The Lawless

Obi-Wan knew he didn't have the strength or the ability to defeat Maul. He knew if from the moment the sick bastard came back into his life.

The next few moments were laid out before him.

Satine would die by the Darksaber, her blood staining his hands while she gasped out her final words.

"Your noble flaw is a weakness shared by you and your Duchess," Darth Maul snarled. "You should have chosen the Dark Side Master Jedi."

Bo-Katan will not be able to make it in time.

Mandalore would fall to the demon, and the system would be plunged into another Civil War.

"Your emotions betray you...your fear...and yes, your anger! Let your anger deepen your hatred!"

He saw it so clearly, the gruesome little picture of what-ifs and nightmares.

"Don't...listen to...him...Obi." Satine choked out.

"Quiet!"

"...you can kill me...but you will never destroy me...it takes strength to resist the Dark Side. Only the WEAK embrace it! It is more powerful than you know."

"And those who oppose it will be more powerful than you'll ever be!" There was a faint growl. Obi-Wan's voice softened. "I know where you're from...I've been to your village...I know the decision to join the Dark Side wasn't yours. The Night Sisters made it for - "

"Silence! You think you know me?!" Maul shouted. "It was I who languished for years thinking of nothing but YOU! Nothing but this MOMENT!"

Maul gave a cackle. "And now...the perfect tool for my vengeance...is in front of us...I never planned on killing you...but I will make you share my pain...Kenobi."

Maul stabbed her.

Obi-Wan diverted the path of the Dark Saber only just.

It scraped the edges of Satine's spine and through organs that are not her heart. The blow isn't lethal...but the pain in Satine's eyes while it happens is heartbreaking.

He understood, suddenly, the intoxicating, all-consuming desire to kill and destroy.

Maul cackled while he tosses her to the ground.

Obi-Wan didn't answer, too consumed by thoughts to get Satine out of the palace. Get her away from here, she needs medical attention I cannot lose you too

He scrambled forward, gathering Satine in his arms.

Her breath was shallow but steady. A faint smile crossed her blood-stained lips while she stared up at him.

An explosion shook the walls.

Help had arrived - maybe too late.

"Sir!" Clone shouted down the hall.

"What?"

"What is it, trooper?"

"A Corellian G9 Rigger-class light frieghter is hailing us - it's an emergency - we can't get a frequency!"

"Corellian G9 - " Bant glanced at her master, eyes wide both of them reaching the same conclusion. "That's Anakin's ship!"

They sprinted down the hall, ignoring the fact they had been about to head to the mess hall.

"Open all channels!" Bant barked when they reached the command center, taking control over the microphones. The technicians - citizens and clones alike - were working rapidly, trying to access every channel - legal and illegal. "This is General Bant Eerin of the Republic Clone Army - do you copy?"

"It could be a trap, Bant," Kit whispered gently.

She ignored him, desperately trying not to picture the face of Anakin as a little blonde boy trotting at the heels of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "I repeat - do you copy?"

Static crackled, and she held up her hand when a clone made towards the switches.

"I'm just turning up the volume sir - "

A muffled voice came through, similar to the awful autotune they put in songs nowadays

"Amplify the signal," Kit ordered, taking his place beside Bant and leaning in. One of his tentacles fell onto the control table. "Repeat that again, pilot."

"...is General Obi-Wan Kenobi. I...aboard Duchess Satine...needs intensive medical attention….impaled by...saber...spinal injury...loss...blood."

"Obi-Wan?" Kit Fisto murmured in confusion, looking over his shoulder to check the ship's identification and frowning.

"Obi-Wan!" Bant shouted, the Healer in her overpowering the friend. "Obi-Wan, who needs medical attention!"

"Satine, Bant!" Obi-Wan's voice was growing frantic and panicky. "Permission to board the facility?"

"It could be a trap," Kit muttered, clearly confused. "Why is Obi-Wan in this sector of the galaxy?"

"Permission to dock?" Obi-Wan shouted.

Bant couldn't wait for her master to make up his mind. "Permission granted! Meet me and a team in dock A4!"

Obi-Wan cut the transmission, leaving the room filled with static. Everyone stood in place, glancing at each other, not quite believing what had just happened.

"What are you waiting for?" Bant demanded, punching in the medical team's frequency on her comlink. "Flies open the hatches! Be prepared for an attack - they could have Seppies on their tail - Cable oh thank goodness you answered."

She shrugged out of her cloak and tossed it to Kit before bolting out of the room, towards the docks she had ordered Obi-Wan to land in. "Cable, I need a surgery chamber near dock A4 prepped and ready. All medics and personal on standby. We're dealing with a middle-aged, human female with a spinal injury caused by a lightsaber and Force knows else."

