Reference: "Slug-throwers" are simply projectile weapons like guns, but are rarer than blasters because of ammo costs. They are mostly EU Star Wars content.
Royal Palace, Theed, Naboo
After his successful sabotage during the previous night, Veruna awoke the next day and rubbed his eyes while leaving his bed to dress. He recalled the dance he had secretly done after receiving the news of his success of the sabotage. In addition, Veruna saw his agents as adequate for the task, as their skills ensured the defeat of a Force-sensitive royal handmaiden. Now all Veruna needed to guarantee was that the hitmen were in position in Kaadara. King Veruna, from experience in his Rieren Society training, knew that "slug throwers" were the standard of hunters of Force-sensitives. The sonic velocities of the bullets made the weapons deadly against Force-sensitives. King Ars Veruna opened his wardrobe and called for a droid to assist him in placing his elaborate robes on him.
"RSD-1 at your service, Your Majesty," the droid stoically spoke.
"Dress me up in my robes, RSD-1," Veruna said, facing the mirror in front of him and gazing at his muscular figure.
The routines of physical exercises in his gym room had given impressive results for Veruna, who was once a frail child. Soon, if the Naberries did confront him, he would have his House Veruna confront the Naberries with a full arsenal of weapons to eliminate them quickly before his plans were leaked. Even athletic training helped the endurance of his fellow House Veruna members in any confrontation. But Veruna stopped his stream of thought when he had realized that the Princess had departed the Palace with her five remaining handmaidens for her brief vacation. Action had to be swiftly taken about the Princess, as his efforts and accomplishments as King were endangered. Veruna soon got fully dressed by his handy servant droid RSD-1, and he picked up a communicator from his bedside table to communicate with both agents and hitmen.
"Team Alpha-Colo-Claw, are the mines in place?" spoke Veruna into his comlink device.
The agent responded, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good. I want all the snipers, all twelve of them to take positions on the route towards Kaadara, and four at the Naberrie Lake Retreat. Next, the mines should be primed, and the device in the Naberrie speeder active for detonation," said Veruna.
Veruna heard a knock on the door and silently complained in Old Nubian, and notified his agents to wait for further communication. He told the visitor at his door to enter his room.
"Come in visitor," said Veruna, quickly concealing his comlink.
"Your Majesty, it's Cordé," the voice spoke. Then the door opened to reveal the trusty handmaiden serving the egomaniac King of Naboo with a cup of tea on a tray.
"Thanks for the tea, handmaiden Cordé," gently spoke Veruna. The athletic man took a sip of his caf drink and reveled in the taste of Nubian cocoa beans, and unknowingly exposed his muscular arm. Cordé stared at the arm for a few seconds and was reminded of her crush serving in the Naboo Defense Forces. She felt a tingling sensation in her body, but quickly suppressed her hormonal instincts for the handsome man. Veruna looked over at his handmaiden and gave a puzzled look as to the cause of her blushed cheeks.
"What the-" muttered Veruna in a surprised manner.
"Your Majesty! Uh... It's quite a cold day, so I just need to go get my blood circulation flowing in the gym," quickly responded the seventeen-year-old brunette handmaiden, as she looked down to hide her blush and quickly paced out of the royal bedroom.
The puzzled monarch scratched his balding blonde hair out of confusion for his handmaiden. The thought of a young Nubian woman ten years younger than him having an crush on him made him uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the monarch felt a greater necessity to focus on his devious scheme for the Naberries rather than a simple infatuation from a young woman. Veruna suppressed his shock and surprise and strode out of his room to call for his other handmaiden, Elia Rekan, the mother of Ellé, the future heiress of the Rekan House.
Unlike most of his handmaidens, Elia was a stand-in handmaiden or a temporary recruit until another suitable candidate for a handmaiden was found. Also, Elia had some degree of Force-sensitivity, a required trait for at least a quarter of all handmaidens by new security laws. Force-sensitives were known by the Naboo public to have faster reactions and occasional foresight, which helped some handmaidens protect the royalty of Naboo. Meanwhile, fear and unrest struck at the Naberrie villa in Theed.
Naberrie Villa, Theed, Naboo
"Mister Naberrie, come help! Handmaiden Dormé has been attacked and robbed by street thugs! Her legs have been broken!" called Eirtaé. Sabé sat next to the side of the fallen handmaiden.
