We already discussed what this whole thing is going to be so let's get started.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.

XxXxXxX

"Talking."

'Thinking.'

First person narration.

"Dialogue said in the past."

XxXxXxX

Being a bounty hunter isn't a job for just anyone, it takes a certain type of person who would be willing to become a gun-for-hire, willing to do just about any job for the right price. Now then you have to divide that into three more subsections of dirty casuals, temps, and pros. The "dirty casuals" are the guys that think they're tough, that think that they're made for this lifestyle, but miserably fail and end up leaving with their tail between their legs in a few months of not getting any well-paying work. The temps are people looking for a quick buck to supplement their income to buy that new speeder, that engagement ring for their lover, or a payment for some expensive thing. Then you have the pros. These are the people that are hired at exorbitant prices for jobs that some would consider suicide or treasonous by most laws on Republic worlds. This ranges from simple high-profile protection jobs, hunting down identified serial killers and war criminals, and assassinations of high profile targets. Then there's the word "bounty hunter," there will be two reactions to it depending on your reputation, if you're new or not known you'll be spat on for choosing a career where you kill people as a hired gun, or people will tremble in fear at your name if you're well-known hunter like Shae Vizla back in the day or Jaster Mereel or Jango Fett as of recent. But me, I'm just starting out. Who am I? Well, my name is Harry Skirata, adopted son of Kal Skirata at your service, for the right price that is.

XxXxXxX

Spaceport Cantina, Naboo.

Harry rested in the spaceport cantina after turning in a bail jumper from Naboo. Sure, it was an easy job, but a job's a job. He waited in the corner booth waiting for his order when he realized that the cantina was abnormally empty considering it was the lunch hour at a spaceport that still had a lot of traffic coming in and out of it.

A human male with dark skin walked in wearing the Nubian security force uniform and looked around before saying "Clear" into a comlink. What happened next was unexpected, to say the least. In walked the Queen of Naboo of all people along with four of her handmaidens. What he definitely didn't see coming was when the queen and her guard, well he assumed that he was her captain of the guard or something, sat down at his booth while the handmaidens stood a few paces behind her.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked very politely as he sat up.

"Are you Hadrian Skirata of Mandalore?" the dark skinned man asked.

"Normally I'd ask who's asking, but this time, I'll ask depends on why you're asking?" Harry cautiously replied, keeping both of his hands on the glass but keeping his micro-missile launcher on his left arm aimed casually at the man as he would draw first if things went south.

The man looked to the queen and she looked just past Harry to look at something behind him then nodded to try man. "My name is Captain Panaka of the Nubian Royal Guard and on behalf of the Queen of Naboo we would like to hire you as a privately funded bodyguard," the captain requested.

"Nubian say what now?" Harry asked in turn with an extremely confused expression on his face.

"We would like to hire you," Panaka repeated.

"Are you sure you aren't looking for my father Kal Skirata? I mean I guarded some schmuck a few months ago, but not a political leader."

"He directly referred us to you. He said this job was right up your alley," the captain replied. "That and he said that this would cover the repairs on his ship that you damaged."

"I steal his ship one time to go to the capital and meet up with a few friends and bend a landing strut and he forever holds it over my head," he muttered just loud enough for one of the handmaidens hear who giggled a little at the abridged story. "So what's the reason you need a Mando as a bodyguard?"

The captain looked to the queen and the queen looked again past Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the handmaidens nod very slightly if Harry were any normal person he would have missed it. After all keen eyes make the difference between life and death. "The Trade Federation has been making moves in the last few months consistent with preparations for a blockade, or that's the conclusion we've made from the reports that our scouts have brought back from the edge of the system."

"And you want me to what, protect her from assassination attempts?"

"If it comes to that."

"Fun..."

"You will be well compensated for your time," the queen stated.

"How long would this be for? If it's any longer than a few weeks I'll have to make arrangements for personal affairs," Harry asked.

"It will be as long as it takes for the Trade Federation to cease their absurd demands," the captain answered.

"Do you have-?"

The captain handed Harry a datapad. He looked at the amount and internally whistled, that was quite an amount of zeroes. Harry set it down calmly. "I'll only agree if the docking fee is waived on my ship during the duration of the contract and one fuel refill on my ship free of charge."

The captain looked to the queen seeking approval for the change in the job's payment. Harry once more saw out of the corner of his eye the handmaiden nodding. "Your amendments to the contract are acceptable," the queen stated.

