The cockpit's emergency exit hissed open. Obi-Wan dropped through to the Temple's hangar floor.

"What happened to your ship, Master?" Obi-Wan twisted slightly. Arms crossed, Ahsoka raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And why are you flying half a ship?"

"Needs must," Obi-Wan shrugged. At least he'd dropped Ventress at a nearby spaceport before reaching Coruscant - neither of them sought to prolong their interaction or answer questions that would have arisen had she arrived at the Temple with him.

Ahsoka snorted. "You don't look much better than that junk heap."

Weariness weighed on Obi-Wan's smile, but he clasped Ahsoka's shoulder. "You can't get rid of me that easily, my young apprentice." Awareness prickled the back of his neck. His eyes snapped up and his heart ached. Adrina. She stood in the shadows, half-hidden behind crates of supplies. Oh, but it was good to see her again.

Their eyes locked. His heart tugged him towards her, even as his feet kept him firmly planted.

Ahsoka's distant voice called him back to the present.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm sorry, I seem to be distracted today. What were you saying?"

Ahsoka made an impatient sound in the back of her throat. "I asked if Maul was dead yet."

Obi-Wan's smile slipped. He shook his head. "No. And Savage Opress is with him. They are brothers."

Ahsoka swore under her breath.

Obi-Wan's gaze traveled back to Adrina, only to find an empty space in her place. His heart fell.

"What is it, Master?" Ahsoka asked. She looked over her shoulder.

"Nothing," he said wearily. "I must give my report to the Council."

0

"There is no way I'm letting you go after them alone!"

"Hello to you, too, my friend," Obi-Wan remarked dryly. He finished fastening his belt and turned to Anakin's hologram. After his briefing with the Council, Obi-Wan allowed himself the briefest meal and shower. After that, he would requisition a new ship and hunt Maul down once again.

"I'm serious, Obi-Wan," Anakin growled.

"Well, then it's a good thing I won't be going alone," Obi-Wan said brightly. He combed back his damp hair. "Master Gallia will be accompanying me."

Anakin folded his arms. "I don't like it. If you just give me two days, I can-"

"I'm afraid that's time we don't have, my friend," Obi-Wan said. "Master Gallia is an excellent swordswoman."

"I know, but…"

"She isn't you. I know." Obi-Wan smiled gently.

"No one works together as well as we do. You need that if you are going to kill them."

Obi-Wan feared Anakin was correct, but said again, "We must act now if we are to prevent further slaughter. We cannot afford further delay. Maul won't hesitate to slaughter anyone in his path."

Anakin raked a hand through his hair and paced back and forth. "I can put Snips in charge and meet you there."

"Leave a padawan to spearhead a major offensive? No. Ahsoka is competent and powerful, but she is still a padawan. You are needed there. Guide her where I cannot. Take care of our men."

Anakin scrubbed his face, his lips pursed. He pointed his finger sharply at Obi-Wan. "Fine. But if he isn't dead in two days, I'm coming."

Obi-Wan smiled. "I wouldn't dream of stopping you."

0

Despite serving on the Council together for nearly two years, the demands of war limited Obi-Wan's interpersonal interactions with Master Adi Gallia, but Obi-Wan found her company pleasant.

A tip from Gallia's impressively expansive intelligence network indicated that, following an armed robbery of the Cyblock Transfer Station, the Sith brothers were headed to Florrum. There was only one thing of significance on Florrum, and why it attracted the Sith Obi-Wan could only guess at.

"They could have destroyed all evidence of their attack," Gallia mused as they prepared to exit hyperspace over Florrum. "Yet, they did not."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "They want us to find them."

"What about the pirates? What role do you believe they might take in this? Will they be their next victims, or will they buy their allegiance? Perhaps use them to unload their newfound cargo?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan sighed. He scrubbed his face. "I'm not sure Hondo Ohnaka would have an allegiance with Maul and his brother."

Gallia raised a delicate eyebrow. "Do you know this Ohnaka personally?"

"Unfortunately."

Gallia nodded with a brief hum and they dropped out of hyperspace. "The Banking Clan cargo ship," she said.

