The Final Showdown Page 5

  to watch her technique. She was a fluid force, moving like wind and water.

  Each stroke of her lightsaber was calculated, yet there seemed to be no

  calculation in her style. There was only movement. She took out five droids

  with one steady arc, knocking off their heads and sending the metal

  clanging to the stone floor.

  Smoke filled the air and drifted to the vast space above. Deflected

  blaster bolts shot back at the startled officers, who found it hard to hold

  their line. They soon realized that they were not dealing with straggly

  thieves with a few blasters in their belts. They grabbed blaster rifles off

  the holsters strapped to their backs and fired. Two dozen of them advanced,

  while the third wave of droids moved in. Obi-Wan began to break into a

  sweat. He did not see the possibility of defeat, but the last thing he

  needed was to get clipped by blaster fire and have to deal with a wound

  while chasing Omega.

  Then, from behind the officers, Ry-Gaul appeared out of the shadows.

  His silver-gray lightsaber hummed as he held it straight for a moment in

  front of him, gauging what he was up against. He moved quickly for his

  size, rather like Qui-Gon had, his grace surprising while his great

  strength never flagged.

  The officers who turned to engage him couldn't get away fast enough.

  The remaining squad took one look at three Jedi to the front and one to the

  rear and began to retreat, firing as they did so.

  They let them go. The presence of Jedi on the planet couldn't stay a

  secret for very long. Jedi did not take a life if they didn't have to.

  As soon as they were safe, Obi-Wan whipped out his comlink. He

  couldn't reach Anakin. Siri tried as well, then shook her head.

  "Too much interference here," she said. "We'll have to find them."

  Obi-Wan felt something then. A flicker that started on the edges of

  his consciousness and then grew, a dark shape inside him.

  He spoke quietly despite the dread in his heart. "He's here."

  The others turned to him. "Who?" Siri asked.

  "The Sith. He's here, in the monastery. Somewhere."

  Then he saw the knowledge flash in Siri's face,

  Soara's posture, Ry-Gaul's wintry eyes.

  They looked at each other for a moment, deep worry now ticking inside

  them.

  A Sith was here, and their Padawans were by themselves.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Anakin heard the flurry. It was like a flock of birds. But instead of

  the whisper of feathers, he heard the mechanical clatter of metal on stone.

  "Stay here," Ferus ordered Auben. "And hide!" he yelled over his

  shoulder.

  Together Ferus and Anakin moved to the front of the service bay. They

  peered out into the vast hangar. At first they could see nothing. They

  could hear only the menacing clatter.

  Then out of the gloom rose the battle droids. Line after line. Maybe

  thirty... forty?

  "Wait," Ferus said. "Those aren't ordinary battle droids."

  "They have reinforced armor," Anakin said, swallowing. "And the

  control center is lower... you can't cut off their heads."

  "Too many," Ferus said. "We have to retreat." "We can take them,"

  Anakin insisted.

  "Anakin, this is no time to play hero. The two of us can't do it by

  ourselves."

  "That's your trouble, Ferus," Anakin said coolly. "You always look at

  the odds."

  He stepped out into the darkness of the hangar. He saw the infrared

  tracking devices on the droids move over the space. They would find him. He

  had seconds.

  Ferus moved out next to him. Of course if Anakin went out to meet the

  droids, Ferus would have to as well. He wouldn't leave him. Anakin knew

  that.

  "We should attack from above. They won't be expecting that," he said.

  "How - "

  "Follow me."

  Anakin gathered in the Force. He leaped onto the gigantic statue to

  his left, landing on its knee. He began to climb rapidly up, looking for

  handholds in the crumbling stone. He heard Ferus behind him.

  He balanced on one shoulder of the huge statue, Ferus on another. They

  were high above the floor now, but even so, the ceiling of the hangar was

  lost in the darkness above them.

  "Wait for the first wave, then drop," Anakin said. "We can use our

  liquid cable launchers. The statues can be cover and - "

  "I get it," Ferus said.

  They waited for the precise instant their attack would be most

  effective. It was seconds away when two dark shapes ran out from the

  hangar.

  Darra and Tru.

  "They think we're down there," Ferus said in horror. Almost

  immediately, the droids locked onto Darra and Tru's positions.

  Ferus and Anakin took off in midair, the liquid cables holding them

  secure. They bounced off the statue and then swung out over the first line

  of droids. Their lightsabers moved in slashing circles. Due to the

  unexpected angle of attack, the droids were unable to lock onto their

  position at first. Sweeping out over the line, they managed to take out a

  dozen droids between them. Racing forward, Darra and Tru engaged the rest.

