Revenge of the 5th

But wait – he’s not a Sith.

Nope, he’s not.  The story on the other hand.

Like yesterday’s snippets this will be part of a larger story down the road.

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Revenge of the 5th

Qui-Gon Jinn took a moment to calm his breathing, knowing full well that the Zabrak was taunting him from the other side of the energy shield.  

He never took his eyes from his foe as he sent back reassurance to his Mate, who was himself stuck at the other end of the shield generators.

‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re an idiot, who in all the years we’ve been together has never learned to sit his ass down and wait for me.’

‘I’m also not your old Master, Obi-Wan.’

‘No, you’re my Mate, and you’re fighting a Sith by yourself.  This isn’t Rhys!  This is a fucking evil bastard filled with the Darkside.  He’s good Qui – a better fighter than you.  You are not made for this.  You never have been.’

‘I know that.’  Both annoyance and frustration were too easily felt.  ‘I’ll distract him long enough for you to finish him off.’

‘Just live long enough for me to do that.  If I die because you’re over confident, rest assured I’m kicking your ass in the Afterlife.’

The shield lifted and Qui-Gon was out, engaging the darkly glaring warrior with controlled ferocity. 

When the shield dropped one more time in it’s endless repetitive cycling, he heard  Obi-Wan curse. 

His Mate had been right, for he knew very well he wasn’t good enough to take the Sith on by himself.  The Zabrak’s style was very much like Rhys, who also fought with a Lightstaff, and who had taken grim delight in demonstrating his prowess during their sparring matches.  

Qui-Gon just needed to distract this particular Sith long enough to let Obi-Wan loose. 

His Mate was a first class swordsman, whose Light would push fiercely against the Sith’s Darkness. 

There were times when the Greyness in which Qui-Gon dwelt, wasn’t quite enough to fight off that same Dark.

He had touched it one too many times.

There was a flash behind his eyes. 

He blinked, focusing back on the most immediate situation.  

The Sith had forced itself between him and Obi-Wan, pushing him toward the reactor pit.

He stepped away, drawing his enemy in closer, waiting for the shield generators to recycle to let his Mate out.

Another flash came, stronger than the first.  

‘You can either be a Jedi or help the Young.  You can’t be both.’

What?

Wait…

That wasn’t how it had gone down. 

They had made a plan for him to get Tahl off Melida/Daan, while Obi-Wan infiltrated The Young to try and keep them safe until he could come back.

‘I’ll take him as my Padawan learner.’

Obi-Wan wasn’t his Padawan anymore, and they had only just found Anakin. 

They were still trying to figure out exactly what to do with the so extremely Force-talented a child.  

He stumbled as more images assaulted his mind, dancing behind his eyes.

Qui-Gon brought his Lightsaber up to block the growling Zabrak, only to have the creature knock his hand upwards into his face, and deliver the killing blow with startling ease.

“NO!!!” 

Obi-Wan’s horror was uncontainable.

‘NO!!!’

Qui-Gon fell to the ground, his Lightsaber slipping from his fingers. 

The pain was excruciating, but it numbed as he watched an alternate life of Obi-Wan Kenobi, play itself out for his exclusive viewing.  

Barely Knighted, Kenobi had been left with no choice in taking Anakin as a Padawan, only because, with his dying breath, his own Master had bid him do so as a duty.  There had been no words of love, no thought to encouragement…

He watched as Obi-Wan struggled to train such a strong-willed child. 

He watched him put his life on the line again and again, to protect those who need him.  

He watched in horror as war ravaged the Republic.

And his heart ached for it all.

Tears ran down his cheeks as all those whom Obi-Wan loved, were taken from him no matter how hard he fought to save them.

Siri Tachi.

Satine Kryze.

He watched as General Kenobi cried for the Clones who died for him. 

And he felt Obi’s love for his Commander.

Cody. 

It had him screaming in terror as the Clone’s will was stolen from him, and he was forced to fire at his own General, knocking Obi-Wan off a cliff path…

His heart shattered when Anakin fell and the Republic was lost.

Qui-Gon glanced around to find nothing but hot, shimmering sand under a brilliant blue sky. 

He knew this place.

He had visited it many times with his Mate. 

Arrakis.

He stared at Leto, wanting only to yell in rage and frustration, but the God Emperor of Dune never did anything without reason.

Ever.

“What was this for?” he demanded.  “Why show me a life Obi-Wan didn’t live?  Why show me the pain he endured?  The sorrow?  Even in death he didn’t rest until peace was restored!  Why?  Why do that?”

“It was but one of many paths.”

“But not the one he’s on!  I was only stabbed by that Sith because you distracted me!” 

“You distracted yourself, Master Jinn.”  Leto’s capacity to remain calm and still in the face of those whose emotional turmoil could cause any number of repercussions, was as infuriating as it was inevitable.

“I know I made mistakes when he was a Padawan.  And afterwards when I was led by my own fear in being with him, I caused him pain.  But I would hope I’ve changed.  I would hope I’ve grown since then.”  Qui-Gon let go of the breath he didn’t need.

“Yet still you left him behind as though he were a child, while you continued chasing Maul.”

“Is that it’s name?” he asked.  “And what exactly is happening on Naboo while we’re standing around having one of your Mind Safaris?”

