The last few days had been hectic to say the least. Travien had been teaching the Naboo guards how to use the Sith armour properly. This was difficult as they didn't have armour so much as a uniform, they were also unused to full scale blasters. The only one there who was capable was Panaka, which almost had Travien tearing his hair out. The Handmaidens had been teaching Anakin how to use the Force and how to meditate. Travien had to admit, there were worse ways to learn to use the Force than to be taught by two young beautiful women. Anakin's slavery meant that he was mature enough to appreciate that fact as well. Travien had to laugh at the young boy grinning while blushing like mad as the two handmaidens fawned over him. It had been a tense few days as once he had taught the guards how to use the armour properly he moved on to training with Padmé. They had been training hard but there was only so much progress that could be made in under a week. At least she had learned to deflect both lightning and force pushes.

They all stood in the throne room. Padmé sat on the Throne, lacking all of her usual regalia as the others wandered in.

Padmé nodded and they silenced themselves, "As you know, we are on our way back to Naboo. We will need to be prepared." That was all she said before Panaka interrupted,

"Your majesty, with all due respect, this is madness. As soon as we land you will be arrested and forced to sign the treaty." Padmé hook her head,

"I will not be signing that treaty Captain." She stated,

Qui-Gon stepped forward, "I agree your majesty. I do not understand what you hope to accomplish by this." He said sadly. He knew that to try and convince her otherwise was futile but he had to try.

Padmé remained resolute, "I intend to take back what's ours."

Panaka shook his head, "We cannot win your highness. We don't have enough soldiers. Even with Travien and the equipment he has given us we have no army. I have no doubt that Travien can win this battle but only by levelling Theed."

Travien raised his eyebrows, "There's something I hadn't considered." He said innocently. Everyone turned to glare at him and he raised his hands, "Alright, I'm shutting up." Qui-Gon turned back to the Queen,

"Your majesty, we can only defend you, we cannot fight a war for you." Travien nodded at the truth in that statement. 'What are you planning sweetheart?'

Padmé smiled wickedly at him, "Jar Jar Binks, step forward." She sent a message back to Travien, 'Weesa havin' a graaand army.'

Travien smiled triumphantly, he should have thought of that himself but it didn't matter. It had been thought of.

"I need your help Jar Jar. You told me of the army your people possess. I need their help to defeat the Trade Federation."

Jar Jar looked hesitant, "Meesa not sure. Meesa bein banished." He said slowly,

Travien stepped forward, "I will have you in my sight all the way. You have my word that no harm will come to you." Jar Jar looked at him and nodded,

"Meesa leadin you to Otoh Gunga." He said at last.

Padmé nodded, "Thank you Jar Jar. Let's make our final preparations." They all nodded and broke apart from the group. Most of them left with the exception of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gon walked up to them and watched in confusion as Travien stepped back and away,

"Your majesty, please there must be another way."

Padmé was about to talk but Travien got there first, "There is. We go back to the Forge, wait two weeks for me to build my own Droid army with ships to match and I take Naboo by force. Then I move on to Nemoidia and its purse worlds to make sure they cannot retaliate."

Qui-Gon gulped, "I see, that is a less desirable option I admit. Is there no possibility of a peaceful resolution to this dispute?"

Travien shook his head, "We're almost there, Jedi. You can feel people dying as easily as I can. The pain and suffering that is emanating from that planet is immense, we simply don't have time for anything else." Qui-Gon sighed and nodded,

"Very well. What do you need us to do?" he asked.

Padmé nodded to Travien, "I have no doubt that among the Jedi Order you are skilled. This situation is different. There is a good chance that Concido will be present at this battle. If he is then we have unfinished business. This is a Sith matter. Your job will be to defend Padmé."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "And what of the Sith?"

Travien took a deep breath, "He's not one of my Sith, I care little for what happens to him. If he can be captured alive then I will most likely turn him over to the Jedi Order for study or interrogation. If he cannot be captured alive then he will be killed."

