CORUSCANT

The restaurant was considered one of Coruscants finest, with an amazing view of the senate-building off in the distance. Truly, the galaxies most influential and wealthy dined here, nothing less was allowed to walk through the doors, let alone set foot on the establishments landingpad. Security was tight with bodyguards and security-droids stationed discretely, yet in force, to ensure the patrons absolute safety. Fine dining had a whole other meaning here on Coruscant.

The senator of Naboo, Baron Sheev Palpatine, joined the senator of Chandrila, Mon Mothma, for an excellent dinner, even by their exclusive standards.

"I am sorry, Sheev" the senator of Chandrila said. "I sympathize with Naboo, I really do. But this has nothing to do with Chandrila. Most of our important trade is done with the Commerce Guild and the Industrial Union. I don't see why Chandrila should get involved at all."

"Don't you see the risk that if the Federation gets away with this, it might encourage the other guilds to do the exact same thing?"

"Sure, there is that risk" Mon Mothma acknowledged and then took a sip of her expensive drink. "I don't deny it. And if that one day should threaten Chandrilas interests, then Chandrila will act accordingly."

"And you will require allies then, wouldn't you?" Palpatine pointed out, more than asking an actual question.

Mon Mothma nodded as she returned her glas to the table. "And we will choose our allies most carefully. By the Force, Sheev... You have struck a deal with the hutts." The chandrilan senator shook her head with a sigh. "You must understand that Chandrila can never side with Nal Hutta."

"We needed a powerful economy to support us" Sheev defended himself and his actions with. "The hutts gave us an opportunity and that in turn also secured corellian support. Hutt credits and corellian shipping... It was worth it."

"And in the long run?" Mon Mothma wondered. "Is a small planet like Naboo really worth providing Nal Hutta with an efficient merchant-fleet? One that will half of the time conduct piracy and smuggling, instead of legal trade and shipping. I'm sorry, but I don't see it, Sheev. I don't see the benefit in it, not in the long run."

Senator Palpatine understood the arguement, he truly did. Yet, to simply back down and let the Trade Federation get away with such a blunt and aggressive move as shown on Naboo, he could not stomach it. Not just because it was his homeworld. "The hutts could be controlled through a tighter legislation."

"Which will hit hard on small systems, such as Chandrila" Mon Mothma countered, "not to mention Alderaan and Naboo."

"The point is" the Naboo senator continued, "that if we stop the Federation now, it will allow the Republic to control the larger guilds. And the hutts can be a tool to make that happen. The hutts can in turn be controlled through reformed legislation. In the end..."

"In the end, Sheev, it all comes down to credits" Mon Mothma said, bringing reality back to the discussion. "Chandrila is dependant on its trade with the Industrial Union. If Chandrila takes action that will in the long run cause a negative effect on the Unions profits, how then do you think the Union will act towards Chandrila? I am truly sorry, but Naboo simply is not important enough."

"Yet you at this very point benefit from the taxation reform enacted by myself" Palpatine pointed out quite strongly. "Your homeworlds export and import has increased and at greater profits, thanks to my efforts. Thanks to Naboo."

"I still voted against it, Sheev" Mon Mothma reminded her fellow senator.

"Only because you knew I would get the motion voted through" Palpatine said. "You knew the taxation amendment would get the support it needed, so you voted against it to please your benefactos in the Industrial Union, ensuring trade and your good relations."

"And Chandrila has never been as prosperous as it is right now" Mon Mothma concluded.

"So" Baron Sheev Palpatine said and leaned back into the comfortable chair. "How can Chandrila benefit from the situation on Naboo? I mean truly benefit."

Mon Mothma sighed and stroked her finger along the edges of her glas as she gave the question a few moments of thought. "Chandrila would not mind that Naboo succeeded in foiling the Federations attempts in annexing her. And we would not mind a greater control over the actions taken by the larger guilds. With that in mind, currently a contract dispute has turned sour between the Trade Federation and Vinsoth concerning slaves and carbonite. More precise, trade between Filordis and Vinsoth."

"How can this help Naboo?" Palpatine wondered. "And how does it benefit Chandrila?"

"Vinsoth needs friends to take on the Federation" Mon Mothma continued. "Give Vinsoth the carbonite they need, for the slaves they sell, and Filordis will be forced to turn elsewhere."

"Slavery is illegal on Naboo" Palpatine pointed out rather strongly.

"But not on Nal Hutta or Falleen" Mon Mothma said. "Yes, Chandrila finds slavery a barbaric practice, but Filordis has a tremendous need for it as it is. As does Nal Hutta and Falleen. Take the slaves from Filordis and they will be forced to turn elsewhere."

"And where would that be?"

"Caarimon" Mon Mothma said.

"Caarimon?" Palpatine said somewhat perplexed. "Caarimon is a member of the Federation. I do not understand?"

