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Uneasy Allies

by Lilith Sedai

PART II: SHOWDOWN

The morning of the Supreme Chancellor's speech dawned bright and clear, with no sandstorms anticipated. Obi-Wan gazed out into the bowl of the Petranaki Arena, watching Geonosians arrive to take up their places in the stands. A combat exhibition was scheduled to precede the speech; various unpleasant creatures were being installed in holding pens below the seating, and several tall pillars stood in the center of the floor, awaiting the arrival of champions who would battle the beasts for the crowd's amusement.

The whole spectacle reeked of Dramacore, stirring unpleasant memories. He shifted to ease stiffness in his muscles, reaching to the Force for some hint of the future, but it offered nothing, the images he sensed remaining muddy and inchoate.

He watched Windu dispersing his team around the amphitheater, placing them next to main tunnels and passages. Five hundred Jedi-- a drop in the bucket, compared to the thousands of droids Obi-Wan knew lay concealed beneath the desert floor.

He could not feel Yoda's presence, but he knew the Grand Master had gone to meet the clone ships. Yoda would already be waiting with the clone troopers, preparing to bring them in even as Palpatine gave his speech. Dooku's presence was tangible, but seemed remote; he was doubtless busy with the Separatists. Mallaigh, of course, could not be sensed.

Obi-Wan glanced up to the promontory where Palpatine would speak. Masters Drallig and Kolar stood there, calmly overlooking the arena, ready to serve as the Supreme Chancellor's special guard-- two of the best fighters Windu had been able to bring. Windu would join them there himself, before the speech began, and together the three would attempt to arrest Palpatine and block his way back to his ship.

Not that it would be difficult. Obi-Wan was prepared to handle the Chancellor's ship himself. He had carefully planned a route to the landing platform, and carried a pair of thermal detonators on his belt, each containing a payload precisely calculated to destroy a ship of the requisite size. He also had a pouch full of concussion grenades to block tunnel routes, as did several of the other Jedi, Windu and Drallig included.

All that remained was for the Supreme Chancellor to arrive, which was scheduled to occur just after the sun reached its zenith.

Obi-Wan watched as Geonosians entered the arena, a few of them entering through the warren of tunnels, but many more simply flying in, wings gleaming in the sun, which produced the busy feeling of a hive-- which, he supposed, it was. Their wings shifted continually, catching the light, giving the place an unpleasant look, as if the walls were alive and crawling. It was probably a good thing that most of the audience could fly. If things didn't go well they'd need to, in order to survive the day.

Obi-Wan shuddered, a chill working its way along his spine, and frowned down into the arena. An armored keeper was still trying to drive his charge, a reluctant acklay, into its cage. It skittered about on its crab-claws, evading the portal, until a handful of Geonosians managed to prod it into the waiting darkness and slam the gate shut behind it.

He stepped out of the sunlight into the corridor behind him, checking his chrono, hearing a cheer go up from the audience as the champions paraded around the sandy battle arena.

He hated this set-up, and the thing that distressed him most of all was the danger to Qui-Gon. As if Palpatine, Dooku, and dual armies of robots and clones weren't enough, over 500 Jedi stood guard in the arena, and only three of them knew not to attack Darth Mallaigh on sight. The others had only been told to expect trouble, possibly from a Sith, and to expect further orders.

He waited impatiently as the arena combats progressed-- after the acklay followed a reek, and then a nexu. He missed most of the final battle, though, watching the sky as Palpatine's ship descend through the atmosphere. After it vanished below the rim of the arena, he could feel the faint vibrations of the heavy ship settling on its landing pad. A belly-clenching wash of adrenaline sang through him as his body anticipated the battle to come.

He could only stand and wait for the appointed moment, hoping the Sith Lord didn't sense the trap and flee. After a tense interval that lasted so long it sent his heart fluttering into his throat, Palpatine walked out onto the promontory, white hair shining in the sunlight.

Obi-Wan's relief nearly buckled his knees. He took a deep breath, watching as the man stepped forward and raised his hands to ask for silence. Then, as Palpatine began to speak, he slipped into the tunnel and headed for the landing pad at a swift trot.

