Author's Note: Removed the last part of the previous chapter because it was too early for Lisa to learn the truth.
I don't own Star Wars Rebels or its characters, but my OCs I own only.
Enjoy!
Sparks of Rebellion
Chapter 23: The Onoam Incident
Lisa opened her eyes and found herself lying in a peaceful grass field.
The blonde haired girl sees a beautiful woman with long brown hair decroated with flowers wearing a light pleated aqua blue fabric under an iridescent dark blue cloak studded with pearls.
"Mum?"Lisa whispered quietly.
Padme gives Lisa a sad smile as she began to fade away.
"Please, don't go!"Lisa cried. "Don't leave me behind! Don't go!"
Lisa opened her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
Karté walked up to Lisa.
"Highness, it's alright."Karté assured. "It's just that dream again."
"No one heard me, did they?"Lisa asked.
"No, Your Highness."Karté replied. "Rest easy."
Lisa slowly lowered herself back on her bed and not long after she fell asleep.
The Next Morning...
After Dalné, Karté, Yané, Saché and Miré helped Lisa put on her queen clothes, the young queen went to see the private royal garden.
"Good morning, Thomas."Queen Costil greeted.
"Good morning, your majesty."Thomas responded.
"Where are the lilies that used to be here?"Queen Costil asked.
"I'm afraid they have grown dried so we were told to remove them."Thomas admitted. "They were your mother's favourites."
"What was my mother's reaction when the Empire took over?"Queen Costil asked. "Tell me."
"Padme had been furious and horrified."Thomas stated. "Two days later, she was dead. Her funeral procession had been three days after. She was beautiful, even in death."
Lisa took a few steps forward as she fiddled with a blue daisy.
"So...she wasn't afraid even though she..."Queen Costil started.
Thomas nodded in response.
"Your mother loved roses too."Thomas commented with a smile. "There might be some left in the other bushes."
Queen Costil followed the gardener and he brought her where the rose bushes were.
The blonde haired girl slowly touched a blue rose, carefully not wanting to prick her finger on any of the thorns.
"Thank you."Queen Costil said softly.
"Your welcome."Thomas answered with a bow.
Inside the Theed Royal Palace...
Dalné poured some tea for Lisa to drink.
"Ironic isn't?"Queen Costil asked with a sad frown. "Once the queens of Naboo truly were rulers of this world. But since Empire Palpatine took over, his governors have taken Naboo's concern in hand. Really there is very little for me beyond the ceremonial."
"Your Majesty, if you have both the time and the will, you could distribute safe equipment to the miners."Dalné suggested.
"I have the will and so I will make the time."Queen Costil responded.
In Space...
The Royal Starship flew towards Onoam that was one of the three moons that orbited Naboo.
In Onoam...
Queen Costil and Dalné took a transport that would take them to the entrance of the underground mines.
According to the files Lisa studied, the relationship between Naboo and it's mining colony on Onoam had always been fractious.
A generation before, the miners had repeatedly gone on strike for larger shares of the profits and some splinter groups had even committed minor political violence like breaking windows and security shields, even burning a vacant warehouse on Naboo itself.
No doubt the present miners would have been given much to work in the conditions their predecessors had found so objectionable. Before the miners of Onoam had wanted to be treated more fairly, but now they wanted to be acknowledged as human beings.
As the cargo lift with the first load of equipment sank lower into the shaft, light became a rarer resource; the scant illumination down there was hardly enough to work by and no more than that.
Both Queen Costil and Dalné coughed at the dust in the air.
The environment wasn't safe for them or anyone else.
The sentients were only allowed to mine for medicinal spice.
The duo along with a protocol droid, arrived to the deepest level for the equipment, a small group of miners waited for their royal visitor.
They might have been any other committee come to greet a visiting dignitary if it weren't for the handful of stormtroopers milling around in the background in every exit.
Lisa's protocol droid gestured to a tall skinny man.
"Brel Ti Vorne, designated representative of the miners."the protocol droid said.
"My queen."Ti Vorne replied with a proper bow.
