Hey guys! New chapter (finally), I've had a lot on my plate and I find myself writing these at odd hours, but hopefully that doesn't impact the story's quality! Leave a review if you liked it!

Chapter 4: Voyage of Temptations


The Coronet lands in the docks of Sundari, the capital of Mandalore. Tara gets off the ship, before bowing to Satine, who had been waiting for the ship to arrive to take her to Coruscant.

"Duchess Satine."

"Princess Tara," Satine responds. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yes," Tara responds, "Although I wish it was under better circumstances."

"We shall discuss more of that later," Satine replies coldly. "Now, may you introduce me to the delegates you have come with?"

"I may," Tara says while gesturing to each of the Republic Senators present as she states their names. "Senators Orn Free Taa of Ryloth, Onaconda Farr of Rodia, Tal Merrik of Kalevala and Kin Robb of Taris."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintances," Satine replies to Tara's address.

"Master Kenobi requested in his report that we should be off for Coruscant as soon as possible, given the conditions. Additionally, we have come with a company of clone troops, for your security."

Satine sighs. "Very well. Now, we had best be going."

Tara smiles. "Thank you, my lady." She allows Satine to walk in front of her, following behind her. The group boards the Coronet, which takes off, soaring up out of the atmosphere and into the darkness of space.


Tara watches Satine speak from the highest seating on the ship, having offered it to her. She stands off to the side, feeling it better as Satine defends her position to the ambassadors present.

"War is unjust and solves nothing," she states. "It will only result in loss for both sides, especially civilians."

"Duchess," Senator Free Taa replies. "Are you suggesting we oppose the war, on humanitarian grounds?"

"I say that the moment we have resorted to fighting, we have already lost. Any two sides caught in a debate can always work to find a middle ground."

"But the Separatists have never attempted to negotiate with us before," Free Taa continues. "Why, they started the war on Geonosis by taking Princess Tara hostage."

Tara winces at the Senator's attempt to involve her. 'Of course he is very pro-war,' she thinks. 'Even after what happened to Ryloth.' She looks at Satine, wondering what her response will be.

"Certainly, they are not innocents in this," Satine responds. "But you can hardly call what the Republic has done before perfect, either."

"Duchess, what crimes has the Republic committed against the Separatist Alliance? They fight using non-sentient beings."

"The Republic has done a terrible job in restructuring and rebuilding cities and other settlements that were destroyed by the war. That is a crime of war in itself, putting all its efforts towards trying to defeat the Separatists when they should be helping their own people. Senator Free Taa, you should know how your own planet of Ryloth was affected by the war."

"I cannot deny the tragedy that happened on my homeworld, but I know that the best way for it to never happen again is for this war to end as soon as possible."

"And the war would end quickest with a peace negotiation between the Republic and Separatists. Besides, I do believe that the Jedi would agree with me on this."

Tara sees this as her opportunity to speak up. "I doubt that Master Skywalker would agree, but Master Kenobi might."

Satine's eyes enlarge upon hearing this. "Oh, well that is good to hear. Shall we summon them?"

"I'm on it, Duchess," Tara says before slipping out the door into the hallway. She pulls out a comlink and contacts Obi-Wan, who accepts the transmission.

"Master Kenobi," she says, "Duchess Satine is requesting your presence."

"Very good," Obi-Wan responds. "I'm on my way up there now."


Tara waits by the lift for Obi-Wan to arrive. After a few moments, the lift doors open and Obi-Wan exits it, followed by Anakin.

"Obi-Wan," Tara says. "Anakin."

"Hello Tara," Obi-Wan replies. "So the Duchess wishes to speak with me?"

"Yes, that was my understanding. She was having a debate with Senator Free Taa about how the Republic should attempt to pursue peace, and she thought that you might be able to defend her position."

"Oh, that's, fascinating," Obi-Wan responds, looking slightly nervous.

"Obi-Wan," Tara says gently, "Are you alright?"

"What?" He replies quickly. "Yes, of course, I'm alright. Just, it's already been a long day."

Tara looks past him at Anakin, who shrugs. Tara smiles at the gesture as the three continue walking back.

