Jedi Quest: Path to Truth

by Jude Watson

  would be no censure in his Master's voice, he knew he'd cut it too close

  this time. Obi-Wan continued, "I'm betting we'll come out near the turbine

  in the power core. I hope there's room to land."

  So did Anakin. The ship was now bumping with the fierce air currents,

  and he bent his will toward gentling it like a skittish bantha. Between the

  wing instability and the power of the exhaust, the ship was close to losing

  control.

  But it wouldn't. He wouldn't allow it. He trusted in the ship's

  ability to take them where they needed to go.

  He powered down the engines slightly as the shaft narrowed. They burst

  through the opening into the central power core. Anakin quickly avoided the

  giant turbines that sent energy blasts and steam down the shaft. If he

  landed directly in front of the exhaust shaft and turned off the engines, a

  good blast from the exhaust could send the ship back into the blades.

  Instead he eased the shuttle craft down in the tiny space nearby. It was

  still close to the shaft, but the exhaust was not powerful enough to move

  the ship. He set the landing gear to lock.

  Obi-Wan scanned the area. "Let's make for that catwalk. It will most

  likely lead to some sort of tech station. The ship is in attack mode, so

  the crew will be too busy to notice us. Let's hope so, anyway."

  Anakin opened the hatch and they climbed down from the ship.

  Immediately they were hit with a staggering blast of heat. Ignoring it,

  they ran lightly toward the catwalk. Accessing the Force, they leaped over

  the railing high above. Then they ran down the twisting metal walk past the

  giant generators.

  The catwalk led to a small door that had a small wheel that served as

  a manual opening device. Obi-Wan quickly twisted the wheel one full

  revolution. His hand on his lightsaber hilt, he went through the door.

  They were in a tech readout room for the power core. It was empty.

  These readouts were backups, used only for emergencies. Obi-Wan proceeded

  to another door and accessed it. This time, they found themselves in a

  narrow, grimy hallway.

  "We have to search for the weapons control tech center," Obi-Wan

  murmured. "It must be nearby. We can't expect it to be empty, however. On

  the contrary."

  Anakin followed Obi-Wan down the hallway. Moving fast, they came to

  the end of the corridor. A window in the wide double door showed them the

  interior of a tech center. Obi-Wan motioned to Anakin to stay on one side

  of the door. He peered through the window. Everyone was too busy to notice

  him.

  The center was staffed by tech droids. Since the weaponry was

  controlled at the bridge, the droids were merely monitoring the different

  systems.

  "The droids are equipped with arm and chest blasters," he told Anakin.

  "No doubt they are programmed to kill anyone who interferes with the

  control panels. We'll only have a few seconds before they register our

  presence as threatening. There are fourteen of them."

  Anakin nodded. He withdrew his lightsaber. "Ready."

  Obi-Wan opened the door and walked into the room, Anakin at his heels.

  "Inspection," he announced.

  A droid who was patrolling the others turned its rotating head.

  "Authorization?"

  Obi-Wan's lightsaber glowed. "Here."

  He sprang forward, slicing toward the control panel. At the same time,

  Anakin moved to the left to take out the patrolling droid. He neatly sliced

  the head off the droid, which wobbled, arms waving, until he buried his

  lightsaber in its chest control panel. He felt a surge of satisfaction from

  the power of his new lightsaber. He wasn't in training mode anymore.

  The other droids were quick. They swiveled in their stools and rose as

  one, blaster fire pinging from their chests and arms.

  The blaster fire sang in Anakin's ears, random and close. The room was

  small and bare. There wasn't space to evade fire, and nowhere to hide. The

  two Jedi had to rely on their lightsabers only.

  Anakin kept his lightsaber moving, trying to deflect fire as he moved

  forward. The perfect balance of the lightsaber helped his accuracy and

  speed. He kicked out with one leg and sent a droid flying, then

  somersaulted toward another, cleaving off one blaster arm and then slicing

  the droid in two. On his downswing, he demolished the droid on the floor

  for good. Turning, he went for the third droid.

  Obi-Wan was a blur. He whirled, dived, leaped, and kicked, his

  lightsaber constantly moving. He held out a hand and the Force blasted a

  droid against the wall. Within seconds, he had demolished seven droids and

  turned to help Anakin reduce the last droid to a smoking heap on the floor.

  "Now for the weapons system," he said.

  "Do you know how to disable it?" Anakin asked.

  Obi-Wan grinned. "Sure. I'll use a trick Qui-Gon taught me." He raised

  his lightsaber overhead and then slashed down onto the control panel. Smoke

  rose and metal sizzled. He aimed a second blow, then a third. Soon the

  control panel was completely demolished.

  "That should do it. Let's go."

  Anakin hurried after Obi-Wan. He knew they had only seconds before

  more droids arrived.

