Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Rico: I'm sorry, but both of those are still my plan.

Chapter 2- Naboo

(March 2, 2049)

Aboard the battlecruiser Kongo, a young Jedi named Alex Bridger, son of Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, pauses for a moment to allow the doors onto the bridge to open, and then makes his way onto the bridge. As he enters the bridge, several of the bridge crew salute him despite him being younger than many of them.

The battlecruiser's captain turns to face Alex. "Bridger," the captain acknowledges his presence, also nodding his head respectfully.

"Captain," Alex returns with his own nod of the head. He then asks the captain, "How much further?"

"Just two minutes left," the captain says, glancing back out of the viewport at the blue of hyperspace.

Alex just nods and looks out of the viewport as well. The two stand there in silence for the next two minute before the Kongo drops out of hyperspace. As the battlecruiser comes out of hyperspace, up ahead appears Alex's destination. The planet of Naboo.

The captain turns to Alex. "Well, Bridger, you'd better get down to the hangar," he says. Alex nods and turns to leave the bridge.

Just off the bridge, Alex comes to the lifts. Pressing a button to summon a lift, it appears within 20 seconds. Alex steps in and presses the button for the hangar level.

After a short lift ride, the lift doors open and Alex steps out, making his way towards the hangar bay. It only takes a few minutes for him to reach the hangar bay. As he enters, he sees two shuttle being prepped to fly down to the planet's surface. Alex makes his way towards one of them. Giving a quick salute to the men prepping the shuttle, Alex boards the shuttle and stands in the back, waiting for the shuttle to head down to the planet.

After about a ten minute wait, the pilots of the shuttle power up the engines and close the loading doors. A few moments later, Alex feels the shuttle lift off the floor of the hangar. The shuttle pivots in midair before flying out of the hangar. As it does, Alex sees out of the windows a few warships of Naboo's defense fleet.

As the shuttle heads down into Naboo's atmosphere, Alex looks out of the windows of the cargo bay, seeing the sprawling lands of the lush planet, while also seeing a handful of SF-23 fighters flying north past the shuttle on a training exercise. In the distance, he can see the sprawling facilities of the Padme Amidala Airbase.

Naboo had changed drastically since the Terran Alliance first occupied it back in 2013 during the Galactic Civil War. During the war, the Alliance had heavily fortified and militarized the planet, and although the war was over, a number of those facilities still remained.

Naboo had become the unofficial capitol of the Alliance's Andromeda territory. The Alliance had built a number of government facilities in Theed, and lots of pieces of Terran culture had been adopted by the Naboo. All civilian and military actions in the Andromeda Galaxy were overseen from Naboo.

There were also a number of military bases on the planet. There were two major bases within the general vicinity of Theed: the Padme Amidala Airbase, a massive air base home to a large fighter contingent and other spacecraft; and Fort Paton, an Army base home to most of Naboo's Army garrison named after General Harry Paton. There were also other smaller airfields and small Army outposts spread out around the planet to ensure the entire planet is covered. The Alliance had also set up a number of plasma mines on the planet given the abundance of plasma deep within Naboo.

The shuttle finally sets down in the royal hangar inside Theed. Alex waits until the engines begin to shut down and the cargo bay doors open up.

Alex disembarks from the shuttle. Immediately, he sees a French officer waiting for him. The officer salutes him and says, "Mr. Bridger, welcome to Theed. I am Lieutenant Durand. I was asked to escort you to meet with Master Biles."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Lead the way," Alex responds.

Alex follows Lieutenant Durand out of the hangar and out into the streets of Theed. He smiles a bit as he looks around at the buildings. He's been the Naboo once before, and it's still one of his favorite places here in the Andromeda Galaxy. The natural peaceful feeling of the planet always makes him feel so good whenever he's on Naboo.

The two men walk through the streets of Naboo for about 10 minutes before reaching a small building that Alex knows as the Andromeda headquarters for the Terran Jedi Order. Lieutenant Durand stops outside the doors and turns to Alex. "Here we are," he says.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Alex says. The lieutenant nods once to acknowledge the thanks before he turns and walks away down the street. As he does, Alex opens the doors and walks into the building.

As Alex enters the building, he sees several Jedi in the lobby, as well as non-Jedi who work at the building. Alex exchanges greetings with the Jedi, all of whom he knows well.

Then, a door opens at the back of the lobby, and out of the door comes Master Simone Biles. Simone is now 52 years old and is one of the Order's primary training Masters. Most of her time these days is spent training younglings. However, a few months ago, due to the heightened tensions in the Andromeda Galaxy, she had been asked to go to the Andromeda Galaxy for several months.

"Alex!" Simone says with a bright smile. She walks over and gives him a quick hug.

"Good to see you, Master Biles," Alex says.

"I'm glad to have you here. Things are getting a little hairy, and any Jedi we have is a great blessing," Simone says. She then gestures towards the door she just came through and says, "Come. Master Tamura and I will brief you and recent happenings here."

As Alex follows Simone, up in orbit, a Rear Admiral from Norway named Lars Johansen is taking note of the arrival of the Kongo and her two Star Destroyer escorts. Johansen has been the commander of Naboo's defense fleet for several years. The current composition of the fleet is a sure sign of the increasing tension in the galaxy. For the last 20 years, the fleet has usually been pretty small, rarely including a ship larger than a Star Destroyer, and usually no more than half a dozen ships. Now, the defense fleet numbers 14 ships, including two battlecruisers, the Kongo and his flagship, the Valiant. Given the overall state of things both here and at home, it's a miracle the fleet is this big.

"Kongo, alter course 20 degrees to starboard and assume position over Onoam," Johansen says to the captain of the Kongo, who is currently on a call with all of the captains of the defense fleet.

"Copy that, admiral," the captain responds.

Johansen looks out of the viewport. Things are heating up here in Andromeda. All he can hope for is that the war he believes is inevitable at this point can be held off for a few years.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

So, you might have noticed I've mentioned things going on back in the Milky Way. I won't explain exactly what it is until Chapter 4, but there is something going on back in the Milky Way that will play a critical background role in this story.

Next chapter will be up soon. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!