A/N: I changed the name of the handmaiden who went with Padme. It's Rabé, not Yané. Apparently I mistook one for another, which isn't all that surprising. One doesn't see their faces all that often, nor does one hear their names :)

Not much happens in the chapter, I'm just showing the ripples :)


8. Sending ripples.

Sidious was watching the live broadcast from the Senate. His face was betraying his foul mood. Nothing went as planned. It was a complete disaster. His and Plagueis' real identities were now known to the Jedi. Although his master could still claim that he hadn't been aware that Sidious was a Sith, but Jedi could still suspect something. The Senate was closed for Sidious now. All because of one man.

Sidious saw Revan and his apprentice were standing by her side. He was still unsure what to think about the Jedi… or the Sith who had somehow returned from death or had never died in first place. If he hadn't known Lott Dod well enough, he would have missed how Revan used the Force to silence the Senator. He was nothing like Jedi and thus unpredictable and dangerous.

"...the Trade Federation fails to concede within forty eight hours or commits another act of aggression against the sovereign state of Naboo, the Trade Federation will be prompt and utter destroyed," the Queen declared.

Sidious widened his eyes briefly. That… was unexpected. If it wasn't for Revan, he would have believed that the Queen was bluffing, but with the ancient Jedi by her side, he knew, she was telling the truth.

"It seems that all the time we were playing right into Revan's hands," Plagueis said.

"Indeed," Sidious agreed. "The girl's father had told me once that she had been taught by someone, but I had unfortunately dismissed the information as non-essential."

"Yes, it was a mistake," the muun said. "Ironically Revan choose the same world and the same person to get what he needs. It is rather obvious that it has been his plan all along, to use the girl in order to gain a legal opportunity to establish his forces, wherever he has been hiding them all the time. I can only applaud him, a plan worthy of a Sith."

"The question is, who is Revan now? He behaved like a Jedi when we were… talking, but his actions speak otherwise. I sensed the Dark Side in Revan and his apprentice, he used the Force to silence Dod, he is clearly building an army of his own for unknown goals, and if it's able to destroy the Trade Federation as the girl claims, it will be enough to cause panic in the Senate."

"We'll have to lay low for a while and observe. Sooner or later he'll reveal his agenda."

"However, we could use the situation for our own gain," Sidious suggested, aware that despite the loss, they still had influence over the Senate. "An armed conflict between the Naboo and the Trade Federation will ruin Valorum."

"Yes," the muun agreed, "we should make sure that the new Supreme Chancellor will be someone we'll be able to control easily."

Sidious nodded. He had planned to kill Plagueis after becoming the Supreme Chancellor, but it wasn't the wisest thing to do now. Maul was too weak to be an ally, and Sidious would need someone strong on his side in the coming times. He needed Plagueis no matter how much he wished to kill his master. However, Sidious was patient; he would wait for the right moment...


Yoda hummed as he listened to the Queen's speech. It was difficult to tell what Revan's intentions were, but he doubted it bode well for the Republic. It was disconcerting, but the Jedi Order couldn't do anything about it because Revan had yet to do something criminal.

"Watch him closely we must," Yoda said. "Dangerous he may be."

Revan's sudden re-emergence sent ripples through the Order. Although the Council decided to keep the most of the conversation with Revan secret, the word about the Royal Knights spread through the whole Temple like wildfire. Revan had been a legend before. Now, however, he was a living legend. Everyone knew already that he refused to rejoin the Order, instead he had established his own. Yoda hoped that it wouldn't come to a schism.

"We still have to verify his words. We sensed the Dark Side in both him and his apprentice. The same was reported by Qui-Gon Jinn. They may be the Sith themselves and their words may be an attempt to cover their tracks."

"He may, but know that we do not. He was known to use the Dark Side, disregarding the Jedi Council's opinion. Investigated this matter should be."

"Allow me to do it," the third Jedi said suddenly.

Windu and Yoda turned to him in surprise. Dooku had been behaving strangely for the last years since the Battle of Galidraan. Yoda knew that the Galidraan was a horrible fiasco, which affected Dooku greatly. He had been reluctant to accept any missions from the Jedi Order. Why was Dooku suddenly so interested in the matters of the Order?

"How would you go about it?" Windu asked.

"I have a few ideas," Dooku said, "but I want to approach Revan directly. I may convince him to allow me to join him on their way back to Naboo. I'll be there to observe, how they plan to resolve the conflict."

Yoda nodded. It was worth doing. Even if Revan was a Sith, he wouldn't deliberately harm Dooku to keep his name clean, while his former padawan was strong enough to find a safe way out, if things wouldn't go as planned.

"Then do it," Windu agreed.

Dooku nodded and strode away Yoda and Windu. Something had changed the moment Revan had confronted Palpatine… if he had confronted Palpatine. The disturbance in the Force had meant more than just loss of concealment.


They were boarding for departure to Naboo when Revan sensed the Jedi approaching their starship. He anticipated that they would try to talk to him before he would leave Coruscant. The Queen's words were, obviously, worrying and it was completely logical to attempt to learn more about the situation. Revan turned to face the Jedi and studied him through the Force. The Jedi was old, but very strong in the Force.

"Your Majesty," the Jedi greeted Padme, who stood next to Revan. "I'm Master Dooku."

"Do a background check on Jedi Master Dooku," Revan sent Mission a telepathic message.

