Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse
'Just breathe, in and out.' Satine remembered the time Obi-Wan had shown her the ways of meditation. They'd been merely more than kids back then. The time had changed them both. Obi-Wan had been thrust into a life torn by war and loss. Satine would never forget the night he had called her about Qui-Gons' death. He had sound so lost and broken, barely keeping himself together. Her heart always ached when she saw him like this. And then there had been the boy. Anakin. The child from Tatooine and his new apprentice. Obi-Wan had clamped down his own grief, so he could be a steadying presence for him. They had a rocky start but she knew these two had become inseparable. Like brothers. Some of his lost joy returned with Anakin. But over the past years they had begun to drift apart again. Satine had seen how it hurt her jedi to be shut out by his best friend. And the worst of all was, that he couldn't comprehend why and that kept tearing him apart. The silence was what followed. It looked like the stoic mask he wore while being on the battlefield was the only thing that kept him somewhat sane.
She herself had become calmer and more collected, trying to fulfill her duties as Mandalores' new leader. The Mandalorians had partaken in many wars in the past, so maintaining a neutral and pacifist policy had led to resistance. Her people were split into two fractions, the ones who supported her and the ones who praised the 'Old Mandalore'. Banning the last Death Watch members to the moon Concordia had been a vital strike for her to stabilize her reign. Them showing up again had been a shock, there numbers had decreased over the past years so she couldn't quite grasp how they reformed again. 'Maybe they are being supported from someone.'
Thinking about Obi-Wan, Satines' stomach flipped again. She knew that he had been injured by the Death Watch soldier. Her fingers found their way to the lightsaber which she had strapped to her forearm underneath her jacket. 'I have to find him, fast.'
Bypassing her guards, Satine had snuck out of the palace in the middle of the night, taking one of the small ships in the hanger to head to Concordia. She wasn't the best pilot but her father had taught her a few things when she had been a kid. Overcoming the planets' security system had been a whole other thing. Her leaving the planet for no reason in the middle of the night would be more than suspicious and she couldn't be sure that the Death Watch wasn't tracking the traveling system. So Satine used the override code only she knew about, which granted her free access. Of course, the plan wasn't infallible, but it would buy her some time to get to the moon and get Obi-Wan out. 'If they had even brought him there.'
The duchess steered her vehicle down to the surface. Her intel had provided her with the Death Watchs' settlement location, so she landed a good distance away from the compound, trying to stay of their radar. 'Here goes nothing'. Satine grabbed her stun gun and made her way to her destination. It was an about two klicks walk and Satine scanned her surroundings again. She could see some sort of entrance which had been build into the rock formations. Unguarded. 'Odd'. Turning her gaze to the cliff sides, she noticed that the place seemed almost abandoned. No patrols or security systems were to be seen.
Sneaking around the stone walls, she made her way over to the door. It was unlocked, so she silently slipped in. In front of her, a hallway opened itself up. The walls were clad with metal plates and the whole structure looked a lot like a factory. Satine snuck further into the compound, until she reached a room which resembled a production hall. Conveyer belts and other machines had been set up there and she caught glimpses of helmets and weapon parts. 'What are they doing here? Rebuilding an army?'
She held herself close to the walls, always looking out for cameras or other safety mechanisms. Still nothing. Satine was about to turn around a corner, as she heard voices from down the hallway. 'Not abandoned then'. Peeking, she caught a glimpse of two guards in Mandalorian armor heading down the corridor. "Haar'chak", hissed Satine between clenched teeths and started looking for a place to hide. Her eyes fell on the ventilation shaft on the ceiling of the production hall. Maybe she could climb one of the conveyer belts to reach it, but she had to act fast if she didn't want to get caught. Making up her mind, Satine pulled herself up on the construction and carefully placed her feet between the helmets and weapon parts, not wanting to knock them over and alert the guards. As she reached the ceiling, Satine tried to pull the grid from its socket but it wouldn't budge. It was screwed in place. Satine scrunched her nose. 'Come on, think, Satine.' Then she had a flash of inspiration. Obi-Wans' lightsaber. Of course, why hadn't she thought about it sooner? Pulling it from her sleeve, she examined the weapon. Satine had never used it before, it felt foreign in her hand. Pushing the activation button, the blue blade snapped to life. Her hands began to tremble. 'Okay, Satine. You can do this.' Steadying herself, she used the blade to cut through the bolts of the grid. Having finished her task, she quickly returned the hilt back to its place in her sleeve and pushed the grid into the vent. Just as she climbed into the cramped space and rearranged the grid, the guards stepped into the hall. Satine let out a breath. 'That was to close for comfort.'
