Orbital 3 (Patreon)

Orbital
Chapter 3

-VB-

Padme agreed but firmly delayed our first date until she was no longer queen. She cited that she could not be beholden to anyone else for any reason while she was a queen, and we agreed to set our date for later.

How later? It was up to her.

We found ourselves a little disheartened and elated at the same time. She didn’t say no!

But our relationship wouldn’t develop until she abdicated, which was apparently the norm for Naboo’s monarchs.

We could wait, though.

In the meantime, we needed to fulfill both of our desires: carve out an empire and make ourselves more attractive to Padme.

Now, how could we go about doing that…?

Ping.

Oh, research on hyperdrive was complete. Let’s incorporate that into our existing ships…

-VB-

“Oh god,” Padme muttered inside of a meeting room within the Monarch’s Palace in Theed. “What just happened?”

Surrounding her were her friends and advisors including the two Jedis, and none of them knew what to say to the current situation at hand.

It was great that Naboo and her people freed themselves, but they received help from an unknown player in the local and wider galactic politics and power struggle. To top it off, all of their military advisors - what few they had either on retainer or merely military enthusiasts - agreed nearly unanimously that their “friend” was a regional power simply because of how many capital ships and combat ships they had.

Even now, scholars tore through the images captured by the Royal Naboo Transport for details, and have reported three main points.

One, the size of the fleet. It was alarming. No other fleet in the galaxy was currently as well-armed as their new friend. A deadly planetary defense force might have five heavy cruisers and auxiliaries.

Two, the capital ship. By comparing the ship to the known standard size of the Lucrehulk-class freighters, the size of the capital ship’s barrels has been calculated to be 1000mm. It also did not fire lasers but physical shells. Nevermind the fact that a bullet that size traveling at regular projectile speed would do serious damage on its own, what few pieces of evidence the scholars were able to scrounge up pointed to the fact that the shells used by the HMA ships might even have antimatter inside of them, drastically increasing their damage output.

Three, each of the heavy cruisers fired over 200 SBD/RU’s worth of broadside. This meant that anything that wasn’t a heavy cruiser would be gone within a minute. A properly frigate would last four broadsides before either completely detonating or being rendered useless with huge holes through its hull. A shielded starfighter wouldn’t even last half a broadside. And the HMA had over two hundred of those heavy cruisers. It was firepower that, according to historians, haven’t been seen by the galaxy by anything smaller than a kilometer long battleship.

These facts, and more, have been told to the queen and her advisors in the clearest terms possible.

What awed and scared everyone beyond their wits were not these facts but another outstanding fact that had been there since the middle of the “Invasion of Naboo” crisis: it was the speed at which their new friend built a space station at the edge of their system. The space station, named “Beehive 3,” was a fully-fledged space station with internal housing, shielding, armored hull, and offensive systems ranging from turrets to missiles. That station, weighing over ten million tons, already had heavy traffic of capital industrial class ships moving in and out very quickly.

All of these new facts of her reality sat at the core of the changes Naboo saw, but on top of that, the HMA's Hive Mind was a very literal statement.

And the Hive Mind of the alliance asked her out.

Honestly, she found him to be creepy. He had to be at least ten years her senior but he asked her out? Maybe he didn't know that she was only fourteen.

I won't be fourteen when I stop being queen, a part of her mind supplied sadistically.

"A lot happened," her cousin Jamillia replied. "You did well, cousin."

"You have," Captain Panaka hummed. "You have earned us an alliance with a hidden regional powerhouse, and possibly an economic partner that will see to Naboo's prosperity."

"And he - they! - asked me out!"

Someone laughed, and Padme wanted to glare at the person.

Called in because of how chaotic the situation was, former queen Reillata, queen before Padme herself, chuckled. "He is a very powerful man, Padme. Shouldn't you be happy that such a man is interested in you?"

Padme frowned. "I am not ready."

"And he is very understanding of that, which is another positive thing. Out there in the galaxy, men like him would not have reacted so well to your delay. I would know, my dear. However, he is nice. Use that."

