Chapter 4 – Mishaps on Mandalore
Author's Note: In which Anakin... makes a mistake? ;) xD
~ Amina Gila
It's the first time Obi-Wan's been to Coruscant in a long time, but given the seriousness of the situation, Anakin isn't surprised he decided to come here for this. Obi-Wan used to know Duchess Satine of Mandalore well, after all. She's been called to Coruscant to speak to the Senate, because from what Anakin's heard, a large group of people in Mandalorian armor attacked a Republic outpost, but they all escaped – or committed suicide – before they could get any answers out of them.
It doesn't make sense, because didn't Mandalore decide to abandon its warrior ways after whatever happened in the most recent civil war? Or at least that's what Anakin heard, but now everyone in the Senate is starting to question the neutral system's true loyalties.
"Duchess," Obi-Wan greets as she stops in front of them, looking mildly surprised to see them here.
Satine looks between them, returning the greeting.
"I heard about was what happening on Mandalore," Obi-Wan says.
"And you're here on behest of the Senate to determine whether or not I'm a traitor?" she asks, an icy note in her voice. Clearly, someone else shares some of Anakin's views on the Republic.
"We're here of our own accord," Anakin assures her, stepping forwards.
"I know you've taken efforts to end the warrior ways of your people," Obi-Wan replies, "And I know whatever happened you had no knowledge of. We can discuss the situation in private together, if you desire."
"I would appreciate it," she replies.
The Senate meeting isn't until later that day, so Satine heads for Padme's apartment right away. As soon as they're away from the public eye, Anakin notices that some of the formalness Satine and Obi-Wan were showing for each other disappears immediately. They're sitting in their speeder, on the way for the apartment.
"I wouldn't have expected the padawan I used to know to become the king of a planet," Satine says dryly.
"I wouldn't have expected the warrior I used to know become a complete pacifist," Obi-Wan retaliates.
Anakin carefully tunes them out as they start flirting. In front of him. Seriously. Ew.
Thankfully, it doesn't last long.
"So, you're his son, Senator Skywalker?" Satine asks.
"Yes, and you can call me Anakin."
"I heard about your marriage to Senator Amidala. I've met her in the past."
"She told me," Anakin replies.
"We agree on many things," Satine comments, "Although I can't support the war the Republic is fighting now."
"Padme and I don't agree with it, either," Anakin admits, "We're doing everything we can in the Senate, and we'll do everything we can to help you and prevent it from spreading to your planet as well."
Their conversation ends at that, when they arrive at Padme's apartment.
Soon, the three of them are sitting with Padme in her living room, as Satine explains the situation. "There are some who aren't happy about the changes on Mandalore. Some of them joined a radical group of terrorists, called Death Watch," she relates, "On occasion they will carry out terrorist attacks against the government. We've been searching for them, but we haven't yet determined their location. But Mandalore can handle this situation fine on its own. We do not need Republic intervention. If the Republic intervenes, the people will be upset, and it will also likely bring the war right to my world."
"We'll do what we can to protest in the Senate," Padme promises, "But with an attack as large scale as that, I imagine there will be many in favor of sending in a full invasion force to put down any possible resistance."
Satine scowls. "They're going to occupy my planet and trample our rights to self-determination. If the Republic goes to Mandalore, it could easily drag more than a thousand more systems into the fight. We're the head of the neutral systems."
Anakin can definitely understand her position, and for a moment, he suddenly has to wonder. Is starting a new Alliance outside of the Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems entirely what he and Tatooine really need? Like joining the neutral systems? It's something he'll have to think about more later and talk to Obi-Wan about, of course.
"The Outer Rim Alliance will vote in your favor, I'm certain," Anakin assures her, at last, "We'll do everything we can."
"Thank you," Satine responds gratefully.
"I imagine the Separatists are behind what Death Watch did," Obi-Wan comments, "Likely they mean to start another Mandalorian war against the Jedi."
"I will not tolerate this," she says firmly.
"Why do you think they want to depose you?" Obi-Wan points out.
Which suddenly gives Anakin another idea. "There's a little time left before the Senate session," Anakin speaks up, "And in the meantime... I think I'd like to do some reading into Mandalorian culture and traditions."
He doesn't know what he's looking for, but they'll have to try something more original to save Mandalore, and often, this is a good place to start. Besides, the Force seems to be nudging him in this direction, and he knows better than to ignore it.
Maybe, maybe he'll be able to find something that might be of use.
