Chapter 5

Aboard the Royal Naboo starship just before the surrendering ships fireworks...

"Your highness a message!" said Ric to notify everyone inside the ship.

A message notifying the people on board was received. They immediately replied with a message thanking them and expressing their willingness on meeting the so-called Lord Admiral of the fleet.

"Lord Admiral? Is this the same as a fleet admiral?" questioned Padme for it's the first she heard of such title being used to adress someone.

"It should be, or it could also be the leader of their whole navy." answered Qui-Gon with uncertainty in his face.

"Master, I can't feel the force within the people here." exclaimed Obi-Wan as he turned to look at his master in shock.

"Yes, it's the first thing I noticed when we got inside. They have something similar to the force, but it's not the force altogether. I can't seemingly formulate any plausible explanation for this." asnwered Qui-Gon while nodding his head. Affirming his former padawan's observations.

"Master what do you mean by you can't feel the force in them?" questioned Padme in curiosity as she looked at Qui-Gon attentively.

"They have something similar to the force coursing through their bodies. This energy I presume is only present in their body and body alone. I can't feel any similar energy in this ship." answered Qui-Gon.

At this moment, a message was received by their starship, ordering them to open the doors of the ship and step out peacefully.

"I guess it's time" said Qui-Gon as the door slowly opens and they went out.

...

As the door slowly open, the company of Padme with her leading slowly walked out of their ship to meet a man wearing a sleek uniform that of an officer.

"Greetings to everyone, I am... a midshipman of the Imperium. I shall be your escort to the command room. I was also given the permission to answer your questions as long as it doesn't involve confidential information." introduced a man in his late 20's as he stood there straight with proud beaming in his eyes. His voice is the same as the electronic voice from before. Because of this, it furthered their assumptions that the other party is using a translation software or equipment.

"Nice to meet you, I am Padme Amidala, these are my companions. He is Master Qui-Gon, he is Master Obi-Wan, he's Ric Olie our pilot, and he's Jar Jar Binks a Gungan." introduced Padme as she pointed on each of her companions while introducing them.The moment Padme pointed her finger to a not so human looking figure the officer immediately went on alert. The sight of Jar Jar Binks made the officer subconsciously reach out for his pistol as he frowned. But luckily he managed to control himself and returned to his acting.

"Nice to meet the Queen of Naboo and her entourage." said the officer with a great acting as he stopped himself from immediately shooting the xeno in his sight.

"How did you know?" questioned Padme in shock. Her title is a secret to most outsiders so she's shocked on how can this man in front of her know about it.

"Confidential information." replied the officer with a smile as he motioned for everyone to follow him.

They started to walk and the personnel they encounter all evade them instinctively, giving them a path to walk in. But they all frowned as they saw Jar Jar Binks's mere shadow as some even went as far as show their pistols stating thet they'll shoot him if he does anything out of the ordinary, like stop walking.

These actions made Jar Jar fearful as he tried to shrink his presence as much as possible to avoid anymore attention and preserve his safety.

Seeing this scene Padme and her entourage except for Jar Jar was shocked by the fact that a strict hierarchical system is in place and everyone respects it and confused on why are they looking at Jar Jar as if they'll all kill him if a stops walking.

Jar Jar is feeling immense amount of fear to even observe most things right now.

"May I ask, why do they look like they hate us? Is there a problem with us?" asked Obi-Wan to gather intelligence as his observations presented that all of the personnel they encountered show some form of hostility to Jar Jar one way or another.

"It's not that we hate you but your companion here. We hate xenos and any species that's not the same with us." answered the officer with a light hateful tone. This answer made everyone instinctively stop which caused the surrounding soldiers immediately pull out their laspistols and point them at Jar Jar Binks which shrieked in fear, shock and nervousness.

Lightsabers drawn, blaster pistols also drawn as a standoff occurred between Padme's group and the Imperium's soldiers.

"Everyone, put down your weapons! I got this all under control." ordered the officer which the soldiers reluctantly complied as they all resumed their works.

The group of Padme also slowly reholstered their weapons while observing carefully their surroundings as they once again followed the officer but now with a higher degree of caution to their surroundings than before.

As they slowly went deep inside the battleship, the number of personnel that they encountered almost stayed the same. Giving everyone the impression that the ship must at least holds a couple of ten thousand personnel for it to function on its fullest.

"You said earlier that you're an officer of the Imperium right? What do you mean by this?" asked Padme as she tried to unearth as much information as possible which could potentially help the republic investigate them.

"It is what it is. I'm an officer of the Imperium." answered the officer with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Imperium? What kind of nation is this? As far as I remember there's no nation in the senate with an Imperium on its name.And humanity? What species is this?" questioned Qui-Gon to extract more information but with wariness in his voice.