"Excellent," Harry replied as he held out his hand, "then we have a deal." The captain shook his hand to seal the agreement. "So, when do I start?"

"Today, if possible," Panaka replied.

"Oh, good." Harry looked past the queen and looked at the one handmaiden. "Your highness, you really should learn more discreet signals for your double." She looked shocked, to say the least, that someone saw through the façade. "And you, miss double need to look less conspicuous when looking for approval or disapproval from the queen; make your movements less obvious and more natural looking. If you want to keep the façade of who's who I recommend getting some tips from a professional spy, they're masters of subtlety."

"How did-?" Panaka asked, just as bewildered as the queen and her body double were.

"Trade secrets." Harry then stood up, "Now if you'll excuse me I need to make some calls before I do a rundown of your security and contingency protocols if I'm going to protect her highness properly." He left the cantina leaving his new employers in a stupor with a smug grin on his face as he placed his helmet on his head.

XxXxXxX

Naboo Royal Palace.

Harry snuck through the Royal Palace in full Mandalorian armor. He was impressed by some of the security measures in place but was disappointed by others. From a stronghold standpoint, the palace was secure enough to hold out long enough for a reactionary force to either defeat invaders or evacuate the queen, but was inadequate in preventing assassins using stealthy methods from getting to the queen.

Finally, he arrived in the throne room where he walked in and pointed his finger like a blaster as he pointed it at the queen and said, "Dead."

"Pardon?" she asked the guards at a slightly higher alertness level.

"I finished analyzing your current security. In a standoff or invasion scenario, the palace's defenses would be able to hold off most attackers, assuming that they don't endlessly spam droids at you to basically starve you out or until the munitions in the armory are gone. From an assassin standpoint someone who has any form of motion tracker tech can avoid the guards and those with a stealth-field generator or thermal coatings can avoid most cameras meaning they'd have a straight shot at you, your highness," Harry explained.

"And how would you increase the defenses in the case of an assassin?" Panaka asked, slightly miffed that a Mandalorian teen as able to get past his trained security staff.

"Pressure sensors, checkpoints, irregularly timed patrols that are never in sequence and an EMP generator in the throne room."

"The first three are logically sound, but what about the last one?"

Harry pulled out a small handheld device and pressed a button. "Shoot me," he told Panaka.

"Shoot you?"

"Yeah, I'm wearing beshkar anyway so just aim for a solid piece and fire one off."

Panaka reluctantly pulled out his blaster and aimed at the teen's chest and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He pulled the trigger several more times but only got a clicking of the trigger impacting the back of the trigger guard. He checked the power pack and saw that it was fine. "What did you do?"

Harry held up his hand holding the device. "Your highness, this is a portable EMP device, currently every blaster in this room is useless until I either turn this off or the power runs out. It's super nifty when capturing bounties alive. However, don't mistake this as a shield as it won't stop blaster bolts fired outside the field as it messes with the electrical firing coil."

"Those would be very useful in the throne room."

"I'd be willing to part with them permanently, for a price," Harry said with a smirk.

XxXxXxX

One week later.

Harry sat at a desk in his assigned quarters a few rooms away from the Queen's quarters, which was a good hundred meters as the Queen's suite was quite enormous as she had her body double sleeping in the same quarters, assembling a disassembled weapon before putting it inside a duffle bag along with several magazines of munitions. He did the same to several blaster rifles and pistols.

The door to his quarters opened. He looked over and saw that the real Queen Amidala, otherwise known by very few as Padme, walk into the room wearing her Handmaiden uniform. "Doing busy work?" she asked.

"Making go-bags," Harry replied as he placed a set of power packs and a stack of credit chits in the bag.

"Go-bag?" she asked as she looked over his shoulder.

"We both know that with the Trade Federation setting their control ships in orbit to 'take a rest from traveling' it won't be long until they start a blockade. When that happens they'll pressure you to do something against your will, starving out the 'castle', so to speak. Knowing you, you won't give in and they'll escalate to invasion at some point. The go-bags are for taking necessary supplies at a moment's notice, for me I have weapons and several thousand Republic credits and other money for other systems not a part of the Republic or those that recognize their own authority."

"Those that aren't a part of the Republic?"