Dormé let out a faint groan as she was carried by Ruwee inside the villa. Sabé, with her friend Eirtaé, instinctively left to check the Naberrie speeder for suspicious devices. With gentle grip, Ruwee held Dormé above the wooden table as Jobal placed a towel on top of the table to soak up blood from the leg wounds and burns. Jobal looked at the wounded handmaiden with remorse. The young woman had sacrificed a normal life and her safety to protect someone who she barely knew for the sake of her duty. The moans of pain of Dormé, as Jobal sprayed disinfectant on the compound fractures on the legs of the handmaiden, stirred pity within Ruwee. Ruwee knelt at the side of the handmaiden and injected painkillers as Jobal placed her hands on the broken legs to heal Dormé.
Dormé groggily awoke to see Ruwee and Jobal staring down at her broken figure, with Jobal placing her hands on the fractures of her leg bones.
"What... where..." mumbled Dormé.
Jobal concentrated on the energy tendrils of the Force flowing through Dormé. She imposed her will onto the Force energies to coax the midi-chlorians to stimulate cell growth along the bone fractures and flesh tears. With a crack, broken bones mended and burnt flesh healed. The handmaiden was now healed, but needed to rest for recovery. Jobal also needed rest from the intense efforts of healing two broken legs, a feat she had not done for years in the Rieren Society, and spoke a Nubian blessing to the handmaiden.
Dormé spoke despite her wounded state, "The attackers... someone sent them... well trained with dealing with Force us-"
"Rest, brave handmaiden. Save your energy for the next opportunity," Ruwee silently spoke.
"I've healed your legs, Dormé. Now I should likely get a medical transport here, so just stay put until the medics come," Jobal said with motherly concern as she put her hand on Dormé to check her body temperature. She soon left for the kitchen to prepare a snack for her daughters and a cup of tea for the wounded handmaiden. Jobal left for her bedroom to take a nap, as she had just treated widespread injuries on the fallen handmaiden with her Force healing.
"Something bigger than this is going on within Naboo, yet I can't seem to make sense of it," commented Ruwee as he looked at the passed out handmaiden.
"I have that same hunch through the Force, Ru," said Jobal in agreement.
"What is this?" muttered Ruwee as he picked off a broken comlink that was grasped in the right hand of Dormé.
Ruwee opened his mouth in surprise as he realized that the the comlink was the type used by Naboo Royal Guards. Ruwee sneered at the defective comlink. Whoever had called for an attack on the Naberrie family and a handmaiden, as Dormé earlier hinted to, would pay with their reputation and employment in the Royal Government of Naboo. The approaching sound of footsteps prompted Ruwee to turn his head to see his younger daughter Padmé walk into the living room.
"Dad, what happened to my handmaiden Dormé?" asked Padmé.
"She was attacked by some mercenary thugs for money, probably hired by someone within the Naboo government, which was corrupt to begin with. They broke her legs last night so she couldn't tell witnesses about their raid," Ruwee said bitterly as he applied bacta patches on the burns upon Dormé.
"Perhaps my rival, King Veruna, could have something to do with this attack, but what benefit would he acquire? Just street credits... what were they after? Probably us?" Padmé questioned with a pensive expression, and shrugged at the mystery of the situation she currently faced. She was now a targeted political figure at sixteen years of age, and one of her bodyguards had been attacked for little more than money and possessions.
Her father nodded in agreement, as he patiently listened to his daughter speak to make a reasonable decision.
"Based on this situation, I'll have to conceal myself in the Lake Country instead of Kaadara for my off-time. I just feel ashamed that I'm the cause that my friends are suffering needlessly like this. Someday, when I return to politics after my hiatus in our villa, I will ensure with all my efforts that this will not happen to my family, citizens, slaves, or children alike. For now, I must stay alive for the sake of Naboo and even the Republic," added Padmé, the determination evident in her tone.
"I am uncomfortable with the risky lifestyle you have, Padmé, but I will always help you through this journey as your father. Now I also recommend that your friends accompany you to protect you, as they are your sworn bodyguards too," said Ruwee.
"Yes, Dad, I understand," Padmé said, nodding her head slowly. Ruwee then took Dormé, now asleep, into the guest bedroom of the Naberrie villa.
"Milady, the speeder was checked and no sabotage devices were found," Sabé said as she entered the living room with Eirtaé.
"Then the speeder will be used to transport us the secluded retreat my family has owned for generations," Padmé spoke, standing up to face her friends.
"Understood, milady," Sabé and Eirtaé said with an arm salute.
Padmé sighed. "Sabé, Eirtaé, although you are my trusted bodyguards, just call me by my real name in private. I must remind you both that I'm your childhood friend," said Padmé.
"Alright, Padmé," responded Sabé and Eirtaé with a faint smile.
