#satine and obi-wan: fuck we can't kill the guy shit fuck

[sukugo]

SCREAMING HE JUST FUCKING KILLS THE GUY. AND HIS SMILE ALL :DD I LOVE HIM

[nikxation]

I just want to look at the ways I think this fandom is misinterpreting Bo-Katan and try to address the hate against her that's basically always filling up the tag!

Essay under the cut!

Bo-Katan is not a good person, but she's also not the evil conniving villain that this fandom seems intent on making her.

First off, she was young and really fucking stupid in Clone Wars. Does this erase the fact that she did a bunch of terrible things? Hell no. But the fact is, in her mind, she had a choice: 1) give up on Mandalore's warrior history that she believed in and join Satine, or 2) embrace that warrior history. And because the True Mandalorians were wiped from existence, that became a choice between the New Mandalorians and Death Watch. There's this implication that she was young when she joined, because she was very much embedded in Death Watch when we first meet her in Clone Wars, and she's only, like, 20. She made a shitty choice, and because of that choice (and I'm sure what amounted to quite a bit of grooming from Pre Vizsla, because hello, the Duchess's very own sister on his side, that's too good to pass up) she did some really fucking terrible things.

She spends the rest of her life (thus far up until what we've seen) trying to atone for that choice and those horrible things she did.

And before I get people saying "she's a terrorist, you can't forgive a terrorist", I'd like to point out that you also can't forgive a murderer, and your favorite characters who are "good guys" certainly have done quite a bit of killing. Maybe some of the people they killed were bad guys and maybe some of them deserved some kind of punishment, but if you're trying to equate this to real world morality, can you truthfully say every person your "good guy" killed deserved to die? How many dead stormtroopers were people like Finn who just needed a way out? And I hate to tell you, Din isn't exactly a great guy either. I love him to death, but bounty hunting is a dirty and fucked up profession. I would not doubt he's returned some escaped slaves and done other fucked up shit over the years. Hell, they basically admitted to it in the Prisoner episode. The "good guys" aren't pillars of morality.

Equating real world morality to fiction doesn't always translate 1-to-1. Your fave is a murderer, but that doesn't bug you. Hell, let's jump fandoms for a second. How do you feel about Marvel's Loki? Man literally tried (and halfway succeeded in) committing genocide of an entire race. But now he's reached anti-hero status? Where's everyone saying he's horrible and deserves to rot because of what he did to Jotunheim? The morality doesn't equate because it's fiction, and it's a lot more interesting to start out with a fucking terrible character and watch them grow into something better and more complex. Bo-Katan was part of a terrorist group and spent years trying to make up for that and to be better. The point is it's a character arc and she's seeking redemption, and that's interesting. And she is changing for the better, even if she's not perfect.

Please go rewatch Rebels, the Mandalore arc. She refuses the saber because she doesn't think she's worthy of it. She doesn't try to fight Sabine for it. She doesn't want it. She knows and acknowledges the horrible shit she's done and doesn't think herself worthy because of that.

It takes convincing on Sabine's part, and proof that the rest of the clans are behind her, for her to take it. And she takes it in Satine's name and honor (which is basically a confirmation she is no longer under Death Watch), under the hope of restoring Mandalore and freeing it from the Empire.

If y'all wanna talk technicalities, that "well she didn't have a right to the saber because she didn't win it in combat in Rebels"... Remember that, technically, it then would still belong to Maul. Because Sabine didn't win it off Maul, she stole it. And now Maul is dead by Obi-Wan's hand. Sabine only "wins it" off Gar Saxon later on, and even then, the "chain" back to Maul is still broken, and technically Ursa was the one to kill Saxon. So, the whole "winning it by combat" thing is basically screwed over at this point, Sabine has no intention to rule Mandalore and is just trying to find someone she thinks could.

At this point, the darksaber is a symbol, a symbol of unification and of strength, of a return to power for the Mandalorians. And even if Bo-Katan didn't win it in combat, the fact of the matter is that she had the backing of all the clans anyways, so ultimately it doesn't matter. The point of winning the saber in combat is to show strength and "earn" the respect and loyalty of the other clans. She does that without the fight here, and that's the point. It's honestly a lot more meaningful than if she won it, because she got the backing of the other clans without having to beat up a fucking teenager.

Which is gonna lead us into The Mandalorian S2.

It's been 10 years since the events of Rebels. A lot has changed. Namely, Mandalore is fucking... gone. Utterly destroyed. The Book of Boba Fett gave us that, showed us how fucking horrible it was. There's very little, if anything, left.

Take a look at Bo-Katan with that in mind. Here's a woman who was trying to free her people, to make her planet strong and united again... And it all blew up (quite literally) in her face.

Also, I'm going to make an assumption here: She didn't lose the saber to Moff Gideon, it got stolen from her or taken in an unfair way. I don't buy the idea that he beat her in a fight 1-on-1, I really don't. So yeah, I'll go out on a limb here and say that, yes, she was correct in saying the saber rightfully belongs to her.

So, what do we see in The Mandalorian when we meet her?

