A/N: Oh lordy have mercy. I am so sorry for this late of an update y'all. I'm pretty sure y'all know the excuses now, but on top of everything I got, now I gotta fix my truck. Damn you Nissan, why you gotta make complicated engines with the important parts hard to reach. Anyway before I go on a rant, I wanna thank you all for sticking around and not just giving me the middle finger and leaving. Without further ado, let's continue on with Thomas' story.
Chapter 11: Where loyalties lie
December 23rd, 2022, 22BBY
0900 hours
Jedi Shuttle
Normal POV
Obi-Wan and Thomas are making their way to neutral system of Mandalore to find out whether or not the Duchess is true to her word of pacifism. The two men have been traveling through hyperspace for quite some time now. Thomas decided to put on some music from earth to help clear his mind. He decided on one of his favorite Artists, Alan Jackson, and his song "Where her heart has always been". The music started playing and Thomas closed his eyes to listen to the soft country melody while humming it low.
The morning light was soft and low
The clouds had left and early snow
A peaceful sound was calling low
"It's time to go"
Then God reached out his tender hand
And gently pulled her home with him
And brushed away the sorrow from her soul within
And I could hear the roses sing
A bluebird softly claps its wings
The sun seemed brighter than it's ever been
And now she's dancing in the wind
With her true love again
Where her heart has always been
Where her heart has always been
He soon felt a tap on his shoulder as he took out his earbuds and saw it was Obi-Wan. "Oh, hey Obi-Wan," he said, "Something you needed?"
"Oh nothing, I was just curious about what you were listening to," replied the Jedi Master.
"Oh, it's a song from my planet," Thomas explained, "It's one that carries a soft melody that can put a heart at ease and help relax your soul." Now this intrigued the Jedi Master.
"Care if I listen with you?" he asked. "Of course, Obi-Wan," Thomas replied as he handed an ear bud to Obi-Wan telling the Jedi to put it in his left ear. Thomas then hit the play button and continued the song.
And I could hear the roses sing
A bluebird softly claps its wings
The sun seemed brighter than it's ever been
And now she's dancing in the wind
With her true love again
Where her heart has always been
Where her heart has always been
Where her heart has always been
The morning light was soft and low
The clouds had left and early snow
When the song ended, Obi-Wan was amazed at how much a song could touch him so gracefully. He felt much calmer and collected than when they first left Coruscant. It was almost like the force itself was put into the song and helped purge the worry from him. Thomas couldn't help smile at the look Obi-Wan had on his face.
"How do you feel?" he asked the Jedi master.
"Like a weight was lifted from my shoulders," Obi-Wan replied, "That was one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. I never knew music could have that effect on you."
"It really does," Thomas said, "Where I come from, every big family gathering, we would always play music like this, hell even sing along to it. It's just something about a melody like this one that just makes you wanna sing your heart out."
"With that I completely agree my friend," Obi-Wan said to the soldier from earth.
Thomas then began to show Obi-Wan some other songs like Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville", Chris Stapelton's "Tennessee Whiskey", and Larry Fleet's "Where I find God". After a while, they got an alert that they were approaching Mandalore.
"Oh well, the songs were enjoyable while they lasted," Obi-Wan said.
"But you feel more level headed and calm now. right?" Thomas asked, getting a nod from the Jedi Master.
The shuttle exited hyperspace and made its voyage to the planet's surface. Once it had landed, a Mandalorian guard was waiting for the men on a speeder of sorts. The Jedi and the soldier exited the shuttle and made their way over to the speeder.
"The Duchess awaits you, General Kenobi," the guard said while looking over to Thomas, "Who might this be?"
"A friend of mine."
"Thomas Sullivan, Private First class, but I came here as a neutral third party," the soldier said.
"If you insist," the guard said, "just no funny business from you."
"I'd rather keep my head on my shoulders thank you very much," Thomas joked.
"Come, the Duchess awaits," the guard said.
"Wouldn't dream of making her wait," Obi-Wan said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
The guard powered up the speeder and the three occupants made their way towards the Royal Palace home to the Duchess of Mandalore and Obi-Wan's old lover: Satine Kryze. Once the speeder landed, the two men made their way into the palace where an older man dressed in white was waiting for them.
"General Kenobi," the man greeted.
"Thank you for meeting with me Prime minister Almec," Obi-Wan said.
The two men shook their hands when Almec noticed the young man standing next to the Jedi.
"Who might you be?" Almec said towards Thomas.
"Thomas Sullivan, Private First class," the country boy answered, "I'm here at the request of Master Kenobi to assist him on these matters."
