by Jude Watson
The zombies were used to eating the flesh from the tombs; now they had
living targets in mind. And they had blasters and detonators to make the
kill. They came careening out of the darkness now, different species but
all moving with the same odd, lurching gait... the air came alive with
smoke and fire.
Recovering from a moment of shock, Anakin moved to flank Obi-Wan. The
zombies had strength beyond the living. They were half-rotted, a horrifying
sight. Anakin did not look at their dead gazes. He went after them
ruthlessly, his lightsaber deflecting their fire while he cut them to
ribbons.
They were an obstacle, nothing more. A sorcerer's trick from long ago.
He would not let their gruesome appearance or their grasping bloodied hands
deter him.
He had to be in on the capture of Omega. Working together, he and Obi-
Wan deflected fire while they moved toward a steadily retreating Omega. Zan
Arbor had disappeared. For Anakin, she had ceased to matter.
Then the darkness came alive with visions. The Sith Lords, mighty in
their armor, terrifying in their decaying, bloodied faces. They rushed at
the Jedi, only to disappear in a shower of splintered shadow. Anakin tried
not to flinch, to keep his eyes on the blaster fire, but the confusion was
everywhere.
The dark side of the Force was like a presence, interfering with
concentration and sapping energy. The Jedi reached out to one another,
calling on the Force to battle the dark side, the undead who kept on
coming.
Anakin saw Shmi rise and fall, rise and fall. He felt the familiar
need, the familiar guilt. The feelings overwhelmed him and Obi-Wan had to
leap in front of him to protect him from a detonator heading his way. Obi-
Wan swiped it out of the air.
They didn't choose me, and yet I fight for them, Anakin thought in
anger. They chose Ferus, and yet I must fight to protect him, protect them.
My Master didn't protect me, why am I doing this?
A phantom Sith Lord smiled at him. Reached out a hand.
"Anakin." Obi-Wan's voice was close. "Keep your focus."
His focus. Yes. Of course the dark side would go after him, not just
with phantom Sith, but phantoms in his brain. Thoughts that weren't his.
Anakin reached out to the Force to help him battle the voices. He felt his
head clear.
Tru had leaped up on a tomb to fight two zombies. With his flexible
arms and legs, he moved like a rolling wave. He took down three thermal
detonators that were flying through the air. He swung his lightsaber in an
arc. It flickered. Anakin watched in horror as it buzzed, the shaft
flickering again and again. It was losing power!
Tru was in the middle of them. Obi-Wan hadn't seen it. He had charged
forward, the way to Omega now clear.
Everything in Anakin screamed to follow Obi-Wan, to be in on the
capture of Omega. Except one thing. Friendship.
But he had hesitated too long. As he watched, Ferus and Tru exchanged
a glance. Simultaneously, Ferus and Tru flipped their lightsabers through
the air. Tru caught Ferus's, and Ferus caught Tru's.
Re-energized, Tru went after the undead, hacking off limbs and
disabling the living corpses. Ferus dropped to a backup position with the
half-powered lightsaber.
But suddenly Omega appeared again. He had sneaked around the back of
the tombs. Zan Arbor reappeared at his side. Anakin realized that they were
trying to trick the Jedi. They had set up most of the firepower in the
middle of the tomb. While the Jedi expected them to retreat to the rear,
they were actually about to escape through the front door.
He saw it again, the flicker at the end of his vision, a cape furling
as fast as a serpent's strike. The Sith stood at the entrance to the tomb.
Waiting. His face was hidden in the shadow of his hood.
Zan Arbor hurried toward him.
Anakin wrenched his attention back to Tru. Because Ferus was watching
Tru's back, he was the only one in Omega's path. The Jedi Masters had all
been at the fore of the fight. Ferus's lightsaber flickered in the dark.
Seeing that he was in trouble, Darra Force-leaped toward Ferus, her
lightsaber held high, determined to save him.
Anakin saw the smile on Omega's face when he fired.
The bolts hit Darra straight in the chest. She fell, still keeping her
body between Omega and Ferus.
Soara cried out. Anakin felt the moment spin out into impossible time,
time that froze everything, even his heart.
He saw the blue shimmersilk move like a breeze as Zan Arbor took
advantage of the distraction to dash for the entrance. Blue Force-lightning
erupted in the darkness, a barrier shielding her from the others, giving
her space to run.