"We don't have much time, Master Dooku," Revan said. "If the Jedi Council wishes to see me again, I must decline."

"No, they don't wish to speak with you again. I would say that I was sent by the Council, but that would be a lie, because I have my own reasons to be here. The Senate did unjust to you, Your Majesty. It once again proved to be a parcel of fools who listen only to themselves. Lobbies rule the Republic. You wish to fight it and I'd like to watch it, and perhaps to help you in your endeavor."

"He's one of the strongest and most respected Jedi Masters of the Order," Mission answered telepathically.

"Shouldn't the Jedi Council authorize a mission?" Revan asked.

He gave a short nod. "It should. However, in theory I'm authorized to come with you, but I didn't share my real reasons for joining you. I'm honestly tired of the hypocrisy of the Order and the corruption in the Republic."

Revan could sense that Dooku was speaking truth. Even without Force he could hear the annoyance in the voice of the Jedi when he spoke about the Order and the disgust when he mentioned the Republic. Force was telling him that he could trust Dooku for now. Not that it would mean that Revan wouldn't watch the Jedi. He could be a spy for both the Jedi Order and the Sith. However, a Jedi like him could become a very useful ally.

"Your Majesty?" Revan said, looking at Padme expectantly. Formally, she was the Commander-in-Chief and it was her decision.

"Welcome aboard, Master Dooku," she said.


The Naboo Royal Starship left the atmosphere of the Tatooine and the pilots were preparing the vessel for the hyperspace jump when they received an incoming transmission bearing Queen Amidala's personal signature. Neither Ric Olie nor Obi-Wan bothered to consider opening it, since it was obviously impossible for the Queen to send messages from Coruscant, while being aboard of her starship in the middle of Arkanis sector. He was about to dismiss it as a trick when he was interrupted by the Queen of the Naboo.

"Play the transmission," she ordered.

"It's obviously a trick, Your Majesty," Obi-Wan said, holding back a tired sigh. "If I establish connection, the Trade Federation might get a trace."

"The transmission bears Queen Amidala's signature, thus it's genuine," the Queen said.

Obi-Wan blinked in confusion. "I'm not sure what you mean by claiming it's genuine. You can't be on Coruscant and here at the same time."

A brief smile graced her lips. "That's because I'm not Queen Amidala, but her handmaiden."

Obi-wan's opened his mouth to retort, but found himself at a loss for words. Then he groaned and placed both hands on his face, embarrassed by the fact that he and his master had been tricked like that. He hadn't even felt a deception. The handmaiden giggled softly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I was instructed to play the role as long as it was necessary for security reasons."

The handmaiden gave him an encryption key and the Jedi opened the transmission. The real Queen looked a lot like the handmaiden. Obi-wan had to admit that it was ingenious to use decoys like that. How and when the real Queen had managed to escape… that was something to guess, or ask the handmaiden.

"Captain Panaka, Sabé," the Queen spoke. "I hope one of you receives the message. I have information from a reliable source that you'll be soon leaving Tatooine or are already on the way to Coruscant. My mission to the Senate was unsuccessful, the Senate refused to listen to our plight. I'm forced to take extreme measures to save our planet from the Trade Federation.

"I issued my ultimatum to the Trade Federation. The deadline is set for 2:6:16:15:00. If the Trade Federation doesn't concede I'll be taking back our world by force. In the attachment to the message you'll find coordinates and the hyperspace route to certain place in the Iskin sector. I'll be waiting for your arrival with my fleet until the deadline.

"Inform Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan that the Jedi Council is already aware of the situation. If they wish to be on their way to Coruscant, I'll provide them with a starship once you rejoin me; otherwise they're free to stay with my fleet for the duration of the liberation campaign."

The Jedi blinked again. The message was ridiculous! These people from Naboo would drive him insane. First was Jar-Jar with the gungans, then the Queen who turned out to be a handmaiden and then some fleet that would fight the Trade Federation. He glanced at Sabé and asked, "Fleet? What fleet?"


A young blond boy sat shivering in a central room of the starship, thinking of his mother. He missed her already, missed her so much. He didn't even know if he would ever have a chance to see her again. Would he be able to get back to free her? Everyone was sleeping, but he couldn't sleep, troubled by the changes in his life.

"What are you doing here, Annie?"

Anakin almost screamed in fright, but the voice was familiar. She was the girl, who had been in Mos Espa with Qui-Gon. She had been nice to him and he liked her a lot. Her name was Yané. Being thirteen she had been the youngest aboard the vessel before he joined them.

"N-nothing," he muttered, trying to stop crying and hide tears.

Apparently, he failed and she noticed it. Yané came closer and hugged him. Surprisingly, he felt better. At least it wasn't cold anymore, although he wasn't sure what exactly made him feel warm. Her care for him or her warm embrace.

"Everything is going to be all right," she said softly.

Anakin felt a lump in his throat and didn't say anything for a few moments. Instead he took a snippet out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, "I made this for you. So you would remember me. I carved it out of a japor snippet. Take it. It will bring you good fortune."

Yané smiled and kissed him on his cheek. Anakin blushed watching her slipping the snippet around her neck.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," she said. Then she added sternly: "But, why do you think I would forget my future husband?"

A faint smile appeared on his face. "Of course, you... wouldn't, Yané." He scratched his head and whispered sheepishly: "Silly me."

Yané giggled and kissed him again. "Let's go to bed, you should get some sleep. I'll stay with you, I promise."