The Jedi And The Warrior

Battle On Tython

Obi-Wan braced his arm upon the juddering wall of their starfighter, beside the door that in a few minutes would lift to discharge them. His body ached. But these days, he always ached. He hadn't trained with Anakin in months, too busy on mission after mission. The Separatist Army was tightening the noose. They had hardly set foot inside the Jedi Temple mere hours ago, when the Council reported an invasion on Tython.

A small number of troops had been left there to hold the planet, but no one had really expected the Separatists to attack, not here, not on such an unimportant planet. And so Obi-Wan had set out, Anakin ignoring his orders to remain at the Temple and recuperate, an army of clones at their backs. Obi-Wan knew he need not have gone, that they could have sent someone else, that he needed rest, but people were dying. He could not allow himself to stop. This fighting, the delicious ache in his muscles, the throbbing of not-yet-healed wounds from the last battle, burned away the gnawing of guilt that he was not doing enough, that he'd never be able to do enough, that he was failing.

He knew Anakin felt the same, knew it from the set of his jaw when Obi-Wan offered to take the watch that night so that Anakin could rest, knew it from the way he paced his rooms when there were no missions, knew it from how he had found him alone in the Training Chamber several nights in a row, swinging his lightsaber with an almost frightening determination.

Now, he could hear Anakin's footsteps approach from the pilot bay, and saw out of the corner of his eye the young Jedi brace his own arm against the wall.

"Remind me again why Tython is so important," Anakin grumbled, securing his lightsaber to the belt at his side. Long gone were the times when Obi-Wan would have to rebuke his Padawan for losing his saber. Anakin had had to learn the hard way that no saber meant near-certain death.

"It is the strongest in the Force of all the Core Worlds, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded him mildly. "And loyal to the Republic. We would not want it to fall into the hands of the Sith."

Anakin sighed heavily, though Obi-Wan caught the hint of a smile around his eyes. "It's the worst rat's nest since Cato Nemoidia."

"Oh, do shut up about that," Obi-Wan retorted, and Anakin smiled.

"Sorry, master, I forgot it was a sensitive subject." He ignored Obi-Wan's look of playful warning. "Anyway, I still don't see why someone else couldn't have gone on this mission. We're the best fighters the Council has, surely we'd be better employed somewhere more important."

Obi-Wan shook his head in mock weariness. "Every battle is important, Anakin," he said, bracing a hand on his belt as the ship bucked upon entering the atmosphere. "And besides, you shouldn't get too cocky, even the Council's best fighters make mistakes."

Anakin straightened. "Name one," he challenged.

"How about the time you blasted the controls of our ship on Kashyyk?" Obi-Wan suggested, and strode forward before Anakin could offer an excuse. He called forward into the pilot bay. "Commander Cody, do you have visual on a safe landing space?"

"Yes, sir," came the tense reply, and Obi-Wan turned back to Anakin.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

Anakin grinned, a hand on his lightsaber. "Aren't I always?"

Obi-Wan just turned back to Cody. "How many can you see?" he called.

There was a pause. He could feel the ship slow and begin to level out. They were nearing the ground. "Many," came the answer at last. "But we've dealt with worse."

Obi-Wan smiled. "That's the spirit," he answered. "Let us out before you reach ground, Commander. We'll try to clear a path to the rest of our troops."

"Very good, General." The ship juddered with its sudden brake in speed. "Opening the doors now."