could smuggle it to, and leaving it in Imperial hands, after putting this much effort into removing it in the first place- especially this week-didn't particularly appeal to Obi-Wan. Unfortunately, neither the cliff route nor the ventilation shafts were a good way to transport explosives. It was a far lesser priority then making sure the three of them got away as intact as possible, to be sure, but not something he was willing to abandon entirely until he had to.
Time, however, was a real concern-more so even than the risk of an errant spark setting off the half-assembled ammunition all around him. The Imperial forces boxing them in had a much better chance of entering the room safely than he and his companions did of exiting it.
So, he moved on to other options. He'd appropriated Moonshot's datapad to check the viability of cutting down- a lateral escape through the walls would get them caught very quickly, he was absolutely certain-and it was looking more and more like the floor might be their best option. Reckoning could manage it, with their help, which meant they could go together. There was even an exit from the base proper within striking distance, though there was quite a bit of open ground between that and the woods surrounding them.
One problem at a time.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being herded in that direction. And while the best thing to do with a trap was, of course, to spring it on one's own terms, their current circumstances made such an action seem...less than prudent.
More so than usual, even.
But it remained the best of several bad options. Unless Moonshot, who had been working on slicing into enemy communications since she'd finished tending to Reckoning, found actual evidence otherwise in the next few minutes, Obi-Wan would likely advise going through the floor.
That decided, he looked up, setting the datapad aside. Moonshot had apparently, while his attention had been occupied elsewhere, half-disassembled a wall comm unit which had, apparently, allowed her to successfully tap in. Excellent. About time something went our way.
"Anything?" he asked her quietly.
"Not really," she said, listening intently. "Seems like the boys outside are still waiting on orders. It was the Navy commander who figured out we had two teams, though. Got that much."
"Right." Which meant that said Commander, and not the one actually in charge of the base, was the one to be wary of. Particularly when he left the planet itself.
Getting ahead of ourselves again, he thought. Focus.
Of course, even apart from that, it was useful information. The Navy commander sweeping in like that and redirecting ground forces meant a decent chance of chain of command confusion. Possibly even an outright conflict between him and the base Commandant, regarding overstepped boundaries and overreached authority. Assuming Obi-Wan ended up in a position to manipulate that tension, he certainly could gain quite a bit of traction there.
"Did they mention his name at all?" he asked. Every detail helped, and if this was someone he knew, who'd been reassigned to a ship he didn't, it would make planning their exit significantly less difficult.
"Thrawn," she said. "That mean anything to you?"
"No," he said, a little disappointed. Not anyone he knew, either directly or by reputation, unfortunately.
Although on further thought, the name was vaguely familiar. He'd heard it at least once before, but-
Ah. Right. That mess Anakin had gotten into at the edge of the Unknown Regions, very early in the Clone War. Before Ahsoka had joined them, even; no more than a couple of weeks after Anakin had been Knighted. Obi-Wan couldn't recall any further details off hand, so it wasn't much help in the moment. Other than the knowledge that Thrawn was from outside the territory either the Republic or the Empire had ever tried to claim, and thus had a very different context and perspective, making him somewhat harder to predict. However, Obi-Wan had a feeling that this would not be the last time he encountered this particular commander, so he would be sure to ask Anakin about it when they-
Abruptly, a bright-if distant-shock of raw pain splashed across the Force.
Anakin!
All thoughts of Commander Thrawn-or even their escape-flew out of his mind. Because Anakin was in grave, immediate danger; Anakin was hurt, and he-
"Ben?"
He couldn't do a damned thing about it.
The realization was like a second blow, almost worse than the initial shock had been. Anakin was far away, and Obi-Wan was trapped, with Moonshot and Reckoning depending on him to hold himself together and find them a way out.
He clenched his hands to still their shaking, took a breath, and tried- tried -to regain some sense of internal equilibrium, and lock his current-reaction down.
There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony.
He closed his eyes; instantly regretted it as his memory filled the space behind them with the Tantive's medbay and Anakin's ragged breathing.
That was six years ago, he told himself. Six years ago. Not here and now. And Anakin isn't-this time he's not-things are not that bleak.
The truth of that thought sang through the Force around him. It wasn't-it wasn't much, but it was enough to banish those memories back where they belonged.
For the moment.
There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos there is harmony.