"Good. Let's call for backup, as we should be well prepared for such attacks by either agents, gangs, or other threats," Padmé commanded, her robed figure appearing as that of a young woman with wisdom and authority beyond her years.
Sabé reached into her utility belt and pulled out a comlink. She pressed the activator button and spoke, "Anyone there?"
"What is your authentication code?" a voice asked.
"Claws of the Shiro," Sabé said.
"The authentication code looks valid, continue your message," the voice responded.
"This is handmaiden Sabé of the Princess of Naboo. We require additional protection along the journey to our destination," requested Sabé.
"Acknowledged, handmaiden. The remainder of her Highness's handmaidens will arrive with an escort," she heard over the communicator.
The link closed, leaving Sabé to turn to her best friend and Princess of Naboo to tell her of the request for more security detail.
"The reinforcements for your security are on the route, Padmé," she calmly reported.
"Thanks, Sabé. And Eirtaé, please watch Dormé for me," said Padmé.
"Yes, Princess Padmé," Eirtaé responded, and went to check the condition of Dormé in the guest bedroom.
Naberrie Lake Estate, Lake Country, Naboo
As she sat Next to Darred Janren, Sola meditated with crossed legs. The Force flowed through the planet of Naboo with maximum vigor around Varykino lake, thus creating a perfect ground for any Force meditation. Suddenly, their Force senses urged them to exit their meditative trance. Sola looked around the Varykino Lake Retreat grounds with her gaze, and spotted four distant shimmers in the tress, as if the air were rippling water. Sola, with held breath, looked at Darred and sent a brief message through the Force to his mind.
"Someone's here in a cloaking suit, Darred. I have a bad feeling about this," Sola said through the Force link, as her Force senses screamed danger.
"I feel multiple persons here, Sola. We should act normal, my love, since I'm certain that they are watching us," responded Darred, who returned his gaze to Sola.
The two tried to relaxed their face expressions because they knew that they were being observed by Naboo Government Agents. Darred and Sola looked at each other, their gaze lost in their deep brown eyes, and their gazes clearly communicated their feelings. They committed themselves to each other despite occasional debates between them. Whatever hardship came, such as Naboo government agents, would not change that fact. They laid their heads together, and touched foreheads while still gazing at each other.
"Let's act as if we're only two Nubians in love, Sola," said Darred through his Force connection, putting his right hand on Sola.
"You drive me insane, Janren. Now is not an appropriate time for intimate acts," protested Sola despite an urge to express her love to Darred.
He only responded by stroking Sola on the arms with his leathery hands, and softly touched lips with those of Sola. Sola hummed in delight as she reveled in the the slow, passionate kiss for a moment.
"Actually, you drive me, a well-educated noble of an architect, insane," he said with a sly smile.
Sola chuckled and kissed him. But to notify her sister of the agents, Sola managed to send a warning through the Force to her sister despite being intimate with Darred.
"They are over here," she messaged.
Meanwhile, the agents looked at one another and nodded in agreement about handling the attention of their two targets in the garden below. One of the agents raised a blow-dart gun to Sola and the other one aimed at Darred...
Naberrie Villa, Theed, Naboo
As she sat in the kitchen, Padmé raised her eyebrows in surprise as she heard the words of her sister from the Naberrie lake retreat, and reconsidered traveling to the retreat. Sabé placed her cup of Nubian mocha down and looked at her friend with worry. Something bothered her friend, and the Force shimmered with indigo, the color of fear. From the perspective of Padmé, she felt scared of losing her sister at a young age to the agents who attacked Dormé. Yet the Force still guided Padmé to a realization that the trip to Kaadara would certainly kill her, as the tendrils of the Force entangled themselves along the glimpses of the Nubian beach city. Her gift of shatterpoint would save her this time during its first usage.
Sabé asked her friend, "What's going on, Padmé? You seem worried about something."
"It's my sister, she's in danger from those corrupt agents. I cannot let those attackers and thugs harm my older sister or myself for the sake of Naboo. Action must be taken. I did not go through years of taunts and insults in the academy for a tragic ending of my family's noble legacies," said Padmé.
"For sure, Padmé. I trust that you can handle this easily, as a strong independent person. But watch out for voorpaks stealing your food," Sabé responded with a grin.
"Oh, you mischievous trickster," playfully scolded Padmé.
"Eirtaé! We are going when the transport arrives," she quickly told her friend and loyal handmaiden.
Eirtaé said, "Yes, Padmé." and exited the guest bedroom.
