The stars returned to our view, and a planet and a moon was revealed after I exited my new starfighter from Hyperspace. Beside me, Master Kenobi's ship exited lightspeed as well, and we detached from our Hyperspace Rings.
Mandalore. The place I've read so much about, or heard so much about. Most of what I know about Mandalore is that it has a long history known for its fierce warriors and unrivaled skill, except for the Jedi. A few thousand years ago one of the last Great Mandalorian Wars took place, which the powerful Jedi Revan took place in. Quite an intriguing story.
"Well, the landscape is certainly nice looking," I say over the com connecting our two ships together.
"Mandalore has had a history full of war, which has taken its toll," Master Kenobi said.
"Which makes the current government absolutely ironic," I say.
We flew our starfighters down to the Mandalorian Capitol, which appeared as a huge black metal sphere surrounded by pale grounds. The port jutted out from the sphere, which is where we landed our shuttles. R5 beeped at me.
"No R5, nobody is going to steal the ship," I tell my droid. Recently I had removed his restraining bolt and added some upgrades to his systems that I had personally developed myself (yeah be jealous). Along with that his snarky attitude had improved. I wouldn't have it any other way. He beeped at me again.
"Well, if someone does try and steal the ship, just fly away! Or shock them, which is fine too," I tell him.
R5 beeps in satisfaction, and I open the cockpit, getting out alongside Master Kenobi.
We headed over to a Mandalorian Guard that was waiting with a speeder to take us to the Duchess. "The Duchess awaits your arrival, Master Jedi." The guard says.
"Far be it from us to keep the Duchess waiting," he responds for both of us.
We soon arrive at the Palace, and I gaze around at the architecture of the building with a small and quiet whistle.
"They sure are fancy," I mutter to Master Kenobi. Before he can respond, someone greets us.
"General Kenobi!" the man calls out. Obi-Wan shakes his hand.
"Thank you for meeting us Prime Minister Almec. May I introduce my Padawan Jarik Shan," Master Kenobi says, gesturing to me.
I bow respectfully. "Prime Minister." I greet.
"A pleasure to meet you Padawan Shan. I welcome you both as a servant of the people, though I am troubled by the false rumors that brought you here," Almec tells us in a worried tone. "Mandalore would never turn against the Republic. The Duchess Satine values peace more than her own life."
Had to make me wonder how a warrior culture like Mandalore produced such a peace loving ruler. Once again... IRONIC!
"Oh I'm aware of the Duchess' views," Master Kenobi says knowingly.
I perk up a little bit. So he knows Duchess Satine personally? I wonder how this is going to go.
"Master Kenobi, Mandalore's violent past is behind us. All of our warriors were exiled to our moon of Concordia. They died out years ago," Minister Almec assures us. Master Kenobi frowns.
"Are you sure? I recently encountered a man who wore Mandalorian armor. Jango Fett," he says. I remember that story he told to me. Specifically how he kicked Jango off a building while he was still tied to him. That was funny.
"Jango Fett was no more than a common bounty hunter," Minister Almec says, getting a little defensive. "How he acquired that armor is beyond me."
The discussion was interrupted as the Duchess entered the room. She wore a blue dress along with a blue headdress that showed a feeling of royalty. She was flanked by two guards and the Senator for Mandalore.
"Well, Master Kenobi, my shining knight to the rescue once again," she proclaims. I raise my eyebrows at Master Kenobi. Clearly these two have met before. The Duchess sits on her throne, which seems to glow slightly when she does.
"After all these years, you're even more beautiful than ever," Master Kenobi says- wait WHAT? Did I just hear him say that? That's something Master Skywalker would usually say. I quickly look between the two before a small grin forms on my face. This, is going to be juicy! My gosh...
"Kind words from a man who accuses me of treachery," Duchess Satine says loudly.
Well this escalated, as apparent by how the Senator, Tal Merrik I believe, looked alarmed by what she said. I look at Master Kenobi, who continues to speak.
"I would never accuse you of personal wrongdoing Duchess, however a Separatist saboteur attacked one of our Republic cruisers. A Mandalorian, saboteur," Master Kenobi says.
I take that as the cue to pull out the hologram of the recording I managed to snag of the saboteur. The Mandalorian fires his blaster a few times, doing a barrel roll as well as firing a rocket from his booster jetpack before the recording ends. The Duchess, Senator and Prime Minister look alarmed yet suspicious of the recording.
