With a jolt that made his heart thud in his chest, Captain Bwell realised what was happening. This was an ambush. He'd never seen combat in his life, and now he was faced with an ambush. That ship out there was somehow able to create its own gravity well, and it had been used to drag them out of Hyperspace. Now they were being boarded.
Gaping, lips flapping, Captain Bwell rushed over to the holocom. "Commodore! Commodore, can you hear me?!" He demanded.
...
The image projected on screen wasn't the escort group's commander, but an imposing figure covered head to toe in thick armour painted steel grey and blue. They were humanoid, and around their neck they had a black iron chain. In their hands they carried a short barreled blaster, with an underslung laserlight.
A cold, professional voice that wasn't quite perfect in basic said, "I am Commander Allarate. You're ordered to power down, or you will be boarded."
His throat suddenly feeling dry, Captain Bwell tried to think of something to say.
"Sir!" The technician shouted. "Sir, they're preparing to cut open the bridge! We'll be spaced!" He wasn't looking at the sensors as he said that, he was pointing with his hand to the ship's front observation deck, where a number of similarly armoured figures were using magnetic boots to surround the window. They were preparing what looked like cutting tools, and arraying themselves in place to prepare for a breach.
"W-wait!" Bwell gasped out. "Wait! Why are you doing this? This is the Hydian Way, you have no right to do this!"
Something about Allarate's voice suggested dark amusement. "The Trade Federation Patrol Fleet has been barred from the Serenno Sector. This section of the Hydian runs through that territory. You're violating our sovereign territory, so I'm impounding your vessels."
"You can't just declare a piece of the Hydian as your own!" Bwell spat, bristling at the audacity of it.
"We'll let the courts decide that one." Commander Allarate replied. "Right now, you need to decide if you'll surrender or be spaced."
"Sir!" The technician shouted. "Sir, we need orders! I can deploy the vulture droids to the ship's exterior, but I need your permission!" It was a worthless effort. All it would take is a single cut, and both of them would be dead men.
"Just wait until the Commodore hears about this!" Bwell snarled.
Now Allarate actually chuckled. "Who's com do you think you called?" He moved a few steps over, until he was standing above a kneeling Nemoidian. It was the Commodore, his command hat missing, and his robes torn open, as if someone ripped them to find any concealed weapons or comm devices. "Hey, Commodore. Got anything to say to Captain Bwell here before he does something stupid?"
"Bwell…" The Commodore muttered. "They've already got the fleet, man. You're the last. Just surrender. You can say it was my order, and it won't go into your performance review."
"You hear that Bwell? Commodore is going to take the fall for you, won't even affect your annual bonus." The sneer in the man's voice was palpable. "So what will it be, Bwell? You wanna go home with your pension intact? Or you wanna see what the vacuum feels like?"
The prideful part of Bwell's mind blazed, furious that these humans would dare to try something like this, before the cold fear churning in his belly smothered the heat. He lowered his head, mind turning to his wife, and the time he would spend with her when he got back to Neimoidia. Whatever he thought of Serenno's bizarre claim to owning a piece of a Great Hyperspace Lane, the company just wasn't worth his life.
"Stand down." He mumbled, before swallowing the lump from his throat and raising his voice to say again. "Stand down everyone!"
Allarate pressed a button on his comm device, and the team outside viewport ceased their preparations. "Wise decision, voidkin."
...
"Would the Senator for Naboo explain why the Chomel Sector continues to remain a member of an anti-democratic separatist movement?" Floating above the Senate chamber, the representative of Neimoidia bellowed it so loudly that the entire chamber could hear, even over the dim murmuring of thousands of side conversations. "By giving a veneer of legitimacy to these traitors, the Senator for Naboo has allowed dangerous radicalism to fester in this very Senate!"
Vice Chancellor Mass Ameda stood up, and turned his horned head to look down to where Padme sat. "The Senator for Naboo has the floor. Thirty seconds to respond."
Standing up, and ignoring the feeling of her stomach moving to her heels as the pod rushed upwards to float level with the Nemoidian Senator. "The Senator's assertions are baseless. The Outer Rim Reform Alliance has always pursued a policy of decentralisation, perfectly in keeping with our Republic's founding principles. Our policy proposals have always been reasonable, and moderate."
"The Senator for the Trade Federation has a question for the Senator from Naboo."
Mass Ameda pressed a button, and the pod for Nemoidia was replaced with an almost identical pod, though the questioner was a different individual. "Does the Senator for Naboo agree that the Alliance's policy proposals have been demonstrated to promote privateering?"
"The Senator for Naboo has the floor. Thirty seconds to respond."
"The Reform Alliance has done more to combat piracy and privateering in the last ten years than this Senate has in centuries." Padme answered smoothly.
"The Senator for Axxila has a question."
And on, and on it went. The senate session dragged on for hours, most questions aimed at Padme herself, or the Senator for Mandalore. It wasn't just the Trade Federation and its cronies that were demanding to know why Serenno impounded their ships, but many Core Worlds as well. The Trade Federation escort ships were meant to ensure the hyperlanes remained open for goods to travel out of the Corporate Sector to the Core, and now those consumers were afraid of delays, supply shortages, and price hikes. Even if trade Federation cargo was still free to travel, a clear threat had been made that any and all of that could be cut off, should the Alliance choose to do so. Padme's pod rose up and down so much that she started to feel dizzy as the hours wore on.
After just three years in the Senate, Padme Amidala almost wished that she'd stayed a Queen. It would have been easy to do it. The office had no term limit. Padme could have reigned as Queen of Naboo until the day she died, wealthy and beloved by her people. Instead, she'd imposed term limits, and even made consecutive terms as King or Queen illegal! There had even been protesters, protesters! Crowds marched in the street of Naboo, demanding she abandon her reforms.
Instead, Padme had remained steadfast with her principles, and now Naboo was a Republic in all but name. Against the objections of absolutely everyone, Queen Amidala had retired, and then ran a campaign to represent Naboo in the Senate.
Count Dooku, Duke Harad, and even Duchess Satine had advised her to continue as head of state. The first two, she'd expected; neither Harad, nor Dooku had an ounce of respect for the moral authority of Democracy, but Duchess Satine's objections had surprised her.
"Does the Senator for Naboo acknowledge the risk of Separatist ideology spreading through the Reform Alliance?"
…Maybe Dooku's gripes against democracy weren't entirely baseless.
Pushing such thoughts from her mind, Padme swallowed a few headache pills and stood up once more to represent her people.
It was just another hour before finally the Senate session was closed. The constant motion of the pod left Padme barely able to keep her poise; she disguised her unsteady legs as a graceful glide as best she could, aided by an arm to hold from her jedi bodyguard, Knight Prialla.
On the way to her hover car, Padme was surprised to see Duchess Satine in person, walking towards her. Dressed in her finest regalia and accompanied by the Mandalorian Senator, Satine hurried ahead of her bodyguards with a scowl at the sight of Padme's current state.
...
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