The tunnels were nearly empty. Geonosians and Jedi alike had all gathered out in the arena where Palpatine's speech had begun, resonating through the place in sonorous, measured phrases. Obi-Wan could hear the echoes of it penetrating deep inside the tunnels as he made his way down-- only to find that the Chancellor's ship was not unguarded.

"Master Bulq." Obi-Wan stepped out onto the platform, bowing his head politely.

"Kenobi." Bulq recognized him, stepping slightly forward, but Obi-Wan could feel the Weequay's distrust. "I wasn't aware you had been chosen for this mission."

"I was assigned by Master Yoda," Obi-Wan explained, but Bulq's keen eyes rested on his belt, noting the unusual array of weapons there, and rose to him coolly. Bulq's hand moved to rest on the hilt of his lightsaber.

"Why have you left your guard post?"

"Master Windu is concerned for the Supreme Chancellor's safety. He asked me to come here and send you up. Code authorization 7-theta."

Bulq's eyes narrowed at the correct code, but he didn't move. "Why didn't he comm me?"

"You know as well as I that comm frequencies can be intercepted."

"I'm not leaving my post on your word."

Obi-Wan's stomach flipflopped, his mind racing. "I'm afraid I must stay." He watched as Bulq's left hand slid nearer to his shoto, and pushed back his cloak to free his own lightsaber.

Bulq smiled, bitter, and drew both his blades. "Then it's most unfortunate that you couldn't remember the correct codes." His lightsabers extended, the dual hum throbbing slightly out of sync, his full-length blade in his right hand and the shorter shoto in his left.

Obi-Wan ignited his own lightsaber, reaching hastily for the defensive paranoia that served to enhance Soresu, and met the incoming flurry of savage attacks, backing away.

Bulq was one of the three best blademasters of the Order. Obi-Wan had faced him most recently in his Trials and knew the man's ferocity. He dodged a thrust that would have gutted him, weaving around the shoto and bringing his saber back inline to parry yet another savage swing and thrust combination, whirling and riposting, his swings parried with a brutal force that nearly shuddered his lightsaber out of his hand.

The Weequay master glanced aside for a heartbeat's time, and Obi-Wan heard the clang of a portcullis sliding across the single door that might have afforded escape. Bulq smiled, his dark face a rictus of anger.

"You won't leave this platform alive, traitor," he promised, and waded in, both blades a blur as he attacked.

Obi-Wan flipped over Bulq's head to gain time and ground, his reach limited by the platform's small diameter. Bulq could launch two or more attacks for each of his own defensive moves; the master kept him running, unable to venture an attack.

In the training ring, for his Trials, he'd only had to avoid a touch. Here, things were different. Soresu was almost purely a defensive form, and using it in a real battle meant Obi-Wan had to wait for his opponent to leave an opening or make an error-- which Sora Bulq would not do.

He retreated before the attack, resorting to aerials as often as he dared. They helped him keep from being pushed right off the platform while he let Master Bulq exhaust his first frenzy of energy. Then Obi-Wan would change his tactics.

Bulq didn't slow as he settled into the rhythm of the fight, leading with his lightsaber and following with short, savage thrusts of the shoto, which dipped and wove viciously, clipping the shoulder of Obi-Wan's tunic as he flipped again. If anything, Bulq began to gain momentum as his confidence grew.

Obi-Wan stepped back, circling along the edge of the platform, trying to put the ship's landing gear between them. Bulq withdrew, unwilling to damage the Chancellor's ship, and stalked him as he sidestepped. The Weequay's brow furrowed, giving only an instant's warning before he threw up his hand, the Force-push rippling the air and nearly dislodging Obi-Wan from his precarious position. He felt his heels slide out over empty air, and fell forward. On his hands and knees, he barely got his saber up in time to block a slice that would have bisected him from head to waist. He launched forward without rising, striking Bulq's knees and toppling him, the shoto scoring a sparking gouge in the platform right next to his ear.

Obi-Wan rolled to his feet, backing again-- defense was not enough, and time was wasting. He could sacrifice himself, deploying his thermal detonator and blowing up both the ship and the platform with them on it. But then he would be no more help in the battle to destroy the Sith-- and no help in saving Qui-Gon.

Bulq lunged in, his hair whipping with the ferocity of his attack, and his blade just kissed Obi-Wan's thigh, a flare of pain, before Obi-Wan leaped away.

