The premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ is now less than two months away. From its concept art we learned early on that Kenobi may very well receive a visit from one of Darth Vader’s cadre of Jedi hunters…. So there’s no time better than the present than to finally present to you the exciting conclusion to our exclusive Star Wars fan fiction Series I, Inquisitor! To catch up on prior installments, or to begin the story for the first time, please click on the links below.
- Prologue – Part 1
- Part 2 – Bail Organa
- Part 3 – The Inquisitorious
- Shili – Part 4
- Part 5 – The Jedi
- Part 6 – Failure
- Mandalore – Part 7
- Part 8 – The Duchess
- Part 9 – Revelation
Through the prior, nine installments, we’ve told the tale of Tavek Dinaar, a former member of Darth Vader’s Inquisitorious. Dinaar felt the path of his destiny waiver as he carried out his final, Imperial order, leaving the former Jedi apprentice lost in the Force. In a detailed transmission to Senator Bail Organa of his home planet of Alderaan, he lays out his confession and a plea; find and warn Obi-Wan Kenobi of his impending fate at Vader’s hands. The transmission would shock the Senator with a revelation neither he nor anyone would ever see coming.
With that, we present to you the finale of our exclusive Star Wars fan fiction:
I, Inquisitor, Chapter Ten – Kenobi
“Senator,” Winter interjected. “You have an urgent transmission from Mon Mothma.”
“It can wait,” he responded with an uncharacteristically dismissive wave of his hand without ever looking in Winter’s direction. His long-time assistant, confidant, and occasional spy nodded reverently just the same and exited the Senator’s office as gracefully as she’d entered. Organa never once shifted his gaze from the image of the Inquisitor. He studied the man, who now appeared tired, and if he didn’t know any better, genuinely contrite. Whatever he was about to tell Organa, and the journey he’d taken in doing so, seemed to have finally broken Tavek Dinaar. Bail Organa pitied him… but only briefly. The man had committed evil in the name of the Empire, and for that no forgiveness would come from his fellow Alderaanean.
Organa keyed the recording back on, and the Inquisitor continued.
Though much of my journey to Crait I spent in reflection, I’d of course first sent a report to Lord Vader. I’d found Kenobi’s offspring, and was on my way to capture and deliver Vader’s prize to the Dark Lord of the Sith whom I served. Along the way, though I came to realize I was wrong. About what, you may ask? Many things. About a great many things, in fact. The Jedi had always warned us of the seductive power of the Dark Side. Of that, at least, they were truthful. My soul succumbed to its seduction so fully that, as I’ve expressed in this confession, I descended to place of darkness from which I can never fully emerge. There would be no forgiveness.
No redemption.
I’d not yet reached the point, however, when my guilt would overburden my senses. That would come soon enough.
Perhaps one of the most egregious of my shortcomings was failing to recognize the true power of the Force. There is a reason the Jedi eschew attachment that transcends even their greatest teachings on the subject. The power of attachment is indeed the most powerful of all aspects of the Force. So powerful that even those most able and commanding in wielding the Force could not contain the power of connection. It was that power that drove the Duchess Satine in death as it did in life. As an Inquisitor I failed to grasp its effect. As the Dark Side’s hold on me wavered, though, I saw the slivers of light it shone into my consciousness. It was Satine Kryze’s love for Obi-Wan Kenobi, and her literally undying desire to keep him safe, that has brought me to this place, to my knees, to you.
But first it led me to Crait.
I can still hear the Twi’lek’s screams as the lekku began to tear from his scalp. His will was formidable, but not stout enough to resist me. I prodded, both physically and with the Force, for any information he had about Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’d reveal nothing about the general to me. Nothing of the former general’s fate, nor of his whereabouts. On that topic I need not expound; I’ve no doubt you know exactly where Kenobi is, at this very moment.
Bail Organa cringed. He knew it was a recording, but somehow the fallen Inquisitor saw right through the Senator’s façade. He was, of course, correct. Organa tried not to think of his old friend on Tatooine, but his mind could not help returning to their final conversations aboard the Tantive III. He feared, yet secretly hoped, that he would see Obi-Wan again.
