CITY OF THEED, NABOO
Baron Gelda was sitting behind Baroness Amidalas private desk, a large and impressive work of art, situated in the monarchs personal study. The baron was busy signing various documents handed to him by Federation administrators. Count Nayron was also present in the impressive chamber, cassually enjoying eating juicy worms out of a bowl while resting in a comfortable sofa.
"How many more of these documents must I sign?" Gelda complained.
Count Nayron placed the bowl of worms to the side and turned to face the naboo noble. "We need them signed to ensure that we can impliment martial law all over this planet in accordance with Republic law. Without these documents, the senate could withdraw all commerce-contracts ever given to the Trade Federation and its members. We need to make this occupation legal."
"Yes, yes" Baron Gelda said with a frown. "I know, I know. You just remember to keep your end of the bargain and I will sign as many of these as you want."
"Do not worry, baron" Nayron said. "As soon as your queen has signed the viceroys generous treaty, we will see to it that Queen Amidala tragically dies. And then, we will make sure that you become king in her stead."
Baron Gelda put the pen away for a moment and leaned back into the chair. "Get rid of her now and make me king, and I will sign your damned treaty myself."
Nayron laughed aloud. "Unfortunately the Senate would never accept such an event. It would be all too clear that the Federation had arranged the regicide, to allow Naboo to be annexed. No baron, we must be patient, and make sure that Amidala is the one to hand over this planet to the Federation, in her role as ruler and monarch of Naboo. Only then can we make you king without Republic interference."
"Leave Amidala to me" Gelda said. "She is a child, I will make her sign that treaty wether she wants to or not."
"Good" the neimoidian lord said, very pleased indeed. "Make sure she does. In the meantime, Captain Grievous will oversee the search for the queens sister, and these natives of yours living out in the swamps."
Gelda leaned forward against the desk. "Be careful with the gungans" he said as he picked up his pen again. "They regulary raid and pillage our towns and communities. They are barbaric and savage. They might fight back a little harder than us naboo."
"No matter" Nayron said. "Grievous seems like a man who enjoys good sport."
XXX XXX
Escorted by neimoidian soldiers and a cerean officer, Baroness Amidala was taken to her old study. Waiting for her was Baron Gelda and his closest and most trusted advisors, aswell as officials of the Trade Federation.
"Baron" Amidala was stern as she adressed her fellow nabooan. "I see the occupation agrees with you."
"Our people are suffering" Gelda replied angrily. "I do what I must to ease their suffering during this ordeal, taking responsibility for more than my own status as a noble."
"Please" Amidala was far from convinced, "do not insult my intelligence, baron."
Baron Gelda sighed and shook his head at the queens stubborness. "Sign the treaty, my lady, I beg of you. It would end the pain and agony so many of our people are enduring at this moment. It would unite families, it would ensure peace."
"I will not be bullied into submission" Amidala snapped. "And I will not allow the Federation to get away with this outrageous behavior and disdain for law and order. And I will certainly not hand over Naboo to a traitor and a collaborator such as yourself. Baron Palpatine would be ashamed of you, Baron Gelda. Ashamed and betrayed."
"My lady, see to reason!" Gelda begged. "Sign the treaty and you will ensure that Naboo will enjoy security and prosperity for decades to come! Don't let your people be doomed to suffer, simply because of your pride, my lady."
"And if I sign this treaty" Amidala said, "what position will you be rewarded with for convincing me of doing so? Governor? Senator? King?!"
"I had hoped you would be reasonable" Gelda shook his head. "But I see now that your arrogance, and lack of understanding how to rule, will not allow Naboo to take its rightful place in the galaxy. As members of the Trade Federation we would have mighty allies, we would enjoy wealth and gain influence in the senate. Our people would thrive! But all you care about is your own damned pride!"
"All I care about, baron, is to stop Naboo from being exploited and stripped of its resources and prevent our people from being sold into slavery. You want to be king, baron? Your greed and lust for power will doom us all!"
Baron Gelda sighed. "Take her away. Lock her up with the others. In time, the suffering of her people will make her rethink her decision. In the end, she will sign the viceroys treaty."
"We will see" Amidala said and was then dragged away by the neimoidian troops.
XXX XXX
The doors to the library were opened and the queen was pushed through by the rough Federation soldiers before the doors were closed shut again. Baron Sio and Captain Panaka rushed forward and helped their monarch back on her feet and guided her over to a chair where she sat down and was offered a glas of water by one of her handmaidens. Several others were also held captive in the library, including several nobles, the queens mother being one of them, as well as the queens handmaidens and protocol-droids.
"Well?" Baron Sio inquired. "What news, your majesty?"
Amidala took another sip of water before answering. "Baron Gelda is a collaborator. He tried to convince me to sign the treaty. He believes Naboo will only gain from it."
"Baron Gelda" Baron Sio sneered. "I am convinced that he sold us out and helped the Federation during the invasion. His greed knows no bounds."