It was time to switch to Ataru, but the enhancements he could achieve with joy would not be enough to defeat Bulq.

Desperate, Obi-Wan reached for all that was left to him: bitterness, frustration, his anger at being attacked by a fellow Jedi, and his fear for Qui-Gon. The dark emotions flooded in eagerly.

Bulq laughed. "Gray Jedi. Dark Jedi. You betray yourself, Kenobi."

Obi-Wan ignored him, feeling the incredible wash of power flooding through him with his anger-- feeding the anger, expanding it, building it almost beyond what he could contain.

"You were already dark, Sora Bulq." He waded in, exultant at the sudden certainty of victory that filled him. His lightsaber sang and whined, moving faster than thought, a sweeping slice that forced Bulq to leap away. This time it was his turn to press forward, making Bulq use both his blades to stop each attack, robbing him of his speed and cunning.

Bulq's face tightened, air hissing through his nostrils. He brought his saber about, a nasty uppercut thrust that Obi-Wan easily evaded.

"Who have you allied with?" Obi-Wan could feel the man's shields fading like ice melting under the withering force of his rage. "Dooku?"

Bulq did not waste his breath on an answer, slashing at Obi-Wan's belly with his shoto, stepping inside a sweep of Obi-Wan's blade and nearly scoring, bringing his lightsaber around behind Obi-Wan's head, but Obi-Wan jumped out of its path, landing atop the Chancellor's ship. Bulq followed with a light leap, and Obi-Wan spun, launching a swarm of short attacks. He worked his blade furiously, driving Bulq back toward the edge of the ship, where a hundred-meter drop awaited.

Fury pulsed through Obi-Wan, intoxicating; his perceptions stretched. Bulq seemed to move in slow motion, each attack broadly telegraphed, laughably easy to anticipate and thwart. Obi-Wan kicked the man's knee out from under him, then slashed his thigh as he rolled. Another kick increased Bulq's momentum. The Weequay barely caught himself, dangling from the ship's hull, his hands locked around a support strut.

Before he could react, Obi-Wan stamped down, heel crushing the fingers of one dark hand. Bulq released his remaining grip; his shoto rose, stabbing at Obi-Wan's calf even as he tried to somersault and regain the platform.

Obi-Wan, still sunk deep in the slow-motion of his heightened awareness, reached out with the Force and pushed-- and Bulq spun away, cartwheeling toward the ground far below, his scream echoing in the desert.

Obi-Wan could hear himself laughing, laughing in a madness of triumphant fury-- the Dark Side thick and hot in him, taking his center.

He jumped down from the ship, a fragment of his mind flailing at the battle lust, the fury and the joy and the hate, trying to prick the bubble that enveloped him-- and found a place to send it. He focused on the ship and shoved, throwing the dark Force out of him with all his might, pushing all the dark energy from him. The ship's landing gear squealed horribly, rending the platform-- he thrust harder, forcing darkness out, breathing in the light, tasting the air instead of blood-hot rage; the ship tilted, scraping across the edge of the platform, then fell, spinning free. It struck the side of the arena and its fuel cells ignited with a white-hot thump, a backwash of flame singeing Obi-Wan as it flared across the platform.

He fell to his knees, gasping, but he was free-- free but tainted, a film of darkness spattered through his soul, waiting to be recalled.

There was no time to waste on guilt.

Obi-Wan forced himself to his feet, assessing his injuries-- a couple of minor burns, nothing more. He sliced through the portcullis and let it clang to the platform, stepping into the hall.

Had the Chancellor overheard the exploding fuel cells? The cries of the crowd might have masked them, but likely not.

He moved up the corridor, gauging distance carefully, then tossed one of his concussion grenades to block the corridor. That would be felt, without doubt, even if the ship's destruction had gone undetected.

He sprinted up the tunnel toward the Supreme Chancellor even as the grenade detonated, sealing the tunnel-- there would be no escape from that landing platform even if another ship was brought in.

He could hear the Chancellor's voice echoing as he neared the end of the tunnel, and sensed that Palpatine was bringing his speech to an early conclusion.

"There are many on both sides of this grand debate eager to turn this dispute into war. It needn't degenerate into so wasteful an outcome. Together, we have the intelligence and the reason to find an alternative solution," Palpatine summed up, his voice sounding calm and unhurried despite the explosions.