Within a few minutes, the medical transport arrived to take Dormé to the Theed Medical Center. Ruwee and Jobal greeted the medics as they walked to the guest bedroom to put her in a stretcher and place her in the medical transport. While the transport hovered away, Ruwee saluted the recovering handmaiden. Jobal, who stood beside Ruwee, watched the transport speed towards the medical center. After the transport departed, Yané Tristus and Rabé Eccio arrived as the extra guards of Padmé . Unfortunately, Dormé was incapacitated, Saché was training, and Cordé was serving her final month of service with Veruna.
"We are ready for service and protection for you, milady," said Rabé, and Yané quickly bowed before the Princess.
Padmé responded, "Nice to see you both without a scratch. Now, about Dormé, she was unfortunately injured in the line of duty. She has paid a sacrifice to keep my family safe and the future Queen safe. Yet thanks to her, we can proceed with our first mission. Currently, we must go to the Lake Retreat and keep a low profile for some time to wait out the agents."
"Understood milady," Rabé and Yané acknowledged.
A squad of ten royal guards entered the villa to protect the Princess of Naboo and give support to her handmaidens. One officer urged, "Princess, the city is not safe! We all must go to a safer location!"
Padmé nodded in agreement, and signaled her handmaidens to follow her. Her parents, Ruwee and Jobal, followed their daughter out of concern for her safety and well-being. At that moment, her life and the lives of her friends and family stood at stake.
During the speeder ride out of Theed, Padmé found little trouble along the route. No agents along the path were spotted. Yet, the undetected sabotage device blinked faster and faster within the depths of the speeder components. Ruwee felt a humming reverberate throughout the speeder, and his eyes narrowed. Something was wrong with the engine, since it had not had maintenance checks for years.
In his apartment, Anakin felt a anomaly in the Force akin to a unusual calm before a storm. Suddenly, The Force shone a vision. Anakin saw flashes of a bomb inside a speeder, and a familiar brunette girl lying dead on the side of a dirt road next to the wreckage: Padmé. His heart froze from his paralyzing fear. With all of his Force potential, Anakin spoke a warning to Padmé through the Force connection with her.
"Padmé! The speeder has a bomb that was cloaked earlier! That's why the speeder seemed safe!" warned Anakin with a desperate voice in the mental link.
Padmé opened her eyes in shock and cussed, "Rancor shit! Dad, Mom, everyone else, abandon the transport!"
Ruwee soon realized along with Jobal that the speeder had been well sabotaged, and slammed open the doors to jump out the speeder. Padmé and her handmaidens soon escaped their doomed ride to the retreat. The speeder sped off and approached the lake retreat, spewing a stream of smoke from its engine.
Boom!
With a loud roar, the speeder exploded in a fireball about one-hundred meters from the Varykino villa, and the shock wave propelled the Naberries into the rocky side of the mountain. The handmaidens and Princess Padmé barely held their ground as they attempted to stand up from aid by the Force. As they came to a better sense of the situation around them, Padmé saw her father lying in a daze and her mother struggling to stand up.
"Padmé, get your lightsaber!" yelled Jobal.
"Dad!" Padmé cried with watery eyes.
"Padmé, my daughter, I'm okay. I can hold out for a while. Now get ready, little Padmé, and show your patake how well he taught you the way of the Force," said Ruwee with a bloody gash on his forehead and bruises on his ribs.
Jobal told her daughter, "Listen to your father, my little Padmé. You must fight and show them that we Naberries are stronger than we appear."
"Yes, Mother," Padmé said.
Shutting her eyes and wiping her tears, Padmé regained her steel composure of a strong Nubian warrior noble. Her ancestry and young age did not matter in the heat of crisis, but her actions did. In the moment she could either save her family and friends, or she could fail terribly.
She reached into her robes and grasped her chrome lightsaber, a century old artifact of the Naberrie bloodline, ready for action. She pulled out the weapon with the Force, and went into the Soresu stance. Besides Padmé, her handmaidens also activated their lightsabers and entered into the Ataru stance. Soon the agents soon unleashed a barrage of blaster bolts, and the handmaidens deflected the bolts with their lightsabers.
Naberrie Lake Estate, Lake Country, Naboo
Darred held his left hand up to halt a metal dart hovering centimeters from Sola. With a sneer, he closed his fingers and crushed the dart with the Force.
"Not so fast, guys," taunted Darred.