"You know, like systems controlled by the Hutt Cartel. Nar Shadaa, Nal Hutta and the like. Not everyone thinks the Republic is full of sunshine and rainbows," Harry scoffed.

"What is your beef with the Republic? All you've done is talk down about it," she, understandably, yelled.

Harry stood up and sighed before looking her dead in the eye. "The Republic in and of itself isn't a bad idea-."

"See? Then what's your problem?"

"The idea from the beginning was a good thing, allowing those with less power to stand up to those with a lot of it, score one for the little guys. However, that began to change when your predecessors began allowing corporations in the government, giving them seats of power. When that happened they invited corruption into their ranks. Sure there are a few good senators unable to be swayed by money, however, they won't be in power forever and they will be replaced by someone who sways the way of whoever wants them on their side with a little extra cashflow for the month if you catch my drift."

"There aren't that many corrupt people in the Senate," she stated indignantly.

"Really?" Harry replied incredulously. "Does the Kaleesh-Bitthaevrian War ring any bells?"

"Not that I can recall," Padme honestly replied.

"My father had a few contacts on Kalee at the time, a Wookiee if I recall, the Republic pinned the blame on the wrong guys, the Bitthaeverians were the ones invading and the Kaleesh were repelling invaders that wanted to enslave them."

"But… the Republic wouldn't allow that to happen!"

"Princess, like I said before, there's those that only care about the bottom line and lining their pockets with credits. The Bitts paid off someone in the Senate sympathetic to their cause, they, in turn, got the Senate to support the Bitts rather than the Kaleesh. Now the Kaleesh are suffering for rightfully defending themselves while their one-time aggressors now revel in whatever they consider luxury." Harry huffed, "Corruption at its finest."

"But-."

"But nothing, princess. You need to know this now, the politics of Naboo are nothing compared to the politics of the Core; they care little about the rock you come from. You need to look out for your people first before you start thinking of others because others might be thinking of what they can get out of you for rendering assistance. Your people elected you into office, your first duty is to them."

"I know that! Argh! Why do you have to be so frustrating?!"

"You love me this way," Harry teased.

She sat down on his bed before laying back. "What did the Republic do to make you hate it so much?"

"I don't hate the Republic, I hate what it's become: a corrupt system where the powerful remain powerful not through politics designed to help, but money being deposited in the right accounts. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if more systems break away and try to form their own system of government and go back to the roots of what the Republic was founded on: a government for the people, by the people."

"I can see where you're coming from," Padme admitted. While she did have hope in democracy, there was corruption in the system. "But I believe that democracy will prevail."

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree," Harry said before standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to place this bag somewhere safe."

XxXxXxX

Three days later. Throne Room.

The entire royal entourage, Governor Bibble, and Captain Panaka stood along with Harry, who stood in the corner, who watched along with the Queen a transmission from Coruscant. "The negotiations haven't started because the ambassadors aren't there? How could that be true, I have assurances from the Chancellor that his ambassadors have arrived."

The transmission then began to become garbled before completely shutting down. "Senator Palpatine, what's happening?" the queen asked.

"Check the transmission generator," Panaka ordered his men.

"Either the esteemed senator doesn't want to talk anymore or the Trade Federation is making their move," Harry said which got him a pointed look. "My money's on the latter."

"A communication's disruption can only mean one thing: invasion," Bibble confirmed.

"The Federation would not dare go that far," the queen stated.

"The Senate would revoke their trade franchise, they'd be finished," Panaka attempted to reassure the room's occupants.

"We must continue to rely on negotiation," she added.

"Negotiation? We lost all communications. And where are the Chancellor's ambassadors?"

Panaka turned toward the queen, "This is a dangerous situation, your highness. Our security volunteers, sans Mr. Skirata, will be no match against a battle-hardened Federation army."

"I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war," the queen adamantly, yet monotone, replied.

"We need to follow through with the Winter Contingency," Harry said, breaking the silence.

"But we'll be blasted apart by the blockade!" Panaka shouted.

"I have a feeling that we'll get some help in that soon issue," Harry said cryptically.

"Anything we should know about that?" Panaka annoyed with the Mandalorian, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, just a feeling." Harry then left the throne room without being dismissed, after all even if they didn't execute the contingency plan, he would. "And a feeling of a coming annoyance as well," he muttered. Several probe droids reported several Trade Federation landing ships landing on the other side of the planet. "Now why would you be landing there?" Harry questioned, rubbing his chin.

