Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Emergence [The Red Sith, Part One]

Chapter 12- Lost and Not Found

Hey Readers! This chapter is kind of a shorty, but the next one makes up for the length. After this there will be only two chapters left and then book one is finished! So keep on reading!

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One might say that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a cautious person. While this may be true from a certain point of view, it would be better to say that he thought, planned and strategized before acting. This is what had gotten him the title “The Negotiator”, being able to resolve issues peacefully without violence. He also liked to be thorough, which is why he was onboard his ship examining the leftover wreckage of Anakin’s space battle to be sure of Darkover’s demise. But easier said than done. Four hours had passed since the battle and Anakin was right; all that was left was the floating wreckage of the Firebird and a few chunks of the frigate.

“Have the scanners picked up anything else?” Obi-Wan asked the scanning officer.

“No sir.” The clone replied, “And the wreckage droids we sent out haven’t detected anything either.”

“Any engine emission trails?”

“Only very faint ones, and those are the ones probably created by the capital ships. Any weaker trails would have disappeared long ago: shuttles, fighters, and the like.”

Obi-Wan sighed. He’d expected as much. The scanners had been running nonstop since they had arrived. Obi-Wan had also periodically reached out with the Force to sense anything. The only thing he felt was a ghost of a dark presence, and that was most likely left by this Darkover person before he died.

Obi-Wan was interrupted from his thoughts when he received an incoming message from an inbound Republic shuttle. It had a senatorial I.D. and the message claimed that they had senator Polo Se’lab onboard.

“Senator, what an unexpected pleasure.” Obi-Wan said once he had responded to the signal. The hologram projected a fairly young Bothan man considering his position. He was dressed in traditional Bothan robes and had two clones flanking him.

“I would think it would be less than unexpected, General Kenobi, and definitely not pleasurable.” Se’lab replied in a moderately curt voice, “It is my home world that had been invaded and attacked once again after all.”

“Yes, a poor choice of words on my part Senator.” Obi-Wan apologized. “What brings you here in the middle of this conflict?”

“I wish to visit my home world and support my people.”

“I mean no disrespect Senator, but your home world is currently an active war zone. I must disagree with your decision.”

“I know you mean no disrespect General, but I have been watching your battle reports. I know that there is little chance of me being injured if I land.”

Obi-Wan relented; he knew the facts as well and the Senator was right. “Very well, but I wish to provide you with an escort for safety reasons.”

“I will expect them soon then.” And at that, the transmission ended.

Immediately another signal came in, this time from the Dauntless.

My my, we are popular today. Obi-Wan also accepted this transmission, and an image of Ahsoka appeared. “Ahsoka, so glad to see you. How are your injuries?”

“Fine Master, nothing too serious. I’ve been released from the med bay and was wondering if there was something easy I could do.” Even from the hologram, Obi-Wan could tell she was tired, from the voice and how she stood.

“Shouldn’t you have contacted Anakin to ask him for something?”

She gave a little smirk. “I tried, but instead I got master Luminara. She said that Anakin went off to another combat zone. She assumes that communications have been jammed, but she says that the jamming shouldn’t last long, especially if Anakin is there.”

Obi-Wan internally sighed, That sounded like Anakin all right, rushing off into a fight. “Well, not much can be done about that unfortunately. However, I do have something you can do. Senator Polo Se’lab has recently arrived in this sector and wants to land on the surface. I want to provide him with an escort. Feel up to joining them?” He asked.

“Certainty Master. I’ll get in my fighter right away.”

“I’ll send a few additional fighters as well. I’ll see you shortly.” Obi-Wan ended the transmission. He looked out the window into space for a moment, and then coming to a decision, turned to Commander Cody and said, “I don’t think we’ll get anything else here. Recall the wreckage droids and set our course back for Bothawui.”

“Yes sir.” He replied and the ship soon left the wreckage and Golm behind, floating in the infinite blackness of space.

Inside her fighter, Ahsoka felt more in control of her life than in the past several hours. Here, she could tell her fighter where to go, and it would go. She could move where she wanted without running into anything. Space was a vast open field that she could run in forever….

But we can’t run away from our problems forever either, Ahsoka thought. Although she didn’t admit it, that Sith, Darkover, had scared her. She had faced numerous challenges before like General Grievous or Asajj Ventress. Grievous was a cyborg, responsible for the deaths of many Jedi, and Ventress was a Dark Side user who had also killed Jedi. While she might have had some fear fighting them, she managed to force it down and fight them.

 But Darkover was something different. Grievous may have killed Jedi before, but he was only a cyborg with no Force powers. Ventress, on the other hand could use the Force, but she apparently had not fully given herself to evil, or so Obi-Wan had said. Darkover though…. he was more than just a Dark Side user, he was a true Sith. The way he controlled the battle from the start was impressive, she had to admit, and events almost went in his favor. But Anakin saved her and they both defeated Darkover. But if Anakin hadn’t shown up, she would be dead right now. He was a superior opponent, but the way he forced his way into her mind and how he managed to completely overcome her made Ahsoka pause. How far had she come as a padawan? Was there still more to learn?

Yes there is, Ahsoka realized. The Force is a source of infinite knowledge and wonder, and holds many secrets. Not even Master Yoda knows everything. She shuddered internally, thinking about the abilities Darkover used. Some secrets however, should remain secrets.