Allana

The hologram before me was blurry as I closed my eyes to yawn. I sighed as I rubbed my eyes and heard how the door of the Investigation Centre hissed open. I looked to my left and saw many people on the back and Anakin walking downstairs, the door closing behind him.

"Hi." He said, he had brought to cups of coffee with him, one for himself and one for me.

"Hi." I yawned again.

"You've been here all morning?"

"Yeah, and all night. Since 2:30 am. I couldn't sleep thinking of all...this and came here in the middle of the night."

"Lana..." I covered my face with my hands and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Thought I'd wake up beside you and we'd have breakfast together, but you were gone." He said after a while.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, is just...I can't get everything about Fives' case out of my head."

"Flower, it's been two weeks." I smiled at the nickname he still uses for me even if he said he'd call me something else.

"I know, but...there's something I don't like about this and that doesn't make any sense. Let's start off with the supposed parasite they found in the water canteen. You know why I think that's bullshit?" He shrugged. "Wolffe and Cal shared canteen with Tup and Fives. Cal hasn't felt ill and Wolffe didn't snap. He tried to protect us." I sighed. "Then there's Sifo-Dyas. He ordered the army a decade before the war even was a thing, he asked for the Clones to have inhibitor chips to make them 'less violent' but its malfunction causes them to kill."

"I think he could see the future, too."

"Like you?"

"I guess." I bit the corner of my lip.

"That makes sense. But in anyway, it it is a plot..."

"Do you really think so? I mean, Would Master Dyas conspire against the Jedi? Also, Fives said the Chancellor's behind it, he's incapable of doing so."

"I don't know. I know you estimate Palpatine, but I've told you this before, I don't like him. Politically speaking, I don't trust him. His time on the Supreme Chancellor's chair expired long ago and I will not vote for him ever. It does sound crazy that he'd be the one to orchestrate this, though." I paused and took a sip of the coffee he had brought. "It's a he says, he says situation. The only one that could prove Palpatine's involvement on this plot was Fives and he's dead. We can't bring the case before the Council because it's 'closed' and we can't bring it before the Senate either, if anyone does that, they'll be accused of treason and probably sentenced to death too. Which is another route that makes me think that, perhaps, Fives did get too close to the truth and was killed, but that would mean that the Chancellor actually is the bad guy. My mind has been wrapped around this for far too long and it only has made me go down a rabbit hole." I sighed and he placed his hand on my shoulder, his thumb tracing circles on the back of my neck. I closed my eyes and relaxed for a moment.

"And what are you doing here? What are you investigating?"

"Master Dyas. The guy is a fucking ghost. He vanished one day on a mission. It says he was on his way to Oba Diah, but I checked the archives and the records, the mission reports, they're all gone. It wasn't registered as it should be. He just said where he'd go and he went. Then, he just...vanished and gone was any trace of him too. But take a look at this." I made the planets, systems, stars and moons appear before us in the darken room. "Anything missing?" I asked as I looked around the planets and stars, just like Anakin was doing.

"A few systems, and their moons."

"The Kessel system and it's moon Oba Diah should be here." I pointed at a blank area. "At least that's what the gravitational force suggests but they're nowhere to be fucking found. My theory is that the answers to the questions I have must be somewhere out here. Sifo-Dyas is dead, I'm sure of that, but he went missing somewhere in here on a mission we have no information about." I breathed in and out. "It doesn't matter who tried to erase this information, I'm certain the remains of a ship, of his body...they have to be out there. Even if you try to hide the past underneath the rug, there's a part you could've missed. And that could lead us somewhere."

"And you're going to investigate the system and it's moon?"

"I am. I need answers."

"Why?"

