Dooku's spaceship, en route to the Mandalore Sector
"Hold on, Obi-Wan" Satine implored, stroking his face one last time before she left his pale, bruised self on the ground to look for supplies.
She frantically rummaged through the spaceship's medpac, searching for bacta as one of the freed slaves, a Rodian medic who only specialized in reptilian physiology, tried to help Obi-Wan at the best of his ability. The most objective conclusion was that he urgently needed surgery – which couldn't be performed on Dooku's spaceship – and blood to replace the copious amount he had lost.
There were no units of synthetic blood in the cabinet, and despite being the only other human on board, Satine – who was in no condition to donate – would not be able to offer even an ounce of hers even if she wanted, as their blood types were incompatible.
Corio's nieces and other passengers silently looked on as the Rodian medic pressed an oxygen mask against the Jedi's face. By the time he was administered a coagulant, he was showing signs of hypovolemic shock. Synthflesh couldn't be applied due to internal damage. A bacta compress was the most that could be done with the means they had.
There were other fugitives who needed medical attention, though their conditions were mostly chronic rather than acute due to having suffered prolonged mistreatments at the hands of their slave masters.
On top of worrying about Obi-Wan, Satine was also increasingly restless due to Mara Jade, the reality of their separation hitting her hard. Being unable to reunite with the baby right away was driving her crazy, alongside the feeling of powerlessness that derived from being parsecs away from her.
She also needed to always keep an eye on the commands, as she felt she couldn't trust a – albeit reliable – stranger completely. Satine reassured the two dozen former slaves who were packed like spoons in the spaceship that they would find refuge in the Mandalore Sector, but despite the majority's compliance, Corio still had to break up a fight, which had resulted in two passengers being restrained.
The situation was immensely frustrating, even more so because no matter how much Corio pushed the spaceship's speed to its hyperspace limits, they were still relatively far from the Kalevalan Moon.
Kalevalan Moon
Sidious' trusted probe droid had been searching the moon's forests high and low for hours, when it eventually floated across the old droid shed by the woods, attracted by a sustained shrill wail. It circled the shed with disquieting silence, before effortlessly breaking a window and sounding out the room. Its heat sensors detected the source of the noise: a tiny, bundled up life form resting on the middle of a blanket.
Loyal F-39, who had been watching the baby all along, was instantly alerted and began buzzing aggressively, squirting an oily substance against the intruder to push it away.
Disrupted by this minor annoyance, the probe droid floated outside, transmitting the recordings it had just acquired to the awaiting sender.
F-39, on the other hand, beeped disdainfully, circling around the newborn, who in the meantime had found her own forearm to pacify herself. The probe droid was still in the proximity of the shed and wasn't promising anything good. Following the protocol, F-39 typed a distress signal, sending it to Satine's spaceship.
Floating somewhere in the Inner Rim, on the Star Destroyer
Sidious massaged his knobbly hands, pondering what the Force was showing him.
Something unforeseen seemed to have destabilized young Vader on Zygerria. Sidious could not exactly frame what had jammed his preestablished plans, but whatever it be couldn't be good.
Right as he dwelled on this early slip of his apprentice's, his holo-pad beeped.
It was a message from the probe droid he'd sent to Mandalore, to investigate the Force disturbance taking place there.
Sidious opened it and after a few moments of slight surprise (a rare treat for someone like him), he licked his lips, breaking into a cackle. Every piece of the puzzle was falling in place now.
Who would have ever imagined, the Duchess of Mandalore teaming up with puppet Dooku. Now he was aware of the risk young Vader had possibly run on Zygerria and would be better equipped to prepare his apprentice for future encounters.
But in the meantime, Sidious had more urgent business to take care of. Like retrieving Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force-sensitive daughter.
"The youngling must feel lonely, all by herself on that moon" he evilly snickered as he pushed a button from the control panel of his private chamber. An automated pod was instantly sent to the Mandalore Sector.
"I sense ours will be a great partnership" he declared, sneering at the savory thought of the daughter of the Mandalorian pacifist and Jedi Master Kenobi serving him and the Sith cause.
Dooku's spaceship, en route to the Mandalore Sector
After interminable hours, the spaceship was finally getting close to its destination.
Satine had spent the entire trip trying to keep Obi-Wan awake, as well as managing the ship, the fugitives and her own anxiety. She now planned on stopping on the Moon just to pick Mara Jade up, then go straight to the nearby planet where trustworthy members of her Clan lived and would accept them, hoping Obi-Wan would last long enough.
As it was often the case under such circumstances, the trip of sorrow had also offered rays of hope and restored faith in the sentients of the galaxy. Satine had been ecstatic to discover that the two Zygerrian girls she'd helped reunite with Corio were actually Cressidra's nieces. It was bittersweet to acknowledge that Cressidra's final wish had been fulfilled, but that she wasn't there in flesh and bones to celebrate. The two girls were convinced their father was still on Zygerria, expressing a desire to get reunited with more of their family. Satine assured them that they could always count on her support, de facto taking them under her wing of protection. She made sure to let Obi-Wan in on what was going on as a way to keep him alert and engaged, though he was neither of the two, at least not fully.