Qui-Gon blinked, "You would just hand him over?"

Travien nodded, "As long as he is free then he is a threat to Padmé. I will not suffer a threat to Padmé to exist."

The Jedi nodded, "Very well. We will do as you ask. What of the handmaidens?"

Travien smirked, "They have their own duties." Everyone broke apart and the Jedi left. Padmé turned to Travien,

"How do you think HK is doing on his mission?" asked Padmé quietly,

Travien shrugged, "My guess is that he is already there and waiting for us to show ourselves in public. Either way, it is no concern of ours." She nodded and they went back to their quarters to get dressed, they would be landing in a few moments. Padmé put on her handmaiden outfit, or one of them at least and Travien wore the black armour with the faceless helmet that had inspired fear so many millennia before. It took them little time to get ready and Travien left to the cargo bay. He walked in and saw the black HK-51 droids standing waiting for instructions,

"Droids." Said Travien, their cold blue 'eyes' focused on him and he smiled beneath his mask, "Follow me. We have arrived at the planet in question and will be preparing to engage in combat soon."

"Eager statement: As you command, Master." They said in unison, which was just damned creepy. He used the Force to levitate the crates behind the droids and float them ahead of him out the door. The Droids followed him to the loading ramp where he began familiarizing himself with their designations so that he could tell them apart in battle. It was not easy, he was fortunate however that these droids were like HK and used some Rakatan technology giving them a Force echo which allowed him to tell the differences between them.

He felt the very familiar thump of the ship landing and briefly wondered if they had heard of suspension, it couldn't be doing the landing gear any good to impact like that each time. The ramp hissed open and Travien manoeuvred the crates out in front of him as he left the ship followed by the droids and waited for everyone else.

The long walk to the Gungan city had proved a bust. There were no Gungans living in Otoh Gunga any more, there were signs of blaster fire but no Gungans. Jar Jar surfaced after sometime to find Travien, Padmé and the Jedi on the shore of the lake he had dived into. He walked up to them,

"Theysa gone. Dere is no-one dere." He said,

"Have they been captured?" asked Obi-Wan,

Jar Jar shook his head, "Meesa no tink so. Gungans not goin without a fight. If Gungans threatened they be goin to sacred place."

Travien let Qui-Gon do the talking. For some reason he was unreasonably tense and wished he had devoted more time to listening to his mother about the feeling he would get from the Force. He smiled sadly under his mask as he did occasionally just wishing he had spent more time listening to his mother. He banished the thought for another time. He would mourn his parents when the current crisis was over.

He returned his attention to the conversation as Padmé looked at him,

"Jar Jar," said Qui-Gon gently, "Can you lead us there?"

Jar Jar hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed, "Alright, follow me, follow me." He cried enthusiastically. Travien had placed the droids under Panaka's control for the moment. He was grateful to that as he, Padmé and the Jedi had to follow the now running Jar Jar. They ran for about ten minutes through the thick forest as Travien raised a hand and used the Force to pull Jar Jar back.

"You've led us far enough Jar Jar, they know we're here. I just didn't want you running into an unwelcome spear." Jar Jar looked at him,

"Tank you." He said smiling. Travien stepped forward,

"Show yourselves, I know you're there!" he commanded, lacing the Force into his voice.

A serous looking Gungan on the back of a Kaadu mount moved out of his cover and looked at them,

"What is yousa wantin'?" asked the Gungan.

"We are the representatives of the Queen of the Naboo. We wish to speak to your leader." Travien said calmly. The Gungan looked up as the rest of their group finally caught up with them. Fortunately the droids had not yet turned up. The Gungan nodded, "Very well, mesa escortin' you to Boss Nass." Travien nodded and turned to the group,

"Captain, wait here for the droids. I don't think that they will be welcome in the camp." Panaka nodded and Travien followed the mounted Gungan further into the forest with the Naboo 'delegation' following behind him. They walked through the plant life until they were bought before a rotund Gungan standing on a huge tree root. Travien scowled behind his mask. He never stood on a podium to make himself feel important and that was all he could feel from this Gungan a need to feel important in the face of one that he felt inferior to. So he should, Padmé was the only one who he considered to be his equal in the entire galaxy.

