Chapter 43

Star Destroyer Chimaera

The other Star Destroyer, the Storm Falcon, had finally arrived in the system and that meant that the assault on the New Republic listening post could begin. 'The Captain of the Storm Falcon notifies us that he made everything ready on his ship and awaits your orders, Admiral,' Captain Pellaeon shortly briefed Grand Admiral Thrawn and he was confident that this plan to bring down the New Republic would be a full success. Thrawn now had an evil smile on his face as he knew that the forces of the New Republic military wouldn't know what hit them after this beginning of the brutal campaign to get back everything that rightfully belonged to the new Empire under his reign.
'Then let's not waste any more precious time and tell him that the assault starts now,' Thrawn gave out the short order to Captain Pellaeon, as he definitely was more the type of letting actions speak louder than words even if he also was willing to deliver on big speech in front of his loyal servants if the current situation demanded it. Just a few minutes later the assault on the listening post begin, with four TIE fighters flying in a tight formation and all of them had successfully masked their sensor signals for their enemies' sensors so that when those Rebels would see them coming it would be too late to avoid the inevitable from happening.
From his command chair in the center of the bridge of his flagship, Thrawn watched his plan unfold with a lot of satisfaction showing on his face, as years of planning would finally be put into action and he was very confident that he was prepared for any obstacle that could get in their way in the middle of the execution of this nothing but genius plan.

Space transport on the way to the Capital of the New Republic

Padmé and her children had still two hours of flight left until they would finally reach Coruscant and of course the former Senator was somehow nervous to set foot onto this planet after all those years. One thing was for sure: it would definitely take some time for her to get used to some of the new faces that she would meet along the way. But right at this moment it only mattered for her that she was reunited with her children again and she also really looked forward to meet that one special person in her daughter's life: Captain Han Solo, a former smuggler that had become a highly decorated member of the New Republic Military. She was glad that her daughter had found that special someone to spend her entire life with and couldn't help but smile at that moment as she remembered the first time she and Anakin had met:

Flashback- 32 BBY, Tatooine

With the help of her two Jedi protectors the Queen had managed to escape Theed before the Trade Federation was able to capture and force her to sign the treaty. But of course it would have been way too easy; the hyperdrive had been badly damaged as they had passed by the big droid control ship in orbit of the planet. With the T-14 hyperdrive not working properly anymore they weren't able to continue their hyperspace travel to Coruscant, where they would meet up with Senator Palpatine who would be able to help them to end this unjustified occupation by the ruthless Trade Federation.

In the middle of a desert that seemed to be endless, they landed their starship in this uncharted territory and the Queen couldn't help but not feel very safe in this environment even if she had two Jedi Knights by her side that were here to protect from any possible threat that may arise on this hostile planet.

Later after having finally found a way to get the necessary parts to fix their ship, they were now in the little store of the shop owner that went by the name Watto. While Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn was busy talking with that weird-looking alien, Padmé was approached by a little boy that asked her the question, 'Are you an angel?' He had now sat down on the counter while Padmé was now directly facing him as she had been busy for a while looking around Watto's store.
At first she clearly didn't know what to make of that question but then she asked back with a very thoughtful look on her face, 'What?'
'An angel! I heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the moons of Yago. I think,' the little boy replied and Padme could see that he was indeed somehow drawn to her and with a little smile on her face she replied, 'You're a funny little boy.' Finally Qui-Gon came back into Watto's shop and announced that they were leaving, but before Padmé turned away to follow him she said, 'I'm glad to have met you Anakin.'

End Flashback

Even if that little episode was so many years ago, Padmé still remembered it like it had taken place just yesterday and she promised herself one thing right at this very moment: to only remember the positive things about Anakin; and that were definitely a lot. Also she wanted to do everything she could to help the people of Naboo and the rest of this still very young New Republic through the still ongoing war with the Empire because one thing was clear: she wouldn't let another democracy crumble after Chancellor Palpatine had transformed the Old Republic into a dictatorship. The former Senator took some minutes to just look out of the big window right into the darkness of space and her train of thought was suddenly interrupted as her daughter said, 'Trust me, Mother, when I say that we know that this whole new world is difficult for you to get used to right now, but me and Luke will support you the whole time.'

It wasn't easy but Padmé was finally able to smile a little bit after she heard those words out of the mouth from her daughter and replied, 'Thank you for that kind words and they really mean a lot to me, even if the roles should be reversed meaning that the children should be able to lean on to their parents if they need to.'

AN: Thanks to: Rhea 1948 for adding this story to her/his story alert subscription and adding it to her/his favorite stories list; Disney and Wildkraft Fangirl for reviewing this story; Matthew Barcus 31 for reviewing this story; David Davies.5851 for reviewing this story. Please read and review.