Other bonds were forming among the ship's passengers too: the elderly Zygerrian lady offered to care after the nautolean teenager and a group of togrutas decided to take the displaced toddler in as one of their own.
The Rodian medic was using all his resources to help Obi-Wan, including pinpricking points on his lung meridians to help him breathe better. Between the beatings, the tortures, the blaster shot and the stabbing, the Jedi was at the end of his rope, but Satine's proximity seemed to aid him. She often held his hand throughout the journey, and at times he would squeeze it back, offering a temporary balm to her nerves. It was amazing how he still helped her, even when he was in such dire need of help himself. Outwardly, Satine was as collected as usual, while a war over the control of her emotions raged inside of her.
They were just about to jump out of hyperspace, when the control panel's screen beeped, indicating the arrival of a message.
Corio immediately notified Satine: "Milady, droid F-39 has sent a distress signal"
Satine almost gagged. She rushed to the control panel, a sense of constriction oppressing her throat.
There it was, the flashing distress signal. Her worst nightmare materializing, Satine shook her head vigorously, fearing for her daughter's fate. She closed her eyes, since her vision was threatening to blacken. She experienced guilt to a level she never thought possible.
Her reaction didn't go unnoticed to Corio, who asked: "What shall I do?"
"Hurry, they're after my baby!" was all Satine managed to say.
As if the feeling of being a failure wasn't strong enough, promptly came the Rodian medic's dejected communication:
"Milady, we're losing him" he gestured towards Obi-Wan's unresponsive body.
If Satine had held it all together so far, now she wasn't having any more of it.
"No, it can't be!" she ran back to Obi-Wan, who apparently was taking too long between two breaths and whose blood pressure was dropping dangerously low. The Rodian medic had already injected the only dose of stimulant that was found in the medpac, which was yet to produce an effect.
The former Duchess touched the Jedi, then bent over him and kissed him on the lips, startling him.
"Kenobi, if you dare dying on me, I will revive you just so that I can kill you again, with my own two hands!"
He blinked with eyes still closed.
Right in that moment, the spaceship jumped out of the hyperlane, steering steeply to reach the Moon quicker.
Satine stood up, all set on getting organized for the upcoming descent. Obi-Wan still didn't know about Mara Jade, whom she ideally would have introduced in a different manner, but as their circumstances were far from ideal, she added:
"You can't yield to your injuries like this, not when your daughter's about to be kidnapped!"
She didn't believe he would truly hear her in his state, but Obi-Wan's eyes popped open for a moment, as his back stiffened and he drew in a long, wet breath that almost choked him. In his dreamlike state, where visions and reality fused and consciousness met the subconscious, Satine's words still had the ability to stir his soul.
He saw her blurry silhouette walking away before the Rodian medic's face filled his field of vision, vaguely remembering the childbirth pain dream he'd experienced as a captive on Zygerria. The Rodian medic pinpricked the innerved spot between his nose and upper lip, startling him further. His next semi lucid thought was about Qui-Gon. He asked him to ask the Force to sustain him, as he was too weak to properly do it himself.
Kalevalan Moon
Sidious' automated pod reached the old droid shed in the woods in no time. It checked in with the probe droid, which was still hovering outside the broken window, then toggled a switch and extended a long pair of steely prehensile arms towards the baby lying on the blanketed thin mat.
Inside, F-39 had already been squirming for some time due to the probe droid's insistent presence. Furthermore, Mara Jade's cries were increasing in frequency and intensity, and there wasn't really much the droid could do to console her, especially after having ran out of milk syringes.
Hence, when it saw the steel prehensible arms appearing, F-39 buzzed warily, attempting to first severe them, then incinerate them with its tools. When nothing worked and the relentless arms grabbed the now red-faced, yelping newborn, F-39 got itself attached to them as well, trying to slow them down at all costs.
Eventually, the automated pod sucked both baby and droid in, climbing towards space at an ever-increasing speed.
As if on cue, Dooku's spaceship reached the Kalevalan Moon and began descending. It bumped into the ascending automated pod right as F-39 sent another distress signal, confirming that they were in that pod. It was an abduction.
Inside the ship, Satine took charge of the commands next to Corio.
"She's in there! We can't let that pod escape!" she sounded desperate and wary at the same time.
The chase thus began.
As much as they pushed Dooku's spaceship to its limits, the distance never seemed to be decreasing between them and that woeful automated pod. Once they reached space, the pod accelerated even more, beyond their reach.
"No!" Satine exclaimed, watching it get smaller in the distance. They couldn't shoot it down, otherwise Mara Jade would certainly perish. It was only a matter of seconds before it jumped into hyperspace, into the unknown.