We see a woman, meeting a man from the fucked-up religion/cult that she broke off from (because yes, the Children of the Watch are a cult y'all, and I will happily go off about that too) and spent years of her life trying to distance herself and make up for her time in. He comes asking for her help, proceeds to claim that she isn't a Mandalorian (which, she's more Mandalorian than he is, she's actually been on the planet and knows her people's history, something that Din doesn't have because, again, raised by a cult that hid that knowledge from him, but I digress). So, here's a guy who's a pseudo-member of the people who are now basically her enemy, asking for help, and she decides to help him if he helps her first. But again, she doesn't trust him, he's Death Watch, so she doesn't tell him the whole plan, only what he needs to know that she knows will get the job done. It's shitty to do, but honestly, it's fair when she has absolutely no reason to trust him. Especially given that her main goal is getting the darksaber back, something that she would have reason to believe a pseudo-Death Watch member would know about and try to take if they knew she was after it. She keeps him in the dark because she doesn't trust him and is right not to. Din outright tells her he is Death Watch even if he doesn't know what that really means.

(And, to be fair to Din, I do believe that, if he knew the real history of Mandalore, he'd get the hell away from the Children of the Watch because that history doesn't align with his morality. He almost borders on being very True Mandalorian-esque, which is maybe why he gets on so well with Boba, a man raised by the last True Mandalorian, but again I digress).

Bo-Katan has no reason to trust Din, and she has no way to gauge how much he really knows without possibly screwing herself over and giving up info that, to her knowledge, he might choose to act against her on. She has no way to know his intentions, and so she has to do what she thinks is best to accomplish her goals. And you know what, she is completely in the right in the way she acts towards Din. We tend to forget how bad Din looks from an outside perspective, because he's our protagonist, he's the "good guy", so we forget the optics of what he would look like to someone like Bo-Katan. To her, he has the potential to be very bad news.

She is an antagonist against Din, and for good reason, but she is not the villain. I have a sneaking suspicion that, in S3, Din will get the full story and then they'll end up as true allies. That teaser trailer was playing into the "Bo-Katan bad guy" idea way too much, it feels like a red herring. And to be honest, if they go that direction, I really think it would be a disservice to her character and all the growth and shit she's gone through. But then I hear Katee Sackhoff talking about Bo-Katan and discussing redemption and growth, and I have hope they'll do good by her character.

She's gonna do whatever it takes to accomplish her goal, and her goal is to reclaim Mandalore, 1) as a "fuck you" to the memory of the Empire, because Lord knows she is angry and vengeful af about what happened on Mandalore, and she has every right to be, and 2) to reunite her people and help rebuild. She might do kinda shitty things to reach that goal, but at this point, it's basically all she has, and again, she's vengeful af, so you know that's driving her too. Every time people call her power-hungry, I swear they haven't seen Rebels because her entire arc completely obliterates that argument. She did not want it until she realized that the Mandalorians united under her, and she saw the future she could help build as their leader. She was never grabbing at power for the sake of grabbing at power. The only reason she's so gung-ho on the saber now is because Mandalore and the Mandalorians are in shambles and they are in serious danger of being wiped out altogether if they don't get their shit together. She wants to see her people strong and united again, and that is totally fair.

Which then leads to the question of why she doesn't take the saber from Din when he offers it up. To be honest, I think it was a little bit of a plot-circle on the part of the writers, but I'd also like to present this idea: she knew the optics of taking it from Din would be bad. It's one thing to take it from Sabine, a teenager, with all the other clans on her side and pledging loyalty. It's another thing to take it from Din, a full-fledged warrior who won the saber back from the Empire in a fight, with no outside-clan backing. That reads very bad and could lead to two very possibly bad outcomes:

1) The clans find out she didn't win it back, and she loses a certain amount of respect, not because she did it twice, but because the second time she did so without direct backing. Mandalore is already splintered and falling apart. It's a risk to hope that they'd be willing to unify under a ruler some might find "illegitimate". She can't afford that, she needs as many people on her side as she can get because... there aren't very many of them left. She needs to win it back from him fair and square to make sure she's in the right position politically to reunify Mandalore.

2) They hide it and pretend she won it instead of Din. Which might seem doable, except for the fact that now, everyone in that room would have leverage on her. And that is dangerous for someone looking to take back and rule a race like the Mandalorians. That's serious blackmail material. And she has no reason to trust the other people in that room (except for Koska). And even outside of her perspective, I could see quite a few people in that room choosing to use that against her. Maybe not for the most nefarious purposes, but using it all the same. And at that point, if the other clans found out through that means, that's grounds for serious trouble. Because not only would she be "illegitimate", but now she was blatantly lying to them. Whatever peace and unity they had going would immediately fall apart.

She's not in the wrong to decide against taking it, in believing the best option is to eventually challenge him for it. And honestly the fact that she doesn't challenge him right away, that she lets him leave with it and go about his business, means a lot more than people are considering. If she was this power-hungry person that people are claiming she is, she would have challenged him right then and there, or right after Luke left with Grogu, when he was weak and exposed and still injured from the fight with the dark troopers and distracted and, honestly, probably a pretty easy target. And you might say "Din had allies in that room, she'd be dumb to fight him". If she challenged him to a 1-on-1 and he agreed, Cara and Fennec and everyone would back off and let him (even if Cara maybe argued against it for a second). He would have to agree to the fight for it to be legitimate, and I highly doubt Bo-Katan would go for the kill either way, she seemed genuinely shocked when Maul killed Vizsla, which makes it seem like killing the loser isn't standard practice (ie. Sabine also not killing Gar Saxon) unless you're just... a shitty person or someone from an opposing view (ie. Jaster getting killed).

But she doesn't challenge him, she lets him leave. And that's telling in a way that she's not just... looking for power. And, yes, she's annoyed by the turn of events (it certainly throws a wrench in everything she's been working towards).

