Now There Are Two of Them
Duchess Satine Kryze watched from her seat in the gallery as the court brought down its verdict, settling the court case her government had found itself in with MandalMotors and Concordian Crescent Technologies in favor of the two corporations. A muted cheer arose from the benches across from hers. The two companies' legal team seated together at the plaintiff's table got up and shook hands.
"I had hoped it would not end like this," said Satine.
"It might not have if not for the the Corporates involving themselves," said the blond woman seated with Satine. Siri, who insisted that Satine refer to her as Zora for the length of the proceedings, wore a red and leathery jumpsuit, a far cry from her usual manner of dress. "The question now is how do we proceed from here?"
"I do not know." Satine stifled a sigh, settling for a deep breath. "With their victory here it will be much more difficult for me to lean on my status as Duchess to demand cooperation from either MandalMotors or Concordian Technologies."
"Not just them." Siri gestured with her head at the delegation from the Trade Federation seated in the benches on the other side of the room.
The Neimoidians weren't limiting themselves to cheering. They were jeering at the Mandalorian legal team and one of them in particular directed a smug smile at the Duchess. It took all her royal training for Satine to suppress the urge to fire off a death stare at the humanoid slug. It helped that the antics of the Neimoidians were none to popular with anyone else in the courtroom, not even their newfound allies. Satine found herself on the recieving end of more than a few apologetic bows from Mandalorians that were ostensibly her opponents. That she still commanded their respect was the silver lining to this pitch black cloud.
The courtroom was emptied fairly quickly. Outside Satine was met by a pair of her guards, no less threatening without their weapons. Her companion Siri was met by a young man in his late teens whose dark hair was framed by golden highlights.
"Master," the young man greeted Siri, his voice kept low, and with a hint of a bow. "I gather from yours and Duchess Kryze's expression that the trial went as poorly as feared."
The young man fell in by Siri's side while Satine's guards took up positions behind the party of three.
"I am afraid so Ferus. Our investigation has become significantly more difficult with this development," said Siri.
The young Jedi frowned. "Perhaps it is time to reveal the involvement of the Order?"
"The actions of a single knight and her padawan hardly amount to support from the Order. Even if it were, declaring our involvement now would not serve us."
"They would not impede us as they have if they knew a Jedi were involved," Ferus asserted.
"We were witnesses today to a court case that saw the powers of local governments curtailed throughout the Galactic Republic, all because I held similar beliefs in regards to my own authority," stated Satine grimly. "Please, do not go repeating my mistake so quickly."
"Wait I thought this case was against you and the Mandalorian government?"
"It was, but the ruling made here–" Satine's explanation was interrupted by that of a dark haired man with a stern expression and mustache.
"The ruling made here establishes a precedent that could be used to circumvent planetary decision makers."
The Padawan jumped in place. On recovering from his surprise he took a step in front of the Duchess. Satine smiled a little at the sight, it bringing to mind memories of a different young Jedi. Neither she or Siri were concerned. They both recognized the man and Satine knew that had he been a danger he would have been intercepted by her guards well before they could reach her.
"Senator Garm Bel Iblis," Satine greeted the Senator from Corellia. "I hadn't expected to see you here."
"Duchess Kryze. Jedi." Garm Bel Iblis gave the three curt nods. Ferus cringed likely feeling responsible for letting their secret out. "There's a bill in the making in the Senate that I was hoping to talk to you about."
"I believe I have some free time. We can walk and talk if you don't mind the presence of my associates."
"That's fine." He quickly joined the group, walking on Satine's free side. "There is a bill being headed by the Reformists to expand and re-arm the Judicial Forces. In light of your influence and politics I was asked to approach you."
Satine nodded in understanding. "You are here to solicit Mandalore's vote."
"I am here to ask that you do not interfere with the bill."
"Interfere?" Satine raised an eyebrow. "Being a pacifist does not mean I am naive to the dangers of the galaxy. I would not oppose a bill to increase the budget of the Judicial Forces."
"Even if it were supported by the Militarists and Corporates?" Iblis's tone was even.
It took a moment for the implication of that statement to fully set in and when it did the control Satine had been exercising since the trial nearly slipped. Satine's head snapped in Iblis's direction but she slammed shut her mouth before she could say the first thing that passed through her head.
"The reality of politics makes strange bedfellows out of us all Senator. I will not begrudge you for your choice of allies," said Satine taking the time to enunciate each word in an effort to keep from gritting her teeth. "That you thought that my personal feeling would influence me in such matters however, that does insult me."
"You are a Mandalorian, Duchess."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Your people have a cultural predilection towards grudges." Iblis glanced over at an impassive Siri and her bristling padawan. "As I'm sure your Jedi companions will attest to."
"The Mandalorian people have rejected the ways of the past. We no longer idolize violence."
There followed a short lull in the conversation which Satine attempted to try and make use of some Jedi breathing techniques she knew of to calm herself. It was not to be.
"There is a rumor going around that all this was a show, a ploy to publicize Mandalore's arms industry," said Iblis
"That is a ludicrous assertion." Satine made a forceful wave of her hand. The frustration of having her go at meditation interrupted was not helping her mood.
"Rebuilding a devastated world is a costly endeavor. You wouldn't be the first leader to compromise on her ideals for the sake of her people."
"You of all people do not get to accuse me of being a gunrunner,
Corellian," Satine snapped. The Duchess started, shocked at her own vitriol and faced away from Iblis.
