Saga Shadows

Ch 1:

Ooh, this looks like it'll be a nice epic Obi-Wan fic! I always forget how much I enjoy these until another one appears.

Really liked the attention to everyday practical issues here. Even though the galaxy and his life are falling apart, Obi-Wan has a very specific set of mundane challenges to overcome. Just getting Luke to Tatooine takes some improvising -- babies need things! It was a really nice moment when Rheen and Caella were willing to help out with Luke. Sleep-deprived or not, it was an unexpected kindness and I'm glad that Obi-Wan was able to find someone knowledgeable and caring like that by chance. (Well, so much as chance exists in Star Wars. )

 

Glad to see @Kahara posting and commenting on the boards.

To @CaraJinn: Even in this story I assume I let him recover too quickly if one look to the timeline here, but I had to pull him out to some adventures to avoid the readers being bored to death. Hopefully I manage to portray a slow recovering after traumatic experiences.

No story of yours could ever bore me to death. Being forced to cure an inflamed larynx and to wait for the medical supplies for my husband is boring. But your way of story telling is definitely exciting.

 

Wuhuuuu, a new reader. Thanks a lot for commenting.

Oh, I'm really grateful for that comment too.

Next chapter coming - back to back as usual.

 

Chapter 20: The Attack on the Temple

Obi-Wan startled by the sound of the familiar voice. It was almost as well known to him as Qui-Gon's or Anakin's had been. It was a bit deeper now, more mature, but it was unmistakably Ahsoka's.

"Ahsoka?" he exclaimed, as the Togruta stepped out from the corridor she'd been approaching from. He could hardly believe his own eyes."

"In person." The answer was uttered in her usual self confident style. "Master Obi-Wan, it's good to see you even under these circumstances. I feared that you had been killed in the purge, but I should have known better."

Her composure held only so far, and before Obi-Wan realized what was happening his former grand padawan was in his arms, hugging him hard. He could feel more than see the sobs coming from her slender frame.

"Shhh, Ahsoka, don't cry."

"I'm not crying," she protested vehemently while wiping tears off her face,"I'm not. It's just so good to see you alive."

"Maybe we should continue the catch up in a place somewhat more private?" Mace interjected. "I believe it would be good to update Master Kenobi on the last time's events, before he meets the rest of the group. I suggest that we retire to my quarters and then we can rest for a while and meet the others for the morning meal."

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka nodded in unison, both knowing very well from former days that when Mace suggested something with that mien it was wisest to follow the suggestion.

"He hasn't lost his natural authority," Obi-Wan mused."After all that's been happening, it's good to see."

Mace Windu led them through a conglomerate of corridors and entered a single room. The room was modestly furnished with a bed, a desk and a chair in front of the desk. Obi-Wan recognized the furniture as standard furnishing for the living quarters. Mace recognized the quizzical expression and explained: "We've been lending some furniture from the Temple quarters above. After a while they reduced the number of guards within the building so we were able to sneak up and bring down some necessities. He gestured to Obi-Wan to take seat on the single chair in the room, and lowered himself on the bed. Ahsoka had to make do with the floor.

"Now, what happened?" Obi-Wan demanded to hear, "I have heard how Mace survived, but how come you came to look for him?"

Ahsoka sighed and began her story. "It was mostly coincidence, actually. When I left the Order I was devastated. Being a Jedi was all I'd ever imagined to be, and finding myself on the outside was…tough. At first I didn't know where to go so I just found myself a place to sleep in the lower levels of the city. The first nights were scary, and I had to flee several times. Finally I came to a place which seemed more quiet and desolated than the rest of the lower levels, and I settled down there. I couldn't understand at first why there were so few death-stick dealers and other villains in that area but one night I realized that I felt the Force clearer there than I'd done at any place since I left the Temple. I started to investigate the area and I found the slab covering the entrance shaft which I assume you came in through this evening?"

She looked quizzically at Obi-Wan and he nodded silently.

"The following day I went to the market and I…hm…managed to get myself a glow stick. That night I removed the slab and went down to explore the shaft. At that time I believed it might have been mining activity in the area before the city grew and covered everything. I soon discovered I was wrong. I found the Grand Hall which we met in recently and I realized that I had found a hidden entrance to the old Bendu Temple.

I felt safe there, so I made myself as comfortable as I could in one of the rooms. I felt a bit bad after leaving the jedi and still seeking refuge below the Temple, but on the other hand - I had no money and no place to go. I kept briefly in touch with Dex, though. One of the first nights after I left the Order he caught me rummaging through the garbage containers in his backyard trying to find something edible there. I knew about his place from my time as padawan. He recognized me, of course, and I had to tell him the whole story of how I left the Jedi Order. At first he wanted to contact you, but he gave in when I begged him not to. But he gave me a decent meal, though. After that we kept briefly in touch. So it was mere coincidence I turned up there a week after Master Windu had been saved."

Mace Windu looked at her, sternly: "Coincidence now? "

Ashoka blushed a little. "Well, maybe not entirely, just mostly. We had become more people and we needed food so I came to ask Dex if he could set me in contact with someone who could help."

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. Suddenly all the bags and crates he'd seen in Dex's storage room made sense. Packing, not unpacking. Of course. "I bet he didn't go far to find that "someone'?"

"He didn't." Ahsoka confirmed. "We will forever be grateful to him for all the efforts he's done to provide supplies for us. We pick them up twice a week. Well, anyway, the evening I turned up, I couldn't have been more surprised when I found Master Windu there. We all thought he'd been killed in the Chancellor's office. At that time he was well enough to walk so I asked him to join me to my…our…quarters. It wasn't safe neither for him nor Dex to let him stay there, and we needed his skills as a leader down here. So he followed me down the entrance I had found at first and met the other survivors."

"How did you get in touch with the others?" Obi-Wan asked, "And how did they find their way down here?"

Ahsoka sighed. "When the clones started the shooting I heard the noise down here. At that time I had stayed here for weeks and I had become quite familiar with the corridors and lay out of the Bendu Temple. The entrance below the stone slab is likely one of several emergency exits they had when the it was operative. Obviously there were dangerous times then as well. But there were also several ways leading up to our 'modern' Temple. There were one entrance near every spire. I assume they had been well known when the modern Temple was under construction, but then they had been forgotten during the centuries, but of course they were easier to find from down here than from the modern Temple.

So far I had stayed away from the upper levels. After all I didn't want to be an intruder in the Temple I had left, but when the grenades began to fall I wanted to know what was going on. I hurried up to the surface and and managed to get so high that I could see the Temple from a distance. The eastern and western tower had already fallen and I could see smoke and flames rising. I didn't have a clue what was going on, but I realized that much that there was an attack going on and the Temple would probably be in lockdown, or someone were trying to fight their way out. Anyways, with the rather heavy bombardment they would be in serious trouble, so I decided to go in and see if I could evacuate someone from below, so to speak. Little did I know then about the scope of what was happening.

I hurried 'back home' again and set my course towards the entrance by the foot of the central spire. I assumed it was most protected from the falling debris from the other two towers and no-one in their right mind would have been trying to get out near the falling towers anyway.

I managed to open the door leading into the base of the central spire and found my way up the stairs. I was on the level that contained the old prison cells when I heard voices. I could hear distant cries and the sound of blasters, but much closer I heard children cry. As both of you know being deprived of the Force connection is a terrible experience for every Force sensitive being, but for the infants and initiates it was devastating. The hatch up to the central spire was thoroughly closed and the Force deprivation affected me too so it took a while for me to get it open, but at last I managed to push it up and found myself in a circular room that obviously was inside the foot of the spire. From there it was quite easy to find the way out. There is a little corridor through the foundation of the spire and then another door or rater wall panel out to the cell block level. Force only knows where to find the opening mechanism from outside, but from the inside it was quite easy. I believe I almost scared the wits out of the others when I opened the door and urged them to come inside. The shouts from outside was louder there and I was really anxious to get them inside and shut the door before someone not-so-friendly turned up.

At first they didn't want to. Everything was so uncertain, but then Bant urged them to step in. Fortunately they did listen to her."

"Bant?" Obi-Wan exclaimed, "Is Bant alive?"

Ahsoka nodded. "She is. You will meet her tomorrow. She was the one who led the group down here. Master Nu had told her that there should be an entrance to the old Bendu Temple and that the old temple would be easier to defend if it came to that."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Like so many others Jocasta Nu had died defending the Temple, but she had at least managed helping some others to live.

"What about Garen? And Reeft?" he knew that there was no real hope for a positive answer to that question, but he had to ask anyway.

Mace Windu shook his head. "Nothing heard from them. We just have to assume that they were killed as so many others."

"After that we decided to stay here for a while," Ahsoka continued her story, "at least until things have calmed down, -if it ever does. For the moment we're pretty safe here, but in due time we will need to evacuate the younglings. They cannot stay down here forever. After the first days we were able to sneak up into the ruins of the Temple and get some equipment here so we have furniture, even though it's sparse, and we could save some medical stuff from the healers ward too. Two of the exits were closed quite permanently by the falling spires, but we keep the southern entrance and the northern entrance open. We closed off the central one under the main spire as good as we could. The others are blocked with rocks when we don't use them so it will be very difficult for someone who is not able to use the Force to get down here. Still, we've heard of these Inquisitors so we don't feel totally safe."

Obi-Wan stroke his beard, a certain sign that he was contemplating the question.