XxXxXxX

Hours later.

Federation MTTs and tanks flanked by battalions of battle droids marched into the city of Theed from the fields outside where many farmers lived. The queen looked out of one of the many windows that overlooked the palace's square where in the past former rulers would make announcements and decrees in the days before transmitters, but primarily ceremonies in this age. She watched as droids marched into the palace and 'ate her words' as Harry would say after all the Federation did just invade. She remembered back to what he said before he disappeared.

"The first thing they'll do is eliminate any possibilities for revolt or resistance, that means yours truly needs to lay low for a bit. Don't you fret, though, I'll be watching, waiting to spring you loose," he had said.

Eventually, she was found by the droids. Her handmaidens, security team and the governor were lead slowly out of the palace by an armed guard and a certain Neimoidian who looked way too smug. "How will you explain this to the Senate?" Bibble asked.

"The queen and I will sign a treaty that will legitimize my occupation here," Gunray replied. "I have assurances that it will be ratified by the Senate."

"I will not cooperate," Amidala said sternly.

"Now, now, your highness. In time the suffering of your people will persuade you to see things from our point of view," Gunray replied. He then turned to an approaching, yellow marked droid, "Commander."

"Yes, sir?" it asked.

"Process them," he replied menacingly.

"Captain, take them to Camp Four."

"Roger, roger," the droid 'captain' replied. The entirety of the queen's entourage and herself were escorted by the droids out of the palace.

They walked down the main stairwell where they saw their fellow Nubians also being escorted by droids out of their homes and businesses to also be 'processed' at other camps. Little did the droids and the party know, they were being watched by two other parties.

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Apprentice Obi-wan Kenobi, and local Jar Jar Binks snuck through the city of Theed avoiding patrols of battle droids and battle droid led civilian prisoners. The Force led them to a pedestrian overpass connecting two sets of luxury homes. "Hold up," Qui-Gon ordered quietly.

The three stopped abruptly, Jar Jar knocking into Obi-wan. "What is it, master?" he asked.

"That," he replied as he pointed to a red dot on the wall.

"A red dot?"

It then began to flash in a pattern. "Queen rounding the corner in thirty seconds. You take the front, I take rear," Qui-Gon dictated.

"You-sa have anudder friend?" Binks asked.

"It appears so," Qui-Gon replied.

"Who could it be?" Obi-wan asked.

Jinn heard droids marching towards their position. "We'll have time to answer that later. Get ready."

The battle droids approached the overpass with their chosen escortees in tow. The two Jedi pulled out their lightsabers and gave each other a look, a silent 'may the Force be with you.' The droids were within a few meters of the bridge when the Jedi leaped down and activated their lightsabers. Harry watched from an open steeple-like structure across the street through his sniper scope that one of the gungan toting around with the Jedi was holding on to the railing above him.

The apprentice jumped in the air after landing, kicking two droids before slicing another in front of him. The master, on the other hand, deflected several bolts before slicing a droid of his own. At this point Harry noticed that the gungan leaped from one side of the overpass and landed on the other end, confusing a droid that was aiming at it. The master, killing another droid, then pushed two droids with the Force somehow severing something inside it. The padawan beheaded a different droid with his blade before killing its buddy. One final droid started to run away and alert its comrades but it was cut down by a silent and invisible round. Both Jedi extinguished their blades before placing them back on their belts.

"We should leave the streets, your highness," Qui-Gon stated as he gestured to a side-street.

"I agree," Harry said as he landed after using his jump pack, a long-barreled kinetic-based rifle in his arms.

Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, pointing the blade's tip at Harry's helmet's visor. "What do you want, Mandalorian?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"You are lucky that we are on the same side today, Jetii," Harry spat his reply.

Qui-Gon reached over and lowered his apprentice's weapon. "He's right. He had ample opportunity to fire at us, but didn't," Qui-Gon stated. "That's a Verpine Shatter Gun, almost impossible to block the shots unless you see the gun and its wielder."

"As much as I would love to discuss how I could have killed you, Jetii, I would rather fulfill my protection contract," Harry said as he tossed a blaster rifle discarded by the destroyed droids to a security team member.

"He's right. Get their weapons," Panaka ordered his subordinates. They obeyed and scrambled as they each grabbed a blaster.

"We-sa got bombad," the gungan said out of nowhere, causing Harry's hidden eyebrow to rise.