She will challenge Din, I know that for a fact. But I think, first, Din needs a lesson on what it means to be Mandalorian (what it really means, not that false shit the Armorer fed him). And then he needs to decide what kind of Mandalorian he needs to be, and I'd bet that it's going to align with a lot of Bo-Katan's goals and ideology (hence, she's going to realize he's not really Death Watch, not in the way that matters, and that maybe he's trustworthy). And I think there's a fair chance that Din will win the fight, and Bo-Katan will honor that.

(Whether Din becomes Mand'alor is up in the air at this point, count me as Interested and Excited to see.)

I am not saying Bo-Katan is a perfect character and the pillar for morality. She has done some fucked up shit. She still does some pretty shitty stuff. But overall, her character arc is one of redemption and fighting for her people. Her goals are good and right, even if her methods aren't always the most savory (I'm talking lying to Din and similar things). But Mandalorians have always been a bit brutal and slippery, it's not totally out of character.

I'm not saying you have to love her as a character. Hell, I'm not even saying you have to like her. All I'm asking is that you stop just... blatantly calling her evil and pretending she's this two-dimensional simplified version of herself. She's complex and has a pretty crazy and interesting arc, and all I'm asking is that she gets the same treatment that other characters like her (ie. Loki) get. It's... shitty to see a post about her and go into the notes and just see... mountains and mountains of hate on her. I resent the fact that the first thing I saw when I heard about the S3 trailer was... someone ragging on her and calling her a villain. It's missing such a core piece of her character and rendering her down to something that she isn't, and it's aggravating when you're someone like me who really likes her as a character and is just... tired of the undeserved hate she gets, when there are other characters out there who have done worse and gotten praised for the redemption they fought for.

It's okay if you don't like her. Just... stop filling her tag with hate. Try to look at her from the lens of someone just... trying to preserve what's left of her culture and people and doing whatever she needs to do to make that happen.

If anything, remember that she and Ahsoka are still associated in some positive way, enough so that she knew where Ahsoka was and told Din to say she sent him, which would entail Ahsoka trusts Bo still. If Ahsoka still trusts her, maybe trust Ahsoka's judgement?

Final things to address:

Her calling out Boba and being derogatory towards him and clones: Not a great thing of her to do. Again, definitely not a perfect character. But she was correct in saying he isn't a Mandalorian, and we don't know what kind of shit Boba has done and how much of it she knows about. For all we know, Boba was hunting Mandalorians for the Empire and she knew about it. We don't know that whole story. Again, a lot of this comes down to the fact that your faves aren't necessarily good people. Boba certainly wasn't. In fact, he was the definition of a secondary villain (because remember, in ESB, the bounty hunters are bad guys, and Jango wasn't really a good guy in AotC either), all until he took a tumble into the Sarlacc and got his ass humbled by the Tuskens. And heck, on the flip side, there's a chance she has no idea who Boba is, and to her, he is just a clone that somehow got his hands on Mando armor, which isn't really something Mandalorians are a fan of when their armor is so sacred. We don't know. I'd love if it's addressed some way in the future (maybe Bo discussing with Din that he's associated with Boba?).

Her not honoring Maul winning the darksaber and claiming a non-Mandalorian can't be Mand'alor: We knew from the get-go that Maul and Death Watch were both planning to screw-over the other for their own gain. I'd bet they each had an idea that the other had the same mentality. They didn't trust each other and were right not to. She knew he was bad news and wanted no part of it. She didn't have the best intentions initially, the Mandalorians are proud people to a fault (Din was willing to kill Cobb to get the armor back), they value their heritage and unity as a people. Maul was not a Mandalorian. Didn't take a Creed or wear their armor or follow any of their principles. He was someone Death Watch was using, they never expected him to go after (and win) the throne. For all intents and purposes, Maul was 100% an outsider, and Mandalorians are not fans of outsiders, let alone outsiders having power over them. Hence, Death Watch split in half. Half of them honored the old traditions and followed Maul, the other half didn't. And, lo and behold, he used his power over them to take advantage of them and then leave them when it was convenient for him. Wow, great leader there, great thing the rest of Death Watch trusted him and followed him. Bo-Katan was right to not trust him and to want him gone. He's literally a Sith Lord, expecting him to be good for their planet and people would be... stupid. It might have been a different story if he took a Creed and at least pretended to become a Mandalorian, but he didn't. Remember, Bo-Katan was (begrudgingly) willing to let the Republic invade to get Maul out. Part of it was because he was an outsider, but the other part was because he was Maul, the Sith Lord who would for sure use them and destroy them and not care about the repercussions. It was him she wanted out, and she was willing to let other outsiders in to accomplish that.

TL;DR: I mean, Bo-Katan is really just a more nuanced and complex character than fandom likes to make her out to be, please just read the essay, I swear I make some good points, the biggest one being that Rebels has the biggest instance of her character growth and everyone just tends to... ignore it in favor of ragging on her. There's a lot to it, I can't sum it all up in a short paragraph, hence the essay, sorry, I just have a lot of thoughts on it.

[galacticwildfire]

found.

Twelve.

Pairing: Kenobi!oc x Din Djarin

Summary: Satine and Obi-wan’s daughter fought in the war against the Empire and lost her faith when she lost Mandalore. Until she found him. A lone Mandalorian searching for a Jedi.

Warnings: lots of killing and nearly dying, Cara doing her best to get them together but failing, dark side stuff, some fluff at the end. swearing.

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: next chapter it diverges from canon, there’ll be a few chapters in between now and meeting Ahsoka, Leia is coming up in the next two chapters, they going on a trip to the core worlds.

~

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~

Cara and I walk ahead of the boys and I already know what this is about. 

