Padmé Amidala paced the length of her apartment, which was not easy for someone who was nine months pregnant. She hadn't been able to relax for hours, and she couldn't tell why. The only time she remembered being this on edge was when the Trade Federation had invaded her homeworld nearly fifteen years ago. She sighed deeply as she turned on her heel again and continued to pace. A part of her wondered if she had gone into the early stages of labour, but none of her handmaidens thought that was the case.
She ran her hand through her hair as she tried to ignore the pulsating sensation in her feet. She knew she really shouldn't be on her feet as much as she was, but she just couldn't relax. She looked over at the window, which had it's blinds drawn shut, because the fading light bothered her eyes. The only downside to that was that she couldn't see the Jedi Temple with them drawn, and the sight of it had always brought a slight feeling of comfort to her, knowing that the Order was keeping a safe watch over them all.
"My Lady," one of her handmaidens, Moteé, asked discreetly, "are you quite sure you are alright?" Padmé sighed as she looked the young woman over. Moteé was one of her most trusted Handmaidens. She was one of the only people who actually knew about her marriage to Anakin, along with a slew of other personal secrets shared only to a select few. "Perhaps something to drink will help."
"No thank you, Moteé," Padmé replied with a wave of her hand. "I don't need anything right-"
"Mistress Padmé! Mistress Padmé!" the erratic-sounding voice of C-3P0 called out from the hallway. Of course, C-3P0's constant quirks where a part of the reason she loved him so much, so she paid his worried tone little mind. "There is someone at the door! Shall I allow them entry?" Her trust of 3P0's judge of character would only take her so far, however. And she knew full well that some of her fellow Senators where not above hiring thugs to attack their perceived enemies as an intimidation tactic. And such individuals might be able to fool the protocol droid into letting them in.
"Moteé," Padmé sighed, "would you please check the door?"
"Of course, my lady," her chief Handmaiden replied with a slight bow of her head. She quickly stepped out of the room as two more of her Handmaidens rushed in, both with distraught expressions.
"What is it?" Padmé asked directly. The look on the women's faces had her worried.
"M'lady," one of the Handmaidens said in a quiet tone. "The Holonet news...it is rather disturbing."
"What is going on?" Padmé said forcefully as she strode over to the holoprojector near the couch. "Not another Separatist-"
"M'lady you need to sit!" the second Handmaiden insisted a mere second before Padmé clicked the holonews on.
"...a state of emergency has been declared. All citizens are to report to the designated checkpoints. Any attempt to avoid authorities will result in arrest byt he Coruscant guard. I repeat, the Jedi Order has attempted to assassinate Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. All Jedi are hereby to be considered enemies of the Republic. Anyone caught assisting Jedi will be considered co-conspirators and shot on sight..."
Padmé shut the holonews off immediately. She didn't want to listen to whatever was being said. Instead the Senator within her welled up and prepared to act. She knew what she had to do. She had to contact the Supreme Chancellor and demand to know what was going on, and why he would publicly declare the Jedi to be enemies of the Republic. She also knew she would have to somehow contact Anakin and Obi-wan, just to make sure they where safe.
"M'lady..." Moteé called from the door, oblivious to Padmé's change of mood. "Did you order something to eat?"
"What?" Padmé replied, "no, Moteé, I didn't. Now-."
"There is a delivery droid here, M'lady. He says it is for you." Moteé insisted as she walked into the room, along with the delivery droid and C-3P0. The delivery droid had a single large canister in it's arms, which it presented to her right away. The words Dex's Diner Delivery where clearly visible on the side of the canister. And inside was her favourite dish served at the Diner. The only thing she would ever eat whenever Anakin dragged her down there, in fact. Muusk meat pie with a side of Melurun fruit.
But that wasn't what she was after. She searched the canister for something else. A handwritten note, from Anakin.
"Chancellor is a Sith. Get off-planet NOW. Will find you at our meeting spot. -Anakin."
"Moteé!" Padmé snapped as her mind started to wheel, "get Captain Typho here now, with a full guard. We're leaving this instant."
"Yes, M'lady," Moteé, and the other Handmaidens said quickly as they sprang to work, packing anything in sight. All the while the two guards she already had with her stepped closer. Padmé felt her head begin to swim as she went over everything in her head. Anakin's message battled it out with what she knew of the Chancellor, the Republic and the mysterious Sith.
She had known Palpatine for most of her life. He had helped her get elected as Queen in the first place. He had always been offering his advice whenever he could. And even when he became Chancellor he had always been a good man, even if his actions where muddled by the influence of others, and the unfortunate circumstances of war. She simply could not just believe that Anakin would make an accusation like that without absolute proof. Because as much as she respected the Chancellor, Anakin revered him like a Father, on equal terms to both Obi-wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn.
"M'lady, is everything alright?" Moteé asked.
"No," Padmé replied sharply. "It isn't. Make sure my shuttle is ready," she said as she moved towards the door, where one of her Handmaidens waited with a small satchel of prepared clothes that she always had on-hand, just in case. She pushed past a few sudden cramps as she grabbed the bag and prepared to leave.
