Without warning, Matt and Satine heard Kenobi's voice crackling through their comm receivers, though they had to strain to catch his words over the dinner conversation.
"Duchess, Matt, please confirm your location," came Obi-Wan's urgent but carefully controlled voice.
"Can I offer you another drink?" Vizsla asked pleasantly, completely oblivious to the communication taking place right under his nose.
"Yes, of course," Satine replied smoothly, maintaining her diplomatic composure while her heart began racing with concern.
"I'd rather not, thank you," Matt said politely. "I'll save my appetite for dinner. Wouldn't want to start the meal without Obi-Wan joining us."
"I'm afraid I'm in rather dire circumstances. I've been captured by Death Watch operatives," came Kenobi's voice, carefully modulated to avoid detection.
Pre Vizsla refilled glasses for himself and the Duchess, then turned back with an apologetic smile that seemed genuine. "I'm terribly sorry, Duchess. It appears we're completely out of ice for the drinks."
"That's perfectly fine—no need to apologize," Satine replied, though her voice carried a slight tremor that only Matt's enhanced hearing detected.
"I don't typically use it myself anyway," Matt added conversationally.
"Perhaps we should begin dinner without Master Kenobi," Vizsla suggested. "His meditation appears to be taking considerably longer than anticipated."
"There's a tracking beacon integrated into your communication device, Satine. If possible, have Matt accompany you for security purposes—he seems quite capable. Follow the signal eastward to reach my current position," Obi-Wan's voice continued with barely contained urgency.
"I'm not certain I can manage that at the moment," Satine replied, her response deliberately ambiguous to maintain their cover.
Pre Vizsla looked slightly puzzled by what Satine had just said, though he attempted to mask his confusion with polite concern.
"This situation is extremely urgent and time-sensitive," Kenobi's voice pressed.
"Duchess, are you feeling unwell? You seem somewhat distracted," Vizsla observed with what appeared to be genuine worry.
Satine stood gracefully from her seat and forced a reassuring smile. "Perhaps some fresh air would do me considerable good. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by today's events."
"Shall I personally escort you outside for some air?"
"Use one of the speeders from the hangar. The terrain where I am is quite rough and dangerous on foot," Obi-Wan's voice advised.
Matt rose and moved to follow the Duchess. "I'll accompany her, if you don't mind. I could use some fresh air myself after such an eventful day."
"Are you certain you're both alright?"
"Absolutely," Matt said, tapping his red glasses with a self-deprecating smile. "Sometimes I develop severe headaches from sensory overload, especially in new environments."
Pre Vizsla watched them with growing confusion as they politely excused themselves from the room. Once they had walked a sufficient distance to avoid being overheard, they broke into a controlled run toward the hangar bay.
"Satine, you should know that I can't pilot a speeder," Matt announced practically. "I'm blind, and more importantly, I haven't had any opportunity to learn how to operate Mandalorian vehicles."
Satine wanted to ask how his blindness was even possible, given that he seemed to navigate and function like any sighted person, but she pushed the question aside. Right now, Obi-Wan desperately needed their assistance.
After mounting the sleek speeder, she patted the seat behind her. "Hold on tightly to me—this could get rough."
Settling in behind her, he wrapped his arms securely around her waist. "I promise to behave myself appropriately."
"I trust you completely," she replied.
She wasted no more time and accelerated rapidly, causing Matt to be thrown back slightly by the sudden burst of speed.
Matt remained mostly silent as the speeder raced across Concordia's rugged terrain, but his mind was working furiously.
"Governor Vizsla is definitely hiding something significant from us," he said over the wind.
"What?" Satine glanced back at him in confusion, having to raise her voice over the speeder's engines.
"Back at the residence, he was unconsciously protecting his left arm and showed clear signs of recent exhaustion. He's been in combat recently—probably within the last few hours."
"How could you possibly determine that?" Satine asked, her tone mixing curiosity with slight offense. "You said you were blind—how do you observe such things?"
"I have... enhanced methods of perception. Kenobi mentioned that I remind him of the Miraluka species, and he was quite accurate about how I experience the world around me."
"Experience things how, exactly?"
"I'll explain everything in detail later—we're approaching the facility now."
