THALIA
Thalia sat on her throne in the palace, waiting for the two Jedi to join her. It felt very similar to the way she'd started her adventure with Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan fifteen years ago. Following the battle, she'd swapped her armour for a billowing, black, satin gown with long sleeves and a square neckline. The hem of the gown was decorated with dark lace, petering out as it travelled up the skirt. She truly looked the part of a queen. The darker, more mature colours displayed her newfound determination that had come from rebuilding her home planet from war, and then constantly defending it from those who threatened to destroy everything she'd worked so hard to build. Her once long, straight hair had been cut to hang in slight curls on her shoulders.
This ruler of Troska was no longer the inexperienced girl who wanted to protect her people. The woman who stood in her place was ready to defend her home with everything she had.
The doors to the throne room opened and Thalia instinctively straightened n her throne, a tension forming in her spine. Two guards marched into the hall, flanking the two Jedi. Thalia tried to keep her expression neutral as she watched the space between them, but she couldn't help her eyes from flitting to Obi-Wan.
All she wanted to do was stare at the man he had become. He was no longer a Padawan learner, but a Master Jedi. His short, spikey hair had lengthened and was now neatly combed across his forehead and the padawan braid was nowhere to be seen. The lower half of his face was hidden behind a beard, which he appeared to take great pride in maintaining.
He wore white robes that hung loosely around his wrists and faded armour was strapped to his shoulders and chest; a clear sign that the Jedi were just as much warrios in the war as they were peace keepers.
But, no matter how much he had changed, his blue eyes had remained the same. They were just as kind and honest, if not infinitely wiser.
They stopped a few meters from the steps and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty, I present General Kenobi and General Skywalker, representatives of the Jedi Council and Galactic Republic." One of the guards boomed from beside the Jedi.
"Thank you, Master Jedi, for making the journey to Troska, and I apologise for the unfortunate circumstances under which you arrived. This is the third Separatist attack in as many months." Thalia said, looking between the Jedi. "With the way the war is going, Kyber Crystals seem to be their only hope."
"If you want the Separatists gone so badly, why don't you support the Republic?" General Skywalker asked, a drawl to his voice that Thalia didn't appreciate. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the Jedi as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Because that would defeat the purpose of being a neutral system." Thalia replied simply. She didn't owe this Jedi an explanation and she didn't have to explain her choices to someone who clearly had very strong opinions about the way things should be done.
"Yet your soldiers attacked a Republic outpost." Anakin scoffed, turning to his Master, who fixed him with an incredulous glare. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the great negotiator, finally stepped forward to speak in an attempt to undo his fellow Jedi's audacity.
"Your Majesty, we would never accuse you of wrongdoing, however a group of men wearing Troskan armour attacked one of our outposts on Katanine." Obi-Wan began, pulling a holo-projector from the inside pocket of his cloak. He punched in a few commands before a hologram sprung to life above the disk. It showed three men running across a landing pad in Troskan armour, firing blasters at Clone Troopers as they ran.
Thalia knew Troska's new power threatened both the Separatists and the Republic, but it seemed the Republic was under the impression that they were secretly working for their enemy. There now seemed to be solid evidence that their suspicions were accurate. However, she knew better than to immediately jump on the defensive.
"Is Katanine not a neutral system?" Thalia asked. "Why was there a Republic outpost there?"
Her question was calm but challenging.
"Your Majesty, the Kantanine Prime Minister allowed us to station our troops at their capital for a week while we took part in a mission in their system. They were paid fairly for the hospitality." Anakin answered, but Thalia's expression was stony.
"The Katanines are…easily swayed. I kindly ask that you do not request sanctuary on another neutral system. If the Separatists find out they'll consider it a Republic planet and they are not as forgiving as Republic forces." Thalia replied, laying down the law once again but the compliment towards the Jedi did not go unnoticed by Obi-Wan, who inclined his head in gratitude.
"So, you didn't send a squad of soldiers to Kanantine to get rid of us?" General Skywalker asked sceptically, placing his hands on his hips and Thalia bristled at the cocky young Jedi.
"Unfortunately, not everyone on Troska believes what we're doing is enough." Thalia began, with no intention of answering General Skywalker's question. "There were a group of fundamentalists in one of the classes of soldiers a few years ago. I'd say these are the soldiers who attacked your outpost. Soon after they graduated, they left Troska for our moon, Helwater."
"Charming name." Obi-Wan quipped.
"They still want peace but would rather go about it by eliminating parties on both sides. No soldiers, no war." She shrugged. "But I can assure you they do not act under any orders from Troska, nor do they use Kyber weapons. We know more than anyone the damage they can do, so we go to great lengths to ensure they don't leave Troskan hands."
"I shall like to visit this moon." Obi-Wan decided.
"You'll need me to accompany you. They may not take too kindly to a visit from a Jedi." Thalia replied and Obi-Wan nodded in agreement.
There was a pause where Thalia thought of what to say next. She wanted to show Obi-Wan the new Troska, but was hesitant about his accomplice coming along.
She supposed, however, that it may help him understand what Troska was really trying to achieve, so she conceded to him coming along.
"Come, let me show you around the new Troska. I'm sure you'll find that quite a lot has changed since you were last here, Master Kenobi." She smiled and gestured for the two Jedi to follow her through the palace.
