The Kintan Strider Gambit
by Flamethrower
The Kintan Strider Gambit
Author: flamethrower@deadcatharvest.net
Archive: Yep to both. (You know the drill.)
Category: Q/O, AU
Warnings: Mild warning for blood for the easily squicked
Summary: Part 9 in the 'Lonely Place' series. The fate of the Sith lies herein.
Note: There are sections in here that are past events. Those sections are marked with section break at the beginning and end of each section.
Series: Yar.
In a Lonely Place
Defiance
Shades of Grey
Geonosis
Falling Pieces
Checkmate
Dust and Honor
Sacrifice
"We go into the arms of those that remember us."
Bush, Golden State
"Do you know the ways of the Force? Do you understand the true nature of the Dark Side?"
"No. But you can teach me. I'm young. I will learn."
Darth Bane and Darth Zannah
"The war between the Jedi and the Sith has raged for five thousand years, and it will end here, for all time."
Darth Venge
Blood was running freely down his arms, staining the floor in scarlet rivulets. It hurt, gods it hurt. He hadn't known anything could hurt like this.
"I will teach you everything I ever learned about pain," Sidious told him, and those hated hands drifted across his shoulders. Nails skimmed his flesh and he twitched but did not scream. At first he'd kept his silence, and that had angered the Sith Lord. Then he'd screamed until his throat had refused to produce another sound, but that had angered the Sith Lord, too. In fact, there was little that did not anger Sidious, so he learned to keep his silence again.
"By the time I am through with you, you will be able to withstand anything," Sidious said.
Anything. That almost sounded... promising. Useful. "As you command, Master," Obi-Wan replied, and hissed out a whispered curse when Sidious ran his hands through Obi-Wan's hair.
It was the only time the Sith's touch was gentle.
He caught a second blast of lightning in his hand, but he was beginning to tire, and some of the harsh energy scorched his palm and sent pain lancing up his arm. He shook his hand in a futile attempt to rid himself of the pins-and-needles burn. He was tempted to chant the litany for serenity in his head, but that felt wrong.
This was definitely not a moment for serenity, and he was not a Jedi.
Sidious laughed, as if hearing the thought. "You are doing better than I expected. Though, as you managed to kill off all of your competition, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
No, no, Venge thought. Be surprised. I like it when you find that I have done unexpected things. "You taught me well, Master," was all he said, before launching his own assault of Force Lightning at the Sith Lord.
Sidious parried the attack by catching the energy, cradling the mass of blue lightning in his palms like it was an offering to the Force. The energy soaked into his hands, and Sidious closed his eyes and sighed. "Your hate has made you strong - far stronger than I ever anticipated. You should be proud."
He didn't speak, didn't want to, for part of him was proud of what he had learned, and that made his insides twist in revulsion. Instead he threw himself towards Sidious, lightsaber extended, and hoped his timing was right.
Mace Windu and Adi Gallia stepped off the turbolift with four more armored Jedi behind them, all they could cram into the narrow compartment. The others were spreading out through the rest of the citadel, hoping to block off any potential escape routes.
They stepped onto the observation deck, watching the furious exchange between Sith Lord and Sith Apprentice. Mace noticed the blade that Venge wielded, and it brought a tight smile to his lips. Blue, not the blood-red blade of a Sith. Mace was willing to put credits on the table that it was the lightsaber Obi-Wan Kenobi had carried on the day Qui-Gon Jinn had knighted him.
Adi ignited her blade, washing them both in deep blue light before he lit his own lightsaber, adding violet to the blue. For the first time since the Senate had dubbed Palpatine a traitor, Mace got a good look at the former Chancellor.
Gone were his gentle mannerisms and soft blue eyes - this was a man possessed by Darkness. His black cloak whirled around him like an extension of self as he fought, keeping Venge at bay by the barest of margins. Mace glanced at Venge and was surprised to see that the long hair the Sith Apprentice had seemed to favor was gone, hacked off at the neck. Copper strands were glued to his face with sweat, giving him a feral look that matched the ferocity in his eyes.