"Because the entirety of what we know the way we know it might be at risk. Think about it, Tup's chip to make him less violent malfunctioned. He said he had orders to kill the Jedi, from whom, we don't know. But he had them. If what Fives said is true, that means the entire Clone Army has a chip that, with the snap of a finger, could make them kill us all. Think of all the Generals and Commanders that are Jedi and are spread out around the Galaxy, each one of us has a battalion of two hundred and fifty men on board of a ship. I mean, you're one of the greatest Jedi out there, a very skilled warrior, but if I turn the 501st against you...I give you ten minutes tops. They'll kill you or you escape very wounded." He sighed, I saw how a shiver went across his body. He knows I'm right. "If you do that to every clone, in every battalion of every General...it'll be a genocide. There's something we're not looking at and I'm trying to find it, but I'm exhausted and my butt aches for being sitting here for far too long." He sighed as a small empathic smile was formed on his lips.

"This sounds dangerous, I have a bad feeling."

"Me too, but someone has to check this out. I just...I need to know more about the man who anticipated himself for an imminent war." I took a long sip of the coffee. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" He shrugged.

"Came by to bring you coffee. I figured you'd be here, I mean, you come here too often lately." I chuckled. "Any missions assigned to you today?" He sat beside me and drank his coffee.

"No, everything's quiet. Padmé asked to meet up earlier, I said I would be there about..." I checked the holo-watch that rests on my wrist next to my comlink. "Forty minutes ago." He chuckled and I smiled. "What about you? Anything thrilling going on?"

"Well, Obi-Wan came back from Rodia few hours ago, I thought of patrolling with him for a while, grab a bite at Dex's. I figured Cal could come with us?" He took a sip of his coffee, his blue eyes innocent like a little kid's. I smiled and chuckled. Since Ahsoka's departure Skyguy and Witty have been inseparable. Sometimes I wonder if Kestis is still my apprentice.

"I don't know if he's back yet but, sure, take him with you."

"Back from where?"

"Caleb and Cal wanted to go on a mission together, so Master Billaba took him with herself to Kashyyyk. I suppose they'll train with the Wookies." He smiled surely remembering when we had to go on that mission.

"I see. Well, go with Padmé, I'll receive him when he arrives." I smiled, turned off the holo-console, took the holo-disk with the intel and kept it in my belt's pocket. I stood up and stretched. "Hey, I love you." He said, placing his hands on my waist. Thank goodness this room doesn't have any windows and we're underneath the camera's blind spot. I smiled, my hands finding his dark curls that get longer each day.

"I love you, too." I kissed him softly, he smiled onto the kiss as his hands went up and down the skin of my exposed back to rest on my lower back. We broke the kiss and walked out a brief moment later.

"Try not to think too much about this, you'll figure it out, just...give your mind a break." I smiled tenderly at him.

"I will, thank you." He nodded and we walked our different directions. "Hey, thanks for the coffee too." I said as I walked backwards, he didn't turn around.

"Anytime!" I turned back around and walked a few steps, when I was about to turn left on the corner, I looked over my shoulder just to catch him doing the same. He smiled and winked as the wall separated us. I giggled to myself feeling like a kid in love.

I made my way out of the Temple and got to the Senate by taking a transport. In little time, I found myself walking down the fancy hallways and before my sister's office door. The door hissed open and I knocked on the frame, she looked up from the holo-pad at me and smiled. Her hair was tied into a bun with a half moon ornament underneath it, and she was wearing a beautiful purple dress.

"Hey." I greeted as I walked in and the door closed behind me.

"Hi." She hugged me and I hugged her back. "It's been a while since we've hung out, I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." She left the pad on her desk and we walked towards a small but fancy living room she has on the right side of her office.

"What took you so long?"

"Uh, you know, some stuff I've been doing. I'm starting an investigation."

"On what?"

"Missing archives." I spoke a white lie. "We need the information to be up to date and the intel I've been relying on turns out or be ancient. Not even Madame Jocasta has been able to aid me and she's been there since the beginning of time." She chuckled and I grabbed a biscuit that she had on a plate over the coffee table. "I swear, that woman must be almost as old as Master Yoda." She laughed again.

"How have you been?" She asked once we had sat down and a droid lady had served us some tea. I sighed.

