Throne Room
Sundari Royal Palace
Palace
Mandalore
"You should have chosen the Dark Side, Master Jedi," Darth Maul said coldly, striding forward ominously toward his nemesis. "Your emotions betray you. Your fear and yes, your anger. Let your anger deepen your hatred."
"Don't listen to him, Obi," Duchess Satine of Mandalore gasped, struggling against the mild Force hold that tightened against her throat and left her dangling in the air.
"Quiet," Savage Opress, brother to Darth Maul, snarled.
"You can kill me," Obi-Wan Kenobi began, then froze in astonishment as a slender form appeared out of thin air behind the crimson and black faced Sith. The red haired woman's eyes opened in startled surprise even as Maul spun around to face the sudden threat.
Mara Jade allowed herself a quarter second of astonishment before whipping a vibroblade from her boot and stabbing it into the right thigh of the Zabrak Darksider in front of her. The male roared in pain and jumped toward her, his red blade lighting up. She ducked and rolled away just as two lightsabers lit up behind her. She leaped to her feet, her own blue lightsaber flaring into life, and clashed it against Darth Maul's red blade.
"Luke!" she cried out to her husband, who was battling another Zabrak male. Both Zabraks were using red bladed sabers so ... maybe they were unknown Inquisitors?
"Mara?" Luke yelped back in surprise, even as he slipped to the right, ducked to the left, leaped up and over, and stabbed Savage in the back. A moment later, he leaped over to confront Darth Maul, who was attacking his beloved wife with tremendous strength and power.
Darth Maul was shocked and bewildered and enraged. He had been on the verge of wreaking vengeance on Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had defeated him on Naboo more than ten years earlier, and suddenly Jedi were here? How had he missed their approach?
"Luke, Type Z?" Mara inquired, blocking Maul's blade and retreating a few steps back to take refuge near a column.
"Type Z it is!" Luke replied insouciantly, dropping to his knee and slashing towards Maul already bleeding leg. Maul stumbled away from the attack and Mara jumped right, spun, and sliced Maul's head off.
The Zabrak's head, eyes wide with surprise, bounced along the floor for several meters before coming to rest next to a potted Cassius tree plant.
"Are you all right, Mara?" Luke asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," his wife said firmly, glancing around in bewilderment. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," Luke replied truthfully. "No idea. Who were they?"
"Inquisitors, maybe?"
"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded from near the throne, where he was holding Satine upright with one strong arm. He had dispatched his two guards and rushed over to help his love, and now he was staring with confusion and suspicion at the two completely unknown Light Siders who had come to his aid.
Luke turned and his eyes widened in delight, "Obi-Wan!"
Mara stared at the ginger haired, bearded man in amazement, "As in, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
"Yes!" Luke said excitedly. "So we must be in the Clone Wars!"
Obi-Wan blinked and shook his head even as he guided Satine over to the throne, where he lowered her gently. The poor girl had been through so much the last few weeks.
"I don't know you," Kenobi said, straightening up and glaring into Luke's eyes. "How do you know me?"
"Um, I know you from, well, let me start from the beginning. My name is Luke Skywalker, and this is my wife, Mara."
Kenobi gawked in amazement, "Skywalker?"
"Skywalker, yes."
"Related to Anakin Skywalker?"
"My father," Luke explained cheerfully. "But Mara and I are from the future, like 27 years in the future, so I haven't been born yet."
Obi-Wan stared at the young man. He was indeed dark blond, with blue eyes and a jaw so much like Anakin Skywalker. But ...
"First of all," the Jedi Master said firmly, "time travel is impossible."
Luke waved an amused hand, "I know, I know. Everyone always says that."
"You claim to have done this before?" Satine demanded, sitting up slightly. She felt a little better after being Force choked while Maul had pontificated, but she was still tired and glad to rest.
"Yes, I have done it many times," Skywalker explained in a sunny tone. "The first time it was deliberate – my sister and I found a Jedi Temple on Kashyyyk and messed around with holocrons and went back to the Clone Wars, to the Jedi Temple. But then the Force decided, apparently, that it would be fun to throw us into various timelines and alternate realities."
"Your sister," Obi-Wan repeated in a hollow tone. Was it possible that Anakin had, would, might have not one progeny, but two?
"Yes, she isn't here this time. For some reason, my lovely wife joined me on this little adventure, which is more or less awesome."
He leaned over and kissed Mara, who returned his embrace passionately.
Obi-Wan cleared his throat and the Skywalkers reluctantly separated.