"How much shit did you give him?"

"Only a little," she says but I know her better than that. "Only fair I give you some as well."

I go for denial, using my general voice as I ask her "Are men and women not allowed to be friends now Cara?"

"Not when they're eye-fucking constantly."

I elbow her in the ribs and she just laughs. "That's what I thought."

"Did you have this much of a mouth on you when I was your commanding officer."

"I did, which was why you liked me," she says and it's hard to be mad at her because it's true. "Please tell me you aren't as stubborn as he is with admitting what's going on between the two of you."

"Cara, if you think I haven't become more stubborn with age you're in for a shock," I inform her.  "And there's nothing going on."

"You sure about that?" she asks and all I can hear is him last night, when I was half asleep leaning on his shoulder with the blanket he wrapped around me.

Sweet dreams Mesh'la

My hand comes up to rub my shoulder, my eyes pressed shut for a moment as I try to forget.

"I'm sure."

"You're an awful liar you know that right."

"Look Cara, I don't have a great track record with men," I say, while we fought together in the field my love life has remained quite separate from everything else. While it's common enough knowledge I was with Lando, nobody outside my family knows about the last bounty hunter. "I left the last one so I could keep doing my job instead of settling down, and I don't plan on that changing."

Yet I can't help but taste the lie on my tongue the moment it leaves my mouth.

"And so this isn't your job now?" she asks and I suddenly regret not being stricter with her, while I was strictly formal with most of my soldiers I liked her enough that we became friends. "But you know that you've got him some type of way."

I just laugh at that. "We're talking about the same guy right?"

"You mean the one who's been staring at you since you two hopped off that ship and I bet fifty credits he's staring at you right now."

While she glances over her shoulder I don't have to. I can feel his gaze melting into me.

"So what if he's looking at me?" I counter. "He's observant, vigilant. It's nothing."

"You two are perfect for each other" she says sarcastically as she shakes her head.

"And why's that?"

"You're the biggest idiots in the galaxy."

"Oh no," I say shaking my head. "If you knew my history with men you'd very much agree drawing that line is the smartest thing I've done in my life."

And with that I decide to finish the conversation and turn back around to the boys, the sudden action makes Din halt.

"So Magistrate Karga," I begin with a lighter voice than what I typically use when I'm presenting myself as a general, my mother did raise me to follow after her even if she underestimated just how much I took after my father. "As much as I've loved catching up with my old friend here, what's this business you want our assistance with?"

Cara gives me a knowing look and I offer a self-satisfied smirk in return. I'm not being interrogated, not by her, and certainly not today.

"Just this way Duchess," he says and I wait for him and Din to catch up before I keep walking.

The two of us share a mutually exasperated look as he comes to my side, as ironic as it is to try to deny it. There is a difference between strangers assuming we're together and our friends relentlessly taunting us over it.

We're led into a building and Din lets me enter first, my eyes settling on a Mythrol working on some computers.

"This is Kyra Kenobi, Rebellion General and Duchess of Mandalore," Greef says and the man looks confused before Din steps in and there is pure fear. "And as for my friend here I believe you two have met."

Something like steam is expelled from his gills and I realise he and Din have most certainly met.

"I'm surprised to see you here."

"Right back at ya," he says anxiously and I can't help how the corner of my mouth tilts upwards as I glance at Din.

"Mythrol here's taken care of my books since he was a pollywog," Greef tells us. "But then he disappeared one day after a bit of creative accounting."

"Magistrate Karga was generous enough to let me work off my debt," the Mythrol swallows, glancing between Din and I. "Thank you by the way."

"Three hundred and fifty years, but who's counting?"

"Well if he runs off on you again let me know," Din says and I can't help the proud half smile on my face.

"Let me assure you, I do not want to spend any more time in carbonite," he says and I look at Din who stands a little too proudly. "Still can't see outta my left eye."

"Carbonite's nasty but it does the job," I say much to Din's surprise as well as the Mythrols. "I was actually there the first time it was ever used on a bounty, he was fine but oh the effects are certainly long lasting."

Din's is even more surprised by that and leaves Karga slightly disturbed.

"You aren't here to take me away are you General?" Mythrol asks and I laugh dismissively.

"That's beneath my job description."

"Speaking of which can we talk business?" Cara asks and now I'm the one raising my eyebrows at her.

"Now you want to talk business?"

I hear a muffled choke come from the back of Din's throat which he attempts to cover up by clearing his throat.

"We're only here for repairs," Din says and his desperation to get out of this room further confirms my suspicions that Cara gave him an earful.

"Which will take a while. Which means you'll have free time on your hands right?"

"We have time," I tell Din knowing Ahsoka likely won't be going anywhere and he sighs reluctantly.

"We could really use your help," Greef says glancing between us. "Both of you."

"What kind of help?" I ask, already having an inkling it's my line of work.

Cara opens up a hologram. "This is Nevarro. We're here. This entire area's a green zone. Completely safe." She zooms in on a base. "But over here's the problem. Which is right up your ally."

"It's an old Imperial base," Greef tells us and I almost get excited. "And who better to help us than the best rebel there ever was."

"Has this base caused any trouble for you before?" I ask and a silence settles over them all. "I'll take that a yes then?"

"It's where all those troops came from when we defeated Moff Gideon," Cara elaborates and I remember what Greef told me. Din only told me Gideon was dead, he hadn't given me the whole story. Especially not how he took Gideon down in an admiral act of madness. But now I know. "This base has been here since the Imperial expansion. It's got a skeleton crew but for some reason it hasn't been abandoned."

