My name is Kitster Chanchani Banai. I was born in Mos Espa on Tattooine, where I was held as a salve to a wealthy Hutt mobster. After many years, building up the prize money that my friend Anakin had given me after he won the pod-racing tournament, I was able to buy my way out of slavery. I found a job trading scrap materials that people had scavenged, but I quickly got mixed up with dangerous people- some of the same people that had made my childhood a misery. I decided to work from the inside out, and after many years I had assisted in taking down several corrupt criminal organizations on Tattooine.
This important work was recognized by an outsider, and I was appointed by the Galactic Senate as an Ambassador to Tattooine. However, I still held little actual power on Tattooine and I had to live on the run, jumping from planets such as Jedha and Dantooine.
Recently, the Galactic Senate has called a massive meeting on Coruscant. I traveled to Coruscant to attend. I am excited to see the great city, especially the Jedi Temple, where I've heard my childhood friend Anakin has been training. I'm anxious to meet him. We certainly have a lot of catching up to do….
I shifted the gear and brought my T-7 Flier on the landing pad, touching down with a jerk. Flying a ship in a city like Coruscant was something I had not been prepared for. The air traffic had been insane, and weaving in and out of the hundreds of small transport vehicles was something only a person of the sharpest reflexes could do safely. I had barely managed to avoid several collisions myself.
With a sigh of relief, I stepped outside the Flier and walked to the side of the tall glass building. Finding the button on the wall, I pressed in a code given to me by a master in the Jedi Temple. The metal doors slid open neatly, and I walked onto the clean stone floor. I was about to meet my childhood friend from ages ago. I couldn't help but feeling a little nervous, and my hands fingered the blaster attached to my hip, concealed under my Ambassador's cloak. You could never be too careful….
A golden-plated protocol droid greeted me at the entrance. I was staring at a vast waiting room, black and gray with a compact modern design. The right side of the wall was a large window that gave a direct view to the busy airspace of Coruscant.
"My greetings," said the droid politely. "I am C-3PO, human cyborgs relations. And who might you be?"
"I'm an Ambassador from Tattooine," I said to the droid, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. "I wish to speak with Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"Masters Kenobi and Skywalker are in the room around the corner. I will bring them in for you." The droid shuffled out into a hallway in the back of the room.
A minute later, C-3PO re-entered the room, with two men following in his lead. They were both wearing the long brown and white robes of the Jedi. One was older, a solidly built man with a medium beard and a stern expression. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the famous Jedi knight who had helped stop the invasion of Naboo. The other was clearly Anakin. He was taller than me, and had his hair in a strange little twist at the back of his head. But he still had the same overconfident boyish look on his face, and those piercing eyes. He was still Ani.
Obi-Wan looked me up and down. "You chose an odd time to meet us, Ambassador" said Obi-Wan in a gruff, no-nonsense voice. He held out his hand to shake. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight."
I shook his hand. "Sorry. I was under the impression that Jedi Knights didn't sleep much anyway."
"We don't," Anakin said, clearly annoyed. Obi-Wan give him a sharp glare. C-3PO, who had been staring silently at this exchange, took this as his opportunity to leave, and stumbled out of the room.
"So, Ambassador Banai," asked Obi-Wan. "What exactly did you want to meet us for?"
Anakin had frowned at the mention of Banai, as if he was trying to remember something. He opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped.
"Well," I replied, shifting nervously. I decided it was the best course of action to tell the truth. "I wanted to meet Anakin. We uh… I knew him a long time ago- "
"Kitster?" said Anakin abruptly.
I nodded. He knew!
"Wow. Ambassador Kitster." Anakin laughed. He moved forward, as if to give me a hug, then decided against it and awkwardly patted me on the back. "It's good to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Ani," I said, smiling. He hadn't forgotten me, even after all this time. I had been afraid of that. I didn't look the same as when I was a child. "I didn't think you would remember me," I laughed. "You know, with all your Jedi training and stuff…"
"Of course I remember you," said Anakin. "I will never forget Tattooine, and my life there. Those pod races were something else..." He paused, deep in thought. "How is my mother, do you know?"