"No, you're right. These Inquisitors will be a problem. After what I've heard they are Force sensitive too, and that will make them formidable enemies. Hopefully they won't dig too deep in the ruins of the Temple, at least not yet. And as you said earlier, Mace, the terrible force inhibitors in the prison cells above will neutralize them as well as us. But I agree, you will need to move on. You cannot stay here forever."

"You mean 'we'?" Ahsoka said hopefully. "You will stay, won't you, Master?"

"No, Ahsoka, I'm afraid I cannot," Obi-Wan sighed, "I have other obligations but if there is anything I can do to help you, I will do so."

Then an idea struck him and he continued: "And I believe you will be needed elsewhere too, Ahsoka. No offense, but you're too much of a warrior to stay here, babysitting initiates and infants. But for now, I think we should rest if you have somewhere I can stay until the morning comes. We will need to make some plans."

 

Excellent Ahsoka's resourcefulness and great news about Bant... eagerly looking forward to the details of the plans.

 

Ahsoka! Yaas!

 

Writing Asoka into this story is a master move. Well done!

 

Well, she was available - that is, not reported dead during order 66 so I thought she could get a chance to pop up again. I've always liked her.

 

Chapter 21: Reunion

Obi-Wan woke up by the sound of children's voices in the corridor outside his room. Well, his…? Ahsoka had given him her room ("You deserve a proper bed, Master." ) and promised that she would find another place to sleep for the rest of the night. "Blast it, have I become that old," he cursed silently to himself, "I shouldn't have to get a 'proper bed' yet. I'm only 38 for Force's sake." But the intention was good so he appreciated it as such.

He didn't have a clue of how early or late it was, since daylight was totally absent down here, but at least other people were up and awake. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He'd better get up and going. He opened the door and decided to follow the sound of voices. He'd rather not get lost down here. He didn't doubt that he would find his way out again, but on the other hand - why appear stupid in front of Mace Windu?

The corridor opened up into a larger room. It was definitely not as big as the Grand Hall he had entered into the evening, no night, before, but it was much larger than the sleeping chambers. Tables were set up and children and older masters were occupied by eating something that appeared to be first meal. He could see Mace Windu sitting by the end of on of the two long tables in the room. Ahsoka was sitting opposite of him and beside him was another very familiar figure: Bant Eerin. His childhood friend. The closest he had come to having a sibling, though they were of different species. The one he had always trusted when everything else went wrong. He let go a deep sigh of relief.

The rather hushed voices gradually quietened when he entered the room, and mere whispers could be heard.

"Who is that?"

"It's…Kenobi?"

"Are we in danger?"

"Kenobi has survived."

"He can help us."

He could feel himself blushing slightly. All those years as a padawan and those latter years in the Council and he'd still not managed to get rid of that habit completely. He simply didn't like being in focus for other beings' attention. Oh, well, the danger of such wasn't big home on Tatooine… He pulled his best "Jedi Master" composure around him and steered towards Mace's table, unpleasantly aware of all the glances that followed him.

Then the relative silence was broken by Bant who jumped up.

"Obi-Wan! Mace and Ahsoka just told me that you had arrived tonight, but I could hardly believe it!"

"Undeniable so," he answered calmly. He felt an urge to hug her hard, but his jedi composure held. Displaying feelings so openly wasn't in his nature. "It's good to see you alive, Bant. I feared you…were gone."

"Get yourself some food, and come sit," Mace interjected. "it's not haute cuisine, but it is nourishing and far more edible than protein bars. We decided to let you sleep in this morning. "

Obi-Wan did as he was told, noticing that the children and the few masters that were present around the tables returned to their initial sound level again.

While consuming the breakfast he retold his story, deliberately leaving out the part about Luke's and Leia's birth. He wouldn't want anyone to know, not even Bant. A secret not told was a secret well kept. He could see tears glistering in Ahsoka's and Bant's eyes when he came to the part containing the duel on Mustafar. Bant reached over to him and squeezed his hand lightly.

"What happened to you?" he asked. How did you get away?

"I was in the archives when the clone troopers arrived. We suspected a breakout of Lusatra flu and I wanted to check out if there were any particular precautions to be taken to avoid the spread of the flu. I didn't realize that anything particular was wrong before the first tower fell. I sprang up and was immediately shuffled away by Master Nu. 'The Temple is under attack,' she warned me. 'I have no idea what's going on but go to the creches as fast as you can and take as many crechelings and initiates as you can to the Bendu Temple. That should be hard enough to find and easier to defend if it comes to that.' Then she rapidly explained me the way to the entrance in the center spire.

I didn't ask how she knew. I realized that whatever it was that was happening was too serious for wasting time on questions like that, so I just did as I was told. Later I realized that she must have found that info in some old text describing the various building stages of the Temple.

When I came to the creche, several of the creche masters had gathered outside their dormitories, and I asked them to wake the children and bring as many as possible with them. In that moment the second tower fell and we heard screams and yelling from the Grand Hall. We hurried through The Garden of a Thousand Fountains, aiming for one of the less used corridors to get down some levels. Obviously the intruders had reached the Grand Hall so the direct route wasn't available. Just before we closed the doors behind us, I could see Cin Drallig and some of the older initiates taking stand before the doors, obviously trying to shield our escape.

On our way we were accompanied by some of the older Masters residing in the wing behind the healer's ward. I asked them to follow us, knowing fully well that we might need some backup on our escape route.

We managed to get down to the base of the central tower, and there I had a tough time trying to find the exit that lead to the Bendu Temple. That was when Ahsoka turned up and led us down here. At first I wasn't sure if we really could trust her, but then I decided that staying was more risky than following her. And here we are."

Obi-Wan nodded, for once in lack of the right words. Bant's story was founded on so much death and suffering for so many. The group ate the rest of their first meal in contemplative silence. The initiates had just begun to leave the improvised refectory, the older of them still casting half-hidden glances towards the famous General Kenobi.

"What's next?" he asked, directing the question towards Mace and Ahsoka.

Mace sighed and looked around. "Maybe we should retire to another room and discuss the matters? I don't want to unsettle the young ones. Master Jaa, would you like to follow us?"

The little group of five retired, to something that might have been a Bendu meditation room. Old stone benches were lined up in the room. The mosaic ceiling giving the impression of a night sky full of stars. They settled down on two adjacent benches.

Mace was the first to speak. "I don't really know what we should do next. It's clear that we are too few to fight the entire Empire. We would be overpowered and caught in a moment. As you could see the masters who escaped are very senior. With exception of Master Jaa here and Master Hilaris who both were sent to defend the creches, they are all retired Masters. The children are still far too young to fight. However, we need to find another hiding. We cannot stay down here forever."

"I understand what you mean," Obi-Wan agreed. "The Jedi will somehow have to regroup and grow again. We're in no condition to fight the Sith now."

The group silenced.

"Are there any abandoned Jedi Temple you may go to?" he continued.

Mace shook his head slowly. "I cannot think of one, really. We could go to Jedha, but I'm afraid that Jedha City would be under surveillance of the Empire. We need something more desolate like Ahkh-To, but again - that one may be too desolate. As far as I know there's nothing there but rugged cliffs and porgs. It's not the best place for the children."

"What about the one at Auratera?" Ahsoka suggested.

This time it was Obi-Wan's turn to shake his head. "No, definitely not. There's a vergence spot for the Force not very far from it. It could be dangerous if anyone came too close. Besides, the temple is mostly in ruins."

The room silenced again.

"Hmm, there was once when Qui-Gon and I was preparing for a mission in the outer rim. I was in the archives searching for some background information about that sector and then I came upon some information about a moon where an old temple was situated… If only I could remember the name… Wait a minute, it was Draay 2. The climate there is moderate as far as I remember and the atmosphere is breathable. Actually we wondered if we could use it as a base of our mission but we never came that far. I think nobody would start looking for you soon so far out in the outer rim territory."

"You're right. We even mentioned it briefly in the Council before you were assigned to that mission," Mace agreed. "That would be close to perfect, I think."

"We have a plan then," Obi-Wan stated, and then added slightly sarcastic: "The only minor challenge is how to find a ship and get 54 initiates and 11 masters on board right under the Emperor's sithly nose without him or his acolytes noticing. I do have a ship, but there's no way 'Banshee' can land on Coruscant without being recognized and besides, there's not enough space inside. She's quite a small ship. We will have to figure out something else."

 

Chapter 22: Plans

"You're absolutely right Obi-Wan, 'Banshee' will be too small for hyperspace travel for all of us," Mace agreed, "we will have to come up with something better than that."

"Or at least larger," he added with a wry smile.

"It's not exactly as we can buy one, on the open market," Bant sighed.

"No, we can…wait…what…what did you say?" Obi-Wan woke to life again. "Say that again."

"I said, it's not like we can buy it on the open market," Bant repeated. She'd learned to know Obi-Wan's bright ideas throughout the years and now was obviously the time of one to appear. "Do you really mean we can?"

A brilliant smile spread over Obi-Wan's face, and made him at least five years younger.

"No, maybe not on the open market, but what about a closed one, or rather one that is…a bit in the shadows?"

Now he had the full attention of his comrades.

"Explain yourself, Master Kenobi," Mace shot in.

"Hondo," Obi-Wan explained, "Hondo Ohnaka. I assume he's still 'in business' and for the right price I'm sure he could get us a suitable transport. That is, if he's not already in possession of one."