"Let's end this," Mace said, raising his lightsaber and stepping forward, Adi by his side.
Venge leapt back, Sidious's blade just missing his torso, and landed hard next to the railing. Sidious turned and smiled at Mace. "Master Windu!" he said, and his voice was a ruin, cracked and rough and full of malicious cheer. "How delightful it is that you have joined us!" Then he saw Adi, and the joviality vanished. His eyes seemed lit from within as he raised his hand and pointed at her. "You."
Adi gave the Sith a gracious smile. "Something wrong, Lord Sidious? Do you feel thwarted to find that you do not see as clearly as you thought?"
In answer Sidious raised his arms, and one of the largest manifestations of Force Lightning Mace had ever seen jumped across the room, heading straight for them.
"NO!"
None of them had expected Venge to interfere. His arms were outstretched, the energy of the Force lighting his fingertips. Mace and Adi were shoved back as a telekinetic wave roared past them. The lightning veered away, blowing out several of the observation windows and sending glass flying.
Sidious, his hands still streaming Dark energy, glared at Venge. "Fool," he hissed, and thrust his right hand in Venge's direction.
There was a strange thrum in the air, and the visual light spectrum seemed to twist before Venge was flung out into empty space with a strangled cry. Sidious gave Mace and Adi a dark smile. In a blur of motion he was at the rail and jumping over, following his Apprentice.
"What...? You killed them! You killed them all!" Anakin's voice was full of shock and horror.
"You're very welcome," he replied, his tone dry, trying to not-think as he shifted the heavy, sleeping burden in his arms. There were bodies all around him. He'd hoped to spare Anakin this. There had been children in this camp. Children. Part of his soul was still screaming. If he never saw Tatooine again, it would be too blasted soon.
"You... why?" Anakin asked, taking his mother from Venge's arms, cradling her.
He could have answered Anakin. Maybe one day, he would be able to. For now he could say only one thing. "If anyone asks, young Padawan, do not mention me. You rescued your mother, nothing more."
"You're asking me to lie," Anakin said, staring into his eyes. The yellow would not have been discernable in the darkness, but Anakin Skywalker was no fool.
He smiled. "No, Anakin. You are, after all, taking your mother home. Therefore you are rescuing her. You will merely be speaking from a certain point of view."
Anakin frowned, possibly thinking of his Master. "Part of the truth. Not all of it."
"Yes. Remember the lesson well, Anakin. Even the truth can be used against you, if you allow it to be."
They encountered a few more white-armored Jedi, and Qui-Gon was bemused to see Quinlan Vos among them, flanked by his second Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Anakin, on seeing the girl they'd worked with on several occasions, couldn't help but grin. "Aren't you a little short for that armor, Snips?" he teased.
"Aren't you a bit tall for a twit, Skyguy?" the Togrutan Padawan retorted good-naturedly.
Padmé was walking beside Qui-Gon, ready to help if he stumbled. She rolled her eyes at the exchange. "Force, they are such children!" she muttered.
It was the first time he could remember smiling since he'd awoken in the labs.
Turbolifts would have been better, but if there were more in the citadel than the three they had found, they were well-hidden, and none went in the direction they needed to go. The staircases were easier to find, though steps had proved to be his undoing. Qui-Gon had filled his head with a foul litany when Anakin had picked him up and carried him. They were going off to battle a Sith, and he was bloody helpless. Even his Force-sense, though returning, was not reliable.
The stairs were done with, but Anakin didn't put him down, quickening his steps. Qui-Gon decided not to complain further, for Anakin's newfound sense of urgency matched his own. "We're here," Anakin said, helping to settle Qui-Gon back on his feet. Their steps echoed in the silence of the great room, but that silence didn't last long.
"Look out!" Luminara yelled, and he took an unsteady step back as two black shapes, one of them touched with copper, fell towards them from somewhere above.
