Tenel Ka slowly let her eyes wander over her opponents forming a circle around her. As the tension grew in the air, so did Tenel Ka's excitement. She needed this battle. Her lightsaber throbbed in her right hand, the only noise in the room, save for her steady breaths.
The first attacker came from behind. Tenel Ka raised her weapon allowing the hilt to rotate in her palm. She thrust the emerald blade out behind her at waist level, catching the man below the navel area. As she spun right to face him, she brought the blade up through his midsection. The blade drew a burning line through his body and exited via his right shoulder. He fell to the floor, shaking. Tenel Ka crushed his blaster under her left heel and turned to face her next attacker.
A girl about Tenel Ka's age stepped forward, a lightsaber glowing in her hand. She charged down Tenel Ka with a violent scream and the lavender weapon clashed with emerald, sending sparks flying. Tenel Ka blocked, held her guard for a second, and then used her weapon to push the attacker away. The girl stumbled back only a few steps before shaking her head and fixing Tenel Ka with a deadly stare. She charged again, this time with a little more of a plan it seemed, as she held her weapon on her left side in both her small hands. She brought the blade forward with another primal scream. Tenel Ka caught the blow before it hit her right hip and swung the blades around, disarming the girl.
Undeterred, the girl lashed out at Tenel Ka with her long, powerful legs. Tenel Ka ducked the blow and switched off her lightsaber. Clipping it to her belt, Tenel Ka slid down to the floor on her left side, catching the girl's knees in a scissor kick. The girl fell hard and before she had time to react Tenel Ka had flipped over her back, onto her feet., pulled the blaster from its holster on her right leg and finally fell the girl with one deadly shot to her head. Tenel Ka quickly nodded as the girl's skull erupted in sparks.
Allowing a few beats to breathe and re-holster her weapon, Tenel Ka prepared for another attack.
A large, burly man stood forward, obviously the leader of the group. He pulled a small metal tube off his belt and elongated it. He swung the staff around on each side of his body then above his head, stopping quickly with an imposing growl. Tenel Ka reached out with her hand, calling her own staff to her using the Force. She brought it to front guard and slowly walked toward the man. As she got closer, almost upon him, the man didn't attack. In fact, the visage of the man fell away revealing a life-like robot. Tenel Ka looked around as the rest of the scene fell away. The two attackers she had fallen earlier laid in sparking heaps. Her gaze followed around to a large window, the only blemish on the smooth round walls. Her gaze changed from harsh determination to critical questioning.
Suddenly a loud voice came booming through the room. "So sorry to stop you, Queen Mother, but you have an incoming message I believe you should see."
Tenel Ka nodded at the window, allowing her breath to slow and steady. She threw down her staff; made sure her lightsaber was on her hip and strongly marched out of the training room as servants moved in to clean up after her morning training session.
Back in her private suites, Tenel Ka took the time to clean up and get dressed in her formal attire. Since taking the crown almost five years ago, Tenel Ka had become used to the dresses she had to wear each day in the public eye. She had worked with her personal assistant, Alana, to create a wardrobe befitting a warrior queen of her age.
The dress she picked today was a rich, lush forest green. It was made of a thicker material than normal, allowing to the cold temperatures of the season change on Hapes. The bodice was tight lizard hide, low cut around the neck. The skirt was long and flowing, large enough to allow Tenel Ka to hide a blaster on her thigh yet it flattered her youthful figure.
Tenel Ka tugged the dress on and stepped into her new lizard hide boots. These had been a recent birthday present from her father. She had worn her mother's old boots to shreds over the end of the war with the Vong. Her red-gold hair flowed down her back, almost to her waist. Reaching over to her dressing table in the large walk-in closet, Tenel Ka picked up the matching belt that always held her lightsaber at her side. Fastening that around her waist she walked to the other side of the closet where the crown jewels were held. Placing the tiara she used daily upon her hair and affixing it with a pin she then dug around a bit for a special piece she wore daily as well.
