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 Kenobi had learned many things in a very short space of time. He had learned to never ignore it when he had a bad feeling about something. Only a few weeks ago, he had made the mistake of blowing off the premonition he had while standing on the Trade Federation cruiser with Qui-Gon. The moment he had stepped off the Republic cruiser, he knew things were going to quickly go out the window, but he had misinterpreted his master's advice to keep his concentration on the here and now. He had been mindful of the present as Qui-Gon had instructed, but then it became at the expense of the big picture. Perhaps if he had listened to that feeling, things might have gone a little bit differently.
He had also learned that very little was what it had appeared to be. He had thought Jar Jar to be nothing more than an annoying, clumsy creature and Anakin Skywalker to be a very irritating little boy. He had been wrong there. Jar Jar, while not being the most graceful being in creation, turned out to be a very kind, and extremely lucky Gungan. Anakin had turned out to be much more than he had thought, bringing the Trade Federations machinations down to its collective knees by his piloting and trigger finger. He had also been quite wrong about Callisto. He had thought her to be nothing more than an unsavory, but very beautiful, character. She cursed, was rude, and could be downright frightening when she felt like it. but there was also a softness there for Anakin and for everyone else on a whole. She genuinely cared about the outcome, even if she faked apathy most of the time. And that whole time had had just ignored it, perhaps afraid to admit that he had been wrong again.
But the most vital thing he had learned was that things come up very unexpectedly. Like the boot of the Sith Master against his face.
Obi-Wan was flung across the wall and hard into the wall. He was sure a crack had been left by the impact. He didn't have the time to recover from the blow. Instead, he rolled to the side, narrowly missing death by lightsaber. The red blade of his opponent came down from above, slicing into the wall instead of his flesh.
He heard Sidious growl slightly from inside the confines of his shadowy hood. He wondered why the man even bothered to keep it up. Obi-Wan knew who he was now, thanks to Callisto. Perhaps for effect.
That was the other thing that he wondered about. The surprise that a politician was in league with the dark side of the Force had yet to set it. It probably never would.
Obi-Wan was back on his feet again just as the Sith Lord was upon him. Obi-Wan blocked an incoming blow, just barely. The fight had only been a few minutes, but already Obi-Wan was feeling the beginnings of fatigue in his muscles. It was too soon for that. Even when he battled with Darth Maul, he didn't feel this tired this soon. Perhaps it was because Sidious was more determined whereas Maul was more energetic. Plus, there was no other distraction for him, nothing else to worry about besides a single Jedi Knight. Then there was Obi-Wan, who could see Callisto on the floor and worried at the same time that Qui-Gon might not make it in time.
How he hoped he had made it in time!
Qui-Gon Jinn barely parried the blow in time. The Sith Lord caught him off guard for not more than a half second, but that was enough for him to slide to the left and strike.
Now Qui-Gon was one of the more accomplished swordsmen of the Jedi order, but age and a lack of serious sword battles had left him with a lack of edge. Blocking blaster fire with his blade was one thing, but another lightsaber was another matter all together. One slip...well, no need to think of what ifs. He knew he thought too much about his last encounter with red and blacked faced mad man.
Darth Maul lowered his saber, only one side ignited, and viciously sent out his foot in a roundhouse kick. Qui-Gon took it to the chin and was sent back sprawling, landing in a position that wasn't exactly dignified for a Jedi master. His composer was regained quickly, and he again began his retreat to inside the temple. He did not have the time for an offensive on the Sith Lord. not now. He had to get in and warn them.
But his opponent would not have it. The Sith apprentice did all he could to keep Qui-Gon from advancing up the steps. Qui-Gon struck out with his lightsaber, hoping to at least delay him enough, but the other was far too smart to fall for any of it. Maul struck out in a series of swipes designed to cut the Jedi down...and was doing well. Qui-Gon could block the blows, but he was quite weary and was quickly losing energy.
Qui-Gon parried a downstroke and feigned an attack to the left, the struck out at the right. This time it was Maul who barely blocked in time, the Jedi's lightsaber scorching his black robes. Maul growled back in anger, then dropped down to the ground, his left leg kicking out Qui-Gon's feet from under him. The Jedi Master fell to the ground, losing his grip on his weapon. Maul brought down his saber for the kill.
The hum of an activated lightsaber filled the air and a flash of blue whizzed past Qui-Gon's face. He heard Maul's cry of outrage and grinned.
Mace Windu had joined the fight.
Callisto opened her eyes to hazy vision. The back of her head hurt badly. Slowly and very painfully, she pulled herself up off the floor, but wavered a moment.
The last thing she remembered was a door opening, then a sharp blow to the back of the head. She had been... Yes, now she remembered, she had managed a message to Obi-Wan. Just as she was beginning to feel some sense of hope, the Sith had entered the room. He had to have knocked her out again. the question was, where was she now?
Her vision was beginning to clear. At the end of the hall, she could make out the figures of Sidious and Obi-Wan locked in deadly combat.
"Oh no," she whispered, trying to fight back the pain and dizziness to get up.
