Just over a month later the Blockade happened. Padmé had excelled in her training and pulled vastly ahead of her handmaidens, although they were more than capable on their own. Travien had taught them how to use many Sith techniques without drawing on the Dark Side of the Force. She was fully capable of fighting a Jedi Knight, as Travien claimed, but not yet at his level. Their relationship had grown considerably, although Travien was taking her age into account and refused to take part in anything sexual until she was at least sixteen.

They were currently in the throne room with the other governors. Padmé was talking with Palpatine over the holonet while Travien stayed clear out of his line of sight. They had just begun discussing the representatives of the chancellor when his hologram flickered and died. Travien reached deeply into the Force, attracting the attention of Padmé, Sabé and Eirtaé, and he scowled. Padmé noticed this but was beaten to the conversation by Sio Bibble,

"Communications disruption can only mean one thing. Invasion." He intoned,

Padmé nodded and turned to Travien, "Travien, what is it?"

"Fear on the Trade Federation flagship just spiked and if I'm sensing this right, with a fair margin for error, there are two Jedi onboard, currently fighting."

Padmé looked non-plussed, "Why fighting?"

He sighed, "Taking a guess, I would say that they introduced themselves as diplomats rather than Jedi. They were somehow caught out and scared all hell out of the Nemoidians. Not hard, I can assure you. It's quite fun in the right circumstances, but I digress. When you contacted them earlier they were calmly reassuring themselves, now it's as though they have the hounds of hell at their heels."

Bibble looked taken aback, "How do you know all of this? How can you tell what is happening on the ship from here?"

Travien just sighed in frustration, "To be brief, I see through the Force. I…look at things using a Force sensitive version of echolocation, do you understand that, it's very difficult to explain."

Sio Bibble nodded, "Yes, I think I have the idea but…"

Travien interrupted him, "I have been doing this almost all my life out of necessity in an Omni-directional fashion, to see inside the Federation ship requires me to be blind to what is going on here. I can transfer my sight through sheer practice governor. It's hazy over this kind of distance but I can get the general idea." The others nodded in acceptance and the meeting continued,

Padmé shook her head, "Surely they would not dare go as far as to invade." she said,

Panaka agreed, "The senate would revoke their trade franchise! They'd be finished!"

Travien sighed, "It would appear that someone has a bigger stick, love." The rest of the council were surprised at this form of address, but ignored it for the moment in order to be confused by the reference.

Padmé looked around for help and sighed, "It would appear that we must continue to rely on negotiation then."

Sio protested immediately, "Negotiations?! How can we negotiate when we have no communication? We must prepare to defend ourselves!"

Panaka shook his head, "This is a dangerous situation your highness, our security volunteers are no match for the battle hardened armies of the Trade Federation."

Padmé sighed and had a thought, "Travien, you were a military leader, what do you suggest?"

He thought for a moment. "There is little I can do with such time. For once I agree with the captain, you cannot fight them off." He looked to the captain, "Do you have centralized armouries for the guard?" Panaka nodded,

"Of course, why?" he answered,

"Decentralize them, immediately. We have no hope in a pitched battle but a guerrilla movement would work just as well. Sabé, Eirtaé, are you armed?"

They both stepped forward, "Yes Lord Travien, why?"

"One of you stays with her majesty at all times, even when she is sleeping, understand? Given the level of fear from the Nemoidians their actions have become unpredictable. Milady, are you armed?"

Padmé shook her head, "No, it's in my chambers."

Travien huffed, "Eirtaé, if you would?" The handmaiden hurried off to Padmé's chambers and Travien turned to the council, "The only other thing we can do send runners to the Gungans and inform them of the threat. We cannot inform the local populous or it will simply cause a panic."

Sio looked at him, "Armed droids in the streets would likely do that as well." He commented,

Travien nodded, "I know, but people don't riot when the enemy points a gun to their head." He turned back to Panaka, "I need the Palace guard to remain here, but get as many of the others, along with any law enforcement, out of the cities. Have them remain hidden." Eirtaé ran back in with the lightsaber in her hand,

Travien took it and held it out to Padmé, "As your bodyguard I can only say how important it is that you be armed at all times. As your teacher I am telling you to sleep with this under your pillow and as your boyfriend I am asking that you take every precaution to stay safe."

Padmé accepted the lightsaber and thanked him, "I promise I will stay safe, Travien."

He nodded and stepped back, "There is nothing else I can do, short of building a droid army to match the one the Trade Federation has."

Padmé shook her head, "No, I am not willing to condone a course of action that leads us to direct warfare."

Travien nodded, "As you wish, milady." It still amazed the others that the Queen had somehow gained the subservience of one of the most volatile beings in the galaxy.