Anakin breaks the awkward silence that followed by asking Tara, "Shouldn't you be in the room, with the Duchess and Senators? You are technically hosting them right now, afterall."

"More or less," Tara responds. "But right now, all the attention is directed towards Satine, which makes sense considering she's the reason we're all here."

Obi-Wan stares further down the hall before looking back at Tara. "She has your seat, doesn't she?"

"I gave it to her willingly. As a sign of respect."

"Respect?" Obi-Wan's voice sounds troubled at hearing Tara mention respect.

"Should I not be respecting foreign leaders? Should I act as if they are all on the same level as Count Dooku?" Tara asks, feeling that Obi-Wan's quick reaction came off as aggressiveness.

"No, no," Obi-Wan rushes to defend his statement. "It's just, I've dealt with her before."

Tara looks across at Anakin, who smirks at Obi-Wan saying that. "Well," Tara says, "I have a feeling tonight will only get longer for you."


Satine's defense of her position is only hardening as she continues debating with Free Taa. "As I said earlier," she states, "I am the elected regent of 1,500 worlds, so I am here, defending thousands of worlds who have asked me to keep them neutral in this war."

"And some could argue that the best defense is a swift and decisive offense," Obi-Wan replies from the door, having followed Tara inside.

Obi-Wan tilts his head in Satine's direction to address her. Satine stares hard at Obi-Wan in retaliation.

"So Master Kenobi," Satine responds, "It seems you're quite the General, now." She looks around the room at the diplomats standing around. "Senators, I assume some of you may be acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperboles, known as Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"The Duchess is too kind."

Tara smirks, looking at Anakin, who smirks back.

"Allow me to introduce my fellow Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker," Obi-Wan says this, gesturing to him.

"My Lady," Anakin bows, addressing Satine.

"I remember a time when Jedi were peacekeepers, not war fighters," Satine responds.

"We come as protectors, Highness," Anakin feels pushed off by Satine's choice of response. "Yours, at the moment. We fight for peace."

Satine laughs lightly at that. "Such an interesting oxymoron."

Obi-Wan jumps in quickly to reply. "What Master Skywalker means to say is that we are here to protect you from the Death Watch, which doesn't share your point of view."

"I did not request for any such thing!" Satine's voice slightly raising.

"That may be correct, but a majority of your court did."

Satine takes a quick glance at Senator Merrik before she criticizes Obi-Wan. "I do not remember you as one to hide behind excuses."

"I do not remember you as one to shrink from responsibilities." Obi-Wan's voice begins to match Satine's passive-aggressiveness.

Senator Farr jumps in at that time. "I am certain we can all agree," he says calmly, standing between Satine and Obi-Wan. "Duchess Satine and Master Kenobi have proven that there are two sides to every dilemma."

"Indeed," Senator Free Taa adds. "Now, in regards to the Senate vote, I think-"

He is cut off by Satine. "I think a multitude only makes discord, not good counsel."

"Right again, my lady," Free Taa says, chuckling.

Obi-Wan leans into Anakin, whispering. "There may be two sides to this, but Satine only ever considers her own."

"Now," Satine states, "May I continue presenting my case?"

"You may, Duchess," Tara responds, hoping Satine can finish quickly.

"Thank you. Now, as I had mentioned earlier, I have seen war and what it does to worlds. Mandalore's history has long been scarred in battles against the Jedi, and the civil war fought not long ago has only furthered destruction to my homeworld."

"With all due respect, Duchess," Obi-Wan replies, "You were fighting a group of extremists, looking to kill you and your family, along with many more from your world. For now, a Republic military presence is the only sure defense against the extremist Separatists."

Tara winces at Obi-Wan's attempt to get involved in the discussion.

"Even extremists can be reasoned with," Satine responds sternly, standing up to flaunt superiority. "Perhaps sitting down and negotiating with the Separatists could bring about an end to this destructive war."

"If one could be heard over the clanking of their battle droids, then I'm sure it could be possible."

Satine scoffs, walking down to get to Obi-Wan's eye level. "The sarcasm of a soldier."

"The delusion of a dreamer," Obi-Wan's response matching Satine's aggressive tone.