"Ben, are you okay?" Reckoning asked, his voice at last penetrating as Obi-Wan regained a modicum of his self-control.
He opened his eyes. "Yes." No.
The others exchanged a look.
"What...what happened?" Moonshot asked, rather than pushing the point.
"It was...far away," he evaded. "It will not affect our situation here." So long as I manage to keep it from affecting me too strongly, at least.
As he had six years ago, he set a tendril of his thoughts to passively monitor his bond with Anakin, just in case, and told himself sternly that that was enough.
And then-
Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs. Just as Qui-Gon used to tell him. Frequently.
"We should get on," he added, passing Moonshot back the datapad with hands that were once again completely steady.
Even if his mind and heart were-well, in progress.
"All right," she said. She didn't sound entirely convinced, but she didn't argue, either. She accepted his assurances; she trusted him-they both did-either as an individual or a Jedi. It didn't particularly matter. It was certainly motivating; all the more reason to stay focused.
"Okay," Reckoning agreed softly. "So...which way, then?"
Sideways was still out, down was still probably a trap, up was still a steep, exposed climb…
Split up, he decided. Two of them to go down and out with as much of the ammunition as they could; one to draw the defenders away and clear a path. Or-
He considered Reckoning for a moment. The brief rest and moderate painkiller had done the young man a great deal of good. And, especially with an unknown like this Commander Thrawn involved, the more confusion and misdirection Obi-Wan could apply to the situation, the better.
"Do you think you can make it through the vents?" he asked.
Reckoning blinked, then eyed the hole Obi-Wan had already cut in there, considering. "Probably? I'll need a boost up there, but once I am-yeah, I think so."
"What are you thinking?" Moonshot asked.
"We split up," he said. He pulled out one of the timed charges he'd borrowed from the stockpile Cleaver had bought from Hondo, and tossed it to Reckoning. "What appears to be the quickest, safest route out is for me to cut through the floor, but there's a very good chance that it's a trap. Reckoning, I want you to take this charge and some of the ammunition, get a reasonable distance away, then set it off. I'll do the same, going up the mountain. The will hopefully draw at least some portion of the troops off, leaving Moonshot a reasonably clear exit route, with as much of the remaining stockpile as she can safely handle."
Moonshot nodded. "And even if I can't bring all that much, we'll at least have kept the Empire from using a good chunk of it, yeah?"
"Precisely," Obi-Wan said.
"Got it," Reckoning said. "Where do we meet, after?"
"Third backup rendezvous," Moonshot answered. "Cleaver and the others will have steered clear of that one, no matter what else happened out there."
"Don't wait more than a half-hour," Obi-Wan cautioned. "I'm sure you have protocols in place if we have to scatter. Use them. If I don't meet you in time, wait for me to reach out before attempting to contact me again. Tell Cleaver, too."
"We will," she said. "You know where to find us?"
"Yes," he said. He made a point to always, always study the 'what to do when everything explodes the wrong way' contingency when he started a mission. He had learned that years ago. The first thing he'd memorized, when they'd shown him the map of the complex, was the series of rally points.
"All right," she said.
"We should probably move, then," Reckoning said, pulling himself up with the aid of a nearby shelf and balancing carefully, almost all of his weight in his good leg. "Before the Imps bust in and ruin Ben's plan."
Moonshot nodded. "Good luck," she said, clasping his hand briefly.
"You, too," he said. "See you on the other side."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes again-this time, miraculously, avoiding the onslaught of nightmarish memories-and lifted Reckoning up until the young man caught the edges of the vent and pulled himself in.
He waited another moment, then cut a hole in the floor for Moonshot, keeping the piece in place until he could lift it out and set it aside, then closed his eyes and found the exact right place to cut his own doorway.
A breath of chill air swept over his hair-odd; it was the wrong season, and they weren't at nearly a high enough altitude for that to seriously impact the temperature.
He shook it off, and turned back to Moonshot. "Wait at least thirty seconds after you've heard an explosion before you move," he advised her softly. "But you'll probably be all right without waiting for the second."
She nodded. "Are you sure you're okay, Ben?"
Anakin was still alive; the danger hadn't passed, but he was still alive. So, "Yes," he said, and it was only an exaggeration, not a lie.
She studied him for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Good luck to you, too."
He bowed slightly in acknowledgement. "May the Force be with you," he said, then took a breath, stepped out onto the mountainside, and began to climb.