**w**
In the end, despite his best efforts, the Senate session ends with the exact result Anakin feared.
The Republic is sending a force to Mandalore, effective immediately. They're already preparing to go. It's being led by Luminara Unduli and her padawan, Barriss Offee.
Obi-Wan is here at the Senate too, and they run into Satine as she's leaving the meeting. Anakin can feel her anger and mixture of other emotions pouring into the Force as she stalks down the hallway. "Satine, wait," Obi-Wan calls, hurrying over to her.
She stops, letting out a frustrated sigh. "The decision is already made. There's nothing more you can do."
Or is there? After reading into the Mandalorian history so much, Anakin just so happened to chance upon something that might work to their benefit, but he doesn't know, and he hasn't had time to talk to Obi-Wan about it yet.
"I am concerned." Obi-Wan continues as they walk.
"I'll be alright," Satine interjects very unconvincingly.
"I don't think you should make any decisions in this state of mind –"
"This state of mind?" she snaps, "And what state of mind would that be, precisely?"
"What I'm saying is any person would be hysterical by now, but –"
"Hysterical?" she repeats, "The Republic is attempting to force it's will upon innocent people. Perhaps if more citizens got hysterical they'd be more inclined to speak up when the Republic tramples on their rights!"
Well, that Anakin definitely agrees with. "There might still be something we can do," Anakin speaks up.
"The Senate will not change their mind on this," she says, bitterly.
"Maybe not, but we might be able to figure something out... without them," Anakin replies. Or so he can hope.
"Do you have something in mind?" Obi-Wan inquires as Satine moves past them, continuing down the hall. She needs to prepare to return to Mandalore now, though Anakin isn't sure if that's the best of decisions, given what's about to happen. Still, she could be in danger here on Coruscant too, so...
"Most likely, as soon as the Republic gets there, Death Watch is going to 'stand up for the rights of the people' and start fighting with them. They'll blame Satine for it and try to kill her," Anakin points out. He's seen things like this before, to get enough of an idea what they'll try.
"Yes, that's what I'm afraid of," Obi-Wan agrees.
"But when I was reading about Mandalorian history and tradition," he continues, "I did find something that might work to our advantage."
He doesn't know, but he can only hope so, because at this point, it's the last thing he can think of on such short notice, and they're running out of time.
**w**
The ship they're on with Satine finally comes out of hyperspace above the surface of the planet, and they fly down towards the capital city. Anakin's never been here before, but he can immediately see the signs of war that still cover the surface. So much of the planet is barren wasteland now, and the civilizations are located in domed cities.
"So much of the planet was destroyed in the last civil war," Satine explains, gesturing around them, "I will not allow this to happen again."
Her desperation and anger are radiating strongly into the Force. Anakin can only hope that their plan is going to work. Although if it does, that isn't going to automatically solve everything. And Satine might have to reconsider her determination to eliminate the warrior ways of her people.
Anakin can understand why she's doing this – war has caused so much devastation war on her planet. But not having a proper defense isn't the best idea either. He had enough of an experience like that on Tatooine, though there, the biggest problem was that they were simply way too outnumbered by the droids, compared to the relatively small population size. And they don't really have enough resources to have a proper military defense. There's still much work to do there, he knows that much.
Hopefully, they can help Mandalore before things descend into further chaos.
Satine immediately goes to meet with her advisors on the situation, and it's only hours later that the Republic shows up. Anakin and Obi-Wan head out of the palace shortly after that, moving discreetly throughout the city as they watch to see how the people are reacting, and looking for any signs of trouble.
They find this 'trouble' without even having to look far. It's only been a matter of hours before there's protests spreading throughout the streets. The people are extremely upset that the Republic is here, policing them like this, and Anakin can't blame them.
"If we're right about what Death Watch is planning, it's only going to be a matter of time," Anakin murmurs.
"It appears the time is up," Obi-Wan states grimly. Anakin looks up, following his gaze to see an armored figure streaking through the sky up above them. There's several more following behind.
From their position, they're too far away to intervene or do anything about it – not that there's really much they could do anyway – when the figures land in front of an assembled crowd of people.
A fight erupts between the Death Watch members and the clones almost immediately, and of course, the people are in full support of Death Watch.
"We need to get back to the palace," Obi-Wan declares urgently. Anakin couldn't agree more.
**w**
He can already sense the approaching danger in the Force right before the doors to the throne room burst open, and Mandalorians in Death Watch armor stride into the room, Pre Vizsla in the lead.