Tara decides to get involved to stop Obi-Wan from doing anything more stupid. "Duchess Satine," she addresses, stepping in between her and Obi-Wan, "Master Kenobi, it's been a long day. For now, I think some rest would benefit us all."

"I agree, Your Highness," Merrik replies. "We can set the politics aside until after dinner."

Both Satine and Obi-Wan stare at Tara, before simultaneously turning their heads to look at Merrik. "Fine," they say in sync.

Satine pushes by Obi-Wan and Tara as she exits the room, Anakin moving out of her way. Obi-Wan looks back at Tara, who responds with an annoyed look at his actions. He turns back to look at the doorway Satine just walked through, feeling the gaze of the Senators on him. "I'm headed for my quarters," he says softly, exiting the room, Anakin following him.


Obi-Wan enters the dining room, where Tara, Satine and the other Senators are eating. Satine is sitting at the head furthest from him, while Tara is at the opposite side of the table. She looks over her shoulder at Obi-Wan.

"Yes, Master Kenobi?"

"Allow me to interrupt," Obi-Wan asks. "My men are investigating a situation below decks. For your safety, I am requesting that you stay here until the threat is passed."

Satine stares at him, unsure as to what he could mean when he explained the situation. "Thank you for informing us," she replies.

"You're welcome, Your Grace," he says, before using the force to pull the chair to the right of Tara away from the table so he can sit in it for the time being.


A few moments later, Obi-Wan's comlink starts beeping. "Please excuse me for a moment," he says to Satine, before standing up and walking towards the door to take the transmission. "Yes, Anakin, what is it?"

"We found an empty shipping crate below here," Anakin responds. "And 2 of my men are still unaccounted for."

"That's not good. You keep searching for whatever is on the ship with us. I'll stay up here."

"Understood, Master. Enjoy your date night."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan chastises, quickly ending the transmission and sitting back down.


Obi-Wan's comlink activates, and he stands up quickly. "There's assassin probes down here!" Anakin's voice shouts through. "One made it up the lift, I'll try to keep the others here!"

Obi-Wan jumps out of his chair, looking towards the lift door on the far side of the room from him. "Quickly," he orders Satine's guards, "Secure the lift!"

The two guards rush in front of the lift door, which is quickly forced open by the droid. It lunges 2 legs out at both of the guards, knocking both of them down and stepping over them. It pushes itself further into the room, colliding into Obi-Wan, who is forced to the ground. Tara jumps out of her chair, away from the Duchess and Senators, who run to the opposite side of the table, closest to the window. As the droid climbs onto the table, Tara reaches into her robes and quickly pulls out a vibroblade. She steps forward, trying to strike into the droid as it advances on the others. She gets a slash in, but it isn't enough to do any major damage. However, Obi-Wan jumps over the table and the droid to stand between it and the other diplomats. He activates his lightsaber, impaling through the droid until it falls down, having been destroyed.

Obi-Wan stares hard at Tara as she pulls her knife out of the probe. "You had that on you the whole time?" He asks.

"Yes," Tara responds, twirling it in her hand. "Should I not have? I know how to use it."

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes as the probe slides off the table onto the floor, but little holes on the top of it start releasing miniature probes, smaller but great in numbers.

"We have more to do," Obi-Wan says, looking down at the floor. Tara nods, pulling out a small blaster pistol to shoot at the droids scattered about. Satine joins her with her own weapon while Obi-Wan slashes through them with his lightsaber.

"I thought you were a pacifist," Obi-Wan says to Satine.

"Just because I am doesn't mean I don't defend myself," she responds.

"Now you sound like a Jedi."

Satine shoots the last assassin probe on the floor. She and Tara both take a deep breath, looking around to see if everyone's okay. The Senators and guards were not hurt during the attack, a fortunate sign for the group.

"This reminds me of that swarm of venom-mites on Draboon," Obi-Wan says to Satine, as he picks up one of the probes.

"Yes, how could I forget?" Satine responds. "I still have the scar."

Obi-Wan stammers. "Begging your Highness' pardon, I distinctly remember carrying you to shelter."

Satine smirks. "I mean the scar I got, after you fell, and dropped me."

"Oh," Obi-Wan sighs, "Right."

He looks at Tara, who can only smirk at him, before looking around the room at the mess created by the attack. "We have a lot to clean up, and I'm still hungry."


