CHAPTER 18: PADMÉ AMIDALA

Coruscant

For the second time since the beginning of the Clone Wars, the Senate had voted to actually curtail the Supreme Chancellor's power. After the defeat of Palpatine's Sector Governance Act, the Delegation of 2,000 had swelled in size to more than 4,000 Senators, lobbyists, and other political officers and representatives.

Spearheaded by Bail Organa, Padmé Amidala, Mon Mothma, and Bothawui's senior senator Polo Se'lab, the Delegation of 4,000 had successfully passed a bill ensuring the resignation of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. In the event Count Dooku was killed, captured, or the Separatist leadership agreed to a ceasefire, the Supreme Chancellor would be impeached if he refused to resign. While conditional to the end of hostilities, the impeachment was legally-binding.

The waiting area around the Senate chamber was noisier than Senator Amidala could ever remember it being.

Padmé pushed her way through the multispecies crowd, many chattering excitedly.

"Congratulations!" a deep male human voice said from somewhere in the crowd.

"Thank you," Padmé said, smiling at Giddean Danu, Senator of Kuat who was the most likely source of the congratulation.

A bald woman dressed in grey stepped forward from the crowd, bashing her shoulder into Padmé.

Padmé grunted, stooping over as she caught her breath. It took a second for her to recognize that this was Sly Moore, one of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's aides.

"Watch where you are going," Sly hissed. "And some advice from Plutarkos: Watch your back."

"Uh… Thank you?" Padmé said in a half-question, in utter disbelief at the Umbaran's behavior.

It took her a moment to recall that Plutarkos was a character in a Caamasi tragedy, a Senator who was assassinated shortly after successfully impeaching the corrupt Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.

Feeling more vulnerable, Padmé buttoned up the top fastener of her maroon overcoat.

Why didn't I bring my security today?

Padmé had never thought of fellow Naboolian Sheev Palpatine as being a threat to her safety—after all he had worked so hard to keep her safe during the early stages of the Separatist crisis. On the other hand, Palpatine's followers may be another story.

Looking over her shoulders, Padmé caught a final glimpse of Sly Moore's coat-tails as the Umbaran disappeared into the crowd.

Just get to the turbolift, Padmé thought to herself, continuing her journey through the crowd.

She sighed with relief, seeing Bail Organa waiting by the turbolift too. Bail looked like he was trying to escape from a conversation with two Rodians, one of whom she recognized as Rodia's new Senator Afpa Wieedo.

"Senator Organa," Padmé said in pretend-formality.

"Senator Amidala," Bail smiled. He turned back to the Rodians briefly. "Apologies, but I must—"

"That's completely understandable," Afpa Wieedo said, putting a hand on Bail's shoulder. "We will speak more about this later."

The turbolift doors opened. Padmé and Bail stepped in.

When the doors closed, Bail sighed audibly in relief, then turned back to Padmé. "Senator Mothma asked… Well, I was about to invite you—"

"Certainly," Padmé interrupted, pointing a finger into the center of his grey-robed chest. "We need to celebrate."

Bail shook his head in disbelief, as if surprised at her reaction. "Excellent. Shall I give you a lift?"

"That would be wonderful." Padmé felt positively energized.

The turbolift doors hissed open on the hangar level. In the distance, four figures were visible around Bail Organa's Narglatch XJ-2 Airspeeder.

"Who are—What are they doing to my speeder?" Bail gasped, jogging out of the turbolift.

Padmé jogged after him.

The figures in the distance drew near enough for Padmé to make them out. Two were red and white painted Clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard, one was a Coruscant Guardian police droid, and the fourth was—upon recognizing the fourth, she gasped.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Bail yelled in affront.

Tanivos Divo snorted, chuckling under his breath as he wrapped Bail Organa's speeder in yellow and black caution tape.

Padmé had once dealt with the clumsy Coruscant police detective during an investigation into the murder of her friend and former Senator of Rodia, Onacanda Farr. While Lieutenant-Inspector Tanivos Divo had been bumbling about, missing lead after lead on the investigation, Padmé had done a bit of detective work on her own and found the culprit.

To say Padmé was unimpressed with Tanivos Divo was the understatement of the century.

"Lieutenant Divo," Padmé said politely. "Is Senator Organa's speeder a crime scene?"

"You could say that, Senator," Divo said in his thick drawl, narrating the scene dramatically as he walked in a circle around the Senators. "I get a call today, reporting a suspicious vehicle registered to the name of a non-existent person. Org Banelli. Senator, is this name familiar to either of you?"

