Rules are meant to be broken

A serious plot

"Melanie, its been a while." Obi-Wan's voice came from behind the group. Melanie struggled to hold his eye contact, feeling her cheeks heat. He hadn't changed. He was still the same handsome man that haunted her dreams. 

"Kenobi, still sporting my haircut I see."

"What can I say, it was a good cut." He grinned, despite the small pang of pain due to the fact she called him by his last name.

"Now, as much as I would love to stand and catch up, we need to get to the bottom of this." Melanie cut to the chase, needing to change the conversation quickly.

"Right," Anakin said, snapping back to reality. He turned to Ahsoka "Go with the Gungan. See if you can find them."

"You've got it, Master." She said before disappearing off with Peppi Bow.

"Why didn't you send someone to look for them?" Anakin began again.

"Considering the latest developments, we thought it was best to wait for you," said Captain Typho.

"What latest developments?" Obiwan and Melanie said at the same time. They looked at each other before both looking away blushing.

"You better follow me."

The group exited the hanger and made their way back to the room that they did the analysis on the droid earlier. Melanie couldn't help but fiddle with the hem of her shirt in nervousness. Her hands had begun sweating due to the close proximity to Obiwan.

"We did a Robo-Lobotomy on the battle droids and came up with this piece of memory." Captain Typho pressed some buttons and a hologram of a man appeared.

"Who is that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Dr Nuvo-Vindi. The senior medic for the Perma Families. He disappeared 10 years ago."

The Hologram began playing. "Good News, my soulless automaton friends. We now have enough of the Blue Shadow virus to start filling the bombs! We will only need to send one bomb to each key star system. Work quickly. I want them ready to deliver-"

The hologram cut out and Melanie leaned against the table in shock. She had read about the Blue Shadow Virus. It was incredibly dangerous and had killed countless. She had thought that it was eradicated?

"If those bombs get delivered, well be facing a galaxy-wide plague. The war will be the least of our worries," said Obi-wan solemnly.

"There is some good news. Senator Amidala found the lab. She sent us the coordinates before she disappeared. We've managed to get a Geo-scan of the area. It looked like there are three entry points; here, here, and here. " Captain Typho pointed to the scan. "This appears to be the main lab."

"And the bombs?" Melanie asked.

"There seems to be an above-average amount of radiation in this area. It's likely where they are being assembled."

"If Padme has alerted them to our presence in any way..." wondered Obiwan.

"If Padmes in there and then we go in guns blazin', she may get killed." Melanie realised.

"It's a risk we have to take. Dr Vindi and those bombs must not leave the lab."

"And if they or we detonate one during the attack?" Anakin was beyond worried for Padme.

"Better to have one planet infected than the entire galaxy."

Despite the fact that she really wanted to protect her friend at all costs, she knew Obiwan was right.

"Unfortunately, I have other duties I must attend to. I shall leave Miss Altine in charge since Captain Typho will be escorting me back to my residence." The queen spoke out in the silence. Everyone nodded and the two departed.

"So what now?" Melanie asked as the three of them wandered back to the hanger. She sat on one of the cargo boxes, a million thoughts running through her mind.

"I'm waiting on Ahsoka to get back to me about the Lab's location," Anakin said although he looked very tense.

"Oh Okay... so..." The three sunk into an uncomfortable silence. Melanie wiped her sweaty hands on her tights before saying, "What have you been up to since I've seen you? I heard you were helping Aayla Secura the other day. How did that go?"

"It was a bit of an adventure. I, unfortunately, suffered an injury during that mission and spent most of the time unconscious but we managed to get out of there alright." Anakin caught her up.

"How very noble of you. Big powerful Jedi gets knocked out on a mission..." the three laughed. She turned to Obiwan "What about you?"

"Just the usual this and that. We captured Count Dooku the other week with the help of some pirates but then we lost him just as quick. He's a hard man to catch, that's for sure."

After a little more conversation, the three descended into another silence. Melanie watched the colours drain from the sky as the sun set. Anakin paced back and forth waiting for Ahsoka's transmission. Obi-Wan took the moment to take in how Melanie had changed. Her green eyes still shone the same way and her skin was still flawless, however, she looked more serious and sure of herself. It's hard not to go through a war and come out a little different, Obiwan realised. She must be under a lot of pressure to provide the best support and advice she can.

"Where are they?" Anakin finally let go of his frustration. With each passing second, he felt the growing need to head out to the lab and bust Padme out.

"Patience. They'll be here in a moment. You seem a bit on edge." Obi-Wan told his ex-student.

"There is a good chance we're about to destroy all life on this planet including ours and the senators. So yes, why aren't you?!"

"I'm better at hiding it," said Obi-wan with a smile. Melanie rolled her eyes at Anakin who grinned in response. She was about to say something when Anakin's communicator beeped.

"Master, are you there?" Ahsoka's voice came out of the small device.

"Did you find her?" He asked straight off the bat.

"Negative. I'm pretty sure shes inside the lab. The whole area is wired with pressure sensors. There's no way to get in without being detected. But I'm more than happy to-"

"DO not attempt to get inside. I need you to detonate a bunker bomb at the south end of the facility. It should cause a nice distraction and seal of the bomb area while we come in through the hatches." Obi-Wan stood and addressed Anakin's Padawan.

"You can count on me." Melanie wooed at how adorable and eager this girl was.

"Rex and his men will be right behind you, Snips. They'll have your back." Anakin said and the transmission ended.

"Come on, let's go," said Melanie as she took off towards their gunship that was just landing in the hanger.

"Hang on, I don't think you should come with us," Obiwan interjected as he caught up with her.

"Why? You know I can handle myself in a fight if it comes to it and this is my friend and the planet that I serve that is in danger. Of course, I'm coming." fired back Melanie. Obiwan accepted defeat in silence and turned to Anakin.

"Padme may be lost. Don't risk the mission trying to rescue her. I'll take care of the bombs. You focus on the doctor."

"I know what's at stake here," Anakin said. Melanie was surprised to hear the anger in his voice. However, she jumped into the ship next to him and waved goodbye to Obiwan, who was taking another ship with his troopers. Melanie said a little hello to the men inside her ship before Anakin started to tell them the plan. Once he was finished, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's going to be fine, Padme can look after herself."

He smiled in appreciation. The ship came over the area that the said lab would be and dropped a load of bombs. The doors of the ship opened and Anakin turned to face everyone and said: "Let's do this."

300 read on Follow the Rules whoop whoop! Thanks, everyone. 06/06/2020