"Yes, and three pirate ships," Obi-Wan said. He opened a channel with Hondo Ohnaka. The Weequay answered immediately. "Greetings, Hondo."

"Greetings? What kind of menace have you brought to my planet now?" Hondo threw his hands in the air. "First, you lose this system and then Grievous comes in and destroys my entire stronghold, leaving me to rummage through the rubble of my once great empire! And now these two horned men show up. Who are these horned maniacs, anyway? They don't seem like normal Jedi."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Not Jedi, Hondo. Sith. We tracked them here."

"They just threatened to attack with a group of my men. My own men!"

"Yes, we are looking at them right now - a cargo vessel and three of your starships. They are headed toward you, Hondo."

Hondo waved his hand around and tutted. "More to the point, are you going to help me when you get here?"

Obi-Wan glanced at Master Gallia. "There's nothing we can do about your men, but we can certainly do something about the Sith."

"Good. I'll deal with my men. You deal with those tattooed crazies."

"But of course." Obi-Wan smiled as though he wasn't at all nervous about the coming confrontation. He ended the transmission. "Let us hope their ambitions to amass a following end with Ohnaka's pirates."

Master Gallia expertly landed the ship on an outcropping overlooking Ohnaka's stronghold. The damage Grievous wrought on Ohnaka's stronghold was plain to see, even from a distance. Of course, the pirate horde advancing on the stronghold promised further destruction.

A warm breeze ruffled Obi-Wan's hair. "Be on your guard," Obi-Wan told Gallia quietly. His eyes and senses stretched across the land before them. Obi-Wan whirled, lightsaber ignited. Rocks flew up under Maul and Opress' boots. Obi-Wan smiled. "Throwing in with pirates now? How the mighty Sith have fallen."

Maul refused to take the bait, but instead launched himself at Obi-Wan with a ferocious roar. Opress followed a step behind. Gallia lept to meet Opress mid-air.

"I have plans, Kenobi, and you will not stand in my way. Not this time," Maul snarled.

Obi-Wan could not stop to think about what these new plans might entail.

Blow for blow, Obi-Wan and Gallia met the Sith brother's attacks. They ranged over rocks and rubble, edging closer and closer to the pirate skirmish. Obi-Wan ignored the blaster fire echoing through the canyon. What Obi-Wan and Gallia lacked in the Sith's brutal strength, they compensated for with grace and agility - traits that served them well until Opress rammed his horns deep into Gallia's abdomen. Obi-Wan watched, horrified and helpless, as Opress thrust his lightsaber into Gallia's back.

Another life snubbed out.

Obi-Wan lept to Gallia's fallen body. Her lightsaber answered his call just in time to block simultaneous blows.

"Kenobi!" Hondo shouted across the battlefield. Obi-Wan spared a fleeting glance to his left. Hondo and his few faithful pirates were retreating into the stronghold. Hondo waved him closer before darting into his stronghold.

Once again finding retreat to be the greater part of prudence, Obi-Wan sprung into the air, just in time to escape Maul's swinging blade. The stronghold doors slammed shut behind Obi-Wan. He followed the Force deeper into the ransacked stronghold until he found Hondo whispering with a handful of his men.

"Never thought I'd be glad to see you," Obi-Wan said, leaning back against the wall to catch his breath.

Hondo put a hand to his heart. "I am wounded."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Where are the rest of your men?"

"They are setting up an ambush. I can use your help." Hondo glanced over Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Where is the other Jedi?"

"She's…She's dead." Guilt and grief wailed within Obi-Wan but he could not afford to give them control. He lifted his chin.

Hondo blinked. "They are too powerful for even you? I am semi-speechless."

The faint click of Maul's metal feet and the whisperings of Hondo's former men echoed faintly off the walls.

"I shall draw the brother's away," Obi-Wan said. "Once that's done, blast the passageway closed."

"And you leave you alone with those two crazies?" Hondo considered. "Okay."

Maul and Opress, flanked by a half dozen pirates, rounded the corner. Hondo ordered a hasty retreat. Obi-Wan followed behind, deflecting blaster bolts, before splitting from Hondo's group. As expected, the Sith followed Obi-Wan down the passage while Hondo's traitors chased after Hondo.

