Savage-Time Chapter 41

[Mandalore, Docks]

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Not long after his message was transmitted to all of Mandalore Obi-Wan felt the presence of his enemy. It was a familiar darkness that had long haunted his dreams.

“Maul” Obi-Wan said the name calmly, he was no longer the grieving padawan, he was not a young man full of passion. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Jedi Master and he knew that the only way to defeat the darkness was to be the light itself. There could be no rage, no doubt, and no hesitation.

“There is no emotion, there is peace” Obi-Wan took in a deep breath and exhaled all of his worries, his mind was a fortress and the screams coming from the darkness of his enemy could do nothing against him.

“There is no ignorance, there is knowledge” This tenant of the code was the one Obi-Wan had the most trouble with but at this moment, in this junction of the Force, he finally understood what it meant. It was knowledge about the self and the galaxy. Everyone was part of something greater and that knowledge is what made a Jedi strong.

“There is no passion, there is serenity” As Maul approached the steady beat of Obi-Wan’s heart relaxed until he felt himself be as serene as when he meditates. Obi-Wan knew well that action taken with passion in the mind could only lead to disaster.

“There is no chaos, there is harmony” The galaxy was in a constant state of change, it was nature itself and some would call that chaos but was something that you knew was going to happen chaos? There was a rhythm to the way the universe worked, one that not even Jedi understood in its entirety but it could only be called harmony.

“There is no death, there is the Force” Death was not the end of a Jedi, not even the end for non-Force sensitives, not truly. Those that died simply transformed from the Living Force to the Cosmic Force, each one fed the other in a never-ending cycle that perpetuated life.

There truly was no death, only the Force.

No one was ever truly gone, they all live on in the Force. Obi-Wan didn’t fear death, he knew that no matter what happened with his life he would be a part of the universe. His friends could find him in the stars, the grass, or on a single grain of sand.

That acceptance, that willingness to trust the Force had given him power beyond what he had before, Obi-Wan stopped trusting in his senses, on his body, to him there was only one thing.

The Force.

A flaming shadow that screamed of revenge got closer with each passing second, and a little dark flame that threatened to become a wildfire jumped from place to place like fire spreading in the forest, closer to the palace a presence that mirrored the wildness of the oceans of countless worlds contained itself until it was time to let out the storm.

From a different direction, a man dressed as a savior but reeking of pride approached Obi-Wan, the man came surrounded by animals trained to hunt, that believed that what their owner said was the truth. They were blind, some by ignorance and some by choice.

Obi-Wan shined brighter than ever before, he was a newly-born sun and the first thing he needed to do was stop the one closest to the palace. Obi-Wan reached out to the planet, to Mandalor itself, he felt the scars, the glassed plains that were nothing but sand, he felt the cities full of life, he felt their anger and desperation, Obi-Wan felt their hope, he felt their love for Mandalore. Then he spoke to those that would listen, not with words or images, Obi-Wan’s message was the Force itself.

A warning, an uneasy feeling, and the direction of their enemy. The one that had been preying on their people. Obi-Wan didn’t stoke their anger as a Sith would, he wouldn’t take advantage of the Mandalorians, instead, he did the only thing he could do, he asked for help.

And the people of Mandalore answered.

Far from where he was, Obi-Wan felt the surprise of the darksider as the veil he was using to keep people from noticing him was turned to shreds, and not long after the chase was on as those that had vowed to protect Mandalore with their lives pursued him, some of them would die but Obi-Wan would do his best to ensure that they were remembered.

“RHHAAAAAHHHHHAAA!” Obi-Wan didn’t need the Force to know that Maul was close the sound of destruction and pain followed him but Obi-Wan wouldn’t be a Jedi if he didn’t help the people about to suffer Maul’s wrath. With a wave of his hand, the door of the warehouse opened to show Obi-Wan the devastation that Maul was causing. Cars and people were falling from the air, the buildings looked as if a wild beast had passed its claw around them and the poor people that were just doing their jobs huddled together in a vain effort to protect themselves.

As Maul’s lightsaber was about to fall on a woman that had pushed her child out of the way Obi-Wan pushed Maul aside, the telekinetic attack moved the blade from its intended path, then Obi-Wan stretched out his senses and started catching those unfortunate enough to be falling to their deaths in a gentle grip. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow to Maul a silent challenge that conveyed the words ‘Is that it?’

“KENOBI!” Madness shined through the yellow pupils of Maul, he was consumed by his own darkness and was in a prison of his own making Obi-Wan would free him from it and put him to rest once and for all.

“Maul, you have come a long way to kill me but perhaps that’s because you don’t remember how our last fight turned out for you” Maul was taken aback by Obi-Wan’s casual tone, whether he was expecting fear or rage is a mystery but the only thing he got from Obi-Wan was peace.

“I WILL KILL YOU!”

“You will try.”