Anakin comes up to the dining room, meeting Obi-Wan at the door. He hands his master the manifest, which is showing the information for the crate that housed the assassin probes.

"The Senate Stamp," Anakin says coldly. "One of our distinguished Senators appears to be a traitor."

Obi-Wan looks at the manifest, before glancing around the room. "It would seem so," he replies.

His eyes fall onto one miniature assassin probe scurrying on the floor, against the wall. "It seems like one of our guests is still around," he states. "I have an idea as to how to expose the traitor. You can go back down and take care of any more stowaways aboard this ship."

As Anakin walks back towards the lift, Obi-Wan uses the force to pull the droid into his hand, holding it securely as he seeks out a container to keep it inside.


Obi-Wan enters the dining room again, holding a covered platter with a sheet draped over it. He glances around the room, seeing that it's been cleaned up well enough for the diplomats to continue eating. He steps further in until he is right next to the table, not putting what is in his hands down.

"Ah," Free Taa chuckles. "Dessert."

"This may prove to be too much for you, Senator," Obi-Wan responds. He pulls the sheet off, showing the miniature assassin probe, struggling to escape the container as it lunges in Free Taa's direction. "Enjoy it?"

"On second thought," Free Taa inching away as he says this, "It wouldn't agree with me. I'll have to pass."

"Master Kenobi," Tara says, "What are you doing?"

"My theory, Your Highness, is that the probe will attempt to attack the Duchess and all who side with her. This came from a shipping container with the Senate Stamp, so my assumption is that one of the Senators here shipped this."

"Get it away!" Free Taa's voice carries fear across the room.

"Obi-Wan!" Satine chastises. "This line of questioning borders on torture!"

"It is a necessary step, Duchess," Obi-Wan responds calmly as he walks around the table, the droid attempting to attack Tara, Farr, Robb, and Satine. "I'm trying to find out who smuggled it on board."

He reaches Merrik, and the droid suddenly stops scrambling to escape the container, instead standing motionless, focused on him. Obi-Wan smirks. "It seems to like you, Senator Merrik. Well, Prince?"

"Really, General Kenobi," Merrik says, stammering before raising his voice. "You're quite clever!"

He smacks at the container, sending it out of Obi-Wan's hands and across the room, distracting everyone. The probe crawls out of the container and jumps at a protocol droid, biting into it, before jumping onto the head of Farr. Farr begins freaking out as Obi-Wan activates his lightsaber and takes a careful swing to destroy the droid, not touching Farr in the process.

Merrik stands up, Tara standing up to meet him, reaching for the vibroblade she left on the table. He beats her to it, and thrusts it into Tara's abdomen, before pulling it out just as quickly. Tara stumbles, before falling to the ground. Merrik grabs at Satine, putting his arm around her and holding the knife up to her neck. "You're coming with me," he says coldly.

He walks out of the room, forcing Satine with him. "Follow me, or save her," he warns Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan briefly watches him go further down the hallway with Satine, before deciding Tara's injury is more important, so he pulls some napkins off the table, holding them against her stomach.

Thinking that Anakin may be able to help, he contacts him. "Anakin, Tal Merrik is the traitor, and he's taken Satine hostage," he says quickly. "Tara's injured badly, but we need to start searching for Merrik!"

"Copy that," Anakin replies, "But I know there's one more probe down here and we're still searching for it. For now, I'll station troopers at every escape pod to keep him on the ship."

"That may have to do for now," Obi-Wan responds, switching transmissions to contact central command. "I need a medical droid to the dining room, Princess Tara's suffered a stab wound."

"Droid is on its way, Sir," the operator on the other end says. Obi-Wan sighs, ripping a piece off of his robes to hold onto Tara, who by now is gathering blood in her mouth.


After the medical droid arrives to treat Tara's wound, Obi-Wan rushes out of the dining room, but he doesn't get far before Anakin contacts him. "Yes, Anakin?" He responds after accepting the transmission.

"The last probe droid was defeated, but now we've dropped out of hyperspace and droid transport pods have breached the port side."

"If the ship dropped from hyperspace, Merrik likely made it to the bridge. I'll go face the droids, you get up there."

