Dignitaries representing Naboo and Corellia celebrated inside the grand ballroom of Palpatine's Naboo Palace. Palpatine appeared as a respectable man, his Chancellor robes of raven gray coincided with his evenly white hair. Governor Bibble and Apailana seated next to him, her royal outfit of white and gray tones contrasted that of the Chancellor. Behind him stood two of his red guards, ever attentive and ever menacing Teek thought to himself.
Teek spied his lavish, scarlet attire supplied to him when he entered his room. It made him look eerily respectable; however he remained steadfast that no matter what the Chancellor offered to him, he would remain on Naboo. If only Rité would follow suit, he thought.
A familiar finger tapped Teek on his shoulder, stunned; he rotated to see Rité in a dazzling jade dress that reminded him of the Naboo plains. Her firebrand head glazed with her jewel-like eyes capturing Teek with a sense of awe he'd never seen.
"Who are you?" He joked, forming a grin as he took her hand. E3 rolled in behind her, chirping as he recorded the event. Scanning the room, he noticed Representative Binks; his floppy ears made him more of a grotesque than a respectable senator. His clumsiness made others of Naboo groan and cringe, but he has served the needs of the Naboo well in the Republic despite his motion to create the new military. Boss Nass; his lumpy Gungan form heaved himself into a seat to the right of Senator Binks. Further on the table, E3 spied Palpatine's only female aide; the eerily pale Sly Moore and the twin-horned Chagrian, Mas Amedda, and the human, Sate Pestage.
Sly Moore glanced in the direction of the students, Teek returned the gaze with an uncanny emotion. They seated themselves across from Governor Bibble, while the representatives of Corellian Engineering Corporation joked and laughed with the man. Senator Shyla Merricope, acted on behalf of Corellia for this gala as Senator Bel Iblis attended other matters sat beside the board members.
"With all these dignitaries, who's minding the Republic," Teek whispered into Rité's ear.
A grin marked her face, "Well, at least it's not Senator Binks." Jar Jar lunged for a piece of fruit on his plate with his lengthy tongue. He gleamed over to see Rité was also watching him; in return a smirk that stretched his face welcomed her, along with a slight retraction of embarrassment.
"This seems to me like a room full of lobbyists and scandalous repositories for those credits," Teek whispered to Rité. Rité's elbow entered his rib as she gracefully returned to a smiling posture at Senator Binks.
Palpatine had commissioned this room to entertain dignitaries and special guests during his retreats on Naboo. A gigantic chandelier hung from the ceiling, glimmering onto the floor like a rain of light, which did nothing to enhance Sly Moore's ghastly appearance, Teek thought. The walls were adorned with statues of a non-Naboo origin. Teek had seen these types of statues in ancient legends that he studied in his spare time. Statues telling of ancient warriors adorned the sides of the room, a frieze displayed horrific events of an ancient battle on the wall behind the Chancellor.
Palpatine scraped the side of his drink with a piece of silverware to call attention to his speech, "Greetings representatives and guests, I would like to call attention to an important agreement that Naboo has made to Corellia that I am honored to announce. It would seem that after years of research, the natural energies that flow below the surface can be harnessed into hyperdrives. Garnor Viz, would you be honored to demonstrate please?"
"Of course, Chancellor," Garnor Viz, product specialist for Corellian Engineering Corporation, arose from his seat. Garnor Viz appeared as a rough man, a man who has seen his share of bad days. A small scar cracked on his left cheek, his hair appeared lighter in tone than Sly Moore's complexion. He raised a holo projector out of his cobalt coat pocket, and punched to activate it.
An image of an YT-1300 Corellian freighter appeared in front of the guests as the ceiling chandelier gradually dimmed to adjust to the display. The saucer-shaped craft, with its abnormally placed cockpit to the starboard side, rotated, displaying the main components as Garnor Viz presented his demonstration.
"Corellian Engineering Corporation has achieved a method of using the natural plasma stored within the surfaces of Naboo to work in combination with our freighters making them faster than most standard ships, albeit within the legal limits. Without any modifications to our standard product, this plasma can allow the hyperdrive to function at point seven past light speed making them our fastest craft ever.
