Episode II: The Facade of Amidala (Part II)

by Mr. P

So they've left Naboo and are on the way to Alderaan...this is the second part to Episode II: The Facade of Amidala, and the third part is in the works now, over at the JC. Please read the other one (part I) before this or you won't understand a thing. Pl

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Lucasfilm, Ltd. and George Lucas own them.

Rating: PG

Summary: Read and find out...don't want to ruin it for you!

Please, please post reviews...

The third part I'm still working on, so I'll get it to you as soon as I am done with it over at the JC.N boards.

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Star Wars, Episode II: The Façade of Amidala

By Mr. P

Valin Torg was an engineer. An engineer for the SoroSuub Corporation, to be exact. He designed airspeeders, such as the V-16. A short man with dark skin, he walked down the hallways of the corporation's headquarters on Sullust. He had an important meeting dealing with the possibility of expanding their line of airspeeders into newer markets that were just opening up.

Normally, Valin wouldn't be on Sullust, but would be on Chandrila, where he had a family of four and other engineers to work with. People swarmed around the corridor, and one of them caught his eye. He was carrying a large case, supposedly with equipment in it, seeing all of the "Handle with care" signs plastered all over it.

The man didn't look like he worked for SoroSuub. He had more of a warrior's build, and was tall. His hat cascaded his face, so his facial features were hard to make out. Another man that was a little shorter, but also had that same warrior's build was helping him move it.

* * * * *

Boba Eden and Boba Ren walked down the corridor of SoroSuub corporation's headquarters. Not in their armor, if any fighting broke out, or they were discovered, they were dead.

"Hey, Eden, where did you say we were supposed to bring this equipment?"

"Umm...I think Fett said it had to be in the generator rooms at 1400 hours." Eden eyed a man giving his a suspicious look. He had to turn away quick, because the sunlight streaming in from the giant windows was hurting his eyes. "Man, this sunlight is sure bright, Ren."

"Yeah, I know."

* * * * * *

"1400 Hours"

That's what the man had said. Nobody talks in military time in this building, thought Valin. I wonder what's in that package of theirs.

Walking over to them and stopping directly in their path, they stopped short of just destroying their package. "Hey, man, watch out. Can't you read the signs? 'Handle with care'. This is very expensive and important equipment. If you ruined it, I'm sure your boss wouldn't be too happy."

"I'm sure, mister. I'd like to know what's in that package of yours."

Boba Eden answered this time. "Well, excuse us. We have some backup equipment for the power generators. It has lots of flammable substances like fuel. If you knocked it over, we all would have been blown to kingdom come. Watch out next time, OK?"

Well, that seemed normal enough to Valin. The generator equipment was getting old, in his opinion. "All right. I'll watch out, and try not to run into any more exploding generator equipment." Exploding? That sounds like it could be used as a bomb, he contemplated. No way. Those guys couldn't be the terrorists, could they? After all, SoroSuub has beefed up their security after all these terrorist attacks in the past few months. Nah...

"I'm sure you won't, sir. Have a nice day," Boba Ren popped in for good measure.

Valin Torg continued to his meeting. It would be a long day for him...

As they walked down the hall, "We got lucky there, didn't we, Eden?" Ren whispered to Eden. They were still in the building, and people could still hear them. The possibility they could be discovered was still there.

"Yeah. Let's be quiet so no one gets suspicious."

"Yea."

As they strolled down the hall, they contemplated the things that awaited at their destination: death. Death for them, death for everyone else, and death for the SoroSuub Corporation.

They walked for what seemed like hours, in silence. It was a crazy thing to do, but they were only carrying out their commands from Lord Sidious. Because of their death, the Mandalorians could live again, and shrug off their Sith masters. They would wait until Sidious had complete control of the Republic, and then wrest it from him. Then the Mandalorians would be the masters of the Galaxy, not the Sith.

Finally, they arrived at the generator rooms. There was enough nuclear, chemical and energy fuel to demolish the Jedi Temple, Senate building, and a few sectors of Coruscant combined. With the explosives they were bringing in, it should destroy most of the planet. Whatever needs destruction, one of them thought. It's volcanic nature has already destroyed most of the planet.

* * * * *

The meeting was just getting underway. There were the top lieutenants of every component of SoroSuub in attendence. In the highly decorated room with charts and other fiscal information plastered everywhere, Valin Torg thought it looked very, well...bland. He didn't like it, but there were some species, such as the Sullustans, who owned the majority of SoroSuub, must like the contrast, he supposed. He only was human.

"Ah, Mr. Valin Torg. We are happy to see you," announced Sal Soro, one of the major owners.

"Yes, we would like to see this proposal of yours," chimed in Gavin Suub, the other major owner. "You say this could make us about how much more?"

"Well, sirs, I think we could make just about this much more." Valin wrote the number on a presentation board. Everyone in attendence ohhed and ahhed.

"So. I must say I like this idea of yours. Why don't you go over it, Mr. Torg. I must say that if this process of yours works out, you could be in for a very large pay rai-"

Just then, there was a rumbling, which started only as a little shaking of the glass filled with ale on the table. Everyone looked about in surprise.

"Mr. Suub, I was wondering, how often do you have geological instabilities here?" asked one of the attendants from offworld.

"Not yet."

Just then, the windows exploded as the floor crashed inward and a wash of intense heat came over them. The building exploded with a gigantic ball of fire, heat, and debris that washed over the city. Setting other areas of the city on fire, and other explosions as the fire raged inward to explosive areas like generators, suddenly the whole planeside was awash with pain, fire and destruction.

*************************

It was only hours after they had left Naboo, and Anakin Skywalker was worried. Worried for his Master, worried for the Queen, worried for Naboo. His master was in serious medical condition, and might be permanently damaged. Permanently damaged. That didn't sound good. Like you could never act, live or have a normal life like a normal person.

The Queen could go into a depression. She had caused, albeit indirectly, the death of one of her best friends, and also the whole destruction of the government of Naboo. Anakin had no doubt now that there probably were various governmental factions trying to take control of the planet. Each jockeying for power; it was too much like the corrupt senate. Palpatine just kept enough control over the bureaucrats to keep the Republic functioning as a government.

With the state Naboo was probably in right now, it was ripe for the picking for some invader. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Yes, who is it?" Anakin asked while lying on his bed. It was the first time he was in this room, his room. It was modest, to say the least. With a bed, a closet, a storage box off to the side, and a dresser, he had not let himself take one of the more extensive rooms, even though there were barely any people on the ship.

The Republic Cruiser Radiant VIII normally held a crew of around a hundred and fifty sentiments while in flight. Now, Anakin could count the crew on his fingers. The Queen, her four remaining handmaidens, Panaka, the Senator, Obi-Wan, him, and a few maintenance 'droids. There were many larger rooms open, but he had chosen a humble one.

After a pause, the person outside the door answered. "It's Ami. Can I come in?"

"Sure. The door's not locked, come on in," he said as he quickly unlocked the door with the force.

The door opened, and Anakin finally opened his eyes. Amidala seemed different now than ten years ago. He was too. She was no longer a young ruler now; he was no longer a little boy. Much had changed in the Galaxy since then, and he took the time to go over it now.

Amidala was very much a young child then, he noticed now. Now she was older, more calm, if that was possible, and more mature. She now had a royal air about her that just seemed to follow her around. Before, it was more her royal garb and personality that did this for her, besides the fact that it was just her; now, her body itself seemed to emanate this royal presence through the force itself. Amazing, reflected Anakin.

Amidala sat herself down on the edge of the bed, looking at him. "So, Ami, what do you want?"

"I just need to talk."

"What about?"

"There are a lot of things. Things are just changing so fast, Ani."

* * * * * * * *

"Yes, who is it?"

"It's Ami. Can I come in?"

"Sure. The door's not locked, come on in."

"So, Ami, what do you want?"

Jar Jar Binks, Ambassador to the Gungans, looked out of the key hole in the storage box. He saw someone, the Queen walk in. Thisa interestin' he thought. Whosa is dis man in mesa hidin' place? He looked familiar to Jar Jar, but he just couldn't place him. Like some ghost out of the past. The two humans continued their conversation.

"I just need to talk."

"What about?"

"There are a lot of things. Things are just changing so fast, Ani."

Jar Jar finally realized who it was. Anakin Skywalker.

After a tiny bout of shock, he jumped out of the storage box with an excitement that could hardly be matched, he threw an arm around a surprised Anakin, and exclaimed, "Hiya, Ani! What are yousa doin' here?"

"Jar Jar Binks, what on Naboo are you doing here?" the Queen stopped him cold right then and there.

"Oh...that. Mesa tryen to getten away from da riot at da funeral. The beins dere awe ascarden Jar Jar. Mesa comen and hiden in here."

"Ahh..." said Anakin, completely oblivious to what Jar Jar said. He couldn't make it out at all. "How are you doing, my old friend? I haven't seen you for a long, long time. What have you been up to?"

"Well, mesa Ambassador Jar Jar, at yousa service. Mesa da Ambassador to the Naboo from da Gungans," he said, puffing out his chest and raising like he was a big government official and extremely important.

Amidala and Anakin broke out into laughs, Anakin patting him on the back. "Nice intro there, Jar Jar," commented Anakin. "You should use it more often."

"Yeah, Jar Jar, we're glad you're here. We're on our way to Alderaan. Ani and I need to talk, so you might want to also go over and inform Obi-Wan and everyone else that you're here, with us. I agree with Anakin. Definitely use that to introduce yourself to Obi-Wan. It'll add a great touch."

Jar Jar Binks walked out of the room, and now Anakin and Amidala could talk in peace.

**************************

"So, what were you saying, Ami?" asked Anakin.

"Um...I think I was saying about how things are changing so fast." He was always so calm and tactful, it was unnerving to Amidala.

"Hmmm. I don't really think they are. Maybe in your opinion, they are, but it was the same thing ten years ago."

"Yeah, but in my opinion...there's nothing left for me now. I can't go back to Naboo. Not only did I betray them, but I ran away from the punishment I deserve. I don't deserve to be the Queen anymore. Just look at what I did to them."

"I know what you did to them. But look on the bright side. At least when you get back, they will have a little time to think it over. They won't be as mad, their tempers will probably be blown over-"

"But when they see me again, their tempers will flare up again and I'll lose again. Again. Just look at me, Anakin. Am I the same Queen you remember when you were nine?"

Anakin looked at her, and replied, "No, of course not. For one, when I met you, I didn't think of you as the Queen, you were in disguise." Amidala cringed at the mention of it. Anakin could feel the emotion scream out at him in pain, and continued, "Ami, would you answer any question I asked?"

"Well, it depends-"

"Regardless."

"I guess, as long as you would answer it if you asked me in the same situation."

"Alright. How do you feel about this whole fiasco?"

"Well, I'm not really sure-"

"My point exactly. If you're going to get over it, you have to find out how you really feel about it. You have to be honest with yourself about it. I don't think that you're doing that right now, you're just pushing it away instead of dealing with it."

Damn! I hate how he always can see right through me, She thought. He's right, you know. You've been lying to yourself this whole time. "Sure. I think you're right, you know. I have to be true to myself before I can be true to anybody else, or I'm lying to anyone."

Continuing, "Still, there's this big whole mess of emotions going on in my head. I feel guilty, and fearful, and something else I can't put a finger on. It's harder to comprehend than you probably can understand. Maybe it'd be best if I probably get going now." Amidala got up and started walking towards the door, when Anakin got up and pulled her back.

"I can understand, Ami. I felt the same thing when I left my mother, and when Qui-Gon died all those years ago. I have just one question I would hope you could answer for me before you go. Why me? Why have you always come to me to talk about all this? You have all of your friends, the handmaidens, Panaka, and Obi-Wan, but you always come to me. Why me?"

