God Save the Queen: Book 2 Chapter 4 (Patreon)

The Story thus Far 

AN: Sand, I hate Sand

Character list at the front, translated Mandoa (when there is any) at the end.

Supporting Characters this Chapter:

Canon

General Roos Tarpals—Gungan General of the Grand Army of Naboo, promoted after the battle of Naboo at Queen Amidala’s insistence.

OC

Taalanes Qroos—Naboo Mandalorian and member of Amidala’s personal guard.

Chapter 4: Three Envoys

I shaded my eyes against the harsh glare of twin suns. “Not here an hour, and already my boots are full of sand.”

At my back, Taal grunted. “I hate sand.”

I nodded. “It’s coarse, rough.”

“Gets everywhere.”

We Naboo weren’t built for this climate. At least my armor did something for the heat.

Sadly, as the one who’d come up with the plan to talk to Jabba, I was the one who needed to come to Tatooine. Of course, I wasn’t going to take him on alone, which is why Taal and I were at the port in Mos Espa. First Salvo was docked a few berths over, along with a stripped-down complement of Marines and the rest of my bodyguard, but I was waiting for additional ships and supplies from Naboo.

I closed my eyes as the Royal Starship passed over the docking bay in a flash of silver and wind. Sand whirled around my ankles as it set down, resplendent silver hull just as out of place as the first time the Royal Starship landed these sands.

Still, I was excited to be back. I’d spent too long in staterooms and bridges, I wanted to get back into the thick of things, making a difference myself, and not just by the ripples I sent off into the galaxy.

I could feel the years slipping through my fingers like grains of sand.

I tapped my foot impatiently as the ship settled back and the loading ramp extended. A pair of marines jogged down it, blaster rifles at their side, and exchanged credentials with Bo-Katan. She shot me a nod, waving the first two after her as the rest of the Naboo started making their way off my ship.

Then I saw a familiar figure and a smile broke out across my face. “General!” I called. I took off across the hangar, making it to the foot of the ramp before the old gungan even made it halfway down. I half jumped, wrapping him in a tight hug. “You didn’t have to come all this way for me!”

“Oosa!” He staggered back half a step, webbed hands coming down on my shoulders. “Yoosa not be being so small no more, youra’majeesty.” He scolded me, wrapping twice on my armor. “Notta in theesa can, anyway!”

I froze as I saw the rest of his retinue right inside the ship. With a cough, I stepped back, doing my best not to blush. “Apologies, General Roos.”

“Bah.” The gungan waved off my apology, a smile of his own crossing his face. “I coulda not leave you hera ‘lone.” He placed a hand on the shoulder of my armor. “Issa been to long.”

“It really has.”

The two of us stepped to the side as a full platoon of praetorians quickly marched off the ship along with dozens of other duty personnel.

“I didn’t expect to see you.” I took Roos in. His traditional headpiece, sitting across his snout right below his eyes, did nothing to hide the wrinkles spreading from his whiskers, but he still looked as spry and whipcord thin as ever. “How are things back on Tatooine?”

Roos Tarpals became a close friend after the Invasion; I still remembered how well he’d baited the droid army at Theed, and though our first meeting had not come until after the Battle of Naboo, he’d become a staunch unitarian. More importantly, he’d always treated me with respect and candor, and I trusted him even more than Boss Nass to keep the Gungans in my corner.

“Naboo’a been good.” Roos nodded, whiskers swaying. “Messa thinks a bit too good. Lotta younga Gungans wanna be seeing whatta is like outta side of the waters.”

I winced in commiseration. On one hand, I understood not wanting an entire generation of young to go to war; on the other, Naboo wasn’t in the position to turn away any recruits. “You have my permission to redirect as many as you want to the Home Guard.”

He shook his head, jowls slapping as he blew out a gust of air. “No. No theyssa wanna be seeing the ocean of the stars.” He met my gaze, eyes blinking one at a time. “But issa been troublesome, getting’ into the academy.”

I frowned. “They’ve been turning away Gungan applicants?”

Roos nodded.

I huffed. “The administrators should know better than that by now. I’ll send a writ with my signature attached. Feel free to shove that in the face of anyone who gets in your way,” I said. “We always need more pilots of every stripe. I’m sure Gungans would fit right in.”

My lips quirked into a small smile at the thought. Human pilots had a gravitational bias that was hard to shake; I would know, though I’d gotten a handle on it faster than most. Gungans, who lived most of their life underwater, wouldn’t have the same issues.

“Wessa appreciate it, youra’majeesty,” Roos said.

I waved it off. “It’s the least I can do. But, I’m sure you didn’t come all this way just for that.”

He shook his head. “Yoosa be needing my help. Swimming in dangerous waters.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Surely you don’t plan to stay? Dangerous or not, there’s a severe lack of actual water on this world.”

“No, no.” He shook his head. “Justa makin’ sure yoosa have everything yoosa need.” He huffed. “Anda bringin’ anotha friend.”

I turned back towards the ship, eyes widening at the woman who broke away from the main column and came to stand before us.

“My Queen,” she said with a smile.

“Sabé…” I breathed. I shook my head. “I thought you were busy at the university.”

Sabé sank into a deep curtsey, airy white robes parting just enough that I could see the combat armor underneath.

“I graduated.” She narrowed her eyes at me playfully. “Someone missed the ceremony.”

“I—you.” I huffed. “You told me it was next year.”

“It was.” Her expression broke into a smile. “I pushed it up because I heard that someone was going on her first major deployment. And then she ran into pirates.”