The walked into an alcove off the streets, Harry kept an eye on the street for more droids investigating why their fellow droids didn't call in. "We are ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor," Qui-Gon explained.

"Oh yeah, because what else would Jedi be doing out here in the middle of a crisis?" Harry sarcastically snipped to the nearby Padme.

"Your negotiations seemed to have failed, ambassador," Bibble replied to the Jedi.

"The negotiations never took place. It is important that we make contact with the Republic," Jinn said.

"They've knocked out all our communications," Panaka replied.

"And I've tried to hack them, didn't work," Harry said from the rear.

"Do you have transport?" Jinn asked.

Panaka thought for a moment, thinking of the closest transport. "In the main hangar, this way," he gestured. They moved out towards the Royal Hangar, avoiding patrols of droids.

"Oh, how I would prefer my ship instead," Harry lamented.

"It's in the spaceport, in case you've forgotten," Padme whispered her reply. "They probably have the spaceport on lockdown and have orders to shoot any ship leaving without authorization."

The entourage stopped at a crossing where a tank passed them by as they hid behind cover. "Doesn't mean that I still can't wish we were going in it instead, it has guns."

After several more streets of sneaking that would have made professional Ghosts proud, they arrived at the main Royal Hangar. Panaka looked inside before ducking back. "There's too many of them," he stated.

"Won't be a problem," Jinn replied in reassurance. He then turned to the queen, "Under the circumstances, I recommend you come to Coruscant with us."

"Thank you, ambassador, but my place is with my people," the 'queen' replied.

"They will kill you if you stay," Jinn bluntly replied.

"They wouldn't dare," Bibble retorted.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal. They can't afford to kill her," Panaka added.

"There's something else behind this, your highness, there's no logic in the Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you," Jinn directly addressed the queen.

"That's what I'd do if I were these dishonorable scum," Harry muttered. "Shoot you in the back of the head in some public spectacle after getting you to sign that treaty." They all gave him a look. "What? Fear tactics 101."

"Our only hope is if the Senate will side with us. Senator Palpatine needs your help!" Bibble pleaded with the queen.

"Either choice brings danger to us all," the queen finished looking right at Padme.

"We are brave, your highness," Padme replied.

'It seems like my lessons in subtly didn't sink in,' Harry thought to himself.

"If you are to leave, your highness, it must be now," said Jinn.

The queen didn't pause for a moment before replying, "Then I will plead our case to the Senate." The Jedi led the way, Harry, closely on their heels. "Be careful, governor," the queen said to Bibble.

The entourage approached the droids, Panaka spotted the pilots needed to pilot the yacht. "We'll need to free those pilots," Panaka stated.

"I'll deal with that," Obi-Wan stated, lowering the guard's arm before approaching the droids.

"Halt," the lead yellow painted droid commanded, "where are you taking them?"

"To-," Jinn started to say.

"This statement is false," Harry casually interrupted the Jedi.

"If this statement is false, then it must be true," one droid stated.

"But if it is true, then it must be false," another replied.

The droids became occupied, arguing on whether the statement was true because it was false, or false because it was true. "What did you do?" Jinn asked quietly.

"Paradoxes, works every time," Harry smugly replied.

Harry then waved over the entourage behind him to start filing into the yacht. As they filed in, apparently one managed to break free from the paradox's hold. "Where are they going?" the droid asked.

"Up your sheb and around the corner," Harry said before raising his rifle and burying a metal round in the droid's central processor near the pilots while Jinn sliced the droids in front of him in half.

"I thought you said it works every time," Jinn jested.

Harry sidestepped a blaster bolt that spattered harmlessly against the empty ramp that the queen had gone up just moments ago. "Depends on the model." Harry then shot another approaching droid as the apprentice killed two droids before deflecting two others blaster bolts back into their bodies.

"Go!" he shouted to the pilots. Without hesitation, they left at a mad sprint and boarded the yacht.

As they boarded the two Jedi and the Mandalorian, sworn enemies, battled alongside each other killing battle droids. The Jedi slicing droids in half or deflecting blaster bolts back to their progenitors, Harry killing each droid with extreme prejudice with a headshot each dead-center in their foreheads. In a feat that Jinn thought was impressive for someone who used blasters and other handheld weapons, Harry aimed behind him and fired, taking down another droid without looking. The engines began to warm up and the Jedi and Mandalorian ran up the ramp before it sealed shut.