He saw Tru's mouth open in a howl. He saw Ferus drop to his knees and
crawl toward Darra, saw him take a blaster bolt in the shoulder and keep on
going. He saw Siri leap forward to defend all of them, saw Soara fly
through the air in a great Force-leap to be near her Padawan. Saw Darra's
head turn toward him, her cheek against the dirt. Saw the cloudy film in
Darra's eyes, the shock of catching the blow. He saw, as if it were a
physical struggle, her gathering her courage to accept the blow.
He saw all this, and still he didn't move.
And then Omega moved, reversing course once again, quickly retreating
away from the tomb.
Anguish on his face, Obi-Wan turned away from the Jedi and followed
him.
Real time came rushing back, and there was not enough of it.
Anakin turned away from Darra and raced after his Master.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The tomb narrowed at the rear. The stench almost made Anakin gag. It
was as though everything foul was concentrated back here. He could barely
make out Obi-Wan ahead, running, attacking the undead that guarded Omega,
circling him constantly like a cloud of rotting flesh.
Anakin put on a burst of speed. His Master was battling with
incredible speed and accuracy. Anakin could feel the Force like a great
pulsing, speeding, enveloping wave that barreled Obi-Wan toward his
opponent. Toward his destiny.
My destiny, Anakin thought. Mine!
He focused so much on his Master, on his need to catch him, that he
blundered into an energy trap.
Anakin was caught. He couldn't move. Frustrated, enraged, he slashed
at the invisible cage with his lightsaber. He could not free himself. He
kicked. He hammered. Caught.
He had met a power greater than his. Impossible!
"Master!" he called, but Obi-Wan didn't hear him. The energy trap
sucked his voice out of the air and imprisoned it.
I just need the Force. Obi-Wan said a Master can summon the Force and
fight this. I am as good as a Master. I can do this.
Strange, though. He could reach out for the Force, but visions got in
the way. And not visions from the dark side. Visions of what had just
happened. Tru's mouth, open in a howl of anguish and disbelief. Darra,
falling, eyes wide with the shock.
Darra, her head turned toward him, her cheek in the
dust of the tomb.
He had seen her like this before, when she'd been wounded on Haariden.
He had felt her wounding then was his fault. Unsure of her abilities, sure
of his own, he had leaped to protect her and crashed into her instead. He
had thought himself the better fighter, and because of that, he had pushed
her into blaster fire.
She had never held it against him.
He saw her face again, so pale. The bright ribbon she always wove
through her braid, trailing in the dust of the tomb.
He knew she was badly wounded. He felt it choke him. He had not gone
to help Ferus. Darra had. She was lying on the ground. He tried to put
those facts together to have them make sense.
Tru's lightsaber had slipped to half-power.
Anakin had never offered to check the flux aperture, just in case. He
had meant to.
What is happening to me? Anakin wondered. His mind felt suddenly
clear, sharp. Why didn't I help my friends? Have I changed? Am I changing?
What am I becoming?
When he had first become a Padawan, he would not have hesitated. His
first loyalty had been to them.
Things were more complicated now. There was more at stake.
Maybe he was changing for the better.
Control rule supremacy greatness...
Was he more mature now? A better fighter? Better able to assess a
situation, move toward the goal? Was that why he had raced to confront
Omega? Or had his own jealousy propelled him? How could he separate those
things? Why did he have to?
Power rules by results...
Anakin shook his head. The voices would not leave him.
He thought of Darra. Tenderness filled him, and the voices went away.
Years ago, he had gone to see Darra in the med clinic, filled with
remorse. She had shaken him out of his guilt with a grin. Now I have
something to impress the younglings with. I've been wounded in battle.
And then he remembered something he hadn't thought of in years. He had
always thought of her strength during that time. Now he remembered her
fragility. He remembered her hand on the coverlet. Her fingers had so
briefly touched his sleeve.
Stay with me until I fall asleep. It's lonely here.
Anakin beat at the trap again. He felt the rage rise inside him. He
knew the rage was interfering with the Force, but he couldn't control it.
If only... if only he could use the rage. But that was something a Jedi
should not do.
The frustration boiled in him. He could not move. His Master was gone
now, into the darkness.
Obi-Wan shouldn't have been surprised when the visions of the Sith
Lords faded and he saw Qui-Gon. But he was. He should have known the Sith
were capable of drawing his most painful memory from within him.
Qui-Gon, with a gaping wound in his chest where Darth Maul had struck.
"You were always so afraid of disappointing me," Qui-Gon said. "And
you have."
Obi-Wan stopped. His lightsaber dangled in his hand.
It's not real. It's not real.
"You've failed me, Obi-Wan."
Not.. real.
"And you don't even know why."
