#ataro

Chapter 1

As the red ray shield ignited, he felt a sense of relief at the containment of the zabrak sith before him. He knelt down, held his lightsaber across his lap, and pulled himself into a brief meditation. He asked the force what he should do, he saw the reactor shaft and him fighting the sith while his padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was trapped by the ray shield. He saw the sith hitting him and plunging one end of his lightsaber into his stomach. “No!” thought Qui-Gon Jinn “I can’t die, I must train the boy”. His usual form of lightsaber combat, Ataro, wouldn’t help him here; he needed something more defensive, like Soresu. He would use this and overwhelm the sith with Obi-Wan at his side. He stood; lightsaber ignited and held it in the ready position. He made a motion to Obi-Wan as if to say “use force speed and help me”. The great distance between them made it difficult for the padawan to make out this gesture, but he understood what he was meant to do.

Just a few moments later the shield disengaged and the sith launched at Qui-Gon, but the sudden change of forms temporarily confused the zabrak, Obi-Wan followed his master’s instruction and joined his side instants later. The blurs of red and blue and green blinded the three but as the Jedi slowly progressed forwards, towards the shaft, the zabrack found his space running out, he tried to flip over the two Jedi but as he jumped he felt a scorch blaze through his mid-section, he grunted as his top half fell down onto the floor with a thud and he saw his legs land just a few feet away. He looked at the taller of the two Jedi in the eyes and felt the force pushing him towards the reactor shaft; before he knew it, he was falling down the shaft. The light became a small speck in the distance and the Jedi were even smaller specks.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan panted and nearly fell to the ground with exhaustion. Qui-Gon tilted his head back and Obi-Wan bent over with his hands on his knees. They looked at each other and Kenobi’s curiosity was obvious. “What is it, my young padawan?” Qui-Gon asked.

“Why did you change forms, Master?”

“The force showed me my demise should I continue with Ataro, switching to Soresu was my best option.” Obi-Wan nodded his head in understanding. “Let’s go find the boy.”