Loyalty2HTML
Loyalty of a Padawan
Part 2
Obi-wan ran until he thought he would collapse, but he kept going. He
knew
his only hope was to reach the capital. Perhaps the Prime Minister
could
shed some light on this dim situation.
Obi-wan couldn’t remain calm no matter how hard he tried. All he could
think of was his Master and what had most likely become of him.
Obi-wan had
stretched out with the Force to touch the mind of his Master though
their
bond. What he felt gave him a sense of relief as well as regret and
worry.
Qui-gon was no longer in the conscious state of mind, but he was
alive.
That fact gave him some hope. Yet, his mind wouldn’t allow him to
stray from the thought that he had left. He had left his Master to a
storm
of blaster fire. He had left when it was the duty of the Apprentice to
stand
by the Master until the very last breath. He had left, and now his
Master
was at the mercy of his captors. And he had left.
But Qui-gon had given him an order, and as a Padawan he must follow a
direct order given to him by his Master. It was part of the oath he
had
sworn when he was taken as Qui-gon’s Apprentice. He must be loyal and
true to his Master. But did that count when every part of his self and
his
heart were screaming at him that it was wrong? Where did being loyal
end and
being truthful begin? There were far to many questions and no one to
provide
the answers. So he left these thoughts for later and instead
concentrated on
running.
He entered Tanhimm, the capital of MaraTa. He ran toward a large red
dome
in the distance, knowing that it was the capital building. As he ran
he
noticed that there very few people in the streets. The buildings in
the city
were not crumbling as he thought they would be in a war torn city but
instead
standing tall and true. He then saw a man standing on the porch of a
house.
Yet, as soon as he saw the Padawan the man quickly ducked inside the
building as if Obi-wan had fired a blaster at him. A woman stared at
him
though a window, but when she saw the Apprentice glanced in her
direction
the woman gave a look of horror and turned away from the window.
‘They are afraid.’ Obi-wan thought. ‘But not of me, of
something else, or someone else.’
He was breathless when he finally reached the capital building. And
now
there was a force field separating him from his destination.
“Who are you and what do you want?” A guard at a terminal roughly
asked him.
“I am Jedi Padawan Obi-wan Kanobi.” The young Jedi stated with
confidence that he felt he did not posses at the moment. “I was sent
here with my Master by the Jedi Counsel. I must see the Prime Minister
at
once! Things have gone terribly wrong.” Obi-wan could sense the
conflict in the mind of the guard. He too was afraid of any tricks.
Obi-wan
bought the Force to bear down on the mind of the guard, allowing him
to feel
the honestly and desperation from the Apprentice.
“I can’t keep the the force field down for long,” the guard
said, “so you’ll have to hurry when I open it. They are
everywhere.”
Obi-wan only nodded. He did not ask who *they* where, he had a
pretty good
idea. And he could sense that the guard to was fearful. He watched
the
guard pull on a lever and the red dome disappeared. Obi-wan rushed in
and
stood behind the terminal. The guard then pulled on the lever quickly
and
the red dome reappeared. Obi-wan heard him sigh in relief.
“I must see the Prime Minister.” Obi-wan repeated.
The guard nodded and spoke a few words into his comlink. He looked up
at
the Apprentice and said, “They will let you enter now.” He
pointed to the massive building which the dome was covering.
Obi-wan turned and swiftly made his way up to the large structure.
The
doors swung open and he entered. He was standing in a grand room with
a long
hallway and rich tapestries hung on every wall. A tall woman came to
stand
before him.
“Welcome Jedi Padawan. We are grateful for your arrival. I am the
second chair of the Prime Minister’s Council. He is in the main meeting
room and sent me to escort you to see him.” She stated. Obi-wan only
bowed in response. “If you will come this way please.” She said
as she began to lead him down the winding corridor.
They came to a door at the hall’s end. It opened and Obi-wan was told
to enter. Inside the meeting room stood a rather tall man who was
about
Qui-gon’s age. He had the look of a politician about him. His hair
neatly cut, he wore fancy robes meant to impress his guests. but his
eyes
were dim and his face showed signs of aging.
“Welcome young Jedi.” He said as cheerfully as possible. “I
am Eman-jep Raescri, Prime Minister of MaraTa.”
Obi-wan bowed, reluctantly. He was beginning to feel tiered of all
the
representative welcoming him when he did not feel welcome at all.
“Prime Minister, I’m afraid there has been a terrible
occurrence.” The Padawan began. The Prime Minister motioned for him to
sit at the end of the meeting table. Obi-wan seated himself and began
again.
“My Master, Jedi Master Qui-gon Jinn, and I were attacked upon
arrival my many of the rubles who were led by woman who claimed to be
on of
MaraTa’s senators.” Obi-wan noticed the pale tone that the Prime
Minister’s features took on when he said those words. “Prime
Minister Raescri?” The Apprentice asked, but the man did not respond.
He only sat there in a daze. “Sir!” The forcefulness in his voice
jerking the Prime Minister back to the present time. “My Master was
taken captive by these people. If you have any information which might
help
me to find him, please tell me!”
“This ‘Senator’ which you speak of,” The Prime
Minister said slowly. “Did she give you her name.”
Obi-wan nodded. “She said her name was Kai-Shia Domia,” he
said.
“It is what I feared.” he said. “I am afraid I must come
clean with you Jedi Kanobi.”
“Come clean?” Obi-wan said in a soft confused voice.