"You must be mistaken. No Mandalorian would partake in such violence. Not anymore at least. Where is this prisoner now?" Minister Almec asks us.
"He took his life rather than submit to questioning. I know these Commandos fought in many wars, often against Jedi," Master Kenobi says.
"Every one of my people is as trustworthy as I am!" Duchess Satine proclaims.
"I know we sound defensive, but-" Senator Merrik starts to say before being interrupted by the Duchess.
"Clearly your investigation was ordered because the Senate is eager to intervene in our affairs!" Duchess Satine accuses us. I cough to get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me Duchess, but we were actually given this assignment by the Jedi Council. The Senate doesn't have anything to do with it," I tell her sheepishly. Oh how I hate politics. They're boring, they suck, they're pointless, and take forever to decide on things.
The Duchess immediately calms down though upon hearing this.
"My apologies, I stand corrected," she amends. "I do not believe I have met you yet young Jedi."
"Duchess Satine, may I introduce my new Padawan, Jarik Shan," Master Kenobi says, introducing me. I offer a small bow of respect.
"It is an honor to meet you Duchess," I tell her.
"And it is a pleasure to meet the Padawan of Master Kenobi. I trust he hasn't influenced you too much?" she asks me, a small bit of mischief in her voice, directed at Obi-Wan.
I grin at her and him. "Actually, I think I drive him crazy."
Master Kenobi sighs while the Duchess smiles in amusement.
"Good to hear. General Kenobi, Padawan Shan, perhaps you'd like to accompany me on a walk through the city?" she asks, holding her hand out for Master Kenobi to take.
He helps her out of the throne and we walk away. I notice how she links her arm with Master Kenobi's with no small amount of amusement. Obi-Wan catches my smirk and ignores me. What I didn't notice was Senator Merrik widening his eyes in surprise when I was introduced, specifically at my last name. He watches us leave with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
As we wondered around the city, I couldn't help but gaze at the architecture of the place. It was similar to Coruscant, being a city world, and yet so different at the same time. And the leaves on the small trees and plants were blocky. Weird, like a video game or whatever.
"It's so good to see you again Obi-Wan, despite the circumstances," Satine tells Master Kenobi kindly. The use of only his first name makes me smirk mischievously again. Clearly these two had some history.
Your peaceful ways have paid off. Mandalore has prospered since the last time I was here," Master Kenobi says.
Duchess Satine sighs. "Unfortunately, not everyone on Mandalore believes in our commitment to peace as a sign of, progress. There is a group that calls itself Death Watch. I imagine these are the renegades you are looking for. They idolize violence and the warrior ways of the past. There are certain officials among us that are working to root out these criminals. It has been an ongoing investigation," she informs us.
"And how widespread is this Death Watch movement?" Master Kenobi asks her.
She shakes her head. "It's hardly a movement. It's a small group of hooligans who choose to vandalize public places, nothing more. We shall soon have them in our custody. We've tracked them down to our moon, Concordia," Duchess Satine tells us confidently.
"I hope you're right Duchess," Master Kenobi says.
Duchess Satine then turns her attention to me. "Well enough of this dreadful talk. I'd like to know more about the esteemed Padawan of Obi-Wan himself," she says with a smile.
I smiled back, feeling a little shy. Hey, it's a Duchess. What can you do?
"Well, at the Temple I'm considered a dueling prodigy in my class. I've been apart of the Jedi since I was three, alongside my best friend Ahsoka," I tell her.
"So you must be quite the warrior then? How does the war treat you as a, Commander?" The Duchess asks me. I barely notice that she says Commander with some hesitancy.
Master Kenobi eyes her. "Satine..."
"No it's alright Master," I quickly amend. "I'm not entirely sure what to think on my status as a Commander to be honest. Mostly I try use my fun quick witted humor to keep morale high in the middle of battle. I know we're supposed to be Peacekeepers but I honestly don't know what other people think. They're just too many different ideals."
"As a peacekeeper, we belong on the front-lines of conflict. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do our job," Master Kenobi says.
"The work of a Peacekeeper is to make sure that conflict does not arise," duchess Satine argues back.
"Oh here we go," I mutter in amusement.
"Yes, a noble description, but not a realistic one," Master Kenobi responds to her.
