King of Sand & Suns 2 (Patreon)

“Isn’t…” Queen Amidala started, before swallowing. “Isn’t this what you were going to demand?”

“No!” I immediately shot back. “Woman, my planet’s economy is limping along like a speeder struggling to start, getting my dick wet is the least of my concerns right now!”

Seriously, what the ever loving fuck? I was getting ready to wine and dine this teen ruler of a relatively nearby planet, so I could talk her into some trade deals to help boost Tatooine’s economy, and she starts stripping. What did I say that made her think I was going to demand sex in exchange for my help?! Don’t get me wrong, she had a very nice body, right at that age where she’s beginning to blossom into womanhood, but still, sex had been the farthest thing from my mind.

The woman across from me, my fellow planetary ruler, was doing her best impression of a red skinned twi’lek as she reached down and started picking up her clothes as I turned around to give her a bit of dignity as she redressed. After a few minutes, I heard the chair being pulled back and her sitting down, so I turned back to face her. My eyes were still squinched mostly shut, just open enough that I’d be able to close them all the way if it seemed like my assumption of her decency was incorrect. Fortunately, it wasn’t, and she had redressed, so I opened my eyes the rest of the way.

“I don’t suppose we can just forget that happened?” she asked, her face as red as the setting suns.

“Forget that my dinner guest mistook me for a hormonal teenager and stripped down to her underwear?” I asked rhetorically. “I doubt it, but I assure you I will do my best.”

I could tell that if her control were any flimsier, she’d have let out an embarrassed wail. But, I didn’t draw attention to that. Instead, I focused on getting back on track.

“Ignoring the fact that the so called ‘warlord’ is the least perverted ruler present,” I said, unable to resist a little bit of teasing. “What I had actually been referring to was trade and military pacts.”

Queen Amidala looked up at me, her spine straightening and her countenance returning to her, as she spoke, “I am hesitant to accept any deals or agreements at this time, as such an arrangement was what led to the Trade Federation invading my planet in the first place. Additionally, Naboo lacks a standing militia or military force, so we would be unable to provide assistance in that regard.”

“I agree that a trade agreement at this time would be ill advised,” I said as I pulled out a datapad and began perusing the bio of Naboo contained within. “Although, that may not be necessary for the time being.”

“I’m afraid I’m not following?”

“The Trade Federation. There’s something in their bio that may make them a valuable asset, regardless of your wishes.”

“I feel that I’m still not understanding?”

I sighed, “The fact of the matter is, Your Highness, while I did indeed succeed in driving the Hutts off my world, my kingdom is still in a very fragile state at the moment. What has kept the Hutt Cartels from responding is the fact that, quite frankly, Tatooine isn’t worth the effort and finances it would take to oust me.

“That having been said, at the current rate, some young hutt will get an idea to make a name for themselves by conquering the ‘huttkiller’s planet’ and come with more mercenaries than I can reasonably fight off. Here is what I am proposing: I assist you in getting your ship repaired so you can go to Coruscant and try for aid there, and if it works, then once the Trade Federation are gone we go into talks about a more substantial alliance between our planets.

“If Coruscant doesn’t work, then I can still use the time to organize my military for a counter invasion. A lot of my magicks won’t be as effective on an army of droids, but I am still a very powerful Tomb King, and even by myself I would be enough to turn the tide of most battles. That is ignoring the other military assets at my command. Should military aid be needed, then not only will we go into the same alliance talks should Coruscant work, but all of the Trade Federation’s ships and military related equipment captured will go to Tatooine.”

“What do you want the Trade Federation’s equipment for?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Some will be recycled, some reprogrammed for general use, most will probably be sold on the secondary market,” I answered easily. “One of my students is quite gifted with technology, she actually managed to build a droid out of scrap parts she finds from the junkyards on the trips she thinks I don’t know about. I’m sure she’d enjoy having a number of raw materials to work with.”