Almec nodded in understanding. "Then I welcome you both as a servant of the people, but I am troubled by the false rumors that had brought you both here," Almec then turned and walked with Obi-Wan and Thomas following him towards the far end of the chamber, "Mandalore would never turn against the republic, The Duchess Satine values peace more than her own life." This surprised Thomas a bit but kept his composure
"Oh, I'm aware of the Duchess' views," Kenobi said dryly.
"Master Kenobi, Mandalore's violent past is behind us," Almec replied quickly, "All our warriors were exiled to our moon concordia. They died out years ago."
"Jango Fett would say otherwise if he still had his head on his shoulders," Thomas interjected.
"Jango Fett was a common bounty hunter," Almec snapped, "how he got that armor is beyond me."
"Well, Master Kenobi," the sound of a woman's voice came from the other end of the chamber making the three men turn towards Duchess Satine, " my shining Jedi Knight to the rescue once again."
Thomas looked between Obi-Wan and Satine and could tell there was some bad blood between the two of them. Sounds like they didn't break up on the best terms from the sarcasm in the Duchess' voice.
"After all these years you're more beautiful than ever," Obi-Wan greeted the Duchess.
"Kind words from a man who accuses me of Treachery," the Duchess replied bitterly.
This got a lot of questionable looks towards the Jedi and soldier.
"I would never accuse you of personal wrongdoing, Duchess," Obi-Wan replied with honesty, "However, a Separatist saboteur attacked one of our Republic cruisers, a Mandalorian saboteur," he said this while pulling out a holodisk.
Said disk displayed a Mandalorian in beskar armor dodging blaster volleys while retaliating with his own blaster fire.
Judging from the reactions from everyone else in the room, they weren't expecting this. This caused a lot of unease within the room.
"You must be mistaken," argued Almec, "No Mandalorian would engage in such violence. Not anymore at least. Where is the prisoner now?"
"From what I was told," Thomas informed the prime minister, "He decided death was better than bondage and killed himself. I believe I should mention I was trained by Kal Skirata himself, so I know a little more about y'all's warrior culture than the average person."
"I know these commandos fought in many wars, often against the Jedi," Obi-Wan said, "One need not to look further than the Mandalorian Wars four thousand years ago."
"Every one of my people is as trustworthy as I am," the duchess stressed out.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that ma'am," Thomas said, "Not from the footage that we have seen."
The Duchess then turned to the soldier and took note of some of the unusual items on his person.
"And who might you be?" she asked Thomas.
"Thomas Sullivan, Private first class of the GAR, but I came only at the request of Master Kenobi to assist him on this matter."
The Duchess' stared at the young man and Kenobi very intently now.
The man besides the duchess spoke, "I know we sound defensive but-"
"Clearly your investigation was ordered because the senate is eager to intervene in our affairs," Satine cut in.
"On the contrary," Thomas said, "The investigation was ordered by the Jedi Council, not the senate."
"And the Jedi report to the senate if I'm not mistaken," Satine answered.
"This investigation is completely separate from the republic Duchess," Thomas replied back, "I may be a soldier of the republic, but I came here as assistance to help clear up this mess. It's not the first time I've seen someone drag a culture's name through the mud, it could be a fake Mandalorian for all we know. You're still innocent until proven otherwise."
To say Satine was stunned by how proper and organized this young man was with how he speaks is an understatement.
"Perhaps I stand corrected," the Duchess admitted graciously, "General Kenobi, Private Sullivan, perhaps you'd like to join me on a walk through the city?"
She raised a hand towards Obi-Wan, more so to make him comply than out of respect.
Walking towards the throne, Obi-Wan gently took Satine's hand as she rose from her throne. They descended down the steps with Thomas following them, with Thomas catching a suspicious look from the Prime Minister.
Following the Jedi and Duchess, Thomas was led out into the city walkways with speeders flying overhead and civilians walking around. He was definitely out of his element here, and it put him on edge a little bit.
He grinned at the "couple" that were Satine and Obi-Wan, and very discreetly took a quick pic with his phone without drawing the attention of the guards. This he had to show to Anakin later.
"It's so good to see you again, Obi-Wan," Satine earnestly said, "Despite the circumstances."
"Your peaceful ways have paid off," Obi-Wan replied with a small smile, "Mandalore had prospered since the last time I was here."
"Not everyone on Mandalore believes that our commitment to peace is a sign of progress," Satine said with a somber tone, "There is a group that calls itself death watch. I imagine these are the renegades you're looking for."