Looking through the grid, she tried to eavesdrop on the guards' conversation.
"… can't believe we wasted our medical supplies on this jedi", one of the guards grunted.
The other chuckled. "Relax, we're only keeping him alive. As far as I know they just prevented him from bleeding out."
His companion shook his head. "Too much mercy, if you'd ask me. Why not let him die? We've killed jedi before in the past."
"Vizsla wants to use him against the duchess. Apparently, they are in a relationship or something like that."
Satine clenched her fists, as she heard the men speak. So Vizsla was the mole that kept undermining her. She should have known sooner. 'At least, Obi-Wan is still alive.' Worry started to overcome her again, but Satine vehemently shook her head. She had to remain calm if she wanted to find him.
Setting her goal, she advanced through the small and dusty shaft.
Waking up was unpleasant. The air was damp and a cold, hard metal slap pressed against his bare back. Obi-Wan shifted a little and instantly regretted it. Pain seared through his left shoulder and broken knee. Hissing, he gritted his teeth and made a move to grab the injured area with his right hand. At least he tried to. As he was met with resistance, the jedi realized two things.
First, he couldn't move.
Second, the Force was absent.
"Blast." Stamping down his up-flaring panic, Obi-Wan tried to access his situation. Craning his neck, he felt something sharp, made out of metal, digging into his flesh. A Force suppression collar. Not good. Judging by his complete lack of access to the Force, this one was well crafted. As he couldn't examine the collar in more detail now, he turned his attention to the rest of his body. They had removed his clothing except for his underpants. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows in a humored manner. 'Well, at least they haven't left me completely exposed.' Still it was freezing cold down here and he didn't intend on staying here in a long term. His left shoulder had been bandaged, but he could see small red blotches of blood already tinting the white gauze. 'They haven't removed the bullet pieces or set the bone', he mused. 'It's only a matter of keeping me alive, then.' The rest of his arm had been tied to his chest, preventing him from jostling the wound.
His legs and right hand had been fastened to the slap with metal cuffs. As he pulled with his right arm again, they wouldn't even budge an inch, he was only rewarded with a small trail of blood as the metal dug into his wrist. 'Great. No escape through trying to break these, I suppose.'
Looking at his right leg, he noticed that they had removed his brace as well. The knee was swollen and tinted in a dark blue color, at least as far Obi-Wan could tell due to the bad lighting. 'Master Che is going to kill me.'
The jedi let his head flop back against the cold metal and sighed, his chances for escape were dwindling small. Even when he somehow managed to rip himself free from the cuffs, he couldn't run with his leg and fighting unarmed with only one functioning arm was absolutely insane.
As Obi-Wan continued staring at the ceiling, he suddenly became aware of a noise from above his head. Was someone crawling through the shafts? He turned his head and squinted through the dark. The room wasn't big by any means, it was clad with metal and empty except for his poor excuse of the bed he was lying on.
His eyes locked on the grid in the ceiling which covered the ventilation shaft. It was too dark to tell if someone was moving behind it. All of sudden a blue blade pierced the metal holding the grid and a small, lean figure dropped to the ground below. Obi-Wan couldn't believe his eyes. 'Is that my kriffing lightsaber?' He turned his gaze from the blade to the figure whose face was now illuminated by the weapon.
"Satine?! What the hell are you doing here?", he sputtered perplexed.
Smirking, she quickly made her way over to and knelt down next to him. "What do you think? Rescuing you, you di'kut." Her eyes trailed over his leg and bandaged shoulder, where the wrapping slowly turned into a slight shade of red. "Oh my… Obi, what happened?"
He huffed in response before locking his eyes on her again. "How about you get these off me", he motioned with his head to the bindings, "and I'll give you the short version."
Nodding, she carefully used the lightsaber to cut away the cuffs on his ankles and hand. As she had finished her task, Obi-Wan slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. It made him feel dizzy and nauseous, so he closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Satine, I need you to remove the collar as well." He tilted his head to show her the device around his neck.
"What? Obi, no, I- I can't. What if I cut you? I…" Her rambling was interrupted by him putting his hand under her chin and looking at her with blue, focused eyes.
"I trust you, Satine. You know that. You haven't cut me before, so don't worry about that. I can't do it myself right now, so please, can you do it?"
She steadied her breath and nodded. "Okay, I- I'll do it. Please hold still."
Putting her hand under his jaw she moved his head slightly to the left to give her an easier access to the collar. Gripping the lightsaber tightly with her right hand, she carefully cut through the metal until it gave way and scattered to the floor.
The instant the suppression collar came off, Obi-Wan flinched back into the wall like someone had slapped him and squeezed his eyes shut.
