A MESSED UP DESTINY

A STAR WARS STORY

Chapter 43

Disclaimer: Disney owns everything and I make no profit from this.

Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 43 of the story! Today we continue from right where we left off, with Anakin and Angel facing off against a dangerous Sith Lord in an abandoned Incineration Factory in the Works as Obi Wan, Jango and Satine race to Concordia, hoping to locate and capture the Death Watch Assassin who was sent to kill Senator Padme Amidala only a few weeks prior to their investigation. It is doubtful that these teams will survive if they don't cooperate with one another, but as tensions rise between Satine and Fett, Obi Wan will have to put his negotiation skills to work, less they all get their heads filled with Plasma by angry Death Watch members.

…Must Come to Light. As Anakin Skywalker and the mysterious Angel face off against a deadly Sith Lord in Coruscant's Undercity, Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi and Mandalorian Duchess Satine Kryze and Former Bounty Hunter Jango Fett race to Concordia, one of Mandalore's two moons and the lair of Death Watch. Will they be able to find the Assassin they're looking for, and will an unexpected secret come to light?

Mandalore System, Slave I, Obi Wan's point of view:

Admittedly, putting Jango and Satine on the same ship had been a mistake. For what felt like hours they'd been arguing in the cockpit, with Jango initially refusing to speak another word to her, until he relented, but only to shout for her to leave him alone. I could only deduce that the whole incident regarding Galidraan had left scars that ran far deeper than anyone knew of, and I could only feel guilty, being part of the same Jedi Order which conducted the massacre. That was something Jedi were never meant to do, and yet we'd gone in and slaughtered Jango's people, his father, without a care in the world, stubbornly thinking it was the right to do.

One of the many reasons the Order needs change, one could suppose. Anakin and I had accomplished quite a bit in that department, but the Council was still quite stubborn, and the last time I'd tried to bring this matter up I was told that it would have to wait 'in favor of more important matters'. Clearly Mundi didn't think that mistakes which cost people their families were significant in any way, probably because they didn't affect him in any way. And unfortunately, he wasn't the only one on the Council to think so.

While Masters Yoda, Plo, Fisto, Shaak Ti and Mace were all beginning to allow themselves to openly ponder these issues, the rest of the Council was still stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that Jedi Traditions were stifling our ability to help the Galaxy's people, with my pleas for change falling on deaf ears, not unlike Dooku's once had according to Master Yoda. The Grandmaster of the Jedi had expressed remorse at his foolishness, he now knows he should have listened.

And now this same stubbornness, this refusal to admit mistakes was present in Satine as well. She couldn't fathom a world where peace couldn't be achieved by words, and she had already paid the price for this mistake once. I wouldn't let it happen again. I couldn't just let her doom her people out of spite towards the very notion of taking up arms. The Jedi had learned the hard way that sometimes the only way to achieve peace is through conflict, and Satine would learn the same soon enough, even though I hoped she'd be convinced before we arrived on Concordia.

There was barely an hour on the clock until we'd land, and Pre Vizsla would be waiting with his Mandalorians, probably preparing a plasma-filled welcome for us. Force, with all this worrying I'm starting to sound like Anakin… Well, at least there was still time to make one last attempt at talking to Satine. Maybe I could at least explain the other situation that my emotions might present if not addressed. I wouldn't want her to start making assumptions now…though she probably already thinks I hate her.

Alright, Kenobi. Focus. This is it. You're going to walk up to that cockpit, tell Satine you want to talk, and clear things up so you can address the issue of Death Watch, who are going to try and kill us in less than hour. Force, I sound like such a Padawan…

Determination flowing through me, I shook my head clear of stray thoughts, and walked up to the cockpit. I was just about to open the door when Satine did from the other side, visibly frustrated –probably with Jango, given their constant arguing- and not paying attention to her surroundings, causing her to walk right into me. Thankfully, I managed to steady us both, ensuring that Satine didn't fall over or otherwise hurt herself before making way for her to move to the far side of the room, where she leaned against the wall adjacent to the corner.

"Your Bounty Hunter has quite the personality, General Kenobi.", Satine said angrily, silently refusing to meet my gaze. I had to talk things through with her, but if I could get her to see Jango's point, then maybe she'd be more receptive to less 'peaceful' ideas we'll come up with later.