All of Satine's guards instantly raise their weapons, but she stands, holding up a hand. "No!" she calls, firmly, "There will be no bloodshed."
"But Duchess!" protests one of the guards.
"I will not be provoked to violence by these terrorists."
"Listen, Duchess. Do you hear the people?" Vizsla demands, "They cry out for change. Your weak-minded rule of Mandalore is at an end. It is because of you that the Republic is here, and the people will not stand for this."
"I didn't ask for the Republic's intervention," she snaps.
"If Mandalore had never left their warrior ways, the Republic would not dare step foot on our planet," he retorts, "The name Mandalore should set fear into the hearts of all who oppose us. The resurrection of our warrior past is about to begin."
The Death Watch members all move towards Satine, blasters pointed, obviously fully intent on arresting all of them. At least they aren't planning to outright kill Satine. Anakin can at least be minorly relieved at that.
He steps forwards, hand resting on his lightsaber hilt as he keeps fully in mind how all the blasters in the room are now instantly turned to aim at him instead.
Vizsla accepts the challenge – of course he does. Anakin can feel Satine's unhappiness behind him, but he ignores it. There's no way they'll be coming out of this without fighting, and this is the least messy way.
He ignites his own lightsaber, holding it ready in front of him. The Darksaber hisses to life in Vizsla's hands, the blade sounding more like a sword being unsheathed than anything else. He won't be able to use the Force in the fight, obviously, but that won't be a problem for him. He knows how to do this, even if it won't be an easy duel by any means.
"For Mandalore!" Vizsla shouts dramatically, brandishing the Darksaber before he charges forwards. Anakin swings his blade up to meet the blow, parrying the next few strikes as the Mandalorian attacks him incessantly.
He counters the blows with ease, shoving the Darksaber aside and slashing for Vizsla's head. They trade a few more blows before Anakin kicks him, sending him skidding back and nearly falling to the floor. Vizsla activates his jetpack, blasting off into the air as Anakin lunges for him again.
The Force flares in warning, and he hastily raises his lightsaber to deflect away the blaster shots as the Mandalorian starts shooting down at him. A couple of the shots deflect back, striking Vizsla's armor – and one of them nearly hits him right in the face which was totally an accident – and he lands on the ground again, charging at Anakin.
He's already ready for him, though, unleashing a flurry of attacks on him, forcing him to back away yet again. The Force flares in warning yet again, and Vizsla turns on his flamethrower. Anakin dives under it, knocking him to the ground, swinging for his head.
Vizsla promptly flies off the ground again, firing some kind of explosive at him. He leaps out of the way – using the Force does define as fair, at this point, doesn't it? – and Force jumps at the Mandalorian, knocking him to the ground. Sparks run through his jetpack as he lands right on it, but he immediately raises the Darksaber to block Anakin's lightsaber from nearly beheading him.
He rolls back to his feet, and Anakin doesn't waste a moment, raining a furious blur of attacks on Vizsla, forcing him back again. He's on the defensive now, even if his armor is making it a lot harder to defeat him. Anakin continues to force him back, and he spins out of the way, trying to fly off again. He jumps forwards, blade slashing through his jetpack before he can try it. Vizsla yanks it off, throwing it to the side as it explodes. The blast tears through the floor and wall on the far side of the room, sending shards of glass from the window splintering everywhere.
Oops?
Vizsla instantly lunges at him again with renewed fury, slashing furiously. Anakin still blocks the blows with ease, and finally kicks him back, knocking him to the floor, the Darksaber slipping from his hands. Anakin levels his blue blade inches away from the Mandalorian's neck and calls the Darksaber to his other hand with the Force, igniting it.
It's over. He won.
"Only the strongest shall rule Mandalore," Vizsla replies, as Satine's guards move forwards.
"By your tradition, this belongs to me now," Anakin declares smugly, looking pointedly at the other Death Watch members in the room.
For a heartbeat, no one moves.
Then a few of them step forwards and kneel on the ground in front of him.
Okay, um, this is awkward.
If Vizsla is upset by the fact that he lost his position and everything short of his life, really, his expression changes little. If anything, his expression is... resigned. Well, he knows what happens in duels like this.
One of the others, who has orange hair, steps forwards, eyes narrowed. "We will not pledge our allegiance to a ruler who will force us to give up our Mandalorian identity the way Satine has," she snaps.
Okay yes, this complicates things.
Because technically now Anakin is the leader of Mandalore, and... he has to make this decision. If Satine says anything, it's going to make things worse.