"I...have been better, thanks for asking." She frowned sadly, her smile still on. "A lot has been going on these past few weeks."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, I'd like to relax with this tea, eat some cookies because I didn't have breakfast, and talk about something else, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." I smiled at her and we took a sip of a delicious strawberry and mint flavoured tea.

"Thanks." She breathed in and out slowly. "How have you been?"

"Stressed too. With the war raging day by day many people have lost their homes and have been forced to leave their home planets." I frowned sadly as I wondered when would this finally end? "I've tried to aid as many people as I can."

"And how's that going?" I took another cookie.

"Well, it's going well. To secure said aid I need to go to the Banking Clan."

"You're going to Scipio?" She nodded. "When?"

"Later today, in a few hours." I nodded. "Yeah, in an effort to stay independent and away from both Republic and Separatists, all operations are divided and money transactions are performed in a neutral zone surrounding the main vault."

"I assume that, for all operations to continue as they normally do, there must be no war on Scipio." She nodded.

"Indeed. However, worry about the stability of the Banking Clan is brewing within the Republic." I frowned.

"How so?"

"The wellspring of money may be in jeopardy."

"Damn." She chuckled and I took a long sip of my tea. "Do you want me to join you?"

"Your presence could be a problem, Lana. You're a Jedi, you're acting like military for the Republic and it's supposed to be entirely neutral."

"I see your point but, who says I'll look like me? I could dress up as one of your handmaidens." She smiled and shook her head. "Come on, Padmé, please? I've never been to Scipio."

"You've never been to Scipio? I don't believe you."

"I swear I've never been there. I've seen it in pictures but never with my own eyes." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Please? That way we can still hang out." She sighed and drank her tea. "Please. And I'll do your paperwork for a week."

"Oh, how old are you? Ten?" She laughed. "Grow up, General." I laughed.

"So, is that a yes or a no?"

"A yes." She said after a while. "But you're piloting the ship." I laughed again.

"Deal." We made the porcelain cups cling and finished the tea. "I'll signal Anakin."

As she gathered everything she needed from her office, I briefed Anakin. I told him I'd escort Padmé to Scipio for him to look after Kestis while I was gone and inform the Council in case they'd want to send me somewhere on a mission. I grabbed the remaining biscuits and ate them slowly.

Sooner than later we walked out, her two Senate Comandos following behind us, I assumed they'd come along on this journey. I offered them a cookie, just Seth took one, the other guy didn't even shake his head to say no. We were taken to her apartment, there, Dormé was already finishing packing her stuff. When she saw me, she hugged me. It's been a while since I've seen her, and I've missed her. She's one of the Senator's friends that I consider my own, as well as Sabé and all the team she assembled here in Coruscant.

  When she found out I'd be joining them, she got excited too and wasted no time on doing my hair and makeup like hers. She undo my braids to make a bun that resembled Padmé's, she also did my makeup, covering the scars a little.

I was also given a beautiful dress. The velvet fabric had an ombre effect, the colours went from dark orange, to orange, yellow, and a bit of white at the end of the skirt; the thick dark orange velvet belt covered the handle of my lightsabers, which rested on each side of my hips. When we were done and the Senator's ship was loaded with whatever she'd need, we hopped on. I typed down the coordinates of the system on the navi-computer, and we took off. In about three hours and a half, we arrived at Scipio.

"Whoa." I said in a whisper, hearing Dormé the co-pilot chuckling, as well as the Senator. "What? It's an astonishing landscape."

"I know, I know." Said Padmé as I landed the silver ship softy on the landing platform we were instructed to go to and we stood up. Dormé and I placed the hoods of the dress over our heads and the three of us walked out of the ship.

The air was cold, very cold. That got me thinking about how useful this dress is. Not only does it have a hood, it had a visor that made it possible for my face to be barely seen, and the fabric kept me very warm. Even if I felt the tips of my fingers getting frozen, as well as my face, the rest of my body kept its temperature. Great for undercover, I'm keeping this.

The planet is beautiful, I had to make a big effort not to look around in awe to look professional. There were snowy hills everywhere, mountains in every corner, a warm sun and clear blue skies.