"I have brought supplies for five hundred miners."Queen Costil admitted gesturing to the crates coming in by a hoverdroid. "Safety belts, atmosphere masks, portable force fields that can purify the air and a few other things I thought you might need."
The smile in Brel Ti Vorne's face vanished as the miners murmured to each other.
"My gifts trouble you, may I ask why?"Queen Costil asked.
"These items would make our labours much easier, Your Highness."Brel Ti Vorne admitted.
The young queen send a surreptitious glance towards the nearest stormtroopers; they didn't appear to give any particular attention.
She took a few steps toward Brel Ti Vorne.
"They can't hear us."Queen Costil commented quietly. "Tell me the truth."
"You may give the equipment to us, your highness."Brel Ti Vorne complemented. "We may even be allowed to use some of it, at least for a shift or two. But eventually everything will be taken away as a punishment or because the equipment's supposedly defective or we'll be told it was lost. Something like that. We've managed to save up a few things of our own every now and then until we realised they'd all met the same fate. The imperial major in charge of the mine sells them off and pockets the profit."
Queen Costil frowned. "That's criminal."
"Not if the one in charge does it."Brel Ti Vorne stated.
"Your plight upsets me and moves me to action."Queen Costil said.
"Then your already better than most, your majesty."Brel Ti Vorne admitted. "We've reached out to others recently. Including some we thought might take action for us. Nothing yet."
"Then let me do what I can for you."Queen Costil suggested. "Please accept these gifts on behalf all the miners. I intend to find a way to ensure that this time you keep them."
"Your goodwill is a gift itself."Brel Ti Vorne commented.
Afterwards...
Queen Costil and Dalné were on the cargo lift that would take them up and away from the underground mines.
"We all know of imperial corruption."Dalné said. "It reaches everywhere. I didn't know it dug so far underground."
"They can't eat goodwill and can't breathe either."Queen Costil stated in disappointment.
"Surely there is something you can do, Lisa."Dalné admitted.
Queen Costil snapped her fingers as an idea formed inside her head.
"I can demand an audience with higher officials."Queen Costil commented. "The provincial governor himself has a chalet here on Onoam. I think he might be visiting right now."
"That's Moff Quarsh Panaka, right?"Dalné asked.
"Yes, he's a native of Naboo so it's not like going to an offworlder."Queen Costil said. "And for all he turns a blind eye, he's not corrupt himself."
"But he's personally loyal to Palpatine."Dalné warned.
Queen Costil bit her lip.
That loyalty would make Panaka dangerous.
"I should give him a chance."Queen Costil replied. "Honest imperial officers are pretty rare. It would be a shame to waste one."
"Will you request an immediate audience?"Dalné asked.
Queen Costil nodded. "It's time I met Panaka."
A Few Hours Later...
The Naboo Royal Starship returned and landed on the grass fields of Onoam.
The pilot made the ramp lower down causing Queen Costil to come out with Dalné.
They have arrived to the area where Moff Panaka was.
It was a beautiful chalet spreading out in the horizon in three directions.
Most higher imperials officers liked to surround themselves with the overripe glamour of ill-gotten gains: statues looted from museum or ostentatiously expensive furnishing.
To Lisa's surprise, Moff Panaka preferred the simple and practical.
"Dalné."
Queen Costil and Dalné turned around to see a tall dark-skinned man with a few grey hairds walking towards them with a cup in hand.
A LEP droid waddled behind him with a streaming pot and more cups for the guests.
"You caught me having my afternoon tea."Moff Panaka said. "I hope you and-"
When Panaka turned to look at Queen Costil, he had a shocked expression and splashed some tea on the floor though he was still holding his cup.
"Moff Panaka are you well?"Dalné asked.
The little droid reached out an extender to mop up the spill.
"Of course."Moff Panaka replied and looked at Queen Costil. "Forgive me, your majesty. You reminded me of someone else."
"It's okay."Queen Costil assured with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Moff Panaka. We need to discuss the situation of miners on Onoam."
"By all means."Moff Panaka said. "Let's discuss this over tea, assuming there's any left in the pot instead of on the floor."