He fought to breathe the entire way down. He'd let himself become too vulnerable, and it had almost cost him his life before the fight had a chance to progress. Venge gasped in a sharp rush of air, feeling cracked ribs protest.
Then Sidious was upon him even as they fell, snarling, and both of the Sith's hands reached for Venge's throat. He grabbed those hands, pushing back with the Force but refusing to let go. Sidious shouted at him and then had no choice but to cushion their landing himself, though Venge still took the brunt of it.
His breath left his chest in another pained gasp as he felt the horrible jar of impact all the way down his spine. Ceramic shattered, and it seemed that time slowed, for he could see tiny shards of black fly up from the floor. Then time rushed back, and Venge shoved the Sith Lord away and rolled, feeling broken tiles cut his back. He got to his hands and knees, coughing a mouthful of bright red blood onto the floor.
Lightsaber, lightsaber, where where where- He sensed it and reached, and the satisfying feel of cool metal hit his right palm. He was up on his knees and turning without thought, and caught Sidious's blade on his own. The Sith was grinning at him, pushing down, using his position and strength to make Venge fall back.
Fuck that, Venge thought, his left hand curling up into a fist. He sent it flying towards Sidious's face, felt a moment of intense triumph when it cracked against the Sith's jaw.
"Something wrong, Master?" his Padawan asked him, his eyes green in the dim light of the ship's lounge. That innocent tone hadn't fooled Qui-Gon for a long, long time.
Qui-Gon was staring down at the Dejarik board, not yet willing to accept defeat. He had to admit, though, that he didn't see a victory waiting for him. "You know, I had expected to be guiding you through the nuances of this game for some time yet."
"I'm terribly sorry to have defeated you, Master," Obi-Wan replied, contrite, but his eyes were dancing. "Perhaps we could play again?"
Qui-Gon found himself laughing. "Of course we will. I have to regain my dignity, Obi-Wan. Now tell me how you managed to pull a Kintan Strider Gambit right underneath my very nose?"
His seventeen year-old Padawan raised an eyebrow. "Master, in games of strategy, it is considered unwise to tell your opponent how you plan to defeat him."
Qui-Gon watched in horror as Sidious drove Venge into the floor, tile exploding up from the force of the impact. Blood flew, and it was all coming from Venge. Before Qui-Gon could worry that the damage was done, that they were all too late, Venge shoved Sidious away with the Force and called his lightsaber back to his hand, igniting the blade before their duel commenced anew.
He stared, mesmerized. A blue lightsaber. Obi-Wan's lightsaber. It was the one Obi-Wan had been carrying when they had destroyed Maul, together, a lifetime ago. The part of Qui-Gon that had given up, had crystallized in light of what Venge had unleashed upon the galaxy, started to feel warmth.
I made my choices a long time ago. Those were the last words Venge had whispered to Qui-Gon as he lay dying in a blasted cloning lab.
He couldn't help but smile when he saw Obi-Wan's fist land a blow on Sidious's face.
Sidious jumped back, whirling away from Venge as Adi Gallia and Mace Windu, followed by Neeja Halcyon, flew down from above. The Sith Lord gave the approaching Jedi a cruel smile and waved his hand. Adi blocked the Force-shove, but Neeja was not so lucky, and landed against the far wall with a short yell and a clatter. If the swearing Venge heard was any indication, Halcyon was fine. That white armor couldn't block a well-aimed blaster shot or a lightsaber, but it cushioned impacts well enough. He found himself with a twisted, pained smile on his lips. If he had any sense, he would have been wearing the stuff himself.
Time to regain the Sith's undivided attention. He gestured, and the tile shards that lay scattered about the floor lifted into the air, veering with deadly intent for Sidious's unprotected neck.
They didn't so much as graze him, for the Sith sensed the attack and flung the detritus aside, turning to face Venge once more. "Now, now, Master," Venge said, offering Sidious a mocking smile. "Before you get to go off and play with the other Jedi, you have to finish dealing with me."