"When war was declared, Troska was decimated by the Separatists. Within fifteen minutes half of Troska's population had been killed." Thalia explained as Obi-Wan inhaled sharply beside her. This death toll would have been news to him. He'd thought the same as Thalia, that Dooku had only attacked the capital city, but his army had spread across the entire planet, destroying entire villages and murdering innocent people.
"You cannot blame yourself for what happened in that battle." Obi-Wan said softly.
"I did. It was my responsibility to protect Troska. But I quickly realised that it wasn't enough to protect my people, I needed to defend them." She replied, a little tensely, which earned her a sideways glance from Obi-Wan.
Thalia lead them through the palace towards the parliament chambers. Before they reached them, however, Thalia turned towards a large, glass door with a scan pad beside it. She placed her flattened palm against the cool screen and waited until the lock in the door clicked and she removed her hand.
The door swung inwards to reveal a spacious lift.
"We began to study the Crystals more closely in terms of their ability to power different technologies." Thalia began to explain as the door clicked shut behind them and they began to descend into the base of the palace. "We already know that they power lightsabres, but we've learnt far more about their capabilities than we could have ever imagined. For example, we produce shield technology that is strong enough to protect entire planets using only six generators."
The walls around the lift suddenly disappeared as they emerged into the middle of an expansive, underground lab. White tiles covered the floor while the walls and ceiling were left as bedrock. On the floor were hundreds of desks and smaller, sectioned off quarters for people doing more niche studies. Scientists wandered between desks, wearing either white, blue or grey lab coats.
When the lift reached the floor, Thalia lead them over to the nearest table, where a smooth silver box with a dome in the centre sat, clean and polished.
"This is one of the shield generators we use to protect entire planets." She said proudly. The device was barely a square meter in size yet was powerful enough to stretch a shield around a planet. "It's powered by ten crystals and will last ten thousand rotations."
While Obi-Wan was suitably impressed by the technological achievements of Thalia and her scientists, General Skywalker looked disinterestedly around the lab.
"Can I ask a question?" He interrupted loudly, clearly there was something on his mind. "Troska has an army. I thought neutrality and peace meant non-violence."
"While we want to avoid violence at all costs, we…I came to realise that by being completely passive was doing more bad than good. I realised I was neglecting the basic rights of my people; to be protected." Thalia admitted. "So, I came to terms with the idea that being passive doesn't mean we can't defend ourselves. So yes, Troska has an army, along with quite a few other neutral systems."
"Now we are more prepared for an attack like this mornings." She continued. "And the weapons the army uses are non-lethal." She explained, walking over to another table where a sleek navy-coloured blaster sat. She picked it up and held it in her arms with an easy confidence. "It has two settings; a deactivator, which is of course for droids and stun, which is for organic targets. By making them non-lethal, we still have the desired effect of eliminating enemies, but without the fatal result."
"And do all members of the army get lightsabres?" Anakin asked sceptically, crossing his arms over his chest.
Thalia smiled, and avoided Obi-Wan's gaze.
"No, that's something just for myself to use. Again, it's non-lethal. I worked out how to alter the composition of it's Kyber Crystal to deliver a shock of electricity instead of light power. So, it doesn't have the same purpose as your typical lightsabre." She answered.
"And where did you get the hilt from? It looks like the Jedi design." Anakin asked.
"It was given to me by a friend." Thalia replied, turning her back on the pair, but still managing to catch the sideways look Anakin cast in Obi-Wan's direction.
"And you have the force?" He asked, leaving his Master be.
"I have quite a high Midichlorian count." Thalia began, but paused when she saw Obi-Wan's amused expression.
"Over seventy thousand." He added, and the pride in his voice was not missed by Thalia.
"It allows me to do certain things other Jedi or Sith cannot do. May I?" Thalia asked, gesturing to his lightsabre hanging by its hilt on the Jedi's belt.
Anakin reached down and unclipped it, tossing it once in his hand so it faced away from him, and ignited it, the familiar hum reverberating around the cavernous lab.
"For example, I can do this." Thalia reached her hand up to the blade and gently rested her palm against it's tip. The two Jedi started in alarm. "The furthest I've gotten is to hypothesise that because the Crystals are conductors of the force and I have a strong connection to it, they must somehow balance each other out or act as a repelling agent of some sort." Thalia explained, wrapping her fingers around the blade. It felt warm against her touch, and she could feel the power running up her arm and filling her veins with a buzzing energy.
"It also seems to mean…" She added, and held out her free hand to Obi-Wan, wanting him to feel what it was like.
He hesitantly held out his hand, palm down. Thalia wrapped her fingers around the back of his hand and lead him towards the lightsabre's blade. She felt him flinch his hand back slightly as it neared the blade, but with a comforting squeeze of Thalia's fingers, he allowed her to rest his palm against the lightsabre. His eyes widened in amazement at the sheer notion that his hand was still in one piece.
Thalia's hand slid up to his fingers and pushed them down to wrap around the entire blade. An breathy laugh pushed past his lips as he felt the energy surge through his body. He turned quickly to face Thalia, a look of pure wonder on his face. His eyes were bright, and she could see his grin through his beard.
"It's incredible." He said in amazement, as his hand shifted underneath hers. "An absolute wonder."