"Because you are the only one...not to see me as just the Queen. Everyone sees me as 'Your Highness', a political figure, not a person. Sure, I have great friends in the handmaidens, and I can count on them for support, but they always see a little of the Queen in me and not the person that I am, Padme'. They always act a little like they don't want to offend me. To tell the truth, I want to be offended. People are always so careful around me, it's unnerving. They want to be perfect, because I'm royalty. I guess that's one of the reasons that I switched places with Sabe' in the first place, to get away from that. But you, Ani, you always see me as a person, not just royalty." Anakin nodded. "It's like when I asked you if you were a slave, and you replied, 'I am a person!' You were so right, Ani. Behind all our places in society, there are people. I just need someone to talk to."

She looked into Anakin's sky blue eyes, and waited for him to answer. It seemed like forever, as if time itself had frozen into one everlasting moment in the fabric of time. Finally he spoke up. "I know. I know, Ami," he said as their eyes locked.

His were lost in the incredibly dark brown orbs in her face, hers in his endless sparkling blue eyes, always filled with a youth that no one she knew could match. They each in an instant understood the Queen's problems totally as their feelings spilled out over the force and merged; for once, they were equal. No longer either a Jedi or a Queen in their minds, or a former slave and Queen as it had been ten years ago, they were just two things: great friends, and people.

********************

Darth Sidious stood on the catwalk above the cloning chamber on New Mandalore. He looked below him, and saw countless cloning vats, Sith Cloning Cylinders. What a great accomplishment, thought Sidous. The work done here with violated Midi-chlorians is truly awesome. Burning away at the balance of the force, it undermines the Jedi and supports the Sith. When a being is cloned, the midi-chlorians of an organism are inexplicitly linked, making these cloned warriors mentally telepathic with their clones, even if they have almost no force sensitivity. Working like a hive mind, it would make them become mentally unstable if they didn't have enough time adjusting to the environment in the cloning vats, one of the reasons cloning took so long.

Of the thousands of cylinders, ten of them were cloning Specimen AAA-23FTG. A very special specimen of DNA. It had been salvaged from the old Sith computer system on Yavin IV, when Sidious had gone back there so many years ago, and brought Exar Kun's spirit out of hiding in the ancient Massassi Temples.

When he was there, Kun had given him the codes to the computer files the Jedi had never been able to either break into and purge or destroy physically. Each temple had these files, exact copies of each other, at their base, so to destroy them would be to destroy the temples themselves.

But what was so special about these codes was that it included the DNA sequence of every Sith that ever lived through Kun's time. Sidious could bring back to life any Sith he needed, and have a transmitter placed into them, just like those insolent slaves on Tatooine, and kill them when their job was done. Never knowing about his apprentice, Darth Vader, they thought that they still followed the Rule of Two, that there would be two Sith, no more, no less.

Sidious felt a presence coming towards him from behind, and he easily recognized it as Boba Fett. Without turning around, Sidous spoke up first. "Welcome, Boba Fett. Do you see the great work we have occomplished?"

"Yes, m'Lord. This great work is truly awesome."

"Do you truly believe that, Fett? Or are you just trying to appease me?"

"Of course I believe that, Lord Sidious."

"Very well." A silence commenced that lasted for what seemed like hours, but was only a matter of seconds. "Fett. The Mandalorians must begin the attack immediately."

"But, Lord Sidious, the next batch of clone is almost ready! If we would delay for only a few months-"

"If we do not act quickly, we will lose our window in time. We have worked for this exact situation for centuries; the Sith and Mandalorians will strike back. The Naboo are in turmoil; there is no central government. Chaos and anarchy reign, and they have no defenses. The same will be true of Alderaan, after their leaders succumb to the parasites that I have imbued in them."

"But-" Fett attempted to argue but was cut off sharply by the Sith Lord.

"No buts, Boba Fett. You and all the Mandalorians owe me and the Sith their very existence. I could destroy you at any moment, do you understand that, Fett?!" Sidious brought his right hand up and placed his index finger on his thumb. Boba Fett clenched his throat, and doubled over onto his knees. "Do you understand, Fett," continued Sidious, "that you are in no way, shape or form indispensable to me? Nothing is indispensable to me! I could pluck another clone of you out of the tanks and have him take your place!"

"Yes, m'Lord," replied Fett in resignation. "We will launch the attack immediately."

****************************

Their gazes unlocked, and Anakin looked at the chrono, and his eyes bugged out in surprise. It had been almost half an hour since Jar Jar had left. "Ami," he said. She still seemed to be in a trance, like she was in deep thought.

"Yes," she replied sheepily.

"I think we lost track of time. I need to speak with Obi-Wan now, about some important complications dealing with our departure from Naboo."

"Wait, Ani. I still need to talk with you," Amidala pleaded.

"Sorry, Your Highness, but we'll have to continue this later today. If I may quote Qui-Gon Jinn, 'No more commands from Her Highness today'."

"But..."

"I'm sorry. But the conversation I must have with my Master is very, very important."

"Very well. We will continue this dialogue later, Jedi." She started to walk out the door. When she was on the threshold, she looked back and said, "Thanks for all the help, Laser Brains," sarcastically almost as an afterthought.

Anakin was now glad that the Queen had left. She had been making him nervous, like she was going to self-destruct then and there. She probably would have done it, had she been somewhere else. She was like a time-bomb getting ready to explode, and Anakin didn't want to be around when that happened.

Anakin was also glad because he needed to think about a number of things before he went and talked with Obi-Wan. Specifically how he cut off the Sith's hand. It was not necessary to do that, and inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering, even to a Sith Lord, was punishable in the Jedi Order. How would Anakin explain this to his Master?

Also, Anakin wanted answers to many questions that still lay unanswered between him and Obi-Wan. Too many... Anakin and Obi-Wan had become great friends, powerful allies, and sent on more missions that would have been deemed 'impossible' (and accomplished them) than could be counted over the years. But there were still a few questions and uncertainties that plagued his mind.

For example, Anakin knew that there was some 'prophecy' surrounding him, which was why the Council had been so reluctant to train him at first. He remembered that day oh so many years ago in front of the council as they denied him training to become a Jedi. Oh, he was so mad. Master Qui-Gon had said, "He is the chosen one, you must see it." Chosen One. Anakin had looked through the archives, and had found some information, but not nearly enough. He had asked to look through the council archives. The Council Archives were where the items with Class One Protection were stored, i.e. only Council members or people with explicit permission were allowed to access them.

What Anakin had found was the truth about his father. His father! When Anakin had asked about his father the first time all those years ago, Anakin remembered clearly, his mother had hesitated. For a long time. She told him that she would tell him at dinner. When dinner finally came around, she explained that his father died before he was born, a few months before. Anakin knew she was lying, but had not pressed her for the truth. He had always hoped that his father was still alive and would get a chance to meet him.

What he had discovered what that he didn't have a father. No father! That was impossible, everyone had a father at some point. A mother and a father, but he only had a mother. He was so mad at her, Obi-Wan had given him lecture after lecture after lecture on controlling his anger. He finally got over it, not because of master Obi-Wan's lectures, but because he could never be mad at his mother for long. It was just impossible for him not to love her. He figured that she had some reason for what she did. He figured that he would find out when he freed her – he had promised her that he'd do that.

Anakin stared at the wall, and began to meditate, but in a different way this time. Instead of turning his thoughts inward, he turned them outward, to the ship and everyone inside it. He started drawing mental pictures on the barren wall in front of him, of many different things. He looked over to where Obi-Wan was lying in the bacta tank, and drew image after image, like he was making a bunch of pictures of what was there. He thought about Amidala and the pain she was in, and added that picture into the mix.

It started to swirl around and around. Then, Anakin tried to reach his mother. He had tried it before, two years ago, but had failed. He had almost accomplished getting a live visual image of his mother, but it had been just out of his reach. He had kept hitting images of his mother from when he left, and possibilities of what happened to her afterwards. Obi-Wan had sensed his pain, and put a stop to it. He hadn't attempted it since.

Now, he was much stronger in the force, and there was no Obi-Wan to stop him now. He concentrated on Tatooine, and then on Mos Espa. It was working! Now on Watto's shop, but he could tell that his mother wasn't there...it was night on Tatooine now...on his old home...he could see her sleeping peacefully. Ah, she's fine, thought Anakin. Nothing to worry about.

Then, abruptly, Anakin fell asleep.

***************************

Amidala of Naboo had a problem. She wondered, What can I consider myself now? A Queen? Not likely. I was elected Queen, by my people. Naboo is a democracy. The people have decided. They have decided I am a traitor and not fit to be Queen. You could see it in their eyes at the riot.

But, she pondered, were their minds not under some sort of influence during the riot? Some of the questions they had asked, like "How did this happen?" echoed through her mind. They truly wanted to know how this had happened. Amidala knew the Naboo well. They did not have very hot tempers, and it took a lot to get them riled up.

When Amidala had been speaking to Anakin, an old Naboo myth had sprung into her mind. In the myth, there were two of the gods were fighting. One of them was evil, the other was good. The evil one had kidnapped the wife of the good one. The good god had tracked him down, through the plains, waterfalls and swamps. When they got to each other, they had a fantastic battle.

No one could get the upper hand. They fought for weeks. Finally, the good one looked into the other's eyes. He saw fear, anger, and many other evil things. Nevertheless, through all of this, he saw his soul, and had been able to beat him easily. Afterward, he proclaimed to all that the eyes were the windows of the soul. Through one's eyes you could see and feel everything another was.

Amidala now knew this was true. She had experienced it with Anakin. When she had looked deep into those bright blue eyes, they had figured it out. Anakin had sensed confusion in the people, like they were just following everybody else's lead. It was possible that the riot was a ploy to attempt her killing. Perhaps the Sith responsible for the death of Sabe' was in league with them. The thought of Sabe' sent wave after wave of hatred and despair through her, and wanton for revenge like it was sweet wine. If she had just been on that balcony for a moment longer, she could have been dead as well.

For three years, terrorists had been plaguing the Republic. Public buildings, schools, marketplaces, office buildings and other institutions had been utterly destroyed. But as soon as the trail seemed to be getting hot to catch these criminals, it just disappeared, usually somewhere in the outer rim.

Many theories had come out of the woodwork about these mysterious attackers. Some said the Hutts were behind it to undermine their opponents. Some said that it was some invasion force from outside the galaxy that had come to rile them up before they invaded. Others even accused the Jedi. There needed to be someone to blame. The government had been working it's tail off to find them, but they just couldn't. It was like a phantom menace to the whole galaxy.

There was seemingly no plan behind these attacks; randomly they struck. One day, they would destroy a governmental building on Alderaan, another, a factory on Dantooine. It made no sense.

The Naboo were not a people to be easily fooled. They were witty, and intelligent. Who was behind the riot? Wondered Amidala. It didn't look like she was going to get any answers soon. But she could still strive for them.

Am I still fit to be Queen...echoed through her head over and over again. When I return to Naboo, we will find out what the people think, she decided. Amidala lied down on her bed, and fell into a nightmare about murderers, Sabe's ghost, and this mysterious force that could at this moment be preying on her people. A nightmare that she might eventually have to face.

* * * * * * * *

When Anakin awoke, he looked up in shock to find Jar Jar scuttling around the room. "Jar Jar?" asked Anakin.

"Yes, Ani?" replied Jar Jar.

"What are you doing in here, Jar Jar? I was asleep."

"Oh, mesa no see you. Da Queen tell mesa yousa with Master Obi-Wan. Mesa lookin' for mesa holocam. Before mesa leaven da riot, mesa taken some holos of da riot. Wesa will study dem for clues."