"Jedi do not marry nor have children," Kenobi stated sternly. "It is forbidden."
"Yes, yes, we know," Mara said irritably. "The 'no attachment' absurdity. And it was stupid and extremely unwise. It is normal for people to love, to want to have children. When you deny those natural feelings, people get weird and sometimes go off the monorail."
"You are saying," Kenobi said with a surreptitious look at Satine, "that in your day, Jedi are permitted to marry and have children?"
"In my day, Obi-Wan," Luke said firmly, walking towards his former mentor, "there are very few Jedi. I don't know how far you are into the Clone Wars ..."
"About three years," Kenobi replied, forcing himself to answer this young man's questions. It seemed impossible, but the youth fought like a master, and was clearly a Light Sider, and Kenobi had never seen him before. And he looked, and felt in the Force, so much like Anakin.
"Ok, so it's all going to fall apart soon," Mara Jade Skywalker stated gravely. "See, the clone troopers have a control chip in their heads, and when the Chancellor orders them to follow Order 66, they will turn on the Jedi and slaughter them by the thousands. The Order will fall, and Palpatine will ascend the throne as Emperor of the galaxy."
Obi-Wan Kenobi was so shocked that he merely stood with his mouth yawning open, but Satine rose to her feet and took a few faltering steps forward.
"Palpatine?" she demanded incredulously. "You are saying ...?"
"He's the master Sith Lord," Luke explained patiently. "I'm sure that's a shock. Every time we meet someone from roughly this time period, people are incredulous. Sheev Palpatine? Really? Kind, noble old Sheev? Yep, Sith Lord."
"Show him the scars, Luke," Mara demanded.
Her husband rolled his eyes, "I hardly think that's necessary ..."
"No, really," Mara urged, her mouth quirking slightly. "I think a little evidence is in order."
Luke stared at her, then laughed and quickly pulled off his shirt, "So see all these scars, Obi-Wan? I thoroughly pissed off Palpatine a couple of years ago and he bombarded me with Force Lightning. Pretty horrible experience and I still have the occasional nightmare. Mara, on the other hand, likes to ..."
"You have an eight pack," Mara breathed dramatically. "You're so shredded."
Luke chuckled as he pulled his shirt back on and looked at Obi-Wan, "So yes, Palpatine is the Sith Lord you've been looking for. He's evil, mean, incredibly powerful and insanely manipulative. Sad but true."
Kenobi lifted one shaky hand to press against his eyes. Could it be? Palpatine had indeed garnered more and more emergency powers, and many Senators were loyal to him.
"I assume," he continued cautiously, "that since you know me, I survive ..."
"The Jedi Purges?" Luke asked, his eyes now sad. "Yes, you do, as does Master Yoda."
"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan murmured in relief.
"He trained me," Luke explained, walking over to kneel by the headless corpse of Maul. A moment later, he rose to his feet with the Darksaber in his hand.
"So did you, Obi-Wan, though briefly. Darth Vader killed you before you were able to teach me much."
"Darth Vader?" Obi-Wan demanded, his brow furrowed. "Palpatine?"
"No," Luke replied with a shake of his head, "Palpatine is Darth Sidious. No ..."
"Luke, wait, do you think this is wise?" Mara demanded.
"Yes," her husband said firmly. "The manic secrecy of everyone involved is what led to this mess. I have found it best to just hurl all the truth against the wall and see what sticks."
"Well, you're the boss," Mara said with a shrug, even as she dug through a stray pocket and pulled out a protein bar.
"Darth Vader," Luke repeated, turning back towards Kenobi. Now his cerulean eyes were sad, "Darth Vader, who was once Anakin Skywalker."
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master, found himself suddenly short of breath, his heart pounding so loudly that he wondered if it would bounce right out of his chest.
"You can't mean," he began softly.
"Yes, my father turned to the Dark Side, in my timeline anyway," Skywalker said gravely.
"He lost his freaking mind," Mara continued helpfully. "He tore through the galaxy murdering Jedi and Rebels and civilians alike. He was incredibly powerful and horrifying and so incredibly evil. Not the sort of guy you want to meet in a dark alley, or even in the bright sunshine."
"Too true," Luke agreed mournfully.
Kenobi felt his legs quiver like jelly between him, and Satine shoved him onto her throne and took his right hand protectively in her own small left one.
"Anakin wouldn't," Obi-Wan murmured blankly.
