DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
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 own 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 too 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 from their briefing by the Jedi Council 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 expected them to be in a war torn city but instead standing tall and true. He saw a man standing on the porch of a house. Yet, as soon as the man saw the Padawan he 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 glance in her direction she 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 Kenobi." The young Jedi stated with a 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 honesty and desperation of the Apprentice.
"I can't keep 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 too was fearful. He watched as the guard pulled 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 that 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, and 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 rather tired of all the representatives 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 by many of the rulers who were led by woman who claimed to be one of MaraTa's senators." Obi-Wan noticed the pale sheen 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 replied.
"It is as I feared", he said. "I am afraid I must come clean with you Jedi Kenobi."
"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 nervously rearranged himself in his seat 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 and yet you told the Jedi Council that you did not. Why?" Obi-Wan asked, suddenly unsure of the Prime Minister's motives.
"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 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 unruly and we could keep better 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 funding for such a large rebellion?", Obi-Wan asked, knowing the story was far from 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 that my forces were now nothing compared to hers. 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 was to put the force field around the capital building and ask the Jedi Council for h elp. I did not know what else to do."
"How did she 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 or obey her she would take their family or children and have them tortured in front of their eyes." The color left Obi-Wan's face 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 and yet, you knew all of this. Why didn't you tell them, it would 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 based 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 also 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 was staring down at the table in front of him. "But if she has a plan, that means he will remain alive for the time being. So there is hope. Now, 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 that 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 somehow 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 a 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...