Kalevala Moon

Recovery and meditation became the focus of the next 2 days for Satine. As she regained her strength as best as she could, she also perfectioned her plan. She knew she wouldn't fully rest until she carried out her "Jedi rescue mission", but was also perfectly aware that she couldn't simply venture out after the stresses of the previous couple of days.

She slept and napped for an indefinite amount of time, her daughter never leaving her side, while F-39 administered remedies as it saw fit.

Foreseeing the moment they would have to part ways - for a painful second time in her short existence - Satine decided she wouldn't deprive her tiny daughter, nor herself, of the warmth of her body, of the reassurance of her touch. Having the baby with her at all times proved to be extremely therapeutic, also. She couldn't control the future, but the same couldn't be said for the present, at least. She truly wished for Mara Jade to know how loved she was. The thought of something happening to her was unbearable.

For that reason, and that reason alone, Satine had decided that Mara Jade wouldn't get anywhere near Zygerria. This complicated things considerably, as leaving the baby behind meant she would necessarily have to leave F-39 behind as well, resulting in her attempting a very dangerous mission alone, debilitated, outnumbered and outskilled.

Without planning out her moves smartly and cunningly, she knew she had no real chance of succeeding.

With tears in her eyes, Satine programmed F-39 to contact Korkie Kryze (the location of whom was currently unknown to her) in case she didn't return in three days' time. In case Korkie didn't answer, the droid would contact a trustworthy Clan Kryze middle aged cousin. It was them who would then take her orphaned newborn daughter under their wing, if she never were to come back.

As much as she hated having her daughter spend her first few days of life inside that cold, soulless, badly equipped shed, she knew they had no other option left at the moment, so she tried her best to make the place more comfortable and welcoming, with the help of her industrious droid. She used leaves and tree branches to insulate the windows, a barrel of steaming water to humidify the room, her own clean clothes to swaddle the baby and blankets to provide for a soft, warm pallet.

Once downstairs, she and F-39 began going through every piece of equipment, every old droid part they could find. Figuratively holding her nose, she selected a large but handy machine-blaster, a tiny deactivator, a net containing a handful of grenade bombs, two sheathed knives made of beskar and... an armor. These objects made her gag, but she couldn't risk putting the whole plan at stake because of her... aversion. If she was embarking on this insane rescue mission, she would need to embark on this insane rescue mission for real. Satine had sworn on the day of her coronation that she would never wear an armor ever again. That her people would never see her in one. Now, however, she found herself abandoning that resolution. Times had changed and she was a Duchess no more, yet this action still carried additional weight for her.

"All this and much more to set Ben free" she told herself as she began testing the rusty weapons she hoped she wouldn't have to use and trying out ammunitions. This was the only instance she physically separated herself from Mara Jade. Truth be told, blasters and knives were just a tiny portion of her plan. One she needed to figure out regardless, not to find herself unprepared, should things go real awry real quick. The potential what-if scenarios were giving her waking-hours nightmares, but just by looking at her daughter she found the strength to carry on.

Physically speaking, she felt quite battered and relatively out of shape, but all seen and considered, it could've been much worse. Every few hours, she performed some light stretching execises to distend her muscles. She was running out of rations, one additional factor that made her despise the isolated shed they were camped out in. She still supplemented her food intake with artificial nutrition, of course, courtesy of Maul.

Mara Jade, on her hand, looked pink and perfect. She was so tranquil that it pained Satine to acknowledge that, perhaps, the little one already had to learn to be resilient, under a certain point of view. Satine used gauze to diaper her, but realized she would have to put the layers of thin fabric underneath her body, instead of wrapping them around her, so that F-39 could change the "bedding" every few hours while she was gone. She selected a number of sterile needleless syringes, slowly managed to fill them with milk in the span of two days, then tasked F-39 with their storage, instructing the droid to give the baby one to suckle every time she cried, hoping that her daughter wouldn't starve.

The last night before her departure, Satine couldn't find peace for hours. She kept looking at her daughter, holding her little hands, apologizing to her for what she was about to do, telling her how much she loved her.