"Caarimon will provide Filordis with slaves, Filordis will provide Caarimon with carbonite. Carbonite that Caarimon will sell to Chandrila."

Palpatine shook his head and barely subdued a sneer. "How does this benefit Naboo?"

"Caarimon and Chandrila has an understanding" Mon Mothma assured the senator of Naboo. "One that will benefit Naboo. Trust me, senator."

"Slaves from Vinsoth?" Palpatine said as he gave it some thought. He gave it alot of thought.

A few tables away, a pair of falleen finished their meal and left the extravagant establishment, leaving in a luxurious airspeeder as they headed for the Falleen embassy.

XXX XXX

Prince Xizor, senator of Falleen, tried to see what Mon Mothma was up to, having listened to what his ascociates had overheard from the conversation between senator Palpatine and senator Mon Mothma. A conversation they had deliberately spied on as per the orders given by their prince.

"Caarimon is considered one of the most influential worlds within the Trade Federation" representative Xor said, one of the men that had spied on the senator of Naboo. "If they intend to take action that could benefit Naboo, it sounds as it will be disruptive for the Federation as a whole."

"Caarites and neimoidians rarely get along, do they" Xizor said, stating a rhetorical question to his staff. "Arrange a meeting with the senator of Vinsoth, what's his name?"

"Her name" representative Xor said, "is Eilynn Moln."

Xizor simply nodded, crossed his legs and interlocked his fingers infront of his face. "Make it happen. And find the carbonite I need to make that deal. If it will help Naboo, then we need Vinsoth and the chevin."

XXX XXX

Mon Mothma viewed Coruscants skyline from her luxury airspeeder, a glas of wine in her hand and lost in her own thoughts. A chime announced an incoming transmission and as soon as the holographic image appeared, she turned to face the holographic transmission of Roth Welbo, the senator of Skako, appearing to sit opposite of her in the luxurious innards of the airspeeder.

"Well?" the skakoan said. "What did Palpatine say?"

"He will disguss it with his allies" Mon Mothma said.

"Not good enough, Mon Mothma" the holographic image said. "We had a deal. We will build our new carbonite-facilities in your system, and provide your people with thousands of jobs, if you made sure that Filordis would turn to Caarimon for help."

"Palpatine and his croneys have yet said no" Mon Mothma pointed out. "And since they are already dealing with the hutts, I fail to see why they would turn down getting in bed with the chevin."

"I don't care about the hutts, senator" Roth Welbo said, "All I care about is providing Caarimon with the credits they need, to buy enough mercenaries, so that they can depart from the Federation."

"I thought you said they have the support of close to three-hundred of the Federations members?" Mon Mothma said, looking somewhat curious.

"Who will join Caarimon, once they show they are capable of protecting themselves from the wrath of Cato Neimoidia" the skakoan senator replied. "The neimoidians will realize the need to deprive Caarimon of its carbonite, which means they will cut them off from Filordis."

"The first battle will be in orbit of Filordis then" Mon Mothma concluded.

"Correct" senator Welbo nodded. "A battle that the caarites must win. A battle the filordus will realize that the caarites has to win, in order for them to trade their carbonite for slaves."

"So the filordus will join with Caarimon, and then the other three-hundred systems will join one by one" Mon Mothma said as she understood the Industrial Unions plan to weaken one of their main rivals on the galactic market.

"Precisely" the skakoan said and slowly nodded at the chandrilan senators insights. "So make sure that Vinsoth doesn't make a deal with Filordis, senator. Make sure it does not happen."

The holographic image of the skakoan senator reached out as if to press something and shortly after, the transmission ended, leaving Mon Mothma on her own once more. With a sigh, she leaned back into her seat and turned her attention back at the mezmerizing skyline-horizon the planet-city of Coruscant offered. Roth Welbo had told her to be patient, that Palpatine or one of his allies would eventually seek her out in order to try and gain Chandrilas support against the Trade Federation. And he had been right.

It had been essential that Mon Mothma had not approached them first, they had to come to her, so that the Federation would not become suspicious. Chandrila would act as a buffer-zone between the Industrial Union and Caarimon, as the Union provided Caarimon with the credits the caarites needed to fund their military capabilities, in order for them to depart from the Trade Federation. In return, the Union would build a massive factory-complex in the Chandrila system, providing the chandrilan population with close to five-hundred thousand jobs, processing carbonite.

Mon Mothma knew she had made a deal with the devil, yet, it would benefit her people, her homeworld. And maybe, just maybe, the caarites little uprising would provide Naboo with the opportunity to end the occupation as the Federation had more important matters to deal with. At least, that was what Mon Mothma told herself. She wanted to believe it... But it was hard.

MOS ESPA, TATOOINE

Ric Olíe and Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in a booth in a small tavern with drinks in hand. Like all other patrons, they followed the great Boonta Eve race over in Bestine up on the large screen over by the bar. All save for one duros; Cad Bane glancing every now and then over at the two members of the naboo vessels crew, sipping his drink in between.