"I appeal to your sensibilities. I know you are proponents of peace... we have much in common, for it is the inefficiencies of the Republic that are the focus of my Chancellery. But the solution lies not in insurrection, but rather through reform. The system will work, and together we will make it work. I am available to confer this very day, should you wish it."

Obi-Wan could see him now, though the doorway at the top of the tunnel. The man bowed, the crowd applauding him, light shifting on their shimmering wings.

Obi-Wan neared the portal onto the promontory, finding Windu, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto waiting there. He greeted them with a nod. A pair of Palpatine's crimson-cloaked Red Guards preceded him into the tunnel, with the Chancellor directly behind them, then two more, followed by Masters Drallig and Kolar.

Windu pressed forward, into the Chancellor's path. "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor."

Palpatine fell still, his eyes like chips of polar ice. "On what charges?"

"Charges that you have acted to consolidate power in defiance of your authority as Chancellor, and taken unauthorized actions with intent to precipitate war."

Palpatine inflated visibly, cold fury suffusing his face. "On the eve of the greatest anti-war initiative known to this Republic, you have the audacity to make such an accusation?"

"I do, and I believe I can prove my claims."

"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" Palpatine darted a glance to his guards, who immediately leveled their force-pikes at Windu, purple-white energy discharge sparking from the tips.

"You will be tried before the Senate," Windu told him levelly. "You will have ample opportunity to prove your innocence."

"The Senate has no authority over me!" Palpatine snapped. "This is treason!"

"I also believe you have ties to the Sith, and that you have conspired to destroy the Jedi Order," Windu continued, undeterred, his face stony. "Come quietly, or you admit your guilt." He ignited his lightsaber, the purple-white blade ready to defend against the guards.

Palpatine's face convulsed, a rictus of rage. Quick as thinking, he shook his sleeve. A hilt fell into his hand, igniting into a blood-red blade. He struck down Saesee Tiin before the other Jedi ever had time to react.

Windu darted between the Red Guards, meeting Palpatine's lunge with his own lightsaber, a furious crackle of energy flaring as they traded blows. Obi-Wan severed the end of one force pike, and his strike continued, removing the arm from the guard who wielded it, shearing through the crimson armor. His comrades' blades glanced off the Mandalorian iron armor the guards wore beneath their robes.

"Help Windu," Obi-Wan commanded shortly, and addressed himself to a second guard, weaving around the crackling pike and beheading the guard before he could draw his blaster. He whirled, finding the first guard struggling to aim and fire his blaster left-handed. With a quick flick of his wrist, Obi-Wan sliced through the weapon. Its power pack exploded in the guard's face, and he pitched forward, knocked unconscious by the shock-wave. Obi-Wan administered the coup de grace as he stepped over the man, unable to afford the luxury of mercy.

The other guards, given more time to react, had drawn blasters and were targeting the Councilors, but Obi-Wan couldn't press through the melee to stop them. He reached down and snatched the blaster from the beheaded guard instead, sighting and firing, taking out one of the remaining two. The other evaded him, shielded behind the fight.

Obi-Wan dropped the blaster when he heard Palpatine cry out in triumph. Kolar fell, his throat sliced half-through, eyes already glazing. The remaining Red Guard caught Drallig between the shoulders with his force pike, and Drallig screamed, nearly falling. Palpatine reached out with his free hand, lightning crackling from his fingertips, exploding against Drallig's chest. The master convulsed and fell, this time without moving, his charred robes smoking.

Windu used the moment of distraction to press forward, working them back up the tunnel toward the promontory.

Fisto managed to push past Windu and Palpatine, engaging the remaining Red Guard. Obi-Wan could not stop to check Drallig's pulse, rushing forward to fight at Windu's side, helping force Palpatine up and out.

The man fought like a demon, wielding his lightsaber with a skill unimaginable in someone of his age and sedentary habits. He grimaced horribly, raising his hand, and lightning crackled forth again. Windu caught it on the blade of his lightsaber, holding it locked, and Obi-Wan ducked under the sizzling bolt, aiming a slash at Palpatine's knees. Palpatine retreated, snarling, and an arc of lightning caught Obi-Wan, curling around his shoulder and face.