Unconsciously beginning to stroke my beard with one hand, I refrained from responding in a diplomatic tone. That would only frustrate her more, I knew as much. "Yes, well…the Jedi intervention on Galidraan is a sore subject for him. I only learned of this recently, but the planet's then Governor was working with Death Watch at the time, and he sent false information to the Senate. When a Jedi strike team arrived to pacify the hostiles, they were led to believe that the group led by Jango's father were the aggressors…and you can guess what happened after.", I replied, trying to hide my somber tone. I didn't want Satine to feel guilty over what she couldn't have known, just to admit that she was wrong.

Satine was shocked to have learned this, but I only knew because her emotions were betraying her. The look on her face was completely neutral, and if anyone else were to guess, she was completely unaffected by this information. "I...I suppose I owe him an apology then.", she admitted hastily, voice barely audible.

"You do.", I confirmed with a nod. "But…could we talk first?" I hesitated to say the next words, but I knew I couldn't leave this matter unaddressed. It would only cause problems in the long run. "It's about…feelings.", I said, and the look Satine gave me made it clear she understood whose feelings I was trying to discuss with her.

"What happened between us was a long time ago.", she quickly stated, voice entirely emotionless. If I didn't know for certain that she was lying after everything that had taken place between us in another life, I might have actually believed her.

"Satine…", I trailed off, and she caught on to the meaning of my words. "I assume you know of the Jedi who died on Naboo?", I asked her, the mere question bringing back images of holding Siri in my arms as Sidious' stench filled the air.

A look of understanding fell upon her in an instant, as if she'd finally realized where I was going with this. "You aren't ready yet?", Satine asked, and I could only nod.

"I…I don't even know for certain how I feel. Whatever emotions exist between us…I don't want to hurt you.", I confessed, and Satine then moved forwards, embracing me in a hug.

As she embraced me, Satine lowered her voice to whisper in my ear, as if confessing a secret. "It's okay. I still have…feelings for you, but you're right. If we rush into this, we're only going to hurt ourselves.", she said as she began to pull away, and I let her, silently agreeing with every word.

Despite having said my goodbyes to Siri, the memories I'd made with her were still fresh in my mind, and I wasn't ready to let go of them yet, or even worse, to unconsciously use Satine as a replacement. I cared about her too much to hurt her in such a way, but it seemed the Force had a funny way of bringing pain to those I try so hard to protect.

I was about to open my mouth again, to say something, but in that moment the door to the cockpit opened and Jango walked through, helmet held right beneath his right shoulder. "We'll make landfall soon. Death Watch will be waiting, and the two of us need to strategize.", he said to me, purposely ignoring Satine so he could spite her. A bit petty, but their arguments had probably poured salt onto long-forgotten scars, so I didn't call him out on it.

"Excuse me Fett, but if we're talking strategy, I won't be left out of it!", Satine insisted. She always was vocal about her opinions, much more so when they had to do with her planet and people.

Jango didn't bother to respond, only looking at me to get my thoughts on whether he should let Satine stick around, not that even I had any way of keeping her out of the discussion. Knowing that Satine was far more familiar with Concordia than I was, I nodded an affirmative to Jango, hoping Satine would just apologize already. All this tension between them was giving me a migraine, and it was somehow worse than when Anakin pulled reckless stunts, which I didn't think was possible until right now…

Meanwhile, Coruscanti Underworld, Angel's point of view:

…I just had to jinx it didn't I? The Sith Lord –Sith Phantom?- was staring at Anakin and I, entirely unmoving for just a single second. It locked eyes with him, if two golden dots underneath a hood could be called that, and lunged forward. Anakin's sapphire blade ignited in an instant, blocking the blood red sabers headed for his torso, and the duel between them began.

Taking cover behind the conveyor's control console, I peeked my head from the side, to see who was winning. The Sith Phantom –it had to be one since I would have recognized Sidious- assaulted my Ani in a series of lightning fast lunges and swipes, all of which were met with an unwavering defense before being countered with vicious strikes. I could see that Anakin was favoring his mechanical arm for additional strength, and his opponent was visibly struggling to push the blade back, staggering back with every hit.

Suddenly, the Phantom jumped back, and raised both hands. Anakin must have known what was about to happen, because a small ball of Light formed in his palm, and absorbed the Force Lightning that was blasted towards him a moment later. Not even a second passed before the absorbed energy was thrown back at the Phantom in the form of a massive Force Push, which sent it flying through several layers of thick walls.