“Yes,” Raescri said. “I am afraid I was not entirely honest
when I put in a request for a guardian of peace. You see,” he said as
he seated himself across from Obi-wan. “The woman, Kai-Shia, is the
leader of the rebel forces which are reeking havoc on the planet.”
“You had known the identity of the leader yet you told the Jedi
Council that you did not. Why?” Obi-wan asked, unsure of the Prime
Minister’s reasonings.
“Because,” he said softly, “She is my daughter.” He
looked into the eyes of the Padawan. “She was at one time one of the
senators here. The best in my council in fact. She had such a way
with
words and incredible reasoning. But something had changed her. She
began to
believe that fear was the way to run the planet. She had said that if
we
struck fear in the hearts of the citizens they would no longer be
violent and
would be kept in order.
“The council and I did not agree with this of course. We are a
peaceful people and we did not want our population afraid of us. It
was the
one time she had ever been refused by us...by me.
“She lashed out at me. Stating that she could run this planet better
than I could and that I should be able to see that clearly. So she
left,
and the rebellion began.”
“How did she get the findings for such a large rebellion?”
Obi-wan asked, knowing the story was over.
“I’m afraid, I provided the findings for it?” The Prime
Minister said regretfully.
“You?” Obi-wan said appalled.
“Yes,” Raescri replied. “I told her that if she believed
she could run the planet better than me then let her go ahead and try.
I
gave her an old structure where she could run it from, some credits
and sent
her on her way. What she did was astonishing. She began spreading
terror
though the planet. Soon she had a small army, then people began
suffering,
dying! I tried to stop it but I found out that my forces were now
nothing
compared to her’s. For she had the frightened citizens on her side.
They were terrified of her, of her forces, and what would be done to
them.
The only thing I could do put the force field around the capital
building and
ask the Jedi Council for help. I did not know what else to do.”
“What did she do to manage to strike such fear in the people?”
Obi-wan asked, remembering the face of the man and woman who had
cowered at
the sight of him.
“The worse way a person could.” He said with remorse. “If a
man or woman refused to fight for her side or obey her she would take
their
family or children and have them tortured in front of their eyes.” The
color in left in Obi-wan’s face left after hearing these words. The
Prime Minister went on. “She sends her guards out into the streets to
find the people who will not become one of followers. When they find
these
people they torture their family until they decide to join her. If
they do
not, their family is killed there on the spot. The person is then left
with
the knowledge that they were responsible for the death of their loved
ones
and normally end up dying in the end.” This was why those people had
looked at him so fearfully. They had thought he was coming to take
their
families away from them.
“But I still don’t understand.” Obi-wan said while shaking
his head. “You gave the Jedi Council practically no information at all.
Yet, you knew all of this. Why didn’t you tell them, it could have
allowed us to be better prepared for what we were up against.”
“Because if I were to tell that my own daughter was the leader of the
rebellion and that *I* was the one who funded it I would be the
laughing
stock of the Galactic Senate!” Raescri shouted.
Obi-wan stood from his seat, he had reached the boiling point. “You
allowed us to enter a war torn planet knowing of the dangers, but you
didn’t state them because of your pride?!” Obi-wan shot at him.
The Prime Minister looked regretful. “I did not think she would go up
against the Jedi.” he said. “I have told her stories of you, of
your powers. She always seemed fascinated by them. I thought you
could
help, that is all.”
“My Master is gone!” The Apprentice spat. “Taken because of
your selfishness and deceit!” he knew he should control his anger, it
would get him no where. Yet, right now his words rang true and no one
could
deny it.
“I am sorry.” Were the only words Raescri could think of to say.
“You must tell me where her base is. I must find my Master!”
Obi-wan said, trying to regain some composure.
“Her main base has moved since the first one I allowed her to use. I
no longer know where she is or where she may be keeping Master Qui-gon.”
The Prime Minister said shaking his head.
“I have to contact the Jedi Council and report this to them.”
Obi-wan said quickly.
“I’m afraid that is impossible. Our transmissions outside the
planet have been completely blocked. The last message I was able to
send was
the one to Coruscant. After that they were gone. *She* controls them
now.”
Obi-wan slumped back into his chair, his face blank and emotionless.
“She took him alive, Young Jedi.” Raescri said. “This means
that she has some sort of plan for him. What that plan is I can only
imagine.” he looked at the Padawan, who’s face was staring down at
the table. “But if she has a plan, that meanss he will remain alive
for the time. So there is hope. You must be tired. I will have
someone
escort you to your room.” He said and called a servant in.
Obi-wan took no comfort in the words of the Prime Minister. He had
deceived
them and he did not even know any information that would help him find
his
Master other than he was alive and was part of a plan. Obi-wan did not
want
to try and imagine what that plan might be after hearing the awful
stories of
torture. He closed his eyes and saw a vision of Qui-gon in pain. ‘Is
that the future?’ he wondered. He hoped it would not be, and if it
was that he could change it. ‘Oh Master!’ he thought and clenched
his eyes tightly. ‘Why did you make me leave!’ The Prime Minister
was talking to him again, saying something about the servant taking
Obi-wan
to where he would be staying. But the Padawan did not hear him. The
image
of his Master in pain and the words, ‘I left, I left,” kept
repeating themselves in his mind, over and over. Allowing him no
peace,
but only darkness.
‘I left, I left, I left...’
Part Three
Back to Fan Fics