The group stood outside on the steps of Theed Palace. Travien stood a step behind and to the left of Sabé, who was currently standing in for Padmé. Padmé was standing beside Travien, where he could protect her. She was surrounded by the other handmaidens, including Eirtaé, along with Governor Bibble and Captain Panaka. They themselves were surrounded by almost twenty droids, but Travien wasn't concerned about them. Battle droids were definitely not what they used to be.

He saw a richly dressed Nemoidian approach them with an aide and watched as Bibble opened the conversation,

"How exactly are you planning on justifying this invasion to the senate?"

Gunray appeared to smile, "The Naboo and the Trade Federation will sign a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. I have assurances that it will be ratified by the senate."

Sabé tried to disillusion him, "I will not co-operate." She stated, glaring at him.

At-a girl! Thought Travien.

Gunray continued to smile, "Now, now your highness. In time I am sure that the suffering of your people will convince you to see our point of view."

Travien felt rage course through him at this point. Torturing innocent civilians for no reason other than profit was beneath even the Sith.

"I am going to wipe out your entire species for this, Gunray!" he growled.

The Nemoidian looked at him, "And who might you be?"

Travien smirked, "They call me Darth Shan."

The others looked astounded that he would admit to this but Gunray just laughed.

"You believe yourself to be a Sith Lord?!"

Travien smiled, "Ah, now I understand why you are here. I didn't think you had the backbone to pull this off alone." Lightning crackled in his hand as Gunray's aide began choking and levitating beside him. "My Queen has decided that your pitiful life is in fact worth something, Gunray, and forbidden me from executing you like the gutter slime that you are or believe me everyone in this city would be hearing your screams. Be warned however, for every citizen of Naboo that dies here, I will take a dozen of your kind." He released Rune Haako, who knelt on the floor choking and spluttering.

"And tell your associate that I will deal with him in due time."

Gunray turned to the nearest droid, "Process them!" he snarled.

"Yes sir!" replied the droid. The entourage was led away by the droids as Gunray turned to his aide,

"We must contact Lord Sidious immediately!" said Haako,

Gunray shook his head, "No. We need to know more about the bodyguard first, find that out and then we contact Lord Sidious." Haako nodded and hurried off.

Padmé was walking alongside her boyfriend, "Was that really necessary? Now the entire galaxy will know!"

Travien sighed and continued on the hushed whispers that Padmé was using, "I know, but these Nemoidians are driven by fear. I now know what has scared them, another Sith Lord. They will soon have to decide who they are more afraid of. In the meantime that fear should protect our people." Padmé nodded sadly when Travien looked up and groaned to himself,

"What is it?" she asked,

"Bloody Jedi, there are two of them, a master and padawan. There's another creature there but the Jedi are the only problem."

She looked at him in concern, "Will you be okay?"

Travien nodded, "Yeah, two Jedi are no threat to me, or you. I just worry about whether they can keep their mouths shut. The last thing I need is to deal with the council." Padmé nodded and they continue walking with the group. Travien sighed as they came to a bridge over the walkway and the two Jedi jumped from it. They swiftly disposed of the droids and turned to face the group.

The older one looked around and spotted Sabé, "Your majesty, I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn; this is my padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. We are here to negotiate on behalf of the Republic."

Bibble spoke up, "We know. Your negotiations seemed to have failed, master Jedi."

Travien snickered, attracting the attention of the two Jedi. They both re-activated their lightsabers and pointed them at him. Travien unhooked his lightsaber and activated the blood red blade.

"Who are you, Darksider?!" asked Qui-Gon.

Travien tipped his head, "You have a weapon pointed at me, Jedi. Why should I answer you?"

Obi-Wan looked to the older Jedi, "Master, I sense an unusual amount of the Dark Side in him, even more than in…"

He nodded, "I know padawan." He turned to Travien, "You are a Sith, aren't you? Did you organize the attack on Naboo?"

"No I didn't, but if you want in, I'll let you help with the retaliation." Travien said lightly. Padmé slapped his arm lightly, only succeeding in hurting her hands on his armour.

Qui-Gon was taken aback, "You admit that you are Sith?!"

Travien shrugged, "We are what we are."

Both Jedi moved into an aggressive posture and were surprised when two of the Handmaidens pulled out lightsabers of their own. They were even more stunned when the Queen did the same. Travien smiled at them,

"Now, do you want to work together so that we can get the Queen to safety, or do you want to die? I guarantee you are not a match for them, much less me." Qui-Gon reluctantly lowered his blade in defeat,

"Very well, we shall co-operate with you and your apprentices." He said, much to the amazement of his padawan.

Travien chuckled, "Oh, they're not my Apprentices. They wanted to learn to wield the Force so I taught them. Nothing else." He noticed Qui-Gon's look of shock, "perhaps we should be leaving." He hinted. Qui-Gon nodded and they turned to Panaka,

"Do you have a ship somewhere?" asked Qui-Gon.