Duchess Satine eyes him skeptically. "Is reality what makes a Jedi abandon their ideals? Or is it simply a response to political convenience?"
Before Master Kenobi could respond, the memorial shrine in front of us explodes violently, sending the people close to it flying. I hold out my hand to shield my face, and Obi-Wan does the same to protect Satine. People around us start to scream and run away in either fear, or pain.
"Are you alright?" Master Kenobi asks us.
I nod my head. "Never better Master."
"I'm fine," Satine tells us, looking over at the scene with worry. The three of us rush over upon seeing a few people lying on the ground injured, and Satine kneels next to one, helping to support him while her guards surround the scene.
"Hooligans couldn't have arranged an attack of this scale," Master Kenobi points out.
"Then this must be the work of an off-worlder," Duchess Satine argues. I then notice a reddish orange colored symbol appear on a hologram. It seemed to be three strange slashes.
"Are you sure about that Duchess?" I say, pointing at the symbol. They look over and Satine's face turns grave.
"The symbol of the Death Watch," she says.
"This goes far beyond vandalism. This is a political statement against your government, and against you," Master Kenobi tells Satine. "You're not safe here. I'm taking you back to the palace."
Master Kenobi then helps Duchess Satine up while I continue to check the crowds, searching for any possible saboteur. We start to head away to a nearby speeder, and Master Kenobi talks to a guard.
"I want to interview everyone here. No one leaves this scene," he orders
As soon as Master Kenobi said that however, a man grows panicked and starts to run away, which I notice immediately.
"Hey you there! Stop!" I call out, immediately running after the man.
This catches Master Kenobi's attention and on seeing the running man, he gives chase as well. The man started running around the shrine, occasionally pushing people out of his way. He heads down the steps beneath the shrine, and I follow him quickly. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I notice him looking around in a panic, finding himself with no where else to go.
"Please, we just want to talk!" I tell him, stopping at the doorway.
Apparently he doesn't want to talk, because he immediately draws a blaster and starts firing yellow colored bolts at me. I dodge the first shot and pull out my lightsaber, deflecting the shots away. With a well aimed re-deflection, I manage to knock the man's blaster away as Master Kenobi skids onto the balcony. Seeing his weapon lost, the man charges at me, expecting me to be the weaker one. However I spin around the man, knocking him off of his feet with a small Force push.
"We don't want to hurt you," Master Kenobi says placatingly. Duchess Satine then appears in the entryway, looking at the scene.
"Stay back!" Master Kenobi orders her.
The man then does something unexpected, and runs to the balcony railing, getting on it before turning to us, arms held out.
"Calhava bru'chun, Dralshye'ran!" he cries out. He then leans backwards and falls off the building to his death.
"What the- what?!" I exclaim in shock as we rush over to the railing.
The man hits the glass floor beneath us with a sickening crack, and the crowd surrounding the area gasp in shock. Duchess Satine holds a hand to her mouth in horror, before rushing to the lifts. We follow her to the lower level, where she rushes to the side of the fallen man who now weakly stares at us.
"Se solu, se kad, se Darasuum kote," he says weakly.
"What is he saying," Master Kenobi asks. I gently nudge him in irritation, and he quickly understands that this is probably a more personal moment.
"Kadi, se norm'iim," he continues to say.
"Ki, kadi norm'iim," Satine responds to him quietly.
Whatever she said seemed to do the trick, as the man gave one last look to the sky before his head fell back with his eyes closed, and he died. Still not used to heavy cases of death I close my eyes for a moment before attempting to release my sorrow into the Force.
"He was speaking in the dialect they use on Concordia, our moon," Duchess Satine tells us.
"I shall like to visit this moon of yours. Perhaps we can accompany the body," Master Kenobi suggests.
Satine shakes her head. "The Concordian moon is a province with its own governor. You'll need me to escort you."
"That won't be necessary," Master Kenobi tries to say.
"Actually it will. You won't make much progress without me there, especially since you've been involved in the death of a Concordian." Duchess Satine tells us firmly.
"We didn't kill him!" Master Kenobi tries to say.
"I know. That's why I'm still talking to you," she says with a glare to Obi-Wan, before walking away. Master Kenobi looks worried.
"Well, that sucked," I say, thinking of the only thing to comment about our situation.
"Yes, it did. This just went from a simple truth confirmation to a bombing investigation, maybe worse." Master Kenobi says gravely.