Luke Skywalker walked closer and gazed directly into his Alter mentor's eyes, "He would, and he did. Again, in my timeline. Listen, my father's an emotional mess, don't you understand? He was raised a slave with an explosive in his body, left his mother in slavery, lost her to the Tuskens, and soon he'll start having nightmares of my mother, his wife, dying in childbirth."
"His wife?" Kenobi squawked.
"Yes," Luke replied with a brisk nod, "he secretly married Padme Amidala at the beginning of the Clone Wars. She may be pregnant with me and my twin sister by now."
"Senator Amidala!" Satine muttered, her eyes wide.
"So basically you need to expose Palpatine, or take him down in some other way, and support Anakin," Luke said briskly. "Really, the Jedi did a horrible job with my father. This whole 'no attachments' thing is just ridiculous, but since you and all the rest of your brethren were raised in the Temple, you think it is normal. He's in love with Padme, desperately so. We think Palpatine urged him to turn to the Dark Side to try and save her, which failed, by the way. She did die, and Darth Vader lost his mind and just became everything my wife described."
Kenobi took a few deep breaths, struggling to get his emotions under control. It had been a rough day already, and now ...
"I sense you are a Jedi," he stated. "How did that happen if your father turned?"
"I was hidden from Vader and grew up on Tatooine, with you watching over me, and my father only discovered my existence when I was 19. I joined the Rebellion against the Empire that year, and Vader tore the galaxy apart trying to find me once he learned of my existence. He chopped off my right hand in a duel when I was 23, then turned back to the Light a year later to save my life. That was when Palpatine decided to kill me off via Force Lightning, and Father intervened, killing the Emperor and dying of the resulting injuries. But as Mara said, he caused a galaxy of agony during his twenty plus years as a Sith Lord.
"No one can turn back from the Dark Side," Kenobi stated flatly.
"Where Skywalkers are concerned," Mara said determinedly, "you can just throw out the holobook on expectations. He did turn back. But if you can stop him from turning to the Dark Side in this timeline, that would obviously be better."
Kenobi leaned back against the throne, vaguely aware that he didn't belong there. This was Satine's place. His Satine's.
Anakin was married. And his son was married.
To women they loved ...
"Palpatine has been both mentor and friend to Anakin," he commented aloud.
"That makes sense," Satine replied, her eyes fixed on his own. "Jedi Skywalker is extremely powerful, and he trusts Palpatine to guide him well. If Palpatine is indeed a Sith Lord ..."
"And behind the whole war, don't forget that," Luke pointed out helpfully. "He's engineered the entire thing, running both sides, to dissolve the Republic and crown himself Emperor."
Kenobi found himself muttering imprecations in Huttese. A linguistic gift from Anakin, he realized.
"So what is this?" Luke asked suddenly, lighting up the Darksaber.
Kenobi jerked in alarm, then forced himself to calm down. Realistically, these two young people had saved him from a nasty death at Maul's hands, and they were Light through and through.
"It is an ancient weapon, a lightsaber built by a Mandalorian Jedi," Satine explained gravely.
"It's weird," Luke said with a frown, peering at the blade. "Odd shape, and black. What's with that?"
"I am not certain," Kenobi replied, pushing himself to his feet. "I admit I am not a mechanical genius like your father."
"Luke's brilliant in that arena as well," Mara said cheerfully.
Luke blushed a little and then looked down at his boots with a frown, "Um, Mara, are your toes tingling?"
"Yes?"
"Then we are leaving back to our timeline soon. Obi-Wan, great to see you again. Take this Darksaber and do what you want with it. Remember, Palpatine. Taking him down is the key to righting the galaxy."
The Darksaber flew through the air toward Kenobi just as Skywalker and his wife disappeared.
/
Skywalker Residence
Coruscant
"Well, that was totally awesome!" Mara commented enthusiastically, collapsing onto the sofa and putting her feet up.
"It was fantastic," Luke agreed, sitting down next to her. "I love having Leia along on these little trips, but you're even better. I have to say that I'm very impressed with your rapid response against that Dark Sider. You were abruptly dropped into a new environment and the first thing you did was stab a random bad guy in the thigh. You are amazing!"
"Oh, you know, that assassin training comes in handy sometimes," Mara replied with a chuckle.
Both Skywalkers looked abruptly toward the door and Luke rose to his feet, "Leia and Han."
"Kind of late for them to stop by," Mara murmured, glancing at the chrono.
The door slid open and Leia walked in, her face alight with joy, her eyes welling with tears. Solo, at her heels, looked equally pleased about life.
"Mara, Luke," Leia cried out. "I'm pregnant!"
/
Author Note: I'll do another chapter for this timeline...