"The Empire is upping its security," I tell her bitterly. "Old freighters that are meant to have skeletons crews now have entire squadrons transporting brand new state of the art weapons. You can bet that it will be manned by far more than a skeleton crew."

"Then you might be interested," Greef says hopefully. "There's a lot of heavy weaponry in that place the black market would love to dismantle and get their hands on."

That definitely piques my interest, something Din notices and he asks me "This is the type of thing you've been looking for right?"

"Definitely," I answer, he may be reluctant but he isn't arguing. "This past year or so I've noticed Imperial activity escalating in the outer rims, something the Republic doesn't want to admit since Mon Mothma is set on demilitarising. I've been looking for proof that they can't deny, I've got some but whatever is in this base might just seal the deal."

"So you'll do it?" Greef asks and a satisfied smile spreads across my face.

"Magistrate Karga, Imperials are my speciality."

"Now that's what I like to hear," he grins. "And you Mando, you going to let your lady take care of this on her own, not that she isn't capable of course, or are you going to tag along?"

At this point I hardly even react to being called his lady, it's certainly the most polite way it's been phrased and there's no dissuading either of them from that opinion anyways.

Din looks at me and despite how much I want to prove Cara wrong I know I must have some effect on him when he doesn't even sigh before agreeing. "I'll come."

With that we head outside, Karga and Cara going to prepare but Din and I hang back a little out of earshot to talk.

"Thank you," I say to him quietly. "I know this isn't quite what we agreed upon."

"It's a given at this point that we're going to end up shooting up Imperial bases," he says in resignation then tilts his helmet towards me. "But I don't mind."

"You don't?"

"You weren't wrong with what you said on Trask, people like us, we live for the fight," he says and I feel something light up within me at those words. "Or in my case for the hunt."

"As long as the kid is safe first and foremost," I finish for his sake and he nods in agreement, his body easing in relief.

"That's my main priority, but it doesn't mean you aren't one," he says and I know I must quite visibly be taken by surprise. "You have a job, a purpose, I can't expect you to just forget it for the kid. You respect my creed and the child's safety above all else, and I respect the work you're doing out here. I respect you. It's a compromise I'm happy to make."

And something blooms in my chest that I haven't felt in so long. Except this time it's accompanied by something even more crucial, trust.

"Thank you Din," I say, comfortably knowing we're out of earshot of Cara and Greef. "And I do respect you. Your creed, what you do for the kid. All of it. You're a good man Din Djarin."

I feel how his body almost seizes up at those words, as if in disbelief. "I wouldn't go that far."

"But I will," I say, truly seeing it even if he can't. "It's true, even if you can't believe it."

"If you knew the things I've done-"

"You're a bounty hunter, I know what you do," I reply calmly, but he isn't Boba. He couldn't be more different. "I know better than most, and you're unlike any bounty hunter I've ever met. You are a good man."

I hear his shaky intake of breath but before he can reply we hear Cara calling out to us, telling us to hurry up, and we do before we can dig ourselves deeper into this hole.

~

We ride by speeder to the base, a tension hanging between Din and I who sit side by side. One I know the others can feel.

But aside from that I'm feeling quite optimistic at the thought of storming an Imperial base, happy even, which Din notices.

"You look like you have a good feeling about this." 

"I've missed this, it reminds me of the good old days," I say knowing how strange it must seem that the war was the good days. "Storming Imperial bases, working on my saber skills. It's been a while."

"You stormed an Imperial freighter days ago," he points out with that dry humour of his.

A smile twitches at my lip as I tell him "It's not the same."

"There's a reason we left when they wanted us to be peacekeepers," Cara says and we exchange a smile. "And look at us now."

"A Marshall and an honourary General who's a pain in the Chancellors ass," I say proudlu.

"She doesn't like you does she?" Cara asks which is something Din and Greef seem very surprised by.

"Why wouldn't she?" Greef asks in bewilderment and Din tilts his helmet at me in equal confusion.

"Let's just say they didn't like my mother, the Republic always thought she was difficult and the Rebel Alliance kept her out of the loop due to having been neutral in the Clone Wars," I tell them, remembering well my mothers insistance on neutrality, until the Empire decided otherwise. "So when the heir to Mandalore joined the alliance at sixteen they were hesitant to say the least, but oh they had no idea what was in store for them."

"And what was in store?" Din asks and I can't help the pride that rises in me.

"A Mandalorian."

And I feel the pride in him that we wear like beskar. The foundling Mandalorian who never removes his, and the Mandalorian Duchess who hasn't worn hers in years. But that doesn't change who we are. It doesn't make us any more or any less Mandalorian.

"So what's the plan?" he asks me but it's Greef who speaks.

"The whole base is powered by a reactor."

"We sneak in, overload the reactor, and get the hell out of there," Cara finishes and it sounds solid enough.

"Alright, while you do that I'll take a look around the base. Get whatever evidence I can," I decide knowing what I'll need to get the Mothma to acknowledge what's going on out here.

"You'll have to be fast," Din warns, and I can feel that concern in him. Not because he thinks I'm incapable, but solely because raising a toddler has left him constantly filled with worry.

"Don't you worry about me," I assure him. "I'll be just fine."

"There it is," Greef says pointing in the distance. "Right there. You see it?"

We come through the canyon and sure enough there it is.

"How close do you want me to drop you off?" Mythrol asks.

"How about the front door?"

I look at Din beside me as Greef and Mythrol continue to bicker and can feel his eyes rolling back into his head beneath the helmet and smile.

