Woohoo! Update:) Sorry for the delay. Between my schedule (which is just about to get busier -.-") and my other fanfics, I haven't really had time to update this one. I am really enjoying writing this, though, and the last thing I'd do is discontinue it, so just check me out every once in a while for updates. :)

Also--the story takes place pretty much right before Episode 3. The flashbacks (this one, anyway) take place a few months before Episode 1. I got that straightened out now. ;)

Hope you enjoy it!
--Titan

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While allowing the Force to guide her through the halls, the Sith Angel was slowly making her way toward the Chancellor; she was sure the portly senator would take a while to get to the Jedi Temple to warn the Knights of the intrusion.

Sidious's apprentice carefully went over her orders; in the back of her mind, the angel recalled vividly a failed attack from when she lived on Naboo with Sidious. She had been about four standard years of age, and though still considered a very young child (she might have been considered a toddler—her wings rather inhibited her walk.), was quite intelligent and already highly skilled with the Force. The Sith Angel had been ordered to give an important and rather lethal message to the young new Queen Amidala.

"You are learning fast, my young Padawan".The small angel bowed her head lower at the compliment; her master's compliments were few and far between. " There is something I need you to do. Take this—" Sidious handed the Sith Angel a disk—"and be sure the queen gets it. This is of great importance to my plans. Is this understood?"

"Yes, my Master," the angel responded, staring at Sidious's feet. "I will not fail you." Grabbing her long, hooded cloak, the Sith Angel flew out of the window towards the queen's palace.

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Landing in a large garden on the side of the Great Palace of Naboo, the angel hurriedly but carefully draped her cloak over her shoulders, being sure to cover her black hair, marked face, and wings. She scurried up the stone steps, winding past the legs of a senator entering the building. The angel felt a surge of disturbance in the Force when she passed the man. Pausing for a moment to look back, she found him dressed in lavish navy blue and black robes with a friendly but worn face and graying light brown hair.

The Sith Angel snapped back out of her trance just as the senator opened his mouth to say something. "Uhh…gotta go!" She scampered off through the marble halls, her footsteps echoing off of the walls. Watching the young child leave, the senator made a sinister smile that would have been all too familiar to the young angel, had she seen.

Reaching out with the Force, the Sith Angel tried to locate the presence of the Naboo queen. Amidala was found in a heated discussion with a flickering blue holoscan of a Trade Federation representative. Her loyal guards, handmaidens, and Senators accompanied her.

Just the challenge I need, the dark apprentice thought hopefully, Master will be pleased if I'm able to deliver the message undetected with all the queen's precious lackies bumbling about.

She followed the sonar map of the palace the Force delivered to her, ending up right outside the queen's doors. Mentally reaching out into the room, the Sith Angel observed the position of the queen's servants and her flustered majesty herself, disconnecting the palace hologram communicator.

"Do you need something?" A fatherly voice came up from behind the cloaked child. Startled, Sidious's apprentice jumped and turned in midair, landing in a defensive position, not noticing her hood sliding off her face. The speaker was the elderly (AN: Don't say anything, Christina! He's old, whether you like it or not! So there. ;) JK.) senator the angel recognized from before. Feeling his presence again made her stomach crawl.

"What do you want?" The angel's voice was unnaturally low and menacing for the age she was. She glared at him threateningly with deep black eyes, ignoring the stray strands of hair falling in her face.

The fatherly senator was unabashed. "Why do you wish to see Her Majesty?"

The angel decided to tell the truth. A fragment, at least. "My master wishes to deliver a message to your highness."

" 'Your highness'?" The friendly man's brow furrowed.

"She may be your queen, but she does not rule me. No one does." The angel tensed.

The senator cocked his head to the side, "Rebellious, aren't we? But, yet you speak of a 'master'. What is his or her name? I will bring your message to the queen; I am highly trusted by her and—" Getting tired of this man's senseless blabber, she bore her slightly pointed canines, leapt in the air, and did a roundhouse kick that landed squarely on the man's jaw. He fell to the ground, out cold.

The Sith Angel sighed, "Politicians." Reaching into the Force, she gained control of the unconscious man's body, getting him to stand up and straighten himself out. Controlling both her own and now the senator's body also, her words flowed through him. They spoke at the same time, "Now, old man, we will see just how trusted you are to your precious queen."

As she told the senator to open the decadent double doors, the angel straightened her cloak, readjusting the hood so her face was covered and making sure her lightsaber was in access. She took the man's hand and entered the door.

They entered the room to find the leader of the queen's bodyguards pacing, the handmaidens gossiping, and Queen Amidala was just as expressionless as ever, staring at goodness knows what.

The senator the angel was holding the hand of was under her complete control. He spoke exactly what the Sith Angel ordered him to, "My queen," he bowed, "This young lady is my niece who traveled here from my home planet in the Outer Rim. She's been wanting to meet the Queen of Naboo, and also wishes to deliver a message." He indicated the disk in his 'niece's' free hand.

The queen's lead bodyguard's gaze flicked over Palpatine's 'niece' and walked over to Amidala, whispering something in her white-painted ear. The queen ordered in her authoritative monotone, "Remove your hood."

The Angel took a half step back, playing the 'shy little girl' act. She shook her head, no.

"It wasn't a request. But, if you won't comply, then I wish to know the origin and meaning of your tattoos." The queen's gaze went from the young angel's hooded face to her exposed 'tattooed' hand.

She snarled once again, releasing the senator's hand and her mental hold on him, sending the still unconscious man toppling to the floor. The guards rushed in, all of which were knocked out in a matter of a few minutes. Undetected to the angel, the queen called for more security using a device hidden under her throne.

Hearing the clatter of footsteps down the echoing hall, the dark apprentice glared once more at the queen. She then stuffed the disk into the palace holoprojector, leaving the queen and her giggling, gossiping handmaidens watching in shock as a sinister hooded man 'welcomed' Amidala to the wonderful, honest world of politics. Ya, right. It was really a threat.

About 25 more guards burst through the double doors, chasing after the sprinting child. Covering her face with her hands, the angel launched herself through a window framed with stained glass, unfurling her black wings and soaring into the clear afternoon sky.

She heard blaster bolts being fired as she flew in a zigzag pattern, both avoiding being shot and shaking clear and colored glass from her long black hair and cloak. She would have to mend the scratches and cuts on her face and hands later.

A laser bolt zipped past her ear and the angel decided to make a complicated flying pattern as to not be easily aimed at. She realized she failed when pain lanced up her left wing, almost outside the palace grounds and firing range.

Almost.

The Sith Angel folded her wing in when every other movement made her convulse slightly with strains and screams of pain from her wing muscles. She struggled to keep her right wing stiff with the opposition of air resistance and currents and went into a sloppy spiraled dive towards the ground.

When she was still about fifty feet in the air, she blacked out.

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There ya go. Please leave a review. Also, if you're wondering, Palpatine didn't fight back not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want his apprentice to know who his 'alter ego' was, yet. I hope that straightens things out. :)

Thanks again to Angel of Twisted Souls and Music is my Muse for reviewing again. Thanks also to doreenthatshot, my new reviewer! Virtual cookies to all!
--Titan o( 'u' )o