"Obi, Hondo is a pirate. We cannot deal with him," Bant interjected. "Besides, he won't do it for free, and we have no credits."

"Well, that's not exactly true," Mace commented, "actually we have quite a lot of activa, and now, with Obi-Wan here, we can possibly get to them…"

Four pair of eyes glared incredulously at him. The fifth, Obi-Wan's, returned his gaze knowingly.

"The vault," he said, " with two from the council present, that is you and me for now, we should be able to open it."

"Right," Mace concluded, and then turned to the others, "running a Temple full of initiates, crechelings, knights and masters is not for free. The Jedi Order basically use donations from the republic and other benefactors, but we do have our own reserves gathered in a vault in the lower level of the Temple. For very obvious reasons there has to be at least two councillors present to open it, and as far as I know no one has taken over the status after the attack of the Temple. The vault is not known among most jedi, but all members of the Jedi Council know about it and two or three have to be present to open it. If one of the Council members are the Master of the Order or the Grand Master two will suffice, else there need to be three. Which means that Obi-Wan and I should be able to open it together. And while we're at it, I suggest that we bring with us as much as we can when we leave. We're the only Jedi left from the Temple of Coruscant and as such we should secure the values and bring with us as much as we can to our new settlement."

Obi-Wan nodded. "This is a special situation and the values might come in handy both to rebuild the Temple on Draay 2 and besides, there could be other…fractions out there that in due time might need some financial support."

Mace Windu raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Others?"

"Yes, others," Obi-Wan confirmed. "There are people out there who are aware of the Emperor's darker sides to put it that way. They consider that other means than pure elections may be needed to have him removed now."

"Another war?" Mace asked incredulously.

"Yes, well, from a certain point of view. I don't know if it actually will happen or when, but if it happens I assume there will be some sort of rebellion. This time the Jedi will not be an active part of it, that's certain enough, but I do think that others eventually will work for a change," he explained.

The four others watched him silently, and then nodded as if they were able to see the reason behind his words.

"Yes, I assume it will," Mace sighed, "will you be a part of this, Obi-Wan?"

"No, yes, maybe…" was the crystal clear answer.

"What do you mean?" Bant wanted to know.

"Basically that I don't know for sure. I cannot be some kind of a war chief," he explained, "but I have been asked if I could possibly help with strategy and tactics if it ever becomes necessary. I have agreed to do so, if it doesn't endanger my other obligations."

Again the quizzical looks from his comrades, but this time he pretended not to take notice.

"Are these 'others' Jedi?" Master Jaa shot in.

"No. Before I came here I believed I might have been the sole survivor, except for Master Yoda," said Obi-Wan. "If there are others they must be few and very scattered. We will definitely not be many enough to fight the Empire ourselves."

Mace looked up. "Let's imagine we actually can get some kind of ship from Hondo, and let's further assume that we can get away from here alive and undetected. Wouldn't it be wise to search for other survivors and if needed help this rebellion more actively, that is if one is formed? "

Obi-Wan looked him straight in his eyes. "I cannot. I cannot tell you exactly why, but I have other obligations to tend do, so I cannot roam the galaxy as some Jedi herder."

"I wasn't thinking of you. I was thinking of Ahsoka. If she could be the 'herder' you could be her…consultant, so to speak. She was a very capable padawan, and now she's even stronger. She could be out in the field while you were…doing what you must. In-between her missions she could return to Draay 2 and help with the 'saber training of the younglings. We will have to adapt to the changes but we should continue the training of the younglings after our best abilities."

Obi-Wan looked at Ahsoka. "What do you think? Could you do it? Would you do it?"

Solemnly she looked from one face to the other. She had left the jedi. She hadn't trusted them anymore back then, but still they were home. They were her family. And she had been a well trained padawan, on the brink to knighthood. She could do it. Or at least (and blast it, Yoda) give it a good try.

"Yes Master," she said with a twinkle in her eyes,"I would. I'm not much of a caretaker anyway."

"When that is settled, I suggest that we try to get into the vault tomorrow, and then Ahsoka and I will find a way to get off planet, pick up my ship and go find Hondo to see if that old pirate actually can find us a ship to get all of you off planet," Obi-Wan said.

"Am I going with you?" Ahsoka asked incredulously. "I thought you wouldn't take on any active missions."

"I'm not," Obi-Wan answered, "but neither you nor I are capable of piloting two ships at the same time, so both of us are needed to go see Hondo. Just like in the old days. Almost."

"While we're at it, how do we get off planet? Do you have a spaceship here waiting for us to take off," Ahsoka wondered.

"That will be a problem," Obi-Wan admitted. "I do have a spaceship, but it's placed in the spaceport of Nar Shaddaa. I wanted to be sure I came here…incognito."

The five jedi quietened. Neither of them could find an immediate solution to how Obi-Wan and Ahsoka could get through the heavily guarded spaceport. "We cannot depart from there," Ahsoka concluded."You would be recognized immediately."

Obi-Wan sighed: "I dislike to involve more people than I have to, but maybe Dex can help. Again. He knows people."

"We'll send out young Ramen tonight. He can check it with Dex directly, and if Dex has a solution they will agree upon a code that can be used. We have a very old fashioned comm transmitter which Dex is using when he has supplies ready for us," Mace explained. "We keep communication at a minimum, but it is functioning."

Obi-Wan spent the rest of the day with Bant, knowing fully well that this might be his last chance to spend time relaxing with his childhood friend. There would be few, if any, chances to meet again if they really managed to ship the surviving jedi off to Draay 2 and he himself would have to go back to Tatooine to watch over Luke and continue his 'extended Force training' with Qui-Gon.

….

The next morning after first meal Obi-Wan and Mace Windu set out to open the vault. It was with some reluctance and great care they managed to lift the debris from the center exit of the old Bendu Temple, as the force dampening shielding from the cells above also affected their abilities to feel any potential life forms in the close proximity to the cell block of the Jedi Temple. They were lucky, nobody was there. They walked quietly through the corridors, stepping lightly over debris and stray bricks that was scattered over the floor. Ahsoka and Master Jaa followed suit. Finally they stood in front of the huge door to the Jedi Temple's vault. The opening mechanism seemed intact.

"Now?" Mace asked.

"Now, is as good as ever," Obi-Wan retorted. "If it doesn't recognize us the extra security locks will be activated and we will need 4 council members. Mace threw him a glance as if to say '"Don't be overly optimistic now" and laid his left hand on the scanner plates to the left of the door. A pale light flickered to life in the plates, colors seemed to swirl around his fingers, ending in a set of virtual sparks. The sparks turned green, -a pale electric green color which changed into angry red.

"Access denied."

"What?"

"I believe there is a problem," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"What?"

"When you registered, you had two hands…"

"Oh…"

"But for sure," Ahsoka shot in, "they must have foreseen that something like that could happen. Isn't there an iris scanner somewhere?"

The two council members looked at each other.

"Activate iris scanning," Mace said.

In front of Mace Windu a hatch slid up and a mirror like background appeared. He stared into the opaque surface. Iris scanning.

This time the green sparks around his single left hand print stayed green.

"Your turn."

Obi-Wan had already positioned himself in front of the set of plates to the right of the vault door, and repeated the process Mace had performed some minutes earlier. The sparks turned first blue, then green. The hatch in front of Mace opened again and a new iris scan took place. A soft 'click' could be heard and a similar hatch opened in front of Obi-Wan's face.

A soft buzz could be heard from the inside of the massive door and finally it slid aside.

The four jedi stepped in.

Obi-Wan had only been in the vault once before, and he drew his breath sharply. The walls were covered with shelves and priceless artifacts from a distant past were neatly placed on them. Only a few of those sold on the open marked to a rich collector would probably have given credits enough to support the Temple for months, maybe years.

"I think we should go for some Iridium bars and maybe one or two Mythra bars," Obi-Wan suggested, "I don't want that old scoundrel Hondo asking questions of where some valuable artifact has come from. The Iridium bars are more neutral. But we should come back and bring with us some of the more precious artifacts before leaving. They represent values, but also to some extent our history."

Mace nodded in agreement: "Seems like a plan. But we should also bring a couple of the artifacts which have a more historical value to the Order. Force alone knows if we ever will be able to come back here, and our past should not be totally forgotten. And by all means, let us choose the ones that are easy to carry."

Each of the four jedi filled a small sack with Iridium bars and Obi-Wan added two Mythra bars for good measure. Then they exited the vault with their prey. They made repeated transports to the safe areas inside the entrance of the Bendu Temple before they finally closed the vault by repeating the process they had performed when opening the door. This time Obi-Wan was the first to put his hans on the two plates.

They withdrew to the Bendu Temple in silence, making sure that the heavy stones that shut the entrance below the hidden panel leading into the central spire were neatly blocking the corridor again.

 

Nice reunion with Bant and strategizing and ironing out of necessary details and who could be trustworthy allies

 

Chapter 23: Hunting Hondo

When the evening came and the sun had settled over Coruscant the following day, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka snuck out of the old Bendu Temple. Some of the Iridium bars were evenly distributed in two satchels. Additionally Obi-Wan was carrying the two Mythra bars. As they gradually left the somehow protecting ring the Force seemed to create around the Jedi Temple, the streets and alleys became more crowded and they had to hide every now and then to keep Obi-Wan out of sight. His jedi attire wasn't the wisest choice of clothes if he wanted to stay unnoticed, but that was what he had and he didn't feel very comfortable with changing into more civilian clothes either. Ahsoka's tight fit bodysuit, however, was more alike the clothing of the more shady inhabitants of these levels.