Queen Costil and Dalné sat with Panaka on his terrace that overlooked a narrow river that gleamed like silver in the sunlight.
The young queen laid out what she and Dalné seen on the mines and described the problems Brel had told them of.
Panaka pressed his lips together and Lisa could tell he was angry with the imperial grifters.
"Of course, Emperor Palpatine encourages a certain degree of initiative among it's officers."Moff Panaka stated. "They're meant to handle disobedience through economic means when possible rather than resort to violence."
Queen Costil gave a simple nod.
"The problem arises when less experienced officers begin to believe they can act this way against all citizens instead of only lawbreakers."Moff Panaka admitted. "We need to be vigilant against such behaviour or else discipline among the troops will disintegrate."
"If you could establish some oversight in the mines beginning now with the new equipment I brought."Queen Costil suggested. "That could begin to make a real difference."
"Then let it be done."Moff Panaka complemented.
Queen Costil and Dalné looked at each other with approved smiles.
"Thank you for your audience and your kind attention, Moff Panaka."Queen Costil said with a grateful smile.
"For many years, I served queens of Naboo."Moff Panaka commented. "It is a privilege to serve you as well. I will talk to Palpatine about this. The miners supervisors won't get away with such petty thievery ever again."
A Moment After...
Lisa and her handmaiden were heading down the stairs to go back to the starship.
"Well that went easy than expected."Dalné commented.
"It's strange."Queen Costil said with a suspicious look. "If Panaka is extremely loyal to Palpatine then why-"
The blonde haired girl suddenly felt a disturbance in the force.
"Dalné!"Queen Costil shouted. "Drop down!"
A wall of heat slammed into the two girls and knocked them off their feet.
Queen Costil's sight saw plumes of flames stretching high into the pale pink sky.
An explosion!
The young queen hit the ground hard, the long locks of her gold coloured hair dangling free of her silver headdress and winced in pain a little.
Dalné crawled to Lisa's side to check if she was okay while tears were running her eyes.
"Something exploded."Queen Costil thought in a daze. "The moff's chalet! It doesn't make any sense. The house was made of wood, not a ship or station could-"
The Naboo queen carefully sat up straight to look at het surroundings.
There was smouldering droid parts lay scattered across the lawn beside burning chips of wood and debris.
What remind of the chalet couldn't be seen though the black smoke billowing into the sky.
Which meant the house was destroyed by a bomb!
A Few Hours Later...
The chaos after the explosion left Lisa badly off balance and in a state of shock.
One moment she was having tea inside a chalet with a man and now he was dead.
"Quarsh Panaka was a decent man who served the Empire out of personal loyalty rather than ambition. Murdering him and others in his household...how can that have been the right thing to do?"Lisa thought. "Dad's right, though. Palpatine won't surrender power unless he's forced out. If the Imperial Senate hasn't been able to hold the Empire in check by will, they never will."
There were stormtroopers in the damaged area gathering the people that were suspects.
A medical droid was hovering around Queen Costil, scanning for injuries by the time the droid was done, she had synthplast over the few bad cuts she received and a binding field around her ankle which throbbed menacingly.
Dalné carefully helped Lisa towards the royal yacht.
"If we hadn't been who we are, we'd be carted off to detention with the others."Dalné murmured.
"What if none of them are guilty?"Queen Costil asked.
"One of them will be before the local officer is through."Dalné responded. "They'll want blood for this and they won't dare report to their superiors that they couldn't solve a terrorist murder of a provincial governor, a moff."
"Someone must have known Naboo and it's moons from inside and out well."Queen Costil complemented. "But there are few other places where a moff could be left unguarded."
"If they're going to lock the planet down for a while that means no other imperial authority will be able to seize control very soon."Dalné stated. "For a few days or maybe a few weeks maybe the queen of Naboo can be a true queen again. You might have the power to help the miners or anyone else after all."
Queen Costil thought for a moment and then looked at Dalné.
"It's worth trying, at least for the miners sake."Queen Costil responded.
Happy New Year and hope you guys enjoyed this chapter:)