The mounted Gungan announced them after a fashion, "Boss Nass, da Queen of da Naboo."

The rotund Gungan looked down on them and the Jedi became wary as they saw that Travien's fist clenched. He hated self important posers, how dare this creature look down on Padmé! Unknown to Traven he hadn't raised his mind shields and the other s could hear what was so loudly echoing inside his head. Padmé was getting nervous, she needed Travien to calm down if they were going to get this to work.

Sabé stepped forward immediately to try and hurry this up,

"I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo." She said much more calmly than she felt, "I come before you in peace."

Boss Nass nodded, "Yousa Naboo biggen. Yousa bringin da Mackineeks. Yousa all bombad!" he stated grandly, dismissing them with a wav of his hand. Now one has to consider that while Travien is turning over a new leaf he did only come to this decision seven days ago. The Jedi cringed as they felt the Dark Side build up and everyone else jumped when a continuous stream of lightning poured from Travien's hand into the scorched ground beneath him. The Gungans all looked at him in fear,

Padmé stepped forward and placed her hand on Travien's armoured arm. He tilted his head to her and waited as they spoke quietly,

'Travien, we need their help, you cannot do this!' she pleaded,

'I will not allow that self important amphibian to slight your honour. You are a better person than that self important pretender will ever be!' he snapped back.

'Believe me, your faith in me means more than anything, but we need the resources that he can bring to us. We have to do this, for Naboo. We cannot allow any more lives to be lost.'

Travien nodded and raised his mind shields. The lightning stopped streaming from his hand and everyone's eyes tracked down to the patch of ground that was now on fire. Travien calmly lifted his boot and stamped on the offending flames which put them out. Everyone gulped and looked away, turning back to the Queen.

Sabé tried valiantly to continue, "We have sought you out because we wish to form an alliance. The droid armies of the Trade Federation seek to destroy everything that we have created. I implore you to help us…"

Padmé hook her head and spoke to Travien mentally, 'This is never going to work. We need something more; he obviously isn't listening to words.'

Travien snorted 'You could just go and show a bit of good will by introducing yourself.' He thought sarcastically,

'Good idea' she replied brightly and stepped forward, Travien reached out to try and stop her, 'I wasn't being serious!'

Padmé stepped forward, past Sabé and Boss Nass seemed to groan in frustration,

"Whosa dis?!" he asked,

Padmé nodded her head deferentially, "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo." Travien watched in amusement as shock seemed to ripple through the crowd but listened as she continued, "Despite our differences your honour, our two great societies have always lived in peace. The Trade Federation threatens to destroy that peace along with everything that we have worked so hard to build. I ask you to help us, no, I beg you to help us." To Travien's shock and no small amount of rage, to which the Force users winced, Padmé knelt in front of Boss Nass, "Our fate is in your hands." The rest of the group began to kneel as Padmé had done. Boss Nass looked over to the lone standing figure and scowled,

"Whosa Dis?!" he asked angrily,

Padmé looked around and sighed, Travien was still standing. She gulped as he removed his mask and showed the fury he was feeling,

"I am Darth Travien Shan, Dark Lord of the Sith. I kneel before my Queen, and my Queen alone. I suggest you not hold your breath waiting for supplication from me." Padmé scowled at him and Boss Nass huffed,

"Yousa thinkin' yousa better than the Gungans?!" he roared,

Travien snorted, "You know little about Sith Lords, Boss Nass, we tend to think ourselves superior to everyone. The Queen is my only exception to that rule, so don't think yourself so special." Travien considered the lead Gungan for a moment, "Perhaps you should consider that my preferred option of dealing with the Trade Federation will leave large portions of this planet uninhabitable."

