(Star Wars) Gangsta #TheRiseAwards

Chapter Nineteen

"Let me through! Mom! MOM!"

As soon as they pulled up to the restaurant, the couple had phoned the fire department. Vader kept having to hold Padmé tight against him or take her off the ground entirely; she kept trying to run into the burning building. "Padmé, you can't go in there." He tried to explain, holding her face in his hands. "The whole place is going to collapse. If you go in there, they won't be able to save you."

"I don't care, she's in there!" Padmé tried to fight her way out of his hold, the building still standing tall despite its inferno. "Vader, let me go!"

"No, do not order me around again." The gangster picked her up and sat on the hood of his vehicle, arms tight around her waist. "You are not going into that scorch pile and that's final." He glanced off to his right, seeing Rex and a few of the boys fly in. After they'd arrived, the Sith called in reinforcements in case anything were to go even more haywire. "How long's she been blazing?" His righthand called, approaching the gang's leader. "Before we pulled up, at least an hour or two according to the fire techs..." Vader held a now-sobbing Padmé to his heart.

The Sith members all felt for the boss' girl. Ever since the meeting where she'd been deemed the next female leader, the gang started to shit their views to see her as one of their own. Most of the men who showed up had wives on the brother island so seeing Padmé so upset made them think of how they'd feel if it were their wives. "Are you two alright, boss?" Shade joined the group, standing slightly behind Rex. "We're fine, she's just a little shook up... Do me a favor - go touch base on who was inside when the fire started. We haven't heard anything about Jobal." The recon-op nodded, his partner following behind him. Rex stayed beside their leader, the other few men who'd tagged along subtly surrounding the vehicle at the corners.

"It's okay, babygirl..." Vader's rough voice softened his lips just outside her ear. "Everything's going to be alright, Daddy's got you." Padmé pulled herself closer to him, grateful to have him there with her. He kept rubbing her back, making sure her face wasn't facing the inferno when his men came back. Shade just shook his head, walking back to the side of the boss' car. No survivors.

After what felt like an eternity, the home was finally extinguished. One of the fire techs came over to where the Sith stood; he kept a respectable distance away, something the locals did out of habit. "Excuse me, Miss Thule?" He greeted, watching the sobbing young woman turn around. "Actually, I'm Miss Thule's daughter. I'm Padmé Naberrie." She went forward and shook his hand, much to the displeasure of her beau. "Captain Diego, ma'am." He gave her a slight smile before standing back up to give her the news. "It appears the fire started downstairs in the restaurant portion of your home. We found traces of gasoline everywhere and metal fragments similar to that of a pipe bomb in your kitchen; the bomb blew up inside the oven, triggering the gas lines of the stove and igniting the gas found all over the floor."

Padmé nodded, pacing ever so slightly in front of him. "Did you find my mother?"

"Padmé!"

The young singer turned, nearly screaming in relief. Jobal was running towards her, Qui-Gon and Ben on her tail. "Oh, my baby!" She cried, embracing her daughter. "I thought you were gone, Mama..." Padmé sobbed, relieved to see her mother alive and well. As the two women reunited, Vader stepped up to the captain. "One of my men talked to someone on your squad; he said there were no survivors."

"We suspect that whoever committed this arson was inside when the fire started." Slowly but surely, the homeowners and members from both gangs came closer to listen in. "We couldn't tell you if they meant to stay inside, but we found three bodies in the kitchen. It could've been some sort of suicide pact between them - that way none of them would have to answer for their crimes." Rex caught his boss' eye as he turned to the fire tech. "There's been a group of three men wandering around lately, all three foreign to Scarif. Their little trio was made up of a cyborg, a Twi'Lek and a man who never took off his helmet - it had intricate markings all over it."