Dragon Queen-Flagship of Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo

Location: Transitory Mists

Tenel Ka stood silently next to the infirmary bacta tank where her daughter floated, breath mask attached to her face and clothed in a hospital smock to maintain her modesty. The infirmary head physician, an elderly man with grey hair and a receding hairline, came up to the Queen with datapad in hand. He gave the Queen Mother a warm smile. It was the type of smile that projected a calm and reassuring mask of confidence, but rarely was an accurate indicator of the patient's true condition.

"Your Majesty, the Princess will be fine. No vital organs were damaged and she is responding well to the bacta treatment. You, on the other hand, have not slept since you arrived on ship. As your physician I would recommend you take some time to rest."

She glanced over to the doctor and gave him a forced smile. "Thank you Doctor Hophman, I will take that under advisement."

The doctor nodded and retreated down the hall.

"You should go your Highness," a voice rang out from behind her. She turned to find the commander of her personal defense force standing in the doorway. He remained garbed in full armor except for his helmet which he held under one arm.

"I still don't feel comfortable leaving her, Commander Tavik. I don't know who to trust."

"I'll guard the Princess," he reassured her.

The Queen stared at him for a moment in quiet contemplation. "As I said, I don't know who to trust."

The older man laughed. "Your Highness, you wound me." He put his helmet down on a gurney as he leaned against the ship bulkhead and grinned. "How can you not trust your personal security force? We're the 25th Foreign Few! The Untouchables."

Tenel Ka rolled her eyes. Her personal security Force consisted entirely of non-Hapan warriors—men and women who once served the New Republic and later the Galactic Alliance military—soldiers with no ties to the various royal families on Hapes. Having non-Hapan security prevented betrayal based on family loyalties, but not from bribes of money and power. "Nobody is untouchable."

Commander Tavik took off his gauntlets and then ran his hand though his graying blond hair. "True, but I trust my men with my life and I thought you trusted me with yours and your daughter's." He took a step toward the bacta tank and gazed sadly at Allana floating unconscious in the healing fluid. "I don't know how you tolerate living under these conditions." He turned to the Queen. "Can't I just go kill the people that want you dead? I promise to be discrete."

The Queen scoffed. "Do you intend on killing the entire royal family? Because it looks like they are all gunning for me now. I'm not sure what brought on this increase of assassination attempts."

"What?" Commander Tavik said incredulously. "You don't know? I can tell you… and it has everything to do with your visitor a week-or-so ago."

She frowned. "Jacen Solo? What about him?"

The man threw up his hands in a disbelieving gesture. "The royals think you are going to hand over the leadership of the Consortium to spooks," he grimace when he realized what he said. "I apologize, your Highness…to the Jedi."

Her brow furrowed. "Why would they think that?"

"Everybody knows about Luke Skywalker declaring himself Jedi Grand Master and pledging the Jedi's allegiance to the Galactic Alliance. They also probably know he made a call to all Jedi to swear loyalty to the Jedi order…that the order should rank above all other personal obligations."

Tenel Ka's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe that is public knowledge, Commander Tavik."

"It's also not classified knowledge. The Grand Master didn't swear the Jedi to secrecy…and I have Jedi friends…believe it or not." He walked away from the bacta tank and leaned back against the bulkhead. "It's true, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I resigned my place in the Jedi. I could not subordinate myself to the order or to the Galactic Alliance."

The soldier nodded his head. "That's good, but your people don't know it. There are rumors going around and I am fairly sure that is why everybody and your Grandmother are now trying to kill the Jedi Queen and her daughter."

She drew in a deep breath and let it out. "I shall make a public statement on the matter."

The man nodded. "Good, now go get some sleep." He nodded toward Allana. "I'll keep her safe." When Tenel Ka did not move the man gave her a disappointed look. "Your Highness, if you're unsure of my loyalty do your Jedi magic and look into my brain or whatever you do to make sure I am not going to betray you." He spread his arms out wide. "I am an unencrypted datapad. You have my permission to probe me." He gave her a wink. "Just don't tell my wife."

She shook her head. "I cannot believe the disrespect you show the crown."

He gave a cocky grin. "That is because I am your employee, not your subject. You can fire me if you like."

"No, I need you to watch Allana." She turned to leave. "I will be in my quarters. Call me if there is a change in her condition Commander."

The man nodded with a smile. "Yes, Your Majesty."

.

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Star System MZX3290S, Near Bimmiel

Lumiya broke contact with Jacen Solo. She had been using the dark side empowered projection she learned from Darth Vectivus, or as he called it 'phantoms', to trick Solo into thinking he was talking to his Grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. She was trembling at the mental exertion and tight control of the Force she had to utilize to pull off such as difficult task.

She had been sitting on the ground in a meditative posture, but now flopped down to the floor exhausted.

"Were you able to contact him?" she could hear Darth Vectivus' voice from a dark corner of the room.

"Yes and I discovered some very interesting information. The Queen mother is not just a close friend of the Jedi…but his wife. Jacen Solo is the father of Princess Allana of Hapes."

"Indeed," the voice said sounding mildly surprised. "That is a very fortunate for you. That should make your job much easier. Attachment was forbidden for the Jedi for a reason. The Jedi want the order to be top priority. If they have families, the Jedi Order usually came second to their loved ones."

"Hopefully when I meet up with him I can convince him of his destiny."

"And what exactly is his destiny?" The Sith Lord asked.

"I want to convince him there is an evil approaching and only a master of the unifying Force—a person who sees the Force as a means to an end—can save the universe from the hardship that awaits it."

The Sith Lord was silent for a moment. When he responded it was with a contemplative tone. "Lumiya, your motives are admirable, but the future is always in motion. Often when one tries to change the future one sees in a vision, they only end up ensuring its fruition."

Lumiya thought about it for a while. "Maybe I have a second motive, one less venerable."

She could see the ghostly aberration shift his head toward her. "Which is?"

She frowned. "You had a family and children—people who remember you. Somewhere in the galaxy your legacy lives on. It lives in the blood and memory of your ancestors and though me and your teachings. I don't have children. My reproductive organs were destroyed along with a few other important parts of my body when my spacecraft was shot down by Skywalker. I don't have anybody to carry on my bloodline or pass on my knowledge too." She stood up and walked toward the shadowy Dark Lord. "It is so finite. When I die, I will become nothing but a memory and soon that will also fade from existence."

"Unless you have an apprentice," the Dark Lord ventured a guess, "Somebody to pass on what you have learned."

"Yes."

Darth Vectivus gave a sinister chuckle. "Your Sith biological clock is ticking."

Lumiya scowled. "Sometimes you can be an insufferable lout!"

He laughed again. "True, I claimed to be a Sith who is not evil. I never said I wasn't a snarky sleemo."

She made an obscene gesture in his direction and then walked to her room. "I need to pack. I'm going to Lorrd."