They came to Dex's Diner just after closing time and while Obi-Wan stayed well hidden behind the containers in the backyard watching their satchels, Ahsoka took on some good old-fashioned wall climbing to make Dex aware of their presence.

A few minutes later the backdoor to Dex's storage room was opened carefully and Obi-Wan hurried inside.

The Besalisk was waiting inside with a slightly worried expression on his face. "I understand you're seeking transport from Coruscant?"

Obi-Wan confirmed that.

"I see. I happened to talk to a more or less regular customer of mine yesterday. He's leaving the planet today and could be willing to take on a couple of passengers, for the right price that is. He's a gambler of profession, but he doesn't mind some extra money so he's willing to make a…let's say…touchdown in the Works area before he's leaving. But he won't take you on unless the price you're paying is satisfactory. "

"That is acceptable," Obi-Wan said, and Ahsoka nodded. "We will go there and see if we can negotiate a fair price."

A little less than two hours later the two were waiting in the shadows nearby the meeting point they had been given. The plateau that stretched out in front of them had once been a landing spot for huge transport ships shipping interplanetary raw materials to a not insignificant amount of the larger factories in the area. The place lay dark and relatively quiet before them. Only a couple of stray hobos were slowly making their way through the area in hope of finding a fairly safe and shielded place to sleep during the night.

"There it is," Ahsoka whispered. With her sharpened Togruta senses she could see more clearly than Obi-Wan in the dark. A small nearly disc shaped ship came in towards the landing spot. No landing lights were lit.

"He's almost as crazy as Anakin," Obi-Wan exclaimed in a muted voice, "this is going to be interesting."

As soon as the ship stood on the ground a hatch was lowered beneath it and the two jedi jogged lightly on board. They were met by a rather dark skinned human male. Brown, intelligent eyes were glittering in the half lit cabin and his smile revealed a row of white teeth.

"Welcome on board on 'Falcon'," he greeted them. "I'm Lenzo Calrissian and this is my ship Millennium Falcon, one of the fastest YT series freighters that was ever build. I reckon you want a lift to…somewhere else, -for the right price, that is. I suggest we take off immediately before we draw too much attention to the place. The poor people who live here, probably need their sleep to behold their beauty. We can negotiate the payment on our way. Dex ensured me that you were honorable people."

"Sounds like a plan," Obi-Wan agreed. "I am Ben, and this is Ashla,"

Ahsoka raised a quizzical eyebrow towards him, but restrained herself from commenting on the name change. After all she had told him herself that she had used that name after the jedi purge, just to be on the safe side. Someone might have noticed the apprentice of 'The Hero with No Fear'. Better to lay low.

The ship took off in a gliding, smooth movement. Obviously Lenzo was alone without any first mate on this trip, and he was obviously a skilled pilot.

"Now, where are you going?" he asked. "This baby can take you out into wild space in no time."

"We don't need to go that far," Obi-Wan retorted."Florrum will be more than good enough."

"Florrum? What in the stars and galaxies are you going to do there?"

"None of your business," Ahsoka shot brusquely in.

"Well, now, Ashla," Obi-Wan interjected, "no need to be rude towards our friend here. He might even help us. We're going there to seek out Hondo Ohnaka. We have some business to close with him."

Lenzo rolled his eyes. "Business? With Hondo? You're crazy. Nobody does business with that sneaky little monkey-lizard anymore. His business has been going down since the Emperor came to power."

"Still we're hoping that he has a ship to sell," Obi-Wan said calmly," and besides, the monkey-lizard is his pet. Hondo is the sneaky one."

"Your trouble, my income," Lenzo said, "…and talking about which, what about my payment for flying you there? If you still insist on Florrum, that is."

"We most certainly do. We do not have credits per se, but I assume that you will be able to transform an Iridium bar into more convenient currency?"

"Iridium? You're more crazy than I first thought. Are you really carrying Iridium bars around to pay for a trip like this?"

"Not solely for that purpose, no. But it's more…ah…concentrated than credits, and we'd rather avoid the banking clan. What do you say? Is one bar enough to get us to Florrum?"

"I'm a kind and caring man," their pilot affirmed,"for that price I'll even wait to see if Hondo is to be found before I leave, just in case. The two of you is too good income to be left in that hellhole if he's not there."

The Millennium Falcon entered hyperspace.

….

"If you want some rest, there are some bunks in the passenger compartment," Lenzo explained. "Feel free to use them. It will take us almost a couple of days to get to Florrum. Actually I will set the 'Falcon' on autopilot and take a nap myself."

He stretched forward and pushed the right control buttons, and then leaned back placing his feet comfortably on the control panel.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka looked at each other and got up.

As they walked towards the passenger area of the ship, Obi-Wan commented: "We could sleep in shifts but I sense no deceit in him. He's a gambler and a scoundrel, but I think he has his own code of honor and will not be a threat to us as long as we're aboard his ship."

"You're sure of that?"

He nodded.

"Well, let's find a ration bar and go to sleep."

…

The Falcon landed softly on Florrum's surface near Hondo's old pirate nest. The surroundings were all too familiar to both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. Lenzo had happily received his Iridium before they disembarked and promised to wait for some hours before he took off again. The two jedi instinctively set off for a hill nearby Hondo's quarters, in a silent agreement that they would have a look at the place before approaching the infamous pirate leader.

The camp seemed oddly quiet. During their previous visits to the place it has been bristling with activity, now only a couple of Weequay pirates could be seen walking around, then two more who appeared to be guarding the entrance of Hondo's main quarter, force alone knew what from.

"The direct approach?" Ahsoka asked, while lifting an eyebrow quizzically.

"As good as any," was the wry answer and with that the two jedi descended the hill.

The two guards startled and lifted their guns towards them as they approached and Obi-Wan lifted his hands disarmingly.

"Lower your weapons, we're looking for Hondo."

"Hondo's not here," was the rasping reply.

"Where is he?"

"Dunno' , he doesn't tell."

In the corner of his eye Obi-Wan could see a small monkey-lizard running into the cave like opening that led into Hondo's quarters. Most likely it's lord and master wasn't far away.

"Too bad, we wanted to do some business with him, but since he's not here we'll just continue somewhere else. Our ship is waiting for us in case he wasn't here."

"Business? Someone said business?" a hoarse voice rasped out from somewhere inside the cavelike hiding. Seconds after Hondo Ohnaka came staggering out.

"Idiot," he said and slapped the guard in the back of his head,"you know I'm always home when business is coming up."

The guard kept his mouth wisely shut.

Then he straightened: "Kenobi, my old friend. How are you? It's good to see you, you always mean good business for me…"

Then his face darkened: "Well, actually you don't. Mostly I have ended up being on the losing side when doing business with you. What do you want this time? And where is that friend of yours, Skywalker?"

"I am here do do business with you," Hondo, "that is, if you have something to offer, which I want to buy. Skywalker is…not here."

"That I can see," Hondo muttered , "I wonder why. Maybe it is because a price is on your head, eh? I've heard the Emperor is paying good for stray jedi. Maybe you have come here so your good friend Hondo can turn you in and earn a lot of credits?"

"Not exactly," Obi-Wan retorted dryly, "I am looking for a ship. It needs to be a freighter that can carry quite a lot of goods. It will need to have a hyperdrive, a functioning one, that is. And if necessary it should be able to add some extra fuel cells to it. It wouldn't hurt if it had some Imperial codes either."

Hondo tilted his head. "A ship, huh? Carrying goods? Stars end, Kenobi, have you begun a new career as smuggler?"

"Something like that," Obi-Wan confirmed.

"And you have credits so you can pay for a ship?"

"Not credits, but I assume you can make value from Iridium bars."

"Iridium? You jedi have stepped up a notch, last time it was barely a matter of credits and I got half of my camp blown up," Hondo complained.

"Do you have a ship, or do you not?" Ahsoka shot in impatiently.

"Ah, yes that is the question," Hondo answered, and shrugged, "I may or I may not. Depending on the payment."

"Six Iridium bars. Standard weight," Obi-Wan said solemnly.

"Six?! Do you think Hondo is a fool? I would be for selling you a ship for that price. My ship is a good freighter but she's big. I need twelve bars for her."

"Twelve, no way. We can have two ships for that price on Nar Shaddaa."

"So that's why you have come here then? Bah! You know that Hondo Ohnaka is a serious, trustworthy businessman. Why being fooled at Nar Shaddaa when you can make a good bargain with me? Come, I'll show you."

The old pirate started to walk with energetic steps. The staggering old man that had come out form the base was totally gone. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka followed.

"I have this old Sentinel Class shuttle, it was originally build for passengers but I'm sure you can bring whatever other things you want in it as well," Hondo proclaimed, "it's in excellent condition - for it's age, and it is equipped with a hyperdrive."

"Check it, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan ordered.

"Yes, boss! Yessir."

Hondo looked hurt. "Do you not trust me? Do you really think I would cheat on you after so many years of friendship. Well, actually I would, but not for 10 Iridium bars, for that price I'm an honest man."

"For that price I also want to have 10 spare fuel cells, else I'm not willing to give more than 8, if the ship is in proper condition."

Hondo tilted his head thoughtfully. "You are a tough man in negotiations, Kenobi, but be it as you wish. After all the price of our friendship cannot be estimated in credits."