He may or may not have stolen the rule of her planet.
Oops?
It wasn't exactly how he was planning for this go!
And how he handles the situation will be the deciding factor between a new war on Mandalore, or peace. "I won't," Anakin replies, at last, and he knows Satine is not happy about this, but they'll have to discuss it later, "Perhaps it is time for Mandalore to change. The Republic does not belong here, but we do not need to start a war with them either. There are... other ways to remove them for the planet."
He didn't want it to come to this, but he already talked it over with Obi-Wan, and... in the end, he thinks this decision is going to be the best for everyone.
**w**
The... truce between Satine's forces and Death Watch is about the most strained, awkward, and uncomfortable situation it could be for all of them. Satine's guards take Vizsla away – he is, in fact, still guilty of innumerable crimes, and it's not as if the rest of Death Watch isn't, but they can't arrest everyone if they don't won't a revolt – and the others begin to file away, leaving Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Satine alone in the throne room again.
"This was your plan?" Satine demands, and Anakin isn't sure if she's pleased or not about the turn of events. Maybe she isn't really sure herself.
"Well, it worked," Anakin smirks, "You shouldn't have to worry about any problems from Death Watch in the future, as long as they're still allowed to maintain their warrior ways." Well, with some changes anyway.
"It's the ways like this that brought Mandalore to this point," she objects.
"The people are more inclined to support them now, than you," Obi-Wan points out, bluntly, "If you try to suppress them, it will result in war again, either way."
"There's a balance point between being pacifists and being ready to fight if it's necessary," Anakin replies, "And by the way, I didn't mean to... steal your planet."
"The leadership of the planet will be no one's if the Republic is not also dealt with," Satine objects, "It's going to bring the Separatists here, and the planet will be at war whether we have Death Watch under control or not."
"That's why Tatooine is intending to leave the Republic," Obi-Wan replies.
Satine blinks. "What?"
"After everything I've seen as a part of the Republic, especially after this, I can see that they're as corrupt as the Separatists, maybe more," Anakin explains, "And being a part of the conflict between the sides is only destroying everyone."
"If more systems leave the Republic to become neutral, the Republic will... need their forces more urgently elsewhere," Obi-Wan asserts.
Most, if not all, of the systems part of the Outer Rim Alliance will leave as well, and for them to be actually neutral, it means they won't let the Republic or Separatist military forces travel through their hyperspace lanes. So yes, the Republic will have to get their troops off of Mandalore.
"You did well," Obi-Wan compliments as soon as the two of them are alone again. They have to take care of the Senate matters soon, but they're alone right now. "I'm impressed."
"Hey, I learned from the best," Anakin replies teasingly, blushing slightly from the praise.
**w**
In the end, things go more or less according to plan.
The Senate is... outraged, but Anakin can't remain a part of a system like that any longer. More and more he's begun to see that the Republic can't be fixed, and staying a part of it isn't helping, not when he isn't in a position to do anything anyway.
The clones had to leave from Mandalore almost immediately, so the planet is free from occupation.
He and Obi-Wan are still on the planet, though, because they still need to deal with the awkward fact that Anakin and Satine are both leaders of Mandalore. Death Watch isn't very inclined to accept Satine's role, and she still doesn't want to return Mandalore to its former military ways.
So there's a lot of things that they need to work out before they can leave, because... Anakin can hardly walk out on the planet he accidentally became the ruler of.
"How do you manage ruling a planet?" Anakin asks flatly, leaning back on the couch, staring out the darkened window in front of them. He and Obi-Wan are sitting in the quarters that Satine gave them at the palace.
Obi-Wan chuckles. "Why do think I started by massacring so much of the population?"
"You did not have to put it like that!" Anakin yelps.
"That is what happened."
"You were bringing slavers to justice, not 'massacring' people!"
"My point is, it still made ruling easier in the long run," he insists.
"That doesn't really help us solve Mandalore's problem," Anakin says flatly, "Unless you're trying to... imply something."
"Now why would you think that?"
Anakin huffs and drops the topic. "I just don't know how to go about handling this."
"Why don't we talk about it in the morning?" Obi-Wan proposes, "It's late and you should be in bed."
"You know, I stay up later at the Senate all the time."
"Well, you aren't in the Senate now," Obi-Wan retorts, "And there'll be a lot to deal with tomorrow."
"Fine." Anakin concedes, standing up.
His mind is whirling as he climbs into bed, but he's still asleep in moments.
