Clearly the bomb was planted by someone in Satine's personal retinue. No wonder she was hiding in a hotel room with her Padawan bodyguard.
After copying all the files, Obi-Wan left the embassy to find his own Padawan waiting outside.
...
"Find anything?" Anakin asked.
"I was able to narrow our list of suspects to her personal retinue."
"Do you have the data? Can I look?"
Obi-Wan handed Anakin his compad and hopped into the driver seat of the speeder. Anakin fell into the passenger seat, reading the files in silence as they drove to the embassy.
"This is odd." Anakin said after a few minutes.
"What did you find?"
"Well, the embassy staff all have their own official mailing addresses. Their spam filters automatically clear every forty eight hours, but a woman named Vizbig cleared hers early, and she was the only one that did that."
"Why's that significant?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well, she didn't seem to realise that just because her spam filter is cleared, that doesn't mean there's not a record of the mail she received and accessed. The night before the bombing, Vizbig opened a spam email from a company based out of the Mandalorian Sector. There aren't many of those."
It didn't prove much. A company based on Mandalore was more likely to have found her email address than one from somewhere she'd never even been. "It does seem unusual." Obi-Wan agreed. "But we still need hard evidence."
Anakin put the compad down, clearly deep in thought.
"Something else on your mind?"
"...She asked about you."
"Vizbig?" Obi-Wan turned to look at Anakin, bewildered.
"No, Padme."
"Oh." Obi-Wan looked back to the road. Was the boy feeling jealous because of that? Obi-Wan glanced over to see his Padawan's gaze fixed ahead, trying to keep his face neutral, but obviously upset.
It was lunch time now, and the airways were rapidly filling with other speeders as people hunted about for parking at their favourite restaurant or cafe, mixing with the delivery drivers to create a midday traffic jam. Obi-Wan sighed as his speeder came to a halt, and he was forced to come to terms with the fact that he could be stuck in this car for a long time to come.
"...Anakin, Satine and I didn't get along at first." Obi-Wan finally said. At the mention of the Duchess, Anakin turned in his seat, suddenly looking interested. "I didn't get along with Master Qui-Gon very well, either, but Satine and I hated each other at first. We only came to think of each other fondly after… getting to understand each other. First we developed respect for each other, then eventually admiration."
"Then love?"
"...Yes, Anakin." Obi-Wan sighed. "I was ready to leave the Order for her."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because she never asked me to." Obi-Wan answered. "We're getting off track. The point I'm making is that she won't always look at you as she looks at you now. If you're patient, and you give it time, you might one day find that you already have the respect and admiration of someone who never thought of you before."
Anakin considered for a long moment. Then he smirked. "So it's okay to break the Jedi Code?"
Obi-Wan reached over to punch him in the shoulder. "You know what I mean. If you want to pursue a relationship outside the Order, you will have to leave the Order. But if that's what you want, then… I'll support you."
"...Or I could just run off to join Dooku and his crazies."
Obi-Wan barked a laugh. "Please. I'll never live down the shame. How many children does he have now? A dozen?"
"Four."
"Four!" Obi-Wan clicked his tongue. "Disgraceful!"
That got a chuckle from Anakin.
They flew the rest of the way to the Senate building in a more comfortable silence. Once the Senate Security recognised Obi-Wan's credentials, they quickly gave him access to the records they had. It took just a few minutes to confirm that someone had used Satine's credentials to access the Senate garage during the Senate Session. Whether they were stolen from her pocket or copied, Obi-Wan didn't know, but a review of the footage from the Senate chamber showed Vizbig leaving by herself after whispering something to Satine.
"So it was definitely Vizbig." Obi-Wan murmured. "We'll put out a warrant for her arrest."
"No need." Anakin said, and turned around his compad to display a coroner's report. "DNA test, and dental records confirm that Vizbig died in the blast."
Obi-Wan blinked in shock. "...I guess she must have been a true believer." Then he reconsidered. "Or perhaps she passed the card to someone else? She might not have known about the bomb."
The two of them returned to the Mandalorian embassy and searched Vizbig's room. It was Anakin, who found a compartment hidden in the bottom of the dead Mandalorian's wardrobe. Inside they found a blaster, and an empty metal box. After running a scanner over the box, they confirmed that traces of explosives were inside.
"They've planned this for a long time." Obi-Wan murmured. "She's been working with Satine for three years."
"The mail she got from Mandalore must have been a signal." Anakin said.
Obi-Wan nodded as he considered. "It seems like Senator Padme was wrong about the Trade Federation's involvement."
"We haven't proven that there's no connection."
"No, but the evidence we do have points to internal Mandalorian affairs."
Thinking back, Obi-Wan supposed that Padme's bodyguard had realised the explosion was going to go off when she saw it in Vizbig's mind.
"Why didn't Knight Prialla tell us who the bomber was, then?" Obi-Wan pondered.
"...Probably because she doesn't trust us. The Indinoor Temple thinks we're all Sith puppets."
Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head. It really was a shame that Dooku had led so many young Jedi astray, when his idea of a Temple localised to the struggling Outer Rim had been so promising. Instead, Dooku had poured all his efforts into crafting some kind of feudal empire, justifying it with a bizarre conspiracy theory about a Sith Cult operating on Coruscant that secretly controlled the Jedi Council.
"I'll inform Satine of our findings, then I'll put together a report for the Jedi Council." Obi-Wan said. "While I'm doing that, why don't you work on tracing the origins of that email?"
After dropping Anakin off at the Temple, Obi-Wan returned to the hotel Satine was hiding in. Knight Vai gave him the same cold response the second time, and he did his best to ignore her.
"Vizbig?" Satine looked shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"But she's not even from a clan!" Satine insisted. "We did a background check on her. Both her parents were open supporters of the New Mandalorian movement. The firm that sent her was recommended to me by my own Prime Minister!"
Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I see. How long have you been using this firm for?"
"Three years."
"...Satine, I'm going to have to recommend that you don't return to Mandalore." Obi-Wan said. He glanced at Knight Vai. "Would the New Temple be able to offer her safety?"
"Of course." She answered.
"Are you saying that Pre-Vizla is responsible?" Satine demanded.
"I haven't confirmed that, but the timing is concerning." Obi-Wan said. "I'll be going to Mandalore next. What was the name of that company?"
"Concordia Services."
Obi-Wan added that to his notes on his compad.
After returning to the Temple, Obi-Wan met up with Anakin. The two of them walked together towards Master Yoda's private chambers. "Were you able to trace that mailing address?"
"Yes. It comes from a company called-"
"Concordia Services?"
"That's right." Annakin frowned. "What are you thinking?"
"I think we need to go to Concordia."
...
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