"We are not part of any galactic organization. We are the Imperium of Man, a nation of humanity, for humanity.Humanity is our species characterized by our superior appearance, intelligence, and birthright to rule the galaxy. As long as you're the same appearance as us then you're part of humanity." answered the officer without looking back at them.

"Can you tell us more? How about your government type? How is it? Where's your nation located in the galaxy?" asked Qui-Gon as he tried to use to force to persuade the officer to divulge more information to them but deep inside he's already feeling fear towards them. Especially their so-called birthright.

The officer just shook his head lightly which made Qui-Gon shocked lightly. As his little experiment proved useful, though he didn't expect it will be like this. Apparently, force doesn't "work" with these people. However, he attributed it to the mysterious energy coursing through their bodies and not to the Emperor's will which makes Qui-Gon a heretic in the face of everyone if they knew it.

"It's a question I have no permission to answer. You can try and ask the Lord Admiral about your question." replied the officer as he stopped on the door that leads to the entrance of the command room.

The group just nodded their heads in understanding.

Jar Jar at this time already sneaked his way to the center of the other members of Padme's entourage as he deemed this place safe.

In front of them are soldiers guarding the doors. They stood straight in guard while wielding lasrifle which is a better version of the lasgun and was now the standard rifle of the guardsmen.

When they saw Jar Jar even if they tried to hide it, almost instinctively turned the safety knob of their guns off and took a great deal of pressure to not just shoot him directly.

"The weapons you carry are advised to be surrendered to us for now. We will return your weapons once the meeting with the Lord Admiral is over." said the officer to the people following him.

"I can't surrender them, this matter concerns the safety of her highness." refused Ric as the officer frowned hearing his statement.

"We also can't surrender our lightsabers." the two jedis also refused while shaking their heads.

Jar Jar didn't talked as he was still shivering in fear with the piercing stares he's getting from the guardsmen guarding the door.

"Is that so... wait for me here." said the officer with a smile as he walked inside to the command room to get further instructions.

After a quick wait the officer came back still wearing a bright smile on his face.

"You can bring your weapons inside but you must hide them and not in anyway use them. Also I advise that you always pay attention to your companion here. You never know if a bullet will fly to his head." informed the officer to the group of Padme with a smile.

"We agree with this." said Padme as she breathed a breathed a sigh of relief for the first part but subconsciously gulped because of the second part. This moment she knew that these group of people really pack some great hate against beings that's not their species. She immediately thought of the possible events that could actually drive them to have this much hate but all her ideas seem "far fetched" like for example, their population in a planet is exterminated. She deemed that it wouldn't happen because it's too bad to even happen.

The officer lead them inside the command room. What they saw the moment they entered can only be described as beyond shocking and stunning.

Hundreds of people operating different types of equipments. The sound that can only be heard are the turning of knobs, tapping on the screen and the casual reports submitted by the people on the other battleships.

"Such efficiency..." said Padme in shock as she looked at the hundreds of personnel on the equipments.

As they neared the throne like seat a reminder was said by Qui-Gon to everyone.

"Think before you speak.People has varrying degress of difference regarding what they consider as offensive. It's better to be safe. Also Jar Jar I don't know why they hate you but it's better if you'll be in the center of our group all the times so you could at least hide and shrink you presence." whispered Qui-Gon to everyone which earned him a nod from them.

"Thank you master" thanked Jar Jar with a whisper. He's stilling feeling fearfulness and nervousness as the looks of everyone that they encountered showed hostility towards him specifically.

As they walked towards the throne like seat they saw a man near it with a vastly different uniform from the officers inside and earlier. This man always has his hands inside his pocket as if he'll pull out something the moment he sees something weird. But when he saw Jar Jar he pulled out his pistol while looking hatefully on Jar Jar.

"May I ask? Who is that man?" Obi-Wan asked their guide with a trace of nervousness and curiosity as he deemed him important because of his clothes.

"He's the comissar of this ship. His job is to execute anyone and everyone disobeying or questioning the orders given. Also, your friend here is lucky that he's probably thought that he's your slave.And out of respect for his same species he didn't shoot your slave here." answered the officer.

"Execute? You mean kill? And Jar Jar isn't our slave!" asked and corrected Padme in shock. She didn't thought that such things actually happens. After all, questioning orders should be understandable as life is at stake on operations. And thinking Jar Jar is their slave? It's too offensive to someone being called a slave and why can't he just thought of them being her friend? Because of the explanation of the officer Padme was even more curious regarding their experiences that drove them to hate all species that's not like them. Not just her but also Qui-Gon and his former padawan was also curious about their experiences but they can't seem to find any explanation because all they can think are "far fatched".