"I was told of this Death Watch by my mentor on Kamino," Thomas replied, "They apparently value the old archaic warrior ways of the past if I'm not mistaken."
Satine nodded, "You're correct Private Sullivan," she said. Thomas chuckled, "Please call me Thomas, I'm still getting used to being called by my last name." She too chuckled.
"As I was saying, there are those among us, some certain officials who are working to root out these criminals," Satine continued, "It has been an ongoing investigation."
"How widespread is this Death Watch movement?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's hardly a movement," Satine said boredly, "It's a small group of Hooligans who chose to vandalize public places nothing more. We shall soon have them in custody"
"I wouldn't underestimate a small group Duchess," Thomas said, "On my planet, a government made the same mistake over 250 years ago, and the result of that underestimation was the creation of one of the most powerful countries on my planet."
"Well hopefully we can get them arrested before anything else can happen," Satine said, "We have tracked the group to our moon: Concordia."
"I hope you're right Duchess," Obi-Wan said.
Thomas POV
I listened to the small debate about the definition of a peacekeeper between Obi-Wan and Satine. I swear if the order wasn't so strict on relationships, those two would've been married by now. I wonder what happened between the two.
I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts when an explosion coming from a nearby structure shook the former debating individuals out of their argument. I recoiled and once I regained my composure, I went to check on civilians.
"Hooligans couldn't have arranged an attack on this scale," Obi-Wan said.
"Then must be the work of an off-worlder," Satine said.
"Are you sure of that?" Obi-Wan asked.
Then a hologram with a symbol I didn't recognize appeared. Satine on the other hand, knew it well.
"The sign of the death watch," she gasped.
"This is far from a petty vandalism," I said, "These assholes are sending a message to you Satine, about your wanting for peace."
"You're not safe here Duchess," Obi-Wan said, "I'm taking you back to the palace."
He then took Satine's hand and helped her up.
"I want to interview everyone here," he said, "Nobody leaves the scene."
I then notice a man in the crowd who looks nervous. He then turns and runs from the crowd in the opposite direction.
"You there!" Obi-Wan said as he prepared to give chase but I beat him to it.
"Way ahead of you Obi-Wan," I say as I sprint after the runner.
I chase the culprit through the square, then down a flight of stairs, through a hallway into a no-way. I slowly approach him with hands raised. He looks over the railing anxiously.
"Hey buddy, let's just talk this out alright," I say calmly.
He suddenly pulls out a blaster and starts firing at me. I roll out of the way and reach for one of my DC-17s and land a shot in his hand holding the blaster making him drop it. He then charges towards me and tackles me. I then roll and kick him off.
"Buddy you're making it very difficult to try and talk to you," I say.
I then see Obi-Wan and Satine approach from the stairs.
"Both of you stay back!" I say sternly.
While I was distracted, the man took the opportunity to stand on the railing in a peculiar fashion and spoke in a language I didn't recognize.
"Calhava bru'chun dralshye'ran!" he spoke before leaning backwards dropping.
The three of us rushed towards the railing and I realized it was one hell of a drop. The scene wasn't pretty. The crazy bastard had spider-cracked the glass ground as many people approached him. We made our way down to the scene where the poor guy was on his last legs of life when he started to speak again.
"Se solu, se kad, se darasuum kote. Kadi, se norm'iim," he says as he breathed his last.
"What's he saying?" Obi-Wan asked.
Satine didn't answer at first as she leaned in closely and softly said, "Ki, Kadi, norm'iim," and turned to address Obi-Wan and I.
"He was speaking in the dialect they use on Concordia, our moon," she explained.
"I would like to visit this moon of yours," Obi-Wan requested, "Perhaps I may accompany the body."
"The Concordian moon is a procence with its own governor," Satine said, "You'll need me to escort you."
"That won't be necessary," the Ginger Jedi declined.
"Actually, it will. You won't make much progress without me there, especially since you both have been involved with the death of a Concordian."
"I didn't kill him."
"I know, that's why I'm still talking to you."
"She's got a point Obi-Wan, they may not take to kindly to us showing up after we unintentionally caused one of their people to off themselves," I say bluntly.
Obi-Wan sighs and we both follow the Duchess.
-Scene cut-
Normal POV
The two off-worlders were now in a Mandalorian transport ship bound for Concordia. They left the dock it was stationed on and began their voyage to the Mandalorian moon. Even after all the missions he's been on, Thomas couldn't help but still be amazed at how casual space travel was for this part of the universe compared to his planet putting less than 10 people on the moon.
"So, what's this moon like?" Thomas asked.
"From what I heard, it was an agricultural settlement," Obi-Wan guessed.