"Welcome to Scipio, Senator." Said a very tall man, a Muun, he was accompanied by two other guys. Guards or soldiers of some kind.

"Thank you." Said Padmé.

"If you will follow me, we will be travelling into the neutral zone." Amidala nodded respectfully. I felt the tingle in my stomach, though.

I looked at the high zones of the building we were at. My eyes scanned every corner and my gut made me focus on the side to my left. I felt like I once did at Teth, expecting to find a threat just to find shadows in an abandoned building. I was so immerse in my own thinking, my 'get ready for anything' process, that I didn't notice the party had started walking towards the doors.

"Veré." Dormé called me by the name I use on this missions and whenever I'm away with Set —also known as Anakin Skywalker— somewhere we're not known and where we can be husband and wife for a while.

"Sorry." I said as I blinked and joined the rest. We walked up some steps and stopped abruptly when the Muun that was guiding us turned around to face us.

"I'm afraid your guards will have to wait outside." He said and Padmé looked at the Senate Comandos from over her shoulder.

"Of course." Only the three of us proceeded. The metallic gates that sealed the neutral zone from the rest of the place started to open. It was impressive and quite intimidating, to be honest.

  We walked down a long area, that resembled a hangar, with Munn soldiers flanking every corner and the city rising in the distance. As we walked I felt as if someone was watching us. I looked over my shoulder trying not to look suspicious or nervous but saw nothing. I stuck my nails in my palms. Maybe you're just paranoid, you're tense, you're stressed. Surely it's just that. I thought and breathed in and out to calm down.

"Are you alright?" Dormé whispered very low I could barely hear her, her eyes not leaving the front. I nodded without looking at her either.

"I have an odd feeling, that's it."

We hopped on a transport and were taken to the Vault, where Padmé would meet with the Council of Five. The Chamber was slightly warmer than the outside, but still cold; it's lights were dim and the floors were made out of glass. The members of the Council were on separate boxes at least ten meters off the ground above us and their faces appeared on a holo-screen of the colour orange above their boxes, their voices echoed all over the room easily. Padmé walked to the middle of the room while we stood by the door.

"As the Council of Five, we are honoured and surprised that you have travelled all this way for a mere bank transfer." Said the guy who seemed to be the leader of the Council.

"A transfer that has not been forthcoming." Said Amidala. "By request of the Supreme Chancellor, I am here to expedite matters."

"Of course. We would merely request that you meet with our special representative, who will go over the terms and conditions of your loan." I frowned and I could bet my sister and our mutual friend did the same. The doors behind us hissed open and we all turned around to find a well known man walking in, Senator Clovis.

"Shit." I said under my breath and tilted my chin down to cover my face completely from his sight. When we were facing his back, I looked up normally, my eyes met briefly with Dormé's, they asked if I knew him, for she had heard me cuss, and mine said that I'd tell her later. She nodded and we looked back at the front.

"Senator Amidala." He said to Padmé, who looked over her shoulder for less than a second to look at me.

"Clovis." She said.

"You two know one another?" Asked the leader of the Council. Clovis was about to answer, but Amidala was faster, she gave a step forward while he just lifted his hand to call for word.

"Sir, I was assured that this transaction would be free of prejudice and partisan allegiance. This man was rumoured and suspected by the Jedi to be a Separatist and a traitor to the Republic." I saw him frown and I mentally cursed myself for not briefing Padmé of our findings that confirmed the guy was a Separatist.

"Padmé." He said in a whisper.

"I can assure you, Rush Clovis is our most trusted and best negotiator." Said the Muun dude.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but I insist this man be removed from these negotiations." Clovis placed his hands on his hips, annoyed. "Until then, we have nothing further to discuss. If you'll excuse me..." The Senator turned around and walked away from the scene with us walking right behind her.

We were escorted out of the Vault and taken to the guest quarters of the Senator. The whole way there, Padmé ranted about Clovis' presence, how she couldn't believe a so-called traitor was in the so-called neutral zone.

"About that..." I said once we were in the building and Dormé had excused the Muun guards that were with us.