"How?"

"Keep him around Naboo. His force is sure to grow, which we have seen already, and will act as bulwark against those like the blasted Trade Federation. With them around, trade and prosperity is secured."

"And when the Judicial Force comes to fight them?" Panaka asked.

"Unlikely," Reillata countered. "They supposedly have a Ruusan Reformation treaty breaking ship, but none that were seen by the Trade Federation. Which means that as long as none of us report them, no one will know. Even now, the only ships that patrol Naboo's space are those smaller than the ships seen at the battle, no?"

She was right. Padme had personally seen the other ships that the HMA flew in their patrols.

"Which points out that our already powerful and romantically interested ally has more ships than we know."

"There is a good chance that the monstrosity we saw is not the only one of its kind," Panaka muttered. "We should not alert anyone else about that fact and possibility."

Knock knock.

Padme straightened herself. "Come in," she ordered.

The doors to the large meeting room opened, and Senator Palpatine and a royal court messenger came in together.

"Senator Palpatine," Padme exclaimed with a smile as she stood up, paused, and then smiled. "No, it should be Supreme Chancellor, right?"

"Yes, yes, indeed," he chuckled. "Good afternoon to you as well, Padme. But before we talk, why not let the messenger talk first?"

She turned to the messenger, who saluted. "Speak."

"It is a message from the Hive Mind Alliance, ma'am." Then he produced a small smartpad.

She took it and read the message. It was written like a letter. How archaic for someone in charge of a fleet.

To Queen Padme Amidala,

May Naboo's sunlight greet you as warmly as we greet you, my queen. We hope to see you soon once again, but alas, both of our duties keep us too occupied for such, and even this letter is to reach you in the pursuit of our duties.

In light of the increases docking and repairing capacities we have acquired over these few days with the construction of our space station Bee Hive 3, the Hive Mind Alliance has elected to pursue additional operations outside of Naboo and in Outer Rims. We have seen the instability and the lack of care of both the Galactic Senate and the Jedis, and have decided act on our own to revise security at minimum charge to those willing to accept our protection.

This means that, my queen, while we will continue to house our headquarters here in our desire to be near you and maintain patrols, if not more down the line, the majority of our forces will be in concurrent operations in the southeastern Outer Rims. We are giving you this message in hopes that any need for our fleet may be arranged ahead of time.

Never fear, my queen! We shall continue to honor our contract for months and years to come!

Signed,

Hive Mind Alliance Representative Beta

"... a lot of flowery language, my dear. And certainly enamored with you," the elderly senate hummed.

"Please don't remind me. He asked me out," she grumbled.

"It… might be a good idea to take him up on that as quickly as possible."

"What?"

"Senator, how dare you suggest such a thing to the queen!" Reillata got angry on her behalf.

"His message is clear," the senator replied. "He will be expanding his business. While some planets will be able to pay his charge, others won't be able to and pay him in bodies. How sure are you that this man won't be fixated on you, my queen, when he has more bodies than he can count to join him in bed? Men are more appreciative of women who reciprocate their advances."

The room went into an uproar as the senator suggested that she sell herself to the HMA in not so direct words, but even as her emotions got the better of her, she saw the logical steps and necessity in doing so.

How long would they wait before they give up?

How long until their stay in the Outer Rim changes him enough to buy slaves to satiate their needs?

How long until Naboo is no longer protected?

She grimaced internally as feelings of powerlessness she experienced during the federation blockade came back in full force.

When she came back from her deep thoughts, she saw the room in chaos. People were shouting, accusing, and more.

It looked like it would burst into fighting.

"Silence!" she roared, and everyone fell silent. "Panaka."

"Yes, my queen?"

"Contact the Alliance. We will be building our own fleet, and their expertise would be appreciated."

"Of course," the pessimistic man saluted, happy for once that she was proactively seeking to protect her people and world.

"And … tell them that I have time next week Wednesday."

Padme Amidala was a queen. She served her people. If she had to go on a few dates to string someone along for the benefit of her people, then so be it.

So be it.