A Heart Full of Stars ★ Obi-Wan Kenobi

Chapter 20

Koral crept into the ship's hull and began to search for her Padawan while remaining as inconspicuous as possible.

-If I were a droid, where would I hide a prisoner?

She had no idea how to answer her own question, so she wandered randomly through the corridors, avoiding enemy patrols, and eventually found a large room, the walls of which were covered with cells. One of them contained a sleeping Jedi. It was Lett, she was sure. She rushed to her Padawan and opened the cell. But Lett did not move. She went in to lift him up and carry him to his jetbike, since the lazy bastard preferred to sleep. But when she tried to touch him, he suddenly disappeared.

-A hologram. Obviously.

She turned around and crossed her arms, seeing that she was now locked in the cell she herself had entered. Koral looked jaded as he saw Count Dooku, who was facing him, on the other side of the force field.

-Exactly how many traps am I going to get in today?" she muttered to herself.

-I assure you I had no intention of trapping here, Master Nova," replied Dooku, who had heard her. I thought you were still in the company of my apprentice.

-Charming. But we weren't planning on staying so we just picked up my sister and left.

-Glad you could join us then. I wouldn't have liked to be without your company.

-Speaking of which... What do you want from me?

-Master Nova, it's nothing against you, but you have this awful tendency to foil every plan and counter every attack of the separatists.

-I don't like to lose. Besides, it wouldn't be much fun if I let you win. But it seemed to me that the concept of a war was to prevent your enemies from winning. And, if I'm not mistaken, all Jedi are dedicated to making the separatists lose.

-Yes, but you're particularly annoying.

-Thank you, sir.

-What am I going to do with you, Master Nova?

-We could go for a drink... Talk about geopolitics and stuff.

-Or I could... I could kill you after I make you watch your padawan die.

-Can I say no?

-No.

He raised his hand and Lett was brought in by two droids. He was in perfect health but seemed to have lost his weapon. The young Padawan tried to struggle away from the Separatists, but without much success. Exasperated, Koral deactivated the force field and turned on her lightsaber.

-How did you do that?" asked Count Dooku.

-How did I do what?

-Deactivate the force field! The switch is a button, not a lever. You can't press a button with force normally.

Koral looked at Dooku strangely.

-Do you not know how a switch works? It's really a basic lesson in mechanics.

She went into a messy explanation of how a switch works, including an attempt to mimic a switch. Lett coughed awkwardly to let Koral know that her explanation wasn't relevant given the short time they had left before the base exploded. Just then, Obi-Wan burst into the room. Noticing him, Dooku exclaimed:

-There are too many Jedi now! You take care of Nova, I'll take care of the other two.

The droids began firing at Koral, who deflected everything onto the two holding Lett, but Lett still had no weapon, so she threw her saber at him and pulled out a knife so she could continue fighting. Obi-Wan lunged at Count Dooku, who was quick to knock him unconscious by throwing one of his droids at him. When Obi-Wan was knocked unconscious and crushed by a droid's carcass, Dooku moved to attack Koral. She was a pretty good fighter, even with just a knife. But behind her, Lett was having more and more trouble with the droids coming at him. He was suddenly hit in the arm and screamed. Hearing her Padawan's distress, Koral abandoned her fight with Dooku to rescue Lett. She just had to destroy some droids before the Count caught up. She knew she had some time, as bad guys always walk very slowly to look more dramatic. She managed to dismember a few droids with her knife, but Lett was hit again, this time in the shoulder. Koral suddenly panicked when he saw his Padawan lose consciousness and rushed to protect him.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes at that moment, just in time to see Count Dooku grab Koral by the shoulder, turn her towards him, and slash her with his lightsaber before she had time to react. Obi-Wan screamed and tried to get up, but he was blocked by several droid carcasses that were crushing him with their weight. Koral looked into Dooku's eyes with a mixture of hatred and dread, and she fell to her knees as her assailant turned off his weapon and replaced it on his belt. Koral shuddered as rage rose within her. She put her hand on the ground to support herself and to compensate for the fact that she was slowly losing all her energy. Count Dooku, proud of himself, slowly walked over to Lett Sha-Wyn who was sobbing as she watched Koral's life slip away. She tried to get up but collapsed as soon as she tried to shift her weight onto her legs.

-It's your turn, Padawan. Don't be sad, you both fought well.

Lett ignited his master's lightsaber and faced the Sith. But Dooku disarmed him almost immediately. Obi-Wan watched as Koral struggled against the weakness that was overtaking her. She grabbed her dagger, which she had dropped a few minutes earlier, and clutched it tightly in her hand. Then she used all the strength she had left to get up and walk the few steps away from Dooku. She threw herself on the Sith's back and drove the blade into his chest with all her might. He threw her to the ground and removed the knife, noticing the amount of blood he was losing.

-You should already be dead," he said to Koral.

Koral used the force to clear Obi-Wan of the crushing droids and he hurried to her, igniting his lightsaber to face the Sith. The first detonation sounded and the ship they were on shook.

-Flee or you will die with us," she replied.

Count Dooku wasted no more time and hurried away, realizing that everything around them was about to fall apart. Lett joined Koral and Obi-Wan and tried to lift the young woman out.

-No," Koral said. Go without me or you won't have time to save yourself.

-Master, I can't leave you.

-Lett, go. That's an order.

The Padawan hesitated for a few seconds before obeying his master and ran for the exit.

-My orders apply to you as well, Obi-Wan," Koral breathed as everything collapsed around them.

-But you no longer have the authority to give me orders. I'm a Jedi Master now, too," he replied, lifting Koral up unexpectedly. He hurried through the corridors, avoiding the falling ceiling. When he finally arrived outside, Koral had already fainted. Lett had waited for him outside and Obi-Wan set the Jedi down behind her padawan and they hurried off in the jetbike as the ship was destroyed in a spectacular explosion behind them.