"What was the conclusion of that mission? You never told me anything."

"Yeah, well, that's because there were some complications." She arched an eyebrow. "I'll get to that in a minute." I took off the hood of the dress and sat down on the couch. "We discovered he was a traitor, you can confirm Clovis is a known Separatist. I managed to get a hologram of the plans of a droid factory to be built in Geonosis that he had, he was sponsoring the project. By the way, he's obsessed with you, the password was your name. Anyway, we got those to the Council and the factory was destroyed." She sighed.

"And the complications were?"

"That the asshole, Lott Dod, wanted to blackmail Clovis, and he noticed he had feelings for you so...he poisoned me thinking I was you and I almost died. He offered a toast, we all drank from the same cup, but he managed to poison me somehow." Her eyes opened wildly. "You've got nothing to worry about, Anakin got the antidote, we got the files of the factory, and everyone was safe. The mission was a success, everything went smoothly, minus the fever and the cold sweat."

"Allana!"

"What? I was doing my job. You're welcome, by the way, I took that bullet for you. Never trust anything the Neimoidians give you to drink, ever. That's my conclusion." She sighed, rolled her eyes and looked away. "Anyway, the last time 'you saw Clovis' was that day. I don't remember why he wasn't in the ship when we left, that part's blurry, but I know you left him there and the rest is history. I assume he has good survival skills."

"Any other thing I wish to know of that last encounter with Clovis?" I meditated for a second.

"No, no, I don't think so. If I remember any detail, I'll let you know." She rolled her eyes again. "Oh, he did nothing to help you out, Anakin did the whole thing." Her eyes opened wildly, a shade of disillusion in her eyes. "Might I suggest we do the swap? Or do you think you can keep up the lie and pretend to know what happened with detail?" She sighed and meditated for a moment.

"I think that's a wise decision, Milady." Said Dormé.

"It is, but not at the moment. I think I can keep up, you on the other hand won't." I frowned. "If we're called back to the Council Chambers while you're me, you won't know what to say."

"Fair."

"You know sing language, right?" I nodded. "We'll use that. We'll communicate that way." I nodded.

"Alright." The door whooshed open after a bell chimed and one of the guards showed up again.

"Senator, dinner is ready." He informed as I threw on the hood over my head again.

"Thank you." Said the Senator and we all walked towards the dining room of the apartment we were staying at. After two hours, the three of us were done eating and talking about this business, moments later, we retired back to the quarters.

Padmé stood by the balcony, I was right beside her, reclining my weight against the stone arch. Dormé dismissed the guard once more as Padmé walked into the room. As I stepped closer to her, I heard a loud footstep behind me, feeling a presence close. I made a swift move and placed my arm around the neck of a man to hold him in place as Dormé pulled out a blaster, just like Padmé, and said 'watch out'.

"I would stay there if I were you." Padmé told him. It was Clovis. This guy is honestly stupid, what kind of dumb move is sneaking into the guest's room?

"How did you manage to get a blaster into the neutral zone?" He asked as if that could defuse the tension and placed his hands up.

"We're resourceful. Now, why are you breaking into my quarters?"

"I'll answer when your maiden stops squeezing my neck." She looked at me.

"Release him." I let go of him and stood my ground behind him. He rubbed his neck with one hand, as if I had made much pressure when I didn't. What a crybaby. "Care to answer now?"

"You don't understand what's really happening here, Padmé. I need your help."

"My help? What makes you think I'll help you? Last time we 'helped each other' I ended up poisoned, and you did nothing!"

"That's not true. First of all, that...annoying pilot of yours told me the girl that was poisoned wasn't even you, that your sister had gone disguised as you." Padmé stood her ground and my face dropped. Anakin told him that? I felt slightly betrayed and angry, the deal always is the same, you don't blow each other's cover. Padmé looked at my hand and I said 'deny it'.

"He said that to deceive you, I clearly remember how Dod offered me that cup, the fever, the sweat...my sister was with our family in our home planet. It was me." He seemed to believe it, for he thought for a moment.

