THE TRADE FEDERATION
Shasta moved up to the front of the space cruiser and stared at the large window that had the planet of Naboo right outside. It had been a while since she's been there, but it still had the same rich green atmosphere from her last visit. The only new thing about it was the hundreds of Trade Federation battleships that made the planet look infested.
"Well, ain't that just a big, beautiful mess," Shasta said sarcastically before abruptly falling silent. A troubling feeling soon washed over her as thousands of little pinpricks crawled up her skin. Shasta pulled her sleeve up and saw the hair on her arms stand up. It wasn't from nervousness, though. It was something else that she couldn't quite place yet.
Obi-Wan could sense Shasta's unease and walked up beside her, noticing her troubled expression. "Something troubling you?"
Shasta squeezed her eyes tightly for only a second before shaking her head, trying to distress herself from all her worries. "Don't know yet. I'll have to get back to you on that one." She turned and walked away from the window, patting his shoulder on the way by.
"Captain." Qui-Gon said.
"Yes, sir?"
"Tell them we wish to board at once."
"Yes, sir." The captain pulled up the view screen that showed a live picture of Nute Gunray. The Neimoidian trade viceroy. Shasta knew him to be a sleazy guy and didn't much care to look at him, much less listen to him. His words were nothing but lies and deceitful promises. No one had to be a Jedi to know that. Cowards always make themselves known. "With all due respect for the Trade Federation, the Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately."
"Yes, of course. As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the Ambassadors," Nute Gunray insisted.
Qui-Gon nodded his head and glanced over to Shasta. She already had a disgusted face that perfectly showed off how uncomfortable and unpleased she was. He appreciated how honest she was being, but someone would obviously notice if she continued to carry wearing such a disgruntled face.
"Miss Eve, I ask you to please be mindful of your facial expression. At least for the time being," he asked of her.
Shasta sighed and shook her head. "I'll try…believe me I will."
The small cruiser flew up slowly inside the main hanger of the Trade Federation battleship and landed. The ship's hatch opened up, and the two Jedi strolled out with Shasta following close behind, throwing an oversize hood over her head to try and conceal herself. They walked out of the main hangar and stood inside a silver hallway where a protocol droid was waiting.
"I am TC-14 at your service. This way, please," the droid said while gesturing a stiff arm for them to follow.
They did as they were told and followed the droid down the long hallway towards an empty conference room.
"We are greatly honored by your visit, Ambassadors. Make yourself comfortable. My master will be with you soon," the droid said before leaving shortly after. Once the doors were closed and they were sure they were alone, the three of them pulled back their hoods and looked around.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan said.
Qui-Gon shrugged. "I don't feel anything."
"It's not the mission, Master, it's something…elsewhere…elusive." He then turned to Shasta, who had taken the liberty to sit at one of the empty chairs. "Shasta, surely you felt it to. You looked quite bothered before."
Shasta briefly frowned. "I guess I was, but that also could be my paranoia creeping up on me." She seemingly waved her worries off by relaxing in the chair and propping her feet up on the table. "But…if It was, the feeling would've faded by now. It's not though…which means something is still amiss. I feel it," she said with a more serious tone.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "It's best to not center your anxiety. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs."
"Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future," Obi-Wan said.
"But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, my young Padawan." Qui-Gon turned his head back when he heard Shasta suddenly scoff. "Something on your mind?"
Shasta looked away and gave an awkward smile. "Living Force. It's just that…I don't deal with Jedi…and to hear that statement feels sort of odd to me."
"How so?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.
Shasta turned her whole body around to face them. She hunched over in her seat and held up a single finger from each hand. "Jedi and Eves may all be Force-sensitive, but we look and think of it differently. It's a living thing, correct, but for my people…it just feels like a natural extension of ourselves. Another part of you yet to be exposed and explained. Good or bad…still unknown." She lowered her hands as the awkward smile on her lips fell into an uncomfortable frown. "It's hard to explain. Even for An Eve."
"Does that mean you don't entirely understand it?" Obi-Wan asked while taking a seat next to her.
