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Obi-Wan was cold, and not the kind of cold that came from bitter, freezing air. This cold was inside, deep inside, flowing through all the things around him. And he had to follow it.
Forcing himself to breathe deeply as terror tried to beat into his blood along with the sense of wrongness that had captured his every cell, he signaled to Cody that he would now be in charge, and he left the battle. Besides, everything was going well. Low casualties, hardly any injuries, and they had the enemy on the run. What Obi-Wan had to deal with seemed far more important. But he didn’t yet know what that was. He just knew the dark side led away from the battle.
He wasn’t sure what he was feeling was strong enough to indicate that this was the Sith Lord, but it was strong, and familiar.
Maybe it was him.
No, no. Can’t be. Our last reports say he’s in the Nar Shaddaa system.
Nar Shaddaa was quite a significant amount of travel from Bestine IV. Still, there was no denying that something was wrong.
Obi-Wan followed the source of cold, carefully making his way through the spires, not wanting to fall into the ocean below. Suddenly, there was a sensation in his chest, in his gut, like he’d been hit hard with something. It sent him to his knees, and then his head began to pound. He gritted his teeth against the urge to cry out, flashes of horrible things filling his mind. Children screaming and crying. Dead bodies lying in the streets, limbs, heads, and torsos completely severed.
Then came the fire, the smoke.
The visions ended, and Obi-Wan knew he could no longer be careful. He had to act now .
He raced towards the darkness, already knowing it would lead him to Jahnae Camp, a settlement built by the local humans on this planet.
A tiny plume of smoke began to rise into the air.
No, no, no! He was going to be too late. Oh, kriff!
Obi-Wan raced across the spires, time seeming to slow down yet move too fast all at once. He had no regards for his own safety, and while part of him took in the information on his comms that the battle was finished, he ignored it.
He even ignored the fact that a friendly energy in the Force was following him, someone he recognized well. But Cody was of no consequence to him. The growing plumes were.
He was sweating and out of breath by the time he made it to the camp, but he was too late.
Everything was on fire, and he had to raise his arm to his mouth and nose to block the smoke from getting into his lungs. It stung his eyes, and the smell, the smell of the burning dead, was near enough to make him vomit.
The dark side of the Force thrummed powerfully, but he wasn’t sure where. Where, where? How could he be sure when horror lay all around him?
“General, I see the smoke up ahead,” Cody said. “I’ve been following on a speeder. What happened?”
Blinking back tears, Obi-Wan turned from the smoke (which didn’t bring much relief at all), and responded into his comms, voice dull and empty, “They’re… dead.”
“What?”
“While we were fighting to protect these people, I don’t… Someone came here, and… Cody, they’re dead. They’re all dead.”
A lightsaber ignited behind him.
Obi-Wan spun around, his own lightsaber immediately in his hand and ignited. His labored breaths caught in his throat as he saw who he faced, as he took in the tall figure of red and black, with wicked horns on his head.
“ You, ” he snarled. “Sources said you were on Nar Shaddaa.”
Darth Maul had a lazy, contented smile on his face, but there was a madness in his eyes.
“Yes, I did organize that quite nicely, didn’t I? Oh, poor Obi-Wan. Fell right into my trap.”
Obi-Wan gestured around them, but didn’t let his guard down. He made sure to keep his feet shoulder-width apart, and to have his body loose, ready to move and strike and defend. “You didn’t have to kill them all!” he screamed.
Maul shrugged. “I know, but I wanted to.”
At that, Obi-Wan was racing towards him, a fierce yell leaving him. He was blinded to everything but the red and blue of their lightsabers.
“General! Sir! Obi-Wan!”
Cody had caught up to him, but Obi-Wan ignored him.
His body tried to take over from his mind, to follow with Darth Maul’s movements, to even get ahead of him, but all he could feel was how much this former Sith apprentice hated him, and how much he himself truly feared him.
He saw Qui-Gon stabbed through the gut.
He saw Satine die in his arms.
Rage overcame him, and that was his mistake.
Darth Maul sliced into his right bicep, and Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, having been in the middle of a maneuver, arced up and away from him. It hit the ground and rolled, ending up next to the body of a child.
Before he could register what had truly happened, before he could even feel panic at being disarmed, Darth Maul switched off his lightsaber, the emptiness from the lack of sound striking right through his chest. Then, he was getting beaten.
“General!”
Obi-Wan couldn’t respond, could only lie on the ground and try to protect himself as best he could. But Maul was a nightmare, knowing how Obi-Wan’s body would react to pain, getting him to reveal his weak points.
Then, a strong sensation gripped him by the throat, and he was being lifted off his feet. He choked, struggling.
“You’re coming with me,” Maul snarled. “And I’m going to take my time with you.”
There was nothing Obi-Wan could do as blackness began to take him. The last thing he remembered was being flung over Darth Maul’s shoulder, and Cody being thrown into a ruined building as he’d tried to run to him to help.
He’d wake up somewhere else, away from his legion, away from Cody, away from the Jedi. Still, his last thought wasn’t for himself. Of course it wasn’t, he was Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead, as his vision tunneled and his lungs and chest pounded, all he could think was, They’re dead. They’re all dead.