On his way up to the cockpit, Harry checked up on the queen and Padme and found that they were in the primary 'audience' chamber of her yacht. Harry ran in just as the ship breached atmosphere. Qui-Gon appeared through the door shortly after he did. The yacht quickly approached the blockade. Immediately the fleet of Droid Control ships opened fire and laser fire surrounded the civilian vessel. One of the rounds found home and struck just above the starboard side engine.

"Shield generator's been hit," Ric Olie, the pilot, reported.

"Next, they'll go for the engines," Harry commented. "Keep evading," he ordered.

"I'll try," he replied as he activated the astromech units.

Obi-Wan, the padawan, walked in as the droids started to work on the generator conduit. They watched as two were easily blasted away by cannon fire. "We're losing droids, fast," he commented.

"If we can't get the shield generators up, we'll be sitting ducks," Panaka commented.

"No shit," Harry quipped. "They want us alive, taking those droids out to keep us from deploying shields and jumping to hyperspace is their goal."

Explosions jarred the ship as cannon fire grazed and missed the ship by mere meters. One more droid was blasted away. "The shields are gone," Olie reported. "We should abort now while we still have the chance."

"Keep on course," both Harry and the Jedi replied at the same time.

Tense seconds passed as the console lit up green. "The power's back!" Olie said bewildered. "That little droid did it, it bypassed the main power line!"

"You clever, little bugger," Harry muttered in amusement.

"Deflector shields up at maximum," Olie replied as he flipped a switch. He then piloted the yacht between two sets of quad-linked turbolaser batteries. The droid reentered the ship as they passed the Control Ship that was firing on them. "There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant, the hyperdrive is leaking."

"Either the Federation sabotaged us or something else is amiss," Harry said loud enough for the rest of the cockpit to hear.

"We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship," Jinn said.

Obi-Wan was over on the navicomputer terminal. He pulled up several files on nearby planets before announcing, "There master, Tatooine. It's a small, out of the way world. The Trade Federation has no presence there."

"How can you be sure?" Panaka asked.

"The Hutt cartels," Harry replied before Jinn could.

"You can't take her royal highness there! The Hutts are gangsters if they discovered her-!"

"It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation, except the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us the advantage," Jinn interrupted.

"As much as I hate to agree with the Jetii, in this I agree," Harry added. "So long as we don't bring too much attention to ourselves we should be ghosts on that desert rock. All we have to hope is that the Federation doesn't put a capture alive hit out to the Bounty Hunter Guild."

Panaka, the two Jedi, and Harry excused themselves from the cockpit allowing Ric to work in relative peace and moved towards the queen's audience chamber. Panaka went down to the maintenance bay and returned a minute later with a heavily carbon scarred droid. They eventually entered once the queen was ready for them. Panaka began his report, telling her of what she could not see due to the location of the room on the yacht. He finished up by presenting the droid that saved all their lives, "It's a well put together little droid, your highness. Without a doubt, it saved the ship as well as our lives."

"It is to be commended," the queen ordered.

'That's a thing?' Harry asked himself with a raised eyebrow more out of curiosity. For this specific meeting, his helmet was held under his arm, allowing the two Jedi to see the young Mandalorian's face for the first time.

"What is its number?"

Panaka leaned over to see what the serial number was. "R2-D2, your highness," he replied.

"Thank you, R2-D2."

The droid chirped a reply. "One of the few times I wish I could understand droid binary," Harry muttered.

"Padme," the queen requested, the handmaiden stepping forward to face her, "clean up this droid the best you can. It deserves our gratitude." The droid chirped some more, probably thanks of some kind. "Continue, captain."

Panaka was about to speak but looked at the Jedi. After all, he didn't want to stake the position of his job given the circumstances. "Your highness, with your permission we're heading for a remote planet called Tatooine. It's in a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation," Jinn said.

"I do not agree with the Jedi on this," Panaka commented his dislike of the suggestion.

"You must trust my judgment, your highness."

The queen seemed to contemplate the decision. She turned to look Harry in the eye. "And your opinion on this suggestion, Mr. Skirata?" the queen asked.

