God Save the Queen: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5: The Pen and the Sword

The moon had breathable atmosphere, albeit barely. We would be wearing simple respirators, far more Naboo chic than the clunky ones the Jedi carried.

“I’d appreciate if you came with us, Master Jinn,” I said to Qui-Gon as my security team assembled in the loading bay.

“Are you sure that is wise?” He cupped his chin with weathered fingers. “Mandalorians have a long and difficult history with the Jedi Order.”

“When should they find out: Now, or when we’re storming the enemy flagship?” I asked. Qui-Gon chuckled, but moved to stand at my back. Notably, he did not take a position of importance at my right or left. Instead, Panaka and Sabine filled those spots, and they’d both have an important role to play in the upcoming negotiations.

As the landing bay ramp extended down, I glanced at the Jedi master over my shoulder. “What did you mean, when you said I should reach out a hand to those in need, no matter to where or to whom?”

“Is that what I said?” He smiled peacefully. “The meaning seems quite evident, in my eyes, but if her majesty thinks there is a deeper meaning, I would hardly gainsay her.”

I huffed. I didn’t remember him being so kitschy in the films. Though, granted, in the Michael Bay version, he dueled Darth Maul on top of an exploding Lucrehulk as it fell towards Naboo’s sun. Somehow, both characters showed up again in the next film.

I stepped out onto an alien moon.

“That’s one small step for man…” I murmured, the thin atmosphere swallowing my words before we switched to comms.

“This is Royal Actual,” Panaka said. “All personnel check in.”

“Royal two, checking in.”

“Royal three, check.”

My guard consisted of five others beyond Sabine and Panaka himself, and they quickly rattled off their call signs. I pressed my hand to my neck. “This is Royal one.”

I heard a brief burst of static as the starship joined the band. “Read you all loud and clear, ground team. We’ll keep the reactor hot while you’re gone.”

“Your majesty,” came Qui-Gon’s voice. “There are no problems with my communications.”

“Good.” I nodded, looking up to the sky. “Captain Panaka, looks like we’re good for scenario two.”

“Fall in people, like we practiced.” Panaka waited a brief moment before tapping the back of my elbow. I started walking.

As queen, I needed to take point. I was a woman, and, in the eyes of much of the Republic, still a child of 14. The moment I gave the impression that I was weak or delicate, my bargaining position would crumble. Even though I should have been focused on that, or on the little bits of Mandalorian culture I’d crammed on the voyage, my thoughts kept drifting back to Qui-Gon’s words.

Was I supposed to reach out a hand to the Mando’ade, as if they were also in need? What other interpretation could there be?

If Qui-Gon meant the trade Federation, he should have done a better job during his own ‘negotiations.’

Such thoughts consumed me as we picked our way across the rocky surface of the moon. Scraps of moss-like vegetation cracked under my boots as I walked, through clouds of spores up to swirl around my knees in the thin atmosphere before quickly settling again.

The horizon was a swath of blue and gray, and as the moon slipped into the shadow of its gas giant, the temperature started to drop. Soon, the entire world fell into gradients of light and shadow, all color leaching away.

Then, in the distance, the light of a heat lamp.

I did not allow my pace to quicken. Instead, I walked through the cold and dark before coming to a stop just beyond the circle of warm light cast by the lamp. Five figures in blue and gray beskar were waiting for us, standing in the shadow of a landing ship. Of the corvette that we saw when entering the system, there was no sign.

One stood. In armor, it was almost impossible to tell male from female, or indeed to distinguish a human from any of the near-human or humanoid races of the galaxy. I wondered if that played a part in the Mando’ade reverence for their armor. As if donning it replaced the being, and left only the Mandalorian behind.

“Queen of Naboo.” The voice came over an open comm, and Sabine quickly isolated and locked onto the frequency. “Death Watch bids you welcome.” His voice was the same as the one who’d contacted me back on Coruscant. Was he a trusted lieutenant? A leader who liked to get his hands dirty? Merely a throwaway proxy?

I didn’t know.

