Conflict And Balance [Star Wars AU]

Chapter 18

Obi Wan tiptoed towards the tractor beam control, distracting the guards by using the Affect Mind Force trick. He rubbed his forehead; his Force powers were nearly exhausted and they tire him out. Sooner or later he must rest, but the situation provided none for him. ‘Just endure it.’

Luckily, he had a strong right hand man. Behind him, Chewie had his hairy arm over one of the stormtroopers' head who had been able to resist. Obi Wan shuddered as he felt his life signature vanish. Never underestimate the strength of a Wookie. Chewie then proceeded to pick up the corpses of all those unconscious guards to dump them into the pit that surrounded their target.

"Nice." He nodded at the Wookie and turned the lever of the device, the power bar of the tractor beam slowly went low. At least another troublesome obstacle was out of their way.

He froze as the Force fluctuated. To describe it properly, it was like the normal waves of the sea, that usually head towards the shore, were pushed back into the ocean, only slightly. How do I say it? It is like the trees budding in autumn and dying in spring; but it was mild and strange. Worried, he took out his comlink and contacted her.

"Ahsoka?" he said, his voice shaky.

"Master, we're in the detention level to rescue Luke," she reported, her breath panting through the connection. "We have had a few snags along the way, but we're fine."

"So, nothing happened? You didn't feel it?" he replied, the worry dissipating a bit. That fluctuation might just be a creature being born or dying, as usual and hopefully nothing worrisome.

"Yes, I did," the answer came, "It was dark and cold. It might mean that the Emperor or Vader has something up their sleeves; I don't like it."

"Me neither Ahsoka," Obi Wan replied. Despite not knowing its nature, he knew it was unnatural. "Hurry to the core with Luke and any other Jedi that might be under custody."

"Roger that." And the connection ended. That was odd. He merely sensed that there was a fluctuation in the Force, that was it. He tried to detect the fluctuation again, but all he saw was a dark fog that covered everything in his sight. He was thankful that Ahsoka could at least sense its nature, he supposed that seeing through the Dark Side was one of the perks of being a Gray.

"Alright, Chewbacca," he said, backing away from the machine and nudged the Wookie. "We're done here. Let's help the others."

The two ran in the corridors with an urgency. They followed the trail they thought they had gone through, occasionally taking a wrong turn. The Wookie behind him roared in frustration and he too felt the tension. This was taking too much time.

Something was up, he knew it — his hair stood up in alert and adrenaline pumped through his blood vessels — he must hurry. His breath was shaky as he sighed. He was getting too old for this. Just then, the station's alarms rang. ‘Don't tell me...’

The comlink vibrated again and he received the call.

"Master!" Ahsoka's panicked voice rang, followed by blaster shots. "Luke! He isn't here!"

Obi Wan put all unnecessary thoughts away as he sped up. There was a guilt of never letting the boy reach his full potential or even let him meet his family. Now, Ahsoka was under attack. He had forgotten his calm demeanour since he put only the thought of his close ones in danger before him. He did not care if anybody saw him. The entire station was aware of their presence already. No point hiding anymore.

"Where are y—" His voice trailed away and he stood still when he saw what was in the end of the corridor. It was quiet for a few seconds; the two only glaring at each other. The situation had just gone worse.