Before the stalled conversation could be overtaken by tense silence Siri spoke up, "Why are you seeking to re-arm the Judicial Forces, Senator?"
Garm Bel Iblis scrutinized the Jedi.
"The Duchess made a fair point during her first public address," Iblis finally answered. "There are many unaccounted for weapons in the galaxy and many within the Senate are concerned that the Judicial Forces are ill equipped for such a galaxy."
"Do they doubt the abilities of the Jedi?" asked Ferus.
"Not everyone trusts the Jedi. Go far enough out into the Rim and you'll encounter more than a few people that view the Jedi as little more than another enforcer of the Republic that they despise."
"Senator, you haven't switched targets have you?" Siri asked.
The Padawan looked to his master in confusion. Something flashed across Iblis's face.
"I have no idea what you mean, master Jedi. Duchess Kryze, what should I take back to my allies in the Senate?"
"Mandalore will not oppose your bill." Satine sighed. "And Senator, I apologize for my earlier outburst. These have not been an easy few days."
"I am aware Duchess. Please accept my own apology." For the first time since he started speaking there was an emotion mixed in Iblis's words and it was apologetic. "I hope that the rest of your day is less chaotic."
Ferus glared at Senator Iblis until he was out of sight. "What an unpleasant man."
"The determined can very much be," said Siri. "Did you notice Satine, he wanted to provoke you."
"I only picked it up near the end there. I haven't been played like that in a while." Satine weakly shook her head. "I must be getting old."
Siri laid a comforting hand on Satine's shoulder. "He hit you when you were at your lowest. There no shame in defeat in the face of such unfavorable odds."
"Wait, he did that intentionally?" Ferus asked.
"Yes," Satine answered. "Though the why is less obvious."
"Is that why you apologized?" Ferus asked with a frown.
"No. I apologized because it was the right thing to do."
"But he was arrogant and rude! Even if this were some secret test of character it does not excuse the anguish he inflicted upon you, Duchess."
"Hate breeds hate young one," Satine said to the young Jedi with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. "If there was one thing that I learned in bringing peace to Mandalore it is that the greatest obstacle to peace, to reconciliation, is when people makes villains of one another. Everyone has their reasons. Circumstances that have led them to be the person that they are. We must hold people to account, yes, but we must never lose sight that they are
people. Otherwise the only peace we will find with those we fight is in death."
"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering," Ferus quietly repeated the mantra to himself with a troubled expression.
"Thank you," Siri whispered to Satine. "I think he needed to hear that."
Soon the party arrived at the private landing pad outside the courthouse where their shuttlebus was waiting for them. A single robed figure stood next to the craft. Satine knew that it couldn't be a member of the press, she had abused her right as a visiting sovereign to keep them well away from her with the excuse of safety. Whoever it was must have heard their approach and turned in their direction.
Satine's guards stepped up, going from trailing behind to covering her. What apprehension Satine herself felt melted away when she saw the the man pull back his hood revealing a familiar head of blonde hair and and unfamiliar blonde beard. Satine gasped and an unbidden smile blossomed across her face.
"Obi-Wan."
You know what would be better than Obi-Wan and his Mandalorian girlfriend uncovering galactic conspiracies? Obi-Wan's Mandalorian and Jedi girlfriends working together to uncover galactic conspiracies. So yeah, Satine Kryze teaming up with Siri Tachi to figure out the mystery of the missing blasters. Satine was looking into things when she bumped into Siri and what she had was enough to convince the other Obi lover she was onto something. Wrote Iblis as a bit of a dick here, but he's doing that intentionally to get a feel for the Duchess. Iblis isn't quite at the point where he's going 'Palpatine's behind it all' but he clearly never trusted the Chancellor. Palpatine extending his term with the Separatist Crisis and later the Clone Wars just made it obvious to Iblis that Palpatine couldn't be trusted with power. So, right now Iblis is trying to figure out if he might have a possible ally in Mandalore and it's not like the Duchess goes offworld that often so slowly feeling things out is out of the question.
Originally the idea was for the Jedi with Satine to be Obi-Wan because then it would mean exposing Anakin to human relationships but then I checked and Anakin doesn't have the creepy relationship issues at this point in his life. Nope, his problem right now is Ferus Olin who really needs a crash course in not being a dick to other people which the above sort of was. Now I'm not going go so far as to say he bullied Anakin into becoming Darth Vader but the kid definitely didn't help Anakin's socialization issues with other Jedi his age and helped exacerbate Anakin's worst qualities. Spending time with and getting advice from the woman who convinced members of a warrior race engaged in the worst kind of war, i.e. a civil war, to close to literally lay down their guns and sing Baba Yetu will hopefully put him on track to help and get him to stop picking fights with the kid two years younger than him.
If Obi-Wan is the Negotiator, Satine is the Peacemaker. Really the more you think about it the more amazing what Satine pulled off is. Forget the turning the Mandalorians into pacifists, she managed to get the vast majority of people involved in a bloody civil war to build a society together and from the looks of things avoided internal strife like grudges or revenge killings. By the time of the Clone Wars in OTL, Mandalore didn't have any lasting divisions tracing back to the previous conflict. Death Watch doesn't count, they're a band of extremists that funded their own backyard militia and want to overthrow the government. Furthermore the fact that they managed to take over so easily in OTL further proves that Satine must have done a bang up job resolving all those old bad feelings otherwise everyone that historically had beef with Death Watch should have come out of the woodworks guns blazing and Mandalore should have had a civil war well before Bo's defection.