Finally we arrive and jump out of the speeder. We come to an elevator and I get my saber out while Din works the controls.

"Controls are useless, they're melted."

"No problem," I say using the force to slide the door open and they all give me the same look to which I shrug my shoulders. "Jedi."

"Alright I'm heading back," Mythrol stammers, still seeming unnerved by Din and I. "Hit me up on the com, we could set up a rendezvous time."

"You park your gills right there until I say otherwise."

"No," I say reluctantly, something nagging at me that I know not to ignore. "He'll be useful. He's coming with us."

"Are you serious?" Cara asks, voicing what everyone's thinking.

"Yes," I say and Mythrol looks at me like it's a joke. "Do I need to tell you twice?"

"No General," he says quickly as he stumbles out of the speeder. "I've heard the stories, you won't have any trouble from me."

I nod in satisfaction and step inside the elevator then pause, feeling them. "There's troopers above. Cara, Mando, follow me up. Greef, Mythrol, stay down here until it's quiet."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Mythrol says as Cara and Din join me in the elevator.

"Don't shoot unless you have to," I instruct, knowing this isn't going to be just a skeleton crew. "We're sneaking in, don't want to draw unwanted attention."

"You got it," Cara says and Din nods in agreement as I work the controls inside until the elevator jolts and rises.

The doors open and there's only four. The moment I ignite my saber they freeze, instantly recognising me, the first one who goes to shoot I toss off the edge of the platform using the force and strike down the others before they can even think to run.

"You gonna leave some for us?" Cara asks and I grin back at them.

"Possibly." I poke my head over the edge and call out "You can come up now."

They both look at the body on the ground and back to me with equal looks of horror before quickly shuffling into the elevator.

"I almost forgot you could fling people across a room," Cara says and I can't tell if Din is disturbed or impressed, I'm guessing the latter. 

Greef and Mythrol walk out onto the platform and survey the area as I inspect the bodies, finding standard stormtrooper army.

"The reactor should be set in the heat shaft," Greef tells us as Cara walks near the edge. "If we drain the cooling lines this whole base will go up in a matter of minutes."

"Look," we hear Mythrol say and see him pointing at a covered up marauder. "It's a mint Trexler Marauder. Do you know how much we can get for this on the black market?"

"And it's gonna get vaporised like the rest of this base," Din says and I can hear the annoyance rumbling in his voice.

"Was this guy actually a bounty or did he just piss you off?" I ask and he sighs heavily.

"Both," he answers. "Now let's go."

"Alright, you guys handle the reactor and I'll get what I need," I tell them. "If you run into any trouble I'm sure you can handle it."

"Likewise," Din says and nods towards the controls for the door into the base. "You want to open that or should I?"

My lip tilts up as I push the door up with the force and ignite my saber but it's all clear. "Alright, we take security out then split up."

And so I guide us through the ship, Din and Cara taking out the camera's as we find our way to command and I sense soldiers inside.

"Shuttle bay, this is command," we hear from inside. "Shuttle bay, the security feed just went down, can you check your relay hub? Shuttle bay?"

Cara grabs the officer in a choke hold and knocks him out while Din and I work the security controls, shutting them all down and extracting the tapes.

"This will come in handy." 

We look to see Greef holding a code cylinder.

"Very handy indeed," I agree. "You better hang onto that, you'll need it to get to the reactor."

"I found the heat shaft."

"Go blow this place sky high," I tell them. "I'll get what I need."

Before I head off Din grabs my wrist and warns me "Remember to get out quick before the reactor blows."

"Don't worry dear, I'll be just fine," I assure him before we part ways.

While they head to the reactor I walk through the base after extracting everything I can from the command centre, and the deeper I go the more certain I am that isn't right here.

That there's something strange at work.

And so I let the force guide me until I stumble upon it. A place where it is so abnormally strong I don't want to see what waits inside.

"Command isn't responding," I hear an officer say as I silently enter the room. "Command come in."

I ignite my saber and they jump around to stare at me in horror. The moment they register the yellow blade they pull out blasters but not to fire upon me.

I freeze them both in place before they can fire on the controls. Immediately from their uniforms I know they aren't typical officers.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Jedi Master Kyra Kenobi," one grits between his teeth as he tries to desperately to pull the trigger on his blaster but he can't. "You- you should never have come here."

"The force brought me here," I answer and then out of the corner of my eye I see it. Giant tanks filled with life forms, each of them so strong with the force I've never felt, or seen, anything like it.

"I've seen many things in my time fighting the Empire," I tell them as I take a closer inspection. "But very few things have disturbed me as deeply as this."

I put a hand on the glass and look upon the grotesque lifeforms and feel it, the life within.

"This isn't a military base," I realise as I turn to look at the scientists, struggling against my grasp on them. "This is a lab."

And I see true fear in their eyes. "You don't know anything."

"But I do," I say as I step closer to them. Allowing myself to see clearly, not through my own eyes but through the force. "Cinder. Suicide before capture. You have orders to destroy everything here if you were ever caught."

It's then the sirens blare throughout the base and I realise my time is limited.

They won't tell me anything, but their data will.

"You will let me into the system," I instruct feeling the strength of the force, feeling their will to fight against it falter. "You will drop your blasters and let me into the system now!"

It's then Din and the others run in to find me throwing the scientists blasters across the room while holding them at lightsaber point as they let me into the system.

"Kyra?" I hear Din ask as they stare at the tanks in horror. "What the hell is this?"

"We're about to find out."

A hologram of another scientist appears.