Once and for all Obi-Wan would put to rest this chapter of his life. Obi-Wan just hoped that his old master would give him the strength to survive this, perhaps it was the stress or all the strength he had gathered from the Force but Obi-Wan could swear that he heard the voice of Qui-Gon saying “I have always been with you Obi-Wan, trust in the Force it will never abandon you”

‘I will master’ Obi-Wan thought before raising his lightsaber and assuming his stance. Maul did the same and then the fight started.

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[Mandalore, Sundari]

Pre Vizsla

Pre cursed Obi-Wan in his head again, it rankled at him that even if he wanted to deny what the Jedi said he couldn’t, there were witnesses, and with Obi-Wan calling for honorable combat Pre Vizsla was trapped. There were many eyes following him as they made their way to the docks, pockets of people that cheered as they watched Death Watch pass them by, it was what he wanted and now he had to fight for it.

Both Gar Saxon and Rook Kast were keeping a close eye on him, they were the ones that had been the most angry about the perceived betrayal Pre had done them, they doubted his position as the true Mand'alor and had even tried to call for a duel to satisfy their honor. Luckily Bo-Katan had been able to convince them that his fight with Kenobi had been something unusual and not something that should be taken as a proper duel. They had accepted that answer and would remain under his command as long as Pre showed that he was a true warrior and answered the Jedi’s challenge.

As they got closer to the docks the members of his inner circle suddenly under assault as several floating weapons started firing at them, several detonations occurred in close intervals separating them into two groups.

“What hit us?” Pre asked Bo-Katan who was shaking her head as she tried to regain focus.

“I did” the voice of a child answered him, covered in black and wielding a red lightsaber dropped from a nearby rooftop. “Your plans to betray us were as clear as water, it’s time you are punished for your deception Mand'alor”

The girl laughed as she spoke his title making some of his escorts scream out obscenities at her.

“You are one of the apprentices, Maul must be even more insane than I thought if he thinks that you can stop me” A sneer accompanied his declaration along with a few chuckles from his men.

Surprisingly the girl nodded at his statement “It’s true I’m not skilled enough to kill all of you but I have some help” She spread out her arms and several figures started to come out of the corners around their position, they were Mandalorians armed to the teeth but there was something wrong with them, their eyes were unfocused some and their bodies moved erratically as if they were having seizures, their eyes were bloodshot and some even had nosebleed.

“What did you do to them?!” Pre demanded an answer, then he saw something that made his blood turn cold. A little girl carrying a grenade in each of her hands and they were already primed to explode as soon as she took her fingers off the buttons.

“You wanted your people to be warriors did you not? Well, I’ve made them warriors for you, their minds may be a little empty but they understand what they have to do. I hope you appreciate this as it wasn’t easy to do.” As soon as the girl finished speaking the people around them started screaming, it was a sound of pain so clear that it made him hesitate.

Pre Vizsla knew there had to be sacrifices, you couldn’t change the world without getting your hands dirty after all, but this…this was something else entirely. It was beyond abominable and it was all his fault, because despite the legends, despite the warning he had believed himself to be more cunning than the people that had terrorized the galaxy since time immemorial.

“You’re monsters” Pre looked into the eyes of the child and noticed tears forming in the corners, they were conscious or if not conscious somewhat aware of what was happening. Pre raised his blaster and took aim “I will free you from this suffering”

Then he pulled the trigger and watched as the little girl began to fall, the explosives rolled around but everyone had been prepared and with some help from their jetpacks evaded most of the blast, and those like Pre who were to close simply trusted in the beskar to protect them. Still the blast had some effect and if he wasn’t mistaken he now had at least one broken rib and was sure that his left shoulder was dislocated from his fall.

“Wow” the Sith walked uncaringly through what remained of the little girl, even going as far as to kick a piece of bone towards Pre “You barely hesitated, I got to admit I’m impressed. Everyone else in your little band of fanatics lacked the resolve to do it! even those that claim to be the more authentic among you, but tell me something you think you can do it again?”

The rest of the brainwashed Mandalorians started readying their weapons “I can do this all day!” Pre took out the Darksaber and rushed into melee against the Sith who quickly took several steps back and pushed some of her puppets to slow him down but he wouldn’t be Mand'alor if he couldn’t take some drastic measures and all the bodies that came at him ended in pieces.

“Impressive, very impressive. If you had been born as Force-sensitive you would have made a great Sith, but let’s take off the kiddy gloves and see what the rest of your people can do” The Sith lady then launched herself at the back of their formation while her puppets started firing at them.

The battle for Mandalor had started and whoever won would decide the course of the Mandalorians.

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author note: this has been the hardest thing i have ever had to write but i finally decided how this would go, so there are going to be three different perspectives from here on out, the three prospective leaders of Mandalor, Obi-Wan, Maul and Pre Vizsla. i call them leaders but it's more like champions, anyway, they will be the face of this arc. I hope you enjoy this and i will see you next time.