『Storm Raiders』

The Naboo Queen's first night on Tatooine had begun. Night had fallen and the storm was sand wild, howling against the hull, causing it to creak and wane from the wind.

They were safe though, from the wind and the sand at least.

Obiwan walked into the hold, blinking seeing the two weren't there. The Padawan pursed his lips and glanced around before exiting the hold and heading towards the galley.

There was no one there either, but there were two mugs. Walking over to them, he placed a hand over the mouths of the metal cups and raised a brow. They were cold, but the chocolate that was stuck to the bottom indicated that it had once been hot.

"Where did those two go?" Obiwan shook his head slightly as he left the galley after dropping the two metal drinking cups in to the sink.

Wondering the short corridors of the small seventy six meter long vessel, he entered the hold once more to narrow his eyes on a pair of boots. It seemed the boy was without shoes on. As he walked over to the pair, he raised a brow looking down their shafts.

The boots were filled with sand and clearly looked uncomfortable to wear. His eyes continued to graze over the floor until he noticed very faint traces of sand that left a subtle trail on the clean floors. "Seems he had some sand in his pants..." He chuckled to himself as he followed after the breadcrumbs that had been left behind.

Soon enough he found himself waltzing onto the bridge, blinking a few times as he looked around. The trail had ended the moment they entered this area.

Looking over the men, he raised a brow. "As anyone seen Padmé and the Boy?"

Panaka raised a brow when he heard this and immediately looked up from his console, standing up. "They're not in the hold?" His words were hurried. He was aware that Padmé had a relationship prior to running for Queen with Ian Lago.

At the same time, he had faith in her that she wouldn't jump into another relationship during this crisis. He wouldn't see it was right, even though it'd be an interesting distraction.

The Queen and a Farmer, a classic fairy tale.

"No," the Padawan huffed as he turned to walk out of the cockpit and head down the corridor towards the Royal Quarters, Panaka following close behind. He'd pass by the Mainhold and techstations once more, before coming to a stop in front of the Royal Quarters.

Panaka walked up behind him, giving the entrance a look over. His eyes then glanced to the door control panel. The door was locked, it was likely the Queen was inside, and since they didn't see the boy anywhere, it was likely he was inside as well.

"Teenagers..." Uttered Panaka as he walked over to the door, pressing in his code.

"Why would they be in the Royal Quarters?" Obiwan's lips parted as he narrowed his eyes on the door as the man was going to open it.

With a heavy 'TSSSSS' sound the door's magnetic locks gave way and the door swished open into the wall. The two men then peered inside the room.

The lights had been off and there were hands of glowing cards, followed by "If you keep letting me win Ento, the game's not going to be any fun." It was Padmé complaining.

The two were playing Sabacc, a popular high-stakes gambling game, seated with their legs folded on the bed. The two of them turn turned their heads to look into the light that suddenly flooded into the room.

The two of them didn't do any serious bets whilst playing the game. Though he did ask that Padmé give him a Nubian ship when he got a pilot's license should he win each round.

So far, she only wanted him to stay with her during the period of which this crisis was going on. That was all she asked for, including and not limited to if he became a Jedi Knight, he'd visit her.

"...Padmé," Panaka narrowed his eyes on the cards in her hand, then flickered his eyes over towards Ento who had his own brow raised at him.

"It's surprisingly you didn't look in the Crew Quarters," Ento placed his hand down on the bed, revealing a winning hand of cards of positive twenty-three. His eyes were resting on Panaka who grunted slightly.

"What's going on here?" Obiwan looked to the Head of Security, before glancing over towards Ento whom seemed to know more about what's going on here.

Padmé just sat there with a casual smile across her lips as she placed her cards down on the bed, a losing hand for the first time since they had begun playing.

Ento had in fact been using the force to cheat the entire time, but in this case, to have her keep winning until she complained. He had stopped the moment he knew they'd be caught.

"The Queen gave Padmé permission to use her quarters to keep me occupied," Ento yawned absently as his eyes shifted towards the cards of her hand that now rested on the red velvet surface of her comforter. "And the use of her refresher."

Panaka's eyes rested on the boy as he answered for the 'handmaiden,' maintaining the secret fact that the girl was actually the Queen herself. Though he was still rather annoyed.

Obiwan raised a brow and slowly nodded at this, choosing to just outwardly accept this. The Queen was generous, and kind, from what he has found so far. This wasn't too far off from what she may do for a mere farm boy, and probably future Jedi. Though he was having the suspicion that she was indeed the actual Queen.

Watching the two adults leave the room, Padmé and Ento both looked to one another and smirked all smug. He then reached out with the force, having the door close once more.

The boy then used the force to start shuffling the deck again, before placing it down between them. For the next few hours the two continue to make meaningless or sentimental bets, rather than anything highsteak.

It was just for fun after all, even as the dry thunder outside shook the starship's interior.