"Before the end of our wars, it was turned into a mining base. The sheer number of mining facilities here nearly destroyed our forests. They're finally growing back," the duchess said with pride. She had dressed out of her royal attire into something much casual and comfortable.
The transport ship had reached a lavish city entering the hangar bay of the largest building. Lowering the ramp came Kenobi, Satine, and Thomas along with the coffin of the Concordian who took his life back on the capital of Mandalore as well as two guards.
The three were soon greeted by another man with guards surrounding him. The three visitors approached the man along with the coffin of the Concordian.
"Duchess Satine, you are most welcome," the man greeted them.
"Thank you, Governor Vizsla. May I present Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, representing the Jedi Council, and Private Thomas Sullivan, who accompanied Master Kenobi for this visit. Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of." Satine said. "He has been working to find the members of the Death Watch."
"I take it you heard the rumors you heard the rumors about Satine, about how she's supposedly leading Mandalore into an alliance with the separatists," Vizsla said.
"Our only instructions were to seek the truth," Obi-Wan responded.
"Satine is considered innocent until proven otherwise," Thomas responded, "I don't jump to conclusions especially in cases like this one."
Vizsla then saw the coffin of the Concordian. "This was the man who bombed the memorial shrine?" he asked.
"Yes, he was apparently part of death watch," Obi-Wan answered.
"A worrisome prospect," Vizsla said, "If you'll pardon me General, Private, we must attend to the body."
With that, Vizsla left with his guards along with the coffin. Obi-Wan stopped Satine.
"I need a favor from you," he said, "Please keep the Governor occupied at dinner."
"Where are you going?" Satine asked.
"Just for a look around. I'd like to see these mining facilities for myself."
"You mean you still want to determine if they're still…..operational," she said with an accusing tone.
"I hope to determine that they're not," he pulls out some earpieces and hands one each to Satine and Thomas, "I want you both to wear one of these earpieces so that we can stay in contact, in case one of you run into trouble while I'm gone. I trust you can keep Satine safe while I'm gone, Thomas?"
"You have my word Kenobi," Thomas said.
The duchess then shook her head in exasperation.
"Remember you're here under my protection," Satine said, "Please try not to cause problems where non yet exist."
"Think of it as him searching for solutions to this problem Duchess," Thomas reassured her while Kenobi went a one of the speeder bikes in the hangar.
"I have to tell you I'm opposed to all of this," Satine huffed
"I'd be disappointed if you weren't," Obi-Wan remarked with his signature sass as he left the hangar.
Satine shook her head
"Glad to see that he hasn't changed one bit," she said with a dry tone.
"People rarely do Duchess," Thomas said.
"Fair enough," Satine said.
The two made their way into the building and headed down a corridor to where the Concordian governor was waiting for them. When they arrived, they saw Vizsla typing away on a datapad he had in his hand.
"Forgive me, Duchess," Vizsla apologized, "I'm writing a condolence letter to the man's family and making arrangements for them to retrieve his body."
"Of course, Governor. Very proper. General Kenobi will join us shortly," Satine informed him.
"Obi-Wan told us he needed to take time to meditate," Thomas said, "Something I always try to do along with daily prayer."
This caught Vizsla's attention. "Prayer? To what God may I ask?"
Thomas chuckled, "A benevolent God, one that loves all living beings, and only wishes for harmony and peace."
"Interesting, well sounds like you got a lot on your mind Private Sullivan," Vizsla chuckled making Thomas join in. However, he noticed something about the Governor's body language that felt, off to him.
And he was hell bent on finding out what.
Meanwhile with Obi-Wan.
He arrived at one of the mining facilities and made his way inside. Traversing the tunnel, he soon approached a bright light.
"Doesn't look abandoned to me," he said while looking around at the makeshift factory for Mandalorian weapons and armor.
He approached a line of freshly made jetpacks and helmets.
Picking one of the helmets up, he examined it as he heard someone rushing up behind him.
He was met with a fully armored Mando firing his blaster at him. Kenobi held up the helmet as a makeshift shield as the Mando tackled him to the ground.
The jedi got up quickly and drew his lightsaber only to find his attacker gone.
He called out to the Mandalorian not wanting conflict, "I am here on a diplomatic mission under the protection of Duchess Satine."
"We do not recognize her rule," the Mando said while rising up and firing his weapon at Kenobi with the jedi deflecting the bolts.
As the assailant drew on closer, Kenobi performed a spinning kick knocking the blaster out of the Mando's hands.
