CHAPTER ELEVEN
Naboo
“Senator Naberrie is in a stabilized condition,” Captain Daine Fallos reported, standing before the Queen of Naboo and her advisory council in the throne room of Theed Palace. “The perpetrator of the attack has been apprehended and is currently in our custody. My men are interrogating them as we speak.”
“Have you at least identified them?” asked the Governor of Theed, an older bearded man named Thane Minnau.
“We’ve identified the human male as a bounty hunter named Remar Almor and his Wookiee accomplice as Sharbrook. We suspect that they were hired to assassinate the Senator, though we have not yet confirmed that nor have we identified whoever hired them.”
“Perhaps they are the same ones responsible for the Chief of State’s assassination,” suggested the Minister of Internal Affairs, a middle-aged woman. “I’ve heard musings of Senator Naberrie being a viable candidate for the position.”
“If that is the case, we should alert the Galactic Alliance of this incident as soon as possible,” said another advisor.
“They have already been notified, I believe,” said Queen Reneme. “Princess Leia was with me when the Senator was shot. I have no doubt that she has already sent a message to the Alliance.”
Glances were exchanged between some of the advisors. Governor Minnau cleared his throat as he straightened in his seat.
“Your Highness, I believe there have been rumors that the Princess of Alderaan and the Alliance are… no longer on speaking terms.”
“Oh? And why would that be?”
“Are you aware of the Sith insurgency that occurred a year ago?”
“Governor, you should know that I care little for the affairs that occur beyond our own. So long as it does not directly impact Naboo, then it is none of my concern.”
Governor Minnau gave a tiny sigh. “Fair enough, I suppose. In any case, I feel that we should send a message to the Alliance regardless, if only for the sake of formality.”
“A sound idea,” Queen Reneme replied. “I will leave that business to you, governor.”
Captain Fallos took the finality in the queen’s tone as his cue. “Will that be all, Your Highness?”
“Yes, captain. You are dismissed.”
Fallos gave a sharp bow before taking his leave from the throne room. As he stepped out into the outer corridor, he saw one of his lieutenants approaching him, a serious expression etched out on her dark-toned face.
“Captain,” Vara Wendik said. “We’ve just finished interrogating one of the suspects. The human, Remar.”
Fallos raised an eyebrow. “Already? That didn’t take long.”
“He was surprisingly talkative, though his Wookiee friend didn’t take kindly to him answering our questions. He says they were hired by the Malvis Cabal to assassinate Lady Teramo.”
Fallos blinked, taken aback by this information. “They weren’t after Senator Naberrie?”
“Apparently not. He claims that he somehow missed his shot and somehow hit the senator instead.”
“Well, in any case, he’s going to do time for that alone. Did he say why the Cabal wanted Lady Teramo dead?”
“Something about a ‘Charge Matrica,’ whatever that is. I’m not familiar with the term.”
“Neither am I,” Fallos muttered. “I will report this to the Queen. In the meantime, we should tighten security around Lady Teramo, in case the Cabal sends someone else to finish the job.”
“You think he’s telling the truth, then?” asked Wendik.
“At this point, we can’t take any chances,” Fallos said. “After everything that’s happened the past few months, Gods know we can’t afford them right now….”
* * *
“You’re disappointed in me, aren’t you?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Toah Jarsan muttered as he paced through the grounds of Theed Palace. Rey walked beside him, looking simultaneously abashed and frustrated over her recent actions. The active fountains and colorful flora that populated the grounds were no doubt intended to provoke a peaceful mood in those who walked through it, yet the two Jedi felt anything but.
“Did you really need to slice off the Wookiee’s arm?” Toah asked after a moment of silence.
“He was going to maim those two officers!” Rey replied. “If I didn’t do something, he would have ripped them apart.”
“I don’t doubt that. But you could have done something that didn’t involve a lightsaber.”
“I didn’t have much time to think and my lightsaber was the only thing I could think of.”
Toah sighed. “And therein lies the problem. A Jedi must use their lightsaber only when the situation calls for it; as the last means of defense. Using it should never be at the forefront of your mind.”
“What about when fighting Sith?” Rey asked pointedly. “Or anyone using a lightsaber against you?”
“That wasn’t the case here,” Toah said sternly. “You were fighting bounty hunters, not Sith.”
Rey huffed in frustration, folding her arms over her chest. “I would like to see what you would have done had you been in my situation.”