“That is… much different from what I was expecting,” Queen Amidala admitted after a moment. Swallowing, she asked, “You called yourself a Tomb King, what does that mean? I’ve never heard of a title like that.”

I took a deep breath and released it. Sorting through the memories of the yutz in stasis whose body I’d been dumped into ten years ago had taken a while, but I had long since done so. Closing my eyes, I let the memories flood back to the forefront as I answered, “I am much older than I appear, Queen Amidala. I remember a time when great rivers crossed the planet, when ziggurats and tomb pyramids stretched to the sky. In the time of my forefathers, it was customary for the heirs of the king to spend a number of years in stasis within a tomb constructed by their grandfather.

“The idea was that by receiving a taste of the one fate that awaits all, by meeting the God of Death before circumstance forced the throne upon them, it endows both a greater understanding of life and death, while also opening our souls to the Winds of the Ætherium. Some believed that the longer the heir was in stasis, the more powerful they’d be, but given how Ptra only knows how long I was in stasis, and I felt no more powerful than I did when I went in, that probably isn’t true.”

My dinner guest was quiet for a bit, before asking, “I’m sorry, but the winds of what?”

“‘Winds of the Ætherium,’” I repeated. “What some of my subjects have called ‘the Force.’”

Our conversation went back and forth for a bit as we ate, neither of us willing to make any hard agreements just yet, circumstances being what they were. But, my initial proposal was tentatively accepted.

So the next morning, I had some people combing through the databases to see if we couldn't find the part her ship needed. As the search was being conducted, she and her entourage were my guests during the podrace. Even if I'd have preferred having Ani working on the part search, she was easily the best mechanic I had, she'd been looking forward to having the chance to race for months and I wasn't about to take that away from her.

In truth, I enjoyed watching her race. She was fast, yes, but she didn't seem to be trying too hard to win. Her focus seemed to be on the joy of racing itself, which made sense. Racing was fun, winning or losing didn't matter as long as you were enjoying yourself. Watching her pilot the pod that she'd built herself, I could tell she loved it, and that she had a good head on her shoulders, too. Sooner or later, I knew I'd need to have someone teach her how to pilot a starship, and I hoped she'd aid me by helping train the new pilots. I remember hearing talk about colonization efforts in the months leading up to going into stasis, but nothing concrete.

It was halfway through the final lap that one of my aides came up and whispered into my ear that the part had been found. It was in the stock of a toydarian by the name of Watto, and the order to purchase it was immediately given.

As soon as the race was over, I approached my guest and informed her that we had found the part her ship needed. She was overjoyed and thanked me profusely. I could see the relief in her eyes, and it made me feel good to be able to help her. We made our way to the docking bay, where her ship was being repaired. Ani had already started working on it, and I could see that she was fully engrossed in the task at hand. She had a natural talent for mechanics, and it was a joy to watch her work.

With the repairs completed, my guest and her crew prepared to leave. She thanked me once again for my hospitality and promised to contact me regarding whether or not she would be taking me up on my offer for military aid. As her ship lifted off from the spaceport, I turned to Ani, slipping back into the mindset of Warlord Nehk-ta-nebi.

“Contact General Dai Trorq, have him start gathering up everything we’ll need to transport our forces out of system,” I ordered, making my back to the Ziggurat.

I had a feeling that my guest may need my military aid sooner than later. Something about her screamed trouble. She was a strong woman, capable of handling herself, but even the strongest warrior needed support sometimes.

My aides were quick to carry out my orders, and soon enough, General Dai Trorq appeared before me. He was a broad-shouldered man, with a hard face that spoke of a lifetime of battle. I trusted him with my life, and with the lives of my forces.

"General, we may have a situation on our hands. Contact our allies and have them send reinforcements to our borders. We cannot afford to be caught off-guard," I said, staring out at the cityscape beyond.

"Understood, Warlord. I will make the necessary arrangements," General Dai Trorq replied, bowing before me.