  Obi-Wan started down the long hallway back toward the power core.

  Anakin suddenly halted.

  It didn't feel right to him to leave the ship. Krayn was here, within

  their grasp. They had a chance to annihilate a vicious slave trader who had

  imprisoned thousands and was responsible for the deaths of countless

  innocent beings.

  How could they leave?

  At the end of the corridor, Obi-Wan sensed that Anakin was not behind

  him. He turned. "What is it?"

  "I can't leave." Anakin shook his head firmly. "We aren't finished. We

  have to destroy Krayn."

  "That is not our mission, Anakin - "

  Grimly, Anakin turned away. "It's mine."

  He turned in the opposite direction from Obi-Wan and began to run.

  CHAPTER 8

  Shocked, Obi-Wan couldn't move for a moment. Anakin had caught him

  completely off balance. He hadn't seen this coming.

  He should have.

  Obi-Wan wheeled around and charged after his Padawan. Anakin had taken

  the corridor off the weapons tech center. The corridor was already empty as

  Obi-Wan raced down it. After a few steps it opened onto a hallway with four

  branches of corridors. Anakin wasn't visible down any of them.

  Obi-Wan gritted his teeth in annoyance. Any moment now some sort of

  squad would check on those droids. As soon as they entered that readout

  room, they'd know that there were saboteurs aboard the ship. A general

  alarm would be issued. In the meantime, the Colicoid ship might be

  defeated. He had to find Anakin, and fast.

  He reached out with the Force, searching the energy around him for

  Anakin. But the ship was too large and crammed with beings. Too much dark

  energy swirled around, acting like a veil between the Jedi. Not to mention

  that Anakin himself did not want to be found.

  With nothing else to do, Obi-Wan took the first corridor on his right.

  Obviously, the pirate Krayn did not c
are about cleanliness aboard his

  ship. While the Colicoid ship was cramped, it was relatively clean. Krayn's

  ship was littered with debris and the walls and floor were sticky with

  grime and oil. Whenever Obi-Wan heard footsteps he quickly ducked into one

  of the small cargo rooms that led off the corridors.

  But time was running out, and he had to quicken his pace and rely on

  his lightsaber to get him out of trouble. Obi-Wan followed the corridor,

  being careful to keep his sense of direction. All the corridors seemed to

  twist around each other and intersect at the central point where he'd

  started. It was like searching a maze.

  He was exploring the third corridor, running as fast as he dared, when

  he heard the unmistakable quick metallic steps of a troop of attack droids.

  Obi-Wan had only seconds to decide whether to engage them or run. With

  Anakin still on the loose, he chose to double back and duck into the

  adjacent corridor.

  But this one wasn't empty. It was full of pirates.

  There were at least twenty of them. They were just as surprised as he

  was and fumbled for their weapons. Obi-Wan leaped forward, activating his

  lightsaber, ready for the first assault.

  As the pirates registered his lightsaber, they seemed stunned. To Obi-

  Wan's surprise, a group in front slowly lowered their weapons. Every pirate

  in the room followed, laying his or her weapon on the floor.

  One of the pirates stepped forward. Obi-Wan noted that his tunic was

  almost in rags.

  "We are at your mercy, Jedi," he said.

  Warily, Obi-Wan kept his lightsaber activated.

  The pirate spoke in a hushed tone. "I am Condi, from the planet

  Zoraster. I am not a pirate. I am a slave. As are my companions. Stolen

  from our home worlds by Krayn. Under penalty of death, we have been

  assigned guard duty aboard the ship." Condi looked at him eagerly. "Thank

  the moons and stars, we have rescue in our grasp at last."

  Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber. The naked desperation on Condi's

  face unnerved him. It was mirrored in the faces of his companions. All of

  them had obviously suffered great deprivations.

  "I am sorry," he said. "I have not come on a rescue mission."

  Condi's face fell, then brightened. "But you can take us with you. We

  will help you fight."

  "I cannot." Obi-Wan felt these two words were the most difficult he

  had ever said. "I have only a small ship, big enough for me and my

  companion." He wanted to promise them he would return, but how could he

  make that promise? If he got off the ship safely with Anakin, Krayn would

  be gone. The ship could hide anywhere in the galaxy. He believed too

  strongly in a Jedi promise to make one he did not know if he could fulfill.

  Someone spoke from the back. "So you leave us here, like this?"

  Obi-Wan did not know how to answer. "I will do my best to help you,"

  he finally said. "But not here. Not now. In order to help you, I must get

  off this ship."

  Condi swallowed. "Then we will help you."

  "No." Obi-Wan shook his head firmly. "That I will not allow. It will

  put you in danger. The best thing we can do for each other is part ways

  here."