"Anyhow, you stole data files from me."

"That revealed the location of a Separatist droid factory sponsored by you!" She pointed at his face, when he tried to hold her hand, she moved away quickly.

"Look, it's not safe. We can't talk here." He looked around the room and proceeded to walk past me to get to the balcony.

"Senator." Dormé called.

"It's okay, I want to hear what he has to say." She stepped closer to Dormé. "Look for wires, Veré will be beside me." She nodded and I stood closer to the stone arch again. As Padmé stepped closer to Clovis, the feeling of being observed returned. I looked around and saw nothing. I closed my eyes to hear better, but the buzzing of the transit was too distracting. I sighed and opened my eyes again to listen to the conversation.

"The simple fact is that the economics of this war are not adding up." He said. "You're here for a bank transfer, but I can assure you there is no money in the bank." I frowned.

"That's absurd, they were ready to give me the founds today." Padmé crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, they will give you your first instalment, yes, but they're robbing one side to save the other. The entire Banking Clan is on the verge of collapse." He placed his hands on the balcony's railing as Padmé's eyes opened up like plates.

"Collapse?! Where's the evidence?"

"In the vault. The accounts are sealed there, and no one is allowed to see them beside the Core Five."

"Convenient."

"Well, now that you're here, you must put pressure on them."

"And do what, exactly?" She asked with a scoff. That's when the sense of danger made the hairs on the back of my neck spike. I looked in all directions, the only attack someone could effectuate could be a shot by a sniper or someone bursting into the room. Clovis moved closer to her face and she looked away.

"Help me gain access to the vault." She blinked a few times and pushed him away with her elbow.

"You're insane to think I would ever trust you. I'm sorry, but I cannot help you." I looked at the top of the buildings and saw a blinding reflection of a sniper aiming our way when a ship went by.

"Get down!" I ordered and the sniper fired at the Senators. An alarm went off as Clovis took Padmé by the waist and pulled her down to take cover by using the balcony, and I moved forward towards them.

"Get your hands off me!" She ordered and handed me over the blaster she had as she stepped closer to me. I placed my hand over her back and moved to get cover inside the room.

"I've risked everything to tell you this! Don't you see they're trying to kill me because of what I know?" The continuous blaster fire stopped all of the sudden and everyone managed to stand up. I saw the light of the sniper was gone from where it initially was, the attacker was moving or escaped after failing to execute the target. "Please, believe me. Our past must count for something." I saw how the frown of the Senator that's beside me softened. She still cared for him. He breathed in and out rapidly. "I can't stay. Think about what I ask." He turned around and jumped off the balcony.

"Clovis!" She yelled and ran towards the balcony to find him landing on his speeder and drive away fast.

Sooner than expected, the local police showed up. I briefed them on what had happened and pointed to the direction I had seen the attack coming from. The speeders flew away as Padmé talked to the Chancellor about what had happened and what she had found out. I looked coldly at the hologram of the Chancellor, if I didn't trust him before, I certainly don't trust him at all now knowing what Fives told us.

"If what you're saying is true." He told her as I sat on the couch. "Then this information Clovis is offering is vital to our security. I need you to be very clear in this matter, for the Republic. Is he telling the truth?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She said after a couple seconds of meditating it.

"Perhaps, then, in this scenario, is best for you to trust an old friend and do what he suggests." The transmission was over and the hologram disappeared.

"So, what now, Senator?" I asked.

"We go back to the Chambers."

The very next morning, Padmé asked for a transport and we accompanied her to meet with the Council again. They were all gathered and Clovis was with them. Dormé and I stood by the door once again as Amidala stepped forward. When she was standing next to Clovis, they bowed their heads at each other.

"I have decided to accept Clovis as the representative of this transaction, as long as I can go into the vault and accompany the funds throughout the entire process." She said firmly. The faces of the Council members only reflected surprise and disagreement.

"No." Said the leader. "No outsider is ever allowed into the vaults."

"I come with the authority of the Supreme Chancellor. If you have something to hide, then that is something we should discuss." I tilted my head downward to hide a smirk that worked its way through my lips.

