Mission to Haariden

During this time, the political climate of Haariden was volatile, and outsiders were not welcome. Each side in the civil war thought the Senate was in league with the other—thus all visitors were vulnerable to attack. Roving militant patrols posed a constant danger and threat. They knew the new defensive arrivals protecting the scientists were Jedi, but didn't care, as they were out for revenge. Their bravado would shock Kenobi, who later wondered at the state of the galaxy in which such a world as Haariden, only a short time ago, would have respected the Jedi or at lease feared the Senate enough not to attack a rescue mission.

Arrival on Haariden
Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were assigned to the Jedi mission, along with Master Soara Antana and her Padawan Darra Thel-Tanis, who was wounded in the leg with a chemically charged blaster bolt in a violent attack by the Haariden squads. The Jedi, from the moment they arrived on the planet, had also felt a repressive darkness that seemed to hang in the air and dim the strength and power of the Force. The feeling affected 14-year-old Skywalker more so, Kenobi detected, as his Padawan was sensitive to the dark side of the Force, feeling it sooner and deeper than Obi-Wan had at his age.[1] Kenobi could also feel a disturbance in the Living Force within the wounded, unconscious Thel-Tanis, which worried him. This dark, foreboding effect was later determined to emanate from the Force Blank Granta Omega, masquerading as one of the rescued scientists, "Tic Verdun," who in the Jedi's very presence had hidden himself in the Force. Omega had done this once before, a year earlier in 27 BBY, on the planet Ragoon VI.[2]

As Thel-Tanis was recuperating in a local village shelter, the Jedi team contacted the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and the High Council committed itself to pressuring the Haaridens for a cease-fire, which clearly would take some time, however, as no one on either side of the civil war knew exactly who was in charge. The Temple also promised to send a medic for Darra, but it would take two days.

Meanwhile, as Kenobi and Antana made a preemptive nighttime strike against the unsuspecting Haariden patrols camped at the edge of the besieged village, "Tic Verdun" approached Skywalker, who was guarding Thel-Tanis, to satisfy the curiosity of a "scientist" about the nature of the Force (for Omega was a Force Blank, not a Force-sensitive). Anakin was grateful that the Force "sustained" him, but at the same time, it seemed so vast, complex, and unfathomably deep that he often felt "lonely." Picking up on that thought, Verdun observed, almost as if he understood more than he should: "And you will never truly understand it ... yet you will spend your life trying. And sometimes you ask yourself, is it worth it? Is it foolish of you to devote yourself to trying to know the unknowable?" To which Anakin countered, repeating a Jedi saying: "Wisdom is not what we seek ... Wisdom can only be found." Verdun smiled: "We are lucky to have you with us."[1] Seeming to Anakin both younger and somehow wiser than he'd at first thought, "Tic" had made him feel better, something which the boy hadn't thought anyone was capable of doing. (Anakin, somewhat downcast, had felt responsible for Darra's injury because of his own overconfidence and lack of trust in the ability of others to protect themselves.)

Avoiding bloodshed while incapacitating the Haariden troops, who had been paid by "an outlander" to split off from their unit to attack the Jedi, Kenobi and Antana asked the patrols what this wealthy stranger looked like. But the troops could not recall his aspect, were strangely unable to remember anything at all about his appearance—one of the tell-tale marks of a Force Blank. Even so, the troop captain, Noq Welflet, did know his name, and gave it freely: Granta Omega. Kenobi, of course, had already suspected it, but he did not know why Omega continued to hunt him and his Padawan. He knew Omega was not a Sith nor a Force-sensitive being, but that he did collect Sith artifacts and somehow knew how to cloak his presence in the Force: to have such a capability, and to become so neutral in the Living Force, as to fade from the memory of the people who met him, was testament of his power. That he was cunning and viewed the Jedi as despicable was clear, though exactly why was anyone's guess.

Leaving the soldiers, who were weary of warfare but who would nevertheless return to their unit, the Jedi backtracked to the village, regrouped with their Padawans and scientists, then trekked safely to their transport, where all boarded with weary relief. Were it not for Darra and the scientists, Kenobi would have stayed on Haariden with Skywalker to hunt Omega down for twice attempting to murder Jedi and to bring him to justice. Once again, however, justice would have to be postponed.

Arriving back on Coruscant, Kenobi was yet determined to get to the bottom of the Omega mystery. With the help of Temple archivist Jocasta Nu, he discovered that Omega's business interests, like his homes, extended across the galaxy; he had many acquaintances but no friends. The man hid behind a blank wall that he himself created—virtually invisible. As a speciality, he ferreted out rare minerals, bought the source, created shortages, and raised the price: he kept his enormous wealth diversified and hidden in countless secret accounts. Yet with all this, Omega remained an enigma, and it would be extremely difficult and taxing to track him down.

Meanwhile, at the suggestion of Master Yoda, Anakin underwent individual lightsaber training with Soara Anatana, a master of the art; she was also a tough teacher whose stern, unadorned instruction Anakin grew to appreciate. She sought to help him deflate his own exalted ego, for it made him weak, endangering others.

In his further research on Omega, Kenobi discovered what should have been obvious: that Omega could not have been specifically hunting Kenobi and his apprentice. He was already on Haariden, absorbed in something else, could not have known the Jedi were there, nor had time enough to plan for his attack. Omega's preoccupation had been with titanite, about which it was only recently discovered that, in its synthesized form, a substance could be extracted that was a key component in bacta. Moreover, one of Omega's vast land holdings was on the planet Thyferra (the only place the alazhi plant grew, to produce alazhi lotion—bacta's main ingredient), thereby allowing Omega to corner the galactic market on bacta. One of the scientific mapping expedition's aims was to get a complete picture of where the titanite deposits were, to persuade the planet's two warring sides to come to an agreement.

But Omega, who never employed many people and whose own scientific training had been superb, didn't require a scientific team, neither did he want the sanctioned team's inconclusive report (unfinished due to the fighting) to reach the Senate.

Appearances

 * Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise