Kingly Adventures

THRONE ROOM, ROYAL PALACE OF NABOO:

Captain Panaka could see that Queen Padmé Amidala was angry no scratch that she was utterly furious with the officer from the Trade Federation. Captain Panaka knew that the queen was a capable and intelligent ruler as seen by her handling and management of the 10 habitable planets that Queen Neraka brought from the Planetary Trade Organization about 200 years ago. The intelligent queen had brokered quite a few good deals with the true giants of the galaxy, i.e., the core worlds and there were also rumors that the true financial overlord of the galaxy, The Fortis Family, was impressed by the skills of the queen.

Captain Panaka didn't knew the validity of the rumors but he hoped that it was true as it would be very beneficial for Naboo, to gain the favour of The Fortis Family. Captain Panaka spoke up, " Your Highness!! That Sectorial Officer of The Trade Federation, Nute Gunray is a not a good fellow. I can see it in his eyes. He is extremely ambitious. If the previous sectorial officer Jorak had not died in a starship accident, this fellow would not be here. I have a bad feeling about this. I ask for your permission to double your security detail."

Captain Panaka watched as the queen fell in thought and waited for her response. After a few minutes, the Queen spoke up, " Double the security detail on the planet. I don't want anything bad to happen to the people of Naboo. As for my security, I feel quite safe with the current arrangements but I fear for my people. Sectorial Officer Gunray is quite a vindictive man, that much even someone young and inexperienced like myself, can tell. I don't want the people of Naboo to suffer any harm."

Captain Panaka spoke up in protest, " But, Your Highness, what about you? I strongly suggest that you should increase your security."

Queen Amidala smiled towards Captain Panaka and said, " I have full faith in your capabilities, Captain Panaka."

Captain Panaka could in the end, only dejectly agree to the orders of the Queen. Captain Panaka thought, "If I cannot increase the number of guards then I will increase the quality of the guards."

ONE WEEK LATER, QUEEN AMIDALA's PERSONAL CHAMBERS:

Padmé watched as her best friend and handmaiden Sabé laughed loudly while watching a holo-clip on her datapad. Padmé herself was curious and asked, " What made you laugh so loudly, Sabé?"

Sabé replied in a teasing voice, " I am just watching how the orders of a self-sacrificing queen made her guards hate her but also love her, My Queen."

Padmé threw a nearby pillow at Sabé and huffed in mock anger, " How many times I have told you to call me Padmé when I am not resting from my duities of being a Queen?..... I need some rest too, you know." Padmé's voice grew tired at the end of the speech. Sabé watched in concern as her best friend let out a tired expression and sat down on the nearby armchair. Sabé spoke up, " You look quite stressed. Is this because of that Gunray fellow from Trade Federation?" We can always complain to the higher ups in the Trade Federation and have him removed."

Padmé let out a tired sigh and said, " No, this will not work. For Trade Federation, the economical power is supreme. Their actions in and outside of the Senate reflect this. Their moves are all made with only one purpose which is to increase their economical power. We are not economically powerful enough that the megacorporations of the galaxy will notice us or treat us with curtsey. That's why I had with great difficulty managed to make some beneficial deals with the core worlds. Senator Organa was very helpful in this regard. But these deals attracted quite a lot attention. Nute Gunray is just the worst of the lot that wanted to exploit us."

Sabé asked in curiousity, " Are the rumors true? Was The Fortis Family really impressed by your negotiation skills?"

Padmé replied tiredly, " I don't know who spread these rumors but I will certainly have some strict words with the person that did this. These rumors did help me in making the trade agreements but this also drew the eyes of the true villains of the galaxy towards our peaceful home."

Sabé asked in confusion, " What villains?"

Padmé spat in fury and said, " Slavers and pirates."

Sabé, " Why does the rumors of your connection with the Fortis Family drew their attention?"

Padma, " This is something that was purposely buried by the Senate. I will tell you but you should tell anyone else about this as this will make many Senators our enemies."

Sabé quickly pressed a buŧŧon hidden under the table and all the windows and doors sealed themselves shut and a few electric device frizzled and stopped working. Sabé turned towards Padmé and said, " Tell me about this matter."