The Sith Lord stared at him, as if trying to discern Venge's true motives. "Very well," he said, and advanced upon Venge with a gleeful smile.
When Master Windu would have followed Sidious, a forbidding glare on his face, Venge shook his head. "Don't worry," he said, his tone snide as he waved off the Jedi Master. "You'll get your chance soon enough." Don't follow, don't follow, he repeated in his head, thoughts secure beneath impervious shielding. Read between the damned lines for once, Master Windu!
Windu stopped at Venge's words, though his lightsaber was still raised. "You're only delaying the inevitable!" he shouted.
Sidious chuckled at the Jedi Master's words. "He's right, you know. Even if you somehow defeat me, do you think they will forgive you? Welcome you back into their fold?"
Venge gained his feet and retreated, distantly aware of the Jedi that were beginning to stream out of corridors and from behind closed doors, intent upon their quarry. They did not come closer than the outer bounds of the circle, pausing to watch the duel unfold between Master and Apprentice.
Sidious advanced, his steps taking him to the outer edges of the spiral pattern in the center of the room. "Think carefully, my Apprentice. There are few who truly understand the strength you now possess. There are few who can see you for what you really are. You are nothing but what I have made you!"
Venge stepped back until he was out of the spiral, and now ancient Sith glyphs, red upon black, were the only thing that lay between them. Everything that he had ever done in Sidious's name roared up within him, and with his mind full of screaming voices, he could only whisper: "I just want to go home."
Qui-Gon was standing with Anakin, Padmé, Garen, Plo Koon, and Yoda, and it was only Anakin's firm grip on his arm that kept him from lurching forward at Obi-Wan's soft words. He saw Garen's hands, clenched into tight fists, and knew that he wasn't the only one who was feeling helpless.
Why aren't we doing anything? There are hundreds of us! he thought, and from across the room Adi Gallia met his near-frantic gaze.
Not yet, she said, her words clear and strong as she shook her head. You will know when the time is right.
That did nothing to reassure him, and the sound of Palpatine's cruel laughter chilled him to the bone. He was filled with horrible certainty that when the time was right, it would be far too late.
The man who had almost succeeded in destroying a Republic that had lasted twenty-five thousand years laughed at him. "You will find that you cannot escape me so easily, my Apprentice." The laughter died, and Palpatine sneered at him. "You plan with a child's sloppiness. No Jedi will defeat me here today. I have foreseen it!"
The bond between them flooded, and Venge gasped and sank to his knees as Sidious ripped him apart with pain from the inside out. But he would not scream. Sidious had kept his promise from long ago. Pain was nothing; Venge could endure.
Through the blind haze of agony and the sounds of shouting (was that Qui-Gon, calling his name?), he felt Sidious approach. When he could see again, the Sith was standing in front of him, staring at him with cold eyes and a false smile. "Was I wrong about you, my fiery Apprentice? I did not think you so weak that you would not even attempt to fight back."
Venge looked down at the spiral of glyphs that Sidious now stood upon, and smiled. When he looked up at the man he had chosen to call Master, he felt a gleeful madness of his own. "I don't need to," he said, and spat another mouthful of bright blood onto the spiral.
The blood soaked into the glyphs like water into desert soil. With a hiss of malice, the glyphs from an alphabet both ancient and terrible began to glow. Sidious had only one moment to stare in consternation at the floor before the glyphs turned bright green and moved.
"What have you done?!" the Sith Lord roared his fury, helpless, for the glyphs that had once decorated the floor were now covering him, wrapping around him over and over again like a serpent trapping its prey. They lit on his robes and on his skin, uncaring, settling into place with the whisper of countless raging voices.
"You always did have little use for the old Sith magics, Master," Venge whispered. He got to his feet, his head still pounding from Sidious's last assault on his senses. It had taken him years to find this, this one gap in the Sith Lord's knowledge. With ancient Sith magic and the sacrifice of what tattered soul he had left, Venge built a prison that could hold a Sith Lord.