However, a moment too soon did Obi-Wan's weapon get knocked out of his hand by another Mandalorian that was hidden on an elevated control terminal.
The Jedi quickly re-engaged the first Mandalorian who was closest to him, landing some successful strikes only to be subdued moments later with both Mandalorians grabbing his arms and punching him in the gut. When he looked up, he was greeted by a boot which knocked him unconscious.
Back to Satine and Thomas.
Both sat at the table with Vizsla pouring some sort of drink that Thomas could assume was booze.
Thomas decided not to drink it as he knew that he wasn't of age, plus he had to keep the Duchess, and who knows what was put into it.
"Someone is feeding misinformation directly to the Republic Senate, saying that Death Watch is taking over Mandalore. Who stands to gain from these lies?" The Duchess asked somberly.
"Death Watch, of course," Vizsla said like it was the most obvious thing
"They could not engineer all this," Satine stated, "The problem has clearly grown much larger than we thought. And I suspect some external force helped it along."
"Hard to believe," Vizsla replied, "It would have to be someone at the highest level of influence among the Separatists."
"Why would the Separatists wanna get involved in something like this?" asked Thomas.
"Simple, the Duchess leads the Council of Neutral Systems. Thus, threatening the Separatists goal," Vizsla said raising a glass towards Satine's direction, "Take it as a compliment Duchess. Someone very powerful is working towards your downfall.
Vizsla and Satine drank from their glasses while Thomas just lifted his.
"Governor Vizsla," Thomas spoke up, "What exactly do you know of Death Watch?"
The Governor grunted while wiping his mouth. "I know they're a threat with the bombing that had occurred on Mandalore. Attacking civillians. Nothing barbaric. I may be proud of our ancient warrior culture and traditions, but the death of innocence is inexcusable."
Thomas could tell that the man's tone didn't match his true feelings.
"I can agree with that," the soldier replied, "interesting that you know seem to know so much about Death Watch, Governor," he added a hint of suspicion.
"I like to study our people's history is all Mr Sullivan," he said with the slightest note of nervousness, "General Kenobi is taking a rather long time with his meditation."
The two guests had no clue as to the Jedi's predicament right now.
"You know Jedi. They never do anything by halves," Satine remarked.
All of a sudden, Thomas and Satine heard Kenobi's voice over their earpieces. "Duchess, Thomas, please acknowledge."
"May I offer you another drink?" Vizsla asked.
"Yes certainly," Satine replied.
"I'll pass," Thomas said, "I'm not much of a drinker."
"I'm in a bit of an awkward spot. I'm being held by Death Watch."
When Vizsla was over at the bar, he made himself and Satine a glass before turning back with an apologetic smile. "Sorry Duchess, we're without of ice."
"Sorry to hear that," said Satine.
"There are times I usually go without it."
"Perhaps we should begin without General Kenobi."
"There's a tracking function on your commlink, Satine. Thomas can assist you if needed as he is better suited. Follow it due east to my location."
"I don't know if I can do that at the moment," Satine replied.
The Concordian was a little confused by what Satine just said.
"It's extremely urgent."
"Are you feeling well, Duchess?" asked the Governor.
Getting up from her seat, Satine gave a small smile. "Perhaps some fresh air would be good."
"Shall I escort you outside?" Vizsla asked.
"Take a speeder, it's rough terrain."
"I got it handled Governor," Thomas said, "I was tasked by the General to keep her safe."
"You sure?"
"I always keep my word," Thomas replied.
This seemed to convince Vizsla, with the pair departing the room making their way into the hangar.
"Satine, I think you should drive. I can't fly anything, at least not yet," Thomas declares.
Getting onto a speeder, she patted the spot behind her, "Just hang on tight."
Once getting on, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I won't try anything funny; I swear on my grandfather's life."
"I'll hold you to that, private." She added with a small smile.
The pair were silent for the start of the duration until….
"Vizsla is hiding something," Thomas said.
"What?" Satine asked in bewilderment.
"Back at the estate, he seemed slightly nervous when I probed him even a little about Death Watch."
This seemed to convince her as they arrived at the mining facility. The pair got off the speeder as Thomas took off his clothes revealing pieces of his clone armor and his DC-17 blaster pistols in their holsters. He also had his electrobatons strapped behind his back. He also slipped on some black gloves of some kind with some dark blue outlines at the fingertips and some bumps at the fingernails.
A mask made out of nano-tech slipped onto his face as well only going up to his hair, with animated eyes. (Think of Star-Lord's mask with MCU Spider-man's mask's eyes.)
"Let's go," Thomas spoke he gestured for her to follow him as the two entered a dark tunnel.