Her clone main clone medic - Cable - was quiet for a moment, processing what she had spoken. Emergency surgeries were not something he was unused to. Quietly, he murmured, "Who's the patient?"

"Duchess Satine Kryze."

Cable blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered. "Copy that, General."

Bant smiled in thanks, and continued to run down the halls. She vaulted down a staircase instead of taking the lifts, surprising the medical team that was running towards the docks, a stretcher among them.

Thank goodness emergency surgery is near these docks, Bant thought while they skidded into the port.

The Twilight was just entering - Anakin wasn't most definitely not aboard. She could only sense Obi-Wan, his swirling emotions while he landed the shuttle gently and opened the ramp - and the lesser, barely there presence of Satine Kryze, fighting for every breath

Cut and Josh - the two with the stretcher and dehabiloat - followed Bant.

Obi-wan practically sprinted down the ramp, his face white, eyes bloodshot and wild-eyed, dressed in black Mandalorian armor. "MaulstabbedherItriedtostaunchtheflowofbloodsheslosingoxygen-"

"Obi-Wan!" Bant cried, grasping his shoulders while the clones moved up the ramp to locate the noticed there was blood on his armor and hands. "Deep breath."

He closed his eyes, running a hand through his dirt-streaked hair. He swallowed hard, tears trickling down his face. "Maul stabbed her with the Dark Saber - it missed most organs - scraped the spine - "

She ignored the bits about Darth Maul, filing the information away to analyze later. She could hear the murmured voices of the clones, moving the Duchess, quick and careful while they moved her onto the stretcher. "How long ago was the puncture wound?"

"Eleven hours but - "

"Is that all the wounds she sustained?"

Obi-Wan watched desperately while the clones moved the stretcher down the ramp, picking up speed while they moved the Duchess away, towards surgery - or death.

"Obi-Wan!" Bant urged, stepping in front of him to block his view. Goodness, he's in shock too.

"She was tortured - I don't know for how long - three, four days."

Bant did her best not to grimace. She knew what happened to Mandalorian prisoners...especially political prisoners. Urging her closest friend down the ramp, she was ever thankful for a clone - Flapper - to come forward and drape a weighted blanket around Obi-Wan's shoulders. "Are there health conditions I need to know about? Allergies? Any recent operations?"

They were in the reception room now. Obi-Wan froze in his tracks, staring into nothing - he didn't even notice Kit coming into the waiting area.

"Obi-Wan! Are there - "

He turned his gaze, speaking in a whisper. "She - anaphylactic allergy to walnuts. She gets hives when touching latex. High blood pressure. She takes antidepressants - Serotonin One, last I knew."

"Operations? Procedures? Any chance of pregnancy?"

"No - no, not that I know of."

She squeezed his hand and making to turn into the surgery room.

Obi-Wan tugged her back, his grip almost painful. "Bant - I can't lose her too. I can't lose Satine too."

Bant offered a sad smile. "I'll do my best, Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, sinking into a chair and putting his head in his hands.

Kit watched his padawan disappear into surgery room, the door shutting behind her.

The fate of Mandalore was in her hands now.

Sighing heavily, Kit made his way to the young man and sat down beside him. He draped Bant's cloak over Obi-Wan's weighted shock blanket. "Obi-Wan?"

"I can't lose her too, Master. I can't lose her."

"I know, son," Kit murmured, rubbing Obi-Wan's back. "I know."

"Obi-Wan?" Bant touched his shoulder gently, not entirely surprised when he lifted his head from where it was pillowed in his hand almost immediately. She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile upon looking at how bloodshot his eyes were.

"And?" He whispered, his voice hoarse and scared.

"She'll live."

The tension seemed to leave Obi-Wan in a whoosh. He slumped, covering his face and giving a shaky breath. "Oh thank the Force - Bant, thank you."

Bant embraced him when he stood. Someone must have convinced him to shower and change, for he smelled more like smoke than gunfire now, and he wore leggings and a black compression shirt instead of armor. He held on for awhile, and she swore she heard him sniff.

"Can I see her?" Obi-Wan eventually murmured, pulling away and wiping his eyes.

"Do you have a moment to discuss the surgery - surgeries, really?"

Obi-Wan blinked, looking a little startled before nodding. "Yeah - yes, of course."

Indicating he should sit down, Bant dug out the comlink and set it on the floor. He dimmed the lights without asking, watching the holoimage spark into existence.

"My god."

Bant grimaced, watching the scan of the Duchess spiral in the area for a moment. "I'll be blunt - this was one of the hardest cases I've ever had...the Duchess - Satine - she must have survived on sheer willpower."

Obi-Wan cracked a smile. "Sounds like my girl."

She gave him a sidelong glance, but then looked back at the x-rays. "The lightsaber - "

"Dark saber."