It looked defeated, but just as Anakin began to advance, multiple blaster shots rang through the air, and whole squads of troopers dressed in black armor flooded the room, firing away at both of us. I quickly took cover, filling a thought about their archaic armor away for later.

Not wasting a second, I fired a shot at the nearest trooper, who didn't even flinch when the bolt him is visor! Either they had the most advanced armor in the Galaxy, or Anakin wasn't kidding when he said they were impossible to kill if you didn't know what you were doing. As I fired another blast, a couple of them stopped shooting at Anakin, whose lightsaber seemed almost fluid by how fast it moved to deflect all the bolts coming towards him, and thankfully my distraction seemed to give him an opening.

Quickly jumping backwards to avoid the next round of blaster fire, he raised a hand, palm facing towards the troopers, and a blast of pure Light was unleashed, sending some flying while others simply fell to their knees. He then repeated the move with the other soldiers, slicing one in half after deflecting a bolt that would've filled my head with plasma, but that unfortunately gave the others a chance to recover.

A bone chilling laugh suddenly echoed all around us as the environment shifted, the Sith Troopers transforming into Clones of the 501st Legion, the one who'd been acting as a leader of sort transforming into Captain Rex.

"Let's see how you handle fighting your own men Jedi!", the Phantom's voice screamed in a gleeful tone, as the soldiers –I refused to call them Clones- began to corner us. I once again took cover behind the control station, which seemed to have shifted into the kind you'd find on a Republic Cruiser, along with the rest of the room.

'Rex' moved forwards, cocking his blaster in Anakin's direction. He then turned his head towards the other 'Clones' and gave out orders, Anakin not moving to stop him. "Kill the Jedi! In the name of the Emperor!", he cried out, and all of them resumed fire upon Anakin, who now had a calculating expression on his face, as if he was trying to figure something out. Judging by the way none of the deflected bolts went back at the 'Clones', it was clear he couldn't bring himself to hurt those who looked like his friends.

"Rex! Stop this, I don't want to hurt you!", he cried out a moment later, confirming my suspicions. Admittedly, I was also hesitant to shoot at them, but they weren't granting either of us much choice…so I took the shot, and 'Rex' fell to the floor, dead.

Anakin's saber followed suit, the metal clanking against the floor. The other troopers had stopped shooting now, as if awaiting new commands. "She killed your friend, Jedi. Don't you want revenge?", the Phantom's voice asked and Anakin looked ready to snap.

His face twisted in anger and disgust as his lightsaber flew back to his hand and was ignited. For a moment…for a moment I feared he'd attack me, even though logically I knew it would never happen. My fear seemed to enrage him even more however, and Anakin, whose eyes were no longer blue but a harsh, bright gold, dashed forwards, lifting his saber up in the air…and becoming a blur in my vision as the other 'Clones' fell dead, one by one.

The terrain shifted back to the original room as soon as the final soldier, all of them now back in their dark, ancient armor, hit the floor, and the Phantom let out a screech that made me put my hands on my ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. It didn't work. I could barely register Anakin hacking away at the Sith in front of me, and my head felt like it was about to explode.

Having lost my balance, I felt myself fall to the floor as a torrent of fire erupted, hitting the wall right behind where I was, and passing by just above my head. Another battle cry was heard as a second wave of troopers filled the room while I was getting back up on my feet, but this time the Phantom didn't back off like it had before.

"Did you really think an Illusion would take me down?" Anakin was speaking, taunting his opponent. "Because if you did, then that's just pathetic!", he continued, trying to gauge the Phantom into making a mistake.

"Don't worry Jedi. If my Illusions won't put an end to you, that just means I'll get to hack your head off myself!", it screamed in response, now utterly enraged, and unlike Ani, this fury was wild, unrefined, like the behavior of a cornered animal trying to escape a predator.

Anakin however, now he was the picture of serenity. Uncharacteristically calm and collected, he easily parried all of the Phantom's frenzied attacks with one hand, his left arm busy chocking the life out of every trooper in the room. A loud crack was heard as they all fell dead in unison, and the Phantom snarled at us both, jumping over Anakin as he turned to block the incoming strike, his opponent's back now exposed to me.

As the expected strike was parried however, I noticed one of the Phantom's sabers wasn't on its belt anymore. It was weird that the Sith wasn't using it in the first place, so I hastily searched the room to find it, and spotted a small cylindrical object right behind Anakin's head. The Phantom let out a small chuckle as it curled a finger on its free hand, as if slowly pressing down on a button, and everything seemed to move at a snail's pace.