The small, iridescent shard hung on a well worn black cord. She slowly affixed the necklace around her neck and looked at herself in the full lengths mirrors. Her hand reached up to stroke the gort egg shell, a present from a close friend she missed dearly. She sighed heavily, gathered her thoughts and left her personal quarters for her offices on the other side of the palace.
As soon as Tenel Ka exited her suite, her personal bodyguard fell in step behind her. They walked along quietly, the older woman always alert for dangers facing her Queen. Rounding a corner quickly, they crashed into Tenel Ka's personal Assistant, Alana.
"Oh, Your Highness, I was just coming to look for you. You have a very…"
"A very important message incoming. I am aware, Alana, thank you. Schedule for today?" Tenel Ka asked as she began walking again, slower, to allow Alana to walk with her.
As they walked, Tenel Ka could hear the servomotors that allowed Alana to walk. Alana had been captured by the Vong during the end of the war. Her left leg had been burned off by acid as a sacrifice to the Vong gods. Alana had survived and returned to Hapes. Unable to fight due to her mental and physical injuries, Tenel Ka had taken Alana on as her second personal assistant. Her first had been killed during a Vong raid as the last vestiges on the Vong were dying. This was still a touchy subject for Tenel Ka, who had to watch many close friends die, unable to do anything about it.
"Today you have a meeting with the Senator from to discuss the war trade agreement. All the pertinent information is lined up on your datapad. Then you have lunch with your father, who is doing better today if I do say so myself, and a tactical meeting with Jagged Fel this afternoon."
"Wonderful. How long until the trade meeting?" Tenel Ka asked not missing a beat.
"About a standard hour and a half. It will be over the holonet. The senator was unable to land on Hapes. Something about a smuggling illegal weapons on planet, using this meeting as a decoy. The report is on your datapad."
"Great. Thank you, Alana."
The group fell silent and remained that way until they reached Tenel Ka's offices, which were always abuzz with activity, especially since the end of the Vong war. Everyone stopped what they were doing to bow deeply to Tenel Ka and call greetings to their beloved Queen Mother. Tenel Ka acknowledged them with small nods and a slight smile on her lips before she shut herself in her office to prepare for the meeting. She had just turned the screen on to her datapad when Alana's head popped in the doorway.
"The message is ready to play for you, Your Highness," she said softly then quickly left Tenel Ka alone.
Sighing, Tenel Ka pressed a button and up popped a holographic image. One that she had not seen in a long time. It was Jacen Solo, looking better than the last time they had spoken. He was currently smiling, seeming to have been waiting for a while.
"Jacen?" Tenel Ka probed, hoping that this wasn't a dream.
"Oh hey Tenel Ka. Boy I thought you'd never answer!"
"Friend Jacen I am so sorry. No one alerted me as to who was sending the message. If I had known it was you I would have come immediately."
"Naw don't worry about it. I have nothing to do anyway and you're a busy Queen now. So anyway, I was trying to get a hold of you to let you know that the New Republic is having some sort of ball to celebrate the end of the war. Your assistant has all the details about when and where and what time and things. But I wanted to personally invite you. I miss you Tenel Ka. I'd really like to see you, away from all that hub-bub on Hapes."
"Of course I will come, friend Jacen. Is there anything else?" Tenel Ka asked, hoping there would be.
"Um… nope I think that's it. I guess I'll see you in a few weeks!"
As the link was cut from the other end, Tenel Ka sunk back into her chair, deflated from the high after the morning workout. Jacen has seemed like his old, happy-go-lucky self, clean shaven and youthful. It was almost like the whole war had never happened and that they hadn't lost all they had. But Tenel Ka knew better than that, she knew Jacen to well.
Sighing she started up her datapad again, coming Alana asking not to be bothered anymore and chiding her for not saying it was Jacen who was trying to contact her.
"He wouldn't let me, Your Highness. He wanted it to be a surprise. Shall I block of a few days around the gala for you?"