Only to find the door blocked by a squad of fully-armed Clone Troopers, led by Commander Fox, head of the Coruscant Guard.
"Senator Amidala," Fox said in a stern tone, "you are to come with us quietly."
"On what grounds?" Padmé replied, not liking the Commander's tone. Or the fact that he had brought so many men just to get her. Nothing was adding up.
"My orders come from the Supreme Chancellor, Senator," Fox said flatly, "we have been ordered to take you in on charges of high treason." Those words stung deeply. She considered herself an extremely patriotic woman. She would die for her ideals, so to be accused of betraying them was absurd.
"Senator Amidala has diplomatic immunity, Commander," Moteé said as she stepped in between them, and stared the Commander down harshly. "You have no grounds to place her under arrest. She is protected under the Royal Palace of Naboo. If you-" she continued, only to be cut off by Fox.
"Her immunity has been revoked," the Commander said coldly as he signalled to his men, who raised their blasters in unison. "Come now or there will be trouble."
"Senator!" Captain Typho shouted as he appeared suddenly at the end of the hall, along with a contingent of Guards. Immediately he pulled out his blaster and trained it on Fox, who quickly pivoted on the spot and fired a trio of shots. Typho ducked under them and returned fire as Padmé found herself being dragged back inside by her Handmaidens. Smoke filled the hallway as the Clones traded fire with her Guards. Unfortunately the Clones had a superior firing position and better weapons, while her Guards where crowded at the end of the hallway with very little cover.
But she had a trick up her sleeve. Each of her Handmaidens pulled out ELG-3A Blaster pistols from under their robes. It had been something that the queen had suggested to her, for improved safety measures. And she was surprised at just how many of them had taken the suggestion and ran with it. The Clones where now caught in-between her Guards and Handmaidens, and cut down quickly.
Though not without a terrible cost. Three of her Guards and one of her Handmaidens where killed by the clones, and another four Guards had been seriously injured.
"Hurry! Get them inside!" Typho barked as he pointed to the four wounded Guards.
"No!" Padmé replied sharply. "we cannot stay here, Captain. We have to get to a ship, and quickly. Help them up," she commanded to her Handmaidens, who listened without question. "we'll have to leave the others," she said, referring to the dead. She didn't want to leave them, but they had no choice. They couldn't carry the bodies all the way to the landing pad without arousing suspicion.
"Yes, Senator Amidala," Captain Typho said, only barely concealing the shaking in his voice. "Your Starcruiser is being prepared as we speak. We will be able to take off immediately," he said as their group marched down the hallway as fast as possible. "we can send word to Theed once we're in hyperspace-"
"No," Padmé said with a shake of her head. "No transmissions, they'll be intercepted. Tell the pilots to scramble the ship's identification, I don't want anyone to know who we are or where we are going until we're off the planet." Her head was still reeling from what had just happened. She knew deep down that her entire world had just been turned upside-down, and that it would take a long time for her to figure out how to even begin to put things right again. But she did have somewhere to start, she knew she needed to know where her closest allies where and to make sure they where safe. Bail Organa was on Coruscant at the moment, so he needed to be warned. Mon Mothma was on Chandrilla, so she was safer than Padmé was at the moment. Obi-Wan was entrenched on Utapau fighting General Grievous, he was in the most danger. But she had no way of reaching him, and she was not prepared to fly into an active battlefield while nine months pregnant and not knowing if she could trust the Clones there. And of course she still had to worry about her Husband, and whether or not he was still alive.
For the moment, she chose to believe that he was. Because she didn't know if she could bear the alternative.
"M'Lady what is going on?" Captain Typho insisted as he gathered his men and formed a tight perimiter around Padmé and her handmaidens as they thundered down the hallway.
"I don't know, Captain." she replied tersely, still caught up in the emotion of the moment. "But we aren't safe here anymore." I don't know if anywhere is safe, she wanted to add, but chose not to. It was her responsibility to remain level-headed in moments of crisis like this. She needed to set an example for those around her. "I don't have any answers for you right now. Once we're aboard the ship we'll decide our next move."
"Yes, Senator," Typho nodded as they reached the turbolift that would take them to the hangar, which contained her personal ship. She could practically sense the burning questions inside him, her guards and handmaidens. She didn't blame them to be honest. But she knew only a little more than they did at the moment, and even that was still mind-boggling. "Once we reach the Hangar, I will go in first. Rus, Loax," he said, motioning to two of the men, "follow me. The rest of you stay with the Senator." As he finished, the doors tot he turbolift opened up, revealing the large Hangar which housed several large ships. But her eyes where immediately drawn to the two clones standing outside the landing ramp to her own craft, arguing with the pilot profusely. At least they haven't shot him yet, she thought with sigh of relief. She hoped that they wouldn't have to blast their way out of the Hangar, or the planet, for that matter.