I walked over to the window, watching as my forces moved about the city. We were a powerful army, feared by all who knew of us. I had built my empire from the ground up, and I would do whatever it took to protect it.

[hr][/hr]

Less than a week later, I was contacted by Amidala. The Senate was useless, as I’d suspected they’d be. Ani had told me about an expression that seemed particularly apt in this situation: help from the Core. Regardless, plans and agreements were made for a rendezvous just outside the Naboo system, where we’d meet and formulate the plan of attack.

The most difficult aspect was going to be in getting my army onto the ground. From what my various advisors had told me, while the Trade Federation could outnumber my forces easily, they were vastly inferior to even the most basic of my Risen Dead. The issue was my relative lack of space-based forces. It was a shame there were no biological spaceships I could raise like I did with my infantry.

The only option was to use the few ships I had to transport my army down to the surface. Once there, we’d be able to engage the droids on more even terms. It was a risky move, but one I was willing to make. I would not let Naboo fall to the Trade Federation.

I gathered my most trusted advisors to formulate the plan we would present to Queen Amidala. We would land on the outskirts of the city and make a swift push towards the Palace, where we believed the droids were being controlled from. Our goal was to take out the control center and force the droids to shut down. It was a risky move, but we had no other option.

Fortunately, with the majority of my military being the dead animated by my magicks, it made transporting them much easier. That, combined with Tatooine's past as a haven for smugglers, let me get my army to Naboo with far fewer ships than expected. When we arrived at the rendezvous point, to my surprise, Queen Amidala was nowhere to be seen.

I thought it unlikely that we had arrived first, so I had some of the smaller ships fan out, to see if she had been captured. Less than a day after we arrived, I got an answer in the form of a communication.

“Queen Amidala, I glad to see you well,” I said to the blue hologram.

“I apologize for not waiting, Your Highness,” the young woman said with a bow of her head. “But when we discovered that the majority of the Trade Federation ships had left Naboo, we couldn’t pass on the opportunity to gather information on the ground.”

“Understandable, what can you tell me?” I asked.

“While the Trade Federation controls the urban centers, there are several resistance movements opposing them. Additionally, we have made contact with the gungans, another species living on the planet and a second army,” she answered. “Contact me when you arrive on Naboo, and I will send you coordinates to meet us so we may coordinate our attack.”

I nodded, and the communication cut off. Turning to my staff, I asked, “Do any of you have any experience working with gungans?”

One of my advisors hesitantly raised his hand. “I was part of a diplomatic mission to negotiate with the gungans a few years ago, Your Highness. While I can’t say I fully understand their culture, I do have some knowledge of their military tactics.”

“Good,” I said. “We will need that knowledge to effectively coordinate with them. Contact any of your contacts within their society and see if they can help us with our plan.”

As my advisor left to make contact with the gungans, I turned to the rest of my staff. “We must be prepared for anything. We have no idea what kind of resistance we may face on the ground, but we must succeed in our mission. Naboo’s fate depends on it.”

With that, we set off towards the coordinates given to us by Queen Amidala. The journey was fraught with danger, as we had to evade the Trade Federation’s patrols. But with my army of undead soldiers, we were able to move quickly and quietly, avoiding detection.

As we approached the meeting point, we could see the gungan army waiting for us. They were an impressive sight, with their unique weapons and war cries. It was clear they had been preparing for this battle for some time.

Queen Amidala greeted us warmly, and we quickly got to work planning our attack. With the gungans providing a diversion, my army of undead soldiers would make a push towards the Palace. Our goal was to quickly capture the Vice Roy, and make him give the order to surrender. As a backup plan, the pilots that the Naboo had, combined with my own, would attack the ship in orbit controlling the droid army. Ideally the ship would be captured, so I could claim it as part of the arrangement with Queen Amidala for my military aid, but the needs of the battle overruled my desire for a ship like that.