I nodded my head, stepping into the circle of light. “Five Mando’ade and Six Naboo,” I replied. “It sounds like the start of a tawdry joke, or an epic tale.”

There was a rasp of something that might be laughter on the comm. “And a Jedi.” The leader pointed unerringly at Qui-Gon Jinn. “You have a lot of guts, bringing one of our ancient enemies.”

At my side, Panaka stiffened, but I just raised my chin. “I aim to win a war,” I said. “I’ll not be turning away true warriors to aid my cause.”

The Mandalorian didn’t withdraw his finger. “And what does he have to say about that?”

I waited a moment, before waving my hand, for Qui-Gon to step forward. He slipped almost placidly from our ranks, even as he showed deference to my command. I noted the way the Mandalorians stiffened as he came only a few paces away from them. Too far away for any normal man to strike before being gunned down.

But not so for a Jedi.

“I have no quarrel with your people.” Qui-Gon lowered his head, keeping his hands folded in his sleeve and away from the distinctive hilt of his saber. “I am here to aid Naboo, and her majesty has convinced me to fight by your side against the grasping hands of the Trade Federation.” That smile flicked over his face again, clearly visible beneath the rebreather. “If an agreement can be reached.”

The Mandalorian lowered his hand. “Maybe the Queen of Naboo brings something to the table after all.” The visored head turned back to me. “Let’s not waste any time then.”

“We both know what I bring to the table, else you would not be here.” I gave the man a smile visible through my rebreather. “Lest the Mando’ade are taking on humanitarian missions, these days?”

“Are you begging for charity, Naboo Queen?”

“Just making sure we’re on the same page,” I said. I allowed my eyes to wander over his party. Their armor was immaculate, with barely any dust or dirt from the moon itself on their greaves. The landing ship though, was old… a surplus model that was being phased out of production before the Mandalorian civil war, unless I missed my guess. Ancient, no matter how well it was maintained.

“Yes, we saw your offer.” The Mandalorian nodded. “And you have our terms.” He pressed a command into his wrist computer. Panaka received it on a holo, holding it up for me to read as the text of my agreement scrolled. “Sign, and we’ll do our part.”

I quickly spotted the only changes they’d made to the document. An exclusivity clause to this trade deal I’d offered, and then full rights to allspoils of war, regardless of origin. It was a wonder the Death Watch hadn’t tried to lock me into only trading with them full stop. Maybe they thought it was too on the nose.

Given the blockade, that is.

“Unacceptable.” I waved the holo away. “I will not condone for the people of Naboo to be looted and plundered by a so-called ally. Beyond that, the agreement makes no mention of joint command or any of the other necessities of war.”

The Mandos shifted, I got the sense they were laughing behind those helmets.

“And what does the Queen of Naboo know of war?” Replied the leader. “Keep your so-called soldiers and petty ships. There will be no ‘joint command’ because I will not trust my warriors to another peace-loving fool.”

So, he was a leader then, instead of just a mouthpiece.

I could have clarified my meaning, but it would be unwise to lose tempo in politics. If I ceded the first term, he would use that to steamroll the rest of the negotiations. Instead, I drew myself up, staring directly into his jet black visor.

“There are nearly one hundred Lucrehulk class capital ships encircling Naboo.” I pointed to the horizon. “Unless that corvette you rode in on is armed tip to tail in heavy turbolaser batteries, it will not punch through their shields before even the most incompetent gunners could reduce your fleet to scrap. That means boarding action, and if there is to be a boarding action, you will need Naboo Royal starfighters to help clear the way.”

“I think you would do better not speculating on what we need, girl.”

I hid a smirk. “So you would spend only your lives for my people?” I affected an innocent mien, turning back to the holocomm. “And deprive us of the chance to fight for our own freedom?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw a shift go through the Mandalorians. It wasn’t easy to read people with armor, but I bet they weren’t happy with the idea of dying in droves in boarding action after boarding action until the Trade Federation finally called it quits and surrendered.

Personally, I expected the Federation would cut their losses after two ships fell at most, but the thought of having to storm a hundred of the things for a bunch of ‘dirt farmers’ probably didn’t sit well.