"It doesn't matter how the world see's you anymore, Shasta. You must do whatever it takes to survive…"
A pained expression sank into Shasta's pale features, making her look older than she was. "It's the opposite, my dear Obi-Wan. I understand the Force and how it works. Both Light and Dark-side. But what I actually mean is…I don't really know much about myself." She quickly masked her frown with a smirk to hide her growing unease. "You know, this is really not the time to disgust something like my family. Right now, I'm more curious on how the viceroy will deal with the chancellor's demands?"
Qui-Gon quietly studied Shasta's concerning behavior when she quickly changed the topic. He looked down at his Padawan and knew he was thinking the same thing with the expression on his face. One of concern and unease. "These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short," he speculated.
"Oh yeah?" Shasta stretched her arms out and held them behind her head. "Then wake me up when things go wrong." She closed her eyes for only a second when the whole room suddenly shook from a loud explosion going off from the main hangar. Her eyes shot back open and the two Jedi quickly spun around, lightsabers ignited and ready.
Obi-Wan smirked when he saw Shasta scrambling to get on her feet. "Is this what you mean by things going wrong?"
"Yeah, yeah. Looks like the show's just begun." Shasta quickly scanned the room and saw thick green smoke start to filter in through the vents above and below them.
A small group of battle droids stood right outside the conference room, waiting patiently as the doors slid open and the gas from inside spilled out. They took aim at the movement inside the haze, but instead of Jedi, it was a protocol droid that came shuffling out instead, running right into the blaster barrels aimed at it.
"Oh, excuse me, so sorry," the protocol droid said.
As the droid passed on, green and blue lightsabers ignited from inside the green haze. The battle droids immediately opened fire at the emerging Jedi, but they were swiftly cut into pieces with a single swing of their sabers. Once they were all down, Shasta calmly walked out of the gas-filled room while waving her hand in her face like a fan.
"Well…that could've been worse," she said with a half-smile.
"Come on. Let's get to the bridge," Qui-Gon said.
They headed down the long hallway which soon led them to another door guarded by more battle droids. They were all quickly turned into scrap metal though by a single swing of a lightsaber. After they were dealt with, Qui-Gon looked at the large door and noticed that it had been locked. However, he did not let that stop him and immediately raised the hot saber and stabbed the weapon straight through the door. He gripped the handle tightly and began to cut a large chunk out of it. He was forced to stop though when he heard multiple doors shut tightly on the other side.
"They closed the blast doors," Qui-Gon said while retracting his lightsaber.
Shasta gave a boisterous laugh and patted Qui-Gon on the shoulder, gesturing for him to move aside. "Blast doors. Now that's cute."
She took a wide stance in front of the door and held her hands up. Flexing her fingers, Shasta began to make a tearing motion with her hands, and through the Force, started to pry her way in. The doors began to bend and bow against the heavy pressure, and soon enough, a crack started to be made. Obi-Wan had to stop what he was doing to stare in awe at the sheer strength and connection she had with the Force. Master Windu's words started to echo through his head about how powerful the Eve clan really was, and now he was finally witnessing it firsthand. He couldn't stare for long though when a clanking noise reached his ears. He looked back down the hallway and saw droidekas barreling down at them.
"Master! Shasta! Destroyers!" Obi-Wan warned them.
"What?" Shasta stopped and turned around just as Qui-Gon stepped in front of her to deflect the blaster bullets. They couldn't make any progress though because of the shield generator surrounding the droids. "Forget it! It's a standoff! Let's go! There's something I want to check out!"
The moment the opening was given, the Jedi and Eve took off down the hallway and disappeared before the droids could follow them.
Shasta led the way through the ventilation shaft with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan behind her. She stopped right before an exit and looked back at them, signaling that they were heading down into what looked like an aircraft docking station. They jumped down into the room and quickly hid behind some cargo. They looked out and saw that the room was flooded with battle droids. Not just dozens of them, but hundreds.
"This…is what I was afraid of," Shasta groaned. "It's probably why I was having such a bad feeling."
"It's an invasion army," Obi-Wan gathered.
Qui-Gon turned grim once he realized this. "It's an off play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up. Stow aboard on separate ships and meet down on the planet."
"You were right about one thing, Master." Obi-wan smiled before turning to Shasta and his master. "The negotiations were short."
