Coruscant Spaceport

New Order - Day Five

Hela wrapped the scarf around her head and fixed it tightly in place; they were waiting in the queue to be cleared by security. The Stormtroopers were taking their time with the searches. The Akk dog was jittery, bouncing up and down on its front paws.

Hela re-read the message from Ryoo Thule, Padme's grandmother. Adhering to Naboo customs she was in charge of the funeral arrangements. She had sent the final details of the funeral and it was befitting what Padme meant to her people.

"I'm sorry." Zur said, "I know she meant a lot to you." He was standing just to the side of her, out of uniform for this trip.

"I should have done more, been there for her. I mean why was she in the Outer Rim anyway?"

"Who knows. She always did her own thing from what I heard."

"Have you heard anything else about her?"

"No nothing. Everyone is tight lipped about her and her private life."

"She was obviously pregnant but evaded my questions about the father. That's normal on Naboo. You ask once and if they don't want to tell you, you don't ask again."

"There were rumours about her and the Jedi."

"Obi Wan? I cant believe that."

"No! The other one— Skywalker."

"Anakin?" The grief for all of them hit her again and she blinked back tears before answering, "They were close." She admitted, to herself as well, "Could he have been the father?"

"It doesn't matter now, does it."

"No." She watched the troopers all in white searching every ship, they were still a few ships away, the Akk dog sniffing madly.

"What are they looking for?" She asked Zur.

"Smugglers. Jedi." He put a hand on her arm to steady her. He wasn't sure how she was going to react; it had been a stressful few days.

"Let's hope these troopers hurry or we'll be late." She replied.

"Hmm." Zur pressed a key on his com.

The trooper with the Akk strode over to them.

"Are you for Naboo?"

"Yes." Answered Hela, "the vintage Republic shuttle in Bay 4."

"Oh. That's yours, is it?" He sounded just like Mayday.

Distracted for a moment, she finally asked, "Why? Is there a problem?"

"We'll see. Is there likely to be?"

"No! It's just that we are attending a funeral and we don't want to be late."

"Funeral eh?" He waved over the other trooper.

"We'll be especially careful with this one." They wandered slowly over.

"There isn't going to be a problem, is there?" Asked Zur.

"Of course not. I'm not an idiot. It's mainly my clothes."

"Of course."

.

Theed

Naboo

The door opened to the Apartment, Hela had debated not staying here but it would look odd if she didn't use her own home when she stayed on Naboo and everyone was checked when they were leaving the planet legally now.

There were ways to leave illegally but she couldn't risk that.

"Hela! You're okay." Nola pulled her in.

Zur followed behind, she nodded at him.

"Are you singing at the Funeral? I didn't see your name."

"No. It's for all Naboo to pay their respects. It's a procession."

"Ah yes, Ryoo has organised it." She took Hela's cloak. "I heard Padmé was pregnant."

"That's true."

"Oh." Nola understood that implication that she had not given birth.

"Speaking of pregnant." Hela said.

"Not you?" Nola asked, surprised.

"No, our guests."

"They're upstairs. They came through the tunnels."

Hela felt Zur looking at her with a question, he didn't need to say anything, she turned to him.

"It's an old building. There are tunnels leading out to the edge of the city. My father had them made safe when he took over the house."

"So people can enter and leave without anyone knowing, interesting."

"Exactly. I'll show you them later. Let's go see Cara and Lilli ."

As soon as she entered the room Lilli launched herself at her; the hug she recieved was the best feeling she had had in days.

Cara sat watching, looking sad but healthy just the same.

"How are you?" Hela asked, sitting next to her with Lilli on her knee, returning the hug still.

"I'm well. Nola is amazing; she looks after both of us and the farm; and Lilli has so much room to run around. So will this little one." She rested her hand on her stomach.

"How long now?"

"A month or so."

Hela looked at Nola.

"Everything is ready. The midwife is on call."

"I'll get an Obstetrics droid—"

"No! I don't want a droid."

"You need to be safe."

"Not a med droid. Plug—"

"I understand." Hela had not thought of that. The clones had spent most of their time fighting the droids. Now they were going to have to fight organics most of the time.

She turned to Nola, "Is there a Doctor we can trust?"

"I'll find one. How long are you staying?"

"Just for the Funeral."

"Can't you stay longer. It would be lovely?"

"I'm expected back, to rehearse for a new Opera season. It's a classic."

"You can't possibly still think Palpatine is still a good man after everything he did." Nola couldn't wait to any that.

"I'm not sure what I believe anymore." Admitted Hela, still wanting to think the best of him. She had not been able to see him since that night, when everything changed.

"What about Mayday? Where is he?"

"I don't know. I've not spoken to him since before— I can't get hold of him." She didn't want to think the worst but everything had changed so much, even the troopers at the Spaceport were not the same men,nthe way they acted. She felt Nola's arm rest on her shoulder in comfort.

.