"I don't understand," Moteé said with a shake of her head. "You are one of Chancellor Palpatine's closest friends...why would he brand you a traitor?" Well Anakin just told me he's evil incarnate, Padmé thought to herself.
"We'll get this sorted out," she tried to say reassuringly. "Once we get to agh!" she whimpered as a second bolt of pain raced through her. Not enough to incapacitate her, but still sudden and unexpected. And more than enough to garner the attention of those around her.
"Mistress Padmé are you alright?" C-3P0 asked in a more worried tone than he usually did.
"Stupid droid," Moteé snapped, "she's having contractions."
"No, I'm-" Padmé started to reply.
"M'lady, with all due respect," Moteé cut in with, "I served as a nurse in the Theed Royal Hospital before joining the Handmaiden corps. I am well aware of what contractions look like, Senator. And you are having them right now. We need to get aboard that ship, and quickly." She said with an authoritative tone, which Padmé nodded in agreement to. The problem was that the Clones standing guard refused to let Captain Typho past them, and where even becoming more and more aggressive. She was just about to suggest stunning the Clones when suddenly two small figures sprung out from the shadows on the far side of the Hangar. One was a human male, and the other a Wookiee. And both carried Lightsabers.
"Jedi! Blast them!" the Clones barked, as four more soldiers poured into the Hangar from the opposite direction.
"No!" Padmé shouted as she reached for her blaster and fired, sending a bolt directly into a Clone's shoulder, knocking him down. The Jedi, who both appeared to be Padawans, where quickly forced onto their back foot from the concentrated fire coming their way. Two more of the Clones fell to stun rounds from her Guards and Handmaidens as a Speeder screamed into the Hangar.
A quick look identified the model as being one from Alderaan. Specifically, it belonged to Bail Organa, who hopped out of the driver's seat and took cover behind it.
"What's going on here?" Bail demanded.
"No idea!" Padmé shouted back. "But they came to arrest me, by force! And now-" she was forced to duck under cover as a Clone trained his blaster on her position. As soon as she thought she was safe, she exited cover, right into the line of fire.
A blaster bolt dug deeply into her shoulder, knocking her back. As she fell, she watched as one of the Young Jedi, the human, fell under a hail of blaster fire. Two guards and A handmaiden rushed over to her, dragging her back to safety as the firefight continued.
"Get to the ship, I will cover you!" Captain Typho barked as he increased his rate of fire. He would not be able to hold them off for long, but he did give them a chance. Everyone, including Bail and the Wookiee Padawan, thundered up the waiting ramp of her ship. Only Typho and a handful of her Guards held the Clones back, but only barely. Despite the searing pain in her shoulder, Padmé still managed to wrestle free of Moteé's grip as the engines roared to life.
"Get aboard!" she shouted to him, "now!"
"Get out of here!" Typho shouted back, even as the last of her guards fell. Now only Typho stood alone, heavily outnumbered and outgunned. "Go! Now Senator!" he shouted, "take off!" with tears welling up in her eyes, Padmé hit the controls for the landing ramp. It closed only slowly enough for her to watch as her longtime friend and chief of security be mercilessly gunned down.
The ship rumbled into the air. It's shields where far to powerful to be penetrated by anything short of a turbolaser. But even under that kind of protection Padmé felt an intense vulnerability washing over her. For the first time since the fighting had started she was able to take a good look at those around her. What had once been ten Guards and fifteen Handmaidens had been whittled down to two Guards and four Handmaidens, plus C-3P0, Bail, one of his attendants and the young Wookiee Padawan who'd been caught in the crossfire.
The level of death and destruction was something that she was not accustomed to. Yes, she had been in many battles before. But none of the Battles for Naboo had been so costly to her people. And while during the Battle of Geonosis she had seen hundreds of Jedi Knights die, she hadn't been close to any of them. she'd known only a few by name. But to lose Captain Typho, and so many that she'd worked for years with was like losing a part of herself.
"What is going on?" Bail huffed as he ran a hand through his hair. "The Clones...the Temple..."
"what about the Temple?" Padmé asked fiercely as she forced herself to her feet. A fresh batch of pain washed over her and she was forced to lean against the side of the ship for stability.
"Grr wkkrr grrool" The Wookiee Padawan said, and all eyes fell on C-3P0 to translate.
"He says that he, his Master and another Padawan saw the Jedi Temple being attacked by the Clone Army," C-3P0 said, causing an air of depression to fall throughout the cabin. "He says that the Clones where ordered to shoot them down."
"And where is your Master now, young one?" Bail asked with a hint of hope in his voice.
"Hrrrrk," the Padawan replied solemnly. She didn't need any translation to know what he had said, but C-3P0 provided it anyways.
"They where all killed, I'm afraid," the droid said. "Mistress Padmé, what are we going to do now?"
"Right now we need..." Padmé began to say, before the world began to spin around her and go black. And in the faintest moment before everything went dark, she thought she heard the distinct sound of a malicious cackling laughter.