Sheev Palpatine was not a happy Sith Lord at the moment.
Even though his plan to become Supreme Chancellor of the Senate of the Republic was successful in the end.
His victory over his recently departed Master also tasted sour on his tongue. His masterful assassination attempt had been foiled. Still he came out victorious but his Master, before Sidious dealt the killing blow had claimed a powerful Sith Lord had warned him of Sidious's betrayal plot…not that it saved the arrogant Plagieus in the end, it did allow the ancient bastard time to plan his retribution.
An ache that was a mix of spiritual and physical makes Sidious scowl, his Master's final lesson. Sidious's power in the force had been reduced to half of what it was before, the confrontation.
His plans to have that silly, idealistic child while gaining full control of his home planet and the concealed Dark Side Nexus…foiled, his apprentice has proved to be near useless in fulfilling his will.
His Pawns have also proven to be useless compared to this Mandalorian Jedi…who refused the invitation to dine with him.
Who is in possession of ancient yet still top of the line to the point of having better stealth capabilities than the ship his master had gifted him when he first began his apprenticeship yet it dared back to the Eternal Sith Empire.
Sidious's holocom that he has hidden in a secret compartment of his desk, buzzes faintly. "What does that useless Apprentice want now?!" Sidious nearly snarls as he retrieves the device, and answers it.
"Master, I have captured the Queen's ship…the Jedi are incapacitated, but alive. The Queen was not aboard this vessel, only a double…one of the handmaidens is missing."
"Good, you did good my apprentice…"
"Thank you, Master." Sidious feels a dark pleasure at the look of pure pleasure that appears on Maul's face at his praising of him.
"Use the hostages to lure in this Mandalorian Jedi and the Queen to a killing ground of your choosing."
"It will be done, Master." The holo call ends and Sidious can't help but sneer.
"I need a new apprentice…hmm, if this Mandalorian Jedi survives his confrontation with my apprentice, I will try to sway him to my side and if it doesn't work I'll kill him."
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Just as Sabe is about to straddle my lap, I feel a wave of complex emotions come from Ana.
Then she rushes into the room, her face pale, with fear shining in her eyes.
I'm out of the bathtub and kneeling in front of Ana in an instant. "What's wrong Ana?"
"A-a man captured Queen Amidala's ship and took everyone on board as hostages…Master Qui-Gon is seriously injured and Obi-Wan…the Zabrak man that feels even worse than Courscant does cut-cut off both of his hands." To say I'm surprised that Maul would actually take hostages at this point in the timeline is shocking and out of character would be an understatement.
"Did he transmit?"
"I put it in the Nav computer already…" Ana cuts me off gently.
"Good work, Ana." My words make a fragile smile appear on Anakin's face.
"Ana…I'm going to leave the Rogue Shadow and everyone aboard her in your capable hands. Get them somewhere safe and send the coordinates to my com device."
Just as Ana is about to try and argue with me I put a finger up to my lips. "Please Ana, you're the only one I trust to protect your mother and your little brother." Ana blushes and looks away from me while nodding her head.
Walking into the cargo bay a small smirk appears on my face as I feel Padmé watching me. I summon the Soulless One to me hoping in the cockpit transmitting the coordinates to where Maul is keeping his hostages, finding that it is an unnamed planet with breathable atmosphere in the Q-73987 system.
With a wave of my hand I force the blast doors that separate the cargo bay from the rest of the ship then activate the vents that depressurize and vent the atmosphere of only the cargo hold.
Then fly out into space, once the Rogue Shadow jumps to hyperspace it's route once more taking them to Naboo. I pull the lever that activates my ship's hyperdrive that will take me to Maul.
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"We can't just let him do this alone! Those are my people!" Padmé shouts at Shmi who crosses her arms over her impressive bust.
"Did you not send them off on an alternative course to serve as decoys? Are you going to cheapen their devotion to you and your safety by flying right into a trap? Do you really want to put a pregnant woman and a nine year old girl in danger, by running right into a trap?" Shmi questions in rapid fire succession, each question cooling Padmé's fiery determination to dive headfirst into danger, while making her look like each question landed a physical and very painful blow to her body. Something the young Queen desperately needed.
"I-I…no I don't want to put you and Ana in danger. I just…I just."
"You don't want to feel useless. I understand…by the sand I understand more than you will ever know. But you and I…aren't special like the ones we love, yet they need us, not as fighters on the battlefield but as support when the fighting is over."
"L-love?!" Padmé stutters and can't quite meet Shmi's eyes anymore or even look at her face as she stares down at her feet.
Which draws a gentle laugh from Shmi. "Please, I've seen the way you look at him…and it's not just to quote Galen, "fuck me eyes" no it's much more than that. When he looks at you, he sees one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen, not because you are a gorgeous young woman. Which you are by the way, never doubt that…but he can see you in a spiritual sense. He described it as you're surrounded by a golden white halo of light that conveys how loving, caring and good you are." Padmé grows even more flustered at Shmi's words.
"I-I am feeling a little unwell, I am going to go lay down for a moment." Padmé suddenly says and tries very hard not to flee from the room, feeling like Shmi is a Nexu laying in wait to pounce.
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(Currently there are a couple of advanced Chapters on Pa-tr-eon.)