"Dark saber - it scraped along her spine, chipping the lumbar vertebrae. The nerves are completely shot - spinal fluid leaked out into the body, which can cause a whole host of problems. The puncture wounds can affect the short term memory, cognitive problems, hearing loss, motor function... She may be able to walk again, given extensive nerve regenerative therapy and a few surgeries."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. "Oh...great."

"The saber also caused a puncturing of the small intestine, causing bacteria and food particles to leak into the bloodstream. We gave her antibiotics, hopefully that can save one of her intestines."

"That's not everything?" He whispered, not bothering to hide his tears.

Bant sighed, sitting beside him. "There is a severe laceration of the liver - which should heal on its own. We had to remove her left kidney due to extended dehydration. There were whiplashes on her feet and shoulders - "

"Torture?"

"Mm hmm. No evidence of truth serum though, or any puncture wounds that indicating it ever happened. There are electrical burns on her neck, a hairline fracture on the left side of her jaw, one broken on the left side of her ribs, three fractured ribs on the right that miraculously didn't puncture her lungs - though they are bruised. Her right shoulder and right hip were dislocated, we had to put pins in her left wrist -"

"She's left handed," Obi-Wan murmured, almost to himself. "Bant, is that all?"

Bant leaned back in her chair. "I mean, there was a bunion on her left toe. I like that purple butterfly tattoo on her hip too."

Obi-Wan gave a strained chuckle, giving her a glance. "I like it too."

Giving a smile, Bant looked back at the x-rays. "Her oxygen levels are fine. Blood pressure a little high, but since you did say she had problems with it I'm not overly concerned."

Obi-Wan tensed again, staring at the x-rays. "Bant…"

"Her stomach and the rest of her bones I didn't mention are fine too..."

He put his head in his hands, releasing what might have been a sob. "Gods...what life have I subjected her too?"

"Obi-Wan - Obes. Look at me." Bant knelt in front of him, gently grasping his wrists and tugging them away. "She wouldn't even be breathing if weren't for you. You can't harbor any survivor's guilt, not when she's alive in the next room. Do you hear me?"

Obi-Wan eventually nodded, glancing away and rubbing a rough hand over his eyes. "Can I see her, Bant? Please?"

"Must you be so dramatic?"

Obi-Wan glanced up sharply from where his head was pillowed by his arms on the bed, being graced with a small smile and the kindest - and perhaps a bit confused - azure eyes. He chuckled and pressed her knuckles to his lips. "It's part of my charm, my dear."

"Debatable," she whispered, using her thumb to wipe away the tears falling down his face.

He kissed her wrist, leaning into the touch, remembering how only days ago she had done the very same thing, believing she was dying, bleeding out in his arms, hanging to life by a mere thread.

"Thank the Force you're - "

"Why can't I feel my legs? What's going on?"

He sighed, shoulders sinking at her wild expression, knowing it had been pointless to believe she would be too drugged up to notice something was wrong.

"Obi, what happened?"

There was no use sugar-coating it.

"Maul," he practically spat the name, "tried to sever your spine. I - I was able to move enough - it nicked your spine, chipped some vertebraea - you'll walk again - extensive therapy but - "

"Obi," Satine pressed her fingers to his lips, silencing him quickly. "I meant on Mandalore."

"Your sister helped me leave the system."

"Bo? Bo helped you leave? Are you sure?"

"I would recognize the Kryze fire anywhere, my dear."

Satine stared at the ceiling, pressing her lips together. She glanced at the IV in her other arm, nose wrinkling before she looked past him, to the stars. "Where are we?"

"A medical station. Bant and Master Fisto are stationed here. Bant saved your life."

"Lovely. Another debt."

Obi-Wan shook her head at the jest, and reached out to brush some hair from her eyes. "I know the situation isn't ideal but...you're alive, Satine."

"While my people are dying at the hands of madmen. While my sister, my - Korkie! Have you any word-"

He grimaced, shaking his head. "No, I have not. Our scanners are trying to find him - we'll find him, Satine. He'll be okay - he's a Mandalorian Kryze. He's pretty resourceful."

"He's a child, Ben."

Obi-Wan knew his fellow Jedi were watching, waiting for a moment they could come in and check on his riddur. He leaned forward, wiping the tears from her eyes, kissing her on lips because he really did not care anymore about what the Order thought about their relationship. He was in enough trouble as it were.

"You certainly have a knack for getting into trouble, my dear."

"Di'kut," she muttered, pushing him away jokingly. "Get a medic in here."

Author's note: hellooooo

I had this sitting in a draft for "The Unlawful Siege" but ... That plot changed but this was too good to delete.

Enjoy!

ii Digestive Reader ii