"Why in the Sith did you take pictures? Was it some tourist attraction?" Anakin asked irritatedly. This Gungan is sooo spontaneous, it's funny.

"Mesa dunno. But mesa did!" Jar Jar exclaimed. "Oh, mesa found it," said Jar Jar. "Mesa go now. Mesa bombad sorry for disturbing yousa."

"OK, Jar Jar. I'd better be going, too."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Obi-Wan looked out of the bacta tank. He had been placed in here against his will, by the Queen and the Senator. Against Anakin's wishes, too. They had said that he needed to spend some time in there, but when he said a Jedi Healing Trance would do it better and faster, they had said he hadn't the strength.

Albeit slowly, it was doing it's job. His ribs were slowly knitting themselves, and his head hurt worse. Obi-Wan looked over himself and turned away immediately. He was far more injured than anyone had imagined, as everyone had been slightly surprised to find out on his diagnosis of a heavy concussion, serious internal bleeding, 5 broken ribs, one which had punctured his left lung, a broken leg and his back had almost broken. He was lucky to be alive.

During that fight, he contemplated, he took me by surprise. Yeah, that's it. Surprise. I wasn't even expecting him to take that angle. I don't think anyone would have. But thinking up excuses won't help me one bit.

Obi-Wan felt a strong presence walk towards the room. What were you doing for so long, Anakin? We have much to discuss.

I know that, Master. That's what I tried to explain to the Queen. But she wouldn't listen.

The Queen? Now you're setting your sights on her? I should have seen it coming.

No, no master. She wanted to talk with me about what had happened there, and I couldn't refuse. She is the Queen, you know.

Yeah, yeah. So, Anakin, what do you make of our attacker.

The Sith?

Yes. The Sith. He was very powerful, and was almost as well trained as Maul. You could definitely see that. Maul was not the Master. He was the Apprentice. Definitely.

Yes. The Sith's fighting style was not as developed as Maul's. It did not adapt like his did. Did you see the destruction in the hallway?

Yes, Ani. I take it that you didn't do that? I certainly hope not, for your sake.

No. The Sith did. When he was forced into the confines of the hallway, his broad strokes tired him out and injured him. It was his undoing. I cornered him in the hatchway and did away with him.

Obi-Wan sighed, or at least attempted to in the thick bacta. He had been lately teaching Anakin the finer of the fine points of saber fighting, the same ones his master had taught him. I sense there is more to this, Anakin. What else did you do.

I chopped off his hand-

Anakin, you know that that is against the Jedi code to chop off another's limb when it was not necessary. What else did you do in your reign of destruction? He asked sarcastically.

Nothing. Absolutely. I tossed the Sith out of the ship to his death. I figured that if he survived, a Sith without a hand is better than one without one.

I must concede that point, said Obi-Wan. But the Council will not sit well with this.

You and your Council! Will you not defy them once?

Trust me, Anakin. I did, once. It was not pleasant.

Oh, yeah right, Master. You would not disagree with them, even if your life depended on it.

We are getting off the topic, Anakin. Do you think that he is the one responsible for the death of Sabe'?

Definitely. He would have administered the Force Choke. He also probably doctored that riot, too.

Doctored?

*******************

Yes, Master. I believe that the riot was developed by a con artist.

A con artist, you say. A Sith con artist? If it was, he was certainly one sithly con artist, Obi-Wan said in a bad attempt at a joke.

Yes, definitely. I could feel confusion in those rioters, like they weren't sure what exactly was going on. And also, that shot.

Ah, yes. The shot. I'm still not convinced that this riot was doctored by some Sithly con artist.

Well, that shot came from an impossible angle. It came from the wall.

That's odd. From the wall, you say? Perhaps a redirection crystal?

That's what I think. There are only some prototypes of this concept that I have heard about. Plus, Jar Jar took some pictures, he was looking for his holocam in my room-

Jar Jar is here? Oh, force...

Anyway, maybe one of his pictures caught the crystal.

Obi-Wan just kept rambling on and on and on. Oh...I think that I'll murder Jar Jar...yes...that's what I'll do...that pathetic lifeform...

Master?

Jar Jar Binks, you are one dead Gungan. Watch out.

Master, remember, hate leads to the Dark Side.

Oh, damn the Dark Side for once! I really don't like that Gungan.

I thought the Dark Side was already damned. You'll find he's changed much, and for the better.

It was obvious that his Master wasn't listening one bit, and Anakin just crept out of the room. Those pictures held the key.

* * * *

Jar Jar crept into the cockpit area, to see Captain Panaka and Senator Pestage talking. They didn't notice him, and so he snuck over behind Panaka like a tiger sneaking up onto it's prey, getting ready to strike. "I must say, Captain, that Naboo has some serious problems on its hands," said the Senator while he sipped his Corellian ale. "Oh, Captain! Look who showed up."

"Who. I hope it isn't that annoying idiot the Ambassador Jar Jar. He isn't worth a pile of-" he stopped to take a sip of his drink, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"What!" screamed Jar Jar. Hye jumped up from behind Panaka, and continued, "Mesa no lookin' like a pile of whatever yousa gonna say." He paused briefly, and Panaka slapped himself across the forehead. "Yous taken back those bombad commentes now!"

"All right, all right, Jar Jar. I'm sorry."

"Thatsa goodsa." Hesa probably just sayin' that so mesa won't feel bombad.

All this while, the Senator had had his head rolling back and forth in laughter at this, well, interesting conversation and reunion between these, um, long-lost friends. He thought it was so funny.

"So, Jar Jar, how in Naboo did you get here?" asked the Senator, trying to ease the situation between Jar Jar and the Captain.

"Oh, mesa hidden from da bombad riot on da ship. Mesa bringen R2-D2 wit mesa as well. Hesa in da 'droid room. Hesa mesa defenses, wit da arc-welder."

"You brought Artoo! You're a genius!" exclaimed Panaka. "I, contrary to what I said before, am pleased you're here. Especially now that you brought Artoo. We could always use another astromech..."

"Well, actually, mesa came inta here to speak wit Master Obi-Wan. Wesa great friends from many years ago. Where is he?"

"Oh, he's injured, and is in the bacta tank. He's kind of hard to talk to," Panaka said with a snicker. "What do you want to talk about? I need some real conversation, you know. What have you been up to, my amphibian friend?"

Da Captain 'tis very, very sarcastic today, thought Jar Jar. "Oh, moie, moie. Mesa guess mesa stay here. Yousa don't happen to have a holoprojector in here?"

"No, Jar Jar, but Artoo does. Why don't you go and get him?" asked the Senator.

"Okiday."

Jar Jar got up, and left the room. Panaka heaved a great sigh. "Ah, Pestage. I thought we couldn't get rid of the little Gungan ambassador. I didn't think I could keep up that charade for much longer."

"Me either, Captain. I see why he irritates you so. He is, um, a little too jumpy for my tastes. I say we lock the door?"

"Definitely. Why would he need a holoprojector, anyway? It's not like he took pictures of that Sith lord, is it?"

"No, I guess not."

* * * * * * *

Amidala slumped down into her chair, and called over to Rabe', "Hey, Rabe', I just need someone to talk to. Come on over."

"Sure thing, Your Highness," replied Rabe'. You want me to get Yane', Sache' and Eirate', too?"

"Sure, why not. And don't call me 'Your Highness'. Just Amidala." Rabe' sat down in the chair across the table from the Queen. Amidala and the handmaidens shared a 5-room suite that was usually meant for special guests or the Captain and his or her top officers. Amidala had suggested this format, because in case one of the rioters had snuck on board, and there was fighting, it was better to be together, she had said.

"What do you want to talk about, Amidala?"

"I just need to talk with you. Anakin told me he needed to go talk to him master, so I can't talk with him now."

"I think you're missing the point, Amidala. He can't talk with Obi-Wan. He's in bacta, remember? He probably just wanted to get rid of you so that you wouldn't bug him anymore. You have been trying to talk with him for the past day."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But Anakin's the only one who really sees at my level. Except for you guys, of course."

"Oh, and then you sent that Gungan to look for his 'holocam', and then tell you if he was awake yet so you could talk with him. Not exactly Queenly behavior in my opinion. If I must say-"

"What are you talking about? I would never stoop so low as to spy on Anakin. Besides, Jar Jar told me he left his holocam in there."

"So, Amidala, what did you really talk about?"

"I don't know. I just need to talk with someone, or I'll go insane."

"I already am, so I won't be of any help."

"Ha ha, Rabe', not funny. What do you think of what I did with Sabe'? Am I still fit to be the Queen? Or should I resign? Look at what I'm putting Naboo through!"

"I still think that you're fit to be Queen. One bad mistake shouldn't ruin your whole career, you know. The people will probably cut you a little slack." Man, thought Rabe'. That girl has one personality crisis. She indirectly caused the death of her best friend, and has the whole populace mad at her. It was only one bad mistake, after all. To top it off, she's running after some Jedi apprentice who'll be gone once we get to Coruscant...

*************************************

"I'm not sure," said Amidala. "The Naboo are a stubborn group. Besides, I don't know if I want to take up the Queenship again. The people won't trust me, and I won't trust myself. If that trust is gone, then I'll be just one more corrupt ruler from the past to the people, and that's what I don't want."

"Well, if that's the way you want it, have it your way, Your Highness. You are free to do anything that you wish in this matter. Is that all you wished to speak about?"

"Actually, I need someone to fill a position for me. I'm still the Queen, and so I need my handmaidens."

"We're all here, at least the ones that are alive."

"I know that. But Sabe' was the Lead Handmaiden, and now that she's gone, I would like the rest of you to come to an agreement on who is best fit to fill the newly, ah...vacant position. I leave you with that. I need to go speak with Anakin again," she concluded.

"Always Anakin, huh?" Asked Rabe' as the Queen shuffled out into the corridor.

* * * * * *

Jar Jar walked, no, strutted down the corridor to the 'droid storage room in the maintenance department of the ship. There was Artoo Detoo, the way he could check out his holos. The holos of the riot. He reached the door to the closet-like room that held the maintenance astromechs, and hit the button off to the right of the door, and it opened with a clang.

"Ah, R2-D2!" exclaimed the Gungan.

Boop dweet nop git git git git awet kin fopsa

"Whatsa do yousa sayin'?" he asked.

Artoo rolled silently over to a terminal and plugged into the computer jack. The words rolled silently across the screen in aurabesh. "Why did you lock me up in here you CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED of a Gungan? I was supposed to protect you!"

"Why, yousa little CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED 'droid! Yousa taken that back. Mesa taken mine words back. Mesa needen yousa for some bombad holos."

Op niw kuw

As the dynamic duo, the escapees of Naboo, strolled down the hall, the Gungan's thoughts began to drift from the holos and what was in them to Obi-Wan. If he was as bad as he had been told, then it was bad bombin for the Jedi. Anakin was probably all distraught by it, and-

In the place where there should have been an open doorway, there was metal. Had they gotten lost? Jar Jar still didn't know the way around the entire cruiser, and they could have taken a wrong turn. "R2, whatsa wit dis door? Is da cockpit on da other side?" He started to push the button to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. It was locked.

Owwwow

"Okiday, whatever yousa said. Open up, da door!" he exclaimed with regality like he was some invader. Artoo came over and started to slice the door's lock open but the door wasn't opening. After about twenty minutes, he suggested they go look at the pictures someplace else.