Half an hour later Ahsoka joined them. "It's all good," she said, "it's not a luxury transport, but it seems to function well and it has the right size. It will suit our needs."

Obi-Wan handed the agreed upon 10 Iridiumbars over to Ohnaka.

"As always a pleasure to do business with you, and I would appreciate some …discretion about our visit here," he said.

Hondo accepted the Iridium bars and in a moment something that resembled a soft expression felt over his face. "I will send my men over with the fuel cells. It may be wise if you stay in the cockpit. Only the two guards have seen you and the less who see you, the less can talk about you turning up here."

Then he turned and set off towards the base while Obi-Wan and Ahsoka entered the cockpit of their new ship.

…

"Hey, you there. Lazy gundarks. Get ten spare fuel cells into the cargo of the old Sentinel," Hondo ordered. "And then return here at once."

The guards that had been on their post by the entrance looked at each other.

"Boss, are you really letting those two get away? Don't you know that the Emperor has promised large bounties for surviving jedi. That man is worth a fortune…"

He never made it to finish the sentence before Hondo's large saber pierced his chest.

"You never saw those two," he ordered the other guard. "Clean up this mess."

The remaining, terrified guard grabbed his companion and began to drag him away.

"Kenobi, Kenobi," Hondo sighed dramatically, "now you even make me kill my own men. Oh, well, if he had given you in to the Empire my reputation as a honest businessman would have been ruined forever."

Behind him a Sentinel Class shuttle lifted up in the air, and set off up in the sky, followed by a Corellian YT 1300f freighter by the name 'Milennium Falcon'.

 

Excellent! Things went off smoothly indeed!

 

Chapter 24: Detour

"Why?" Ahsoka demanded to know.

"Why what?"

"Why did we have to go here the both of us? We never made it to Nar Shaddaa to pick up your ship."

"You are perfectly right, we didn't."

The jedi master's calm reply made Ahsoka's temper nearly spin off and out into wild space, then she saw a slightly mischievous glimpse in his eyes and calmed down. A bit. Kriff it, he knew her too well.

"I really intended us to go to pick up my ship," he explained, "but when I realized that Calrissian was willing to take us all the way to Florrum, I found that to be wiser. The chance of being detected is higher at Nar Shaddaa."

Ahsoka nodded in agreement. That made sense. It wouldn't do any of them any good to be spotted by imperial eyes right now.

"Could you please check out the communication equipment on this vessel and send the agreed upon code to Dex before we enter hyperspace. We will land at The Works at third hour, in three standard days from now, Coruscanti time…"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I sure did, but Master, it took us only two days to get here. Why are we going to use three back home?"

"Because we are making a detour," Obi-Wan explained patiently.

"Duh! I realize that, but where, and what for?"

One of the Jedi Master's brilliant smiles lit up the cockpit. "Since you're the one who is piloting this ship, I guess you will have to know. We're going to Ryloth. Please enter the coordinates there into the navcomp before we make the jump to hyperspace."

Ahsoka gave him a quizzical glance but did as she was told.

"When we dropped in at Dex's place before leaving Coruscant he gave me a message from one of my…other friends. We're going to Ryloth to pick up a transmitter with an extremely good coding and "anti-tracking" device built into it. I will need that to keep in touch with you and with…the others. I need to do my uttermost to hide my whereabouts and in particular my hiding place, but it will also serve you since outgoing messages will be very hard to track as well."

"So you really will keep in touch, Master?"

"That I will do, yes."

"But why is your hiding place so secret? I mean, I do understand why the Empire must be kept from knowing, but why don't you trust us with this. Whatever 'this' is."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Ahsoka, I trust you. I trust Mace. And there are some others I trust as well, but anyone can break under pressure and with the right…interrogation. What I do not trust are these rumored 'Inquisitors'. I suspect that they may have some nasty ways of persuading people to talk. So, the logic is still as simple as it was during the Clone Wars. What you don't know, you cannot tell. I am secretive, but the secret I'm keeping is not mine to tell, and others may be endangered if I do. That would be very inconvenient. I'm truly sorry if this make you all feel that you cannot trust me anymore, but there's nothing I can do about that."

A tear came to view in Ahsoka's eyes. "I'm sorry, Master. I do trust you, and so does Master Windu. I guess it's just that…I missed all of you so much during that time on my own and I hate to see you leave again."

"I know," Obi-Wan stretched out a hand and gave her slim shoulder a comforting squeeze, "I know. It's lonely out there when you're on your own, but from now you will have your base with the other surviving jedi, and with the communication device we're going to pick up we will keep in regular touch with each other as well."

"I know, I guess it's just that I haven't realized yet that I have…got my family back, sort of," Ahsoka sighed, "and therefore I don't want to see any of you go again. But I heed your words, Master. I will do my part of what's needed to do."

Obi-Wan's heart made some extra beats when he heard the old fashioned phrase. He had so often used it himself after being on the receiving end of one of Qui-Gon's reprimands. Hearing it directed towards himself made him feel old.

"You were always a good padawan, Ahsoka, and an even better grand padawan since I didn't have to raise you," he said, trying to hide his sudden spark of melancholy. And as soon as he had uttered the last word he realized his mistake.

"Master?" Ahsoka's big blue eyes shone towards him with sincere curiosity. "What was it that really happened to Skyguy, I mean, Master Anakin?"

Blast it. He'd tried so hard to tell his story without going into detail with regards to his last hours with Anakin, but now it all seemed to be in vain. He simply couldn't lie to Ahsoka. He couldn't tell her about Luke or Leia or where he was hiding, but he could tell her about Anakin's turning. She, if anyone, had the right to know.

"He…turned," for the first time in his adulthood Obi-Wan had to search for words, and was not surprised when he saw her eyes become even bigger in shock.

"No!" Ahsoka exclaimed, "there's no way he did. He couldn't have…did he?"

Double blast it to the nine sith hells. She didn't know in detail what had happened in the Chancellors office. Obviously Mace had left out that part of the story. He sent a very unjedilike thought to his friend.

"He did," Obi-Wan braced himself for the next minutes,"I don't know fully how but somehow the Sith must have convinced him that he was better off abandoning the Jedi and following the Sith. He made his decision in the Chancellor's office. Mace saw it happen when he was there to arrest the Chancellor. It was…Anakin who chopped off Mace's arm."

"No…" Ahsoka shook her head vigorously in denial.

"Yes," Obi-Wan confirmed, "and it was Anakin who lead the attack on the Temple. Master Yoda and I saw it from the recordings from the security cams. There is no doubt. It really was he."

"What happened then?"

"We split. I begged Master Yoda not to be the one who should go after Anakin, but he refused to let me off the hook, claiming that I would be no match for the Sith Lord. Probably he was right, so I left to stop Anakin. I missed him barely. When I tracked him to Senator Amidala's apartment he had already left for Mustafar. She went there to find him and to talk some sense into him. I hid in her ship. Little did I know what would happen. If I had, I would have stopped her.

When she disembarked the ship they began discussing right away. He wanted her to follow him, she refused. I decided to intervene, and in the moment he saw me he began to force choke her. I'm not sure, but it seemed like he at that time suspected something inappropriate had happened between us. It was then I knew for sure he was lost. The Anakin I…we…knew would never have laid a hand on Padme, nor would he have accused me for…well…you know. He refused to surrender, so we fought. We fought amidst the falling debris where our sabers hit the metal construction when we slashed out for each other, we fought amidst the floating lava and the intense heat. It felt like it lasted for an eternity, but in reality it must have been less than half an hour. I won. He made a mistake, attacking me from some floating debris in the lava stream. I…I…severed both his legs and one arm. Then I felt darkness approach, and I turned to get Padme and myself off planet. I should have killed him. The heat from the lava set him…on fire, but I couldn't, just couldn't kill him. It was merciless of me not to do so, but Force, I just couldn't do it. So I ran. We took off in the very moment when a shuttle emerged from hyperspace. I suspect it was the Sith's."

The cockpit became unpleasantly silence, then Ahsoka looked up and wiped her eyes.

"I always wondered what would happen if the two of you once had to fight each other. I guess I know the answer now. Do you know if he…made it?"

"I don't know. I suspect he did, because I believe I would have felt it if he died, but the place where our training bond was is dead. Our bond was broken years ago when he was knighted, but the reminiscence of that bond was still existing and we could sense each other later on as well. I'm sure I would have felt him die."

"Me too," Ahsoka whispered, "but I have not felt such a thing either. Do you think…?"

"Yes, I saw…him on the holonews. Vader. It must be him. I couldn't feel anything because what I saw on the news was only an image, but he seems to be the Sith's pet and the armor may be to compensate for the injuries. I may have involuntary created a monster."

Ahsoka grasped his hand for a moment, then let it go, knowing fully well that he was not a man who chose to show his feelings openly. "I'm so sorry, Master. I'm so sorry."

"I know," he drew a deep breath, "we will reach Ryloth in a few hours. Le's try to sleep a few hours each. I can take the first watch. I don't yet trust the autopilot blindly."

….

The orbit over Ryloth was as quiet and peaceful as if the Clone Wars never had reached the planet and Ahsoka set the Sentinel Craft carefully down at the assigned landing spot. The had not set their course towards the main spaceport in Lessu, but instead they had got coordinates to a small mesa not far from the outskirts of the capital.

"Switch off the lights, we don't want to attract anyone's attention," Obi-Wan warned.