Panaka nodded, "Yes, this way."

They group followed the guard captain closely. Qui-Gon didn't pay much attention to the journey. He was deeply confused. The man with the Handmaiden was clearly a Sith and yet he had suggested working together rather than killing both himself and Obi-Wan. He was a darksider and yet he suffered from none of the physical signs, except the whiteness of his eye which could be anything and they way he dismissed them earlier it was as though he didn't consider them to be a threat. He caught a bit of the conversation as Travien was talking with the handmaiden.

"Travien, I thought you said that you spent most of your life outside the Republic?"

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Padmé ran along side him calmly, "Then when did you encounter five Jedi Masters?"

Five!? Thought Qui-Gon. This Sith had survived five Jedi Masters?!

Travien chuckled slightly, "Remember when I set up the stasis chamber in the cave?"

Padmé nodded, "Yes, you didn't use it for half a year, did you. You had to set your affairs in order first?"

"Yep. While I was doing that they all confronted me on Naboo. They came together because they were worried about how much my parents had taught me. I guess being Darth Shan carries a legacy, huh? Bastards, I had to replace all of the floorboards in the dining room because of that." he stated cheerily. Padmé just shook her head.

Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan beside him, had nearly passed out. Who the hell had his parents been? How had he survived five Jedi Masters at once?! What the hell was this stasis chamber? What the hell kind of skill did he wield that the council of his time had felt justified in sending five masters after a single boy who was younger than Obi-Wan?

Travien was thinking something different, so the current Sith Lord challenges me. I wonder if he knows that I am here, or who I am? He'll be in for a nasty surprise when I get my hands on the little bastard. I'll kill him for threatening Padmé, no matter what she says. If anyone is going to rule this Republic it will be us.

They barely noticed when they arrived at the hangar bay until Panaka brought them to a stop. Travien watched as the Panaka cracked the door open and looked inside,

"Travien, you and the handmaidens will have to take point, there's too many for the rest of us."

Qui-Gon interrupted, "That will not be a problem." He turned to the queen, "Under the circumstances, your highness, I think it best if you come to Coruscant with us."

'Queen Amidala' looked at him, "Thank you for the concern, Ambassador, but my place is here with my people."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "They will kill you if you stay."

Sio looked outraged, "They wouldn't dare!"

Panaka elaborated, "They need her to sign some sort of treaty, they can't kill her!"

Qui-Gon just turned to Sabé, "There is something else behind this your majesty. There is no logic in the Trade Federations move here. You are in grave danger here." Sabé turned to Travien, who groaned,

"As much as I want to disagree with him because he's a Jedi, I have to admit he's right. There is another Sith Lord behind this. The best we can do is get off of Naboo. I don't like it any more than you do, but we have no choice." Qui-Gon looked shocked to be receiving support from the younger man, but was more than concerned by his admission of 'another Sith Lord', indicating that he was, or knew of, one himself. A Sith capable of dispatching Jedi Masters was bad enough, a Sith Lord was even worse. Qui-Gon was sure that he was getting a headache.

Bibble looked at Sabé, "Please your highness. Senator Palpatine will need your help. The Senate may be our only hope."

Sabé turned to Padmé and Eirtaé. The three of them had become much closer than the others during their training.

"Either choice presents much risk…to all of us." She said.

Eirtaé looked at Travien and saw the tense set of his body, "Not as much as you might think." The others followed her gaze and couldn't but be cheered up at the thought of this man protecting them.

Padmé smirked, "We are brave your highness."

Sabé nearly grinned and whispered to Padmé, "Easy to say when your back is covered by the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Sabé turned to the group and nodded. Qui-Gon led the way through, followed by the rest of them as they came face to face with nearly fifty battle droids. Qui-Gon led them towards the ship when Panaka caught his ear and pointed to a group of uniformed men on the ground,

"We'll need to free those pilots over there."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I'll take care of that." and walked over to the group of pilots that were guarded by half a dozen droids. Qui-Gon went up to the lead droid,

The droid guard spoke up before he had a chance to, "Where are you taking these people?" it demanded,

"I am the ambassador to the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic; I am taking these people to Coruscant." Said Qui-Gon,

"Hmm…ah…well…You're under arrest!"

The droids raised their weapons as the Jedi, Sith and…well…others activated their lightsabers. Travien and Padmé dashed forward, past Qui-Gon as they charged the droids, constantly moving in circles around one another. The other two Naboo women wielding lightsabers covered the escape of the pilots as Obi-Wan moved to assist his master. The droids were soon dealt with and Travien turned to Qui-Gon,

"You've got a good padawan there; in as much as a Jedi can be good in a fight." He looked at Qui-Gon's face, "Oh bloody hell, can we just leave." Qui-Gon looked slightly stunned at the display and led the others onboard the ship. Travien separated from the Queen and her Handmaidens as they went to the throne room, and headed to the cockpit only to discover that Qui-Gon was walking behind him.