Sidious hissed at him, swearing, pride and fury warring with one another. "This is impossible! The blood needed to create something like this-"
Venge felt his lips curl up in a cruel smile. "Didn't you ever stop to wonder where everyone had gone? All of your little miscreants, your servants and sycophants? Didn't you wonder why your citadel was empty?"
Qui-Gon stared in horror, aware that most of the gathered Jedi were doing the same - even Adi Gallia, who had seemed to have some understanding of what Obi-Wan was up to. He knew of only two who watched impassively.
Yoda was gazing at the tableau with unblinking, calm eyes, his hands wrapped around his gimer stick. The other was his own Padawan, his eyes hard. There would be no mercy in Anakin's heart for Palpatine's fate.
The Sith had stopped trying to free himself and was now laughing at Obi-Wan, who bore a dangerous, predatory smile. "Oh, you amuse me so! All those years of trying to resist what you were becoming, and here you are, so well-versed in the ancient ways, Lord Venge!"
The smile didn't fade, but Qui-Gon saw the muted flash of irritation in his eyes. "If you hadn't been so disdainful of your own Master's research, you would be unstoppable," Obi-Wan said, tone mild. "I gave you the design for the trap myself as this place was being constructed, and you handed me the keys to your own destruction with a nod and a smile."
"Do you think that you will remain untouched by the Jedi, my Apprentice?" Sidious taunted, his mouth open in a rictus grin. "This is blood magic of the finest kind." He raised his voice to address the watching Jedi. "Do you know how many beings your precious ally had to murder to create my cage?"
"Three hundred eighteen," Obi-Wan answered the Sith's challenge, his voice flat, face expressionless. "Were I in their position, I'd appreciate not having to fight my way through an army just to get in the front door."
Sidious's expression grew petulant, and he cast his gaze about the room. Other men in this situation might be looking for a sympathetic face, but Qui-Gon suspected that the Sith was just looking for a target. When Sidious's eyes fell upon Anakin, he conjured up a desperate smile that held little of its former charm. "Anakin, my friend. Are you just going to stand there? We were friends, you and I. Will you not speak for me?"
Anakin just snorted his opinion of that. "You sent Venge to influence the Tusken tribes into taking my mother. You wanted my mother dead. I don't consider that the action of a friend."
Palpatine's smile became fatherly, yet mocking. "But you rescued her, Anakin. Surely you understand me a bit better now. You are one of us, dear boy, though you do not yet know it."
Qui-Gon and Anakin glanced at each other, both of them disbelieving. "What makes you think I am anything like you?" Anakin retorted, eyeing the Sith Lord disdainfully. Qui-Gon shook his head, concerned, for he knew that Anakin had responded just as the Sith wanted him to.
Obi-Wan was giving the Sith a hard, angry stare, but Sidious paid him no mind. "Your mother was working on Kabray station when my Master found her -- a healthy slave that no one would think twice about, still capable of bearing children... and strong in the Force."
This time it was Qui-Gon's grip on Anakin that kept the latter from stumbling forward, and the Dark Lord's words tumbled forth like a hateful confessional. "Plagueis the Wise had learned much of the ancient Sith arts, and with that knowledge he created the tool that would be the fulfillment of prophecies both light and dark! You, young Skywalker," he hissed, smiling in the face of Anakin's shock. "You were created by a Sith. You are one of us."
"You're lying!" Padmé cried, both of her hands gripping her husband's. She was a steady, fierce presence, not backing down in the face of Sidious's words. "Anakin is not like you!"
Palpatine shook his head, laughing at them. "I have never lied to him. Have I, Anakin?"
Anakin was looking down, his eyes wide, and Qui-Gon was at a loss. He had no idea how to handle this, for he had sensed the truth in Sidious's words. Despite that, he knew that it did not matter. Anakin had long ago proven himself to be a Jedi. She's right, he whispered across their old training bond, hoping that he would be heard. You are not like him, Anakin.