The Inquisitor scoffed at his own statement, showing for the first time during the hours of his admission the slightest hint of humor. It was more sarcasm, and irony, truth be told, but a crack in the young man’s emotional armor nonetheless.
“No,” he continued.
“Of that I’ve no doubt, indeed. That is the express reason why I chose to send this to you specifically over all others to whom I could have delivered this message. He was your friend. As I’ve explained, I’ve finally learned the utility, and the importance, of attachment and connection. What you do with this information is up to you, but I am confidant that however you use it, you’ll do so with the galaxy’s best interests in mind.
No, Kenobi’s whereabouts wasn’t what I’d set out to learn from the hapless Twi’lek. I’d gone to Ryloth to discover the whereabouts of the Jedi Master’s daughter. And it was in those torturous, final moments of the yellow-skinned alien’s life that I would learn the location of Kenobi’s offspring. As he laid his sole bear to me, however, I once again felt my senses blinded by Satine Kryze’s light. It felt as if Kryze’s love remained long after her passing as its own sentience. What I found most strange about it was how it would eventually guide me. Not back to the light, mind you; I was far too gone for that. No, what truly surprised, and intrigued me, was that it didn’t operate to hide the truth from me. It showed me the truth instead. It trusted me with it.
Me, an Inquisitor.
The sworn enemy of all that danced in the light. I say “it” but what I really mean is “she.” The Duchess’s essence encircled and enveloped me. I felt simultaneously lost, and found. Although I’d never met the woman, I heard her whispering in my ears all the same:
“Please.”
The voice continued in my head simultaneously as the Twi’lek screamed out what knowledge he had of the last, known member of Clan Kryze.
“Please, not Obi-Wan.”
There was one last plea, and then the truth. With it I felt my strength wane, and my hands trembled. I struggled to believe what I’d just discovered as I stared blankly at the flailing Twi’lek before me. I ended his misery and returned to my ship in disbelief.
The Duchess’s words resounded in my mind like a repeating drum for so long and so loudly on my journey to Crait that, for a fleeting moment, I considered opening my hatch and releasing myself to the vacuum of space to spare myself from her voice. When the autopilot dropped my TIE out of hyperspace, her insistence at last subsided. The last words I’d ever hear from the spirt of Duchess Satine were so simple, yet so significant.
“I trust you.”
That word, “trust,” was one I’d expunged from my vocabulary. I had put my faith in the Jedi. I had even once trusted each within the Inquisitorious with whom I trained and fought, but there was no trust among them or the Jedi. I’d only myself on which to rely, and even those that relied on me made it clear that they did not trust me. So where, one might ask, did that leave me? With a crisis of conscience? Perhaps. Or perhaps in a place that at long last gave my existence meaning. That thought admittedly made me chuckle as I descended through the planet’s atmosphere. Laughter as a luxury I’d not afforded myself for a long time. A long time. It all at once filled my cockpit as I couldn’t contain the release. It wouldn’t last.
Upon exiting my TIE, I dropped my feet down to the planet’s surface where clouds of salt exploded to reveal the red clay beneath. I found the juxtaposition of the stark brightness of the white salt against the crimson red earth extraordinary. A fitting place, I thought, to find my quarry.
And it was indeed there where this Inquisitor found Kenobi’s heir.
It took but a short while for me to traverse the planet’s craggy landscape before I came upon the entrance to a tunnel. Though faint, I could hear the murmurings of the Rebel cell gathered there deep inside the mountain. Perhaps they’d not had the resources to alarm the entrance. More possible was the notion that they’d not yet even discovered it themselves. Whatever the circumstance, I easily made my way into the caverns. As soon as I left the light of the system’s sun, a new warmth in me began to grow. I shuddered, trying to shake off the grip of the Duchess’s now indelible grasp on my fate.
Even as an inquisitor I could not, and was no longer sure I desired to.
I quietly slipped into the cavernous expanse that had become a Rebel stronghold in the Outer Rim. Dozens of ships sat in varying states of readiness and repair. Rebel soldiers rushed about like skittermice after a storm. I could have destroyed them all. I should have. Something in me had broken on that journey from Ryloth to Crait, however. I tried to convince myself that it was not weakness that crept into me, but resolve. They were not my mission. My mission was Kenobi.