Jaw dropped in shock, Padmé stepped close enough to read the caution tape.

Spelled in Aurebesh, repeated over and over again were the words "POLICE AWARE." On the driver's side door was a large yellow and black checkered placard that read "POLICE AWARE. THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE CORUSCANT POLICE. TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND AVOID CONFISCATION, PLEASE CALL CORUSCANT SKIES OR YOUR LOCAL POLICE STATION AT 000 738 9076 5412."

Rather than protesting, Bail Organa blushed red with embarrassment. "I am truly sorry for the confusion officer—I should—I should explain, I use the name Org Banelli to avoid the reporters."

Divo snorted at that. "Alright Org, let's see some ID."

Bail Organa began shuffling through his wallet, flipping through a booklet of IDs, one of which was his own speeder license under the name Bail Organa.

Oh no… If Bail shows the Coruscant police a fake speeder license, then he will be admitting he is guilty of falsifying identification. Under the Enhanced Security Act, he would then be considered a suspicious person and could be held in detention for an indefinite amount of time.

Padmé put a hand on Bail's shoulder, gripping him firmly.

Lowering his wallet, Bail returned her gaze.

"You have never seen this speeder before," Padmé hissed insistently. "Ever."

"What are you—Oh," Bail gasped. "Sorry for the confusion, officer, I have never—I think this speeder must have been abandoned."

"Give me that!" Divo yelled, grabbing the wallet from Bail Organa's hands.

"He is a member of the Galactic Senate! This is outrageous!" Padmé stepped forward, attempting to grab the wallet back. "He has diplomatic immunity!"

"No—no," Bail whispered, stepping between her and Tanivos. "It's okay."

Padmé's worry grew more intense as Divo continued flipping through the booklet of IDs. A minute went by, and then two. By the third minute, Divo had taken every card out of the wallet, and was furiously scrutinizing each one individually for the fifth time. Finally, he chucked them to the hangar floor, then shook the wallet, as if expecting more cards to magically fall out.

"Well, if there is nothing else," Bail said, "I would like to pick my belongings up from the ground."

"I—you—how is this possible?!" Divo gasped, losing all professional bearing. "Where is your fake ID, you corrupt slimy Senator!"

"Apologies, but you must have mistaken me for someone else," Bail finally said, sounding very flustered.

Before Divo could rant further, an authoritative voice called out. "You lot! What is the meaning of this?"

Padmé's head spun to see a quartet of blue-armored Senate Guards approaching from the direction of the turbolifts, wooden-stocked DC-15 rifles held at ready.

Oh dear…

o.o.o.o.o

Thankfully for her and Bail, the arrival of the Senate Guard had been a lucky break as they had arrived in the hangar to investigate the apparently unannounced presence of unassigned CSF and Coruscant Guard members in their jurisdiction.

That the pompous CSF lieutenant had been just arrogant enough to not inform the Senate Guard of his 'investigation' before proceeding to carelessly tamper with an unknown airspeeder didn't surprise Padmé in the least.

The two Senators had been escorted out of the hangar by Divo's accompanying Clones before they could overhear anything more, but Padmé assumed that Lieutenant was going to be in deep trouble for his failure to adhere to procedure.

Unfortunately for her and Bail, the air taxis were so busy that there was a 2 hour wait just to get a cab, and the buses were filled to the brim with staffers, so the pair now waited outside of the Galactic Senate Building's maglev station. The Republic Executive Building was one quick maglev stop away.

"I don't understand why you did that," Padmé whispered, leaning in close to Bail.

"When Palpatine first took office, I did use a forged ID to register that speeder," Bail admitted in a hushed voice. "I continued paying the registration fees, but I never renewed the fake ID. After it expired four years ago, I threw it away."

"But why?! Why do something so illegal? That is so… so risky!"

"I thought it more risky registering the speeder under my name," Bail retorted with a shrug. "You regularly use body-doubles, and—"

"That's different," Padmé interrupted, a knowing certainty in her voice. "I don't do things that make it more difficult for the Republic to track my movements. We are a part of this government Bail."

The maglev doors opened, allowing Bail and Padmé to step inside.

"Do you know how many opposition Senators have died since Palpatine took office?" Bail asked rhetorically.

"You can't possibly think—" Padmé started, but stopped mid-sentence, sputtering in shock as she saw the surprising individual at the front of another crowd of passengers, most of whom seemed similarly stupefied.

"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, I didn't expect to see you on the maglev," Bail exclaimed enthusiastically, beaming with delight.