Toah opened his mouth to reprimand his apprentice’s attitude but thought against it. There was no need to escalate the conversation. Besides, he had already made his point; there was not much he could do if Rey could not see or understand it. Then again, was that a poor reflection on her as a student… or him as a teacher?
Perhaps I’m not suited for this role, he thought to himself. Perhaps Rey would be better off with a different teacher; a better teacher than me.
He knew he could not dwell on these thoughts for long, at least not until after they were done here on Naboo. He could already imagine Jacen and the Jedi Masters on Tython insisting that he persist; that Rey would soon learn and become a great Jedi Knight. While that last part may prove to be true, he was not sure if it would be under his tutelage that it came to be.
The two Jedi carried on silence, circling their way back to the palace. Toah had hoped that the walk would have cleared both of their minds, but it had clearly done anything but. As they made their way up the steps, Toah spotted a bipedal droid with multiple appendages appear from around the corner. Upon noticing the two Jedi, it immediately stopped in its tracks before turning around and hastily walking away.
“That was strange,” Rey murmured.
“Indeed,” Toah agreed. “I haven’t seen many droids here on Naboo, outside of the odd astromech, and that one wasn’t of a model I’m familiar with.”
“Do you think we should go after it?”
Toah considered for a moment before shaking his head. “No. It’s probably nothing; besides, we don’t want to attract suspicion by snooping around. Everyone’s most likely on edge right now after the assassination attempt.”
“But I’ve already apprehended the assassin,” Rey said. “There’s nothing else for them to worry about.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Toah said pointedly. “For all we know, that bounty hunter could have brought other friends… or perhaps his employer will send someone else in his stead.”
Rey frowned as she looked in the direction the droid had went. “Do you think that droid could have anything to do with it?”
Toah considered the prospect for a moment. “If it’s in the palace, then it probably has security clearance. We should probably ask Captain Fallos about it, at the very least.”
“I still think we should follow it,” Rey muttered.
“There’s no need to. Let us find Captain Fallos and speak with him instead.”
Toah watched his apprentice’s face as her internal struggle played out through her expressions. Finally, she bowed her head in acquiescence and followed him through the palace.
* * *
“I would like to speak with Lady Teramo.”
The middle-aged woman eyed Sare Valrisa with narrowed eyes, her long nose pointed downward like a bird of prey. Were it not for her dark hair and the large mole on her cheek, Valrisa would have had the woman pegged as her own mother, somehow brought back from the dead.
“And just who would you be?” the older woman asked with a haughty tone.
“My name is Sare Valrisa, daughter of Sareth Valrisa. Lady Teramo and I share a mother; I’m her half-sister.”
“Yes, I know how those things work!” the woman snapped. “I have plenty of sisters of my own to remind me, thank you very much!”
Valrisa sighed and tried to get a peek over the woman’s shoulder. The older lady was blocking her entry into the room that Valera Teramo was utilizing as her private room/office. It surprised Valrisa that the Serennian woman was not with her injured husband in the infirmary, though she knew that it shouldn’t; this marriage of theirs was clearly not one of love, at least not on Teramo’s part.
“Look, I have something urgent to tell her,” Valrisa then said. “Her life is in danger.”
“She already has sufficient protection,” the older woman retorted. “She doesn’t need a girl like you.”
Frowning, Valrisa once more tried to peer over her obstruction’s shoulder and at last spotted a blond head emerging from around a corner.
“Lady Teramo!” she called out. “I need to talk to you!”
“Silence!” the woman nearly screeched. “I should have you removed from the premises or—”
“Settle down, auntie.” Lady Valera Teramo suddenly appeared behind the older woman, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Let her in. I would like to speak with her.”
The older lady gave Valera an incredulous look. “Whatever for? Look at her! She’s just a filthy commoner—”
“Auntie, go check on Lady Borgin, will you? She’s probably still acting hysterical over this whole thing.”
With a harrumph, the older woman stepped out of the doorway and stormed down the hall. Lady Teramo then gestured for Valrisa to enter her office and the younger woman did so, the door closing behind her as soon as she had stepped through.
Stepping over to her desk, Lady Teramo wasted no time in starting the conversation. “So, have you come to kill me?”
“No,” Valrisa said firmly. “I don’t want any part in this… Matrica Charge or whatever it’s called.”
“Sure you don’t,” Lady Teramo scoffed. “I’m well aware that attack on Senator Naberrie was meant for me.”