Anakin glanced up at him, and it seemed to Qui-Gon that there was a spark of memory in his eyes. "Part of the truth. Not all of it," he murmured, but Qui-Gon did not think the words were meant for him. Anakin lifted his head, and when he faced the Sith Lord again his eyes were calm, his gaze serene - for Anakin, anyway. "You have never lied to me, no... but you do not tell me everything. You dole out the truths that are useful to you, that help you to manipulate the people around you."
Sidious scowled, but it was Obi-Wan who spoke. "What about it, Lord Sidious? Why don't you tell him the whole truth?" The Sith Lord glared at Obi-Wan in impotent fury. "Why don't you tell him what Plagueis discovered - that Darkness cannot create life? He had to step into the Light to create his tool, and it exhausted him. That was the only way you could destroy your Master, by slipping a blade into his heart while he lay in helpless slumber." Obi-Wan smiled. "Anakin was born free."
Palpatine hadn't given up yet. He looked back at Anakin, and his eyes were glittering with malice. "Do you still hide your actions of that day? Do you still think of how much death you wrought because of your efforts to retrieve your mother?"
Qui-Gon almost started, for that was something he had never known. Anakin had only said that he and Padmé had gone to Tatooine when the dreams of his mother had become dreams of her dying, that he had rescued her and brought her home.
He needn't have worried. Anakin gave the Sith a broad grin in response. "I didn't kill anyone that day."
For a brief moment Sidious's expression was perplexed. Then he turned to Obi-Wan, and his eyes were filled with rage. "You," he hissed. "You killed them."
"You felt the deaths of many killed in a rage, and you sensed that Skywalker was near. You saw what you wanted to see." Obi-Wan laughed at the Sith. "I told you that your overconfidence would be your undoing, Lord Sidious. You should have heeded my warning." He half-turned, then, looking at someone on the far side of the room. "Commander. You're running late."
Qui-Gon had been so intent upon the Sith that he had missed the arrival of a new contingent of troopers. Several columns streamed in through the main entryway, spreading out and taking aim at the center of the room where Obi-Wan and Sidious stood. None of these soldiers had the distinctive green stripes the Jedi bore.
One clone trooper with the red stripes of a commander walked forward and saluted Obi-Wan. "Sorry, sir, but mop-up operations took longer than we anticipated."
"What is this?" Sidious hissed, turning his hate-filled gaze back on Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan smiled, a slow upturn of his lips that matched the sharp gleam of triumph in his eyes. "I told you the Jedi were a distraction, and still you did not think beyond their presence. You were so concerned about them that it blinded you to the true threat. Bly!" Obi-Wan turned his attention back to the red-striped commander. "Do you have your target?"
"Yes, sir," Bly responded, the blaster rifle in his arms pointed squarely at Palpatine.
Obi-Wan gave the Sith one last, amused glance. "How many blaster shots can you block at once, Master?" he asked, stepping away from the spiral before issuing one last order. "Shoot him."
The Sith did better than Qui-Gon expected, even bound and hampered as he was by the glowing sigils that burned into him. He deflected a multitude of shots with the Force, not even flinching when a bolt slipped through his guard and scored his arm. The air was filled with the red streaks of blasterfire and rising smoke. There were many voices shouting out their surprise, for the clones attacking the dethroned Chancellor were not what any of them had expected. Flashes of blue and green joined the melee as the watching Jedi deflected laserblasts that came too close.
In all of the chaos, Qui-Gon was barely aware of Anakin's arm still keeping him steady. Obi-Wan had met his eyes, staring at him, likewise unconcerned by the turmoil unfolding around him. His lips were quirked in a wry, self-deprecating smile, and all at once Qui-Gon felt the spit dry up in his mouth. He knew.
He had never been much of a strategist, preferring to step from Moment to Moment. Over the last six years Obi-Wan had taught him to become one, feeding him information and clues with gestures and hints. He could put it all together now, and knew this for what it was. Qui-Gon had started it all by introducing his red-haired young Padawan to the game of Dejarik. Obi-Wan was brilliant at it, had bested his Master at the game time and time again.