"We replicated the results of the subsequent trials, which also resulted in catastrophic failure. There were promising effects for an entire fortnight, but then sadly the body rejected the blood. I highly doubt we'll find another donor with a higher M-count though."

It's then I feel truly sick to my stomach as I realise the truth behind these experiments. So sick I feel Din's hand on my shoulder as my eyes glass over. 

"Midichlorians," I exhale shakily and the scientists eyes widen in terror at my realisation.

"I recommend that we suspend all experimentation. I fear that the volunteer will meet the same regrettable fate if we proceed with the transfusion. Unfortunately we have exhausted our initial supply of blood. The Child is small, and I was only able to harvest a limited amount without killing him."

I look at Din in such horror I'm grasping his arm at the thoughts of what they've done to the child, what they plan to do. He couldn't even begin to imagine the true darkness that lies behind this.

"If these experiments continue as requested, we would again require access to the donor. I will not disappoint you again, Moff Gideon."

I bring a shaking hand up to cover my mouth while Din tries to rationalise it. "This must be an old transmission. Moff Gideon is dead."

I look at the scientists. "How old is this recording."

No mind tricks are required as I hold them in place.

"Three days old."

"If Gideon's alive then-"

Blaster shots fill the air and something inside of me snaps. I deflect the blaster shots, covering them until Din and Cara can clear the room then grab one of the scientists by the collar of his shirt.

"Kill me," he challenges and I shake my head.

"No, that would be mercy."

I cut his companion down knowing that I only need one and hold my saber to his throat. 

"Greef, I don't suppose I can borrow Mythrols cuffs?"

He nods, stunned, and very quickly cuffs the scientist as I stare at the tanks, feeling sick to my core.

"Mando, you're putting him in carbonite when we get back to your ship."

"Alright," he agrees as Cara grabs the scientist and holds him at blaster point. "But what's going on here, what do you know?"

I'm rendered incapable of speech as darkness fills my senses, true darkness I haven't felt in so many years. Something almost familiar-

I feel Din's hands cupping my face. "Kyra?" He can feel me shaking beneath his touch. "We need to get out of here."

My eyes focus on him and only then do I feel the tears staining my cheeks, but the darkness has me paralysed. "Kyra," he repeats wiping those tears away and whispers to me in Mando'a. "I don't know what's going on here, but I know you. Whatever this is you can fight it, for the kid, for me. We need to get the hell out of here." 

The mention of the child, of my padawan, pulls me from the darkness and I snap out of the daze of darkness with his hand's clutching my face. And then they come.

Blasterfire once again echoes through the room and I yell "Get to the ship, I'll hold them off."

Cara takes the prisoner with Greef and Mythrol following closely behind her, Din and I stay to fight.

But with two more appearing for each that falls and the reactor about to blow we know we need to get the hell out of here.

"I don't like these odds."

"Neither do I," I agree as we take cover behind the control panel. With the reactor due to blow any minute now and the sheer number of troops I really don't like these odds. "Get the kid, I'll hold them off."

"Kyra-" he begins to protest but I'm not having it.

"Get the kid and take him far away from here," I order as blaster fire begins to ricochet above us. "The Empire will get his hands on him over my dead body."

He grabs my hand tightly and swears to me "It's not going to come to that."

"Go," I repeat knowing he's the only one who can jet back to the town in time in case they come for the kid, and that I'm the only one who can hold them off for long enough. "Now!"

And I cover him. Deflecting the blaster fire until he can make it out towards the reactor to jet out, leaving me to fight my way through the base to retreat to the speeder. But standing between me and freedom is over a dozen troopers packed into a hallway, firing out at the platform where Cara and the others are. 

I look at my saber and by the time I reach the troopers they don't know what's hit them, not until they're dead on the ground and I deflect a blaster shot as I run onto the platform, only to see Cara is the one holding the blaster.

"You're alive," she breathes in relief. "Mando?"

"Jetted out of here to get the kid," I answer knowing he'd have to be at the school by now. "We need to get the hell out of here."

Then I hear them running, dozens upon dozens more troopers. "Get back!"

And with the fear, with the anger, with every bloody midichlorian in me that would die before letting any harm come to the child, I bring down the tunnel, collapsing it completely.

But I can feel the domino effect within and know our time is up.

"Speeder, now!"

We run to the elevator only for it to open to more troopers but we don't have time.

"Kyra!" Cara yells as she pulls the cover off the Trexler Marauder. It's crazy, but it will work.

I hold off the troopers as she gets it running, grabbing the terrified scientist by the throat and shoving him inside.

"It's about to blow," I tell her and she curses as she revs the engine, backing into the rubble I made, then the moment she launches us off of the platform it blows.

Lava erupts from the base and splatters around us as we catapult towards the canyon.

"It got us!' Mythrol yells and I look to find the back end of the vehicle aflame but we can't stop. I run to the back and stumble as the vehicle jolts against the rocks, smoke filling the cabin. By the time I reach the back it already has a hole burned through it, large enough that I can see the lava that chases us. 

Flames threaten to consume us until I use whatever strength's left in me to keep the flames at bay, blocking out the chaos and the darkness, until finally the vehicle comes to a halt and when I open my eyes we're safe in the canyon, the flames little more smoking sparks.

I let out a shaky breath of relief and look back to find everyone alright, well aside from the scientist who is a dishevelled mess on the ground. Knowing he's not going anywhere I step out of the gaping hole in the back of the vehicle and examine the mess we've left behind. It's impressive.