With precision I doubt I'd be able to pull off even if I was trying, I shot between Anakin's saber and head, and blasted the missing lightsaber right out of the air, the moment that it ignited. Had I been a mere second slower…I didn't need to think about that right now. Both Anakin and the Phantom looked stunned by what had happened, but I wasn't giving the latter a chance to compose itself. And so, two consecutive bolts of plasma were fired into the Sith's head, causing the Darksider's body to crumble to the floor.

"You…you saved my life.", Anakin muttered out loud in complete disbelief. "I would've been, Padme I would've died!" He shouted this time, still in shock.

In an effort to calm my nerves, I tried to laugh it off, to pretend like I hadn't nearly lost the man I love with all my heart. "You know…I wouldn't say no to a 'thank you' drink.", I joked, vainly attempting to lighten the mood.

Shaking himself out of his daze, Anakin turned his attention back to the Phantom, where I noticed some sort of Dark Energy was forming on the back of its head, as if healing the injury I dealt to it. Noticing the same, Anakin quickly summoned a massive wave of Light that flooded the room as the previously defeated soldiers started screeching in unison with their leader.

For a mere moment, it felt like my ears were bleeding, but then they all turned to dust and were swept away, their screams replaced by a beautiful melody that hummed its music in my ear, calming me down. Anakin's eyes were now back to the brightest of blues, and upon confirming the datapad we had come down here for was still undamaged, made haste to leave as Ani called Commander Fox to send his men over and investigate the scene, which he promised to do so, even if he did ask what a Jedi was doing down there.

Anakin had answered him jokingly, saying that he was just 'taking Phantom's boss out for a drink', and the Clone Commander had looked dumbfounded, but made no further comment on the subject.

"His boss?", I questioned as soon Ani turned off his comm. unit.

Anakin let out a soft chuckle at my tone, as if there was an inside joke I wasn't getting. "Right, I forgot to tell you. I spoke with Revan, and he agreed that Phantom should also take orders from you. He can still take care of everything, but if you ever feel like those two are acting in a way you don't approve of, you can shut it down.", he replied casually, as if he hadn't just practically done the very thing I'd wanted for weeks now, because even though I knew that Phantom was on our side, to not know when something would happen or who it would involve…it was scary, and I had been afraid that someone innocent might get caught up in all of this by accident.

I didn't verbally respond to him. Instead, I tried to tap into our bond like he'd shown me on our way to Naboo, and I sent forth feelings of gratitude and happiness. Admittedly, being 'in charge' of someone like Phantom, who was technically a serial killer was dangerous and nerve-wrecking for many different reasons, but it also meant that I could actually make a difference now, that I could do more to help take Sidious down than just endlessly argue on the Senate floor, with my voice usually falling on deaf ears. I'd have to try and minimize the killing, make sure that it became a last resort, but the rest didn't sound so hard to manage.

Anakin, probably having read some of my thoughts, smiled at me again, and with a goofy grin on his face, asked a very important question. "So milady, how about I take you out for that drink now? I wouldn't want to lie to my friend Fox, after all.", he asked, and I was more than happy to oblige, after giving the data disk to Anakin for safe keeping. Not that I didn't trust myself, but it was better off in the Council's hands than mine, especially since Ani would just give them a copy and return the original to me later.

Hours later, as we walked hand in hand in the busy streets of the Federal District, where the Senate and the Jedi Temple both were, we eventually reached a corner and knew we'd have to part ways for now. And having been able to just act like a normal couple only a few minutes ago as we sat in a caf shop, having our drink in peace and quiet, my mind flashed back to what I wanted most out of this life. All I wanted was to just be with Anakin, as more than any other couple.

We both knew we loved each other, he'd met my parents and had come so far from the former Sith Lord whose mistakes had landed him into a place of torture. He was Anakin, my Ani, and I loved him for all he was, even the parts of himself that he considered faults. No one was perfect, and with my decision made, I quickly dashed down the busy street and ran straight into my favorite jewelry store, a small shop with handcrafted items of excellent quality, knowing exactly what I wanted to buy.

And…scene! There you have it everyone, Chapter 43 of A Messed Up Destiny! Sorry it took so long to finish this, but I just didn't have the time to sit down and write for more than half an hour, so I've been working on some behind-the-scenes stuff for future chapters in the meantime! I'm sure you guys will love what I've been cooking up for you, but we have a lot to get through today, so without further ado…let's dive into the exposition!