Ahsoka followed the instruction given.

"There's nobody here," she sighed, " Master Obi-Wan, are you sure this is the right place?"

"We will wait and see," was the slightly cryptic answer.

They waited in silence. Suddenly Ahsoka straightened in the pilot's chair.

"There, I can see light from glow sticks there, just by the rim of the mesa."

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, but couldn't see anything, yet he trusted the Togruta's sharper senses.

"Open the hatch. Let's meet them outside."

The hatch opened relatively soundlessly and the two disembarked.

Now Obi-Wan could see the glow sticks as well, there were two of them, moving in a straight line towards them. Two figures emerged from the surrounding darkness.

"Identify yourselves!"

The voice coming from the darkness bore the authority of someone with long experience in addressing others.

Slowly Obi-Wan moved his right hand to his utility belt. A silent 'click' could be heard when he detached his lightsaber from the belt and ignited it. For a moment he held it in a vertical position in front of him so his face was illuminated by the blue glow, then he switched it off an placed it back in his belt.

Ahsoka cast a slightly worried glance towards him, but said nothing. The air felt tense, but there was no warning from the Force to be sensed in the darkness of the night.

One of the two persons put down whatever they had been carrying between them and calmly stepped closer.

"Master Kenobi, it's a pleasure to see you again, it has been a long time."

Obi-Wan bowed: "Indeed it has been, Cham Syndulla, the pleasure is mine. Did you bring the 'goods'?"

"We did. It was quite heavy actually. We hid it up here a couple a days ago, so we went up by foot tonight as a landing spacecraft and speeders moving towards the mesa might have caused some unwanted attention. My compliments to your pilot, Master Jedi, it was a very discreet landing."

A sharp sound as if pebbles were crunched beneath a foot made the quartet startle.

"What was that?"

"I think we have a visitor," Obi-Wan said calmly, "come here little one, we know you're there."

"I'm not that little!"

A small twi'lek girl, maybe ten standard years old stepped forward. She had a pointed chin and huge almond shaped eyes with the most stunning green color Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had ever seen.

Cham Syndulla sighed: "I should have known. I told you explicitly to stay at home. Why did you follow me?"

The little girl was not so easily beaten and stubbornly she raised her pointed chin: "I was curious, dad. You hardly ever go out this late anymore, so I wanted to know what was going on."

"And you'd better forget what you've seen. This is not meant for children."

Then he turned towards the two jedi: "I apologize. This is my daughter Hera. She's a handful sometimes."

Obi-Wan bowed slightly to the little girl: "A pleasure to meet you, Hera Syndulla, but your father is right. This meeting was not intended for children."

The girl straightened for a moment and then said with dignity: "I apologize. I will not tell anyone. I promise, Master Jedi."

Obi-Wan hid his smile, hiding behind his hand as he stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"I appreciate your discretion." Then he turned towards Cham: "We appreciate your help in this matter. We shall bring the goods onboard ourselves and we will leave immediately after. It has been good meeting friends again."

The two grown up Twi'leks and one smaller one turned and soon they disappeared over the edge of the mesa, down into the jungle at it's foot.

"Well, let's get the crates on board. I believe some frivolous use of the Force is in place right now," Obi-Wan concluded and stretched a hand towards the two crates resting on the ground some meters away.

The crates lifted from the ground and floated graciously towards the ship, up the landing ramp and into the closest storage room.

 

Wonderful conversation and meeting the Syndullas

 

Chapter 25: The Escape

"Where to now, Master?" Ahsoka asked casually. "Do you want me to bring you back to your ship before I continue to Coruscant?"

Obi-Wan had been quiet when they proceeded into orbit after takeoff from Ryloth. He seemed to be in deep thoughts, almost a meditative state.

"Huh? Sorry Ahsoka, can you please repeat what you just said?"

Ahsoka repeated her question, with an uncharacteristic patience.

"Yes. No. I mean, I'm not sure…"

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes: "What exactly does that mean? Don't tell me you are having one of these 'bad feelings' of yours again? I need to enter some coordinates here and it would be good to know where we're supposed to drop out of hyperspace."

"Actually I do," Obi-Wan confirmed sheepishly. "I have a bad feeling…"

"Oh, no! Not again. You're too often right for my likings," Ahsoka sighed, "do you have any idea what it's about?"

"No, not really, but I sense…danger. The Force is warning me of something."

Ahsoka frowned: "When were we not in danger, Master?"

"Good point. Set the coordinates to Coruscant at The Works where Calrissian picked up us, with arrival one hour past midnight as we agreed with Master Windu. We will have to do the pick-up quickly as a ship coming from orbit without known identification will attract some attention. It will take them some time to realize that our identification signal isn't valid anymore, but we will have to work quickly. "

Ahsoka keyed in the specified coordinates, then she stretched her back and yawned: "Let's get some rest when we're in hyperspace, shall we? I can take the first watch. I guess we shouldn't entirely trust the autopilot even though it worked well on the leg to Ryloth?"

"You go to sleep," Obi-Wan retorted, "after all you were the one who just yawned. I will wake you up 6 hours from now, unless something happens where both of us will be needed."

…..

The journey was uneventful. Ahsoka had chosen a zig-zag route, changing coordinates for the hyperspace travel every sixth hour so when they entered Coruscant orbit they came from a totally different direction than Ryloth's.

The ship's comm system crackled to live.

"Unidentified Sentinel Class ship entering orbit, this is Coruscant Space Control - please identify yourself and your destination."

Ahsoka drew a deep breath and activated the comm unit for outgoing messages: "Sentinel 47-136 destined for Coruscant Space Port docking area with agriculture goods. Please advice landing dock."

"Identification not known by system. Please repeat."

"Sentinel 47-136 destined for Coruscant Space Port with agricultural goods. Don't tell me that the agent have forgotten to send you the files again?" Ahsoka put a reasonable amount of annoyance in her voice.

"No pre-landing information on this ship has been received by Coruscant Space Control. Please leave Coruscant Orbit at once."

"Stubborn bantha," Ahsoka muttered between clenched teeth, "I assume you cannot use mind tricks from a distance, Master?"

Obi-Wan shook his head slightly amused.

"Thought so," then she clicked the comm into 'send' again, "Space Control, this is Sentinel 47-136 requesting landing access to docking area for agriculture shipments. I don't know how our agent has managed to mess up this, but I'm sure the Emperor will not be happy when he doesn't get fresh Balmorran beans for the next two weeks or so."

The comm silenced for a moment.

"Sentinel 47-136 is cleared for landing in Coruscant Space Port, sector 24, dock 1024. Please ready ship for inspection upon arrival."

"Roger," Ahsoka confirmed, "ship will dock in sector 24, docking 1024. Will be ready for inspection."

The comm went silent.

"Balmorran beans?" Obi-Wan raised an incredulous eyebrow, "How did you come up with that one?"

"Easy, I was making attention to the 'Galaxy Characteristica' lessons in the Temple," Ahsoka grinned, "Balmorra has vaste agricultural areas and the Sith were located on the planet for centuries. The beans were my invention though."

"We will have to get them on board swiftly. The Space Control will see we're deviating from the given course when we turn towards The Works. They will immediately realize that something is wrong," Obi-Wan instructed.

"Sure thing, Master. I will set shields to maximum power in case we're attacked from the air. If they send only ground forces we'll have to fight them off, I'm afraid and that may mean use of lightsabers…"

"That is a problem," Obi-Wan agreed, "since only Jedi, and Sith, use lightsabers we will have to ensure that no-one leave to tell about the encounter, if we are met by less friendly 'hosts'. Even though we're leaving, such an observation will lead to an intensified hunt for living Jedi throughout the galaxy. That is something that should be avoided if we can. We should have bought some blasters from Hondo as well, but again, they're not suited for deflecting bolts from the enemy's blasters."

Coruscant Space Port was approaching in view and Ahsoka corrected the course towards the assigned sector 24 and reduced the speed of the craft as if she were going to dock in a few minutes. The slight tension in the cockpit increased.

"Now!" Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exclaimed in unison and with a determined movement of the ship's controls Ahsoka turned right and set off towards The Works.

"Sentinel 47-136, you are deviating from the assigned course, please respond," the comm squealed.

"This is Sentinel 47-136, controls failed, I repeat, controls failed. Going down." Ahsoka screamed, and then shut off the comm.

"Now, hopefully they will have to rethink that one for some seconds before they realize what's going on and send out a search party."

The ship screeched to a halt with a less than velvet smooth landing.

"Ouch," Obi-Wan sighed when his teeth were abruptly clenched together as the ship made impact with the ground.

Ahsoka ignored him and opened the hatch. "Now, let's hope they're where they should be."

"I'll go out and get an overview," Obi-Wan said, "you stay here and get ready for a very swift takeoff. I have a strong feeling that it will be necessary."

As Obi-Wan's feet touched the ground he could see a group of one large and five smaller silhouettes running towards the ship, and he recognized one of the more elderly masters as the large one. He and two of the older initiates were carrying rather large satchels on their backs, -probably the values they had 'extracted' from the vault. Even the smaller initiates carried an Iridium bar or two with them.

The small group was quickly ushered into the ship. Another one turned up from another direction. Obviously they had split up and taken different directions from the Temple exit to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. Smaller groups were easier to hide in the lower levels of Coruscant.