Upon returning to what had become Jar Jar's quarters next to Anakin's, the room being just a bit bigger with also a computer terminal, Jar Jar sat on the bed and put the data cartridge with the holos into Artoo. The first one was on no consequence. It had been taken the day before, of himself next to a large statue on the front steps of the palace in Theed. The second one was of a bunch of people rioting, and the third was just the wall. It, however to Jar Jar's disbelief, had some sort of small, clear crystal towards the middle. He looked at it for quite some time, trying to figure out what this crystal was. It looked like a lightsaber crystal but it had two small pipes coming into it, like two mouths. Clear, it had apparently only been able to be seen from the particular direction Jar Jar took the holo from.

There were only four pictures on this cartridge, it could only fit that many. And when he saw it, he gasped. It was a picture of Obi-Wan and the Sith fighting, but in the background, there were two people, with exactly the same face.

* * * * * * *

Boba Tih looked over the pure blackness of space from the bridge of the Death's Head Battalion-Class Mandalorian Strike Cruiser. As a cruiser, it was approximately 500 meters long, and was black, like the space around it, as camouflage. Not only that, but it's spherical shape curved the light around it, making it harder to see.

The ship had sixteen engines placed in various places on the hull. They could be manipulated in various ways and formats for some spruced up maneuverability, and if one got shot down, the others could still move the ship. Also in various places around the hull were scattered turbolasers and docking bays. There were forty turbolasers in total, and could hold ten squadrons of fighters. In truth, it was little more than a highly maneuverable and powerful battle station. But, ah, so much more...

Boba Tih's subordinate, the Captain Boba Fim, the second-in-command upon this war machine, with a firm and muscular build, but not exactly the one of a ground fighter many of the Mandalorians had, stood up and started to stroll over towards the observation deck. He stood besides Tih's flank, but looked out another window, towards the planet of Naboo. From the very outer edges of the system, it appeared to be literally glowing and teeming with life forms, the blue oceans and dark green swamps creating a view that would have been stunning to anyone other than a Mandalorian. "Sir," Fim said, "will we not begin our siege of Naboo immediately? The men are becoming impatient."

"You must learn patience, my friend. The attack will be begun shortly. We must await the other teams to arrive at Malastare and Alderaan." Each line of clones had been given different personality traits during the flash-learning process. The ship commanders were overly patient, and the soldiers were very impatient by their implanted and violated human nature. It was the way that they had been programmed, to follow Sidious or Vader or Fett's orders without hesitation

Human Nature. Those words seemed to scream out at Tih. The clones were taught many things in the flash-learning process. But a flash-learning does not always mean that they will follow it. They, the clones were human, after all. Humans were sentinent beings, and the only species who had such insane maniacs that would try to mass-produce war machines that could think and do things on their own.

For war machines that could think and do things on their own would only eventually throw off your reigns, and kill you for the oppression that had been forced upon them. Unlike battle 'droids, were worthless anyway. Against a Jedi, scrap metal. Without a control ship, scrap metal. That had been proven by the outcome of the Battle of Naboo. Even when they weren't against a Jedi, only in numbers did they do any real damage.

Against anyone else, especially Jedi, the Mandalorians were literally unstoppable. Born and bred for generations before the Great Sith War for warrior qualities, they were now the greatest military force in the Galaxy. With their ranks swelled to over twenty-five million, no force could stop them. They couldn't be destroyed by a lucky torpedo shot at a control ship, and had real defenses.

But humans were always for themselves, and so would always rebel against oppressors. And that would be Sidious' last mistake, choosing sentinents to do his dirty work.

"In how much time will that be?"

"I also have orders to not attack the Naboo immediately when we contact them. Orders from our lord Darth Sidious himself. He does not want us to utterly destroy them yet. He must have some of his own purposes to fulfill with that planet. I assume that they will reach Alderaan and Malastare within twenty-four hours. Now, be gone with you. I need to make up our battle plan."

"I highly doubt you'll even need one, sir. There are rumors that the Naboo are highly fractured, in their alliance, anyway, and that various political leaders are trying to take control of the planet. If this is true, they'll be-"

"A push over, and what if that isn't true? We have no proof. I would need proof, not leads, to tell if we should just charge right in there and have no plan. For all I know, they are circulating these rumors so that we attack in haste, and they can destroy us. No, we will be patient."

**********************

Anakin lied on his bed, just thinking. Thinking about his life, his Master, the recent happenings on Naboo, and things in general. He lied and meditated, and just went wherever his mind took him. Off to the side he felt a presence approach, and the first person that came to mind was his master. But that was impossible, his master was still in the Bacta tank. He should be out of it soon, maybe a half-hour.

The door was knocked on again. Someone was there, no doubt. "Come in," said Anakin. There was no response. The person just knocked again, and Anakin told them to come in again.

The door opened, and Anakin saw, without any sort of surprise, Ami. "Ami, what do you want? Sorry if this sounds redundant, but this is getting annoying."

"I just want to talk."

"Talk! Is that all you want to do? Don't you have someone else to talk to?"

"Well, I just talked to Rabe', and I found out why you seem to be the only one who I want to talk to."

"I thought that you already explained this..."

"I did, but now I can explain it more. Well, I tried talking to Rabe', and she just 'Yes, your highness'ed me. She kept saying that whatever I wanted was correct, just because I'm the Queen. You don't do that."

"Yes, your highness," Anakin said in a mocking voice. "I never dare to say you are wrong, because you're the Queen and I don't want to offend you."

"Anyway, I think I've decided on what I'm going to do. I'm going to resign."

"Resign! Why? I don't really see any reason for you to."

"I just don't want to put my people through-"

"Through what?! You've already put them through a big enough ordeal. If you are going to resign, it's too late to now. You should just keep on going. It's like in a podrace, once you start, you can't really stop, or you'll lose. You have to help them, and the best position to do that from is from a position where you have a lot of power."

"Yes, but-"

"But what? You are soooo pessimistic. Can't you look on the bright side for once?"

"Actually, I can, but the problem is that there is no bright side. What in the world is actually going good in my life? My people hate me, I killed my best friend, I'm running away from my problems instead of dealing with them, my planet is in utter chaos, and we might not even be accepted at Alderaan. Looking back on what I did, it was truly atrocious; they wouldn't offer sanctuary to a murderer. If anything, the only bright speck in my life at this point is you," she said as she pointed at him and placed her forefinger on his forehead.

Raising an eyebrow, Anakin answered, "Me?"

"Yes, you. You're the only person who has tried to help me."

"Look, Ami, you have been coming to me..."

She disregarded him entirely, and continued, "That is correct, but really there isn't anyone else to come to. I don't know what is going on. I only wish..."

"Sabe' were here," finished Anakin.

"Yes...how did you know?"

"Well, it was simple, first off, your emotions are flowing out of you like a waterfall. It's kind of hard to listen in. But if I ever had killed my best friend, I would wish he were here too."

"You're so right, you know that? You are so right. How do you do it, be always right?"

"I'm not always right. No one is. Maybe Master Yoda, because no one will say he's wrong, but that's besides the point," said Anakin with a small chuckle.

"And so you're right again. And wrong." She laughed for a moment. "Yes, you're both right and wrong. I remember a time when the whole Jedi Council went against the sayings of Yoda, and decided to make a certain special little boy a Jedi. And so you're wrong. If always did what Yoda said, why a Council should there be?" she said in an imitation of Yoda. "Which makes you right, because you are not always right."

"You're so incredibly right, you know that," Anakin said, as a voice came over the Comm.

"We will be approaching Alderaan within the hour," the voice of Captain Panaka came loud and clear. We need everyone, who can, to come to the cockpit area. Of course...our friend Jar Jar the Ambassador will be locked out."

"We'd better be going" said Amidala.

"Wait, I've got to get my-"

He was interrupted by a very stubborn Queen, "You don't need it, you want it," she joked. "Come now, or the Queen will get angry with you and bring her wrath upon the Jedi. No one can escape it."

"You underestimate me," he said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room.

* * * * * *

Anakin was dragged out of the room by his left hand, and so many memories flooded his brain, like they did every second of the day. But this time, the memories faded back and one came to the front.

It was a windy day on Tatooine. Anakin had just met a group of strange outlanders in Watto's shop.

Are you and angel?, he had asked her. He never thought he would ever see any of them again.

But then, Anakin saw his arch-rival on the Podracing circuit, Sebulba. He was picking a fight, or rather having been picked on, by that strange alien, he believed his name was Jar Jar, and was not losing by a bit.

He thought that the older man, who he thought was maybe fifty or sixty years old, to be a Jedi. A Jedi! Of all the people to come to Mos Espa, a Jedi. Anakin had had a dream where a Jedi came and freed Anakin through winning a podrace. But he doubted that would ever happen. Until now. He had overheard Watto and the man speaking in the junkyard. Republic Credits will do fine, he said over and over again. Anakin knew enough about the Jedi, through the little he had heard from traders and read in the news, that what the Jedi had been trying to do was a Jedi Mind Trick, or Mind Whammy as some referred to it wrongly.

But a sandstorm was coming, and he knew, somehow, that these refugees couldn't get to shelter and would suffer if he didn't help them. So he offered to bring him to his house.

He remembered dragging Padme' by her hand, toward his hovel, trying to find his way through the sand and grime. All this flashed through his mind in a moment's time.

Now, it was the other way around. Amidala dragged Anakin towards the cockpit area of the ship, and eventually he caught up with her. They approached the door, which was locked, as they found out.

The comm through the door turned on. "Who is it?" asked Panaka.

"It's just me and Anakin," replied the Queen.

"Oh. Is that CENSORED gungan, Jar Jar with you, or anywhere in sight?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, now open the door, Captain!"

"Yes, your highness."

They walked in holding hands, and sat down next to each other. Panaka quickly shut and locked the door.

"What was that all about?" asked Anakin.

"The Captain had a falling-out with Jar Jar. He has been banned by the Captain from the cockpit," explained the Senator. "Against my wishes, or course," he added.

"I agree with the Senator," said Amidala. "We should let Jar Jar in."

The comm unit buzzed, and a voice was heard. "Yousa gonna open da door?" the voice said.

"Sure thing, Jar Jar," said Anakin, before the Captain could stop him. Anakin went to unlock the door, but Panaka grabbed him by the back of his cloak. "No, you don't" muttered Anakin, as he used the force to push his hand away and unlocked the door.

In strutted Artoo and Jar Jar. "Oh, moie, moie," he said. "Mesa got some emportante holos to show to alla yousa."

"What do you have pictures of, Jar Jar," asked Yane'.

"Oh, yousa seein' soon. A picture of a itsy bitsy crysta', some people, and yousa see da rest."

"How many are there," a shook up Panaka asked.

"Oh, only four. De rest are aw jumbed up."

"Why don't you show them to us," asked Amidala. "I would like to see what our little tourist did on his trip to the rioting races."

"Comen here, R2-D2," said Jar Jar. "Showen dem da holos."

Boop dweep noh giy min

Artoo Detoo fired up his holoprojector with a whirr, and the picture of the statue came up. "Next," said Amidala. The next one of a couple of people rioting, of no consequence. "Next." The wall. Anakin gasped, there was the exact type of crystal that he thought had been used to try to kill the Queen.

"That...I knew it. They used the Xerrol Rifle. It's obvious."

"Since when have you been interested in sniper rifles, Ani," asked Amidala.

"Since somewhere in the time I was gone for ten years, training. It's tech, and so I bought one once and took it apart. Lots of fun."

"You used to own one?" asked Eirate'.

"Ummm, yeah. I rebuilt it, and sold it. They are still pretty rare, I was able to get my hands on a prototype a few years ago; I had some connections with the company."

"Connections...?" asked the Senator.

"Don't ask," he said. "They knew that I'm pretty good with tech and gave one to me."

"Ahh..." said Amidala in recognition. She knew what he could do, building C-3PO and his Podracer.