  The eerie space and the darkness, the glint of metal, the pull of

  battle. Anakin saw nothing, felt nothing, but what was before him. He

  wasn't a fool. He knew their chances of beating so many droids were slim to

  none. But he also knew that it was only in gestures like this that a true

  Jedi would be revealed. He Force-pushed a droid and it slammed into

  another. He slashed them both into one smoking pile.

  Compared to him, Ferus's hold on the Force was puny. Anakin reached

  out for it in the way he knew, reached for the Force in the stones and the

  dust and very air he breathed. The Force was part of him and around him.

  His vision was sharper now, his control perfect. He didn't count the droids

  he dismantled. He didn't hesitate or second-guess his choices. He just kept

  moving.

  Even while he moved, he kept track of the Padawans behind him and next

  to him. In battle, his problems with Ferus went away. They were fellow

  Jedi, and they had to cover one another.

  The droids split off in a different formation. Darra, who had swung

  wide to attack, was suddenly surrounded. She whirled in an arc, keeping

  most of them at bay. Tru, who was closest, Force-leaped to help her, his

  flexible arms reaching out to slash his way toward her. Darra buried her

  lightsaber in the lead droid's control panel and it wheeled crazily astray,

  spraying blaster fire in random, dizzying circles. The stray fire caught

  Tru in mid-leap. He was wounded and fell, his lightsaber clattering to the

  floor. A droid stepped on it and kept going.

  Anakin started to rush to help, but out of the corner of his eye he

  saw a flicker of movement. Something sinuous, flowing. Not the movement of

  a droid.

  A cape. A dark-robed figure was moving quickly, keeping in the

  shadows, heading into the shadowy end of the hangar.

  Granta Omega.

  Tru was down. Darra had leaped to protect him. Now Ferus was moving in

  that direction.

  The situation was covered. And Omega was getti
ng away, no doubt

  heading for the same exit that Auben had told them about. This was his

  chance, his only chance. With a last glance at his friend, Anakin ran off

  into the darkness.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Ry-Gaul led the way. "When I couldn't get in, I followed the wall back

  into the mountain. There's an old landing hangar. It's enormous - maybe a

  hundred service bays on each side. I got in through one of the end bays.

  That's where they are."

  "The Padawans won't know it's a Sith," Soara said. "Until. ."

  They all finished the sentence in their minds. Until it's too late.

  Ry-Gaul led them steadily downward. Obi-Wan could feel the mountain as

  if it were pressing on his back. The closer they got, the more dread he

  felt.

  They were deep in the monastery now. Even though it was in ruins, Obi-

  Wan could see how different it was from the Jedi Temple. Although the Sith

  monastery had the same goals - study and training - it was clear that this

  had been a place ruled by fear. The Temple had grand rooms, but it also

  had quiet spaces, light-filled classrooms, gardens. The Jedi believed that

  beauty was a part of the Force, and encouraged it. The sound of water, the

  play of light, the grace of a curving stairway - the Temple had been

  planned as a place of comfort as well as rigor.

  The lines of this place were harsh. The walls were high, but narrowed

  slightly as they rose, in order to create a sense of being trapped. Angles

  were slightly off in a way that Obi-Wan realized was deliberate. The

  monastery was designed to intimidate, to keep beings off-balance. There

  were no openings to air or light. There was only cold gray stone, massive

  columns, hard floors. Amid the weeping stones, Obi-Wan could still feel the

  fear that had ruled there, the many beings who had come to learn evil, the

  ones who had come naively, hoping for some kind of enlightenment, and had

  been trapped by their own desires.

  He shuddered. It was as though he could feel each wasted life. Each

  terrible death.

  The rest of the Jedi were silent. He knew they felt it, too.

  At last Ry-Gaul stepped through a doorway into what had once been a

  service bay. They saw Auben cowering behind the wreck of an ancient

  vehicle. Wordlessly, she pointed to the curved arch that led to the hangar.

  It was the silence that frightened them. They rushed out into the

  hangar.

  It was littered with the remains of droids - so many that Obi-Wan

  staggered. Had the Padawans destroyed them all?

  They could see that the battle had just ended seconds before. Tru lay

  on the ground. Ferus leaned over him, tending a wound with bacta. Darra

  whirled around and saw them, her lightsaber still activated. She shut it

  down as Ry-Gaul moved toward his wounded Padawan with his usual efficient

  speed.

  Fear welled up in Obi-Wan.

  Where is Anakin?

  Darra saw the question in his eyes. "He ran that way - I think he saw

  something." She pointed to the darkness at the end of the vast hangar.

  Obi-Wan started to run. He would have to rely on the Force to find

  Anakin. He opened himself up to it, hoping it would reveal to him what he

  needed to know. Was his Padawan wounded? Had the worst happened?

