Star Wars: The Good Ending

Obi-Wan

Chancellor Amidalla was waiting for them on the dock at the Senate building, absolutely fuming. As her husband stepped out of his ship, she marched right up to him, slapped him across the face, then flung her arms around his neck in a relieved embrace.
    "What is wrong with you?!" She demanded, her cheeks flushed red, "You can't scare me like that!"
    Anakin forced a half hearted smile and kissed her cheek, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
    "It better not."
Obi-Wan's attention was caught by urgent beeping on his ship, a message from Vos. He motioned for the two of them to follow him aboard, and the three of them gathered around the central communications console. Obi-Wan answered the call and the slightly blurred blue hologram of Master Quinlan Vos sprang to life.
    "Great, you're all here. I found what Maul's apprentice was looking for."
"Proceed," Obi-Wan answered, crossing his arms.
    "Her name is Talon, or more accurately, Darth Talon. Maul took her on as his apprentice soon after his escape a few years ago. She came to Obadia in search of information on the Black Sun fortress on Mustafar. The mission with Ventress that put us in the Pyke's good graces? It was a rescue from that base. All the files and information on it are gone," Vos explained.
    Obi-Wan Kenobi scratched his beard thoughtfully, "Do you think that's where they are?"
    Vos nodded, "Has to be. In the last three weeks, a ton has moved to that system. It's got a max security prison, and is so far out into the Outer Rim no one would even notice it. I managed to find some spice crates shipped from there to here, it's got traces of Master Tano's presence all over it. Although, all I can tell you is that it was in the same building as her."
    "Excellent work Quinlan. We'll dispatch someone to come pick you up," Obi-Wan promised. Vos nodded and his hologram dissipated, and Obi-Wan turned his attention to Anakin and Padme, who were wearing the same uneasy expression.
    "That seems almost too easy," Padme started.
Anakin nodded in agreement. "We don't find him for three years and suddenly he just- turns up?"
    Obi-Wan frowned, but he trusted Quinlan, and truly believed him.
"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out."
    The three of them rushed back to Padme's office, in part to put together a plan, and to notify the 501st, who were running point on the search. Only when they got there, Rex was already waiting for them, with a holo-projector in hand. He looked troubled, and a bit like he was gonna be sick.
    "Rex, what's going on?" Anakin asked a bit uneasily.
Rex took a shaky breath, and set the message projector on the floor, "A bounty hunter delivered this to HQ fifteen minutes ago, kid named Boba Fett. Said he was sent by Crimson Dawn to deliver a message."
    Obi-Wan noticed Anakin's jaw tighten, and he went completely rigid. Padme gestured at Rex to play the recording, and Artoo dimmed the room to near darkness as the hologram sprang to life, projecting the life size visage of a Zabrak man with robotic legs.
    "I would like to preface this message by confirming that yes, I am currently on Mustafar. I planned to let you agonize a bit longer, but you proved to be a bit more resourceful than usual. The Jedi Ahsoka Tano and the younglings are here as well, and for the moment, they are unharmed. But-" Maul paused, "that can change very quickly, should you attempt anything in. . . bad faith."
    Obi-Wan could feel Anakin's mounting anger, but before he could say anything Padme took his hand and gave him a look that told him he needed to stay calm, and it seemed to work.
    "Send only Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. No more, no less. Do that, and the children will be safely returned to Coruscant. That is my bargain. Cross me, and they'll be sent home to you, one piece at a time."
    The hologram vanished, and the silence that clung to the air was deafening. After a few moments, it was Padme who broke the silence.
    "How do we know that if you two go, he'll release Ahsoka, Luke, and Leia?"
Her voice was strong and firm, like that of a commander asking troops about their odds.
    "We can't," Anakin said plainly. "He holds all the cards, he doesn't have to honor anything. We have no reason to believe he won't just kill all of us."
    "I'm going with you," Padme insisted.
Rex crossed his arms and tapped his greaves, "That's a really bad idea. Maul already has the grandmaster of the Jedi held prisoner, if he got a hold of the chancellor too, he'd have the two most powerful bargaining chips in the galaxy, and we'd all be at his mercy."
    Padme sighed and crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Could we send a team of Jedi to extract them while you two hold their attention?"
    Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, he'd sense their presence. Our best bet is a squad of non-force sensitives."
    "Bounty hunters?" Anakin suggested.
"No, they're too easily bought and nowhere near trustworthy enough," Padme pointed out.
    Rex snapped his fingers as he seemed struck by an idea. "A covert team of special ops, non force sensitives, with a wide skill set including tracking, hacking, and breaking in and entering. I know just the squad."