"Hide?"

"I think considering last night's attack on the Senator it is only fair that we are transparent and agree to these terms." Clovis backed her up. A part of me did think that they were once a powerful team. "What harm would come from it?" The members of the Council looked at each other and the five of them nodded their heads, agreeing.

"The vault will be opened first thing in the morning. Please make sure you're here, Senator." Padmé and Clovis bowed their heads and turned around to walk out of the room. I caught them smiling at each other.

"Might I suggest we go somewhere safer to discuss our plan?" Clovis asked once we were outside of the Chambers.

"Somewhere like where?" Asked Padmé.

"You'll see. I'll meet you outside of your quarters soon." She nodded and we got to a speeder that took us to her quarters.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Asked Dormé as a suitcase with nightgowns was closed. I've always wondered why does she travel with so much stuff even if she'll be there only for a couple days. I shrugged.

"Let's hope so." Padmé said and Clovis arrived. The gate opened and we walked into the ship. "Please allow Veré to pilot the ship." She asked Rush. I knew why she did that, so that if I felt the place we were going to seemed dangerous, I could pilot away.

"Of course, let me set the coordinates for you to know where to go." He said to me.

"Thank you." I said. He nodded and stepped away as Dormé and I sat as co-pilot and pilot respectively.

The coordinates he had typed into the machine took us to a house on top of a snowy mountain, right at the top of the cliff. I landed the ship softly and everyone took off the belts.

"That must be the best landing I've ever experienced in my life, you've got a fine pilot and bodyguard here." He complimented. My sister smiled proudly at me.

"I do, thank you." The gate opened as we grabbed Padmé's suitcases and stepped outside. "Where exactly are we, Clovis?"

"My personal residence. A bit remote, but we'll have more privacy. Please." He said and guided us in.

The house was larger than it looked on the outside. There was a massive fireplace in the middle of the room, the living room built around it. The dining room was in front of a large window that allowed a beautiful view and the kitchen was on the back while the bedrooms were upstairs. As the night fell, Clovis talked Padmé around his plan to infiltrate into the vault.

"Once I detonate the charge here at the main power source." He explained with the help of a hologram. "The vault will go into immediate shutdown. No one will get in or out. This will give you very little time before the emergency generator cycles and takes over. You'll then use this to locate the exact files and download them from the mainframe." He handed over a device a bit smaller than a holo-disk. "The vault is one of the most secure in the Galaxy, but it was designed to keep people out. Once you're inside and the power is down, there is little they can do."

"You make it sound so easy." She said.

"If you don't mind, Milady, I will retire for the night." Said Dormé.

"Of course, Dormé." The woman stood up and, after sending me a smile, she walked away.

"The information we get tomorrow will go a long way to expose perhaps the real criminals behind this war."

"These are war profiteers, I've exposed them before. Nobody cares." The painful memory of the Trade Federation blockading our home planet, and Queen Amidala basically begging the Senate for help appeared in our minds.

"Truth is not on the battlefield." Padmé sighed.

"It's late. Goodnight, Clovis." She said and stood up. "Veré, let's go." I walked behind her until we got to the room Clovis had given her. "What do you think?" She whispered once I had closed the door behind me.

"It's a well formulated plan, the guy has been thinking about this for a while, you can tell." She sighed.

"But...?"

"But? There's no but, I genuinely think it's a great plan."

"But..." She insisted and I sighed.

"There's a huge risk, it could be dangerous." She nodded.

"I agree."

"I think it would be wise for Allana to cover you on this part of the trip, Milady." Dormé suggested.

"I agree." She said. "I've been trained for these situations, but your training overcomes mine." I smiled.

"Appreciate that." I said.

"Did you learn the plan?"

"I did." She nodded.

"Have you told the Jedi about this?"

"No, this is none of their business. The only one I've spoken to has been Anakin to tell him everything was fine."

"Have you talked to him about what he said to Clovis?"

"Not yet, I'll do it when I see him."

