CHAPTER 2

Rain pelted against the small cruiser as it navigated its way to its lush destination. Inside the dark cockpit, the pilot's eyes were fixated on his location. He knew of Naboo, had heard of its legendary status in his travels, but that the Force would guide him there…yes, of this he was absolutely certain.

The heavy rain began to slacken as he drew closer to his landing, a small mesa covered over with thick vegetation. There, he could conceal the location of the ship from any watchers. The planet had been under tight security since the recent events of Operation: Cinder nearly devastated the climate. Yet nothing would keep him away, for the presence of Skywalker was palpable, tangible. He could practically taste this essence in the Force, so great and so strong was it indeed!

Once he landed, he would present himself as a very capable friend to the Court, and show them that he possessed the very spirit and heart of the Skywalker legacy.

"You can be certain," the raucous voice declared firmly, "Naboo will suffer the ultimate wrath of the Empire. I will see to it personally."

Moff Skeloska spoke to the enigmatic figure on the holo, unseen to all those who were in his office aboard his Star Destroyer, the Peregrine. Yet when the voice on the other end of the communication spoke, it was smooth, firm, decisive, and above all else, perfectly commanding. Whoever was on the other end spoke coolly, and had a plan of action that appeared to have been very long in the making, as if calculating consistently the moves and countermoves of the fledgling New Republic.

The Moff arose, glaring at his officers and aides with a deep look of malice. Whatever one might say about former Admiral Irramis Skeloska, his passion for upholding the totalitarian regime of the Empire was supreme.

"We have our directive. Naboo has long remained a thorn in the side of Imperial supremacy, and we will no longer let that stand. This pathetic and illegal Republic will know that the Empire lives and will reign for all eternity!"

He nearly spat out these last words, slamming his fast hard on his desk.

Having commanded a fleet in his past office, he was successful in almost tripling its size upon his promotion to the governorship. It was clear to all assembled in his office that he would receive additional reinforcements from his contact within the Imperial hierarchy, and would make it his lifelong goal, if need be, to crush Naboo and thereby cripple the morale of the New Republic.

"My Queen, it's time to get up!"

The bright light of the morning sun burst through the spacious apartment, and Sosha flinched, covering her eyes in response.

"Must you always be so cheerful this early in the morning, Sorna?"

The youngest of her handmaidens smiled playfully. "Just doing my duty, you know?"

The Queen heaved a sigh, rubbing her face as she tried to muster the strength to rise for a new day. What was on the day's agenda again?

Sorna answered immediately, almost as if guessing her thought.

"Big breakfast this morning, and then…swimming!"

Ah, how long had it been since she'd last gone for a good, long swim? The air was fresh and clean, the sky bright and blue. It was shaping up to be an absolutely gorgeous day! And not one state matter to be brought to her attention, by her order!

"I've so longed for this." The Queen suddenly smiled as she shot a glance of amusement at her handmaiden. "Say, you remember when we were last here?"

Sorna burst out laughing. "Don't remind me! The others still won't let me live it down!"

In exchange for the very valuable and precious chromium so needed by the fledgling New Republic, Chancellor Mon Mothma had supplied Naboo with much needed weapons upgrades, a gift only too welcome to the Queen since Naboo had been systematically demilitarized by the Emperor. One of these weapons was a moderately small, yet accurately precise, projectile launcher. The first thing Sosha ordered – much to Captain Korro's annoyance – was to place it at the shore of her private lake retreat…so that she and her girls could use it to launch them up and right into the lake!

"My Queen, may I suggest –"

"Captain, I highly encourage you to go for it! If anyone deserves a break, it's the head of my guard!"

In spite of every objection, the Captain set up the launcher exactly where the Queen wanted it. There was no shortage of laughter and giddiness for her and her handmaidens that day!

For poor Sorna, however, her launch didn't go exactly as planned. She had the launcher calibrated slightly higher, with the hope that she'd make and even greater splash-landing. Instead, she ended up caught in the branches of a tree! It was only up to Korro to get her down – he all too happily shot through the branch, which was right over the water, leaving her to fall straight down in a rather inglorious splash after all she'd been through!

The door to her apartment opened suddenly. Expecting it was one of her other handmaidens, Sosha began to say something, but was abruptly cut off by the gentle voice of her predecessor, Dalné.

"I hope I'm not interrupting your rest, Highness," she said, staring at the slender figure of the Queen still in bed. Her eyes were very gentle. Something about her appearance always gave Sosha a feeling of calm and security.

"Dalné! What brings you here? And…why so early in the morning?"

"I know you've been stressed of late, Sosha. And I hate to do this, especially so early in your retreat, but you have to know."

Sosha's smile faded.

Dalné shook her head rapidly. "Oh, no, please! It's not news of impending doom and gloom! It's only that there's a visitor who wishes to be received. He's in Theed at the moment, and is causing a great stir among our people in the city. You see, he says he's a Jedi returning from long exile, and says he's a friend of Master Skywalker."

Sosha had only ever heard of the stories of Luke Skywalker, which had already become legend. When the Princess of Alderaan had approached her, she'd only been too pleased to welcome her to Naboo. Yet disaster struck within moments of Leia's arrival, cutting off any chance at discussing his exploits.

"Well, thank goodness for that," Sosha said at last. "I guess I can still enjoy breakfast and a good swim, at least. I trust the Governor has made arrangements for him?"

"He insists on dwelling humbly and simply, part of his regimen, I assume. But he seeks an audience with you, at your earliest convenience, of course."

Sosha wouldn't dare give up the location of her own private retreat. She sighed. "Very well, then. I will arrange to make a day's visit to Theed tomorrow, and grant him an audience as he requests. Though I can't imagine what he'd need of us."