Captain Panaka studied the securitydroids arranged out on the balcony to stand guard, before turning his attention back to the other captives. "It did seem as if the Federation knew of our every move during the invasion before we even put them into action."
"I have no intentions of signing any document that hands Naboo over to be ruled by simple crooks" Amidala assured her advisors. "I would rather die first than betray our people in such a way."
"That, your highness" Baron Sio said, "I fear could very well have been their plan all along."
The steward of House Palpatine instantly took a step forward. "They wouldn't dare. Besides, they need her to sign the treaty."
"What they need" Baron Sio argued, "is a Naboo monarch who is their puppet, who does as the Trade Federation instructs."
"Well, that will never be me, gentlemen" Amidala assured them all. "And if that means that they will kill me, then so be it."
Baroness Naberrié took a step forward and gained her daughters attention, a fact that had all others remain silent out of respect for the two noble women.
"Your majesty" Baroness Naberrié said, "did Baron Gelda make any mention of the steward of House Amidala, the young lady Sola?"
Baroness Padmé Amidala sighed and swallowed a great lump in her throat. "No, my lady" she eventually said, her voice saturated with regret. "There has yet to be any word of Lady Sola's fate."
Baroness Naberrié nodded as she fought to hold back her tears, offered the queen a slight bow and then turned to walk away to be on her own. Padmé sighed anew and closed her eyes to maintain her dignity, yet inside her chest her emotions were like a hurricane; fear, anger, hope and dispair all pumped through her heart as she had no way of knowing if her sister was alive, dead, wounded or safe. It tore her apart, as it did her mother.
THE PLANTATIONS, NABOO
The farmdistrict of Naboo, made up of acre upon acre of crops and grazing, was enjoying a bright sun and a cool breeze. Shaaks grazed on the fields, farmers worked their crops. Had it not been for the recent arrival of Federation securitydroids, it would have been a most tranquil scene. The odd fighter-droid flew past overhead, STAPs patrolled the countryside and troop-transports deployed securitydroids to secure the towns and villages. The banners of the Trade Federation were raised at every town square and trading-post.
Disguised as simple farmgirls, Lady Verona and Lady Sola kept their blasters in a firm grip but out of sight, ever ready to fight their way to safety. Having hitched a ride with a local farmer atop his massive Fambaa as he was moving goods between the small villages of the region, the two fugitive noblewomen had made good distance over the course of the day and had blended in nicely with the locals.
"They are tightening their grip" Veruna said as two Vulture-class fighter-droids shot past above them. "It will only be a matter of days before they control the entire planet."
"What do they want from us?" Lady Sola said as she studied two Federation troop-transports entering a village situated away from the main road to unload their cargo of droids.
Veruna shook her head. "Nothing" she said. "They want nothing. This is nothing but simple revenge for what Palpatine did towards the Federation in the senate. Simple petty revenge, nothing more."
Their journey continued, gently rocking back and forth atop the huge fambaa as it walked along the main road of the regions that was known as The Plantations, due to its abundance of farms and ranches. However, an hour or so later, they came across a Federation roadblock that checked every one who wished to pass for identification.
"Here" the farmer steering the fambaa said and handed the two women his huntingrifle. "Just in case it gets ugly."
"If it does, we will make sure that you do not come to harm, sir" Lady Sola assured the farmer.
The man simple chuckled. "I get the feeling that that is not up to you."
A long line had gathered leading up to the checkpoint; landspeeders, beasts of burden and people on foot, all had to wait in line for their turn. Fear spread through the waiting nabooans as every now and then someone was escorted away by the securitydroids and not allowed to continue on their travels. Man, woman or child did not matter it seemed.
It took nearly an hour, but eventually the fambaa carrying Lady Sola and Lady Verona reached the checkpoint and the farmer climbed down the great harness that secured his cargo atop the huge herbivore and along its flanks. A STAP hovered in slowly next to the fambaa and the securitydroid operating it turned its lenses at the two women ontop of the creature. It became clear to the two women that the farmer was getting into trouble, as one of the cerean officers in charge of the roadblock became more and more agitated concerning the farmers papers and the identity of the women travelling with him. The lack of proper identification was turning into a severe problem and fast.
As two securitydroids dragged the struggling farmer away from the roadblock for so called processing, the droid on the STAP hovered in closer at the two women.
"You two, climb down and provide identification to lieutenant Kar-Olo-Gama. Comply."
It was somewhat reluctantly that the two women complied and climbed along the back of the fambaa towards the part of its rig that allowed a safe climb down to the ground. Lady Veruna was just about to climb down as she layed eyes on the reins of the creature they were riding.
"Grab the reins" she whispered to Lady Sola.
"What?"
"Grab the reins. Do it."