"I think that this no doubt says that this riot was doctored. Obviously, the riot was little more than cover for an assassination attempt."

"I think he's right," said Panaka. "The riot felt kind of funny, like the people weren't really doing this because they were mad."

"Da next picture is bombad cawazy," said Jar Jar. "Nexta?"

"Yes, Jar Jar," replied the Queen.

Artoo changed to the last picture, of Obi-Wan and the Sith fighting. Not too much to be impressed about, at least to Anakin's standards. "Well, what's so important," he said. "I don't see-" He saw it. There were two people in the background, two mourners. You could see their beige faces, but Anakin was shocked they were the same. In every way, shape and form, the people had the same face, build, skin color, eyes, hair, it was amazing. "anything."

"Neither do I," said Rabe'.

"I see it now," said Anakin. "It doesn't seem possible, but it is the only answer. Clones."

**********************

"Clones?" asked the Senator. "Are you sure? I don't see anything."

"Just LOOK!" Anakin said pointing to the holo. "There, they have the same face. The same body. The same person. Just look! It's all there."

"Hmmm..." muttered Panaka. "It could be clones. They could be identical twins as well."

"But identical twins normally aren't exactly identical, but are a tiny bit different. This is a different altogether."

"But if it is clones..." said the Senator, "Jar Jar Binks. Earlier I asked you about some rumored cloning that the Gungans were alledgedly doing. You said some unintelligible sentences about that. Are these clones, if they are, related somewhat to your technology?"

"No way. Wesa have what yousa call, 'Organic Technology.' In order to protect da ecosystems in da swamps, wesa cannot eat too much fishen. If we donot, however, wesa starven. So, wesa developed da Cloning Technology."

"So! It is true!" exclaimed the Senator.

Jar Jar waived his hand in a rough motion to say he still had more to say."But not for da people and aliens!" Everybody let out a big sigh of relief. "Wesa clonin' da plants and fambaa for da food. Desa called Heyblibber."

"This...heyblibber," said Anakin. "If our enemies stole this technology from you, could they have adapted it to clone humans?"

"Perhapsa. Dey'd have to make da new tanks for developin' da clones."

"Hmmm..." said Anakin. "I think they stole it from you. When was this technology developed?"

"Mesa dunno. Parhaps right bafore mesa goin' wit Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, through da core. Dat da reason mesa banned from Otah Gunga. Mesa breaken da Bosses prototype Heyblibber for his fambly."

"Oh, so that's why you were made the Ambassador," said Panaka. "So you wouldn't ruin your city by being clumsy?"

"No, no, 'tis noting liken dat. Mesa was a bombad General at da Battle of da Naboo. Afterwards, mesa resignen. Da Boss maken mesa an Ambassador instad."

A red light flashed on the cockpit's dashboard. "We are about to come out of hyperspace," said Ric Olie', who they had brought along so they would have a pilot. He pulled the lever back, and the mottled blue starlines of hyperspace shortened into pinpoints of light, surrounding the glistening blue orb of Alderaan.

"Republic Cruiser, please state your name, and reason for being here, this is Alderaan Space Control," a voice said over the comm.

"Alderaan Space Control, this is-"

Olie' was cut off sharply by the Queen, "I'll handle this, Ric. As we were saying, this is the Republic Cruiser Radiant VIII from Naboo. We would like to land in Aldera and speak with the Viceroy, Bail Antilles."

"I'll have to clear that...but you are allowed to land at docking pit 54 in Aldera for now. If the Viceroy will speak with you, you will be notified before you touch down so you can prepare; please, you may land at any time. This is Alderaan Space Control. Have a nice day and we hope you enjoy your stay on Alderaan."

"Thank you. We hope you have a nice day as well," piped in the Governor, who had been silent for a very long time as well.

* * * * * * * *

The deep red Radiant VIII set down in docking pit 54 surrounded by the serene city of Aldera, Capital of Alderaan, with it's tall white towers and angled skyscrapers. Aldera was on an island in the middle of a lake, and there were a number of causeways that led to the shore of the lake and outlying farms. Whey they opened the hatch, the Queen walked down the hatchway, in a simple purple flowing robe, flanked by her four remaining handmaidens, all dressed in red-gold robes that almost seemed to glow. Behind them walked Anakin and Obi-Wan, who had only recently come out of the bacta tank, and only for a short while before he went in again for another hour in another one on Alderaan.

After them walked Jar Jar, Artoo, the Captain, the Governor and the Senator. The Viceroy of Alderaan, his wife and other officials approached slowly, and the Viceroy was the first to speak. "Welcome to Aldera. I do not know your name, or who you are, but I would like to meet you," he said in his slightly accented voice.

"I...am Queen Amidala of the Naboo," said the Queen plainly. "We have come to seek refuge."

"This is an interesting turn of events. I have no reason to believe you are the real Queen of Naboo, seeing as I was informed that she was dead, but we are glad to have you here with us nonetheless."

"That is understandable. The confusion has swept my people and we were forced to flee Naboo. Viceroy, or should I call you Bail Antilles?"

"Oh," he said with a chuckle. "I'm not Bail Antilles, at least not anymore. A few weeks ago, I married. That's why I was not able to attend the funeral for the Queen, besides the fact that shortly afterwards, she took sick, and since my relation to the Queen goes through her, it was her wish that we not attend. You may not have received word."

"But the name...wouldn't you still be named 'Bail Antilles'?"

"On Alderaan, we have a matriarchal system of name inheritance. My wife's is Marie Organa, so I took on the name. Just call me Bail."

"Ah," said she.

"Yes. Now, how can I be sure that you really are Queen Amidala?"

"Well, we could do a DNA test, I'm sure I'm on your records, or the Jedi could vouch for me. I don't believe you have met them, no?"

"I don't believe I have. I didn't even notice them."

Obi-Wan stepped forward, flanked by Anakin in perfect Padawan fashion. "Good day, sir. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight." They shook hands, and Bail motioned towards Anakin. "Viceroy, this is my apprentice, Anakin Skywalker."

"And why exactly are you here? Aren't Jedi normally on missions?"

"Well, this is our mission, from a certain point of view. We have been friends with the Queen for a long time, and when news of the Queen's apparent death reached us, we received a month's leave to attend the funeral."

"What exactly happened with this death?"

"She'll have to explain it to you," he said. "It's very complicated."

"I see..."

Panaka stepped forward. "Captain Panaka at your service. And this is Senator Sate Pestage of Naboo, and the surrounding systems, and Governor Sio Bibble. I believe you already know the Senator from your Senate position?"

"Yes, I am acquainted with him. I wish I had the time to get to know him better. Perhaps we shall have that now. And who is this?" he asked nodding his head towards Jar Jar.

"That would be Jar Jar Binks, Viceroy," Anakin said before Panaka could insult Jar Jar again. Panaka gave him a disgusted look, before he continued. "He is a Gungan, and the ambassador from the Gungan people to the Naboo."

"Yes, it is good to meet you, Ambassador Binks. I have heard good things about the Gungans." He paused and shivered a little bit. "I would like to admit that it is a little chilly in this time of the year here on Alderaan, and so if you would like, we could continue this conversation inside."

* * * * * * * * *

"You have failed me, AGAIN!" exclaimed Darth Sidious to his apprentice. They were on the planet of Naboo, in the very heart of Theed Palace, near the power generators. "I sent you to destroy Kenobi and that abomination, young Skywalker, and what do you do? Get your hand chopped off!" He picked him up and started to force-choke his apprentice. Sidious had came to Naboo and revived Vader, almost from the dead, and they were now discussing his failure.

Vader brought his hand up to his throat in vain; his left hand, the hand that had been chopped off by Skywalker in their duel above the city of Theed. His hand had been given a cybernetic replacement. The Sith had incredible robotic technology, so that they could practically make a person alive again if only a tiny speck of flesh was left and their brain. They could use machines to live their life for them, but there was nobody that had been of such use to the Sith that that had been used yet. It was only in prototype stage as it was.

Nevertheless, Vader now had a cybernetic left hand. He brought it up to his throat and whisped, "Please, Master, have mercy..."

"A Sith has no mercy, my apprentice," said Sidious as he let go. Vader had a sharp intake of breath, seeing as he was quite a little short of it.

"Of course, Master. I knew that, it was just...if I were to die, you'd need to find another apprentice. You are not necessarily a young man, my Lord. You may perhaps die within a number of years."

"Let us not speak of that now. You failed me. I will give you one last chance to destroy the two Jedi that you failed me in last time."

"I will depart at once."

"No, not yet. I first need to torture you, and also, you need to learn patience. We have a plan to carry out, you know."

"Yes, Master."

"Now, as I was saying, you should be happy you are alive. I should kill you, but I still need you." A love-hate, need-dispose of relationship, exactly what it was from a Sith Master to a Sith Apprentice.

"Yes, Master. What of our plans for the time being?"

"Within the hour, Naboo, Malastare and Alderaan will fall. Obviously, they can't fight off any attack without the help of the Senate, and I have them bogged down in procedures. They will most likely unconditionally surrender."

"With us here, will that be safe? The Mandalorians might run us over. Remember they are specifically to fight Jedi in large numbers, so they would hold us off fairly well."

"That is their weak point, and in it their strong ones. We need that force to destroy the Jedi, two Sith, powerful as they may be cannot do it alone. If they were to rebel against us, we might have a hard time, but we don't have to worry about that."

"Yes, yes. However, you didn't answer my question. Will we be leaving, or are we going to stay for the conquest?"

"We have to leave in half an hour. We need to make way to Coruscant shortly to rendezvous with our friend Boba Fett and others in our alliance."

****************************

Who is that? Bail Organa asked himself as he walked through the corridors in his palace on Alderaan. He glanced at the tapestries and statues, and the sky blue Flying Flury flowers gracing the walls. Queen Amidala is supposedly dead, but here in front of me is the young queen on the Naboo. He led them into a small conference room, with big and plush red couches of satin.

"You claim to be the Queen of Naboo," said he. "If this is so, what of the other person, who died? I doubt that you came back from the dead."

"That is the part that has gotten us exiled from Naboo," said Panaka.

"Yes, Captain. This is all really my fault," Said Amidala. I really hope he doesn't throw us out after this... thought Amidala. "The person to die under my guise wase Sabe', my best friend and decoy. Whenever I am in some sort of danger, like we had back in the trade federation fiasco, we trade places and I take on the disguise of a handmaiden."

"I see. So, were you the true Queen during the senate meeting on Coruscant back then?"

"Yes, I was. Sabe' and I traded places so that I could do what I do better than her, politics. As I was saying, I have been really, really stressed out, because of various political infights I have been having in the past few months. So, I spoke with Sabe', and we decided to do a switch every once in a while. We developed a code so that I could make my will known to her, and I could switch into an inconspicuous handmaiden's position and take her identity. She looked enough like me that this worked. Once.

"So, after our first trial run, it had worked. We went to speak about what had happened, on the balcony. I had to attend some personal business of my own, and left her on the balcony to look at the landscapes. When I returned, she was dead."

"How? By a sniper, or an assassin?"

"Actually, we believe it was a Sith, Viceroy," said Anakin. His master had been placed into a bacta tank on the way down, so now he spoke for the Jedi rather than his master doing all the talking. "From the security vids we saw, she was choking. Obviously this was a Force-Choke, the mark of a true Sith. Only Sith who have truly converted to the Dark Side of the Force can perform this technique."

"I see. This is a very convincing story, and I'll have a hard time proving it wrong without a lot of evidence. I'd just like to see that vid of yours, if you have it with you. I see you have an astromech with you, perhaps you could show me?"

"With pleasure, Viceroy," said Rabe', who now was the Lead Handmaiden and did most of the talking for them. "Artoo, come here," she said.