Harry took a step forward and stood ramrod straight before replying, "The Jedi's suggestion has merit. So long as the ground team keeps a low profile when they're procuring supplies we shouldn't alert any hunters waiting for an easy payday. I originally wanted to suggest landing at a more quiet city's spaceport, however, the type of your ship, a Type-J 327, would stand out as only royalty has access to them. My suggestion is to wait until nightfall before landing."

"Why nightfall?"

"In case you haven't noticed, your highness, your ship is plated in chromium which happens to be very shiny. If we land any later than early morning we risk curious residents who may sell us out for a few credits. Tatooine is a desert world meaning anything shiny will reflect for tens of kilometers. I recommend deploying the camouflage netting immediately after landing to prevent being spotted from the air. Plus, by landing at night we can arrive before the heat of the day hits us and will allow us more options in finding parts shops."

Qui-Gon was quite impressed, this young warrior had thought this out in the short time they walked from the cockpit to the audience chamber. "And you, Master Jedi? Do you have any qualms with Mr. Skirata's suggestions?"

"They are well thought out and logical," Jinn commented. "I have no issues with them."

"Very well. Proceed as you have suggested," she ordered. They started to leave, but Harry remained in place. "Was there something else?"

"Yes there is, your highness," Harry replied. "The nature of the damage sustained should not have knocked the hyperdrive around enough to cause a leak as it only knocked out the shield generator."

"What are you saying? There's a traitor aboard?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I have two theories. The first of which is that someone in the Federation figured that some private citizens might make a break for it, or the queen trying to flee and have been damaging or disabling hyperdrives on every non-Federation ship they come across."

"And the second?" the queen asked.

"Out of everyone in this room are the only people I don't suspect. The Jedi don't have it in them to cause oppression intentionally."

"What do you mean 'intentionally'?" Obi-Wan rather pointedly asked.

Harry turned to look at the Padawan, "If you want more information on what things your order has muddled up over the last millennia, ask your master. I think Master Jinn can tell you of a few of them after this meeting should you ask him." Harry then looked back to the queen. "Captain Panaka has no reason to betray you. Your handmaidens are personally selected and vetted by you before you employed them. As a Mandalorian I am honor-bound to honor and fulfill my oaths until they are completed, therefore I have no reason to sabotage us."

"How do we know that you'll follow them?"

"Us Mandos take our oaths very seriously. Marriages and adoptions are done with one sentence each," he explained. "That only leaves the pilots, the security team members, and that Gungan you brought with you for whatever reason."

"Jar Jar? He's harmless," Obi-Wan retorted. "A simpleton maybe, but harmless."

"True, but appearances can be deceiving. Until I see otherwise I will consider him a potential threat."

"Then we must find out, immediately!" Panaka said.

"That would be a bad idea, at least while we are cooped up in the ship. If the traitor is spooked now they could do something drastic. When we act it has to be on our terms where the queen won't be collateral damage."

"Then what do you suggest, Mr. Skirata?" Jinn asked.

"We disable the long range communication array, both for sending and receiving signals."

"That's out of the question. We won't be able to send or receive transmissions," Panaka retorted.

"Exactly."

"What do you mean?" the queen asked.

"If I were someone in the Federation that wanted to find someone, I would lace an outgoing, one-way transmission with a virus that would tell the communications computer to ping the holonet and a specific site that the Federation is monitoring, then all they have to do is backtrace the ping. If you don't think they will do it, remember that they program droids as a massive part of their workforce and private military."

"That's highly elaborate," Jinn commented.

"Well, they want the queen and considering they spent innumerable resources trying to keep her on the planet to sign a treaty and then proceed to invade, spending even more credits in droid deployments. It wouldn't be that surprising that they'd spend what would be considered meager in comparison just to create a computer virus."

"How will we explain the lack of long range communications?" Panaka asked.

"Blame the Federation. It's a simple yet not too implausible answer. As for whoever remains between the two of you Jedi, you need to examine the hyperdrive to see if it has been sabotaged with tools or if it ruptured through stress. Doing it right now while we are in hyperspace is suicide because of the radiation, among other nasty side effects of hypermatter exposure."

"And the matter of the plausible traitor?" the queen asked.

"Let them believe that they got away scot-free. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to slip up. Like fixing the long range communications array and sending a message when they should be doing something else."

The queen pondered this new set of suggestions and possible accusations against her fellows. She quickly glanced over at Padme and received a very subtle nod. "Very well. Proceed as you have suggested, but report any and all developments to me," she ordered.