Boss Nass sneered, "Yousa thinking you could destroy da planet?!" he laughed,

Travien smirked darkly, "Wouldn't be the first time, I can tell you that. Although I think my rehabilitation is going well, I'm just a mass murderer now instead of a mass murdering psychopath." Everyone stopped to look at him in shock as Padmé closed her eyes sadly, so that was what he still thought of himself was it. Traven continued, "Choose Boss Nass, the eventual destruction of your people and your way of life, or an alliance and the possibilities of trade and knowledge gained not only from the Naboo but the rest of the galaxy. Will you place your pride over the lives of your people?" he asked.

Boss Nass glared at Travien and turned his attention to Padmé, "The Naboo no thinking theysa better than the Gungans?" He asked Padmé who shook her head solemnly. He looked askance at Travien who was still glaring at him and turned to Padmé, "Meesa lika dees. Maybe weesa bein' friends." The rest of the group got up and began chatting in relief while Padmé turned to Travien and glared at him,

"You jeopardized the entire negotiation." She hissed, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Travien did something he had never done before and glared at Padmé, who stepped back, "Sith Lords do not kneel." He hissed back, "I kneel before you out of respect and love, to show that I do not consider myself above you. I will not kneel before another; even Malak never knelt before Revan. Father respected that even though he despised Malak. Besides, what kind of negotiation relies upon the complete submission of the opposite number? That is called surrender."

Padmé looked stunned by his reaction and showed it, "Are you alright, Travien?"

He shook his head, "No I'm not. The Force is screaming a warning at me, but mother didn't have time to teach me how to interpret them. I don't know what is going to go wrong but it will go wrong badly. I'm in a foul mood because you're in danger and I have no prospect of reinforcements from the Forge. I should have kept us there long enough to build a fleet; I should never have bothered with Coruscant in the first place."

Padmé sighed, "You cannot take so much upon yourself. You can't do everything; you're only one man, no matter how powerful." He nodded,

"After this I think I'm taking a vacation, join me?" he said softly,

She smiled, "Where to?"

"One of the Core Worlds. Talravin." He said softly.

Padmé nodded, noticing that everyone was beginning to move out she and the others had to begin a plan, "Why Talravin?" she asked.

Travien smiled sadly, "My mother was born there." He said quietly before walking off the find the droids. Padmé stood there silently for a moment to assimilate what he had just said. She smiled slightly; he was mourning the loss of his parents. She couldn't imagine that it was something that he had done before now.

In Theed Palace things were not going nearly as well. Darth Sidious was speaking to his apprentice, who even he had begun calling Concido inside his own head, Darth Maul and the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. He was extremely concerned; several days ago he had felt a surge in the Dark Side of the Force and had no idea what this could mean.

The Viceroy seemed to be desperately trying to justify his existence to Sidious, "My Lord, we have already located the Queen's starship in the swamp. It is only a matter of time before our teams locate her."

Sidious frowned, "This is an unexpected move for her, far too bold. This is undoubtedly the work of Darth Shan." Sidious turned to Maul, "Lord Maul, be mindful. Attempt to avoid Lord Shan if you can. His powers are beyond what I had believed them to be and he is as yet an unknown entity."

Maul nodded, "I will be mindful, Master. What should I do if I encounter him?"

Sidious thought for a moment, "Engage him if you can. Do not let him slip away." Maul nodded,

Nute Gunray spoke up trembling, "It is true, then? He is in fact a Sith Lord?"

Sidious shook his head, "No Viceroy, he is an Ancient Sith Lord. There are few to no records about him therefore he is unpredictable. I have no idea how this will change the situation, you must adapt swiftly."

Maul shuddered imagining the power he was going to face. The first time should have been fatal but the Sith Lord had wanted him to improve. There was no way he could improve enough in such a short time to survive a second attempt. Maul bowed to Sidious, "As you wish, my Master." All three occupants of the palace shivered slightly as the hologram shut off.