Standing in the middle of the compartment, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine wore red and maroon robes. At his side were two of the Palpatine's aptly named Red Guards, with shiny red armor, capes, helmets, and jet-black visors covering their eyes.

A few Clone shock troopers with DC-15 carbines and DP-23 scatterblasters stood at either end of the car, watching for possible threats to Palpatine's safety.

"I take it to my office all the time," Palpatine said. "After all, I find being amongst the people to be the best way to understand them."

Padmé frowned. Everyone knew that Palpatine almost always rode a shuttle to and from the Senate, usually his privately owned Theta-class as of late. Or almost always.

"Supreme Chancellor…" Palpatine muttered, a grin forming in the corner of his mouth. "Ironic. Why, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were mocking me, Senator Organa."

"I would never dream of it," Bail said, shaking his head incredulously. "You are still Supreme Chancellor… For now."

Palpatine leered at the two Senators. A crowd began to form as he and his Red Guards continued to block the middle of the aisle.

"I find it most distressing that the opposition has so little trust in me. This vote was nothing more than a reassurance that I will do what I have always pledged to do. I never planned on being Supreme Chancellor even for one day past the end of the war."

In spite of herself, a furrow of concern formed on Padmé's forehead.

"In that case, I don't see how we are at an impasse," Bail said cautiously.

"I suppose you wouldn't," Palpatine sighed, a tragic tone to his voice. "What I found most distressing though, is your behavior Senator Amidala. Surely, you don't believe I want anything but what is best for the Galaxy. I hope you don't genuinely believe I would remain Chancellor indefinitely—why, I have many further ambitions besides politics!"

Unsure how to respond to that, Padmé remained silent.

o.o.o.o.o

"He really said that he has ambitions beyond politics?!" Mon Mothma snorted, roaring with laughter as she poured herself another neon-blue glass of Toniray.

Polo yipped along, snarling with laughter as he slapped his knee. The Bothan's blonde fur seemed to dance with mirth. "Next Palpatine will tell us he's apolitical!"

"Yes, it… It really was something else," Bail muttered, gulping down his own glass of Toniray.

Padmé sighed, stomach churning with guilt as she drank a cup of Kothtri—a non-alcoholic Bothan beverage brought to the gathering by Senator Polo Se'lab.

If it weren't for Sheev Palpatine standing up for Naboo in the Senate, I would have never had my own Galactic voice. We had our disagreements. I don't trust him exactly… But isn't that the problem? I don't trust Sheev Palpatine. Why do I feel so guilty about not trusting him?

"This Toniray really is exquisite," Mon Mothma said, twirling her cup around and sloshing the beverage up gently along the walls of the glass. "Padmé, I am sure Polo wouldn't be offended if you tried a glass."

Padmé blinked, snapping out of her thoughts and back into focus. The three other leaders of the delegation were staring at her expectantly—well, two of them were. Polo Se'lab was sniffing the air furiously.

"I… Sorry Mon, I have cut alcohol out of my life and really can't drink anymore. I had a very raucous teenage rebellious phase."

"As Queen?" Bail asked interestedly.

"Whether or not that is true," Polo growled cautiously, "you shouldn't drink… At least not until you give birth."

Padmé took a deep breath. Frozen in place, she held her glass high in the air mid-sip.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Polo smirked, tapping his own wet nose with two fingers. "The Bothan sense of smell is far superior to that of humans." He held his class of Alderaanian Toniray up in the air, brandishing it in Padmé's direction and tapping it on the edge of her own glass in an awkward toast. "You're pregnant! Congratulations."

Padmé had known she was pregnant for quite some time and that Anakin was the father. However, it was not supposed to be known to anyone until after Anakin sorted out his role in the Jedi Order.

This cannot be happening.

"Uh… Congratulations I suppose," Bail said, smiling weakly.

"Who's the father?" Polo asked casually.

"Senator Se'lab," Mon Mothma said through gritted teeth, "humans don't ask those questions… Well, maybe we do, but not like that."

Padmé stood up. "I have to go. I am sorry—It has been "

"I am sorry for making things awkward," Polo said, his round innocent eyes looking genuinely worried. "I didn't mean to offend! I won't tell anyone."

"Do you need me to accompany you back to your apartment?" Bail asked worriedly.

"It's no… I am—I am not offended," Padmé stammered, walking as quickly as she could to the door. "Thank you for the Kothtri, and congratulations everyone, we really couldn't have done it without… Yeah."

When Mon Mothma's office doors hissed shut, Padmé stood alone in the hallway, leaning up against the wall and panting.

This cannot be happening. I need to call Captain Typho…