The electric current robbed Obi-Wan of his muscle control. He fell, writhing on the floor, incapable of defending against the red blade that slashed down toward him-- barely intercepted by Windu's violet one.

The lightning spewed free, crackling around the tunnel, curling around Windu. He collapsed half-atop Obi-Wan as Fisto, finally finishing the last Red Guard, kicked Palpatine in the back. The Sith stumbled, losing his lightsaber, falling and tumbling down the corridor after it.

Fisto pursued as Obi-Wan and Windu lurched upright. The aftermath of the lightning left Obi-Wan twitchy and aching, and Windu looked even worse, his bald head sporting raw red burns in a fractal pattern from the electrical arc.

They hurried after Fisto, but it was too late-- outclassed, he fell, almost casually run through by the red blade. Palpatine spat a curse at them and turned, fleeing, the Force speeding his steps. He vanished swiftly in the gloom.

"I destroyed his ship and sealed the tunnel," Obi-Wan gasped. "He won't get out that way."

"He's impossibly skilled." Windu shook his head. "I'm not sure we can take him."

"We have to. Come on."

They trailed Palpatine down to the blockage, and then into a side tunnel. It led upward, back to the arena. All the Geonosians had vanished now, leaving only a thicket of lightsabers and blaster bolts visible through the circle of daylight at the end of the tunnel.

Obi-Wan put on an extra burst of speed and emerged into the light a few steps ahead of Windu. Palpatine was moving laterally, carving a grisly swath through the Jedi positioned at intervals along the tier. The floor of the arena was overrun with battle droids, their blaster bolts whining and sizzling through the air like angry hornets; others began to pour out of the tunnels into the tiers.

B1 and B2 battle droids marched up through the tunnels into the stands and out from the lanes into the arena, more and more pouring in every second. Obi-Wan could hear a waxing roar of engines over the whine of lasers-- Yoda and the clones, he assumed, the timing of their arrival disrupted by the shortening of Palpatine's speech. Droidekas rolled around the floor of the arena, sighting and firing into the stands; even as Obi-Wan watched, Jedi fell.

He tore after Palpatine, breath coming harshly in his lungs, Windu hot on his heels. An engine throbbed directly overhead; Obi-Wan split his attention to look up and realized it was Mallaigh's ship. A few droids targeted it, their bolts splashing harmlessly off its belly and wings.

Then something dropped from the belly of the ship, striking almost softly in the exact center of the arena, sitting for an instant in its crater before it exploded.

A wild pulse of ionized energy slammed through Obi-Wan, its purple-white flare eclipsing the sun, sending him tumbling against a row of seating, forcing all the oxygen from his lungs. It expanded in a shrieking bubble of charge, electric flares crackling along its surface, before it finally burst and dissipated.

He struggled upright, struggling to see through the seared after-image on his retinas, and realized all the droids had slumped to stillness, their circuits wiped by the ion pulse of the electro-proton bomb.

--As were the ship's.

Its engines faltered and stalled, and it dropped like a stone, crashing to the sand, the shock from the impact tumbling Obi-Wan against the seats again. Even as he fell, he saw a dark figure suspended in mid-leap from the ship's upper hull, arcing and flipping over to land lightly on the arena tier.

"You!" Palpatine spat, his voice thick and shrill with hate. "I will destroy you," he screamed, rage amplifying his voice, shaking the entire amphitheater.

Lightsabers spat, and Obi-Wan forced himself to his feet, stumbling forward, regaining his equilibrium as he ran. Windu limped behind him, his leg injured in the fall he had sustained when the pulse's shockwave hit.

Sand fell everywhere, thrown by the crashing ship, and Obi-Wan felt his senses stretch again, the sand pattering down in slow motion as he sprinted toward the fight, fear filling him, launching him forward to help defeat Palpatine.

Sabers shrieked and whined, wild strokes that did not score. Mallaigh's superior height and reach served him well, but Palpatine was faster. His darting strikes pushed Mallaigh back. Obi-Wan sought for rage again without thinking, and found it all too ready to swell, waiting for his call.

He struck at Palpatine, screaming aloud, and the Sith whirled to face him, flinging a ball of lightning at his head. Obi-Wan knocked it away, and it impacted harmlessly in the stands. Mallaigh used the moment of distraction to hook Palpatine's boot with his own, bringing him crashing to the ground, but the Sith Lord snarled and jumped, somersaulting to the next tier.