  He had no doubt what Anakin was chasing. No matter what Anakin

  thought, he was not equipped to deal with a Sith.

  Obi-Wan ran into the darkness. He could not risk a light, not even his

  lightsaber. The darkness seemed to invade his lungs, making it hard for him

  to breathe. He scrambled over fallen blocks of stone, engine parts, the

  shreds of machines and the skeletons of vehicles. It was difficult to keep

  his footing but he made no sound.

  He saw movement ahead and realized he had found Anakin. Relief flooded

  him, rendering him weak for a moment. He had been so afraid, and now he

  wondered momentarily at his fear. It seemed out of proportion to what he

  knew of Anakin's skills. All he knew was that he had an overwhelming need

  to protect his Padawan from the Sith, to stand between Anakin and the dark

  side. Natural, he supposed.

  Anakin was moving quickly, hugging the wall of the hangar. His focus

  was so intent that he did not sense Obi-Wan behind him. Obi-Wan noted this

  with alarm. How many times had he warned Anakin to never focus on the goal

  ahead only, but to cast his attention like a net, as far around him as he

  could? He should have sensed his Master. Obi-Wan quickened his pace. He

  felt the dark side of the Force grow and gather, and he wanted to call out

  to Anakin, but didn't want to give away their positions.

  He needn't have worried. Whoever the Sith was, he knew exactly where

  Anakin was, for, to Obi-Wan's horror, his apprentice was suddenly lifted

  like a doll and flung into the air. Anakin's body slammed into the wreck of

  a cruiser. He fell to the ground.

  Obi-Wan raced forward, his lightsaber activated and ready for battle.

  He kept his focus wide, just as he had taught Anakin. He knew the Sith was

  aware that he was there, and no doubt was aware that he would rush to help

  his apprentice.

  No attack came. Anakin was already recovering as Obi-Wan bent over

  him, quickly checking for breaks or contusions.

  "I'm all right." Anakin grunted. "Just... embarrassed. I've never felt

  anything like that."

  "Did you see him?"

  "Only from behind. Tall. Dressed in a black-hooded cape that trailed

  all the way to the ground. I didn't see his face. He didn't even turn. I

  felt the Force come at me like an autoblaster cannon...." Anakin struggled

  to his feet. "It could be a Sith."

  "I know."

  Anakin started forward.

  "Where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked.

  When he turned, Obi-Wan could see Anakin's face undergo a change.

  Every muscle tightened, and his eyes turned flinty.

  "We have a chance to make a stand," Anakin said.

  "We need the others."

  "It will be too late."

  Obi-Wan hesitated only a fraction. Anakin was right. They had to try.

  He started forward, and together they moved farther into the darkness.

  "Keep your focus loose," Obi-Wan warned him in a low tone. "He will

  come from anywhere when he comes."

  "This time I'll be prepared."

  "Don't be so confident," Obi-Wan answered. "You probably won't be."

  They were nearing the end of the hangar. He sensed it rather than saw

  it. The corroded vehicles were more numerous now, lined up like dark, giant

  phantoms.

  Like phantoms..

  Phantoms that move...

  Obi-Wan wrenched his gaze away. He could have sworn the ancient ships

  were moving.

  Then he knew.

  "This way!" he yelled, as the first vehicle suddenly flipped over. It

  would have crushed them if Obi-Wan hadn't dashed to the side with Anakin on

  his heels. He flattened himself against the wall as another vehicle moved,

  its jagged wing a lethal weapon, capable of slicing them to ribbons. A

  cruiser suddenly zoomed toward the wall, straight at them.

  "Drop!" Anakin and Obi-Wan hit the floor, hugging the stones as the


  cruiser passed over them and smashed into the wall.

  Vehicle parts began to fall like rain. The crashes were deafening.

  They leaped, twisted, and dived to avoid them, using the Force to deflect

  them when they could. Finally they came to rest in the shadow of one of the

  giant statues. Obi-Wan leaned against a clawed foot and squinted into the

  darkness.

  He could not see the Sith, but he felt the Sith's amusement, his

  triumph.

  The vehicles now smashed into one another, creating a solid mass of

  screaming metal, effectively blocking them from the front of the hangar.

  Anakin ran to the mountain of metal and tried to climb over it. Obi-

  Wan felt the dark side rise in a crest and then fall, leaving a vacuum

  behind.

  "It's no use," he told Anakin. "The Sith is gone." "Gone." Anakin

  repeated the word dully.

  "Don't worry." Obi-Wan sheathed his lightsaber. "I have no doubt that

  we'll meet him again."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Anakin immediately hurried to Tru's side while Obi-Wan went to confer

  with the Masters.