Funeral Procession

The Funeral procession was huge as befitting the funeral of someone who meant so much to her people; the whole route was lined with mourners, many had come from outside Theed. It was a gentle warm evening as her coffin was pulled to its final resting place. The city was lit by the candles held by mourners and there were thousands in attendance.

The open coffin showed Padmé as pregnant still, so not just Padmé but her baby died with her, hopefully it ended a few of the more outlandish rumours that were now flying about.

Hela scanned the crowd, she recognised several Senators, Organa and Mothma but the Emperor was not here; he should have been following the procession. She couldn't even see anyone who remotely could be said to represent him.

She sniffled as the coffin passed, as fresh tears ran down her face; Zur squeezed her arm. She could not remember him saying anything bad about Padmé.

Her remaining handmaiden's followed the coffin, as did Jar Jar but nobody from the Emperor's office that she could see.

"The Emperor's not even sent anyone, a representative." She hissed at Zur, anger following the tears.

"Shh! You're only saying what a lot of people here are thinking."

"But she was his Queen." Muttered Hela.

"Shh!" Zur hissed.

"He's not the man I thought he was."

Zur grabbed her arm, "Say no more!" Although he had come to that conclusion himself. What was happening in the ISB was unheard of in the Republic; it was not what he signed up for. He was only staying for her.

She obediently clamped her mouth shut.

.

"I need to stay a few more days." Hela announced.

"Why?" Asked Zur, holding the torch to light the way down the tunnels as they walked, checking them; they were an impressive feat of engineering and appeared reasonably safe and dry given that Theed had a lot of water features built in it. They were nearly at the end. He could see the light but didn't want to say that.

"I want to see a lawyer here. One that used to work for my father. I can trust him."

"To do what?"

"To transfer the properties I own here to Nola and Cara."

"Why?"

"Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

"I don't trust that my Will would be adhered to on Coruscant if anything happened to me."

"They're in your Will?"

"There's something for you too."

"That's not why I asked and nothing's going to happen to you. I'm here."

"Once it's done here. It's done and they'll be safer. I made a promise to myself that I would look after Cara and the baby. For Plug."

"Two more days and that's all, before they start asking questions." He paused, "And thank you. For the Will."

"It's okay! I'll get it all done.

.

"I have to leave." She finally told Nola, "I was only given permission for six days off world."

Nola's head shot up, "You had to get permission to leave?"

"At the moment, yes. They say it's for Galactic security, while they implement something called Chain Codes for ID for everyone. It's all changing."

"You should never have trusted that man. You need to get away from Coruscant."

"I can't, not at the moment."

"But you are thinking about it?"

"We'll see but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Here!"

She handed over two legal flimzi scrolls.

Nola stared at them.

Hela pushed them at her again, "Take them!"

Nola opened them up, her eyes going wide when she read them.

"You can't."

"It's done. So you'll all have somewhere to stay."

"Are you leaving Coruscant?"

"No but it feels dangerous there. It's not the same. People try to pretend it is or that it's better but it isn't. It feels stifling. I've never had to get permission to leave the planet before."

"You could stay here."

Hela shook her head, " I know what you think of the Emperor and me staying would just bring people here that you don't want, especially with Cara and Lilli."

"Hela?"

"I promised myself that I would make sure Cara, Lilli and the baby would be looked after, for Plug, after his death."

"You mean for Mayday."

Hela gave a little smile, "Sort of."

"I'll make sure they're okay. Kept out of any limelight."

"Thank you."

"You're a good girl. Always was."

"Yeah. Are they away now?"

Nola checked her com, "Yes, they're already back at the Cabin."

"Good. It's time we went."

"The Falleen?" Asked Nola.

"I trust him with my life." She wrapped her arms around her, squeezed then turned and left, followed by the Falleen.

Nola watched as they left.

"She's finally grown up."

.

Barton IV

New Order - Day Twenty.

Mayday stared at the report. A whole squad, the best of the shinies, lost just outside the perimeter, doing a basic recce, some kind of sinkhole opened up and swallowed them up. Then closed again leaving no trace.

As soon as the alarm was raised, it wasn't long, Decs had been their Sergeant and was monitoring them, a rescue team was sent out; they tried hand digging, and controlled blasting, as there was no digging equipment but there was no sign of them. There appeared to be some kind of tunnels but they were blocked. It was difficult to see how deep or far they went. The report showed there was nothing more they could do to retrieve them.

They had tried but had not even managed to retrieve the bodies. Decs had gone out with another squad, searching and scanning the area where they were last seen but there were no life signs anywhere, checking if they had found their way out somewhere else but no. Only one blaster left in the snow showed they had even been there.

Remembrances were said but some of the shinies didn't know what that meant. They were definitely odd, Decs had said they didn't know about the storms on Kamino. Every clone from Kamino had a story about a storm but he couldn't worry about that now. He had the troops he had.