With no more effort than it took me to enter the unguarded fissure in the rocks, I soon found myself standing at the door to the Rebel’s meager control room. I sensed four life forms inside at first, but it was the sheer energy that emanated from the fifth that nearly knocked me from my feet. I steeled myself and withdrew a vibroblade. My next actions had to be swift, and silent. The door slid open and two of the beings within perished by my blade before the door could slide closed. Another lifted his blaster but fell before his finger ever found the trigger. The fourth slumped over her console, my blade embedded in her neck.
All that remained were Kenobi’s heir, and me.
We each stood and faced each other for an unending moment before either of us could speak. I saw with my own eyes what I knew to be true, yet still could not believe. Satine Kryze had deceived all. She had hidden Kenobi’s heir so perfectly that even the great Jedi himself couldn’t sense it. Nontheless, even witnessing it with my own eyes, I still couldn’t comprehend. Satine Kryze’s life force surrounded her offspring as if she stood there hugging them as she no doubt had done in life.
And in that moment I, an Inquisitor under the direction of Darth Vader, was lost.
“Hello there.”
I still do not know why I reacted the way I did to those words, but I couldn’t help myself and removed my helmet. Still I could not speak.
“I knew one of you would come, eventually. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken you so long.”
At last I found words.
“Your mother’s power is formidable,” I replied.
“Not my father’s?” was the surprising answer I’d received. Everything of which I was sure had left me.
“You know that your father is Obi-Wan Kenobi?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And yet you’ve never reached out to him? Sought him out?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because my mother had told me that one day, someday, someone like you would come looking for him, and that it was too important to her, to the galaxy, for him to never be found. That is, at least, until the time was right.”
“Do you think that time is now?” I asked. As an Inquisitor should have subdued my prey long before then. I should have done so at the first opportunity, made my way back to my ship, and delivered Vader’s prize to him. Instead, my curiosity controlled.
“I don’t know. Possibly. If you’re here now, it means Vader’s need for vengeance against my father has grown desperate. Perhaps he senses something we can’t.”
My mind returned to the fury with which Vader’s consciousness had once consumed me. Desperation was a fitting descriptor.
“Perhaps,” was all I could muster in return. Again we stood in silence, and again Kenobi’s heir spoke to break the tension.
“I wasn’t what you expected, was I?”
“No.”
“I’m not surprised. My mother went to great lengths to ensure that the Empire would never find me.”
“She did,” I agreed. “She hid both your existence and, it seems, your true identity. I’d expected a daughter.”
Korkie Kryze, commander of the Rebel outpost at Crait, stepped closer to me and into the pale, dim light of control room’s overhead illumination. I could see his father’s face in his, as well as that of his mother’s. There was no doubt; before me stood the son of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze.
Bail Organa froze the message, stood, and paced about his office. Finally he stooped, leaned his hands on the edge of his desk, and screamed at the Inquisitor.
“Why?” Organa screamed.
Why are you telling me this?” Why must you burden my soul to relieve the burden on yours?” Organa threw the half-empty cup of caf in his hand across the room where it shattered against the transparisteel windows overlooking the serenity of the valley below.
Organa collected himself and breathed deeply. Winter had not interrupted again, but his data pad pinged incessantly now. He checked the message and saw that he’d been summoned to Yavin. There was a new development, and the council was convened. His presence was needed. He’d finish watching the Inquisitor’s confession and remunerate on it on the way to the Rebel’s headquarters.
He restarted the video, and the Inquisitor continued.
I’m sure you’re surprised, Senator. I can’t imagine the thoughts in your head right now. Surely you’re wondering how, or if, you’ll share this information with Kenobi when you reach out to him. That is up to you, but before you do you must hear the short remainder of my story. It will not end the way you think, and I’m sure you’ll think me more a monster than you already do. Unfortunately, neither your disdain, nor your forgiveness, can have any effect on me now. My fate is already sealed; I am an Inquisitor no longer. Even as I speak, Darth Vader makes his way here to administer punishment for my failure. I am not afraid, however, and accept and welcome my fate. So too, did Korkie Kryze.
I admired him, Kenobi’s heir, in those final moments. Once again someone connected to Kenobi showed me the true power of the Force. For whatever remains of my life, I will be grateful for that. His words penetrate me even now.