"Of course, your highness," Harry replied, giving a slight bow, followed by the two Jedi and Panaka.

Padme went on to the main lounge area outside the queen's chambers where various things were kept to clean the new droid at the behest of the 'queen'. It was pretty empty considering they left in a hurry. Harry followed her, but not for protection. She arrived in the bay and Harry walked past her. "Hey!" she said in a slightly louder than normal voice.

"Sorry, princess. Need to get one of my go-bags," Harry replied before moving a few cargo pods over to stand on.

"You stashed one of your bags here?" she asked as she pulled out a repair kit for droids.

"Yeah." Harry then ejected his tri-bladed knife from his gauntlet into his waiting hand and used it as a screwdriver to unscrew a vent. He sheathed it before reaching into the vent, pulling out a bag a moment later. He set it down on a bench and opened it, revealing weapons and stacks of credits.

"Why?" she asked while she started to rub the carbon scoring off the R2 unit.

"Why not?" Harry asked in turn as he started to take inventory of what he had placed in this specific bag. "After all, we ended up using this ship to escape." He pulled out an EE-3 carbine rifle and inspected it. "I wish you ordered your men to install chaff pods on this ship." He checked the power pack to ensure nothing ruptured before setting it to the side.

She gave Harry a pointed look as she stopped in her task. "Well, we couldn't import the parts needed to build them."

"Necessity is the mother of invention. But what's done is done." He pulled out a stack of credits and began to count them, keeping a mental tally of the amount he stashed.

"Hallo!" a slightly stupid sounding voice said from the doorway. It was the Gungan that the Jedi had brought with them hiding in the doorway. Since they had been quiet for a time he was unsure how much the Gungan had heard of their conversation. After all the droid began to talk to itself in droid binary and he was sure that Padme didn't understand it. "Sorry," he said, noticing that he was distracting the 'handmaiden' from her task. "Who-sa are you-sa?" he asked her.

"I'm Padme," Padme replied kindly, regardless of how much she might have thought that this being was annoying her. She then pointed to Harry, "And that's Harry."

"You-sa don't look hairy," he replied confusedly.

Harry looked up from counting his third stack of credits. "I'm really a Wookiee in a human bodysuit," Harry sarcastically replied. Padme rolled her eyes at her bodyguard's reply.

The Gungan then walked into the room. "Me-sa Jar Jar Binks." He then stood there with an awkward smile. No matter how much the Gungan stood there looking innocent, something about him was pun not intended, jarring.

"You're a Gungan, aren't you?" Padme asked.

Binks nodded. "Ah-hah," he confirmed. Though Padme was only asking for the sake of a conversation. After all, all Nubians knew of the Gungan-Nubian War that took place nearly a hundred-twenty years ago.

"How'd you end up here with us?" Harry tried to ignore them as he continued on with his task.

"My no know. Me-sa day startin' preddy okie-day with a brisky mornin' munchin then, boom, me-sa gettin' very scared and grabbing that Jedi, and pow, me-sa here." The droid chirped if anything Harry assumed it was on the Gungan's probably speech impediment. "Me-sa gettin' very, very, scared." Padme was smiling kindly at the Gungan as he finished his tale. Harry still thought he was annoying beyond all measure. Setting the fourth stack of Republic credits aside he pulled out a second denomination commonly used on Hutt controlled planets, it was then he felt a presence looming over his shoulder. "What are you-sa doing?" the Gungan asked curiously.

"My job," Harry replied.

The Gungan then started poking at his armor. "This-sin be very funny armor you-sa be wearing."

"That's because it's Mandalorian armor."

"Manda what now?"

"Mandalorians, mercenary warriors for hire," Padme answered.

"We were once the most feared culture in the galaxy once upon a time, but that, that was a long time ago," Harry added before going back to his task.

To be continued…

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And that's the first chapter of Episode I. You know where to leave all the feedback. Now please note that this will be updated weekly as everything for this story has already been written outside of review replies. For those unfamiliar with how I've been conducting this on stories like this, if you leave a generic review I'll thank you with the others that left responses like that. If you ask a question or have a specific comment that you'd like me to address, I'll reply to that so long as it isn't a "harrassy" review. Luckily during my time here I've rarely run into those. Not much to say in this post script other than I really hope you enjoy this story and I do have a couple of addresses in my bio if you want to donate to the tip jar.