Arriving at the mining complex, Matt and Satine quickly dismounted their speeder, with Matt stopping her for a crucial moment. Removing his outer clothing, he revealed the sophisticated black and red armored suit he wore beneath his civilian attire.
"Let's proceed," Matt said, his voice now carrying the authority of someone far more dangerous than a simple lawyer. He motioned for her to follow him as they carefully entered the dark tunnel system.
As they moved deeper into the facility, they heard Obi-Wan's voice again through their communication devices.
Satine pressed herself against the tunnel wall and spoke quietly into her wrist communicator. "What's your exact location?"
"Listen for the rhythmic metallic pounding sound. That would be the industrial crusher that's apparently designed to eliminate me in a rather unpleasant manner," he said with forced calm, though they could hear the mechanical clanking sounds intensifying in the background.
Matt pressed against the wall beside the Duchess and focused his enhanced senses, detecting several distinct heartbeats in the vicinity. One was elevated and stressed—clearly Obi-Wan—while the others maintained the steady, controlled rhythms of guards or sentries.
"We need to draw the Death Watch operatives away from Obi-Wan's location," Matt said quietly.
Spotting a control panel nearby, Satine began examining it carefully before activating what appeared to be a facility-wide alarm system. As the sirens began wailing throughout the complex, Satine and Matt observed several Death Watch members rushing past their hiding spot. They quickly took cover behind an industrial conveyor belt, waiting for the right moment.
As two armored warriors approached their position, Matt struck with lightning speed. He caught them completely off guard with a spinning strike that connected with both simultaneously, sending them crashing to the ground. He followed up with a precise nerve strike to the first guard's neck, rendering him unconscious, before executing a fluid spinning kick that eliminated the second threat.
"Was such violence really necessary?" Satine asked with a disapproving frown.
"Would you prefer them to regain consciousness and alert their friends while we're attempting to rescue Obi-Wan?" Matt replied pragmatically.
Satine's silence provided him with his answer.
Racing toward the captured Jedi's location, they soon found him suspended upside down in an energy containment field, slowly being lowered toward what appeared to be an industrial crushing mechanism.
"Well, that certainly took you longer than I'd hoped," Kenobi called out from his precarious position, attempting to maintain his dignity despite the circumstances.
"You know, we haven't actually rescued you yet," Matt pointed out.
"Yes, no need to remind me of that particular detail."
"Try to remain patient."
"I'm finding patience somewhat challenging at the moment."
From their banter, Matt felt as if he was witnessing an argument between a long-married couple who had grown comfortable expressing their frustrations with each other.
Moving to the control console, Satine began working frantically with the various switches and displays. "Let me see... one of these controls should disable the containment system."
"Satine, please shut down that machine immediately!" Kenobi said with growing desperation as he continued moving closer to the crushing mechanism below.
"I'm trying as quickly as I can!"
"Please hurry!"
"Would you stop shouting at her? She's working as fast as possible under these conditions," Matt growled, his enhanced hearing making the combination of yelling and mechanical noise particularly uncomfortable.
"What exactly are you contributing to this rescue?" Kenobi yelled back, earning a distinctly cold look from the masked hero that made the Jedi immediately reconsider his words. "I... apologize, my friend. The stress of the situation is affecting my judgment."
"There!" Satine exclaimed as she successfully engaged the controls, halting Obi-Wan's descent toward the crusher.
"Why isn't the containment field releasing him?" Matt asked, observing that the energy barrier was still active around their friend.
"We need to find the secondary release mechanism."
"Hey!"
Matt spun around to see the Death Watch operatives he had incapacitated earlier returning to consciousness and alerting their reinforcements.
"Well, they recovered faster than I anticipated," Matt said with grim humor.
"We'll eliminate you first, you costumed fool," the lead Death Watch member shouted, raising his weapon to fire a concussion missile. Matt threw himself aside at maximum speed, but the blast's shockwave still caught him, sending him tumbling through the air before he hit the ground hard.
The Death Watch Mandalorians charged at Matt en masse. The Avenger rolled to his feet and caught the first attacker with a devastating kick to the chest plate, then blocked the second warrior's punch before delivering a precise counterstrike that sent the armored figure staggering backward.