  Condi's face was full of anguish, but he nodded with dignity. "We have

  never seen you, Jedi."

  "Thank you." Obi-Wan caught a flicker of movement at the end of the

  corridor. Anakin!

  He raced through the slaves and toward his Padawan. Anakin saw him and

  stopped. He knew better than to run.

  Obi-Wan came up. "Anakin, I have no time to argue with you. We must

  go."

  "There are patrols everywhere," Anakin told him. "I can't find Krayn."

  "Our best chance to destroy this operation is to leave this ship at

  once," Obi-Wan told him urgently.

  "But he's here, now!" Anakin argued. "We can destroy him."

  "Marking a being for death is not the Jedi way," Obi-Wan told him

  severely.

  "Even when that being enslaves others, kills them as if they were

  nothing, imprisons them against their will?" Anakin argued. "I heard the

  slaves beg you to help them. I saw you turn your back on them. How can you

  abandon them to such misery? Every day for a slave is another chance to

  die. Killing Krayn will free them. How can you do this?"

  "Anakin, you must be logical," Obi-Wan said, struggling to hold on to

  his composure. "How can I help them? If we want to bring down Krayn's

  empire, we must have a plan. We can't just sneak aboard his ship and hope

  to run into him."

  "It seems as good a plan as any."

  "It's not. And it could result in our deaths, and the deaths of many.

  If one miscalculation or mistake on our part occurs, Krayn will take his

  revenge on those he controls - the slaves. Our best plan is to leave now

  and get the Council to pledge their resources to bring down Krayn. There

  will be no more arguments here. Time is running out. Guards are most likely

  searching for us now, and I don't think the Colicoids will wait for our

  return much longer. Now come. You must understand that this is the best

  way."

  "You're the one who doesn't understand!" Anakin shouted.

  Obi-Wan was startled at Anakin's vehemence, but he kept his gaze on

  him, willing him to obey.

  Anakin hesitated. He cast his eyes down sullenly. He would not disobey

  a direct order. Reluctantly, he nodded. Obi-Wan could tell that fury and

  frustration boiled within him.

  They would need time to sort this out. Time they would have back

  aboard the Colicoid ship.

  Obi-Wan did not have to turn and check to make sure that Anakin was

  behind him. He felt his furious resentment all the way back to the central

  power core. They did not meet any droid patrols and were able to sneak

  inside the power core once again. They hurried down the catwalk, running

  now.

  Obi-Wan ducked under their transport, released the hatch, and climbed

  inside. He strapped himself into the pilot seat and signaled Anakin through

  the view port to follow.

  Anakin began to duck underneath the rim of the ship. Suddenly, blaster

  fire peppered the side of the ship near his head. Anakin ducked to the

  ground.

  A pirate leaped off the catwalk, blasters in both hands. He looked

  human, and Obi-Wan fleetingly wondered how he could jump such a distance.

  The pirate landed just a few feet from Anakin. He kept his blasters

  level but did not shoot again. His short hair was braided and studded with

  sharp glittering objects woven through the twisted strands. Various lethal

  weapons hung from his thick utility belt. He looked strong, but he wasn't

  very large.

  Suddenly Obi-Wan realized that the pirate was a woman. Then familiar

  blue eyes flashed, and shock shimmered inside him.

  This wasn't just a woman. The pirate was Siri.

  CHAPTER 9

  Siri no longer looked like a Jedi. She was dressed in a tunic and

  leggings fashioned from various skins. Blast padding covered her shoulders

  and chest. On her pale cheeks were red scars that on closer inspection he

  realized were facial markings designed to give her a fierce a
ppearance. Her

  bright blond hair was darkened with some kind of grease. Obi-Wan was

  shocked by her savage appearance.

  Yet he had to trust that she would not fire on Anakin.

  "Anakin, get in," he called.

  Anakin eyed Siri's blasters.

  "You won't shoot him, Siri," Obi-Wan said.

  "I am Siri no longer," Siri answered. "I am Zora."

  "There is still Jedi in you," Obi-Wan said, "even though you have

  betrayed every part of our code."

  "There are so many things I do not miss about the Jedi," Siri said

  thoughtfully, blocking Anakin from the ship. "One is their self-

  righteousness. It's so boring."

  Anakin gazed from Obi-Wan back to Siri, amazement on his face.

  "Zora!" A huge, bellowing voice filled the space. "Did you find the

  intruders?"

  "Krayn," Anakin said, even though no one was in sight yet.

  "Get in!" Obi-Wan hissed.

  "Zora!" The bellow was loud and close.

  Siri sprang forward. With one sweeping motion, she closed the hatch,

  separating Anakin from Obi-Wan. Then she spun sideways toward the giant

  turbines. She accessed the control panel and pressed several buttons. The