Chapter One

Padmè was not a fighter pilot.

Even though she was currently piloting one of the three N-1 starfighters that were serving as escorts and flying in front of and behind the silver chrome plated Naboo J-type diplomatic barge that was carrying the Senator, her handmaiden and four members of the Naboo Royal Guard to Coruscant, her mind was on other things.

Glancing out of her canopy window at the silver ship, she sighed as she knew that she should have been inside, attending to the Senator, instead of flying escort duty for the craft. But the Senator had asked her to serve as an escort and she was not one to disobey her employer.

Padmè knew that the Senator was one of those people whose voice was heard within the Senate. Although that voice often carried a message of anti-war and anti-corruption, she was not one who liked accepting protection from others when a target was placed upon her since she was perfectly capable of protecting herself.

As the Senator had been preparing to leave Naboo, since she had taken a small break from the hustle and bustle of Coruscant, the Senate and the year of work that she had done trying to fight against the Military Creation Act, she had won a small argument with Captain Typho. He had spoken to Queen Jamillia beforehand about the threats that had been made against the Senator's life and she had agreed with him about the security detail that would be accompanying the craft as it flew back to Coruscant. When the Senator had been informed about the extra personnel that would be accompanying them, she proceeded to argue with the man until he relented and gave in to her words.

She had been able to limit the amount of protection that normally travelled with her. Usually, she would have nine bodyguards with her, but she had been able to limit it down to seven, with four of them inside the ship, one of them flying alongside the barge and the last two being Padmè and Captain Typho himself as he had insisted on accompanying the Senator on her journey.

As the craft began to make its way into Coruscant's upper atmosphere, Padmè's thoughts drifted to Anakin, the young boy whom she had met while posing as one of the Queen's handmaidens. Only he was no longer a boy. Now he was a nineteen-year-old teenager who seemed to risk his life to protect others on a regular basis.

It wasn't all that hard to catch glimpses of him, even though she hadn't actually seen him in person since the day of the parade that had been held in recognition for the Gungans and their help in retaking Naboo after it had been invaded by the Trade Federation. He appeared often on the holonet news, standing alongside his fellow Jedi, mainly his own Master and friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi. It seemed that since the Order had changed their rule regarding attachments, relationships and families, certain members were often featured since the Jedi were now taking a more active role in the galaxy.

Padmè shook her head, clearing out any thoughts of Anakin. She couldn't afford to think like that. Even if he did feel the same way about her that she often thought about him, it would be hard to make such a relationship work. Their lives and duties often pulled them in two very different directions at times and she knew it would be hard for them to see each other even when they were on Coruscant at the same time.

As she and the other two sleek N-1 starfighters made sure the silver chrome plated craft stayed on course, she allowed herself to think about Anakin one last time and then focused on her current task. She needed to be on top of her game.

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Inside the ship, two of the bodyguards, one of whom was a Lieutenant, approached the Senator and her handmaiden as they came walking towards the rear of the ship. "Senator, I am pleased to inform you that we are on our final approach to Coruscant," he told her.

"That is very good news Lieutenant," she responded.

The man nodded and turned around, heading to the rear of the ship where the boarding ramp would be lowered once they landed on the ground. The other bodyguard followed him and behind them was Senator Amidala, her handmaiden and the other two bodyguards.

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Fog saturated the air as the barge descended through a layer of thick clouds, heading towards a private landing platform that had been reserved for the Senatorial delegation from Naboo. The fighters that both Captain Typho and Padmè had flown were already on the right side of the landing platform as the pilot engaged the landing gear and gently landed the craft in the center. The third fighter came into land on the left platform.

Even though it wasn't technically solid ground yet, Padmè was happy to have already climbed out of her yellow fighter. As she was currently making her way down the ladder that had risen out of the floor of the platform and attached itself to her ship, she softly smiled as she heard R2 beep in binary. As soon as her feet touched the metal floor, she stayed by the ladder long enough to make sure that the blue and white astromech was safely lowered out of his socket. As soon as the droid was on the ground, R2 beeped and popped out his third strut as he followed Padmè over to Captain Typho, who had already gotten out of his fighter and was walking away from it.