As they entered inside, Obi-Wan spoke again, "This is not good."
As she hugged the nearby wall, Thomas peeked around the corner slightly to see the Death Watch members in the room.
"We need to do a little bit of house cleaning before we can reach Obi-Wan," Thomas said.
Spotting a panel, Satine started to fiddle around with it until the alarm went off. While the alarm was blaring, the pair hid behind a conveyor belt as two Death Watch members rushed past. The moment they were close enough, Thomas pounced on them like a cat.
He caught them both off guard with a double jump front kick catching them both off guard as he rolled behind the dazed Mandos before taking two fingers from both his hands and jamming them behind their necks making them seize up and fall down.
Satine looked up in surprise at what Thomas just accomplished. "How-," she started. "Taser gloves," Thomas replied, "Good non-lethal way of taking out your enemies."
Snapping out of her astonishment state, Satine and Thomas made their way to the captured Jedi soon being addressed by him. "Well it certainly took you long enough," Kenobi said aloud with a bit of dryness as he was suspended upside down in a containment field.
"You know we haven't saved you yet."
"Yes~ no need to remind me of that."
"Be patient."
"I happen to be short on patience right now."
Thomas groaned in annoyance, "Save the arguing for the marriage counselor, lovebirds."
The pair ignored him with Satine climbing towards a console and then started fiddling with the controls. "Now let's see. One of these should work."
"Satine, turn the machine off," Obi-Wan said with desperation as he drew closer to the crusher.
"I'm trying."
"Satine!"
"There!" Satine said while pushing a button stopping Obi-Wan from becoming Kenobits.
"Why isn't he out?" asked Thomas.
"Trying to free him now."
"HEY."
Thomas whipped his head around to see the previous Mandos he gave electroshock therapy to came in with blasters trained on him.
"I guess my buddies regained their shit faster than I thought," the soldier said aloud.
"We're gonna skin you alive, you son of a bitch," one of them shouted while aiming a missile sight at Thomas which he promptly fired. Thomas tried rolling out of the way but got caught up within the shockwave of the blast.
The Mando rushed Thomas with the redneck rolling back onto his feat and tackling the first one before shooting the other one in the shoulder making him drop his weapon.
To prevent Kenobi from becoming "Obi-Done Kenobi," Satine kicked a nearby canister into the grinder. While the canister was bouncing around, the Jedi was freed from his containment.
He then used the canister as a springboard as he dropkicked a Death Watch member from attacking Thomas from behind.
Thomas then pulled out his Bowie Knife he had and jabbed it into the side of the Mando he was currently fighting and then slashed at his throat.
The trio made their way over to the elevator and made their way up.
"For a man sworn to peace, you take an unseemly pleasure in the injuries of others," Satine said.
"For a woman sworn to nonviolence, you don't seem troubled that I could've been killed back there," Kenobi retorted.
"But you weren't. And I still haven't heard my thanks."
"Well, you certainly haven't changed much."
Thomas rolled his eyes at the two bickering.
"Something you wanna say," the Duchess asked.
"Actually, yes," Thomas said, "You guys argue worse than Anakin and Ahsoka, and that's saying something." He then reached into his pocked and pulled out Kenobi's saber. "Also, you're gonna want this back."
"Thank you, Thomas," Obi-Wan said graciously taking the saber out of his hand, "How'd you get it back?"
"Took it off the person dumb enough to take it from you," Thomas said.
Before the Jedi could thank him, the elevator door opened to reveal another Mando standing guard.
The Mando could barely look back in time to see two fists colliding with his face.
He fell to the ground a second later with Kenobi taking a look around at their surroundings.
"This is not the way we came in," Kenobi said with his hand hovering above his lightsaber.
"No shit Sherlock," Thomas said with Satine wondering who this 'Sherlock' was.
She didn't get a chance to ask as they were faced with an encampment of some kind, one that was filled with Death Watch.
"Well shit," Thomas muttered.
"Look there. It's the Jedi," one of the members yelled out, pointing at them.
Obi-Wan quickly pulled out his saber and Thomas drew his pistols as they were met with blaster fire.
Kenobi deflected the bolts while Thomas fired some back. The Jedi tried pressing the controls on the elevator only to find out they didn't work.
"We'll have to stand and fight," Obi-Wan said as he looked over at Satine, "Or in your case, just stand and hide."
"Of course you would-"
"DAMMIT JUST SHUT UP," Thomas yelled pissed off, "CAN'T YOU JUST SETTLE THIS MARRIAGE SHIT LATER!"
"We are not married," chorused the two.