Both ends of Maul's lightsaber were on now, and in constant contact with Mace Windu's lightsaber. Mace, while around the same age as Qui-Gon, had not been in this particular fight as long as the other two combatants, and as a result, was not as exhausted. His vigor equaled the Sith Lord's at this point. He would be able to handle this, Qui-Gon was sure of it.
"I have to warn them," Qui-Gon said simply, fighting off the guilt at not jumping to the immediate aid of his friend. He sensed mace's agreement. He sensed that there was something afoot. He would hold off the Sith as best he could.
Qui-Gon ran up the stairs...
Obi-Wan was tossed backwards by a vicious slap of the Force across his face. He tumbled back and landed on his feet.
"Impressive, young Jedi," Sidious said. "But simply, not enough," Sidious propelled himself forward, then dipping to the side with a backward lunge. Obi-wan was caught off guard. the Sith master seized the opportunity, knocking the blade out of Obi-Wan's hands.
He then closed his hand, exerting the Force on Obi-Wan's windpipe, forcing it to close. Obi-wan tried to break it, but found his energies failing as he began to slump downward.
Qui-Gon did not have the time for explanations. He knew without a single fathomable doubt that he had to get everyone out of there...immediately.
He burst into the Council chambers.
"We have to leave. Now," Qui-Gon said aloud and out of breath.
"Qui-Gon," Oppo Rancsis began.
"Now," he insisted. The rest fell silent, sensing the urgency in his words. Yoda stood and quickly hurried out the door, for the first time, appearing to believe the maverick Jedi. The rest quickly followed the senior member's lead.
Qui-Gon began running through the rest of the building, ushering out everyone he came in contact with while sending messages mentally to the rest that he did not. Within moments, the halls were a sea of fleeing people. Confident that everyone was on their way out, he joined them.
Outside, the Council and a number of various ranks of Jedi stood, transfixed by the sight of Mace Windu battling a Sith Lord. Many of them were dumbfounded, especially the ones who did not truly believe that the Sith were alive.
He reached for his saber to return into the fray. He was about to ignite it when a rumbling shook the ground, forcing some people to lose balance and fall.
Above them, a great ball of fire erupted at the top of the Temple, exactly where the Council had just been only moments ago. Smaller balls exploded in each spire and raced down, making the night sky roar with the sound. Ships flying above them swerved to avoid becoming engulfed in the raging flames.
People began to run as debris began to rain down on them. Qui-Gon jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a large rock.
Mace looked up, surprised by the sudden change of events. A mistake to be sure. Maul lunged at him.
But Qui, while he had been avoiding being crushed by a rock, recognized the danger Mace had fallen into. He turned his jump into a series of forward flips, sending himself rocketing into the Sith Lord's midsection.
Maul was sent flying backwards towards the falling rubble. Qui-Gon released him and angled himself to roll away from the cascading destruction. He rolled over a number of times before stopping. the Sith, however, kept going, until he was in the heart of his own handiwork. A large portion of what used to be a balcony came falling from the sky. Maul looked up, seeing the danger, and began to run. He was too late, and it fell in front of him, blocking his escape. Before he could find another route, more debris fell. Qui-Gon could see nothing of him, but he did hear a terror filled scream.
He looked off to the side, seeing the other Jedi looking up at the destroyed temple. All of them, he thought, were probably contemplating their own mortality, just as he had been.
A shadow fell over him. Qui-Gon turned to see Mace's outstretched hand. He took it gladly and was pulled up to his feet. He sighed once, wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead.
He only hoped Obi-Wan was doing as well as he was.
Never did Obi-Wan imagine he would die like this. Once he dreamed he was a very old man and died in combat, many, many years from where he was now. Perhaps he had misinterpreted. Perhaps it was combat WITH an older man. It didn't strike him as right, he shouldn't be dying, not now.
Sidious grinned sadistically, closing his grip on the Jedi's windpipe.
"Did you think you had found her through your own talents?" Sidious asked, laughing. "No, boy. It was I who sent you this location. You are here now, dying, because I chose it to be."
The was a sudden hum, and the Sidious' body jerked, his eyes wide with surprise. His hold on Obi-Wan was broken and he dropped him. Obi-wan fell down, clutching his throat. He looked up to see the edge of a lightsaber peeking through the stomach of Darth Sidious.
"Thanks for giving him direction," Callisto said, standing behind Sidious, holding Obi-Wan's weapon in her hand.
Sidious only let out a guttural moan and slid forward off the blade and onto the ground, motionless.
Callisto stood there, shakily, still holding Obi-Wan's lightsaber in her hand. He pulled himself up off the ground, rubbing his throat gingerly. He reached out and took the weapon out of her hand.
She only looked down at the fallen Sith.
"I guess we're even now," Callisto said.
"It would appear so, "Obi-Wan said, in about as much shock as she was in.
"Well, now that all of that is settled, I think I'm going to pass out again." With that, consciousness fled her body.
This time, she was in Obi-Wan's arms before her form even began to fall.