Palpatine's eyes closed, and droid bodies pelted Obi-Wan and Mallaigh, whirling in a vortex around Palpatine's outstretched hands. The Sith Lord laughed, exultant, the missiles swirling faster. Obi-Wan slashed at one, but another struck his shoulder, driving him to his knees and sending his lightsaber skittering away.

Mallaigh roared, and sprang, driving his blade down at Palpatine. The projectiles faltered and fell as they engaged again, Palpatine's focus drawn away from the mental attack.

"Wall of Light! To me, Jedi! Link to make a Wall of Light!" Windu bellowed, and the others began to respond, sprinting around the arena to answer his call.

The thunder of engines reached a painful pitch, and a handful of LAAT/i ships filled with armored clones crested the walls of the arena.

"Surround the survivors!" Yoda shouted, voice almost inaudible below the throbbing thump of the engines. "More droids incoming will be!"

Obi-Wan rolled his shoulder in its socket to test it, and finding it sound, he sprang, joining Mallaigh again. They pressed Palpatine between the two of them, keeping him on the defensive.

Palpatine bellowed fury-- his face distorting, the masking power of the Force ebbing from him as he concentrated on the fight. His brow rippled, yellow skin thickening, his cheeks sagging, his mouth spreading into a rictus of snaggled teeth and hate.

Force struck Obi-Wan, driving him back; Palpatine whirled to face Mallaigh, and lightning sprang from his fingers again.

Yoda's LAAT/i circled near the battle, and he launched a tumbling flip straight from the deck of the ship. Before ever landing, he caught the lightning in his hand, squeezing it into a ball, and as his feet touched ground, he flung it back at Palpatine, who screamed, veins standing out in his neck, then dropped all pretense at battle and fled, scrambling in his pocket.

His hand came out with a communicator, and he shouted into it in a frenzy. "Clone troops. Execute Order S--"

Mallaigh summoned lightning of his own, and it struck Palpatine between his shoulder-blades. He dropped the communicator, muscles jerking fro, the agony of the blast. Mallaigh ground it beneath his heel, and his lightsaber flashed downward as the lightning charge vanished. Palpatine's own sprang up again, deflecting it.

Obi-Wan could feel light-side energy pulsing around Windu, and the Jedi joining him, building a shield of Light Side energy and preparing to slam it down, eradicating all darkness that might be trapped inside-- and possibly more.

"NO!" He screamed at them. "You'll catch Qui-Gon in the wall!"

"There's no choice!" Windu bellowed back, energy still gathering as more Jedi joined the link. "We can't let Palpatine escape!"

Qui-Gon, too, held energy-- a dark flare that matched Windu's light, strengthening. Obi-Wan felt the Force whisper to him.

"Wait. I can help him!" Obi-Wan shouted, and flung himself toward the combat, moments behind Yoda.

"Master Yoda, join with us!" He reached out to Mallaigh, letting the dark rise to encompass him. He felt Yoda hesitate, then yield, reaching to join them.

Red-hot exultation and fury surged in the Force: Mallaigh's hatred, Obi-Wan's terror for Qui-Gon's life and soul, Yoda's anguish and fury at the number of the dead. They seared together and flared. Mallaigh channeled it all, focusing the power in a whipcrack of savage pressure--

And Palpatine simply imploded. His scream transcended human ears and seared straight into the psychic, driving the Jedi to their knees. The first manifestation of the Wall of Light dissipated as the Jedi reeled under the impact, their concentration shattered.

A blood-mist spattered to the stones, and Palpatine's soul dispersed, a psychic wavefront exploding from the spot of his death.

It knocked all but Mallaigh to their knees. Mallaigh stood upright, and the energy whirled around him, seeking him out and centering on him as the most powerful locus of the dark.

With an effort, Obi-Wan splintered his consciousness away from Mallaigh's, and felt Yoda leave the link with him; the dark energies bled out of their minds, called by the purple and black cloud gathering around Mallaigh, leaving them emptied and gasping.

Mallaigh straightened, raising his arms to the sky, his eyes pulsing golden-red with power, a guttural laugh hoarse in his throat.

"No," Obi-Wan whispered, voice breaking, but Mallaigh was beyond him.

