Chapter 81
Since the rescue team had taken her on board of the New Republic Military Ship, Padme hadn't left Queen Mairayn's side but at the same time she also thought a lot about what her two children were doing at this moment: Leia is working hard to keep this young democracy alive, while Luke steps into the footsteps of his father by being a great Jedi like his father used to be. Yes, he had chosen the wrong side at one point but I knew all along that there was so much good left inside is his soul and that he could be brought back to the light side of the force one day by the right person.
In the end she was glad to be proven right, knowing that Anakin had sacrificed his own life when Emperor Palpatine was about to kill his own son right in front of him. Now he was sharing his knowledge with a brand-new generation of Jedi and deep down she knew that the New Republic needed them to secure the stability of this government, which just had been formed and was already under constant attack by a smart new opponent.

"Physically Queen Mairayn is fine, according to the medical scans that I've made since she had been handed over into my care. But the enormous amount of torture that her body had to endure seems to have left behind deep mental scars, which resulted in her body refusing to wake up as a kind of shield against more mental torture that might await her. Of course, it is none of my business what you do with your free time, but as a Medical Officer of this ship I kind of think that it's my duty to say that you could use some sleep because you look very pale. "
Deep down she knew that the Doctor was right, but at the same there was still that voice inside herself which told her not to admit any weaknesses in front of a total stranger.
"I really appreciate the fact that you worry that much about my well-being, but I can assure you that I know myself well enough to know exactly when I need a longer break. "
Doctor Michaels just nodded in response and then left the sickbay to head back to his office nearby, as he still had some reports to write and didn't want to disturb the former Queen of Naboo Padme Amidala anymore.

Fondor, Imperial Weapons Research Facility
So far, the highly dangerous undercover operation this deep in the small region of space, which was still controlled by the remaining Imperial Forces under new command was going as planned but even if Han didn't know why, but he had a sneaking suspicion that this whole thing could go south in a hurry. They had to walk through kind of endless hallways, before they reached their final destination: A high security area, where the main frame of this facility was located and where he was supposed to infect the system with that virus, which the best New Republic IT Specialists had worked on so hard to create for a couple of months.

Yes, the war against the Imperial Forces was going their way at the moment as the enemy kept losing systems to the New Republic since the Empire's big loss at Endor. But if that information about the early stages of creation process of camouflage generator was indeed correct, this could change the outcome of the war in a big way and so Han knew very well how high the stakes were.
After he had made sure that nobody from the real imperial personnel was around to cause them any trouble, the former smuggler took the data pad out of the pocket of his uniform jacket and then concentrated completely at the next step of the plan: Entering the stolen access codes into the key pad. This mission just has to be a success or our spy, that we were able to get into this classified Research Facility has died for nothing in the end.

Back on the flagship of the New Republic fleet, Padme still sat alone at the bedside of Queen Mairayn's bed in the sickbay. Of course, she knew that no one would be able to hurt her now, but even after all these years there was still some kind of instinct active inside of her body that told her, that something bad could happen when you would least expect it and even at those places where you thought that you were always safe from any harm. For a short moment she took a glance at the Chrono on the nearby wall and even if she still tried her best to fight it, she had no choice any more than to give into the urge of rubbing her eyes for a few seconds before she quickly concentrated back on the task at hand.

Slowly Leia went over to where her mother was sitting and just watched her from the distance for a little while, made it pretty obvious to her that she was so much engrossed in her thoughts at the moment. Then she shortly tipped on her mother's shoulder and didn't know why she felt so nervous at this point, when she began to speak:
"Hello Mother, it's so good to see that you have come out of this dangerous situation in one piece." As exhausted as she was at the moment, Padme didn't really register her daughter's presence at this point but after taking the time to come back to her senses she replied:
"Thank you for getting me out of there , as I have to admit that I wasn't so sure if I would really be able to get out this difficult situation in time."
Leia enjoyed the short hug between her and her mother a lot and as it was obvious to Padme what her daughter was about to say next, she decided to anticipate that by saying:
"I know that I look awful and maybe it is for the best that we get ourselves a strong coffee in the ship's cantina."

"That sounds good to me, so let's go then Mom." Leia said with a little smile on her face and of course she looked forward to having some "girls talk" with her mom.

AN: With Leia having lost her important mentor when it comes to the world politics because of the death of Bail Organa, will she try to get some guidance in these turbulent times that the New Republic has to go through at the moment? Will Han & Chewie be able to finish their high stakes mission on Fondor or will some unpleasant surprise derail the whole thing in the last minute?
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