It's then I hear the familiar rumbling of the ship above and watch as it lands, unable to help my hazy smile as the landing platform lowers and he stands there with the kid in his arms.

I stumble forward and don't realise how much strength has been taken from me until I'm in his arms, hugging him in relief. "Din."

"Kyra," he breathes as my head falls against his shoulder and he holds me upright, cradling me and the child in his arms. "You're alright?"

"Told you I'd be fine," I smile breathlessly as the others emerge from the vehicle. "We all made it out."

I lift my head up enough to look at the child, my padawan, and back to Din. All restraint gone as I wrap my arms around them both, my hand cradling the back of Dins helmet as I embrace them both fully. And to my equal surprise and relief, he returns the embrace just as fiercely.

And despite the darkness that looms, I've never felt closer to the light.

A/N

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the comments reading them honestly makes my day, please follow my tumblr wildfirewildflower for updates and one-shots and shitposting in general.

[violetjedisylveon]

Married

Summary: Ahsoka and Kaeden are getting married! They have everything sorted out except for guests which is hard because they have to find people trying not to be found.

Word count: 727

Warnings: swearing, fluffy end, nothing else

A/N: I did not take this seriously in any way, shape or form.

Yeah, it's kinda silly but it was fun.

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The Durasteel door shook and trembled.

Rex readied his blaster, the new storm troopers weren't his brothers, he'd feel no confliction over killing them.

Gregor, Wolffe and the bad batch all had their weapons trained on the breaking door.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The metal of the door groaned and bent to the near breaking point.

Rex held his breath.

The air froze.

Light poured in as the doors were thrust open.

Two bright white lights, actually. With a familiar figure standing in between them.

"A... Jedi?" Wrecker sounded confused.

"Ahsoka?" Rex asked.

"REX! Get yourself a tuxedo! I'm getting married!"

"What the fuck? To who?!"

"Me!" A young human woman saud cheerfully.

"Kaeden, that's Rex, he's my friend and was a captain in the G.A.R." Ahsoka gave a gesture with her lightsaber at Rex.

"Rex, this is Kaeden Larte, she's my fiancee." Ahsoka said proudly.

"Uh... Should we leave?" Hunter asked.

Rex shrugged.

"No, you guys are coming too." Ahsoka said.

XXX

"And that's how we ended up with Rex and Gregor and Wolffe." Omega finished.

"Woah, that is a lot, you're like, what? Twelve?" Kaeden asked.

It was surprising how much such a young kid had gone through in just two years. It was too much for someone that young.

Well Ahsoka was fighting a war at fourteen so I guess it's not that much of a stretch. She thought.

"I'm thirteen actually." Omega corrected.

"Oh."

"So where is everyone going?"

"Well, you, me, Ahsoka, your dad and uncle are going to Tatooine because apparently Obi-Wan is there. Rex and Echo are getting ready for their part in the ceremony and your other uncle is helping get everything organized." Kaeden explained

"Hunter's not my dad." Omega said.

"Uh huh." Kaeden nodded in disbelief.

XXX

"Hello there, are you Owen Lars?" Ahsoka asked.

The moisture farmer looked up then spit out his bantha milk out in suprise.

A Togruta, a human, seven soilders and a child were standing in front of him.

"Uh... yes?" He answered.

"Do you know where we can find Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Kaeden asked.

"Uh...... yeah."

"Great! We're gonna go there, is it alright if these guys stay here?" Ahsoka gestered to the clones and child.

"Sure. Go on in." Owen said.

XXX

Ahsoka broke down the weak door with a Force kick and rushed into the house.

"OBI-WAN! GET YOUR DEATH FAKING ASS OUT HERE!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Holy shit Ahsoka! I told you not to break down my doors anymore!" Obi-Wan grumbled.

He had just been rudely awaken by the banging, it was something he had once been used to and it had him in a different time. Back when Ahsoka and Anakin would break down his door for fun.

"That was at the temple qhen I was a padawan, besides, this is an emergency." Ahsoka shrugged.

Obi-Wan rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"What have you gotten into this time?" He asked reluctantly.

"I am getting married."

...

"You are a-"

"Before you say I can't because I'm a Jedi, I'm not a Jedi, I never became one. And I know about Anakin and Padmé. And you and Satine. And Cody." Ahsoka cut him off.

Obi-Wan sighed again. It's too fucking early for this.

"Now, this is Kaeden Larte, she is my beautifully wonderful fiancee." Ahsoka claimed happily.

"Hello there, Obi-Wan, pleasure to meet you." Kaeden said.

"Hi." Obi-Wan waved.

He peered behind them to see Owen sitting on a speeder looking very uncomfortable.

"I figure you want me at the wedding?" Obi-Wan guessed.

"Yeah, we didn't come all the way here not to get the closet thing Ahsoka has to a father left to come to our wedding." Kaeden said.

XXX

"Mrs. Lars, your baby is so cute!" Omega gave the two year old a gentle squeeze.

"Awe, thank you Omega, you're very sweet." Beru told her.

"What's his name again?" She asked

"Luke. Luke Skywalker." Beru said.

"Skywalker!?"

Everyone in the room turned towards the door.

Ahsoka was glaring at the nervous Obi-Wan, Kaeden took Ahsoka's hand and tried to calm her down.

"Soka, honey, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation." She said.

After a few seconds, Ahsoka let out a long breath.

"Yeah, you're right. There's a better time for that." She nodded.

"And now is the perfect time for this!" Kaeden sprung a kiss on her fiancee.

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Yeah, this was kinda silly but it was fun to write.

Happy Kaesoka week!