"NOT MARRIED MY ASS," Thomas yelled back as he hid behind some rocks with Satine as Obi-Wan continued to deflect blaster bolts.
Down below, a Mandalorian with three yellow marks on his helmet pointed to three Death Watch members.
"You three, stop them."
The three Mandos took to the skies with their jetpacks firing at the Soldier from Earth and the Jedi.
Obi-Wan was continuing to deflect bolts as Thomas realized things were gonna get harder as he saw the fliers approach them. "Shit," he muttered.
The soldier rolled out of his cover and took aim at the jetpacks using his mask to help guide his aim. The clipped fliers fell to the ground but got up quickly to charge at Kenobi and Thomas.
Holstering his pistols, Thomas drew his batons and striked at one the Mandos in the face and another strike to the gut sending current through him as he dropped to the ground dead.
Obi-Wan all the while was deflecting blaster bolts, sending one back that killed its sender while another disarmed the Jedi.
He ran at Obi-Wan and tackled him to the ground with the blaster aimed ready for a kill.
"You there!" The Death Watch member looked to see a rock colliding with the visor of his helmet courtesy of the Duchess. As she made a break for it, the Mando opened fire at her. Being distracted, Obi-Wan kicked the Death Watch member some distance away off his feet.
With him indisposed of at the moment, Kenobi rushed to where Satine was hiding, "Satine!"
"I'm alright," she spoke, hugging against a wall.
Seeing his men humiliated by a Jedi and a lone soldier, the Death Watch member gave out an order, "I'll deal with this. Get to your ships and evacuate."
Upon hearing this, other Death Watch members present made their way quickly to their transport ships and left to their rendezvous point for their base of operations.
"Obi-Wan," Thomas said aloud with the Jedi looking up to the country boy and then to what he was facing.
Seeing everyone else leaving, the Death Watch member made his way towards the intruder's position with three of his men behind him. As he drew close, he spotted the downed member of his group who tried getting back on their feet.
Drawing a pistol, the leader spoke a single word, "Failure."
Thomas then recognized the voice as the newly deceased Death Watch member sank to the ground after Vizsla put a bolt through him.
'I knew it,' Thomas thought as both he and Obi-Wan stepped out to confront the Death Watch member. "Looks like the Governor decided to show his true colors huh Vizsla," Thomas said with a tad bit of venom in his voice.
Removing his helmet, he revealed himself to Obi-Wan, Satine, and Thomas.
"Governor?" Satine spoke in utter confusion and disbelief.
"For generations, my ancestors fought proudly as warriors against the Jedi," the Concordian spoke with pride as he sneered to Satine. "Now that woman tarnishes the very name Mandalorian. Defend her if you will."
"I intend to," Obi-Wan said as he drew his lightsaber as Thomas held his hand in front of Obi-Wan. "If I may, let me handle it Kenobi," Thomas spoke.
Obi-Wan had a look of concern, "You sure Thomas?"
"Ain't my first rodeo," Thomas replied.
Vizsla looked at his opponent before reaching towards the hilt of his jetpack and drew out a lightsaber blade.
Seeing the blade ignite, Obi-Wan looked in surprise, not only in seeing a Mandalorian have a Jedi weapon, but it was a color he had never seen let alone heard before in a lightsaber, black.
"This lightsaber was retrieved back from your Jedi Temple by my Ancestors during the fall of the Old Republic before the seventh battle of Ruusan. Since then, many Jedi and clone troopers have fell upon its blade. Prepare to join them," Vizsla growled as he twirled his weapon.
"News flash bitch," Thomas said, "That's not gonna happen."
Vizsla tightened his grip on the Darksaber before letting out a war cry jumping high into the air.
Thomas raised his batons into an overhead X-Block successfully blocking the strike from the Death Watch member.
Being pushed back, Thomas avoided another swing and saw an opportunity to strike at his side and took it delivering a quick blow.
For multiple blows, you could see purple clashing with black and white. Both combatants avoided swings and jabs they couldn't block.
At one point when Vizsla tried to take a stab at Thomas, the soldier used his batons to trap Vizsla's arms, twisting them until the Darksaber fell out of his hands. Reacting quickly, Thomas grabbed the Darksaber and rolled back leaving the Death Watch leader unarmed and without his prized weapon.
Vizsla snarled at the soldier and said to other Death Watch members pointing at the trio, "Warriors, finish them off."
Wordlessly, the Mandalorians fired their missiles.
Seeing the missiles coming towards them, Thomas avoided the projectiles. He expected them to explode in front of him, but turns out they were homing missiles curving around in the sky and redirecting towards him and his companions.