The clones that would not wake. Even if Sidious managed to get his essence into one, Qui-Gon doubted that the clones were capable of achieving consciousness.
The Jedi hidden away, thought to be dead by friend and foe alike.
Bly's presence, a clone that would follow the orders of the Supreme Chancellor - but the Chancellor had been dethroned. The Sith had made sure that control of the army would go to his Apprentice, for Bly deferred to Obi-Wan.
The spiral prison on the floor, composed of ancient Sith glyphs... that matched the spiraled patterns of black ink on Obi-Wan's body. Venge's projected Illusion, speaking in the Council chamber: If I die, he can't make the first transfer to one of his damned clone bodies. He needs a conduit for that.
I need you to stop me.
He remembered the words spoken on a hillside they had not seen in almost fifteen years.
I do not think we will see each other again.
I wanted the chance to say goodbye.
"Kintan Strider," he said, the words the barest whisper.
"What's that?" Anakin asked, giving him a confused look. His last Padawan had never learned the term. Anakin Skywalker had been terrible at Dejarik.
Plo Koon answered for him. "It's a Dejarik move, a bluff. The Kintan Strider is your strongest piece in the game, but you sacrifice it. It masks the move that will win the game."
His former Padawan was running the most brilliant Kintan Strider Gambit the galaxy had ever known -- and Obi-Wan was using himself as the Kintan Strider. "No." NO!
In that moment, Sidious was overcome, and he died with a cry of rage on his lips and a multitude of laser burns in his body.
The death of Tyrannus had taught him what to expect, and when that wall of Dark energy spread out he shielded his eyes with his arm and his body with the Force. The energy buffeted him, seeking and shrieking with the echoes of the Sith's anger... and then it began to pull back.
When he dropped his arm, there was a great mass of roiling, violet energy floating above the floor where Sidious had been imprisoned. In the Force, he could hear the Sith Lord's voice. Foolish whelp! Cursed Apprentice! When I have form again, you will die!
He grinned and spread his arms wide, his voice mocking. "Oh, come now, Lord Sidious! Where do you think you're going to go?" He dropped his voice into a whisper. The glyphs that were branded into his skin started to burn. He'd been right; this was going to hurt. "You think that I would not plan for this, too?"
The cloud of Dark energy drifted forward, and he could feel Sidious fighting against that unrelenting pull. Sidious would have sensed the children in Padmé's womb, and knew they would be better vessels for his strength than any clone.
The Sith Lord would never get that opportunity. He would never touch their lives.
What have you done?! Sidious roared.
"The line of Bane will end," he whispered, and glyphs on his body lit up like fire as they recognized the Sith's energy and drew it inward.
It was bad enough that Palpatine did not dissipate with death. They had all flinched away from that dark explosion of energy, only to look up and realize that Sidious still existed. The dark nimbus that floated above the spiral was his essence unleashed, and in the Force the Sith Lord's voice was howling his wrath, deafening Qui-Gon with his fury.
Seeing Obi-Wan spread his arms, teeth bared, just before he was swallowed by that violet cloud was one of the most soul-wrenching things Qui-Gon Jinn had ever witnessed. Then all was silent, and it seemed to him that the only sound in the room was Obi-Wan's desperate struggle to breathe under the weight of the malevolence that he now carried within himself.
Oh gods above and below, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon thought, horrified. What have you done?
Obi-Wan was on his knees, his arms wrapped around himself. There was blood on his lips, and his amber eyes were almost shining in the dim light. His throat worked, and after a long, terrible moment he managed to speak a word. "Adi."
Adi Gallia was staring at Obi-Wan, her eyes dark with grief. "Obi-Wan, no. Gods, if I'd known what you were up to--!"
He smiled, the expression pained, and Qui-Gon could have been Force-blind and still would have sensed the strain coming from the would-be Sith. "You have... you have to do this." His head fell back, his smile becoming a grimace as his eyes fluttered shut. "I can't... hold him... forever! It... he burns."