Artoo rolled up to them, and started the vid they were talking about. They saw Sabe'/Amidala double over and fall over the balcony, and Bail gasped. "I see what you mean. That was no ordinary sniper assassin. You said it was a Sith. What is a Sith; I am not acquainted with that race."

Anakin spoke up. "A Sith is basically a Jedi gone bad. They use a Jedi's powers for evil and bad purposes. They're not much fun to play with, I must admit. We've been looking for the remnants of their ancient order for millennia. They've only just been out of our fingertips again and again."

"Your Highness," said Bail. "Come with me, I'd like to do a DNA test."

"Surely, Your Highness," said Amidala. "I'd love to." Anakin cringed at those words, his face contorting for just a moment.

* * * * *

"Give me you're arm," 2-1B said. "This will hurt only a little when I take a blood sample."

"I know," said Amidala. "I've done this before."

"I know you know. Be quiet," said the medical 'droid. A moment later, a small prick was felt in the Queen's arm, and a vial filled with blood. 2-1B took the vial and input it into the machine. "Your results will be ready in ten minutes," it said.

* * * * * * *

"What are the results, 2-1B," said the Viceroy. "Is she or is she not the Queen?"

"The results are positive," said the 'droid. "She is indeed Queen Amidala."

"Interesting," said the Viceroy. "So, you are Queen Amidala."

"Yes."

"I am honored to be in your presence."

"We are as well, Viceroy," said Bibble.

"Thank you. I now believe that I know why you were exiled by your people, Amidala. They thought you were a traitor."

"Yes, exactly."

"If I would be excused, I need to go for a little walk on my own for a few minutes, and look at the surrounding areas. My master always says to know your territory. He also says to follow your feelings. I have a very, very bad feeling, and I believe I may need that knowledge."

"Very well. We will see you soon, Ani," said the Queen.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the bleak blackness of almost deep space, Boba Gih looked upon the planet of Alderaan in it's serene beauty. He announced to the bridge crew of the Sidious, a Battalion-Class Mandalorian Strike Cruiser, "I have received confirmation from Lord Sidious. Begin the invasion immediately."

***********************************

"This is Admiral Tih of the New Mandaorian Expeditionary Force. I now claim this system under the rule of New Mandalore." Boba Tih's voice rang grandly out through the bridge of the Death's Head, it's acoustics of the room directing the sound into the microphone across the bridge. The microphone directed the acoustical input to a comlink, a very special comlink. This comlink had the ability to break into any communications frequency in the current system, no matter the technology, and broadcast into them. In effect, all the comm units in the system became 'hear-only', and the only one that could broadcast to them was the one on the Mandalorian Strike Cruiser.

"This system does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic any longer." The bridge gave a hearty cheer. The Mandalorians had a very specific way of dealing with conquest. They would annex them, and claim all military factions that did not comply with their rule as rebels. But first, they would peacefully ask that they hand rule over to them quietly without the need for bloodshed. That was the Mandalorian way, even if they were practically slaves to the Sith, a race that lived for bloodshed and death.

Tih continued. "If the leader of this planet would contact us here in orbit, we could conduct the negotiations of surrender without there being any, ah...casualties." If the planet's leader would just hand over the control, it would be so much easier. It was the way the commanders were programmed in the cloning tanks.

"Admiral, we have multiple transmissions from the planet," announced a comm technician.

"Send each one through on a different screen," said the Admiral.

"Yes, sir."

The first screen, the one on the left showed what appeared to be some fat green alien of some sort. The screens were four meters by four meters, and surrounded the upper part of the bridge wall in a circle surrounding the whole circular bridge. "Wesa nosa wanten da Mandalorians taken us-en overd. Wesa haven una grand-n armys!"

Tih leaned over to his aide. He spoke with him quietly and off to the side. "Do you have any idea what he said?"

"No, sir. Just 'wing it'."

"'Wing it'?"

"Pretend you know what he's talking about."

"Sure thing. I don't even know if it's a he." He got in front of the holocam and spoke again to Boss Nass. "I assure you, what should I call you sir?"

"Mesa Boss Nass. Mesa da NEW ruler of dis planet-s. t-t-t. Wesa da Gungans. Just call me 'Boss Nass'. Oh-ya, outlander, da oders, day may sayin' dat dey ruld dis worlds but I sayin' deysa de-facto."

The other person across the room, in the screen, exclaimed, "No, I am the true ruler of Naboo! I am Ern Tolza, the Prince of Theed. I truly rule this world, from it's true capital." Tolza had a light build, with tanned skin and dark brown eyes. He had brown hair as well, and spoke regally, not unlike the Queen herself.

"Yes, Boss Nass, and you too, Prince. I propose this surrender to you-"

"Wesa nosin' surrendurin'!"

"I must agree. We will not surrender without a fight. Even to the death."

"Let me rephrase this. I offer you and your people a place in the Great Sith Galactic Empire. Thousands of years ago, this Empire was truly great, rivaled only by the Galactic Republic. It thrived around the great Sith Lords, who were basically like Jedi. This Empire is rising again, and we wish you to have the first spot in it."

"And what would we gain from this?" asked the Prince of Theed.

"Everything. Look at yourselves. Ten years ago, do you remember the little fiasco that you had with the Trade Federation?"

"Wesen rememberdat well."

"Look at your own feeble republic. Your Queen ran away from her problems, much like I have heard has happened recently, and went to Coruscant. However, she could not receive assistance from the Military. If you join the Man- excuse me, Sith Empire, you would always have military ships pat- sorry again, protecting your system from invaders."

"Such as you?"

"Exactly. That is exactly why. If your government cannot even protect you from even as feeble invaders as us, you most certainly need a stronger government."

"If you are so feeble, then why should we bow down to you?"

"Wesa agree wit yousa, Prince. Wesa not given up 'til da death!"

"So be it. If you do not surrender unconditionally within fifteen minutes, your communications, except for the systems you are using to contact me, and perhaps much more. Death's Head out."

The screens around the bridge shut off abruptly. "Commander," said the Admiral, "Set the timer for fifteen minutes. Tech, locate all the communications centers on the planet. Disseminate the ones used to contact us from the rest."

"Yes sir," they said in unison.

The time clicked down slowly. 15 minutes, 10 minutes. 5 minutes. One minute. Thirty seconds before the timer hit zero, the two leaders came over the comm. "Wesa will not surrender!" exclaimed Nass.

"Very well. Fire at will, gunners," he said, also over the comm to the other ships in the system, the Tears of Fate and Indomitable cruisers. Fire spout out of the ships as the planetside of Naboo was awash with fire. The two leaders' heads looked this way and that. And all of a sudden, it was over. "Nass, Tolza, do you surrender?"

"No, Mandalorian scum. We will never surrender."

"Even if I destroy your Theed Palace?"

"We'd like to not see that happen."

"Do you surrender?!"

Before the Prince could answer, Boss Nass blurted out, "NOSA! NEVER!"

"Wait, I am talking this over with my advisors," said the Prince pleadingly. "I am in the palace now, so please don't-"

"I already have your answer. And I believe it is-"

"Nooooo......." said the Prince of Theed, as a single beam of laser fire shot out from the underside of the ship and engulfed the Palace of Theed in a ball of scalding fire. On the screen, it could be seen the fire and explosion eating away at him before the screen went blank, from the communications generators being destroyed.

"And what do you say to that awesome display of power, Boss Nass? Do you or do you not surrender?"

"Nosa."

"Destroy one of the swamp areas, the one with the most Gungan lifeforms, as long as it is not where the transmission is coming from."

"Yes sir." The ship spewed fire onto a small area of the planet, until all there was left was barren land with a few scattered brush fires.

"And?"

"Wesa never surrender!"

"So be it. General Ulin, begin landing your troops. Take over the planet."

The general was standing off to the flanking side of the Admiral, with his head in the shadows. He stood out of them, and he could be seen in full Mandalorian Armor, and awesome site in and of itself. He had enough firepower in that one piece of armor to destroy square kilometers of land on the Naboo planet, with it's smart ropes, missile launchers, hidden weapons, jet pack, 15 thermal detonators (class-A, which meant that they could destoy 10000 cubic meters of space around them) and a series other weapons that were only placed on his armor because he was a general. They could do so much damage, they could destroy a whole city on their own, even a sector of Coruscant. "Yes, Admiral. I will make my way to the hanger shortly."

"You see, Nass, it is inevitable. Your planet will fall, regardless of whatever stumbling blocks you place in front of us. We will have it, you being alive or dead. Make the choice, Nass."

"Da answer tis noagain."

Tih looked to his other viewscreen, where he could moniter the battle. The Mandalorians, a group of four hundred were faced with four thousand Gungans. They were utterly destroying them with their missiles and detonators. Others ran in to short range and blasted them to bits. The Gungans were facing utter and impossible defeat. The Mandalorians were advancing with such utter speed, Nass' originally green face was turning white.

"You make the choice."

"Ahhh...callen off da attack. Wesa surrenderen'."

"You made the right choice, Boss Nass. I will send a diplomat down to the planetside to set out the unconditional surrender of Naboo. And you will address any Mandalorian, and especially any Sith, by 'My Lord.'"

"Yes, my lord." In the course of less than a half hour, Naboo had been conquered in the brutal hands of the Mandalorians, whose blasters were never set to stun.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Just because I know why you were exiled does not mean that I think that what you did was right," said Bail. "I think what you did was very wrong. You caused the death of your best friend, and that's got to leave you with a lot of survivor's guilt."

"I already told her that," Anakin said under his breath as he walked out. Not a soul in the room could hear it.

"Anyway, I will give you sanctuary, not because I think what you did is right, it's that you need it, Queen Amidala. I still think you are traitorous to your people, even though I may not show it."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Unidentified cruiser of unidentified class, please identify yourself and your class, this is Alderaan Space Control," said the voice from Alderaan Space Control.

"Who we are and what class we are are of no use to you, Alderaanian," the voice from the ship said, sneering the term Alderaanian, almost as if it were a slur.

"We cannot let you stay in this system unless you announce, sir. We will send you away."

"You and what army?"

"Well....uh...the army of pacifists, that's what."

"Oh, an army of pacifists scares a Mandalorian, wow. We will announce, I suppose. I am Captain Yin of the New Mandaorian Expeditionary Force. I now claim this system under the rule of New Mandalore. If you don't get out of the way to the planet, you will be destroyed."

"I don't see any reason that I should...I'm not supposed to move for anyone."

"Let me give you one. Fire at will." The guardship of Alderaan, one of ten that patrolled the system day and night to prevent smuggling and piracy, not only to make sure that every ship that entered and exited the system be escorted in and cataloged, had no shields. No one had dared to attack Alderaan since the Great Sith War over one thousand years ago. They had been seen as superfluous and dismantled off all the guardships. If only they had been kept, thousands of lives could have been saved that day. After one hit, it exploded into a million tiny glowing shards of flesh, duracrete, steel and computer equipment, slowly burning in the cold of space.

* * * * * * * * *

Amidala was surprised. She had been expecting to be thrown out byt the Viceroy because of the events on Naboo recently. "Even if you are not happy, I am thankful that you offer us sanctuary. You mentioned that Marie was sick? Could I see-"

Alarms blared throughout the planet of Alderaan. A voice cam over the comm. "Alderaan is under attack. Alderaan is under attack. All officials come to the war room."

"What is this?" asked Panaka.

"Well, I must assume that Alderaan is being invaded."

"Do you have an army of some kind?"

"We have a small force, but not nearly large enough. The majority of Alderaanians are pacifists. But let's get going to the war room, shall we?"