I sputtered, looking between the two Naboo, Gungan and human, as they chortled. Suddenly, the sands of Tatooine didn’t seem so dry and dusty with this little slice of home so close at hand.

“There’s no way you pushed up your graduation after the pirates.” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as well. “That was a week ago.”

“That’s true.” Sabé nodded. “I knew you’d need me, so I got ready long before that.” She stepped closer. “I may not be able to be your body double anymore, My Queen, but my hands are yours for as long as you need them..”

I let out a breath. “As if I could ever turn you away.” I looked her up and down. “What are they feeding you, anyway, since you keep sprouting like a weed?”

Sabé leaned towards Roos. “Her majesty is just upset she stopped growing at fourteen.”

I rolled my eyes. As much as I missed my old height, I’d grown used to being this size. Sabé, on the other hand, was nearing five foot ten. There were procedures that would have allowed her to still pass as my body double, and like all my handmaidens, Sabé had offered to undergo them without prompting.

I’d turned her down in a heartbeat, and could only feel glad I’d done so.

“Enough joking already, we’re on a schedule. Go talk with Taal. He’ll get you oriented, then hopefully we can get that ship unloaded before Roos dries up.”

The Gungan general nodded fervently, fanning himself with one webbed hand. “Messa not thinka it was gonna be thisa hot,” he grumbled.

With one last bow, Sabé strode off, white robe swirling around her. My gaze tracked her for a second before returning to the matter at hand. “It is good you came, Roos.” I pulled out a data stick, passing it over to him. “I have some news to send back to Naboo, and there aren’t many secure channels out here. Admiral In’vess has a copy, but it will be a few weeks before First Fleet makes it back to secure territory.”

Hyperspace communications were safe enough for most, but given the nature of my opposition, I liked to take extra precautions whenever possible.

“Itta will be done.” He slipped the stick into his vest. “Issa there anything else?”

A scuffle at the far end of the hangar cut off what I was about to say. I looked over to see Sabé and Taal manhandling a dockhand through a half-closed hatchway. A frown crossed my face, and I shared one last look with Roos before striding across the hangar myself.

“What’s going on over here?”

Taal grinned at me. “Caught ourselves a little spy, peeking through the hatch.”

“I caught a spy, you mean,” Sabé said. “You Mandos are all the same. I swear they must beat the subterfuge out of you with a stick.”

I sighed. It stung, realizing that an entire hangar of my elite soldiers had missed our uninvited guest. Clearly, there was only so much training could do, no matter how rigorous.

“What to do with you?” I asked.

The boy blinked up at me rapidly, mouth dropping open.

I tilted my head. “What?”

“Y-you’re the girl who took Anakin!”

I paused, eyes narrowing. At first, I was just confused, but after a second, it clicked into place. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “And you’re one of his little friends.”

He nodded rapidly. “Saw you while we was looking at Ani’s pod!”

“It’s like a family reunion.” I sighed, turning back to the boy. “Don’t try to run, alright?”

He kept nodding.

With another sigh, I waved Taal off. “Let him up. Now, what’s your name, kid?”

“Kitster.” He jerked into a sloppy bow. “Kitster Banai, at your service!”

“Well,” I replied, “you’re clearly at somebody’s. Why don’t you tell me who?”

He stiffened, eyes glancing back towards the door.

“Kitster,” I said. “Anakin helped me out once, so for him, I’m giving you one chance to be straight with me.”

“W-what happened to Anakin?”

I crossed my arms.

“Not stalling, swear!” He waved his hands. “S’just, after the Boonta Eve Classic, the lot’a yah vanished.” His eyes flicked to me, and back to the hangar. “And then y’show up again with two ships full ‘a Mandos. Is… Is Anakin here too?”

I rubbed my forehead. “No, he’s not here. Didn’t he tell you? He’s a Jedi now, on Coruscant, well, sometimes.” I quirked my lip. “Most of the time he ends up calling me from halfway across the galaxy.”

“Wizard,” Kitster breathed.

“Now, tell me who you’re snooping for.”

He kicked the sand. “I just… sell the info,” he said. “See anything interesting, and I pass it on.”

“And who buys what you pass on?” I asked.

He lowered his head mulishly.

“It’s Jabba isn’t it?” I leaned forward. “No matter who buys it, anything worth knowing ends up with Jabba.”

After a moment, Kitster nodded.

“Basically inevitable,” Taal said. “We weren’t going to keep anything secret from the Hutt in his own backyard.”

“Yes, well, forgive me if I wanted a bit more time to get settled first.”

“I—I don’t have to tell him!” Kitster licked his lips. “I’ll just, uh… get lost in the junkyard, for a night. By the time I get back, no one’ll care ‘bout yesterday’s news.”

I shook my head. “No. If you saw us, someone else must have also. No point in stuffing the womp rat back in the sack.”

“Then, uh, what do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Sell the best information, of course.” I reached out, ruffling his jet-black hair. “Call it a favor, for old time’s sake.”

“Really?” He grinned. “Right, whatcha want me to pass on?”

I had to give it to them: kids on Tatooine grew up quick.

“Tell your usual sources that a whole bunch of elite-looking soldiers from Naboo just landed. They have weapons, and supplies, about thirty of them.” An undercount of our numbers by excluding the Mando’ade contingent. “Tell them that the Queen of Naboo was in the hangar, and she wants to meet with Jabba the Hutt.”

His eyes widened. “You know the Queen of Naboo?”

I snorted. I really, really shouldn’t, but…

“Of course, I know her.” I tapped my breastplate. “She’s me.”