Padmé gave a thankful smile and said, " I forgot about the security measures due to stress. Thanks Sabé!!!...As I was saying, The Galactic Senate buried this matter and wiped out all it's records from it's archives. Only the powerful forces of the galaxy know about this as they had recorded this incident in their own archives. It was Senator Organa who told me about this when the rumors started in order to warn me of the trouble that these rumors could bring."

Sabé leaned forward and said, " Don't keep me in suspense, spill it out!!"

Padmé let out a slight smile at her friend's behaviour and continues in a serious voice, " About 150 years ago, the fact that The Fortis Family was the silent partner of The Planetary Trade Organization got leaked out due to the mistake of one of their people. This attracted the attention of every person of the galaxy. Many forces started making plans to attack the Fortis planet. It was within a week that The Fortis Family was struck from all sides; politically, economically, and socially. The Fortis Family had amassed unimaginable wealth and power since the foundation of PTO. Hundreds of Senators stepped forward to deal with the political attacks, many megacorporations together dealt with the economical attacks and many social workers and public activities dealt with social attacks. This was the biggest coalition that the galaxy had seen after the sith wars. Within three days, all these attacks were neutralized. Contrary to expectations, The Fortis Family didn't strick back and continued it's normal business. This infuriated the people behind the attacks and they amassed a massive army consisting of bounty hunters, slavers pirates and other bad people of the galaxy."

Sabé said, " This is more interesting than I thought. What happened next?"

Padmé continued, " They attacked the holdings of the Fortis Family at the same time but were repealed. As the attackers had no chances of running, they attacked a nearby school and fled in the confusion as the secruity detail of The Fortis Industries helped the children. The Fortis Family issued a statement that there would be a retaliation. Nobody took this with seriousness. Then, they retailiated."

Sabé, " What happened?"

Padmé continued in a grave tone, " The Fortis Family was extremely cruel and ruthless in dealing with the attackers and the powers behind the attack. A string of ȧssassinations started happening in various prominent families of the galaxy, in some cases, all the ȧduŀt members of the families were killed. The Fortis Family stated in their unofficial statement that they were clearing out the filth of the galaxy and all those who deserved death were awarded death. The Jedi were called to deal with this but The Fortis Family was not ready to back down. It was after a meeting with all of it's most important allies that they stopped their rampage in the core worlds but they were not done yet. They turned their attention to the ragtag army of scum of the galaxy that attacked them. The Fortis Family then showed it's military might to the galaxy.... Hundreds of Capital ships under the banner of The Fortis Family struck back at their attackers. They knew about all the secret bases that these people had in the desolate and uncharted areas of the galaxy. According to reports, a massive slaughter occured as the forces under the family were not taking any prisoners. The unfortunate people who were held captive by these scums were liberated and given shelters on the planets owned by the family. The Jedi told the Senate that they could feel faint ripple in the force as The Fortis Family continued killing the slavers and pirates. In the end, some slavers and pirates were able to escape and they swore that they would take revenge for the humiliation that they had suffered at the hands of the family. The forces under the family were more than eager to hunt them down to the last man but they were called back by the Head of the family. Surprisingly, they obediently returned but this incident established The Fortis Family as the one of the true overlords of the galaxy.

Sabé said in an awed tone, " This is all so fascinating."

Before, Padmé could reply, the emergency comm present in the room beeped and Captain Panaka's voice was heard, " Your Highness, an unidentified army composed of various beings and droids is attacking us. They had already inflitrated us and have destroyed our Planetary shield generators. The Palace shields are holding up for now. The city is under siege. I along with a group of guards, are coming to escort you to safety. Please, remain in your chambers."

Before Padmé and Sabé could react, the comm felt silent. In the suffocating silence of the room, faint sound of screams and blaster fires coming from outside could be heard. Padmé took out two blasters from a side compartment of the room and gave one to Sabé. Padmé hissed with fury and said, " I don't know who these people are but they will pay for harming the people of Naboo. We will wait here for Captain Panaka and guards to arrive, after that, we will plan our counterattack."

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For advance chapters go to P A T R E O . C O M/novicewrite