After a little bit, we managed to take a small shuttle with the Duchess and a few of her guards up to Concordia, where we would start our investigation of the place. Satine came out dressed in more casual wear instead of the fine blue gown from before. On our way over we took a good look at the moon, which was littered with brown and a little bit of green.
Master Kenobi frowns. "I thought Concordia was an agricultural settlement."
"Before the end of our wars, they turned it into a mining base. The sheer number of mining facilities here nearly destroyed our forests. They're finally growing back," Satine informs us.
The landscape was certainly quite pretty, green from the newer forests surrounding the bright city that we were headed to. The shuttle landed in the hanger where we were greeted by an official looking person escorted by two guards. We exited and the official greeted us.
"Duchess Satine, you are most welcome," he says charmingly
"Thank you, Governor Vizsla. May I present Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, representing the Jedi Council and his Padawan learner. Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of. He has been working to find the members of the Death Watch," Duchess Satine introduces us.
The Governor wastes no time in getting down to business.
"I take it you've heard the rumours about Satine, about how she's supposedly leading Mandalore into an alliance with the Separatists," Governor Vizsla says with a small amount of displeasure.
"Our only instructions are to seek the truth," Master Kenobi assures him.
The Governor looks to the coffin containing the man who bombed the shrine.
"This was the man who bombed the memorial shrine?" he asks as the coffin was escorted past them.
Master Kenobi nods "Yes. He was apparently part of Death Watch."
"A worrisome prospect. If you'll pardon me, General, we must attend to the body," Governor Vizsla says, walking off to follow the coffin, along with his guards.
Me and Duchess Satine were about to follow after them when Master Kenobi stopped us.
"I need a favor from you two. Please keep Governor Vizsla occupied at dinner," Master Kenobi tells us. I raise a brow at him in confusion.
"Say what?" I ask.
Satine stares at him. "Where are you going?"
"I'd like to see one of these mining facilities for myself," Master Kenobi says with a small grin. I roll my eyes and cross my arms.
"Oh this will be good." I mutter.
"You mean you want to determine if they're still operational?" Satine asks him with a stare.
"I hope to determine they're not. I want you to wear this earpiece so that we can stay in contact, In case you run into trouble while I'm gone," Master Kenobi says, handing the equipment to Satine.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you Master?" I ask him. "I could be very useful if you can't get through a locked door."
"That won't be necessary Jarik. Besides, having two Jedi running around here could cause some suspicion. Stay here and protect the Duchess incase the Death Watch or any others attempt to harm her," Master Kenobi tells me, getting on a small speeder.
"Alright Master, if you say so."
"Remember that you are here under my protection. Please try not to cause problems where none yet exist," Duchess Satine calls out to him.
"Think of me as searching for solutions," Master Kenobi responds with a grin.
"That's a weak line Master and you know it," I tell him, shaking my head.
He grins. "Well I've certainly had better that's for sure."
"I have to tell you I'm opposed to all of this," Satine exclaims as Master Kenobi starts up the speeder.
"I'd be disappointed if you weren't," Master Kenobi says, rushing out of the hanger. What a troll.
"I'd feel a lot better if you had went with him," Duchess Satine tells me. I shrug in response.
"Well, while he seems to get into trouble a lot, he is right about two Jedi running around as being suspicious. I would be as well." I tell her.
Later in the evening, me and Duchess Satine headed over to the dining room, where Governor Vizsla was standing near the window with a holopad in his hands. While I had to worry a little about Master Kenobi, he's been in worse situations before. Honestly, I've been in even worse than this as well.
"Forgive me Duchess. I'm writing a condolence letter to the dead man's family, and making arrangements for them to retrieve his body," Governor Vizsla told us.
"Of course Governor, very proper. General Kenobi will be joining us shortly. He said he needed to, meditate," she responded, using the meditating excuse I told her to give.
"You didn't join him Padawan...?" he started to say, not knowing my name.
"Shan. Padawan Jarik Shan Governor. It's a pleasure to meet you," I tell him respectfully.
To my surprise, the Governor goes stiff before he drops his data pad. It clatters to the ground and he stands there before quickly going to retrieve it.
"Are you alright Governor?" I ask him.
"My apologies Padawan Shan. Just a, slight shock from the data pad, that's all," Vizsla reassures us.