“I had nothing to do with that!” Valrisa protested. “That bounty hunter was probably hired by one of your other siblings… or maybe someone who actually wants Senator Naberrie dead.”
“The timing is uncanny though, wouldn’t you agree? As soon as you show up to ‘speak with me,’ an assassin nearly kills me and my new husband. Does that not seem… suspicious to you?”
“It does, as a matter of fact. But I swear to you that I had nothing to do with it.”
Lady Teramo shrugged. “Even so, the Charge Matrica dictates that I cannot acquire my mother’s assets until you and the others are dead. If I were you, I would get as far away from here as possible if you wish to enjoy life for as long as you can.”
A dark cloud fell over Valrisa’s face. “Is that a threat?”
“I prefer to see it as a warning. But take it however you like.”
Valrisa began to slowly step back towards the door, never taking her gaze off her half-sister. “I should have realized it was a mistake to even bother,” she muttered to herself.
“To be quite frank with you, I’m surprised you even came in the first place.” Lady Teramo eyed her warily. “What exactly did you want out of this conversation?”
“The identities and locations of my other siblings.”
“Ah.” A cold smile crossed the Serennian woman’s face. “Want to try your luck at getting rid of them, I take it?”
Valrisa opened her mouth to object but decided against it; she knew that nothing she said would alter her sister’s perceptions.
“I already know about Baron Tagge,” she said instead. “I… saw him die on Terminus.”
“Yes, I’m sure it’s all over the HoloNet by now,” Lady Teramo replied. “You would be really pressing your luck with Senator Valrisa, especially with him in the running for Chief of State. Same with Varla Praji.”
“Are they both on Coruscant?”
“They rarely venture out of the Core Worlds, from my understanding. Same with the twins from House Mecetti, all cozied up in the Tapani sector.”
“And the twins’ names?”
“They are not public knowledge, as far as I know. Their father bore the surname of Tritum, if that helps.”
Valrisa slowly nodded, filing this information away in her mind. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “That’s all I needed to know.”
“Of course.” Lady Teramo smiled thinly. “It would save me a lot of work if you got rid of them for me. Then I will just have you to worry about.”
“Right.” Valrisa finally made it to the door and palmed the control panel, never breaking eye contact with her sister as the door slid open. “I take it we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it, dear sister.”
Valrisa did not turn her back on Lady Teramo as she stepped through the doorway. Once the door slid shut between them, she turned around and quickly made her way down the hall.
* * *
“I still think we should leave.”
“We can’t leave yet, Han,” Leia said to her husband. The two of them, along with Chewbacca and Finn, were gathered in the office that Queen Reneme had granted her at Theed Palace, allowing her to correspond with the Queen and her Advisory Council while they tried to recuperate from the attempt on Senator Naberrie’s life. “Not until we learn who hired the bounty hunter to kill Darius.”
“It seems pretty obvious to me,” Han replied, crossing his arms. “You said Naberrie is part of the Populist faction in the Senate, right?”
“I said that Naboo was,” Leia corrected him. “At least, it was when I was a senator, long before Darius entered the picture. From my understanding, Darius is more of a moderate than strictly part of either the Populists or the Centrists.”
“Still, that might matter to some of those Centrists. If Naboo is Populist, then so is its senator, making him a target for anyone who sees him as a rival to any Centrist running for Chief of State.”
Chewbacca rumbled softly and Leia allowed herself a small smile. “I didn’t realize you had such a good grasp on politics,” she said.
Han shrugged nonchalantly. “When you’re married to a politician for forty years, you pick up a thing or two.”
“So, you think someone from the Alliance is behind this?” asked Finn.
“It’s a possibility that we can’t rule out,” said Leia. “In any case, we should wait to hear from the Queen’s Security Force before making any assumptions.”
As if on cue, the communication unit at Leia’s desk started to beep. Answering it, she said, “Yes?”
“Princess Organa Solo, this is Captain Fallos. I have just informed the Queen on what we’ve learned from the would-be assassin that we apprehended. He was hired by the Malvis Cabal… and his intended target was not the senator, but his wife.”
Leia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Lady Teramo?”
“Correct. We have not yet deduced why the Cabal wanted Teramo dead, but….”
When Captain Fallos trailed off, Leia spoke up again. “Captain? What is it? Are you still there?”
It was another moment before Fallos finally responded. “My apologies, Princess, but… Queen Reneme has requested your presence in her throne room. She also wants you to bring your companions as well.”
