Part XII
Anakin came out of hyperspace on the edges of Geonosis' atmosphere. He hovered there, concentrating as best he could on Obi-Wan's Force signature. There was only the briefest of flickers coming from Obi-Wan's end of their bond, but it was enough to at least give him a general direction to follow.
As he dropped down into the atmosphere, Anakin frowned at the landscape he was presented with. In the endless expanse of desert it was similar to Tatooine. The jutting rocky crags and outcroppings a familiar terrain. Unlike Tatooine, though, there was no sign of any type of settlements. Even using his long-range scanners he could find no trace of any kind of settlement, only endless desert. Anakin checked his coordinates again, making sure that he was actually on Geonosis.
"I don't like this, Artoo," Anakin murmured, wiping an idle hand across his forehead. "Something isn't right here."
"It was your idea to come here," was the response that flashed across the small translator screen to his left.
"That's not very helpful, Artoo," Anakin snorted, glancing once again out at the barren landscape before them.
Up ahead, close to the horizon line, Anakin spotted a pair of billowing columns of what appeared to be steam. Such a thing was hardly a natural occurrence. Desert planets did not posses enough moisture to create such a vast amount of steam. Factories, though, could easily produce such amounts of steam as large machines were cooled with chilled water or hot and cool liquids were mixed together.
Lowering his altitude so that his starfighter was nearly skirting the ground, Anakin steered them towards the steam columns. With any luck he would be able to track down the bounty hunter and from there to find Obi-Wan.
"Found your missing planet, you have, Master Secura?" Yoda inquired of the blue holograph that stood in the center of the Council room.
The Twi'lek Jedi nodded briefly, pulling her hood more securely over her head to protect her from the heavy downpour. "I have. And on it I have discovered a most unexpected thing. An entire clone army that was apparently created on the orders of Master Sifo-Dyas nearly ten years ago. The organic source material used was a bounty hunter named Jango Fett."
"Most troubling, this is," Yoda sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Certain you are of this?"
"I am," Aalya confirmed. "I met with the prime minister and it was he who informed me of all of this."
Yoda's frown deepened. In light of the emergency powers that had been granted to Chancellor Palpatine, the formation of a Republican army was almost assured. After that, war was certain to come. The galaxy would be thrown into upheaval, the suffering of many following in its wake.
"Find Dooku now, we must," Yoda announced to the Council. "Stopped, he must be, to ensure peace."
Obi-Wan awoke with a scream. He scrambled into a crouched position, gasping as though his lungs would never fill. Whatever visions had plagued his sleep and haunted his vision were gone, leaving him alone in the darkness of his cell. It as black as pitch and cold, his body chilled and sore from lying upon the bare durasteel floor.
Relaxing his body somewhat, Obi-Wan ran a trembling hand over his face. He hated these dreams. Every time he unwillingly drifted off he was woken the exact same way. Breathing heavily, his body positively vibrating with emotions he could not define or even understand. That uneasiness would stay with him for hours. He found it unnerving that none of his dreams ever left him with any good feelings. Obi-Wan didn't think that his life could be that bad. It had given him Anakin, after all.
Scooting backwards until he found himself in a corner, Obi-Wan drew his knees up to his chest, resting his forehead on top as he attempted to center himself. No matter how hard he tried, though, everything around him and inside of his was chaos. He wanted to be calm,he knew that he should be calm, but when the lights were shut off during the sleep cycle, Obi-Wan couldn't help but be nervous.
However, it did give him time to think. A great deal of time as he was almost always left alone and Obi-Wan had come to some decisions about his forgotten past.
He didn't like flying. Nothing good ever came from him flying.
He didn't usually spend so much time in the sun wearing only a pair of trousers. His skin was red, peeling and incredibly itchy.
It had been a long time since he had been alone to deal with an aggressive situation.
He felt naked without some type of weapon that he couldn't remember strapped to his belt at his left hip.
He should have been more in control of his body and the space around him, and not crashing plates into walls. The Force, as Anakin had called it.
And Anakin. Anakin was a constant. Even when he'd forgotten everything else, Anakin was the one thing he hadn't forgotten. There was a reason for that. Exactly what that reason was, he wasn't entirely sure of. He had his suspicions, but at the moment they were only that.
Unfortunately there were still too many gaps in his history. It made him vulnerable. He could trust his instincts only so far, especially now that he was separated from Anakin. Leaning into the wall, Obi-Wan curled in on himself even more, shifting about until he found a relatively comfortable position. His body still ached somewhat from the injuries he had received during his time with the Tusken raiders.
It took some time, but Obi-Wan eventually began to drift off. His stiff muscles relaxed and he sunk his body against the cold, unyielding wall. It was far from comfortable, but as his captors hadn't thought to offer him a blanket it was the best that could be managed.