+ + +

That night Ento's eyes popped open, waking up, at the sound of blaster fire. The sound of Tusken Raiders could be heard, grunting loudly as their feet could be heard coming up the opening loading ramp which was being forced open.

It was a Raid!

Shooting up onto his feet, as he had been sleeping on the floor, the young boy looked to the door of the Royal Quarters. "Padmé, we have to get out of here."

She sat up in the bed, groggily looking to the boy and then to the door. The storm seemed to had come to an end, but now there was another problem. "What's going on...?"

That's when the sound of something bashing against the door could be heard. The door screamed in pain as pressure was being used against it. They were trying to get inside.

Fear was definitely pumping its way through Ento's system. Remembering how they attacked his former subterranean home. His eyes shifted about the room, looking for a weapon.

A Gaderffii broke through and wedged itself between the door and its frame, the Tusken's grunting could be heard getting louder.

"Oh!" Padmé flailed and fell off the side of the bed with a thud. Crawling over to the nightstand she pulled open a drawer and drew two pistols. "Ento, Catch!"

Turning he quickly caught the weapon the moment it left her hand, calling it to his own through the use of the force. He then whirled around on his heel aiming forward with a glint in his eye.

KPEW! KPEW! KPEW! He fired bolts of green energy from the small sleek silver blaster which was in his hand, and watched as the door closed itself as the Raider fell backward with his bladed staff.

The two teens then stood beside one another with their blasters pointed at the door as the Tuskens continued to break through.

In the deck above, Ento could hear the movement of a lightsaber. The loss of life. It was clear the Tuskens were trying to take out everyone here or take them to be tortured.

Tuskens saw the entire planet as sacred land, more specifically the sandy surface. Anyone not covered from head to foot in sanctified garb were considered heathens, and were to be dealt with.

"Help!" They could hear Sabé outside the room, screaming. She was dressed as the Queen, Ento could just make out her form as the door was wedged open partially again. she was being taken away from the raiders.

"You've got to be kidding me..." The young boy muttered lowering the pistol slightly, watching as the Tuskens were pulling back. Apparently the girl was their target? It was probably a bloodrite hunting party!

Taking a step towards the opening door, he reached out with the force, gathering energy behind him before sending it forward. The Tuskens in the way as well as the ones carrying Sabé, were all thrown to the ground!

Guttural sounds filled the mainhold as Ento darted in, raising his pistol as he shot two Tuskens who had been trying to take the girl out of the vessel by force.

"Get in!" He shouted, shooting another Tusken that tried getting up from the ground by his feet.

The false Queen got up from the ground, and ran towards the boy who was backing back towards the Royal Quarters himself. As she passed by Ento, he turned around and shot the door control panel before slipping into the room as the door itself closed.

Ento, Padmé and her Handmaiden were all staring at the door, clearly overwhelmed by the situation. It was the first time that Padmé had killed someone in self-defense.

She was clearly bothered by her actions, but she knew it had been necessary and she justified her actions by thinking that they were just uncivilized brutes. For these beings, they weren't civilized as they knew it, on top of that they they threatened their well-being!

Soon they could hear the Tuskens retreating as Obiwan's lightsaber was heard cutting a few more of the Sand People down. Then as the loading ramp would be heard closing, Padmé stepped forward and opened the door to her quarters.

Ento and Padmé remained however aiming their weapons forward as the door was sliding open, and only lowered them seeing Obiwan deactivating his lightsaber with a subtle ZIIIP sound.

"It seems you're alright," Obiwan's eyes traced over the trio, his eyes going to the guns that were in the hands of the teens. He couldn't say he was surprised at this, the boy came from a world of violence and it was likely the handmaidens were trained in combat to protect their Queen.

"Yes... We are," Ento narrowed his eyes on the Jedi Padawan, before looking to the dead bodies which were sewn across the floors. "We should probably clean this up..." He uttered quietly.

Obiwan nodded as he sighed, this was going to be a long night.

Within the next twenty minutes, the whole crew was removing the corpses of the tusken raiders from the ship and resting them a certain distance away from the ship itself.

Once everyone was accounted for, the closed the ramp and reinforced it in case the Sand People decided to return in order to revenge their fallen. While there was temptation to move the ship, it was unlikely they'd get all that far.

Padmé was standing beside Ento after all that had been finished with. Her eyes resting on the loading ramp and the ruined interior of the mainhold. She let out a light sigh, "Could that have been what you were feeling earlier?"

Ento looked to her, not convinced that it was and shook his head without reservation. "It hasn't gone away... If anything it's gotten closer during this engagement. It might be safer if we join Qui Gon Jin and the clumsy Gungan in Mos Espa at Dawn."

Slowly she nodded, having wanted to go since the very beginning.

"I'll be able to lead us to them, so that shouldn't be a problem finding them in that mess," He referred to the Starport as a mess, showing his dislike of its structure and its prominent use of slavery.