The groups were coming in various combinations. Some were consisting of a couple of master and two or three initiates. Other were mainly consisting of older initiates or a mixture of older and younger initiates. Good. Several equally formed groups would have seemed more suspicious to any prying eyes.

"Fortyfour…fortyfive…fortysix…fortyseven initiates - and 10 masters on board," Obi-Wan counted in the arriving groups. "Two groups more, it seems. But where are they?"

Then a group of younglings appeared, sprinting towards the ship, and right behind them two speeder bikes screeched to a halt. Two dark intimidating figures jumped off the speeders and set towards the younglings.

"Halt! You scum. Identify yourselves!" One of the persecutors shouted.

"Hurry! Get inside," Obi-Wan shouted as he saw one of the younglings was slowing down a bit, as it to follow the request from the dark figure.

"Who are you, and what is going on?" The other figure demanded to know.

"We are transporting people away," Obi-Wan explained politely. "The Works is not a good place to stay for younglings in the middle of the night. There may be unpleasant individuals around."

"What is it to you?"

"Let's just say I'm working in the humanitarian sector."

Stretching out with the Force Obi-Wan could sense the suspicion and…darkness emanating from the two individuals. Not good. Darkness could only mean two things, either the two were Sith or they were a couple of the unknown 'Inquisitors'. Not good indeed. As neither of them could be recognized as Darth Sidious himself, the latter was more plausible.

The two gave each other a glance and without warning they both ignited something that looked like double bladed lightsabers, no, it actually was double bladed lightsabers, and sprinted towards Obi-Wan in unison.

"Now, this is going to be interesting," was his last conscious thought before he dived into the Force to find his way to fight the two opponents.

He drew his own 'saber and met them half way. At any cost he wanted to keep them away from the ship's hatch. Firstly, he really didn't want them to enter, secondly, he wanted to keep them away so the last group of younglings and Mace could get on board if they emerged from the shadows. This would certainly be a busy match.

Elegantly he sidestepped the attack from the tallest opponent while his own lightsaber clashed against the other's in a classic parry. Quick as a lightening he dashed out for the first attacker as soon as his own blade was free from the parry movement. The battle became a fireworks of red and blue crisscrossing the air as parries and attacks moved back and forth. Obi-Wan delved even deeper into the Force, determined to fight the two opponents with all he had in him. Using his well known Soresu skills he managed to parry both attackers with a firm efficiency and for some minutes he kept them at bay waiting for an opening to attack himself. He really needed to even out the battle somewhat. To fight two opponents was doable. As a skilled Jedi Master he could handle that, but their double blades made it more of a challenge as he needed to keep track of both ends of their 'sabers. Then he suddenly realized - he had two 'sabers as well. In-between the parries and blocks that seemed to annoy the two Inquisitors immensely, he managed to detach his other lightsaber, the one he had kept from Ventress' funeral pyre, from his utility belt. With a soft hiss it sprang to live.

The smallest one of the couple gave a little yelp of surprise when the red blade ignited in Obi-Wan's left hand. Seeing one person fight with both a blue and a red lightsaber was not a common view to any 'saber wielder.

"Who is he? What is he?"

The question was left hanging in the air as the battle intensified. With two 'sabers Obi-Wan changed from the defense focused Soresu style to the more defense/attack centered Djem So, alternating between parrying and attacking. He could briefly feel the attacker's annoyance swirl and flutter in the Force. Then he heard swift steps coming down the ramp from the ship and he saw a white lightening flash to his left side.

"Leave this one to me!"

Without any doubts he sidestepped lightly and focused on the remaining opponent, knowing fully well that Ahsoka most likely could handle the other. A former Padawan of Anakins would handle anything that involved a lightsaber. With a quick downward movement he slashed his opponent's saber in to. One half of the 'saber fell to the ground while sparks flew out of it's handle. The other half was still functioning and it's owner tried desperately to defend himself towards the red and blue blur formed by Obi-Wan's lightsabers, but the efforts were in vain. As one of the Order's best 'saber wielders through known history Obi-Wan easily deflected a downward slashing from the Inquisitor by letting his saber slide down the side of his own blue saber and in an instant his red saber blade found the attacker's chest.

The inquisitor fell to the ground, his dark eyes scrutinizing Obi-Wan for a moment before they closed.

"Ken…obi, I…should…have known. Alive…."

Then he silenced for ever.

"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan sighed, "this was not the jedi way. I had defeated you and still I had no choice but to kill you."

Then he turned towards Ahsoka and her opponent just in time to see the other Inquisitor fall, decapitated by one of Ahsoka's white lightsabers.

Silently they shut down their 'sabers just in time to see a group of small initiates sprint towards the hatch with Mace Windu right behind them. Simultaneously two V-19 Torrent Starfighters appeared in the direction of Coruscant Space Port.

"What took you so long?" Obi-Wan muttered, and then to Ahsoka "we've got everyone on board. Run. We need to take off immediately before those two birds get reinforcements."

Ahsoka was already half way up the ramp heading for the pilot seat of the craft.

"Give me the controls," she shouted and one of the elderly masters who had kept the engines running while she jumped out to help Obi-Wan sprang out of the seat in a speed much higher than should have been possible in his highly advanced age. Mace Windu was already buckled in in the co-pilot's seat.

"Get down and strap yourselves in with whatever you can find," Obi-Wan shouted to the frightened initiates, "this will be a rough take off."

"Deflectors are up on maximum power," Mace Windu commented calmly from his position as the engines roared to life and the ship rose from the ground.

"Set coordinates towards Dantooine," Ahsoka ordered, while the ship shivered and shuddered in the veritable hailstorm of energy bolts shot from the attacking star fighters.

The deflector shields held and the Sentinel Class ship entered orbit without any damage.

…..

A tall dark clad figure emerged from the shadows his black robe waving behind him as he strode forward and gazed down at the two fallen Inquisitors.

"Lightsaber wounds," he breathed, and gave the head of the fallen inquisitor an irritated kick, "I should have sensed there still were Jedi on planet. My Master is not going to like this."

 

Superb and riveting and great relief that they got away!

 

Chapter 26: Journey's End

Four days and numerous changes of routes in and out of hyperspace later the Sentinel vessel was approaching Nar Shaddaa. There had been numerous discussions among the escaping jedi of how they should get Obi-Wan and the crate with communication equipment back to his ship. Finally they settled for a direct approach. After all Nar Shaddaa was known as 'smugglers moon' so landing a ship and transferring a crate from one ship to another would be more of a daily activity than something suspicious.

As they entered orbit a somber tone crept into the conversation among the grown up jedi, and even the smaller initiates were less boisterous than usual. The truth was just as simple as it was slightly embarrassing. Despite all their knowledge about 'no attachments' they didn't want to see Obi-Wan leave. The feeling was evened out by the knowledge that he didn't want to see them leave either. And both parties knew they had to.

Ahsoka sighed: "I know I'm stupid and I know it's not jedi-like to feel this way, but since I never became a full fledged jedi I can do it anyway. I don't want to lose you again, Obi-Wan. It was hard enough the first time when I left the Temple, now with so few of us left, it is almost unbearable."

"You won't lose me, Ahsoka. We will keep in touch, at least if we can get me and this equipment safely on board my ship. And if you ever need me, I will be there for you. You know that. After all you are my grandpadawan."

"I know," she sighed again, "it's just so hard."

They were saved from more emotional outbursts as the ship exited hyperspace and Nar Shaddaa came into view. Ahsoka hurried into the pilot's seat and prepared for the landing procedures. When formalities had been exchanged with the Spaceport Control and the course had been set for the assigned landing platform she turned towards Obi-Wan again: "How are you going to carry that crate of yours? This time 'frivolous use of the Force' won't solve the problem."

"I agree," he nodded solemnly, "this time I was more thinking about a gravsled and frivolous use of credits. I have a few left of the ones I got from…uh..my contact to get to Coruscant."

Ahsoka nodded again. "Makes sense. There are always a lot of dock workers around wanting to earn a credit or two."

As the ship was approaching the assigned docking area, Obi-Wan prepared his own landing procedures, removing anything in his outfit that might remind anyone of a jedi. One of the larger initiates was instructed to do the same. Obviously he couldn't carry the crate out of the ship alone and allowing a dock worker inside was out of the question as well.

…

An hour later he stood in the docking area besides the crate and saw the Sentinel take off. The final goodbyes and 'may the Force be with you' had been said. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness flooded him and he felt more miserable than he had done in weeks. For a few precious days he had been home again, not in quarters but among his own, and for a moment he heartily cursed his own stubbornness and determination to watch over Luke in that desolated, overgrown sandpit that was Jundland Wastes.

"Blast it, you have work to do," he muttered between clenched teeth and looked up to see if he could find anyone to help him with the crate.

"You! There! Find a gravsled and help me transport this crate to my ship in dock 27-317," he ordered a young brown haired boy who was working nearby.

"Me? Sir?"

"Yes, you. He flipped a credit to the boy. Go find a gravsled and maybe someone to help you carry this crate onboard. It's quite heavy and the crew on the ship that brought me here refused to help me as soon as we were on the ground," he added a reasonable amount of annoyance to his voice. Somehow he had a feeling that the term 'please' wouldn't work too well at this place.

For a moment the boy scrutinized him with a piercing, slightly anxious, look, then he accepted the task with a loud: "Yessir!" and ran away. A few minutes later he returned with the requested gravsled. "I'm sorry Sir, I couldn't find someone who was willing to help me on such short notice. Would it…would it be possible for you to help me lifting it onto the gravsled, Sir?"

