FORBIDDEN ATTACHMENTS ─ star wars

XLIX. The Saviors

Chapter Forty-Nine
Obi Wan

"Have you heard from your friends yet?" Satine asks me. She and I are in her palace's greenhouse, which lies on the bottom level and only Satine has access to. It probably holds the most plant life in the city, maybe even on the planet. Satine comes here when she's upset, she has as long as I have known her. I am perhaps one of the only people she has ever allowed inside.

She is watering a bush of flowers as she speaks to me, admiring the beautiful colors sprouting from the leaves. I shake my head, replying softly; "No. I'm sure the three of them will be back soon with some news."

She pauses for a moment before following up her statement; "Have you heard anything from Genevieve?"

Her back is still turned to me so I can't see her expression, but I don't have to. "Last night, yes. She just arrived on Coruscant and hopes the senate won't take long to make a decision."

"I meant what I said last night, I am very grateful to her. With her fighting for Mandalore, we might actually stand a chance. She has such a large heart, but you knew that already. Don't you?" She asks, finally turning around to look at me.

The doors to the greenhouse are closed, the closest guards are far enough away to not hear a thing we say. I have never spoken about this before, about the secret I hold in my heart. But I can't hide anything from Satine. I've never been able to.

"Yes, I do," I begin, taking a step closer to her, lowering my voice. "How long have you known?"

"I saw it when you first brought her here, but when I saw you last night at dinner, I knew. The way you spoke about her, the light in your eyes as her name crossed your lips. It's clear to anyone who knows you well. You love her."

I close my eyes, bowing my head slightly. "I'm so sorry, Satine. The last thing I would ever want is to cause you pain, and that's exactly what I've done."

Satine shakes her head. "Do not apologize for how you feel. I only want us to be honest with one another, no lies."

"I don't know how it happened," I confess, feeling like a weight is being slowly lifted off of my chest, like I can finally take a deep breath. "When we had our relationship, I turned my back on you because I thought that the way to be a good Jedi was to live by the Jedi code. Genevieve made me see that I can be a good Jedi and still feel things, still be human."

Satine smiles softly, letting out a light chuckle. "Like I said, she has a large heart."

"I wish I could have come to my senses earlier. If I had, I would have saved you and I a lot of pain and regret. I can't forgive myself for the wounds I have caused on your heart."

Satine gently slips her hand into mine, sincerity in her eyes and words as she says; "But I do. I forgave you long ago, Obi Wan. Even if you had your change of heart earlier, you and I would have never worked. You and I were not meant to be. Genevieve is where your heart belongs."

"I did love you," I tell her. "And you will always have a place in my heart. I hope we can put things behind us now and be friends."

Satine squeezes my hand, nodding with a wider smile. "You and Genevieve will always have my friendship. And don't worry, I will keep your secret."

I squeeze her hand back. "I appreciate that."

One of the guards from down the hall bursts through the greenhouse doors, so abruptly that I physically jolt. So does Satine, slipping her hand out of mine and placing her hand on her chest, breathing rather heavily. "What is it?" She asks, clearly shaken as well.

"Your highness, the city is under attack. The people are under attack."

Before the guard can even finish his sentence, Satine is out the door, with me following close behind. She and I are heading straight for the exit of the palace, despite several guards urging Satine to stay indoors, she refuses to stop her pace. When we have reached the steps leading up to the palace, when we are finally in the open Satine stops. She looks frozen in place, horror written across her face as she looks at the scene in front of us.

Battle droids have flooded into the city, shooting down the Mandalorian citizens with little effort. The people of Mandalore are peaceful, nonviolent, they have no chance against the separatist army. But this isn't any separatist army. I don't see anyone at the helm of the droids, no tanks, no ships. It's just standard battle droids. What's even stranger is that the droids aren't acting alone. I sense another presence here, a dark presence that separates itself from the destruction of the battle droids.

I tell Satine to stay there, igniting my lightsaber and running down the rest of the steps towards the city. I slice down a couple of battle droids, saving a young woman back up in a corner from being shot. I watch her run off into a nearby building, where an off worlder appears, pointing his gun right at me. I deflect the blast, using the force to push the stranger back into the wall behind him, knocking him out.

I approach the fallen body, confusion flooding through me as I begun to recognize who this is, or more specifically, who this person works for. I look around at the chaos flooding into the city, noticing that all of the off worlders helping the battle droids are from the Pyke Syndicate; one of the most powerful crime empires in the whole galaxy. Why would they be helping the separatists? None of the crime families are apart of the war, they are too busy looking after themselves and their money to bother with the war. None of this makes sense.

I feel my holo projector buzz in my robe pocket, I deflect another blast as I fish it out, clicking on it to see Anakin's face. "Master, we have some news. At the death watch camp we saw crates full of battle droids."

"Yeah, I know. Battle droids are in the city now attacking the people."

Anakin blinks. "What?"

"Battle droids are attacking the city! They are getting help though. Members of the Pyke Syndicate are here."

Anakin looks speechless, his mouth gaping open as he tries to form a response. "So-I...that means the droids we saw on Concordia are just-just additions to the army already on Mandalore. Son of a bitch. Wait...why would the Pyke's be helping the separatists?"

"I had the same question," I say, ducking away from another blast. "None of this makes sense."

I begin hearing a new sound amidst the clamor of the droids and the screams of the people. I hear cheers...cheers of joy, of triumph. I look up to the sky to see Mandalorians flying into the scene, their blasters aimed at the battle droids below them. These Mandalorians aren't like the others I've seen. Their armor is painted a deep crimson red, with black accents and symbol painted in orange on their jet packs. The symbol looks like a bird in flight, releasing a cry as it soars through the sky. This is exactly what these Mandalorians are doing, they are soaring through the city, cleansing it of the mechanical death that has plagued it.

"Anakin, do the death watch wear red and black armor?" I ask.

Anakin nods. "Yes, why?"

I sigh, watching the death watch land on the ground, rounding up the Pyke members and shooting down the rest of the battle droids. The people of Mandalore are now coming out of the safety of their homes, relief and joy in their eyes as they look upon their saviors.

"The death watch have just saved the city," I tell him, watching the crowd of Mandalorians begin to applaud, reaching their hands out to the death watch as if they were gods sent to save them. "Things just got a lot more complicated."