Firstly, Obi Wan and Satine. I feel this was obvious, but Obi Wan was definitely in love with Satine in the original timeline, and so to encounter her again, alive and unharmed just after losing Siri is a major problem, because he knows she has feelings he isn't ready to reciprocate. This is precisely why he wants to address that now, before they go to find Death Watch, because he knows it will be a distraction if the subject lingers between them any longer.

Also, having seen where her pacifist ways will eventually lead her, Obi Wan wants Satine to realize that sometimes peace is worth fighting for, as he himself says in this chapter. For Satine, 'fighting' means violent and needless killing, so it was important for her to know that Death Watch had done this same thing in the past if she's to take them seriously, even if her denial of the danger they pose is on a more superficial level and mostly for the sake of politics, especially since the Republic is conducting a military operation on her world. I suppose we'll have to wait and see where this discussion with Obi Wan will take her…

Secondly, Padme being Angel. I feel like a lot of people saw this one coming, but do tell me if I managed to surprise you! Anyways, I know that her actions seem a bit questionable, especially regarding her feelings on being able to issue orders to Phantom, but I think it makes sense from her point of view. Yes, Padme has been the bastion of morality in the Star Wars Universe, not only terms of pushing the Senate to do good but also in terms of just always doing the right thing, but after Naboo…things have been put into a new perspective for her. She knows that Sidious will stop at nothing to destroy them all and conquer the Galaxy, and her active involvement with Operation: Lord's Rise (that's the name for the Phantom project btw) and clearing out the Senate of corruption is an attempt to finally make those who profit off of the suffering of others see justice.

Additionally, do remember that she initially objected to the way Anakin and Revan were handling it in terms of the 'justice' Phantom was serving to corrupt Senators, and in this chapter she again mentions that she'll order him to only kill as a last resort, meaning only in either self-defense or if the person in question absolutely has to die for whatever reason. She's toning down the fearmongering that Anakin and Revan indirectly used by not taking public opinion into consideration while ordering Phantom around, and she's removing the fear that uncertainty presented every time there was something amiss on Coruscant. And lastly, she feels as if her work in the Senate is going nowhere, politicians always stuck in endless debate over meaningless things as Sidious governs everything from the shadows like a puppet master…all that is naturally going to drive her to want to make a difference, to put a wrench in the Sith Lord's plans, which she'll now be able to do thanks to her new role of 'Angel'.

Thirdly, the Sith Phantom. While I don't name it during the chapter, I actually wanted this guy to be called 'The Illusionist', but I thought it would be a dead giveaway of his fight's gimmick and I didn't want that, so I'll probably have Anakin mention it in the next chapter somewhat off-handedly, just for the sake of including it.

Now, if you feel as if this Sith Phantom cropped up out of nowhere I wouldn't blame you, but there is a reason for the Illusionist's appearance. Remember a few chapters back, it was mentioned that Coruscant as a planet reeks of the Dark Side in the Undercity, since so much death and misery is present there. This is actually part of the reason Sidious was so effective at hiding from the Jedi in Canon, and it's partially why there are so many Sith Phantoms on Coruscant in the context of the story, but this is also connected to a plot point that will be revealed later down the line, so I can't spoil anything right now.

Lastly, the future. This is the second chapter in a three-part Arc with Sidious as the overarching bad guy, since both Obi Wan and Anakin's team are hunting down evidence of Sidious' misdeeds, or at least things that could make his plans temporarily come to a halt, if only to rest for a bit after everything that's happened. The next chapter will be the end of that regardless of how big it ends up being, because I want to move on into some more classic Clone Wars action. The Battle of Kamino, the Second Battle of Geonosis, the Battle of Felucia, the Zillo Beast Crisis, the Hunt for Grievous on Saleucami, all that good stuff and much more to come!

Next time: As Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi's team comes face to face with the Leader of Death Watch and the assassin who they've been hunting, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker reports back to the Jedi Council with new discoveries that have come to light, and news of a Phantom Menace that won't stay secret for long. The Jedi must take action to secure their place on Coruscant, but will their ancient traditions and dogma hold them back, or will they free themselves from the chains of hypocrisy and arrogance as they cement their place on the Republic's Capital world?

That's all for now everyone! Reviews are always welcome, whether it be to ask question or to chat, and I'll see you all next chapter, but until then, May the Force be with you!