"Oh, I'm sure she's fine," I said. I hadn't seen Shmi Skywalker in several years, since she had been freed from slavery. "Last time I saw her she was living with a husband, in a nice little house."
Anakin smiled, clearly relieved. It had to have been incredibly hard for him to live away from his mother for so long, without knowing what was going on with her. After all, she had been his only family. "That's good. I need to visit her sometime, now that I can…. How did you become Ambassador, anyway?"
"Ah…" I said. I didn't feel particularly like explaining this now. "That's a long story. I'd rather hear about how you became a Jedi knight first."
Obi-Wan had been staring at our whole exchange with a bemused expression on his face. "Well," he said loudly, "it has been nice meeting you. But I think me and Anakin should really be going, we have some important training to do."
Just then, there was a loud, terrified scream from back in the hallway- a cry for help. It was immediately followed by a sequence of blaster shots. BAM! BAM!
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other, suddenly tense. "Padme!" yelled Anakin. They raced down the hallway, drawing their lightsabers as they ran. I .
Padme? Senator Amidala was staying here? This was interesting. I could hear loud voices arguing in the room. Then, the sound of a window opening and suddenly, the powerful vroom of a ship's engine starting. I ran to the window and saw the ship zooming out into the air, Anakin and Obi-Wan inside it.
Padme Amidala appeared shortly, stomping out of the hallway and surrounded by several of her guards. With her regal white dress and elaborate braided hair, she cut an impressive figure. Amidala and her guards quickly passed by me without a second glance, and they exited out of the sliding doors.
"Oh dear." The protocol droid, C-3PO, had re-entered the room. This time he was accompanied by another droid, a short astromech droid colored blue and white. "What a terrible situation."
"What is going on?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"It seems there has been an assassination attempt on Senator Amidala's life," said C-3PO. "Master Ani and Obi-Wan have gone chasing after the assassin." The droid shifted its head back and forth. "My, what a terrible situation."
"I see." I sat down on the black couch. I had clearly not chosen the best timing to visit. Still, I had to be impressed by how quick Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin had responded to the attack, though. Clearly, this was how being a Jedi worked- you followed your instincts and didn't let anything get in the way.
I shifted around on the couch. Bored, I took the hologram projector disc out of my cloak pocket. The hologram had been given to me by a fellow ambassador when I entered Coruscant. He was a frail-looking older man from Kachyyk, and he had told me to take it with a desperate smile. He had said it was very important.
"Excuse me," I said to the short astromech droid, "can I have this hologram projected?"
"R2-D2 is very good at projecting holograms," said C-3PO happily. C-3PO took the disc, and inserted it into the smaller droid's removeable section.
R2-D2 beeped a few times quickly, and then an image was projected into the room. The holographic image of Sheev Palpatine, Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, appeared, floating on a virtual platform.
"Welcome, Senators and Ambassadors of the Galactic Republic," he spoke. The image flickered slightly as the white-haired Chancellor rotated on the platform. "I hope you are enjoying your stay in Coruscant. I have called this meeting to discuss a growing problem in our Republic. It has come to my attention that a Sepatarist movement…."
R2-D2 suddenly gave several loud beeps, and the hologram fractured and faded away. I looked at C-3PO, confused.
"R2 says that there is a hidden message in this hologram," explained C-3PO. "It had been covered up by the original message. Would you like to see it?"
"Yes," I said, interested.
R2-D2 gave a whirring sound, and then projected a different hologram. It was grainier than the previous one, and was flickering on and off as if it had been damaged. The image projected a frightened-looking man. He was slouched against a wall, with burned, ragged clothes, and he shivered as he reloaded his blaster.
The man spoke, his voice a low rasp. "The Separatists. They have more support than we thought. They have people everywhere, everywhere –" he winced. "The Gungan. Do not trust the Gungan." The man then looked around wildly- he had heard something. He picked up his blaster, but before he could do anything there was the sound of a blaster shot. The man collapsed to the floor, a hole gaping from his chest. The hologram flickered out.