The young boy, Anakin, was doing surprisingly alright considering that it was almost unheard of that humans took part in the sport; a sport that required almost superhuman reflexes due to the speeds most swoops reached.

"That kid is one hell of a pilot" Ric said as he saw Anakins swoop evade rocks, cliffs and other swoops taking part in the race.

"I fear I am unable to judge the matter" Obi-Wan said. "To my mind, piloting is for droids."

Ric chuckled. "Trust me, no droid could ever keep up with that kid. He's a god damn prodigy in the cockpit."

Obi-Wan sipped his drink and took a closer look at the large screen over by the bar. The swoop piloted by the young boy was indeed making some spectacular moves as it evaded any and all obstacles along the track. But something else had the young jedi distracted, something close by, something dangerous.

Ric shook his head, impressed and amazed. "At that speed, with those G's, those turns and twists would have had me blackout long ago. But this kid... This kid is still going. It can't believe it."

"The Force is strong in him" Obi-Wan concluded as a matter of factly.

He focused anew at his surroundings, not a simple task with the entire cantina now cheering on the local boy as the race went on. But something was present, something nefarious. Obi-Wan could feel its presence, its malicious intentions. He slowly glanced about, looking for something that could be the source of this sinister energy that radiated through the Force. Suddenly, a duros caught his eye, dressed in a wide hat and trenchcoat.

"Hello there."

Obi-Wans attention was drawn to the halfnaked girl that stood next to him. At first, he did not recognize her.

"Obi-Wan, wasn't it?"

"Beru?" Obi-Wan was quite surprised to see the girl again. "Please, have a seat."

Beru sat down next to the young jedi and glanced briefly at the large screens. "I didn't think you would find enjoyment in something so simple as a swoop-race" she then said with a smile.

"This one does have my interest" Obi-Wan admitted. "You might say we have a stake in it."

Beru nodded. "Me too. My brother is racing" she said and shook her head. "I can't believe Watto put him up to it. My brother's good, but I doubt he's good enough for the swoops."

"Your brother?" the padawan wondered aloud. "Who is he?"

"Anakin" Beru said. "Flying for Watto. Pilot five" she explained and pointed at the largest screen.

"Anakin is your brother?" Obi-Wan said, truly surprised. "He's the pilot we've bet on."

"Ani?" Beru was quite surprised as well. "How come? I mean, why?"

Obi-Wan gave his answer a moments thought before delivering it. "It suits our needs for him to win."

"Son of a gun! He did it!" Ric burst out and every patron in the tavern errupted in celebration.

"What? What happened?" Obi-Wan was at a total loss, as was Beru.

"The kid!" the naboo pilot said. "He did it! He won! I can't believe it, he actually won!"

Beru jumped out of her chair and screamed with joy. Obi-Wan could not help but smile over the fact that his master had seen the potential in the boy. His comlink activated and he retrieved it from his belt. It was Qui-Gon who instructed his apprentice in making the sloop ready for departure, and in order to save time, join up with Qui-Gon at Bestine so they could as soon as possible head for Coruscant once more.

Obi-Wan acknowledged his masters wishes and informed Ric. The young padawan then turned to Beru who was unable to stand still out of pure joy and pride.

"I have to tell you" Obi-Wan said and Beru leaned in to hear him over the cheering crowd. "Your brother, he has been freed." The words did not sink in, that much was obvious by Berus expression. Obi-Wan smiled and placed a hand on the girls shoulder. "Anakin is free" he repeated. "We are taking him with us. Away from all of this."

A lone tear ran down Berus cheek, she said nothing as she merely gazed into the eyes of the young and handsome monk that stood before her. She had heard the words, she understood them, but somehow they seemed unreal.

"I will look after him. I promise you" Obi-Wan then said and left to follow Ric back to the ship.

As they were about to depart from the cantina, Obi-Wan tried to locate the mysterious duros once more, but he was nowhere to be seen. Obi-Wan felt uneasy, but he did not let it affect him and have him stray from the path set.

Beru stood in silence, almost in disbelief, while celebrations continued all around her. Obi-Wan had vanished out onto the streets of Mos Espa. She felt alone, despite being surrounded by dozens of patrons of the establishment. Another tear fell from her eyes and a smile slowly took hold of her.

The padawan and pilot hurried back to the luxuary yacht and informed the others that it was time to leave Tatooine, much to the relief of Captain Panaka. The ships engines were activated and it took off with Major Olié at the controls, taking to the skies of Tatooine and heading for Bestine.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a minute or so after they had left Mos Espa, another ship took off and set its course for Bestine. The D5 Mantis-class patrolcraft proceeded low over the sand-dunes as it increased velocity. Cad Bane adjusted the settings on his engines and the power-flow and flipped a few switches to keep his stabilizers properly linked. The nabooans would not escape him.