Mayday recalled the other squad before they froze to death too, as the blizzard had started and was ferocious, as they were searching, increasing in ferocity, the temperature dropping further. They only just returned in time before it was a total white out.

"Splicer? Can you get me any more on these tunnels? If that's what they are. What caused it? Are there likely to be more? Is it seismic activity that we can forecast?"

He was clutching at straws.

"I can't tell you anything, not at the moment, boss. The blizzard is straining our energy resources to the limit. In fact we may have to close off some underused areas to conserve fuel."

"Copy that. Keep me updated if anything changes."

"Yes sir." Splicer stayed on the line, "Boss?"

"Yes."

"We've still not had anything from Coruscant. I thought perhaps ….Hela."

Mayday knew he had a soft spot for her especially after she gave him those latest civilian headphones on Naboo; if not before then, with all the food, when they came for him.

"She probably has problems getting through." He dragged his hand slowly down his face.

"I can try again boss?"

"Thanks Splicer but finding out what happened to the lost troopers and making sure we don't lose anymore takes priority at the moment. We'll split up the squads so that there is a mix of everyone, old and new in them."

"I thought we had gotten past that. They should be able to think on their own by now."

"So did I. But we'll go back to it, not sure what's wrong with these last batches sent out from Kamino, might be rushed training but whatever it is we have them now and have to deal with it. We already need a reshuffle to take account of the losses."

He felt tired and had never felt this tired before, this place was draining.

"Yes sir. I'll get on it. Splicer out."

They were all tired and cold; you could not get away from the cold, nowhere. He took a drink from his mug and grimaced.

"Fuck! Even this has gone cold."

.

Coruscant

Galaxies Opera House

Hela walked through to the auditorium, thankful that this place had not changed, even the box office she had just walked through was still the same. She walked slowly down one of the aisles; hands brushing the familiar seats as she walked, the feeling of velvet was a comfort to her. She was followed by her now uniformed minder courtesy of ISB—Zur.

This was to meet the new Company the Imperial Opera Company, a change of name and looking around, a change to some members of the Company. Looking to the stage she could see the Company assembled but there were many faces she did not recognise. The murmur of conversation stopped as she approached, but it was not the same as before the Empire. They stopped then because she was the star, as arrogant as that sounds but she was.

Now they stopped because of who she was linked to, The Emperor, and her shadow, Zur, it was amazing what a change of uniform did.

She plastered her best smile on and spoke, "Good Morning everyone. It's good to be back. I hope to get to know the new members soon." She turned to the Director and nodded; he was new too. She had never worked with him before but this was an old Opera, so there wasn't much you could do to it. She knew it backwards, grew up with it and did her training on it.

Zur stood, arms behind his back, to all intents and purposes, at parade rest and watched the proceedings. His reports back to his handler had been boring since the changeover and would be even more so now.

.

Hela reread the lyrics and frowned, "These aren't the right words!"

The rehearsal room went quiet.

She looked at the Director, "I've been singing this since I was fourteen. These words are wrong."

"COMPNOR has advised they be changed to this."

She glanced at Zur; he shook his head.

"Okay."

She sang the words; they just didn't fit and changed the whole nuance of the scene.

They continued.

Zur saw from her face Hela was angry, and getting angrier by the minute. She queried every change to the lyrics during the rehearsal but got the same response each time.

"The changes have been advised and agreed by COMPNOR." Replied the Director.

"Who the hell are they to rewrite a centuries old opera. I've been singing this for ten years." She demanded.

"Commission for the Preservation of the New Order."

"Yes. So?"

"Every performance in the Arts has to be agreed by them." The Director patiently explained.

"You mean censored?"

Zur winced, he leaned forward and touched her arm in warning, she shrugged him off this time.

"No but, er, every performance has to reflect the set of ideals embodied within Imperial society dedicated to order, control, and the rule of law." The Director continued giving the textbook explanation, he could do no other, even if he disagreed with it. It wasn't worth it.

She snorted derisively at his answer.

"Now the whole story makes no sense and what's the point of her committing suicide?"

There were a few murmurs of agreement from the cast.

"If I may." Zur interrupted, everyone turned to look at him, "COMPNOR supports civic pride, militarism, and unyielding patriotism to the Empire and feels the Arts should reflect that. It's what the Emperor has requested."

"Exactly!" Declared the Director.

Hela glared at him.

.

Zur followed her out after the rehearsal; she was still angry.

"You need to dial it back, or people will report you. Have you seen the propaganda?"

"Yes."

"Then behave."

"It's wrong."

Zur looked around and lowering his voice said, "I know it is but you don't know who's listening."

Hela sighed, "I'm sorry. You're right. But it just seems so wrong to be told what to sing, changing centuries old lyrics."

"We know that and other people do. But you have to be careful."

He opened the speeder door for her.

"So, I'm still allowed to drive then?"

"Of course!"

"Good. I have to be able to do some things."

.