* * * * * * * * *

"Sith!" exclaimed Boba Gih, commander of this strike force at Alderaan. "Why did you do that? Now we can't negotiate with them; we struck first. They will probably send a squad of fighters out to confront us. Scramble our fighters. Bomb the capital. Get them on the comm. And also, Yin, come here."

"Yes sir," everyone said together.

Yin walked up to the upper bridge where the Admiral was standing. "Yin, I need you to know something from me." He nodded. "Never, ever, ever, ever fire without explicit permission from me. I know that your position in the chain of command gives you the right to order a firing, but you picked the absolute way to use that privilege. As such, I demote you to private."

"Private?!"

"Yes. Now get ready for the ground assault."

A few seconds later, a man that wasn't the Viceroy was speaking with Admiral Gih. He was the Captain, the right hand man of Organa, Owen Lars. "Yes, what do you want?"

The Admiral spoke first. "Viceroy, I declare that this system is not under the jurisdiction of the Republic any longer. It has been annexed by the Galactic Sith Empire. Being a part of this great and glorious Empire, you would keep pretty much the same rights as in the Republic, except you would have a military that would act quickly to protect you. You have to surrender unconditionally with me now. If you don't we'll destroy your capital."

"I am truly sorry, but I am not the Viceroy, and so don't have that capacity in my position. The Viceroy will be here shortly, he was speaking with some visitors."

"I repeat, you would be under the complete authoritarian jurisdiction of the Emperor and would be a part of our greatness."

"I cannot accept because I don't have that power."

"Fool. You will be destroyed for your lack of cooperation. Sidous out."

* * * * * * * * *

Anakin Skywalker was walking the corridors of the Royal Palace of Alderaan, looking interestedly at the tapestries, art and architecture of the Palace with interest. It was one of the things he had wanted to do when he had revisited the Theed Palace, but he never got the chance. Little did he know, but he never would.

He always had been interested in these liberal arts types of things, from his earliest days as a tot when he had tried to decipher the strange markings on the ceiling of his hovel as some sort of mechanical code that would help him build his podracer and droid, C-3P0.

Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the city. Alderaan was under attack! It was impossible, Alderaan was near the Core Systems, in the Mid-Rim. No invaders had struck at the Republic since the days of the Great Sith War. The Republic had stood the tests of time, but now? Anakin wasn't sure. The first thought was his Master. He was still in a Bacta tank, unable to do anything. With an invasion under way, it would be very easy for any invaders to destroy him, willingly or not. But with Anakin around, it wouldn't.

* * * * * * * * *

When Bail Organa entered the War Room in Aldera, he was greeted with instant chaos. People were running around carrying papers or yelling at someone else continuously. It looked like one of Alderaan's monsoons had hit it. "Where is Owen Lars?" asked Bail.

"He's up at the holocom transmitter," said a passing aide.

Lars could be heard having some conversation with an unseen partner. "I cannot accept because I don't have that power."

"Fool. You will be destroyed for your lack of cooperation. Sidous out."

"Who was that," said Organa.

"That appears to be the commander of the invading force. They want to make us part of some great sith empire or something."

"Sith!" exclaimed Amidala as a part curse, part realization. "Don't accept any sort of deal from them."

"Why?" asked Organa.

"I'll explain later. What I can tell you now is that they were the ones who killed my best friend." They all watched as three Mandalorian fighters zoomed past. They had three wings coming from a spherical origin, like spokes on a wheel. These wings were connected by a circle of metal, on which there were four different lasers. Out of the bottom of the hull dropped proton bombs. "I suggest you get out of here while you still can. These Sith are tough people to work with. They'll destroy the planet."

"Are you sure? I don't believe anyone could do that. The Republic military should protect us."

"I'm not sure. We couldn't get the military to do anything for us ten years ago," said Rabe'.

"I might as well..." said the Viceroy. "This is Bail Organa. The Sith are taking control of the planet. I suggest you leave while you still can," he said into the planetary comm that projected into a P.A. system around the planet.

"I suggest we go to Coruscant," said Sio Bibble. "We could ask the Senate to liberate Alderaan."

"It could work. I say we do it. We'll have to bring some of the higher officials, though. Perhaps Lars and about two hundred other governmental officials. Would all those fit on your cruiser?"

"Yes, I believe they would," said Panaka. "It can hold three hundred at top capacity."

* * * * * * * * * *

Anakin rushed over to the medical wing of the Palace. He passed people racing to get to their ships and off planet. He had heard the message from the Viceroy and assumed that Ami, the Viceroy and everyone else were planning to make a getaway from the planet. He hoped they didn't leave without him.

He passed the library, art gallery, civil cervice office complex, and many other parts of the Palace. But the same song kept playing in his head: Help Master, Help Master, Help Master, He Could Die, He Could Die...

He hoped he could save him. He considered him the greatest swordsman in the Jedi Order, and in tune with a different level of the force than the rest of the Jedi. Most Jedi thought the second of him, seeing as he was considered the 'chosen one', with such high numbers of midi-chlorians, even higher than Master Yoda's. When Anakin had asked Master Yoda why people regarded him on such a high level, he had merely replied, 'Your destiny it is.' He thought that the prophesy was a load of sithspit. How could he, Anakin Skywalker, destroy the Sith? He was just another Jedi with the power of the Force at his side. The way he looked at it, was that if Qui-Gon could be destroyed by the Sith, anyone could.

He had been running now for a little while using the force to guide where he was going. He was within a minute's run of the medical complex, when he was suddenly surrounded by twenty or thirty strange warriors who had their weapons, which were on strange grey armor, pointed at him. "Who are you?" one of them asked. Without a word, he lit his sky blue saber, and one of the announced, "A Jedi! Get him!" They fired their blasters at him, but he blocked each with precision, like there was a duracrete wall between him and his attackers. However, their armor somehow ricocheted the blaster bolts off of them into the wall, even when it was going straight back at them.

He decided that this wasn't working, so he had to start to take the offensive. He ran forward, aways keeping his defenses up, and swung at one's midsection, in a way that would have had his saber kill another three in the same swing. But when the saber made contact with the armor, it suddenly went dead.

**************************************

He tried to kill another with his lightsaber, but again, it went dead. Again and again, his saber refused to be able to break through their armor. He was surrounded by many troops and could not kill any of them, any way. He saw the weapons on their belts and shuddered thinking how they could kill him in ways that his lightsaber couldn't block.

Somehow they were blocking the blaster shots that he sent back at them with his saber as well. They have to have personal shield generators, he concluded. But then, it would cost an incredible amount for a whole army. Maybe these are just a bunch of anti-Jedi commandos, with shields and armor to protect them from any Jedi they were sent to destroy. But how could they know there were Jedi on Alderaan?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Three hundred? That's good. We can fit lots of people on that," said Organa.

"You don't have a lot of time to pick and choose the people to come with us," said the Queen. "It'll have to be a fast job."

"I know. I'll just make an announcement to the whole war room." He walked over about three meters to the comm station, and said, "Attention. Would all of my advisors, the cabinet and generals please proceed to the Docking Pit 54. We are going to Coruscant."

"Viceroy, we're cut off from that pit!" exclaimed one of the security monitors who was looking at a screen from one of the security cams of the palace.

"Sith!" said Rabe'. "We'll face casualties."

"Not necessarily," said Panaka. "We have two Jedi with us."

"True, but they're not here with us now, are they?" pointed out Bail.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It has to be a shield generator, and an extremely cheap one, too. To put one on every soldier in an army would cost more than I could probably imagine. Perhaps they only engage it when they encounter a Jedi? Or, it could be this wacky armor that stops a lightsaber... thought Anakin. He kept blocking shots with his saber, putting up effectually an impenetrable wall through which no shot could enter.

His training with Obi-Wan Kenobi had prepared him for this task. He shot his saber back and forth faster than the eye could follow blocking more than twenty shots a second. They were slowly advancing on him, and he was beginning to tire. He decided that the only way to protect himself was to use the force to directly take the offensive. His master had warned against that specifically many, many times, because it would lead to the Dark Side without him noticing it until it was too late. But now, he made the decision that his life and his masters depended on it.

He started to only block the shots with one hand, as opposed to two, holding his shining blue saber. This was a more risky position; it could easily be knocked out of his hands if it was hit in the wrong way or he lost his grip. He pushed the palm of his right hand out, and probed the minds of his attackers for a moment, and pinched their minds, confusing them for just a moment. He didn't know where or how he had learned the technique; he just thought it, and it happened.

That tiny moment of confusion was the moment he needed. Just as they stopped firing for that moment in time, he lowered his defenses, and charged. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, with everything and everybody moving at a snail's pace and him moving normally. He highly doubted that the weapons of the mysterious warriors had that strange armor, and spun, cutting the first line of troops' blaster rifles neatly into two parts. He picked them up with the force, and threw them at the troops in the second and third lines, effectually taking them down and sending them into the realms of unconsciousness.

It was only now that Anakin noticed something wrong about these people. They seemed...wrong, like they didn't belong here. At all. They, curiously, had the exact same force signature. He picked up one of their rifles that he hadn't destroyed, and found that the Stun setting had been tampered with. He picked up another, and found this one working. He stunned all the troops, which would keep them unconscious for at least an hour or two. He was just about to leave and get his Master when he heard the bustle of a group of people running down the hall. If it were another group of warriors, he wouldn't stand a chance, he was so worn out from the ordeal.

* * * * * * * * *

"The long way, right," said Organa. "General Gubernat, send ten troops towards the warriors that are blocking our path; they should be able to deal with them."

"Send ten? You haven't seen what those troops do, Viceroy. We only have a small royal army of three or four thousand, and nearly all of them were routed. We haven't ten troops in one place on the whole planet."

"Send someone. I don't want to have to deal with them myself."

"But, Viceroy, to waste troops like that? It's not humane. I refuse, even if you are the Viceroy. I have military superiority above you."

"Like you said, we don't have any troops left."

"Viceroy, I believe we have another option, besides wasting lives," said Sio Bibble. "I was looking at our ship during our trip here, and I made a valuable discovery. It's fully slave-rigged."

"And that would be important because...?" asked Bail.

"I learned about this a long time ago. A fully slave rigged ship can be called by a homing beacon, or a specific signal and fly it's way over to where the signal's coming from."

"How will this help us now?" asked Panaka. "We don't have either a beacon or a code."

"I think I remember the frequency," said Bibble.

"That still won't work," said Pestage. "It'd get destroyed by the Invaders."

"No, a fully-rigged ship will also fight it's way over to us if it has to. We can land it on top of the med building; there's a large flat top, I think."

"He's right!" said Owen Lars. "The top of the med building is large and flat, if the Invaders haven't destroyed it yet. It's amazing they haven't destroyed us yet with those crazy fighters of theirs."

"Tech!" Bibble called out.

"Yes?" asked one of them.

"Do me a favor, would you?"

"Sure."

"Code in the frequency K-R-8-Y-9-17 and pulse it to the tune of the Republic Anthem. Is there a relay tower from the med building?"

"I think so. I'll try," said the Tech.

"No," said Amidala. "You'll do."

"Sure, whatever," said the Tech.

"Hey!" said Rabe' after a few minutes. "Look – on the screen, we can see the ship is coming towards the med building!"

"Everybody, let's go!" said Bail. "We shouldn't run into any troops along the way, I hope."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Anakin heard a large company coming. It could have been a group of those troopers, but it didn't feel like they had the animosity to be a group of invaders. Just then, he saw a ship fly by through the window! His cruiser! They were going to leave without him, and his Master. Why, those CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED!!! He sped off to fetch his master and after that to the ship, which had appeared to land on the roof of the complex.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Amidala breathed faster and faster as her legs tried to carry her as the group of three hundred Alderaanians and Naboo sped through the corridors connecting the Med Complex to the palace. They ran and ran, and Amidala was starting to slow down. They hadn't ran into anybody, but the group was making a ruckus that would wake a sleeping Hutt a hundred miles away.