Obi-Wan nodded curtly. "If I have to. Just let us get this over with. I need to get this where it's supposed to be rather quickly."

With the help from the boy he managed to place the crate safely on the gravsled and the boy began pushing it towards the right dock. Obi-Wan followed suit. As he saw the boy moving the sled a feeling of something…familiar struck him. The boy emanated something. He couldn't really recognize the boy, and still there was something familiar about him… No, it had to be just imagination.

"Banshee" was there waiting for him, apparently in the same condition as when he'd left. "Miracles still happen every once in a while," he thought. The spaceport officer really had kept his word. He entered the entrance code and the hatch opened smoothly enough.

"Put the crate in the cargo room back in the ship," he ordered the boy, who obediently did as he was told.

"Here you are." Obi-Wan counted some more credits and gave to the boy, who immediately ran away after grabbing the money with a dirty hand.

Obi-Wan closed the hatch behind him and left the spaceport. One hour later he returned. His minor excursion to Smuggler's Bar had made him several thousand credits richer and one precious Iridium bar poorer.

"Easy come, easy go," he sighed. In the last moment he had realized that Iridium bars suddenly appearing on Tatooine would most likely have lead to Jabba the Hut's full household of bounty hunters, mercenaries and other villains knocking on his door. Except the fact that they more likely would have knocked in the door, of course. Well, he missed his friends, his family, but he could do well without Jabba induced company.

The spaceport officer was the next one to visit from his personal "to do list". The same grumpy, slightly green skinned Toydarian was sitting in his office.

"Yes!" he growled when Obi-Wan appeared in front of his desk.

"I'm coming to pay the docking fee," Obi-Wan informed.

"Uhm-hmmm, that will be twelve hundred credits," Grumpy retorted.

Obi-Wan pulled the credits from his pocket and laid them on the desk.

The room quietened. Neither said a word. Another two hundred credits found it's way up from Obi-Wan's pocked and were put in a separate pile on the desk.

"For watching."

Grumpy nodded, and Obi-Wan turned towards the door. Then, on a whim, he turned towards the Toydarian again: "The brown haired human boy out there in the docking crew, what's his name?"

The Toydarian glanced icily back. "What's it to you? Nobody cares about names here. He's a good worker. He gets things done."

Then he scooped up the smallest pile of credits and put in his own pocket.

"You never heard it from me, human, but the others call him Jarrus."

Obi-Wan shrugged and left the office without a word. The name was totally unfamiliar to him.

…

Banshee rose smoothly from Nar Shaddaa's surface. Once again Obi-Wan aimed for a zig-zag course through hyperspace to ensure that any potential pursuers would lose the track. He was half way through his planned route when the answer to the question that had plagued him since he left Nar Shaddaa struck him.

"Blast it to all the nine sith hells and back again," he exclaimed and slapped his brow, "I knew I had seen that boy before. Jarrus, that grumpy Toydarian said. That boy might very well have been Master Billaba's apprentice, Caleb Dume. He met in the Council Chamber with his Master a couple of years ago so I should have recognized him. He must somehow have survived the purge, but I fear that Depa Billaba must have died. Mace said he felt her disappear from the Force and as her previous Master he should know. If he's alive, how many other jedi or padawans could be left out there?"

With an exasperated sigh he leaned back in the seat and continued his journey towards Tatooine, towards home.
…

The cave was still undisturbed, so Obi-Wan maneuvered the ship inside with much less effort than the first time he performed this operation. Still the ship was quite a lot to force lift but it was doable. He decided to leave the crate within the ship until the next day. He had flew in under the cover of the night and a good night's sleep would be preferable before he tried to find a hiding for the communication unit. After all he didn't want to keep all the eggs in one basket. Leaving the communication equipment inside the ship was simply not an option. He would have to find another cave higher up in the mountain to use as his communication central. Preferably one where he could close off the cave with a boulder to prevent any intruders or bypassers from seeing it.

But that would have to wait until tomorrow. Mace and his group wouldn't land on Draay 2 for some more days, so there was no urgency. Right now he would allow himself the luxury of going home and get a good night's sleep in his own bed.

He was asleep as soon as his head met the pillow, and for once it was a deep and dreamless sleep.

When he woke up the next morning the slightly bluish figure of Qui-Gon was waiting patiently in his living room.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Qui-Gon greeted him merrily.

"Good morning, Master," Obi-Wan rubbed his eyes wearily. A couple of hours more sleep would have been good, but instead he went to make some tea in the small kitchen area.

Qui-Gon said nothing, but raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Obi-Wan sighed: "There were more survivors, Master. I found Master Windu, Bant and Ahsoka with a group of younglings and some more geriatric masters in the old Bendu Temple beneath the Jedi Temple."

"Really? I thought the Bendu Temple was only a myth?"

"No, it was for real. Master Nu knew about it, Force knows how, and she gave Bant the information of how to find it."

"Do they intend to stay there?"

"No, they are on their way to Draay 2 as we intend to settle down in the old temple there."

"A good choice, I believe," Qui-Gon agreed. "it should definitely be desolate enough out there and the temple hasn't been inhabited for ages. But I sense you have more to tell?"

"I certainly have." And Obi-Wan told him the full story about his journey.

It took him most of the day, but when the midday heat was slightly diminishing he set out to find a suitable cave and set up his communication post. Once more he silently cursed Qui-Gon's present state that made it impossible for him to help carry things. Several hours later he had rigged the equipment in a cave far up in the mountains and a solar energy panel was well hidden outdoors so it could gather the energy from the sun and keep the comm station running. He had been careful to place the panel below a rock so that it wouldn't reflect the sunlight up into the sky. Who knew, there might be a ship passing every now and then.

Eventually he sat down in front of the equipment and aimed for the Sentinel ship.

"Seabird calling Kindergarten. Can you hear me?" A tiny smile flew over his face by the memory of Mace Windu's expression when the call names had been determined. The Korun master had been slightly furious at first, but then his sense of humor had gotten the better of him after all.

"We can hear you, Seabird. Loud and clear," came Ahsoka's voice in return. "We have estimated two days more to target destination, and then we will be busy settling in for some days."

"Copy that. I will contact you every second hour 10 standard days from now, and then we will determine more exact times for further communication."

"Copy that, Seabird. Meanwhile you may go fishing. Kindergarten out."

The communication unit silenced and Obi-Wan couldn't bare himself for smiling again. It felt good having some of his own out there again. Obviously Ahsoka still had the snippy attitude that hat earned her the nickname 'Snips' only days after she became Anakin's padawan.

Slowly he got up and returned to his home. He had come a long way through the last few months. He had seen the republic fall and Padme die. He had done his duty and almost killed Anakin, his brother in everything but bloodline. He had brought Padme's and Anakin's son to safety. Well, relative safety, that is, and he had got in touch with surviving jedi. He had felt more lonely and depressed than he ever imagined possible, but slowly, step by step, he was feeling less miserable. He would still feel sorrow and remorse when he thought about his son and brother, but he was ready to go on with his life. Maybe he would someday even forgive himself. He would perform the duty he had laid upon himself and watch over little Luke to ensure no harm came to him. He would do his best to follow the teachings Qui-Gon had for him and the path the Force had laid out before him. But every now and then he would be in touch with the world outside and if he could support the upcoming rebellion from a distance and help Ahsoka in her search for more surviving Jedi he would gladly do so. He might even go out there every now and then. There was still a job to do, a duty to be carried out.

As he reached the plateau in front of his hut he stopped. The twin suns were bathing the desert and the mountains in an amber light. As so many times before he felt a presence by his side as his Master turned up beside him. Again they could watch the sunset together, and it felt good. He had missed it for so many, many years.

"I'm glad I was allowed to share more sunsets with you, Padawan." The deep baritone voice floated into his head, and there was only one possible answer:

"Yes, Master. I am glad too."



oOo The End oOo

Spoiler: "Final words"

First of all: Thanks to those of you who have managed to read through this 'mini epic' story, especially thanks to WarmNyota_SweetAyesha who seems to have managed to give encouraging comments to all chapters. When that is said, thanks to Dragonsith13 as well for asking the question "are you interested in writing as well?" Yes I am, and I did. So after that encouragement I did. That comment came at a time when I was posting some comments in the Kenobi movie thread about what it should contain to become an entertaining movie. Some of those input have been used in this story right away. If nobody else does, I can write the plot myself. So I did just that. I have no illusions that Disney will read it though.

I really wanted to explore Obi-Wan's first days in the desert, before he settled as the hermit, but I also wanted to give him some more or less plausible reasons for doing 'something else' while waiting for Luke to grow up so they both can approach 'A New Hope'. While doing so, I also made some openings for myself to explore his exile further. It may very well happen, some day. And before anyone tells me: Yes I agree - pulling in both a young Hera and Kanan was overkill. I just couldn't resist the temptation.

 

I enjoyed encountering Kanan and I definitely enjoyed this adventure and even long-distance contact with survivors of the Purge. It will absolutely hearten Obi-Wan through his exile.

 

I am still reading this, just have a busy time wrapping up the old kindergarten year nicely and preparing for the new one (for example talks with the parents, team reconstruction and so on.)

So I was sneaking in and out again during my lunch breaks, amazed how you pull special moments out of the head non-stop. And great SW characters are in this one, too.

 

Will you be doing a follow up of this? Loved it.