Before Lady Sola had time to question a second time, Lady Veruna climbed back up onto the fambaa, ran out onto the goods strapped to its flank and jump through the air and crashed into the STAP and kicked the droid operating it off the vehicle. As the securitydroid fell to the ground, Lady Veruna climbed onto the STAP and grabbed its controls, quickly enough opening fire upon the closest securitydroids guarding the checkpoint.
Lady Sola pulled out her blaster, retrieved earlier from one of Lady Verunas dead soldiers, and fired off a couple of shots at the Federation troops below, managing to hit nothing of consequence before she hurried to grab the reins as instructed.
The sudden firefight had all nabooans run for cover or flee in the direction they had come from. Lady Veruna steered the STAP as best she could but it was far from a smooth ride, or elegant, as she tried to move sideways to straif the Federations positions. In the meantime, Lady Sola pulled the reins of the gigantic fambaa and as it responded to the reins it took a couple of steps to the side and in the process crushed four securitydroids, aswell as the cerean lieutenant, beneath its feet.
In the confusion of the fighting, the farmer pushed himself free and ran for his beast of burden and managed to climb back up on it. Lady Veruna aimed her flying platforms weapons at any target that presented itself, unleasing volley after volley of deadly blaster-bolts at the Federation troops. Meanwhile, Lady Sola guided the fambaa, and not entirely in control as she did so, to destroy securitydroids beneath its crushing feet, along with the odd Federation officer in the process. The farmer quickly found his huntingrifle where the women had left it and picked it up and joined in on the fighting, picking off targets using his scope.
Soon enough, other farmers joined in; some firing blasters of their own or picking up blasters dropped by destroyed securitydroids, while others engaged the droids in close combat using what ever weapons they could find, some even relying on rocks and sticks to take the fight to the invaders.
It was Lady Veruna who noticed the next threat. Off in the distance, up in the sky, she spotted six fighter-droids joining formation and heading straight for the fighting. Within moments, the area surrounding the checkpoint took massive amounts of incoming fire, dozen upon dozen of blaster-bolts causing explosions all around, destroying or killing anything caught in the unforgiving barrage. Veruna flew in as fast as she could and grabbed Lady Sola by the arm, the young steward of House Amidala quickly enough tried to climb up on the STAP as best she could, and moving on, behind them the fambaa was cut down by a fighter-droids straifing-run.
The nabooans were begining to scatter, most leaving their weapons behind as they fled the scene with Vulture-class fighter-droids flying past overhead on one straifing-run after the other. Lady Sola managed to climb up behind the baroness of Veru and held on to her around her waist as the baroness concentrated on flying the STAP and firing its weapons. But against the Federation fighters they stood no chance of surviving.
Soon enough two squadrons of STAPs joined in on the fighting, having been redeployed to quell the little uprising rather than patrol the countryside. It was too much for even Lady Veruna who took her own STAP through a tight turn and accelerated to full throttle in an attempt to escape. Lady Sola glanced over her shoulder as the two noblewomen fled the battlefield and saw half a dozen squads of securitydroids marching towards what remained of the checkpoint, their blasters firing at anything that wasn't a droid, their targets age or gender made no difference. But Sola Amidala was quickly reminded of her own peril as two STAPs manned by droids took up pursuit.
"They're chasing us!" Sola shouted into the ear of Lady Veruna, trying her best to be heard over the strong wind howling around them as they flew at full throttle.
Veruna took a quick look over her own shoulder and spotted the two STAPs giving chase. A couple of heartbeats later and the pursuers opened fire at their prey. Lady Veruna dodged as best she could, flying back and forth to try and shake the two droids in pursuit, but it had little impact. Lady Sola eventually pulled our her own blaster and returned fire back at the two STAPs, her blaster-bolts sporadic and wild, more often missing their intended target with a wide margin rather than forcing the droids to even contemplate evasive action.
"Hang on!" Veruna urged and the second after she hit the controls and forced the STAP into a sudden full-stop.
Sola was pressed into the baroness who in turn was pushed up against the controls of the flying platform, momentum pressing them violently against the STAPs structure. As a consequence, the two droid-controlled STAPs shot past them, not having anticipated the sudden decrease in velocity. The baroness of Veru opened fire at the one STAP that veered off to the left as it moved in a wide arch to come around to allow for another attack-run. At the same time, Sola fired her blaster at the second STAP, that one flying off to the right in order to come around to be able to open fire on the stolen STAP.
Veruna managed to catch the STAP she was trailing in a volley of blaster-bolts which saw the hostile craft torn apart by one destructive explosion after the other with each bolt that struck its mark. Burning remains and twisted metal crashed into the ground, scattering wreckage over a vast area. As it happened, Lady Sola managed to get a lucky shot that struck her target in the head, the droids head getting ripped clean off from its torso, and as a result the body and STAP spun out of control until it was turned into a twisted pile of smoking debris upon its impact with Naboo soil.
"Nice shot" Veruna said and increased throttle once more.
Sola held on tight to the baroness as they made their escape.