Obi-Wan took a breath. He walked forward, straight at Qui-Gon. The
image disappeared.
Shaken, he continued into the darkness. Now it was easier to walk past
the Sith Lords, the visions who snarled and hissed and sent out grasping
fingers as he walked past. He had seen the worst.
He heard a hiss, felt the dark side surge, and barely had time to
prepare when the flash lit up the darkness. A luma blast, sent by a rocket,
designed to blind him.
Obi-Wan threw himself on the floor and rolled. Behind his closed eyes,
he saw explosions of orange and yellow, bright as a double sun. Using the
Force, he guided himself alongside a tomb and crouched behind it. When he
opened his eyes, he could see nothing.
Then more blaster fire, so rapid he realized that Omega must have set
up a repeating blaster. From the sound of it, an E-Web, one of the most
powerful repeating blasters ever manufactured. It sat on a tripod. It took
two gunners, but one could handle it, if very skilled.
Omega didn't know where he was... yet. Obi-Wan was painfully aware
that the E-Web had enough power to punch through armor plating on a
cruiser. He heard the stone tombs shatter across the space as they were
hit. He couldn't remain here. He had to keep moving.
He kept himself low to the ground and felt his way around the tomb. He
could track the blaster fire through the Force, could defend himself if he
had to. It was part of Jedi training to be able to fight without sight.
Younglings learned with novice helmets that blocked their vision. Obi-Wan
was suddenly, fiercely glad for that training.
Omega would expect him to hide. Therefore, he had to expose himself.
He had to trust in the Force.
Blinded, Obi-Wan rushed forward. He felt the air against him as a
guide. Objects displaced air, and with the help of the Force, a Jedi could
feel the displacement and adjust. Obi-Wan raced forward confidently. His
vision would return. In the meantime, Omega was close. So close he could
hear the creak of his armor-weave tunic as he moved his arm....
A wrist rocket. Obi-Wan dodged and weaved, knowing the targeting laser
system was working to get a fix on him. He moved like quicksilver, flowing
from one position to the next. He heard the rocket release and he put on a
burst of speed, running blind, running straight at Omega now. He felt the
whistle as the rocket whizzed by his ear.
"I love watching you run," Omega said. "Ready, set, go!"
Another wrist rocket. Obi-Wan Force-leaped. He felt the rocket behind
him and he swerved at the last minute. The rocket crashed into a tomb.
Splinters of rock showered over Obi-Wan.
"I could do this all day," Omega said.
Blinded, breathing hard, Obi-Wan allowed himself a fraction of a
moment to rest. Inside him blazed the memory of every battle with Omega.
From the beginning Omega had set out to confound him, humiliate him,
destroy him. He had set out to impress the Sith by attacking the Jedi, and
he had managed to do it again and again, always escaping at the last
possible moment. He had even managed to kill a Jedi Master. Yaddle had
sacrificed her life for this man's greed and revenge.
It had to end here. It had to end now.
He saw streaks in his vision now, a sign that his sight was returning.
He just needed a few precious minutes.
"You mentioned having the help of the Sith, Omega," Obi-Wan said,
raising his voice to carry without shouting. "How is that you've ended up
alone back here?"
"I'm not alone," Omega said. "I have his help."
"Really? Can you feel him? I can't. And remember, I'm the one who can
feel the Force. Not you."
"You arrogant fool," Omega snarled. "I am to be a Sith! He told me so.
"
"And you believed him." Obi-Wan was beginning to make out the shape of
the tomb opposite him, fragments of shape fracturing the orange streaks in
his vision. "Flattery will get him everywhere, it seems."
"He wasn't flattering me! Right now I am a Sith without the Force. I
can use his power." There was a note of defensiveness in Omega's voice.
"It seems to me that he gets to use you."
"He would not abandon me!"
The shapes took sharper form. His vision wasn't perfect, but it would
have to do.
Obi-Wan stood. "You'd better hope so."
He could just barely make out Omega standing behind the E-Web. "Your
arrogance will bring you down, Obi-Wan!"
"Funny. I was just about to say the same." Obi-Wan activated his
lightsaber again. The blaster bolts were so powerful they sent shock waves
down his arm as he deflected them. The fire was fast and furious. Where was
Anakin? He could use his help. Or someone's...
He had to concentrate on the moment. Not on what he didn't have.
You have everything you need, my Padawan.
This time, Qui-Gon's voice was kind. The voice was inside him. It was
true, it was real, and it gave him strength.
His lightsaber whirled, spinning in an arc to gather momentum with