Sola immediately realized that the agents were attempting to capture them, and eradicate the rest of the Naberrie House. Without hesitation, she decided to fight for her family and her boyfriend. Quickly, Sola jumped away from Darred to ignite her magenta lightsaber. To balance the upcoming battle, she decided to make a ball of kinetic plasma with the Force to short circuit the cloaked suits of the agents. Sizzling energy crackled between her curved hands, and it flew in a lump towards the nearest agents.
The ball of energy struck all the suits and the agents appeared visible. All of them were completely exposed to attack by the furious Naberrie heiress and Janren heir.
"Darred," Sola called out.
"Yes, love?" answered Darred, igniting his orange lightsaber.
"Let's present our guests with a Naberrie welcome," said Sola with her lightsaber in the Soresu lightsaber stance.
"Get the Naberrie! Eliminate the man!" growled the commander with a sneer.
Sola whirled her lightsaber with graceful sweeps to deflect each of the blaster bolts back at the agents. However, no effect seemed visible on the agents as the blaster bolts deflected off their suits. However, one agent was clumsy and lost his hand from a slash of the magenta lightsaber. Darred with his Shien form, slashed at a nearby agent, who dodged the strike and roundhouse kicked him in the chest.
With a grunt of pain, Darred fell backward into a marble statue, and he toppled over with the shattered stone pieces. With cuts on his back, he rolled out of the way as the agent cut at him with a poisoned dagger. Darred swiftly regained his form of Shien, and he parried and slashed at the agent, who was on the defensive as he blocked the magenta blade with his shielded glove. Then the agent improvised his attack, and he drove Darred back by slashing with his dagger. Now Darred had wounds on himself and not upon the agent, a humiliation for the proud Janren warrior. As the agent raced to Darred with a stabbing motion of his dagger, Darren Janren Force flung the agent into a boulder by the garden, crushing his ribs. Unable to move from his broken bones, the agent could only watch as his end came.
Darred, who blazed with adrenaline, whirled in a corkscrew with his lightsaber and stabbed the agent in the chest. The suited man immediately perished, and his dagger clanged on the ground.
Meanwhile, Sola had trouble pressing an offensive with her blade, as the agents had decent training for dodging lightsaber slashes. Soon the agents switched tactics and used unorthodox weapons. The trio of agents shot at her with slug throwers as she dove behind a stone column, the stone shards flying from the impact of the lead bullets. But Sola failed to notice the commander take out a thermal detonator and toss it behind the column. When Sola heard the beep, she Force jumped on the roof, but to no avail.
Bang!
The explosion pulverized a wall of the Naberrie estate and sprayed Sola with sharp shards of rock. A few fragments impaled themselves in her legs and she collapsed on the roof, then tumbling down onto the stone tiles. She knew she had been trapped, as the agents ran towards her with Force cuffs. But Sola had one trick that Sabé had taught her: she screamed a false call for help.
"Help, handmaidens!" screamed Sola to the side, distracting the three agents.
Sola immediately levitated the shards of debris, and hurled them toward the suited agents. Some of the pieces impaled themselves in the chests of two agents, who fell dead on the floor. The other agent, or the commander, resorted to desperate measures and quickly took out his slug thrower pistol and then shot Sola in the hand. Sola screamed in excruciating pain as she felt her hand bones splinter, and she dropped her lightsaber beside herself.
"Sola!" yelled Darred as he Force levitated the commander to Force smash him into a stone pot.
Crash!
The commander groaned in pain as he felt his spine crack from the brutal force of the telekinetic push, and gazed through his visor at the enraged Nubian man standing above him. The commander soon met that same fate as his comrade: a stab from the orange lightsaber into his chest. Darren looked over the dead body, and reluctantly bowed to respect the fallen warrior for combat etiquette. Sola moaned in pain as she clutched her wounded right hand with her left hand. Instantly, Darred rushed to Sola and tenderly held her wounded hand and gently caressed her flowing brown hair.
"Darred, get the medics... help my sister," grunted Sola as she lay on the ground. Regrettably, she was unable to even walk in her current condition, or even assist in the conflict with the aggressors against the Princess of Naboo.
"Try not to move, Sola. Lay still while I heal you," reassured Darred, reaching into his pocket for bacta pads to place on the bleeding cuts along her body. Then he attempted to heal her legs, and he removed the fragments with the Force. Darred managed to partly heal the wounds, but could not heal her broken hand, as Jobal had greater experience as a Force healer.
He kissed Sola on the cheek before sprinting to the distant battle between the Naberries, handmaidens, and agents. Darred glanced back at his girlfriend and felt an ache in his heart, since he was unable to assist his dearest.
A.N: The fight will continue in the next chapter, as this one is getting relatively long.