The officer as nodded and didn't argued with her for the second part of her statement as he saluted to the Lord Admiral in front of him.

"My lord, your orders have been completed! Here's your guests delivered safely and a xeno which they treat as a friend!" reported the officer to the Lord Admiral.

The Lord Admiral turned her head to look at the group of Padme and observes them for a little bit. She dismisses the officer which just left silently.

"You're the passengers of that space vessel earlier? I'm... the Lord Admiral of this fleet." the Lord Admiral introduced herself and extended her hands, offering a handshake. Her voice is the same electronic sound like the officer which made them officially conclude that they're using a translation software ot equipment.

"I am Padme Amidala, nice to meet you Lord Admiral..." Padme accepts the handshake with a smile as she starts to introduce her companions.

"Nice to meet you everyone except for you. Come, let's watch a fireworks." said the Lord Admiral as she motioned for them to follow her to the front of the command room while looking hateful and treating Jar Jar like dirt.

They followed her and on the way took sneak peeks on the sophisticated equipments inside. As they stopped in front of the large window they saw a 4 Trade Federation's battleships slowly cruising at a distance in front of them.

"May I ask, what do her excellency mean by fireworks?" asked Obi-Wan as he felt a bad thing that will happen. With their attitude this feeling isn't farfetched.

"Look, you see those xeno scum's ships? They'll be blown up using the might of humanity." said the Lord Admiral as she pointed the ships on a distance with a giggling voice like a little girl.

"B-blown up?" everyone almost at the same time exclaimed in shock and nervousness because of the Lord Admiral's answer as another run of cold sweat traveled behind Jar Jar Bink's back. It's too late to take back what they said and can only hope that the other party didn't take any offense on their actions earlier.

"Yes, why? Are you telling me that your companion here isn't your slave? But an actual companion like a friend? I thought the officer before is only joking so I even planned to punish him but now... " it's the Lord Admiral turn now to be shocked.

"They're also living beings! They... they're only doing their jobs! We must develop and help each other towards a utopia where every species can live happily.And Jar Jar here is our great companion! He helped us many times already!" retorted Padme which made Qui-Gon lightly tap her shoulder to signal her to control her emotions as she might say something offensive.

The Lord Admiral just let out a sad smile of understanding their attitude as she returned her attention on the fireworks show that's about to unfold.

Just then an officer informed the Lord Admiral that the ships are ready to fire anytime. The report made everyone on Padme's group try to say anything to try and dissuade the Lord Admiral. But they remembered that they could offend the other party if they do. At least that's what the men thought of.

Padme on the other hand spoke up and tried to dissuade the Lord Admiral from doing the heinous act.

"With all due respect Lord Admiral don't you feel any remorse? You'll kill thousands or possibly tens of thousands of living beings." said Padme which made Qui-Gon hold her back from saying anything more. Qui-Gon too can't believe what he's hearing. A group of extremely xenophobic individuals with a powerful navy is not a good news to anyone that's not what they call humans.

The Lord Admiral didn't respond to her instead she just nodded to the officer to commence the attack.

A beautiful fireworks lit up the darkness of space as beams of potent energy burst out of the lances of the ships. The 4 ships of the federation immediately turned into space wreckage. A scene mesmerized the Lord Admiral and every personnel of the Imperium.

The group of Padme on the other was dumbfounded as they saw the explosions in front of them. They know that thousands or tens of thousands of people there all died.

Their expression is something comical. A combination of shock, stun, fear,and nervous as they try to see any sign of living on the wreckage which they know is impossible.

"S-such an..." Qui-Gon is rendered speechless by the scene in front of him. Seeing battleships getting destroyed in mere seconds made him shiver in fear.

Jar Jar gulped subconsciously as he thought of a possibility that he might also die like those on the ships with the extremely xenophobic nature of the people that surrounded his group.

Obi-Wan was drained of all blood on his face as he turned pale with the reflection of the floating spsce debris reflected in his eyes.

"You see, lady and gentlemen, It's not my fault that their species isn't the superior one, the humans. They can only blame themselves for not being brorn on the obvious superior type of species." said the Lord Admiral while chuckling as she turned her head to look at the people in her back who's expression is that of fear.

The train of thought of Padme and company only travels in the same track. They need to have this matter reported to the senate at all cost. They have the best luck of encountering a lunatic, and extremely xenophobic nation that has ships far surpassing the Republic in military might.

As this was all happening a large number of transport ships has steadily landed on Naboo. This transport ships contains the Imperial guardsman. They're tasked to liberate humans from the rule of xenos. A task with absolute strategic importance according to the Lord Admiral.