"Master, I'm already fighting the droids. You go find your girlfriend."

"Right, no wait Anakin she's not my-"

Obi-Wan stops talking when the transmission cuts out, Anakin having done it. Obi-Wan grumbles as he keeps running.


Having rescued Satine, defeated the droids and killed Merrik, Anakin and Obi-Wan make their way through the hallways towards the ship's small medbay. They enter it, looking at the medical droid standing over an unconscious Tara. "How is she?" Anakin asks.

"The wound is closed and the bleeding has stopped," the droid responds, "But she will need further medical attention upon arrival to Coruscant."

"What else needs to be done?" Obi-Wan asks.

"A surgery to reconnect part of her small intestines," the droid states, "And an appendix removal."

Obi-Wan looks down at her, still motionless on the bed. "That'll leave some scars," he mutters, seeing the bandages over her right abdomen.

"I expect her to make a full recovery, Sir," the droid answers.

"Yes, thank you," Obi-Wan replies. "But for now, I ought to be getting back to the Duchess."

"Alright, Master," Anakin responds. "I'll stay here with Tara."

Obi-Wan takes one last look at Tara before walking out the door, heading for the dining room.


Obi-Wan walks into the dining room, knowing he would find her and the other three Senators there. He walks in and sees them there, along with several of Satine's guards and Commander Cody as well, ensuring the safety of the Duchess.

Satine stands up to meet him immediately. "How is Princess Tara?" She asks quickly, seeming stressed out.

"She'll need further medical care when we get to Coruscant," Obi-Wan responds calmly, "But she is currently stable and should make a full recovery."

Satine sighs in relief. "That is good to hear, Kenobi."

"Indeed," Robb says. "And the threat to the Duchess?"

Cody speaks up to answer her question. "The droid reinforcements were taken care of, Senator. And we are now back in hyperspace, with Captain Rex on the bridge. But to attempt to remove any of the droid transports from our hull, we would need to be docked in a suitable atmosphere."

"Understood, Commander," Robb responds. "I think we owe our thanks to the heroics of the Jedi today."

"Of course we do," Farr replies. "A toast, to Masters Kenobi and Skywalker."

He raises his glass, with Satine and the other Senators following suit. "Here, here," Free Taa adds.

They all take a sip. A moment's silence follows until Satine says, "I think I should see Princess Tara, Kenobi. Care to escort me?" She stretches her arm out for him to take.

"I most certainly can," he responds, taking her arm and leaving the room with her.


Tara wakes up in the small medbay, with Anakin sitting in a chair right next to the bed she was lying in. She looks at him, and he looks back, having sensed her waking up. "How are you feeling?" He asks her.

"I feel," Tara hesitates, looking down at her bare abdomen, seeing the bandages sealed over where she was stabbed. "Not bad. Bit of stomach pain."

"You will require further attention upon arrival to Coruscant, Miss," the medical droid adds in to explain her injuries to her. "Your small intestines need patching, and your appendix will need to be removed."

"Fun," Tara says, putting her head back down on the bed, rolling it to one side to avoid squishing her lekku. "How's the Duchess?" She asks Anakin.

"The Duchess is safe, and the droids that boarded us from our hull were defeated."

"That's good to hear, but what of Senator Merrik?"

"He wired the ship's engines to explode, and I killed him to prevent him from using the detonator."

"Ah," Tara replies looking up at the ceiling. "Being ever heroic, I see."

"You could say that."

There's a moment of silence before Tara asks, "Where's Obi-Wan?"

Anakin chuckles. "He's with his lady friend."

"Anakin," Tara tries to sound serious, but has a smile on her face, "You can't say things like that."

Just then, the door opens, with Satine and Obi-Wan walking through it. "You're awake," Obi-Wan says.

"I am," Tara responds. "Have I made this day long enough for you yet?"

"I've had worse, but don't try anything rash like attacking someone when you don't have a weapon ready, please?"

"Fine," Tara responds sarcastically. "I will maybe try to hopefully stop that from happening in the future, definitely."

Satine laughs, making Tara notice her presence.

"Duchess. I would bow, but I don't think I'm even allowed to sit up."