"Stand against the Light, the Sith cannot," Yoda repeated his earlier words, but his ears were lowered, his head bowed. "Do so, we must."
If Qui-Gon hadn't already known where this was going, he would have been screaming. As it was, tears were rolling unheeded down his face, burning his skin. Beside him, Anakin was staring at Obi-Wan, his face full of stunned anguish, before he turned and wrapped his arms around his wife.
"How..." Obi-Wan made a strangled sound as he struggled to get to his feet. "How do you defeat Darkness, Master Gallia?" he whispered. This was brilliant and terrible, and for the first time in his life Qui-Gon Jinn wanted to curse the Force.
Adi managed a tremulous smile in return. "Force Light, you stubborn, willful bastard. You'll die."
For a moment Obi-Wan's eyes cracked open, and there was a flash of blue as he raised one eyebrow. "Then what the hell are you waiting for?" He drew in a deep breath. "DO IT!"
"We are Jedi," Adi intoned, lifting her hands while tears streamed from her eyes. The tips of her fingers were already alight as she called upon the Force. "The Light is our strength."
Yoda looked up, his eyes blazing green and vibrant. "The Force is my ally," he said, and he held out one hand, a bright light appearing in his outstretched palm.
Quinlan Vos, who had battled the darkness within himself since he and Aayla Secura had nearly been driven mad by a mindwipe and the necessity of re-learning how to be Jedi. "We are Lights against the Darkness," he said, and the light that they were creating grew stronger. The gloom of the room was pushed back, the air of menace dwindling.
Mace Windu, his face solemn. "Life over destruction," he said, and the first hints of light touched the floor where Obi-Wan was standing. He was shaking, though from fear or expectation or pain, Qui-Gon didn't know.
Anakin next, still holding onto Padmé, but his eyes were clear. "We are the guardians of peace, and we bring Light."
Neeja Halcyon, with a bruise spreading across his cheek. "We find ourselves in a Dark place, but the Light will push back the shadows."
Garen Muln, his voice trembling. "I am of the Light, and I carry it with me always."
Jedi after Jedi, more than two hundred of them, touched the light of the Force and brought it forth. The room filled with light, reflecting off of all of their faces, leaving nothing untouched.
The Sith Lord was no longer shouting his fury. Instead, all they could hear were the faint sounds of a man voicing his desperation. Sidious, it seemed, felt fear after all.
Qui-Gon looked at the man he had chosen to love, despite the paths they had been forced to walk, and could only breathe out the words. "Love over hatred," he said, and the Force Light they created became blinding. It centered over the copper-haired man standing before them, bathing Obi-Wan in a column of white light. Not once did he shrink from it. Before they lost sight of him in the purifying fire of the Force, Qui-Gon heard a bone-chilling scream, and it broke what was left of his heart.
The Sith Lord fought them where Obi-Wan did not, shouting and gibbering and trying his best to escape the Light, but there was nowhere for him to go, no place that the Force did not touch. With a last, tortured howl, the Sith's essence broke apart, swallowed up by the void.
It took long minutes for the light to fade, for the Jedi to release the power they had tapped into. Qui-Gon breathed in clean air for the first time in what felt like an age and barely noticed, for he had eyes only for the body lying on the floor, pale and still. The ends of his copper hair just brushed the broken remains of the spiral.
Adi stepped forward, Mace just behind her, and Quinlan and Garen emerged from the throng of armored Jedi to join them. "Go," Qui-Gon whispered, and his legs shook from new, unaccustomed strain as Anakin ran to join them.
He and Padmé stood together, both of them weeping. He did not think he could bear this, despite knowing for years that death was Obi-Wan's most likely fate. Qui-Gon did not want to look down on that beloved, mischievous face and see dead, staring eyes...
It was Adi's startled curse that captured his attention, and he looked up to find the other Master on her knees next to Obi-Wan. She glanced up and locked eyes with Qui-Gon, amazement on her face. "He's alive."
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