Satine hitched with worry and put a steadying hand on his right forearm. "You okay? Did I cut you?"
The jedi opened his eyes again and gripped the hand on his arm, giving a tight smile. "No no, it's just… an unpleasant feeling to be cut of from the Force for some time and have it returned at once. I'm fine, thanks to you." This time he gave her a genuine smile. "I think we should get out of here before they catch us. How'd you even get in?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
The woman in question just chuckled. "Back entrance, it was mostly unguarded. And you know, I learned a thing or two in the year on the run." She winked, but then turned serious again. "Think we can get that door open?"
'Typical.' Obi-Wan just shook his head in disbelieve and held out his hand. "I've got an idea. Help me up?" As Satine hoisted him up and pulled his good arm over her shoulder, they both nearly crumbled to the floor before steadying themselves again. "Gosh, Obi, you're heavy."
The jedi snorted but also made a pained face as the movement pulled on his injuries. "You calling me fat? You're hurting my feelings, darling." They made their way over to the door at a slow pace as Obi-Wan had to lean on Satine with only one functioning leg. "Okay, I think I can pick that lock with the Force. Do you have any idea where we are and how we get out?"
"Actually, no. I hoped that you might have an idea." She adjusted her grip on his arm and shot him a questioning look while he was working on the lock. He had closed his eyes in concentration and was moving his fingers slightly.
Click. With a snap the locking bolt retraced into the door. Obi-Wan smirked and opened his eyes again. "Great. Let's improvise then."
Satine hummed. Quietly the two stepped out of the cell into the hallway. The floor felt cold under his bare foot. No guards were to be seen, but that didn't mean they weren't patrolling. "Let's get going", he whispered. The corridor was almost dead-silent except for Satines' steps and the splash from Obi-Wans' foot everytime he hopped forward. As they advanced through the sheer endless compound, he felt the exhaustion starting to set in. The pain in his knee was agonizing, as every step moved the broken bone. His shoulder was somewhat bearable but he knew the wound had started to bleed again and the shrapnel was moving inside. Obi-Wan bit his tongue and kept going. 'I can rest when we leave this mess behind.'
Lost in his thought, he hadn't really noticed that they had stopped walking. Satine was looking at him with concern, as if she was waiting for an answer. Obi-Wan tried to righten himself a little, taking his weight somewhat off her shoulders. "Sorry, did you say something?"
She clenched her teeth. "I was asking if you're alright, but I think I already got my answer.
Come on, I think we reached the production hall where I entered the shafts. We should find a way out from there. Just try not to pass out on me, I don't think I'm strong enough to carry you."
Obi-Wan merely nodded. As they stepped into the large room, he took in the sight of the huge machines. Taking a closer look on the conveyer belts, he recognized helmets and weapons. "Satine, what are they doing here? Building an army?", he asked in disbelieve.
"I don't know. All I know is, is that Vizsla leading them", she whispered back.
Something in Obi-Wans' mind still didn't add up. 'Who's funding them? They surely don't have enough funds to build this on their own.'
"What if they are in league with the separatists?", he spoke his thought out loud, "I mean, they need someone to back them up."
Satine contemplated his words. "You may be right, but I think it's more important that we get of here. Fast."
She gripped his arm tighter. As they reached the middle of the hall, Obi-Wan stopped dead in his tracks. Whipping his head into the general direction of their exit, he noticed a group of guards. They hadn't seen them yet, but they would in a few seconds, if they didn't hide right now.
Making a quick decision, he took his arm from Satine's shoulders and grabbed her hand instead. Obi-Wan pulled her close, as he dived behind the closest machine. They stumbled rather ungraceful into the tight spot and he had to bit his tongue to prevent from crying out loud as Satine bumped into his swollen knee. Dark spots danced around his vision.
She hadn't anticipated the sudden movement, so she almost let out a yelp as he pulled her with him behind the cover. In an instant his hand clamped over her mouth to keep her silent. "There are guards down the hall", he whispered in her ear and removed it again.
Satine nodded in understanding and moved further into their hiding space. They waited till the guards had passed and left the hall again before they dared to move. She stood up first and pulled Obi-Wan up with her. He was wavering and his eyes seemed glazed over, but he kept his stance.
"Let's get out", he grunted, while gritting his teeth. They made their way to the back entrance and pushed the door open.
The Force was nudging at him again, but it was too late. As they stepped into the opening, they were met with blinding lights from several Death Watch soldiers. A figure moved forward, clapping its hands.
"Duchess Kryze, Master Kenobi, I see you made it to our little party."
Satine and Obi-Wan shared a glance. "Vizsla."