"We have not yet begun production on a full line of ships to take advantage of this modification, but we have modified a couple of our existing stock to accommodate for this fuel boost. We present to the planet of Naboo, as a grand gesture of our appreciation for using their resources one of those ships, the Millennium Falcon, one of our older ships, modified out of retirement for this upgrade.Just one, five-hundred gram ball of Naboo plasma can power the hyperdrive for up to 20 years before natural decay."
Senator Binks looked on with a sense of confused curiosity.
"With the resources of the plasma, any governments or corporations can move their freight faster, and with more efficiency without ever having to replace expensive hyperdrive components for many years as the plasma degrades into harmless static inside the drive. The plasma can be used as a boost to any existing, aging fleets."
"I wonder who they bribed to believe that," Teek whispered to Rité. She elbowed him again slightly in his side. The projection ended as the lights came up. Palpatine and the representatives of Naboo congratulated the presentation and the gift. Viz replaced the projector back into his pocket, and straightened his tan pants before sitting next to Senator Merricope.
"To our next order of business, I would like to introduce the two finest students to have graduated from the Naboo Academy. My special guests here at this dinner: Teek Epilani; master marksman and officer; graduated top of his class with perfect scores, an achievement no Naboo has reached in recent years."
Teek stood up, waving at the guests as he straightened another loose curl that fell onto his forehead.
"And, the lovely Rité Jaderrie; never has Naboo seen a finer example of quality droid engineering and proficiency in academia; also too, graduating with perfect scores in the top of her class."
Rité arose from her seat and smiled at the dignitaries before issuing a curtsy. The pair placed themselves back into their seats. The party continued to revel in food and drink as well as friendship and security. Jar Jar provided much entertainment to Rité during the course of her meal. Never had she seen such comedic antics of an absurd creature. She had been around Gungans most of her life since the treaty of the two species after the Naboo blockade, but never seen any as clumsy. The meal ended without much fanfare as Palpatine and his aides had ushered the guests away toward the end of the evening.
Back in her room on the Palace grounds, Rité robed into her nighttime clothing; cerulean robes of simple stature noting her common caste. E3 began to chirp as her door opened, revealing Teek in a simple jumpsuit. Teek strode over to her bed to place at her side. E3 whistled again, this time jerking his body slightly.
"What is wrong, E3?" Rité asked. "He's been acting strangely since we got to this place. Honestly, Teek, it really does spook me."
E3 whirred and whistled some more.
"Come here E3, let me fix you. A motivator might be bad." Rité reached underneath her bed to remove her foot locker. She freed the latches, revealing a small set of droid tools. The fire-hair sank a bit as she leaned over to grab a small tool, and then motioned E3 over in front of her. E3 waddled to position. She began to work on a small plate on his dome, fidgeting with an electronic component at that moment E3 projected a static holoimage in front of the humans.
"What's this?" Teek queried.
"I don't know. E3, start from the beginning."
E3 started to play his holo image. The sharp blue silhouetted man placed a cowl over his head, flanked by the guards dressed similarly to those that accompany Palpatine. As the image progressed, a faint signature of a holo communication appeared in front of him, the faded appearance of a bearded, regal older man began to speak, though the words were indiscernible in this recording as the template-like voice of a clone trooper asked, "What is wrong with your droid?" ended the playback.
"That couldn't have been Palpatine?" Rité asked.
"Hard to tell, but this palace sure is creepy. That man in the image almost looked like Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists."
"But why would Palpatine talk to the Count? Surely he wouldn't be negotiating a peace treaty without the consent of the Senate and surely not without their company?"
"He wouldn't be talking peace, if he is conspiring with the Separatists to fake a war." Teek assured.
"If that is the case, we need to let the Senate know."
"We need to find out more information."
"How are we going to get close to him without him being suspicious?" Rité concerned.
"I wish I knew that one. I don't believe our presence here is a matter of recognition." Teek blazed a cringing look, a suspicious look.
"What do you mean, Teek?"
"I wish I understood it myself." Teek reassured her. He pecked his lips on her forehead and exited the room.
Rité let out a small sigh. If the Chancellor had been talking to Dooku; what are they discussing? Peace? Surely the Chancellor is not in league with the Count, she wondered. What if it wasn't the Chancellor but another person who assassinated Palpatine, while his guards were privy to the murder plot and had reported the progress to Dooku? Questions fluttered her mind, doubts circulated her emotions. The Chancellor has the best interests of the Republic; surely he could not betray the people.