"Surrender!" Maul ordered. "We are two and you are no match for us both."

Obi-Wan slowed. He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk he knew would infuriate Maul. He drew his lightsabers. "Once again, you are mistaken." Obi-Wan refused to be cowed and the tight passageway would limit the strength of their attacks and allow Obi-Wan to take advantage of Opress' technical weaknesses.

He allowed them to press him into a corner and, once close, slammed his foot onto Opress' ungrounded back leg. Opress reared back, roaring in pain, and with one quick move, Obi-Wan severed Opress' sword arm. Twin screams filled the air.

Obi-Wan immediately raised his lightsabers and crouched into a defensive stance, prepared for the full force of Maul's fury. To Obi-Wan's surprise, Maul sent Obi-Wan flying down the passageway with one powerful Force push. The passageway collapsed between them, cutting the opponents off. Obi-Wan groaned. He rubbed his head and pushed off the ground.

They could not escape.

They could not get away.

Obi-Wan pushed his body as fast as his feet could carry him. He squinted against the bright Florrum sun when he finally emerged from the ruined fortress, but through the glare he clearly saw Hondo's reunited pirate gang chase Maul and Opress onto their ship. No!

One of Hondo's men produced a rocket launcher and Maul's ship fell from the sky with a stream of black smoke billowing behind. Obi-Wan raced towards the flaming wreckage in the distance. Blood roaring in his ears drowned out the pirate's vehement claims on their booty.

But Obi-Wan found no bodies in the flaming wreckage, nor signs of escape.

Maul, once again, vanished.

0

Obi-Wan convened in Chancellor Palpatine's office with Master Windu and Master Yoda. Grave faces regarded him as he recounted Gallia's death and the Sith duo's shuttle crash.

"Over at last," Chancellor Palpatine remarked with relief once Obi-Wan concluded his report. "That is excellent news indeed, Master Kenobi. I congratulate you on once again besting the Sith menace."

Obi-Wan inclined his head and folded his arms. "I fear your congratulations are premature, Chancellor."

"What do you mean?" Windu asked slowly.

"Maul has already proven persistent beyond wildest imagination. If total decapitation and a fall into a reactor pit was not sufficient to kill him, I am not convinced this was - no body or not."

"I understand your reservations, Master Kenobi," Palpatine said, "But I am afraid we can no longer allow this personal matter of yours to be a Republic concern. It no longer appears that Maul is a direct threat to the Republic." Obi-Wan calmed his raised hackles. How could Palpatine not see that Maul posed a grave threat to the galaxy, not just the Republic?

"Done your part, you have. Chase shadows, we cannot," Yoda murmured.

"I concur, Master Yoda," Palpatine said. "We must turn our attention to the ever looming Separatist threat. Stopping Count Dooku, ending the Clone Wars, must be our top priority." He turned to Obi-Wan with a conciliatory smile.

Obi-Wan plastered a polite smile on his face. "Maul was trying to raise an army of pirates."

Palpatine waved his concern away. "Let him play with the rabble. Mere petty crooks are of no relevance compared to the Separatist threat."

With a final dismissal, Palpatine turned with a flourish of his dark robes and exited his office. Obi-Wan immediately turned to Master Windu and Master Yoda. Perhaps he could convince them, even if the Chancellor's mind refused to be persuaded. "Something is stirring in the Underworld. The crime families have had too much free rein since the Jedi have been distracted by the Clone War. I fear it is a fertile place for Maul to flourish, if he indeed has survived."

Yoda sighed - heavy and deep. "Right you may be, Obi-Wan," Yoda agreed. "But heed the words of the Chancellor, we must. A personal matter, this is for you. Clouded your judgment may be. In time, if he lives, reveal himself, Maul will, and then swiftly we shall act."

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw. A thousand protests flung themselves against his teeth, but he swallowed them down. He could not go against the Council. But Obi-Wan knew - he knew - as much as he knew how deeply he loved Adrina, that Maul lived. He sensed the Sith, lurking in the murky shadows of the galaxy like a snake biding its time to strike. And strike Maul would. It was only a matter of time.