The Path Not Walked... Part 02
About an hour after talking with DeaMak, Obi-Wan felt it. Someone was here and in trouble; the Force was telling him that much. An alarming shift in the Force occurred and he felt an intense need to help prevent it. There was also a chill to the sensation; he had learned over the years that this was a sign of serious trouble. He had had a bad feeling about this mission from day one; now it had just grown exponentially.
When he tried to contact the main AgriCorps base, all he got was static. If his comlink had malfunctioned, he would not even have had that, and if the BaseOps system had failed, the AgriCorps satellite would have bounced his signal back to the main communication switchboard. //It was almost as if the system was being blocked,// he thought. //But that could only happen if a damping field had been placed around... the planet.// Obi-Wan's head snapped up at that. //The Trade Federation, but they lack the power to invade without Senate approval.//
Looking at the canopy of trees above did him little good. He stopped his hike back to base and sat on the forest path. Centering himself as he had been taught so long ago, he gathered the Force to him, then reached out with it. What he 'saw' was alarming. Death hung over part of the forest not far from him, death and fear. The primitive life was on the move en masse, and the Living Force shuddered and shifted with its exodus. There were days when his temple training was invaluable. Today was one of them; he stood and headed off towards the disturbance.
His scan had shown him something else as well. There was a Jedi Knight in the forest, and he needed help. Obi-Wan was determined to provide whatever assistance he could. He still had his lightsaber from his days at the Temple, as was his right for treading the path of the Light and working to help promote the Force throughout the universe. He still practiced with it daily out of necessity; wielding it without injuring himself or those around him required that. The lightsaber was a weapon of skill and concentration; it could be just as deadly to the user as to those it was used against.
The distressed Jedi was in the heart of the disturbance, so that was were Obi-Wan was going. The AgriCorps base would be a safe haven for his people, and DeaMak would have already put the emergency procedures into affect. He was not worried about the AgriCorps group, but the Jedi was concerning him. From his brief scan using the Force, he could tell that the other was injured and fighting alone. He slowed his pace a fraction as he neared the edge of the disturbance. He could barely feel anything from the area, it was so void of animal life and Living Force.
He could faintly hear the hum of mechanized droid ships, but he knew they were close. The dense tree growth acted like a natural insulator; it provided an excellent sound barrier. He reached out with the Force more aggressively, hoping to make contact with the other Jedi, but failed. He sighed, knowing that he had never been fully trained and lacked the skill to communicate through the Force. He could only project his proximity and willingness to help the Jedi Knight, hoping that he heard his offer. For two people to connect like this was rare; it was usually only seen when one was in critical need, so Obi-Wan was resolved to find him quickly.
Breaking through the trees, he was suddenly facing a small lake. He could see the Jedi crouched behind some brush in an attempt to conceal himself. Several droid scouts were patrolling overhead on gun platforms, undoubtedly looking for the Jedi. When Obi-Wan saw the Jedi, he understood the call he had felt. It was Master Jinn that was in need; he and Qui-Gon Jinn had formed a tenuous bond during the transport to Bandomeer.
Obi-Wan had never thought much about the bond, but apparently he and the Jedi Master were connected more forcefully than he could have ever imagined. It was amazing that he had felt Qui-Gon's need at all, for Obi-Wan was severely out of practice with using the Force in this way. He did not need to sense and track distressed plants; plants were usually stationary and the toxins that sometimes assailed them had their own distinct signatures. However, this bond had been forged under desperate circumstances twelve years previous and never again used, until now, when the situation was desperate once more.
The sound of the approaching STAPs bought him out of his daze. He nodded to the injured Jedi, hoping to convey support, before facing the two scouts heading toward him. He shifted his cloak to reveal his AgriCorps insignia as the droids brought their platforms to hover in front of him.
"Halt. State your name and purpose." A mechanized voice demanded of him.
"I am Ben Kenobi of AgriCorps," he answered, using the informal name he had begun using years earlier. "I'm simply checking some abnormal scanner reading." He emphasized this by holding up both his scanner and datapad, but was careful to keep the lightsaber from view. "I didn't know the Trade Federation had been authorized to land troops on Naboo."
The droids stood silently for a few moments, obviously conferring with the remote ship and awaiting further instructions. Obi-Wan hastened a quick glance to where he had seen Master Jinn. He was pleased to see that the Jedi had taken advantage of the distraction and hidden more effectively.
The droids suddenly turned back to him and spoke again. "You must come to the main deployment ship. Do not resist and you will not be harmed. Surrender now."
"I don't think so." He replied with a sly smile. "I am an AgriCorps employee and free from Federation control. The Viceroy know this fact; the Galactic Senate has granted amnesty to all our AgriCorps outposts and personnel." His tone was confident; he knew his rights. He had been trained for this sort of confrontation long ago.
"Surrender now. You must return..."
"No," he stated firmly. "Detaining me without cause is in direct violation of GS Mandate 4419AZÞ7. I refuse to cooperate."
The droids paused again for instructions. Obi-Wan simply stood waiting, with his identification badge ready. He hoped that the trade Federation had not disabled the droid programming that exempted AgriCorps. //The Federation has only recently been informed of our presence here, so they should not be expecting to run into any of us so soon.// he thought to himself.
Logically, he knew that the droids were simply verifying the mandate number, but he was anxious nonetheless. After a few moments, the droids nodded and flew off to continue the search elsewhere. Unfortunately, Obi-Wan did not know that they had logged this encounter into the system and recorded his identity.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Obi-Wan sat on a nearby log to wait for Master Jinn to reappear. Strangely, he could still feel a vague Force concentration and knew that the Jedi was near. Though he did not know how all of this had happened, he was very curious to see why the master was so distressed.