"Everything will get better, I... promise" she then finally drifted off to sleep.

Zygerria

Kenobi's eyes fluttered open early, with the first lights of dawn. Earlier than the slavers' electrowhips, even.

Saying he was hurting would be an understatement. Cuts, bruises and broken bones were plaguing him everywhere. He was filthy with dirt, dust, sweat and blood. He had been beaten more than once.

And yet he was serene, strangely. They could trod upon him all they wanted, they would never make him lose his dignity, nor the spark of the Force that kept his soul alive, despite everything. Speaking of which... he had been dreaming, again. Of course, as it had always been the case since his arrival on Zygerria, Satine was the subject of his dreams. Reassuring, protective and warm, as usual. This time she had felt so real that he was sure that, had he extended an arm while sleeping, he would have touched her.

Obi-Wan would have generally dismissed his impressions as illusions from the Force, but now he was so unwell that he dared following his insticts, considering that maybe, somewhere in the galaxy, Satine - or her essence - still existed.

Star Destroyer, open space

As Vader walked uncertain steps towards his Sith Master's chamber, he worked hard to suppress a grimace on his face. He was reluctant to move forward, his state of mind having more to do with his own attitude than with anything else. It wasn't that he was as afraid of Sidious as he was of himself.

However, driven by curiosity, duty or perhaps even fate, Vader force-pushed the sliding door open, anticipating Palpatine's move, hence depriving his master of such subtle manifestation of control he never delayed exerting over each and everyone of his subjects.

"You have summoned me, my Master" he said bitterly.

"Ah, Lord Vader" Sidious welcomed, his yellow eyes shining "It has come to my attention that your wife hasn't taken the news of your turning all too well"

"What has my wife got to do with anything?" Vader warily inquired, soliciting a grin from Sidious.

"My dear boy, I sense trouble within you. As much as both you and I expected it would take Padme some time warming up to the new state of affairs, we all know, deep down, that something else is responsible for cooling the sentiment down between the two of you, indeed" he suggested, sounding as persuasive as ever.

Vader's better part knew that he shouldn't have allowed the old Sith to manipulate him, but his insecurities kicked in, suffocating any good intention.

" ...she is terrified of me"

"That's because you're after the Jedi"

"I have killed younglings!" he roared.

"You have done more than that"

"What could be more upsetting to her than me having KILLED YOUNGLINGS?! She won't let me anywhere near my kids! I did this... for her... for them... too"

Vader was seething, much to Sidious' satisfaction.

"She doesn't listen to you, does she? It's as if she has made up her mind already"

"She is headstrong. Her mind is made up"

"So is her heart" Sidious hinted.

"How... what do you mean?"

Sidious didn't pronounce an additional word, he simply showed Vader footage from a holo-video recorded a few weeks earlier. Of his wife and Obi-Wan hugging in her house. Of them talking, as confidants. Obi-Wan was holding her hands, concern written all over his face. He appeared involved. And Padme was more vocal than she'd ever been with him in a long time.

Vader shook his head "This... how..."

"They have been fornicating behind your back. Are you sure both your twins are yours?"

"No, Obi-Wan would never..."

"Losing the Duchess of Mandalore must have been hard on him. Perhaps he found the perfect opportunity to fill this void, just as you, the committed warrior that you are, were leaving an ever growing one in Padme's life... all because you were busy doing the Jedi's bidding. This is how they repay you..."

Vader released a soul-wrenching scream of hatred and frustration.

"I HATE HIM! This is why... he didn't show up... ! It is all a ploy... to get her"

Sidious sneered.

"Thankfully for you, the solution might be at hand. My Zygerrian contacts have notified me of Kenobi's capture, whom they intercepted as he tried to organize an insurrection, with the help of Padme's powerful friends. He is being held captive on Zygerria, right now. Perhaps a healthy confrontation is all you need to clear the waters between the two of you..."

Sidious didn't even need to finish his sentence: Vader had already stormed off along the corridor, set on reaching his TIE fighter.

A crooked smile appeared on the evil man's face.