Never having heard of the obscure planet of Geonosis prior to seeing the HoloNet clip, Anakin hadn't given much thought to what beings would inhabit the planet. The winged, almost insect-like creatures had been something of a surprise as they were so vastly different from the beings he had grown up with on Tatooine. As the Force would have it, the winged Geonosians were more concerned with events inside the main body of the droid factory to notice the long, black clad Jedi hiding in the mouth of an overhanging corridor.
Anakin hoped to stay hidden as long as possible. It would give him more time to find out if Obi-Wan was even here. As of yet he had seen no sign of his master and no hint that he was even in the complex. Or that there was even a place to keep him. That did nothing to ease Anakin's worry. The only reason he didn't allow rage to consume him was because he could still feel Obi-Wan in the Force. It was very faint, a slight tugging at the bond he shared with his master, but it hadn't been completely severed in any way.
"Where are you, Obi-Wan?" Anakin murmured, edging still closer to the edge of the walkway.
As he made to jump down onto the conveyor belt below, Anakin came face to face with one of the winged Geonosians. A moment later his lightsaber was in his hand and ignited. He cut down the creature and jumped down into the factory. There was no point in trying to hide any longer, not when an alarm had been sounded after he'd killed the Geonosian.
"We have confirmation that Skywalker is on Geonosis," Dooku informed the holographic projection of his master. "At the moment he is in the west factory."
As expected, a twisted grin curbed Darth Sidious' features. "Good. Do not capture him, but instead lead him towards the arena. I want him to arrive in time to see Kenobi executed."
"What are we to do with Skywalker once Kenobi is dead?"
"Nothing," Darth Sidious answered immediately. "Everything will be set in motion once Kenobi is dead. There will be no need to interfere further."
The communication ended there and Dooku was only aware of a great feeling of unease. His earlier confidence had begun to fade as he became more aware of the fact that his master meant for Skywalker to fall to the Dark Side of the Force. Such a fall would be dangerous to his position as apprentice to the Sith Lord. For there were ever only two: a master and an apprentice. And while Dooku himself had no doubts for his experience, both as a Jedi and a Sith, he knew the legends surrounding young Anakin Skywalker. He had already turned his back on the Jedi Order when the boy had first been brought before the Council a decade before, but given his Master's position in the Senate he had been kept well informed of the boy's progress. Anakin Skywalker had been proclaimed the Chosen One by the late Qui-Gon Jinn and Dooku had been most surprised when not even Yoda had countered that claim. Such an individual, Jedi-trained no less, would detrimental to his own position in the coming events.
Dooku had no intentions of being set aside for a mere boy.
Anakin stumbled, landing awkwardly on one knee as he sought to evade the strike of two energy bolts at the same time. The second of the two left his cloak singed. He should have been able to block both strikes with relative ease. He was exhausted, though. For every Geonosian or battle droid he brought down another was immediately available to take its place. To Anakin it felt as though the process had been going on for hours as he maneuvered his way through the factory towards a section that would hopefully contain far less machinery and liquefied metals.
He was brought up short when he came face to face with Count Dooku.
"So, at last we meet," Dooku murmured as he advanced slowly towards Anakin, hands behind his back. "I've heard a great many things about you, dear boy."
"Where's Obi-Wan?" Anakin demanded, clutching his lightsaber tighter.
"Your single-minded determination for one."
"I know that Obi-Wan's here. Where is he?" Anakin repeated, advancing towards the older man.
Dooku's response was to brings his hands out in front of him, his right hand holding a lightsaber of his own. The former Jedi ignited his blade its red hue contrasting with Anakin's blue one. Anakin immediately went on the offensive, wanting to test out Dooku's strengths against his own. The ease with which Dooku cast aside his strikes was startling. Dooku seemed more amused than anything by Anakin's attack, his lips curved into a smirk.
"So this is what my tutelage to Qui-Gon has warranted," Dooku mused as Anakin retreated a few steps to reassess his attack.
Instead of responding verbally, Anakin surged forward, his arms moving in a series of quick thrusts. Still, Dooku did not fall back. He stood his ground, barely seeming to put out any effort at all. It frustrated Anakin, who attacked with even more fury. Even to himself, Anakin's movements were a blur of motion, the twisting of his blade creating a fan of blue light.
There was a slight shift then. It was subtle, and Anakin barely noticed it. Its effects, though, could hardly be ignored. Anakin extended his right arm too far. It was only for a moment, but that was long enough. One quick stroke and Dooku's lightsaber passed easily through his arm just below his elbow.
Gasping, Anakin stumbled backwards, tripping over a fallen droid and falling onto his back. He lay there, still panting, clutching his right arm to his chest as he stared up at Dooku who was advancing towards him.
"I find it very hard to be that you are the Jedi's supposed Chosen One."