The man scoffed, but I heard a tinge of emotion in his voice. “And you think that we’ll obey the commands of an outsider?”

I shook my head. “Not once.” I lifted my chin. “I merely ask that you extend the same courtesy that was so callously demanded, and allow the Naboo the right to command our own ships. I know what you think of us, Mando’ad, but our Starfighter Corps is one of the finest in the galaxy.” I’d drilled with them myself.

He folded his arms. “Additional fighter support will be… acceptable,” he bit out. “But I will not allow for a split chain of command. Storming ships isn’t like the holos, for you to play admiral.”

“Then I shall appoint an advisor, and give full command of our squadrons over to your wing leaders,” I said.

Silence. To my side, I saw Panaka stiffen, but he was too loyal to gainsay me here. The Mandalorians were stunned.

Into the silence I made my offer. “I will give you my ships. In return, I want the ships of those bastards who dared blockade my world.”

It took a moment for the words to register. The man stood up to his full height. “Unacceptable!” He slashed his hand through the air. “You mock us for claiming the truly gained spoils of our victory out of one corner of your mouth, while ask we accord the same to you from the other!”

“The ships, al’verde.” I slipped in the Mandalorian word for commander, he didn’t react to that, too incense by my other words. “The weapons and other equipment shall be accorded to you in full. Should any of the Mando’ade fall in battle, they shall be returned with full honors even if I have to launch a hundred more ships to retrieve every helm and gauntlet for their rightful owners.”

That was enough to placate the commander, but it clearly grated. “You ask a great deal, Queen of Naboo.”

I held back a scoff. So now I was a queen again, was I?

“Do you have the people to crew the ships?” I asked. “The dockyards to service them? Or would they be sold to breakers for a fraction of their cost?”

He huffed. “What we do with our share is no business of an aruetii.”

“I offer you Naboo plasma,” I replied. “Why barter for dust when I would give you diamonds?”

He was not moved.

I sighed. “Would you walk with me, commander?”

One of the other Mandalorians stepped forward, but the man raised a hand.

Panaka stepped closer, flicking off his comm so I could hear his voice in the thin air. “Your Majesty, is this…”

I waved him off as well. “Sabine,” I said instead. “I know you’ve been dying to test your mettle since the start of the occupation.” I pointed towards one of the other warriors. “Perhaps if we prove we aren’t all ‘peace-loving fools’, the Mando’ade will take us more seriously.”

The man let out a bark of laughter. “Baeth. Entertain the girl. Don’t break the Queen’s little doll.”

I saw a flicker of outrage pass over Sabine’s face before she mastered it. Then, the leader turned and walked away from the heat lantern. I walked after him, quickening my pace until we marched side by side. Quickly, the sound from behind us faded away.

I switched to a private channel before pinging his comm directly.

“Naboo has ground forces as well,” I began with.

“And you want me to ferry them up out of a gravity well into a blockade?” His voice was sharp. “I expected better.”

“I’d expect you to take anyone who could hold a gun, if you intend to board a hundred ships.” I laughed. “But no, we can force an engagement with the droid army on the ground.”

“Which matters why?”

“They are controlled from the ships in orbit,” I said. “We can trace the signal, one that will have to ping off the droid army close to the walls of Theed. From there, instead of attacking a hundred ships, what if you only had to take one?” He went silent as we walked. There was a small formation of rocky spines jutting from the ground. We rounded it, losing sight of the camp as we began to wind our way in a circle.

I could tell he was tempted by the offer. Mandalorian honor aside, taking a ship was no easy business. He had the forces for it, I didn’t doubt, but another, and then another, over and over again? He would lose ships. He would lose Mandalorians.

He would maybe lose more than he could afford.

I sucked in a breath when I realized that this was a desperate gamble for him as well. I’d done my homework; it had been ten years since the Death Watch lost the Mandalorian civil war. He was the leader of a dying faction, and I was their hope, that the fleet and the steel and the plasma would be enough to propel the Death Watch back to prominence.

But then, Qui-Gon said to offer help wherever it was needed, didn’t he?