"I do not know yet. I will think about it during lunch."
"Of course, Your Highness. I will alert you when the Senator makes contact."
"Thank you," Tenel Ka said shortly.
As she began to pour over the data of the war trade agreement she found her mind wandering back to the conversation she had just had with one of her oldest friends, and her one true love in life. Why, after all this time, had Jacen chosen to contact her now? Yes there was the ball, but why hadn't the New Republic just sent Hapes and official message? Why Jacen? Was he put up to it by his mother, or his twin sister, Jaina? Or did he really want to talk to Tenel Ka? If so, why hadn't he just come to Hapes, or at least sent her a message before hand? Yes, she was busy, but Jacen should know that she would always take time out to speak with him. These thoughts plagued her as she half-heartedly read through all the reports that Alana had found for her. It wasn't until Alana commed into the office that the Senator was ready that Tenel Ka pushed the thoughts of Jacen Solo out of her head and tried to focus on the task at hand.
Once again the holonet came up, except this time it showed an over weight, older man who looked very cross. Tenel Ka took a deep breath to calm herself before starting.
"Ah, Queen Mother Tenel Ka, how nice to see you. I wish I could be there in person but your security team seemed to have a problem with my ship's cargo," the Senator started without and introduction.
"Yes, we do not allow illegal weapons to enter the system, even if they stay on ships. I am sorry for the trouble, Senator. Now to more pressing matters."
"Yes, yes, Your Highness. Now that the war with the Vong is over I was thinking we might start to rework the trade negotiations we had worked out with other systems to reflect a more peacetime way of life."
"Why do you see the rush? The agreements are working for now as we are still dealing with the small clutches of Vong in the galaxy. I do not see the immediacy to change things when there are bigger nerf to fry at this moment in time, as it were."
"Of course not, Your Highness, but excuse me for saying that you do not see what goes on in the day to day workings. You only know what you are told. Merchants are getting restless with the limits and demands put upon their businesses by the war. They are looking for a way to work back to how they operated before the Vong invasion."
"I can understand that, Senator. But those merchants, as well as everyone else, must realize that we are living in a different time. The New Republic is gone and a new government is forming. We must take that into account as well. Where does Hapes stand on a galaxy wide scale? We must wait a while to figure the answer out to that question, I think."
"But why trouble ourselves with the rest of the galaxy? For generations Hapes has withstood on it's own, without any help from the outside? Why now? Why must we bow to the others?"
"Because, if this was taught us anything, it's that we are all in this galaxy together. Good or bad we need to work as a team to make sure that this never happens again."
The Senator fell silent again, aware that he really did not have an argument against Tenel Ka. The galaxy was closer right now because of the war, but how long would it last, he wondered.
"Are you saying that we should join whatever government comes out of the war, Your Highness?"
"Not directly. I am just saying that we should wait and let the sabacc cards fall where they may then proceed to figure out trade agreements and other policies that deal with the outside world. There is no rush as of now. I will not hear anymore about this until I am for sure I know where Hapes stands. Thank you for your concern, Senator."
Tenel Ka ended the transmission feeling a bit confused as to what had just gone on. She was a different ruler from her mother, and especially different from her grandmother. Would these difference bring about the end of the royal house of Hapes? Was that what she really wanted, not to rule anymore? It was what she had wanted when she first took the job, reluctantly, during the war. But what now? Tenel Ka was a warrior, and well suited to serve Hapes during the conflict with the Vong. Fighting was all that she knew. But now that the war was over, this Warrior Queen didn't know which way to turn. Peace hadn't seemed to be an option when she took the role, but now it was a reality, for a time anyway.
With a heavy heart, Tenel Ka checked the elaborate chronometer hanging on the wall. It was nearly time for lunch with her father. She could discuss this all with him, even if he wouldn't understand it. Just talking about it to someone she trusted would help to ease her mind. For the time, Jacen Solo and the impending gala had been pushed back for more pressing matters.