“Did she say why?”
“She did not.”
Leia frowned as she exchanged a skeptical glance with Han. She then said, “Thank you, Captain. We will be there soon.”
As soon as she had signed off, Han said, “I don’t need to be a Jedi to tell you that something doesn’t feel right about this.”
“I don’t sense any danger at the moment,” Leia said.
“Right. At the moment. But that can always change.”
“It always does,” Leia said wryly. “Come on. Let’s not keep the Queen waiting.”
* * *
“What did the droid look like, again?”
“It was bipedal and had multiple appendages,” Toah Jarsan said, walking alongside Captain Fallos as they made their way to the throne room. Rey trailed close behind them, warily checking each hallway they passed. “It looked like some sort of medical droid, though it wasn’t a model I recognized.”
Captain Fallos had a grim expression on his face; not a reassuring sign in Toah’s eyes. “I will have to check with my staff, but I’m pretty sure that droid isn’t authorized to be wandering around the palace, or anywhere for that matter, outside of the infirmary.”
“Is there still a stigma against droids, even after all these years since the Clone Wars?” Toah asked.
“Old habits are hard to break, Master Jedi. Especially when you’re practically born with them.”
“Should we go looking for that droid then?” asked Rey.
“I’ll dispatch some officers to track it down,” Fallos replied. “Besides, the Queen wants to see you in the throne room.”
The three of them eventually reached the throne room, where Queen Reneme and her advisors were still gathered. Joining them were Princess Leia, Han Solo, Finn, and Chewbacca, who had all been summoned along with Toah and Rey. As the two Jedi moved to join the rest of the party, Queen Reneme rose from her throne, clasping her hands in front of her elaborate violet dress.
“Thank you all for answering my summons,” she began. “I have since been informed by Captain Fallos that the attempt on Senator Naberrie’s life was in fact intended for Lady Valera Teramo of Serenno, with the culprits behind it being Ord Talavos.”
“We are aware,” said Leia. “Why have you summoned us here, then, Your Highness?”
“Because I believe it is no longer safe for you to be here, Princess Organa. If the Cabal is here on Naboo, then you are surely one of its targets.”
“So we leave then,” said Han Solo. “You could have just opened with that. Sooner we’re off this planet, the better.”
“Oh, no.” Reneme smiled softly as she shook her head. “There is no need for you to leave. I have already gotten you all of the protection you will need from the Cabal.”
Leia frowned in confusion, a look that was shared by Toah and the others, as well as even some of the Queen’s advisors.
“Milady,” said the Governor of Theed, “what are you alluding to?”
Before the Queen even spoke, Toah suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. He glanced at Leia and Rey and saw that they had sensed the same thing he had. His eyes then drifted towards the window, which gave him a view of the clear blue sky over Theed.
“As I understand it,” Reneme said, “several sectors out on the Outer Rim have fallen under the protection of a new force that has arisen to defend us from the chaos that the Cabal indulges itself in.”
Suddenly, a dark shape appeared in the sky, growing bigger by the minute until it nearly eclipsed the sun, casting the city of Theed in near-total darkness. The cold sensation that Toah had felt only grew worse.
“Your Highness!” one of the ministers exclaimed. “What is the meaning of this?! What have you done?!”
The young Queen of Naboo simply smiled in return. “This is what needs to be done, my friends. This is how order must be brought to the galaxy.”
She reached down and pressed a switch on her throne’s armrest. A compartment slid open and she drew from it a chrome-coated holdout blaster. She squeezed off a series of green bolts, all of which directly hit her advisors square in the chest. As they all slumped over or out of their seats, Toah and Rey immediately activated their lightsabers while Leia and the others drew their blasters, pointing them at the Queen. Captain Fallos and the security guards stationed in the room drew blasters of their own though seemed conflicted over whom to point them at.
“I would advise you all to lay down your arms,” Reneme said, smiling sweetly as she pointed her blaster at Leia. “After all, I don’t think assassinating a planetary leader would look good on your record.”
Leia glared at her for a long moment, her stance unfaltering. Then, slowly, she lowered her weapon and let it drop to the floor. Han and the others gave her incredulous looks but a single glance from her convinced them to do the same. While Captain Fallos and his officers confiscated their weapons, Leia fixed a cold stare on the Queen of Naboo.
“You will regret this.”
Reneme beamed at her. “I don’t think I will. In fact, I think history will remember me fondly for this… as it will all those who support the First Order.”
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