I froze. I had heard about the Separatists of course, but had thought they were just a small insurgency group. Clearly there was a larger conspiracy going on, involving many dangerous people. And who was the Gungan? I didn't know of any Gungans involved in this sort of stuff…. I had R2 play the hologram again, to see if I missed anything. And another time. But I was unable to find anything else.
Obi-Wan and Anakin burst into the room, and sheathed their lightsabers. They were both breathing heavily, and looked frustrated.
"You weren't fast enough," Anakin said, glaring at Obi-Wan.
"And you need to learn patience," said Obi-Wan. He ran a finger through his beard and sighed.
"What happened?" I asked. "The assassin got away?"
"No," said Obi-Wan. "We cornered her, but she was shot dead before she could speak. Someone was trying to shut her up." He dug his finger into his pocket and removed something, a small purple dart. "However, I was able to remove this. It may help us trace who is behind all of this."
"How is a dart supposed to help us find Padme's assassin?" said Anakin. He paced around the room furiously.
The sliding doors opened and Padme walked back into the room, accompanied by several guards as well as her handmaiden. She looked very angry, although much more confident than I expected for someone who had just survived an attempt on her life.
"The Jedi council won't let me go anywhere," she snapped.
"That is probably for the best," said Obi-Wan calmly. "Only a Jedi's protection can be of use against people like this."
Padme sighed. "I know. It's just… I'm used to being able to protect myself." She looked around the room, at Obi-Wan, at Anakin. "I wish to go back to Naboo. They've postponed the Senate meeting two weeks, I'll have enough time to come back."
I spoke up. "If I may, Senator, are you sure visiting Naboo is exactly the best idea right now? They will expect you to go back. They may be setting a trap."
Padme looked at me, frowning in annoyance.
"We haven't met," she said, holding out her hand.
"Ambassador Kitster Banai of Tattooine."
"Well, Ambassador Banai, I appreciate the concern," said Padme. "But I do have some important business I would like to conduct on Naboo." Out of the side of my eye, I noticed that Anakin was staring at her very intensely. He very clearly had feelings for her, although it was more than a little creepy how he was hanging on to every word she said.
Obi-Wan nodded. "Then we'll send a Jedi to accompany you to Naboo." He turned to Anakin with a thoughtful expression. "I think this will be a worthy job for my young apprentice."
"I'll do it," said Anakin almost immediately. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow.
"Very well then," said Obi-Wan. "You can leave after we discuss it with the Jedi Council in the afternoon. I myself… I will have to go looking for the bounty hunter who laid a price on your head."
Padme nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan." She then turned to exit the room. Her guards followed her out, and Anakin rushed to Padme's side. He had put a hand on her shoulder and was asking if she was okay, as they left through the sliding doors.
Obi-Wan stood alone, staring at the zooming ships and skyscrapers through the window. He was deep in thought. I walked up to him and waited for him to turn around.
"I'll accompany them to Naboo," I said. He looked at me, puzzled. "I've always wanted to visit the planet. And the Senate meeting has been canceled for two weeks." It was true. The descriptions of the tropical planet and its vibrant population had always interested me.
Obi-Wan still frowned at me, trying to read my intentions. "It will not be an easy trip." He clearly did not trust me. I could tell he was trying to feel my emotions through the Force with the way he was concentrating.
"I know my way around," I said confidently. "And besides, you've seen the way Anakin looks at Padme… I don't think he would necessarily make the wisest decisions concerning her if they're alone."
Obi-Wan chuckled. "That's certainly true. I'll discuss this with the Jedi council tomorrow." It seemed he had not found any reason to doubt my intentions in his Force-reading of me. He turned to leave, but I stopped him with a question.
"By the way, Master Kenobi, do you know any Gungans?"
Obi-Wan frowned again, clearly confused by the question. "Why, yes I do. One of them is actually a Junior Representative of Naboo." He cleared his throat.
"His name is Jar Jar Binks."