However I don't feel the same way. From what I can tell the data pad was just fine, and I thought I sensed some feelings of surprise and anger from him before he dropped it. I didn't comment, as there could be a simple explanation, yet I'm a little bit suspicious of him now.
It was later in the evening, and yet there was still no sign or contact from Master Kenobi, which started to get me worried. To make matters worse, I could sense that the Governor was feeling a little curious at this as well, but ignored it for now, much to my relief. It didn't help that Satine was nervous, having never been one for lying before.
"Someone is feeding misinformation to the Republic Senate, saying that Death Watch is taking over Mandalore. Who stands to gain from these lies?" Satine asks.
"Death Watch, of course," the Governor responds calmly.
"But why target me?" Satine asks in confusion.
"You lead the Council of Neutral Systems, thus, you threaten the Separatist goals," Governor Vizsla explains. "Take it as a compliment Duchess. Someone very powerful is working towards your downfall."
I raise a brow at his calm demeanor while he talks. He might just be downplaying it to make the situation less worrisome for the Duchess, I'm not entirely sure. The whole situation seems suspicious to me.
"General Kenobi's meditation is taking a rather long time," Vizsla remarks.
There's the million credit question.
"You know the Jedi. They never do anything by halves," Satine says, albeit nervously.
"It's not uncommon for some Jedi meditations to go on for longer periods of time Governor. Sometimes they can last for an hour or more," I reassure him. "I'm not one for meditations though," I admit.
I then notice Satine move her hand slowly up to her ear, pretending to rub her neck. Master Kenobi is probably contacting her then.
"May I offer the both of you a drink?" Vizsla offers.
"Yes, certainly," Satine says.
Governor Vizla then walked over to the fridge to prepare a few more drinks for the rest of us. After a few moments he turns back around.
"Apologies. We're out of ice," Vizsla tells us.
"Sorry, to hear that," Satine says slowly. I supress the urge to smack my hand against my forehead in exasperation. This was such a ridiculous situation.
"Perhaps we should begin dinner, without General Kenobi," Governor Vizsla says. This just took a wrong turn.
"I don't know if I can do that at the moment," Satine says hesitantly.
I can only imagine what Master Kenobi's response would be. Vizsla apparently picked up on Satine's hesitation.
"Are you not feeling well Duchess?" he asks, sounding concern, although to me it seemed fake.
"Perhaps some fresh air will do me some good," Satine says, and I take that as the 'Obi-Wan is in trouble cue.'
"Shall I escort you outside?" The Governor offers.
"No thank you Governor. I think Padawan Shan will be a decent escort for me," she says. I get up as well to follow her.
"Of course Duchess," I say respectfully. We both leave the dining room and once there's nobody in sight, we break off into a quick run for the hanger.
"I wonder what trouble Master Kenobi is in now?" I question out loud.
"He certainly hasn't changed thats for sure!" Satine tells me.
Once we arrive at the mine where Master Kenobi had stopped at, we get off our speeders and notice that the one Obi-Wan took is still waiting by the entrance.
"Abandoned transport. Such a good sign," I say sarcastically as Satine opens up her com-link.
"Where exactly are you?" she asks.
"Listen for the loud metallic clanging sound. That'll be the machine thats about to smash me into bits!" I hear Master Kenobi exclaim. I raise my eyebrow in surprise.
"Well that's a new one," I mutter thoughtfully.
"Yep, I definitely can hear it Master!" I say loudly into the comlink, annoying him even further.
I look at the mine entrance and notice a small control panel. I look at it for a moment before pressing a few buttons, activating an alarm.
"Distraction 101 is in motion," I tell Satine with a smirk.
We move inside the mining facility quickly, and crouch along the other side of the tracks as two Mandalorians run past us to check out the disturbance. We quickly made our way into the room, where I searched for the controls to stop the conveyor belt. If it wasn't a life or death situation I would have laughed at the position Master Kenobi was in.
"Well it certainly took you long enough!" he exclaims in irritation at us.
"You know, we haven't saved you yet!" Satine tells him.
I take the moment to add in a small jab at him while I look over the control console. "Just be glad I'm not laughing at you right now Master!"
"Oh that is so reassuring!" he says sarcastically.
Master Kenobi starts to move closer to the crushing blocks as I start hitting a few buttons.
"Anytime Jarik!" Master Kenobi yells.
"I've almost got it, hold on!" I reply.
"Jarik! Turn it off!" Master Kenobi yells, about to be crushed.