Without any warning, Obi-Wan grabbed Satine's arm and rushed towards the elevator shaft. And soon enough he force-pulled Thomas in along with them. The three fell down the shaft landing hard on the ground though unscathed by the fiery debris that fell in from behind from the explosion.
Back up above, the Death Watch members scanned the ruined elevator shaft.
"Should we go after them sir?"
"No," Vizsla commanded, "There's no time, but don't worry, we'll soon catch up with the Duchess soon enough, and reclaim what is rightfully mine once more from the Jedi."
Coming out of the mining facility from where they entered, Satine, Obi-Wan, and Thomas were both covered in soot. Thomas took the time to take off his mask which short circuited once he took it off and caught on fire. He sighed in disappointment as that was his only mask.
They walked back to the speeders with Satine being the first to speak.
"I suppose we're even now," she remarked, watching as Obi-Wan helped Thomas over to his speeder.
"How so?" the Jedi asked.
"I saved your life, you saved mine," Satine said.
"Yes, well, mine was the more daring of the two."
"If you're done," said an exhausted Thomas, "I'd rather get back after a long day. We need to also inform Satine's people of what happened here."
"On that much, we can agree," Kenobi said with a slight smile.
Satine only clicked her tongue in amusement at the two with the trio departing from the mine.
"So, who am I riding with this time?" Thomas asked.
-scene cut -
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Thomas Sullivan walked with Prime Minister Almec, Advisor Tal Merrik, and Duchess Satine towards the Duchess' personal ship on the dock.
The dock was bustling with activity, Clone troopers, Mandalorian guards, and Senator officials all over the dock. The latter were present because of the upcoming discussions they wished to have with the leader of neutral systems.
"But if Pre Vizsla failed, we have no way of knowing of how widespread Death Watch really is," spoke Tal Merrik, the senator from Kalevala.
"It's obvious the Separatists are supporting Death Watch," Obi-Wan said.
"I disagree. I told you I wanted to stay out of this conflict," Satine said with a cold tone.
"Given the current situation, I would say that is impossible," Kenobi said.
Satine tightened her fists and practically growled at Kenobi, "I thought you of all people would understand my position. I will never be part of this war."
She left him there, walking towards the slip with Kenobi hanging his head slightly. He felt a pat on his shoulder to find Thomas without his armor standing there with an understanding look.
"Thank you, Thomas," Obi-Wan said gratefully.
Thomas nodded, "Anytime Obi-Wan. I may be a pain in your ass at times, but always know I'm willing to help."
Soon they saw some familiar faces that were refreshing after the past couple days.
"Oh Anakin, am I glad to see you," Obi-Wan said. Anakin, Rex, Cody all walked up to him.
"You sound tired master," Anakin said.
"Oh, he got off easy," Thomas said which made Obi-Wan roll his eyes.
"If I remember correctly, you were the one who volunteered to duel Vizsla," Obi-Wan replied.
Thomas grinned, "True, but if I didn't, I wouldn't have this," he said while pulling out the Darksaber earning a surprising look from Anakin and the two clones.
"Is that a-," Anakin started and Thomas just nodded. "Yup, a lightsaber, but not just any lightsaber," he ignited it revealing the unique blade shape and color.
"How in the hell did Vizsla get his hands on a lightsaber," Rex asked.
"Not sure sir, but what's important is it's out of Death Watch hands," Thomas said, "Jedi and innocent blood shall no longer fall upon this blade, it shall be used to help purge dark forces from the galaxy."
Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at Thomas in surprise. "Thomas, are you sure you want the responsibility of having this?" Asked the bearded Jedi.
"Of course, Obi-Wan, I feel this blade needs redemption, to atone for the blood it has spilled. Also, you already taught me some lightsaber techniques back on Coruscant, and now I have my own, so I don't have to borrow," Thomas said with a grin.
"Well, I say we continue this conversation back on Coruscant," Anakin said, "Don't wanna keep Obi-Wan's girlfriend waiting." This got some chuckles from Cody, Rex, and Thomas while the ginger Jedi rolled his eyes.
"She's not my girlfriend Anakin," Obi-Wan said annoyed.
They continued to laugh as they boarded the Duchess' ship and left the docks leaving the planet and jumping into hyperspace.
A/N: OH lord, after two weeks of writing this damn thing, I'm done. Also, sorry for the extra long chapter y'all as well as the late update. I do hope y'all enjoyed it though. Anyways, I gotta head out, those chapters aint gonna write themselves. Have a good day/night y'all and God Bless.