Leto stared off into the desert for a few moments, following the path of Kenobi’s Light.  “He is really quite beautiful in so pure and righteous an anger.  The fight is most intense.  They move almost too fast to comprehend.”

“And I get to miss my beautiful Mate kicking Sith ass?”

Leto laughed lightly.  “You sound like Captain Calhoun.  Do you understand what I showed you?”

“That my beloved Mate lived a life of such pain?  How could I not understand so much sadness?  He lost everything, but somehow held onto the Light.  Truly, he is the Balance in the Force.”  Qui-Gon hadn’t had a Bond with the Obi-Wan he’d seen, and yet he still felt the depths of such infinite sorrow.

Leto clasped his hands behind his back, and warm air from the surrounding dunes wafted through his loose fitting linen shirt.  “That was the life he would have led, had he never met Master Nico.”

Qui-Gon felt the sharp tang of bile rise in his throat, turned and threw up.  Oh, he still had issues with the Roman General, and yet he’d learned to respect the man, at least to an extent.  But for saving his Mate from such pains as he had borne witness to?  It was difficult to grasp.  A mere ‘thank you’ could never be enough.

A part of Qui-Gon wanted to go find his alternate self, and smack the living shit out of him, but on that path as it was laid, he could easily see how he himself had been too readily swayed toward the Darkness.  Yoda may have ignored it, but that Qui-Gon Jinn had been a fallen Jedi hiding in the Light, coddled by too much anger, pride and self assurance.

“Is any of it still possible?” he whispered.

“Your answer,” Leto murmured, giving him a faintly gracious smile, “depends on what happens to Maul.”

Qui-Gon groaned hoarsely, certain he could still taste the Spice laden air of Arrakis in his mouth, even as he shifted to sit up on the cold industrial flooring of the reactor assembly he’d been fighting inside. 

As a Vampire, the wound he’d sustained was sufficiently debilitating to cause him serious problems, despite the cauterizing effects of the Lightsaber blade. 

Not needing to breathe, was actually a blessing.  

One more time though, he was destined to simply watch as Obi-Wan fought Maul.

Dark and Light, they moved as one.

Unflinching.

Unrelenting.

Few confrontations were so equally matched.

Obi-Wan slammed his Lightsaber upwards, breaking Maul’s double ended staff grip in half, reducing those two red blades to a single humming shaft of light.

Without pause, the Jedi Master reached through the Force for Qui-Gon’s weapon, and drew it to his free hand, never once taking his eyes from his opponent.

Igniting the second blade, Kenobi drew a new stance, one Lightsaber raised, the other down.

His red hair slick with sweat, had turned a rich shade of auburn, sticking to his forehead.  As his breathing calmed, his eyes flashed so many colors it were as though the Force itself suddenly shone through Kyber Crystals – a sure sign of how closely the Vampire in his Soul had come to the surface.  

Everything stilled.

The sound of it was deafening it it’s silence.

For the Universe had paused to see what might come next.

Maul shut off his remaining Lightsaber, and dropped to his knees, holding the weapon out to Obi-Wan.  “Your power is greater than my Master will ever know.  I feel it pulse around this room, seeping into everything, even me.”  His voice was low, growling not with menace but with truth.  “I offer myself to you.  Do with me as you will.  Kill me or Train me.  I am yours to command, Master.”

Obi-Wan shut off both Lightsabers, and stared at the Sith.  “What is your name?”

“I am called, Maul.”

“Well then, Maul.  Training it is.  You work for me now.”  Kenobi nodded firmly as Maul tossed the two halves of his Lightstaff into the reactor pit.  It was a deeply meaningful gesture that sealed whatever might lie ahead for them both. 

Qui-Gon coughed.

Obi-Wan turned to him, eyes still alight with the Vampire.  “And as for you…”

“I am sorry.  Again my stubbornness has hurt you.”  He sighed in relief when his Mate knelt down and pulled him close.  “Once this is done, I need to go yell at a Worm.”

“I thought I felt his presence.”  Obi-Wan sat down heavily, suddenly exhausted.  “What did he show you?”

“Infinite sorrow.”  Qui-Gon gently touched his Mate’s face, petting that soft red beard.  “I love you.”

“And I you, you stubborn twat.”

Qui snorted.  “You sound like your older brother, Kenway.”

“A man who truly knows how to cuss with proper perspective.”  Obi-Wan chuckled, and leaned forward to kiss him softly.  “Now we just need to figure out what to do with this Sith.”

“It seems we have two of them now.”  Qui-Gon knew they would train Anakin, but the boy wasn’t meant to be a Jedi.

“Anakin…”  Obi shook his head.  “Of course.” 

“When we get out of here, remind me to send Master Nico some flowers.”  Qui-Gon grunted as Obi-Wan hauled him off the floor.  “I need to apologize, and thank him in equal measure.”

Amazed, but judicious in his observations, Obi kept silent, curious to know what Leto had shown his Mate, and why it seemed to matter so much.  Instead of asking more questions, he glanced over at Maul, who was still on his knees calmly meditating.  It was possible to feel a considerable change in the Sith’s purpose, but he knew it would take time to de-program so much exposure to the Darkness.  

“Something is coming.”  It was all Kenobi could find to say.  

“Yes,” Jinn replied, “but we’ll be ready for it.”