"Did you know that Sith often get twitchy with a Jedi right behind them?" he asked casually.

Qui-Gon moved up beside him, "I have some questions for you, if that is acceptable to you?"

Travien looked at him, "Two conditions." He continued when he saw that Qui-Gon was paying attention, "Firstly, none of this reaches your council. Padmé frowns on wholesale slaughter on my part and that is what it would be if your lot attack me again. The last time I wasn't interested, now I'm just generally pissed off, okay?" Qui-Gon nodded shakily at the casual threat to the Order, "Secondly, we wait until we pass the blockade." The older Jedi nodded again to this condition and they entered the cockpit and saw that Panaka was already there.

"How're we doing guys?" Travien asked the pilots,

"Just coming up on the blockade, sir." Answered the pilot, whose name tag read 'Ric Ollie'.

Travien nodded, "Any luck with communications?"

Ollie shook his head, "No, still jammed."

Damn. Travien thought. He knew that he wasn't a pilot, a swoop racer yes, a pilot no. So he did the only thing he could to help these guys. He sat down in the chair behind him and slipped into the battle meditation that his mother had taught him. Qui-Gon immediately felt the change and looked at Travien, to see that his eyes were shut and he was concentrating hard. The older Jedi gulped as he realized that the young man had slipped into Battle Meditation. He had been unaware that dark side users could perform this ability.

"We're within weapons range of the control ship," called out Ollie. It was almost prophetic as they were immediately stuck by a hail of blaster fire, although a great deal more missed.

"Dammit, we just lost our deflector shield!" cried the pilot. Travien could already sense the droids moving to fix the problem, not that he could influence them in any way. He focused on the pilot and improving his chances. After a couple of powerful hits Travien heard several bleeps,

"He did it, that little droid did it! The shield is back up." He blasted past the Trade Federation ship and jumped into hyperspace. Travien dropped out of his meditation before he thought anyone noticed,

He noticed the captain shaking his head, "What is it?"

Ollie looked up, "There's not enough power to get to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking."

Qui-Gon thought for a moment, "We shall have to land somewhere and make repairs and refuel the ship."

Travien nodded as Obi-Wan spoke up, "Master, here's a planet, Tatooine. It's fairly poor, out of the way and it's not controlled by the Trade Federation."

Travien hung his head and groaned as Panaka spoke up, "How do you know it's not controlled by the Trade Federation?"

The young Sith Lord raised his head, "Because it's historically been controlled by the Hutts. There's nothing there that the Federation would want." He paused for a moment, "Except us, of course."

"The Hutts?!" cried Panaka,

Obi-Wan nodded, "It's risky of course…"

"You can't take her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters, they might discover her…"

He was interrupted by Travien, "They will not touch her, captain. On that you have my word."

Qui-Gon looked sidelong at the man, "Even so, it would be no different than if we landed on a Trade Federation world, expect that the Hutts aren't looking for her." They all turned to Travien,

"Suggest it to the Queen, she will likely agree. I would tell you to shove it and find a different world, but I can feel the Force calling to me as well. The Queen will feel that, what she will do about it is her own counsel. If this turns out badly, then it's on your head." Qui-Gon nodded hesitantly and the group headed to the throne room.

Rune Haako and Nute Gunray sat at a conference table with the hologram of Darth Sidious. His face was obscured by the hood that he wore as he spoke,

"We are in control of all of the northern settlements and are searching for the rest of them as we speak." Stuttered Gunray.

Sidious nodded, "Good. What of Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty?"

Gunray gulped nervously, "There have been some…complications…my lord."

Sidious' voice took on a dangerous tone, "Oh, what complications, viceroy?"

He visibly shook before the hologram, "Darth Shan, her bodyguard, has helped her to escape. A single cruiser got past our blockade shortly afterwards."

Sidious sat back, "Darth Shan? That's impossible…he is long dead." He muttered to himself, "Are you sure of what he said?"

Gunray nodded, "I am, my lord. He choked my advisor, Rune Haako, with the Force before threatening to take a dozen Nemoidians for every Naboo killed. He also used some strange lightning."

Sidious was shaken, not that he let it show, "Viceroy, find that Queen, I want the treaty signed!"

The viceroy trembled, "It is impossible, my Lord. It is out of our range."

Sidious remained stationary for a moment before speaking again, "Not for the Sith." They saw a second person behind Sidious, "This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your missing ship. Do not fail me again, viceroy."

The hologram faded away leaving to very scared Nemoidians, "Now there are three of them, this is getting out of hand!"

Gunray agreed with his advisor, "With any luck, they will destroy each other."