They turned one of the last corners, according to Bail, and suddenly, they came upon quite a sight. A group of Invading troops.

**************************

Invading troops. All dead, or at least that's the way it appeared to be. However, their armor was not pierced in any way, and all of their weapons had been chopped in half. By what only could have been a lightsaber.

"It appears Skywalker was here recently," said Rabe'. Amidala only nodded. "Where he's got off to, I don't know..."

"Maybe he went to get the other Jedi," said Panaka. "His Master, I believe. I'm not too well versed in Jedi training programs, but each has a Master. I think he was in a bacta tank."

"A bacta tank?" asked Bail. "But wouldn't he have been it one all the way to Alderaan, from Naboo?"

"He was," explained Amidala. "He suffered serious, very, very serious, injuries on Naboo from our little encounter with the...Sith."

"Sith?" asked Lars. "The Invaders said that we would be welcomed into the Galactic Sith Empire. If these people could seriously injure a Jedi...I don't believe that we could stop them."

"Yes, we can," said Amidala. "The Sith are a group of bad Jedi, and not all the infantry are Sith. They appear to be some group of commandos, not necessarily trained in the Sith ways, possibly mercenaries."

"I must concur," said Bail. "If they are trained as Jedi, I doubt that they could train so many in such a short time. Look, there are only ten thousand Jedi today, and there were at least ten thousand invading. They have to be mercenaries."

"There are many mercenary cultures, but none have this technology," said Pestage. "Who are they, and where did they come from? I say we take off their masks and see what they look like, get an idea of their place or origin."

"You can go to the ship now," Bail announce to the others. "Except for Owen Lars. It should have landed by now, and with Jedi Skywalker ahead of you, you'll not have any trooper problems, without a doubt."

"Let's doin' it!" said Jar Jar, as he went and removed a couple of helmets. He gasped. They all had the exact same face. It was impossible. They were human, but it was an inhuman sight. It was as if they had merely been manufactured.

They weren't of any system of the Republic, that was sure. "They don't look to be from any place I know," said Lars. "Perhaps they're from the Unknown Regions?"

"That appears to be the case. They also appear to only be stunned, not killed," said Yane', pointing to the dropped rifle set to stun in the middle of the circle.

"Then, let's bring a few back to the ship, and we can show them to the people on Coruscant," said Amidala. "Let's move."

* * * * * * * * * * *

When Anakin arrived in the Med Lab where the Bacta Tanks were, he was relieved. It was in relatively good condition. Many of the vials and bottles on shelves around the wall had fallen off, presumably from the shaking of buildings from the bombing, making it a sea of broken glass and liquid. Anakin was glad he was wearing shoes. One of these has Master Obi-Wan in it, thought Anakin. Which one?

He approached a computer terminal, and it turned out that he was in Tank 2187. He ran off down the complex, searching for the correct tank. Using the force to guide his movements, he found it quite easily.

Anakin, what took you so long to get here? Asked Obi-Wan through their bond.

I ran into some troops, said Anakin.

Well, I'll have to hear that story sometime else. Get me out of here, My clothes should be over there somewhere, across the hall

Sure thing, Master, said Anakin as he pressed the button to release his Master from the tank. He walked into the room across the corridor, and took out his Master's cloak. Obi-Wan quickly dressed, and was soon ready. They didn't keep his saber with his clothing. Anakin had left it in his quarters for "safe keeping" but had left it there so no one would steal it while they talked about what happened, and applied for sanctuary. He hadn't had time to get it before, after the invasion had began, and didn't have time now. They'd run into more Invaders.

"So, where's our escape route?" asked Obi-Wan.

"I saw it flying away," said Anakin. "I think it landed on the roof. How they knew we were here, the Force knows."

"Yeah, really," said Obi-Wan.

"So, are you up to the challenge of a nice run, or are you still injured?" asked Anakin.

"I am feeling fine. If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have been in that stinking tank again. The bacta leaves a taste in your throat that lasts for weeks, especially when you've been in one for a week at that. By the way, do you know where my lightsaber – Anakin!" he exclaimed. "Where's my lightsaber!"

"Well..." Anakin explained the lightsaber problem to Obi-Wan.

"Very well. It was only my master's lightsaber, you know. One of the few lasting memories of him I use on a nearly daily basis. I'll get over it," he said sarcastically. "I guess I'll just have to build another one. What kind of crystal does yours use?"

"Umm...a kyber sapphire from Yavin 4, I think."

"I'll have to use one of those. I like blue, maybe even more than green."

"Well, let's get to the ship."

"Good idea."

* * * * * * * *

The Alderaanians had arrived at the ship without consequence. There was nobody in the way, and the cruiser had even had it's door open for them. They filed in, and took placed in quarters, common rooms and the bridge. Then, they saw two people in sandy brown robes come rushing towards the ship. They, the people in the robes, apparently saw the people in the ship.

* * * * * * *

Anakin and Obi-Wan arrived at the ship quickly. They had used a force-enhanced run that let them run at almost three times their normal pace, and Anakin had won. Obi-Wan had been too tired out. He slowed to a stop quickly, almost losing his balance, when he saw the ship. It's hatch was open, and there were some unknown people in the bridge. "Look, Master, Invaders!" said Anakin.

"That's what it looks like. We'll have to make them surrender the ship."

"That might not be easy, Obi-Wan..." said Anakin.

"Why?"

"I'll explain later. I'll just announce that we want the ship back."

* * * * * *

"Look," said one of the people on the ship. "They drew sabers!"

"Yeah. I think they're those Sith people that the Viceroy was talking about. Jedi gone bad...a lightsaber then must mean either a Jedi or Sith."

"Maybe it's that Jedi that the Viceroy was talking about instead?"

"No, it can't be. He only mentioned one, there's two here."

"Yeah, you're right. They're Sith."

"What should we do?" he asked.

One of the Generals from behind him answered his question. "Why don't we lift the ship off the roof a few meters, and blast them?"

"Why not?" asked the first one. He took the controls; he was a pilot, and a good one. He lifted the ship using the repulsorlifts and opened ran over to the hatch.

* * * * *

"Look, Master," said Anakin. "The ship is taking off."

"I don't think it's taking off, Anakin. There's someone in the hatch."

The person in the hatch didn't have any of that wacky armor that Anakin was expecting. If he was expecting Jedi, why no armor? "He doesn't look like an invader, Master."

"Don't let your eyes deceive you. Just listen to what he has to say," said Obi-Wan.

The man spoke up. "Sith! I say, beware. You will not take this ship without a fight."

"And I say we won't, because it appears that we are not who you think we are. If I were a Sith, I could kill you, all of you, right now!" said Obi-Wan, stepping forward, and almost appearing to grow taller and menacing. "You don't have to fight us, because we're Jedi, and I think we were mistaken in your identity as well."

"I bet this is all a trick to make us land."

"No, it isn't. I'm a Jedi Master, and I could jump up there right now from right here, without a second thought."

"Really? I'd like to see you try."

"Sure think, mister." Obi-Wan jumped, and when he reached the height of the hatch, levitated himself in a sitting position right there.

"Uhhh...I must say I'm impressed. But we still think you're Sith." The man in the hatch turned on his comlink, and called up the cockpit. "Red," he said, "raise the ship another 20 meters."

All this time, Obi-Wan had been levitating himself back to the ground, and now again stood with Anakin, who had a smile on his face with pride in his Master. He thought that Obi-Wan was a great Jedi who should, and would, be on the Council one day.

"I guess that there will be no convincing you. You are an Alderaanian, aren't you?"

"Why, yes, Sith." He spat at him.

"Well, then, I highly doubt you'd be leaving without your Viceroy. Is he with you?"

"He should be arriving any moment now," said he.

A voice cam over the man's comlink. "Don't tell him anything more! He's a Sith, remember? An Enemy!"

"Oh, yeah, right."

* * * * * * * * *

Amidala was helping to carry one of the three Invaders that they were bringing back, and it was one heavy-handed job. This armor of the Invaders is one heavy piece of... she thought as she struggled with the deadweight. Panaka came over and offered her some assistance, to which she promptly said a "Thank you, NO!"

"We should be approaching the ship in just a moment," said Bail.

"Good, good..." said Amidala. "I just want to get this load off my hands. I don't trust myself with all this weaponry right next to me." The Invader stirred again, and Amidala quickly kicked him in the head, pushing him back into the realm on unconsciousness.

Bail came up to the door that would bring them out onto the roof, and couldn't open it. "Shoot! The code's been changed," he said. "Where's that astromech of yours?" he shot at Panaka.

"He's right over here," he said. "Artoo, go open the door."

Boop dwet nog it garnit

Artoo rolled over to the door, and plugged his computer jack into the other computer's. In moments, the door opened softly.

What they saw was not what they had been expecting. The ship was in the air, about thirty meters in the air above the roof. The hatch was open, and one of the Generals was speaking to two robed men of the roof.

"Well, then, I highly doubt you'd be leaving without your Viceroy. Is he with you?"

"He should be arriving any moment now," said he.

Amidala realized who the people in the robes were. The lightsaber was that blue color she remembered from the lightfight on Naboo. "It's Anakin and Obi-Wan," she said. "They appear to be trying to get on the ship. However, I think that the people on the ship think they're enemies. Why don't you go tell them to land the ship?" she asked.

"Why not?" replied Bail.

Bail and Lars ran up to the Jedi, and Bail spoke up to the General, "You land this ship right now! These are our allies, Jedi Skywalker and Jedi Kenobi!"

"Oh. I thought they were Sith."

"Well next time, don't jump to conclusions."

"Yes sir." He spoke into his comlink again, "Land the ship, Red." It gracefully landed right beside the group, and everyone boarded.

"Ami, why are you carrying that Invader?" asked Anakin.

"They're clones. We need proof for the people on Coruscant. Look at what happened last time we petitioned for help on Coruscant without proof."

"Yeah, I remember that. Besides, Master and I need to borrow his armor."

"What for?"

"I found some...special qualities in it that would interest the Jedi Council. It's the reason why I didn't just chop them in half."

"Hmmm..." It was a fact she hadn't thought of before. Why hadn't he just chopped them in half with his lightsaber?

* * * * * *

"You!" Bail said to his General. "Why did you do that? You wasted lots of fuel, we can just make it to Coruscant now. And if we are hit trying to escape?"

"Sir, I thought they were Sith. What you told me about them...They carried lightsabers."

"Not everyone who carries lightsabers is a Sith," said Bail. "General, I think that it's time that you stop making conclusions based on bad information."

"Yes, sir."

* * * * * * * * *

"Let's get out of here," said Anakin. Ric Olie', who would have normally been the pilot, had been left behind on Alderaan in their haste to leave, like Obi-Wan's lightsaber, formerly Qui-Gon Jinn's.

"I must say that we'll have a hard time. We'll run into a whole bunch of fighters," said Bail.

"I don't know, Viceroy," said Amidala. "Anakin is the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy." On that comment, Anakin blushed with pride.

"That may be true, but this isn't a starfighter."

Anakin took the controls, and started to take off. They skimmed the surface until they had reached the opposite side of the planet from the cruisers, and sped away as quickly as the engines of the Radiant VIII could carry them. They ran into a few fighters, who Anakin quickly maneuvered into each other as they tried to pursue the crazily moving cruiser, who they couldn't keep up with and it's amazing pilot.

Soon, they had cleared the gravity well of Alderaan, and were in hyperspace on the way to Coruscant.