Jude Watson: Jedi Quest 10: The Final Showdown

"I'm all right." Anakin grunted. "Just… embarrassed. I've never felt anything like that."

"Did you see him?"

"Only from behind. Tall. Dressed in a black-hooded cape that trailed all the way to the ground. I didn't see his face. He didn't even turn. I felt the Force come at me like an autoblaster cannon…." Anakin struggled to his feet. "It could be a Sith."

"I know."

Anakin started forward.

"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked.

When he turned, Obi-Wan could see Anakin's face undergo a change.

Every muscle tightened, and his eyes turned flinty.

"We have a chance to make a stand," Anakin said.

"We need the others."

"It will be too late."

Obi-Wan hesitated only a fraction. Anakin was right. They had to try.

He started forward, and together they moved farther into the darkness.

"Keep your focus loose," Obi-Wan warned him in a low tone. "He will come from anywhere when he comes."

"This time I'll be prepared."

"Don't be so confident," Obi-Wan answered. "You probably won't be."

They were nearing the end of the hangar. He sensed it rather than saw it. The corroded vehicles were more numerous now, lined up like dark, giant phantoms.

Like phantoms..

Phantoms that move…

Obi-Wan wrenched his gaze away. He could have sworn the ancient ships were moving.

Then he knew.

"This way!" he yelled, as the first vehicle suddenly flipped over. It would have crushed them if Obi-Wan hadn't dashed to the side with Anakin on his heels. He flattened himself against the wall as another vehicle moved, its jagged wing a lethal weapon, capable of slicing them to ribbons. A cruiser suddenly zoomed toward the wall, straight at them.

"Drop!" Anakin and Obi-Wan hit the floor, hugging the stones as the cruiser passed over them and smashed into the wall.

Vehicle parts began to fall like rain. The crashes were deafening.

They leaped, twisted, and dived to avoid them, using the Force to deflect them when they could. Finally they came to rest in the shadow of one of the giant statues. Obi-Wan leaned against a clawed foot and squinted into the darkness.

He could not see the Sith, but he felt the Sith's amusement, his triumph.

The vehicles now smashed into one another, creating a solid mass of screaming metal, effectively blocking them from the front of the hangar.

Anakin ran to the mountain of metal and tried to climb over it. Obi- Wan felt the dark side rise in a crest and then fall, leaving a vacuum behind.

"It's no use," he told Anakin. "The Sith is gone." "Gone." Anakin repeated the word dully.

"Don't worry." Obi-Wan sheathed his lightsaber. "I have no doubt that we'll meet him again."

Anakin immediately hurried to Tru's side while Obi-Wan went to confer with the Masters.

"You all right?"

Tru smiled wanly, but didn't look up. "Just a few bruises. Ferus fixed me up."

Ferus tucked the med kit back into his utility pouch. He didn't look at Anakin, either. Darra studied the hilt of her lightsaber.

"I saw someone trying to escape, so I had to go after him," Anakin said. "It turned out to be a Sith. Obi-Wan is sure of it."

"Well, that's not surprising," Darra said. "We're on Korriban, after all."

There was an unfamiliar hard note in Darra's voice, as if she resented Anakin.

"Our mission is to find Granta Omega," Anakin said. "You had things under control, so I went after him — or, who I thought was him."

"So you were sure we had everything under control?" Ferus straightened, wiping his hands on his tunic. "That's what I said."

"Tru was wounded, I was helping him, and Darra had to face off against a dozen droids, but everything was under control?"

"Obviously I made the right call," Anakin said, gesturing at the fallen droids.

"And you were only thinking of the mission, of course," Ferus said.

"Of course." Anakin knew what Ferus was getting at. He felt his neck heat up, and he turned away before the flush could reach his cheeks and betray him. The truth was less certain than his words. He was thinking of the mission, but he was also thinking of himself. He had been in a position to capture Omega without help. He had left Ferus behind with a secret satisfaction. He had wanted to win.

He sneaked a look back at Tru. His friend looked strained and unhappy.

Anakin resolved to talk to him as soon as he could do so privately. Tru's friendship was very important to him. But Tru had to understand what was important to Anakin, too.

Anakin joined the Masters. Ry-Gaul and Soara were examining the battle droid wreckage.

"These are the super battle droids we've been hearing about," Soara said. "A complete violation of Republic regulations."

Obi-Wan looked grim. "We are lucky to all be standing. This could have been much worse. I think our next step is to trace the route of the Sith if we can. He most likely used the exit that you used to get inside, Ry-Gaul."

Ry-Gaul nodded. "That's why he blocked it." "There's another possibility," Siri said. "The landing pad could be functional."

Anakin shook his head. "Auben said it's buried." "So maybe it just looks buried," Siri said.

"Let's ask Auben," Anakin said. "She can show it to us, at least."

They walked inside the service bay. It was empty. "She was hiding behind the old cruiser," Soara said. "Where could she have gone?"

"I doubt she'd return to the monastery," Ferus said. "She was afraid of the Commerce Guild army."

"She must have sneaked behind us when we were tending to Ferus," Siri said.

"Most likely heading for the other exit." Ferus swallowed. "She went toward the Sith."

The Jedi exchanged glances.

Without a word, they moved back to the dark front of the hangar. Using the Force, they searched each service bay as they ran, making sure Auben hadn't hid there. Finally they ended at the pile of vehicles and debris the Sith had used to block his escape. Grimly, they set to work with their lightsabers and cleared a smoking hole through the pileup. One by one, they crawled through.

They walked into the last bay on the line. A new cruiser stood there, its ramp down.

"Did you see this when you came in?" Obi-Wan asked Ry-Gaul.

He shook his head. "It must have landed after I left." As they moved closer, they saw a body on the ramp. It was Auben.

She was dead.

Anakin rushed forward. He checked her vitals, even though he knew she was gone. "What happened?" he asked. "There's not a mark on her."

"Her heart just stopped beating," Siri said. "It's said that the Sith were capable of stopping a heart without even touching their victim."

"The question is, what was she doing here?" Obi-Wan asked.

Ferus had climbed up the ramp into the cruiser. He poked his head out.

"That's easy to answer. Stealing." He held out two thermal capes. "She told Anakin and me that she could get her hands on some luxury goods."

"While you check out the ship, Darra and I will see if we can find the landing platform," Soara said.

Obi-Wan ran up the ramp. Quickly, he moved through the ship, searching for clues. It was evident that the ship had been left bare of everything except essentials or items that couldn't be traced. He quickly checked the nav computer. Even the archives were wiped.

"This is the Sith ship," he said.

"Expensive tastes," Ferus said, dropping the thermal capes with distaste.

"Auben must have found the ship sometime earlier," Obi-Wan guessed.

"She wanted to nab some items on her way out."

"Never got the chance," Ferus said.

"Maybe," Obi-Wan murmured.

He started out of the cruiser. "Something I learned from Qui-Gon. When you catch a thief, he'll always pretend he was on his way in, not out."