The man turned, and the arena shuddered as one after the other, the droid carcasses glowed red and detonated, molten shrapnel scattering. The Dark Force spread out in concentric rings of destruction, powdering stone and evaporating metal.

The ground shook, and Obi-Wan realized the destruction was not limited to the arena. Billowing clouds of orange flame thumped up into the sky-- the droid foundries and the control ships, devastation expanding rapidly in a widening circular inferno, wrought by the overload of pure dark power. The sky filled with fire and black smoke, and still Mallaigh laughed, his hands wreathed in power so intense it glowed, his body a torch tipped with purple-white flame.

Windu shouted, unhearable beneath the roar of the destruction; Obi-Wan felt the beginnings of the Wall of Light gather again. The Jedi prepared to slam it over Mallaigh, to cut him off and shield him, then crush it in and destroy the new Sith Lord before he could rise against them.

Obi-Wan reached out, desperately, as Qui-Gon had once shown him, and took the measure of the dark. Anger, pain, fury, yes-- but there was good there, too. Trapped at the core of the Dark Side vortex, Mallaigh lacked the single-minded black hatred, the penetrating evil, of a true Sith.

Obi-Wan stood, ignoring the rain of red-hot metal, the half-melted stone, the crackling flames from the burning carcasses of the battle droids. He stepped forward, pressing against the tidal force of the power, feeling it flare and struggle against him.

Yoda lifted his head, but did not speak. Watching, he raised himself to his elbows, then his knees. Obi-Wan stepped past him, hands outstretched, pushing forward through the darkness as it scoured the air around him. It tore at his clothes, singeing his hair, but he pressed on, ignoring it-- one step, another, another. Over a shattered pillar, around a cratered hole in the tier, past a jet of flame.

Mallaigh's head turned; the Sith was aware of his approach now, the gold-and-red eyes centered on him, his brow furrowing, corded veins pulsing in his forehead, his entire body shuddering with strain.

Obi-Wan smiled, and opened his heart.

"Qui-Gon," he called softly. "Qui-Gon, come back."

The Sith faltered, and Obi-Wan took another step, and another, easier now, the dark power losing certainty, spiraling out in search of focus, lashing everything it touched, but fading now, faster, a flicker of green appearing in the golden eyes.

Obi-Wan reached out and carefully laid his palm in the center of Qui-Gon's chest, stroking lightly across the singed and dried leather under his fingertips. "I love you," he said softly. "Come back to me."

Mallaigh blinked, and his arms fell to his sides, hands shaking. The shuddering explosions stopped, and the crackle of the flames was all that remained, underscored with the faint groaning of strained stone.

Obi-Wan lifted his head, sliding his hands up, and pulled Mallaigh's head down, kissing him softly, then releasing him.

...And when his eyes opened, they were blue.

The other Jedi stared, stunned beyond speech, as Qui-Gon Jinn crumpled into Obi-Wan's arms, consciousness leaving him.

Obi-Wan caught him before he struck the ground, lowering him gently and then cradling the big body in his arms, lifting him tenderly and carrying him back to Yoda, who helped him, reaching out with Force to ease his burden.

"Free, Dooku still is. He must still be dealt with."

Limping steps neared-- Windu, sprinting along the tier, a dozen Jedi in his wake. "We've got to take the clones after Dooku." He eyed them warily. "Are you... well enough to fight?"

"Turned, we have not," Yoda answered with some asperity.

"Someone will have to stay with him." Obi-Wan still held Qui-Gon's head in his lap. His face was ashen, his cheeks sunken almost as if in death, his powerful body still. Only his pulse betrayed signs of life, his heartbeat faint but steady.

"I will." Two Jedi had come near; between them, they supported Cin Drallig, who looked nearly as bad as Qui-Gon. They helped settle him next to Obi-Wan. "I'll stay with him." Drallig's eyes closed, his lips thin with pain.

"Master Drallig! I'm glad you survived." Obi-Wan's relief was sincere, if short-lived; he knew many Jedi, some of them dear friends, had not been so fortunate.

"You and you," Windu instructed Drallig's helpers. "Gather the injured and start triage and treatment." He held out a hand to Obi-Wan, who left Qui-Gon reluctantly. "Come on. We have a traitor to catch."

PART III - Glossary