Satine chuckles. "It's nice to see you in good spirits."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"And to think that I was once accused of abducting you."

"Taking hostages seems against your ideology. I'll assume you know better than that."

Anakin snorts. Obi-Wan has to resist the urge to laugh. Satine smiles in response. "Yes, well perhaps it is better that you're meeting with me, and not Death Watch."

"Can't imagine they'd treat me well. With how you described what they did during Mandalore's Civil War."

"Yes, well," Satine hesitates, making eye contact with Obi-Wan, "It taught me a lot indeed."

Tara sighs, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm still hungry. Did dinner end already?"

"You should not consume anything, Miss," The droid chimes in. "With your digestive systems compromised, it could do more damage to your wound internally."

"Alright, I guess that's fair," she replies. Suddenly, a whoosh is felt throughout the whole ship, the ship having exited hyperspace. "We're at Coruscant this time, I hope?"

Anakin activates his comlink. "Captain Rex, are we at Coruscant?"

"We are, Sir," Rex answers. "We will be docking shortly, and a transport has been arranged to take Princess Tara to a medical center."

"Very good, Rex." Anakin ends the transmission, before looking back at Tara. "Let's get you going up to the boarding ramp."

"Okay," she responds. "Nothing stupid, though."

"We have a stretcher available, but I advise you to be careful, Sir," the medical droid requests. "Any aggressive motions could lead to further damage."

"You hear that?" She says to Anakin, jokingly. "No dropping me on the floor."

"I won't do that," he replies in her tone of voice, "But wasn't it my master who dropped with you off a cliffside on Geonosis?"

Satine laughs. "He has experience dropping people unexpectedly."

"I warned you before I let go," Obi-Wan responds, as Anakin picks up Tara, before gently setting her down on the floating stretcher.

"Well, then it seems as though you got lucky," Satine says to Tara, who now has to crane her neck to see her. "He's shown improvement."

"You could say that. Don't ram me into anything."

"I won't, probably," Anakin responds, as he pushes her out of the room, Satine and Obi-Wan following.

"That makes me feel so much better," Tara responds sarcastically. "I don't think you give warnings yet."

Obi-Wan resists the urge to laugh. "He still has much to learn."

"I think we all do, Obi-Wan," Tara says, looking back at him. They reach the lift, and Obi-Wan pushes the button to summon the lift, which is already at their level. They get on, and the lift starts shooting upwards.

Tara looks at Satine. "Maybe next time we're traveling across the galaxy like this, Duchess, we don't have murderous cargo stowed aboard?"

"I would prefer that," Satine replies. "It would make for calmer discussions."

"That it would. But for now, you have a case to plead to the Senate, and I plan on attending."

"Tara, you need to go through surgery first," Obi-Wan responds. "It'll be a little bit before you're doing anything like that."

Tara rolls her eyes. "I don't need a functioning appendix."

"That's why they're removing it altogether. Easier."

The lift reaches the level of the entrance ramp, and the four of them exit the lift and enter the entry room, with the Senators and a large portion of guards already there.

Farr approaches them. "Duchess," he addresses, "Princess."

"Senator Farr," Tara responds. "Are you alright?"

"I believe I should be asking you that, Miss," he says. "What with you giving us all a fright."

"Understood," Tara jokes. "On my to-do list for next time I'm part of a diplomatic group: don't get stabbed."

Farr chuckles. "We would all appreciate that."

The boarding ramp lowers. Anakin walks quickly onto the landing pad, making a beeline towards the medical transport.

"Thank you, Anakin," Tara says.

"Hm?" Anakin replies, confused.

"For saving everyone on the ship, when I was too unconscious to do anything about it."

"Maybe next time," Anakin responds as he slides her next to two medical workers.

Tara looks back towards Satine and Obi-Wan, noticing Satine stroke at his beard. "No wonder they sent him to investigate initially," she tells Anakin. "They work great together."

Anakin looks back at them. "That they do, Tara. That they do."

He walks back to talk to Obi-Wan as Tara is moved onto the transport to get taken to the nearby medical center, having successfully brought Satine to safety.


Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, having writing get critiqued is the best way for the writer to improve. New chapter coming eventually, smaller scale one before I have another arc!