She observed the captain as he pulled off his helmet while his own astromech was being lowered from the socket of his fighter. She decided to leave hers on until she reached her apartment.

"We made it," Typho said as he placed his helmet underneath his right arm and looked at Padmè.

The pair turned to face the barge, seeing that the boarding ramp was already lowered. Soon the two bodyguards appeared in the opening of the ship and began to walk down. Behind them were the Senator, her handmaiden and the remaining two bodyguards.

As the party reached the bottom of the ramp, Typho turned his head and looked at Padmè again as he said, "I guess I was wrong. There was no danger after all."

Padmè nodded but didn't relax as Typho had. She could still feel the tight tension that was building in her body as if she knew they weren't out of danger just yet. The threats that had been made against the Senator had come across as cruel and mean. She knew it couldn't have been that easy for them to have travelled all the way from Naboo to Coruscant without any sort of trouble following them. As she took a deep breath and slowly let it out, she decided to relax just a little.

That seemed to be a bad decision.

As soon as the Senator reached the bottom of the ramp, there was a loud explosion that permeated the air. Padmè and Typho were instantly knocked off their feet and to the ground. R2 beeped and whistled in panic, locking himself down so that he too wouldn't be knocked over.

One of the guards who had been on the ramp cried out as he felt the heat of the explosion on his back and lost his balance. He fell head over heels, tumbling off the ramp and landing on the ground.

Then two more explosions rocked the landing platform. One that sent burning debris in all directions and a final explosion that completely tore the ship apart, killing the two pilots inside and sending even more debris everywhere, even off the platform.

Within moments, both Typho and Padmè were on their feet. The Captain didn't care about his helmet that was still on the ground nor was he concerned for his destroyed astromech. The only thing he was worried about was Padmè's safety as he saw the woman take off for the bodies that lay on the ground in front of the destroyed remains of the Naboo ship. He withdrew his blaster and followed her, stopping to check on one of the bodyguards as she took off her helmet and knelt by her friend's body.

"Cordè," Padmè said as she used whatever strength that she currently had to gently roll her over. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to cry.

"Senator, I'm so sorry…" Cordè said, her voice soft. "I have failed you." She gave her employer one last soft smile, as she was glad that Padmè was safe, but a little sad as she knew that she hadn't completely fulfilled her duty and that the Senator was still in danger.

"No..." Padmè said as she saw her friend's eyes close for the final time and felt the body go limp in her arms. She heard Typho's footsteps as he came over and knelt by her side, placing his right hand gently on her back as he held his blaster in his left.

"Milady, you are still in danger here," he said and stood up after a few minutes, keeping his hand slightly above Padmè's left shoulder as she finally let go of Cordè's body and rose up off the ground.

Padmè's eyes didn't leave Cordè's body as she said, "I never should have come back."

Typho stepped close to Padmè. "This vote is very important. Cordè, as well as Versè, did their duty serving as your handmaidens and bodyguards. Now you must do yours as the Senator for Naboo. Come." He began to walk away, nodding at R2 to follow them as he had disengaged his magnets and had made his way over to both of them. Typho paused when he realized that the Senator wasn't following him. He looked back to see her starring down at Cordè, still shocked at what had happened. "Senator! Please!"

Padmè turned at the sharp tone in Typho's voice. That seemed to do the trick as she reluctantly allowed the man to lead her away from the platform and into a speeder where R2 was waiting for them. As soon as they were seated, Typho gave the driver a firm nod and soon the speeder flew away, heading towards the 500 Republica building where Padmè resided when she came to the planet. She knew that there would be little time to mourn the death of her friends who had given their lives in service to her. She knew what she needed to do if she wanted to keep the galaxy at peace.

She just wished that the cost hadn't been so high.