I finally hit the final button and the crusher stops moving, allowing him to pass by unscathed. We all sigh in relief before moving on to the next control board that was linked to the grinder. How pleasant. Before I could get closer too it, someone grabbed me from behind and turned me around, punching me in the face and knocking me to the ground.
"Ahh! What the heck?!" I exclaim wth a grunt of pain.
One Mandalorian advances on me, while another goes for Satine. The Mandalorian tries to punch my face again, but I roll out of the way before leaping up, pulling out my lightsaber. He responds by shooting lasers at me with his blaster, which I deflect. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Satine kick a barrel into the grinder while being restrained by the warrior, allowing Master Kenobi to leap out of harms way just in time.
I turn my attention back towards the Mandalorian, and quickly run up to him before kicking his helmet, sending him to the floor unconscious beside the one Master Kenobi knocked down.
"Any second sooner and I would have been dead," Master Kenobi says. I roll my eyes in exasperation.
"Your welcome," I say, leading the way back to the lifts. Once we enter, Satine starts up a conversation again.
"For a man sworn to peace, you take an unseemly pleasure in the injuries of others," Satine says.
"For a woman sworn to nonviolence, you didn't seem concerned that I could've been killed back there!" Master Kenobi shoots back. I sigh at the already common argument between them.
"But you weren't, and I still haven't heard my thanks," Satine says.
"Well you certainly haven't changed," Master Kenobi remarks.
"Duchess, Master, you're both pretty. Can we go home now?" I ask the two, interrupting their bickering.
Before they can respond, the door opens to reveal another Mandalorian warrior. He doesn't have any time to react before Master Kenobi delivers a quick series of punches to his helmet, knocking him unconscious.
"This is not the way we came in," Master Kenobi states in alarm.
Apparently, just to our very luck we appeared in the center of the Death Watch camp, and they noticed us as well. Wonderful. Master Kenobi attempted to get the lift to head back into the mines but it wasn't working. Death Watch started to fire at us, forcing us away from the elevator and destroying it in the process. We took cover behind a pile of rocks.
"Well, so much for going that way," I remark, getting up and activating my lightsaber, deflecting the shots aimed for us.
"We'll have to stand and fight," Obi-Wan said before smirking. "But in your case just stand."
Satine glared at him as Master Kenobi went to grab his lightsaber, before realizing it was wasn't there.
"Missing something Master?" I ask, deflecting another shot.
"Blast it! Jarik, Cover me." Master Kenobi orders, and I nod in understanding.
He grabs the downed Death Watch troopers gun and uses it to fire back at the other warriors. He shoots down one before throwing the warrior's jetpack at the flyers, shooting it to create an explosion and a cloud of smoke. I pause for a moment.
"Uncivilized huh Master?" I ask with a grin.
Before he can respond, one of the warriors charges through the smoke with a battle cry, knocking Master Kenobi to the ground. As he aimed at him, Satine suddenly got his attention.
"Hey you!" she exclaimed, throwing a rock at his helmet, which knocked his head back a little. He growled and started firing at the Duchess, so I stood in front of her and deflected the shots. Master Kenobi then knocked the warriors legs out from under him and knocked him away. We both ran towards Satine's hiding place.
"Satine!" Master Kenobi exclaimed in worry.
"I'm fine Obi-Wan," she reassured him.
We then noticed who seemed to be the apparent leader striding over to us, with three others in tow. He takes one glance at the Mandalorian we just defeated and shot him without a care. What a jerk. I notice Master Kenobi's lightsaber on his belt, and Obi-Wan does as well. When the leader stops, he takes his helmet off to reveal Governor Vizsla.
"Governor?!" Satine asks in surprise. I roll my eyes.
"What a shock," I mutter.
"For generations my ancestors fought proudly as warriors against the Jedi. Now that woman tarnishes the very name Mandalorian," Vizsla says proudly, although hatefully at the end. He then glares at me with rage. "And then you... Jarik Shan, I will make sure you die at my hands today! You're a menace to our people!"
The amount of hatred he has directed at me is leaving me stunned. Like, what?
"Geez, what crawled up his armor and died," I mutter before replying to him.
"Yeah, I don't know you, that's harsh, and I don't like you so I don't care," I say nonchalantly.