I drifted to a stop. The Mando’ad took two more steps before turning to look at me, black visor inscrutable. That was fine, though. I’d figured him out already.

“We are not enemies,” I said. “It must seem so; you are warriors and the Naboo ‘peace-loving fools’.” I gave a laugh, shaking my head. “But betrayal makes for strange bedfellows.”

He tilted his head, turning to face me fully. “Betrayal?”

“We laid down our armies, it is true.” I turned toward the horizon, where a thin band of light was all that escaped the shadow of the gas giant we orbited. “But only because we believed in the Promise of the Republic. We were told that our excellence would be safeguarded, that we were free to soar to whatever heights we might aspire, without needing to watch our backs for a knife.”

“And then the Trade Federation took you for fools.”

I could tell from his tone that he expected me to argue that point, try to shift the blame from myself and my homeworld. Instead, I turned into the narrative that he’d so helpfully provided.

“Yes.” I let the anger boiling away inside me rise up to the surface. “The Trade Federation greased a few palms, and suddenly all of our allies, all of our promises, were gone with the wind. The Federation is here to exploit our weakness, but it is our allies that betrayed us, it is the Republic that betrayed us.” I turned back to the leader of Death Watch. “Just as you were betrayed.”

He stiffened. They were always so surprised that the Naboo elected queens for more than just a pretty face.

“You were betrayed by a ruler who saw a new way, and didn’t think about the millennium of history he trampled over.”

He scoffed, but I heard the vulnerability in his voice. The wounds of the civil war had not yet healed, it seemed. “And you, the Queen of Naboo, agree with what we did?”

“Of course not.” I folded my arms. “But then, your way failed as well, didn’t it?”

“…It did.” He raised his head. I could feel the eyes behind that visor staring down into me. “What do you propose then… your majesty?”

I grinned at him. “Parjai.”

He startled as the Mandalorian word for victory bloomed in the space between us. I began walking again, and this time it was the Mandalorian that hurried to catch up. “Victory complete, for both of us. A victory that will resonate across the galaxy and make straight a better path. One that does not preach peace while your enemy presses a blaster against your head.”

“The queen speaks of grand dreams,” he replied. “I wonder if your people have the blood to see it through.”

My smile grew wider. “They do.”

We came back in sight of the camp, and the Mandalorian froze. Sabine had his warrior pinned to the ground, their forms clearly silhouetted in the light of the heat lamp.

“We did not set aside war because we were fools, Mando’ad,” I said. “We did so to seek excellence in other ways. But if the Naboo are to reclaim our excellence in battle, we shall need able guides and true allies.”

He turned to look at me before turning and striding back into camp so quickly as to leave me in the dust. I followed sedately after him, even as Sabine released the other Mandalorian and kicked herself up to her feet. The other Mandalorians applauded, and I even heard a laugh as I switched back to the common frequency.

Only with the Mando’ade could getting into a fight ease negotiations.

The commander switched off his own comm as he tore the strip out of the warrior, but even then I heard, “Ru’shabii… di’kut!… trattok’o…!”

You screwed up, idiot. Failure.

I returned to stand by my own party, who were doing their best to keep their smug superiority to themselves.

Panaka leaned over to me. “Two falls to zero,” he whispered.

I most pointedly did not smirk.

Eventually, the Mandalorians switched over to the shared frequency. “How did a girl child best you?”

The warrior ducked his head. “I underestimated her, sir. Twice.”

The commander said nothing for a long moment, before turning away from the disgraced warrior.

I held out my hand. “Do we have a deal?”

The contract was amended and signed before the sun rose over that barren moon. With that, we set another rendezvous for the fleet elements to coordinate our attack, and then parted ways.

I couldn’t imagine why the Mando’ade didn’t want to stick around for celebratory champagne.

My own party waited for them to load their drop ship and fly away before we turned and started making the trek towards the Royal Starship.

“This is Royal Actual,” Panaka said. “Negotiations were successful, we’re heading back to the ship.”

“Successful?” came Obi-Wan’s voice. “Master, you mean the Mandalorians were better diplomats than the Trade Federation?”