Kryze sighed. “I cannot let you take me.”
“You’ve no choice in this matter,” I reminded him.
“But you do. You may not think you do, but you do. The Force only guides our destiny; it does not control it.”
His words paralyzed me. I close my eyes and, for the first time in eons, truly felt that I did in fact have a choice in my own actions. He continued.
“I will not be the cause of my father’s undoing. My mother was right; he’s too important to this galaxy, even still. I can… feel it. I’ll not let you take me to Vader. I’ll kill you, or I’ll die before you ever get the chance.”
In that moment Kryze’s hand moved to the blaster at his side but he did not draw his weapon. The implication in his action was clear. He intended to try and kill me if I continued in my endeavor to bring him to Vader. Perhaps he thought it possible. Rather, I believe he predicted a different outcome. If he attacked, I’d no choice but to respond in kind. He underestimated my skill, however. I could have subdued him as easily with my mind as with a weapon. His attempt on my life would be futile, as would his likely anticipated suicide by Inquisitor.
Again I closed my eyes and felt the Duchess’s warmth around me. “I trust you,” her voice whispered in my ear. I could not resist her.
My mission was over, and I, once a heralded Inquisitor, had failed.
“I will neither kill you, nor will I take you, son of Kenobi. If I do not though, others of my kind will. They fill find you, you will lead them to your father, and Darth Vader will destroy Obi-Wan Kenobi once and for all. But I’ll play no further part in your journey, or that of your father. Your fates are your own.”
With those final words I placed my helmet back on my head and slipped out the door into the darkened corridor beyond. I waited for moments fleetingly longer than I should have. As I made my way through the darkness, I heard the report of a blaster echo from the control room, and all at once was overwhelmed with the light of another Kryze, a Kenobi, before it extinguished forever.”
Bail Organa could not contain the tears that washed his cheeks.
Nor did he try.
They continued to fall as the Inquisitor completed his message.
“Again, I tell you this not to seek your acquittal. Nor do I provide you this information to tip the tide of the galactic war one way or another. Lay the Empire’s truth bare before the Senate…. Or keep it to yourself. I care not. If there is one truth I’ve come to discover, however, it is this: I cannot ignore the power of the power of the Force. The connection between Satine Kryze and Obi-Wan Kenobi is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I know now that the galaxy’s fate, its future rests with his. What that may be remains ever in motion, but for now, Kenobi must survive. That now remains up to you.
Thus ends my tale, Senator. By the time you’ve heard the entirety of this message, I will be dead by the hands of Darth Vader. Do what you will.”
Dinaar paused, before speaking one last time.
“May the Force be with you.”
The transmission ended. Bail Organa sat for some time thereafter, the only sound seeping into the silence being that of his own weeping. At long last, he wiped the tears from his eyes, arose, keyed his data pad to queue up Mon Mothma’s message.
“Senator Organa, Bail, my friend. I need your counsel and guidance more now than ever before. Captain Cassian Andor is on his way here to Yavin, and he brings with him the daughter of Galen Erso. We are convening the council to hear what she has to say. I fear that this girl holds the fate of the Rebellion in her hands. Please come as soon as you can. I cannot do this without you.”
Organa closed his eyes and sighed. The timing of these two events could not be a coincidence. He’d decide how best to handle what he’d learned from the Inquisitor on the way to Yavin. It would no doubt require seeing his old friend once again. Such news he could only deliver in person.
“Winter,” he called. “Ready my ship. We’re going to Yavin.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND DISCLAIMER
Thank you, readers, for taking the time to share this Inquisitor’s journey with me . I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. May be force be with you, always.
~JJ
DISCLAIMER: The preceding is a work of fan fiction based upon and utilizing locations, characters, and/or plot points from the Star Wars universe, originally created by George Lucas and trademarked to Lucasfilm, Ltd. The author makes no claim whatsoever of ownership of the Star Wars name, characters represented, or the Star Wars universe generally. This work is created of the author’s own imagination and is intended for entertainment purposes only. It does not purport to be an “official” Star Wars story or part of existing Star Wars canon in any way. The author is not profiting financially in any way as the result of the creation or publication of this piece of fan fiction.
