Star Wars: A New Change

Chapter 72.

Padme and I headed towards Servis with only a dozen guards and a couple of Padme's handmaidens. I hoped we weren't being foolish about not bringing more guards, but Padme insisted that twelve was already too much for a peaceful negotiation. I knew Anakin would throw a fit if he knew how little protection we had, but he was far away already on his own mission on some other planet.

We dropped down and were greeted by some of Servis's own guards and a young woman dressed in all white.

"Servis welcomes you. I am Paula Morn, right hand to president Fenser. Please, follow me." Paula said. Her voice sounded smooth but much older than she looked.

Padme gave me a reassuring smile before following the woman.

Servis was a beautiful planet full of blue lakes and white mountains. The capital city Crivos was built on top of a giant mountain with it's capital building built into the mountain itself.

Paula led us into the capital building and  I couldn't help but admire the architecture. It was unlike anything I had seen and was very old and beautiful.

We were taken to a large room where a group of people were talking, when they noticed us, an older woman dressed very similarly to Paula came over to us with a large smile.

"Hello there, you must be senator Amidala of Naboo. I am President Hantyr, welcome to Servis." President Hantyr said shaking our hands warmly.

"It is an honor to meet you, this is Ivy. She has helped me put this together. I want to thank you for letting us use Servis as a place to meet." Padme said.

"Of course dear. I heard about your speech on democracy and looking out for one another and I was moved. I admit I am a little bit of a fan." President Hantyr chuckled warmly.

"I hope everything runs smoothly dear. I don't want any trouble on our land." she added.

"Of course. We're here to only talk. We're going to get them to rejoin the Republic, but regardless of the outcome, we only come in peace. If no one decides to rejoin then that's fine. We're only here to offer." Padme insisted and president Hantyr smiled.

"Good. Now we'll get you settled in your rooms before I show you where the meeting will be held." President Hantyr nodded at Paula who motioned for us to follow her.

Paula showed us our rooms and I had never seen anything so elegant. The walls were white marble and the floor was soft like sheepskin. The color scheme matched the blues and whites of the planet and were soothing.

Padme's room was right next to mine and I was thankful for that. I didn't want to get lost trying to find her in the morning.

The handmaidens took care of our stuff and a few of the guards took their posts in our rooms leaving only two guards with us as we went to see the building that we were going to have the meeting in.

The building was on another mountain, not in the capital city of Crivos, but it didn't take too long to get there. It was large. Definitely large enough for several hundred people to be there.

Standing in the room caused my anxiety to come back knowing that tomorrow we'll be in this room with hundreds of now separatists. I tried to remember that it was okay. It was just a meeting.

"This is perfect. Please thank President Hantyr for Servis's generosity, and letting us use this building." Padme said to Paula who nodded.

Later that night after dinner, Padme and I were sitting in her room going over what she was going to say in the morning.

"I hope none of them are too scared to come. They might be worried about what Count Dooku might do if he knew they were coming here. It's a great risk to everyone involved. Strangely that gives me hope that those who do come, are here because they are interested in coming back." Padme said and I nodded.

"I hope so. I'm just ready for this to be over." I admitted.

"I'm ready to go back and start some changes, but I do hope that we can get at least a few systems to rejoin." Padme said.

"I'm sure we will." I told her and she smiled at me before getting a panicked look on her face.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly.

"Where is everyone?" Padme asked quietly and discreetly looked around.

Now that she had mentioned it, I didn't see anyone. No handmaidens or guards. My heart sunk and Padme reached for the bag at her hip.

Oh God, this was bad. My heart started beating rapidly and Padme pulled me next to her as she pulled out a blaster from her bag and handed it to me before reaching under her skirt and pulling out another.

"Stay close to me. Something's not right." she whispered and slowly stood up.

"Guards?" she called out but there was no answer.

"Rhysa, Sonvi?" She called for her handmaidens but again there was only silence.

I wished we had more lights on. There was only one light on in the room and it was by us. The rest of the room was engulfed by shadows.

Padme and I stood back to back as we circled around where we were standing. We heard a soft thud from a dark corner in the room. Padme wasted no time in firing at the sound. The blaster light briefly illuminated that side of the room and we saw a figure dressed head to toe in black.

"I don't know who you are, but you better leave immediately. I am here for a diplomatic reason and if I am detained the Republic will go after you." Padme warned but was met with silence.

Suddenly the light went out and we were plunged into complete darkness. I grabbed Padme's hand and we both started firing all around us.

Someone's arms wrapped around me trapping me. "Padme run! They've got me." I tried to flail around but they were too strong. The last thing I heard was Padme struggling to cry out for help when I was forced to breathe in some toxin that made me lose consciousness.