Vizsla glares at me again before throwing Master Kenobi his lightsaber, who promptly ignites it, striking his signature pose. Vizsla then pulls a saber hilt from his back and activates it, revealing a creepy black blade that hums with a strange whistling sound.
"This lightsaber was taken from your Jedi Temple, by my ancestors during the fall of the Old Republic. Since then many Jedi have fallen upon its blade. Prepare yourself to join them!" Vizsla exclaims.
"Jarik, stay with the duchess. Keep her safe." Master Kenobi orders me. I nod and move to stand by her.
Vizsla charges forward with a battle cry, and Master Kenobi blocks his attack, striking back with a few of his own. For a non-force wielding combatant with a lightsaber, I have to admit that I'm a little impressed that Vizsla can handle a saber as well as he can. Of course he's by no means a match for Obi-Wan, who easily force pushes him away.
His troops catch him and he shrugs them off, charging at Obi-Wan with a twirl again. Master Kenobi dodges and knees him in the chest, causing Vizsla to stumble, and then kicks the Dark Saber away. Vizsla responds with a series of kicks and punches that knock Master Kenobi back, allowing Vizsla to reclaim his lightsaber.
"Master!" I exclaim in worry, rushing out in front of him. Upon my arrival, Vizsla's eyes flash angrily.
"You, you're dead!" Vizsla says angrily, charging my way.
I dodge his few strikes and then retaliate with a few simple attacks of my own. Vizsla manages to block them however, and so I switch to a more Ataru form of combat, and quickly leap over Vizsla, kicking his leg before moving to force push him back over to his warriors, where he lands on his back. Master Kenobi joins me as Vizsla angrily looks at us, knowing he can't take on two Jedi at once.
"Warriors finish them!" he orders, and the Mandalorians comply, moving forward and preparing their booster rockets. They fire at us, and Obi-Wan and I manage to evade them, however the rocks turn around, tracking us.
"Satine!" Master Kenobi exclaims, and we run back to the mine entrance, where we all jump down the shaft. The missiles explode just above us, and we tumble to the ground in a mess of debris.
I cough and then slowly look up.
"All things considered, I'd say this was successful," I say with a grin.
*:*:*
"I suppose we're even now," Satine told Obi-Wan as we headed out of the original mine entrance.
"How so?" he asks her in confusion.
"I saved your life, you both saved mine," she responded.
"Huh. I'm still expecting a thank you Master," I say with a grin. He rolls his eyes and finally says it.
"Thank you Jarik."
"You're welcome."
The next day back on Mandalore, we were all heading towards the ship the Coronet, where Anakin and a squad of clones are waiting, as well as R5 and R2.
"But if Pre Vizsla fled, we have no way of knowing how widespread the Death Watch movement really is," Tal Merrik said.
"It's obvious the Separatists are supporting the Death Watch," Master Kenobi states.
Duchess Satine looks appalled by the idea. "I disagree. I told you I wanted to stay out of this conflict."
Master Kenobi shakes his head. "Given the current situation, I'm afraid that may no longer be possible," he tells her gravely.
"I thought you of all people would understand my position on this matter. I will never be a part of this war," Satine says angrily, storming off to her ship with Senator Merrik and her guards. Master Kenobi sighs.
"Well that went well," I manage to say.
Anakin then walks up with Cody, Rex, and a small squad of clones for escort duty on the voyage to Coruscant.
"Reporting for escort duty, General," Master Skywalker says, standing at attention. I raise a brow at his behavior.
"Oh, Anakin. Am I glad to see you," Master Kenobi says in relief.
Anakin notices instantly.
"You sound tired," he says.
"The peaceful ways of the locals wore me out a bit," Master Kenobi tells him.
Anakin eyes him with a skeptical stare.
"Uh huh," he says before turning to me. "Alright Jarik, what happened here?"
"Well, its kind of hard to explain... but I think Master Kenobi have been in a relationship with the Duchess," I whisper to him, my hand up to my face sneakily.
Anakin stares at me in shock before looking to Obi-Wan with a mischievous grin. Currently Master Kenobi is staring at me in surprise.
"Is that true Master?" Anakin asks with a devilish grin. Master Kenobi immediately gets defensive.
"No it is not! We just, knew each other a long time ago that's all," he says, looking away from us.
Me and Master Skywalker shoot each other knowing grins as we walk towards the Coronet. Oh we are never going to let him live this down, especially once Ahsoka knows.