Something is nagging at the edge of his senses, awakening him almost immediately. Anakin opens his eyes, looking around the darkened bedroom. Something isn't right.
He hears it suddenly, a quiet movement off in the dark, almost like something dropping to the floor. He can't see the entire room properly from here – no thanks to the much too fancy bed – but he's sitting up in a flash, hand reaching for his closest weapon.
There's a glint off in the darkness, and Anakin can make out what appears to be a Mandalorian in armor, somehow having snuck his way into the room.
His fingers close around the hilt of the Darksaber – it was the closest weapon – and the blade hisses to life in his hands.
He's expecting the man to fire, but instead, he feels a flare of shock and confusion in the Force, before the man abruptly lowers his blasters.
"What are you doing here?" Anakin demands, sharply.
"You're the Mand'alor?!" he exclaims, stunned. But what catches Anakin's attention the most is the sound of his voice. It's like a clone's.
Jango Fett.
Oh. Oh.
"Someone sent you to kill me?" he realizes. It's not a surprise, not really, the question is who. "Who sent you?"
"I don't know his identity," Jango replies, "But he was human, and he was hooded so I could see little of his face."
For some reason, the first person who comes to Anakin's mind is Dooku... though that doesn't feel quite right. It would make sense for the Sith to try and have him killed, but it would make even more sense for someone on the Republic's side to want him dead.
"Are you certain it wasn't Dooku?"
"No, it was not. I have done work for him in the past, and it was not him."
Why is something about this setting him on edge so much?
Anakin's dealt with many assassination attempts before, so honestly, the fact that Jango came so close to killing him doesn't really bother him.
It's something about this whole thing in general that's setting him on edge, and he can't explain why. It's as though the Force is urging him to be careful, to look into this more, though he doesn't know what he could even do at this point. He'll have to talk to Obi-Wan about it.
But as far as handling Jango is concerned...
Well, the bounty hunter currently seems appalled that he was sent to kill his leader. Anakin almost feels bad for him. He lets him go back the way he came in, before any of the guards show up to try and kill him or something, and mentally notes to mention the pathetic lack of proper security here in the morning.
"I think we made someone angry," Anakin informs Obi-Wan the moment he sees him early the next morning, as soon as he steps out of his bedroom.
"We made a lot of people angry," Obi-Wan replies, giving him an odd look.
"I ran into a bounty hunter, and –"
"Hold on, when did that happen?"
"He might've broken into my room," Anakin admits sheepishly.
"And you never thought about saying something earlier?!"
"It was the middle of the night!"
"You could've been killed!"
"I pulled the Darksaber on him before he even had a chance to try shooting at me," Anakin defends, "And he was horrified to learn I was the leader of Mandalore since he's Mandalorian himself."
Obi-Wan frowns. "Who do you think sent him?"
"I don't know but it wasn't another Mandalorian," Anakin replies, "Or Dooku either. Something tells me it might be someone from the Republic. Someone important, I mean. I don't know why, but the Force is warning me to be careful."
"Then we'll be careful. If whoever this is tried something once, he'll try something again. We might be able to find out more information if another bounty hunter shows up."
"Maybe," Anakin frowns, "But Jango seemed to know nothing of his identity. I doubt anyone other bounty hunter would either." Which leaves him with little idea what to do.
"If he tries anything again, we should find some kind of lead," Obi-Wan replies, "Eventually."
**w**
"Are you certain about this?" Anakin inquires, standing in front of the hologram of Padme.
"It's the Queen's decision, really," she replies, "I don't know really know what to... think about any of this."
"I know how much the Republic means to you," Anakin says. She doesn't seem upset over Tatooine's decision, but he could understand it if she was. "But after everything, Tatooine couldn't remain a part of an organization so corrupt."
"I still believe that there might be something we can do to save the Republic," Padme responds, "But perhaps starting over isn't such a bad thing. I do understand the Separatists' perspective."
"Me too," Anakin admits, "We probably would've joined them ourselves if not for the fact that Dooku is a Sith. And in the end, they aren't really any better than the Republic."
"With Naboo joining up with the rest of the neutral systems," Padme declares, "The Republic is going to lose more ground. Maybe it will force them to stop fighting and consider negotiating."
"We can hope," Anakin replies, "But I'm not sure if they're actually going to stop until someone forces them too."
And something tells him neither Palpatine nor Dooku intend to do anything of the kind.
At least he can rest assured that the war won't come to Tatooine again.
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