"Wait." Said Dormé. "Last time I heard of you and Skywalker was before the war started. Have I missed something?" I chuckled and Padmé smiled. I remember how it was the three of us in the bedroom of the Senator when Padmé had suggested Anakin had feelings for me.

"Oh, not much, just a secret wedding and a marriage that has been going strong for the past two years, soon to be three. It'll be our anniversary in a week." Dromé's face reflected nothing but surprise and amusement.

"Is she bluffing?" She asked Padmé and I dropped the chuckle.

"No, I'm not. Let's go to bed, we'll need to be well rested for tomorrow." Padmé nodded with a smile while Dormé laughed surprised. "You better take this secret to the grave."

"As if you had to ask for it." With a last chuckle the three of us went to sleep.

* * *

When the morning came, we all got up quickly. Dormé styled my hair exactly like Padmé's was styled yesterday with an elegant bun and I wore the purple dress she had brought. The ornament in my head was slightly heavy and made me place my chin up no matter what. As Padmé finished getting dressed with the orange dress, Dormé finished my makeup. She hid a couple moles that Padmé doesn't have, as well as the few freckles that rest on my nose and cheeks, she managed to hide the scars of my face easily. A knock on the door made us all stop our movements.

"Padmé, are you ready?" Asked Clovis from the other side of the door.

"I am." I answered with Padmé Amidala's voice. "I'll be downstairs in a minute." We heard footsteps going away. "Okay, so...you're keeping these." I grabbed the handle of my lightsabers from the desk.

"No, that's a lot of responsibility." I smiled at her.

"It's alright." I moved the velvet belt up a little to clip my belt around her hips. "As long as the belt is attached to you, the lightsabers won't go anywhere." I made sure the leathered belt was secured and clipped the handles.

"They're heavy." She said as I placed the velvet belt back on it's place.

"Yeah, you'll get used to the weight throughout the day, don't worry." I placed her blaster into a small pistol holder that's attached to my thigh and hidden with the dress' skirt. I kept the device in the pocket of the dress and, once the girls had the hoods of the dresses over their heads, we walked out of the room.

"Good morning." He greeted us.

"Good morning." I greeted back. "Shall we?" He nodded and we walked out to the cold weather. I missed the other dress, this one wasn't as warm. In a minute, we all got to his ship. Clovis asked Veré to pilot again, so, Dormé had to do so. She didn't land the ship as I did, but the Senator from Scipio didn't seem to notice.

  When we got off Clovis' ship, we made our way towards the vault. For that, we had to cross the Council Chambers and go upstairs towards the spot where the boxes of the Council members were. On the other side, the imposing metallic door of the vault remained. There was a lot of security, the five Council dudes and four guards. I took a deep breath as I walked closer to the steps that rested before the vault, two guards made me stand my ground my rising the sticks they had as weapons.

  The five Muuns placed the palms of their hands on keys that are activated with their touch. The door whirred open and I held my hands together nervously for some reason. The light was blinding from the oposite side and it revealed a very large area with more money that I have seen in my entire life and will probably see in the future to come. The leader of the Council invited the Senator in and I gave a step forward to climb upstairs and enter with them.

  I heard voices behind me, when I looked over my shoulder, I found Dormé walking away and Padmé staying next to Clovis, who was not leaving. I suppose there has been a slight change of plans. I looked to the front again and the door locked itself behind me.

"If you will follow me." Said the leader, I smiled and nodded. "The credits for the Republic are in this section." We walked a couple meters and I counted the intersections in my head. Three minutes later, the lights went completely off.

"What happened to the lights?" Asked one of the guards that had accompanied us. That was my cue. I turned around and started running. Turn to the left. Move forward three sections. Turn left again. Turn right. One, two, three, four, five. There's the intel port we're looking for. I took out the device Clovis gave us and plucked it in. I could see the line loading on the screen.

"Come on, come on." I whispered and the button turned white. The information had been downloaded. I kept the device in my pocket again and ran back the way I had come from. I found the guards walking out of the vault through a very reduced space that had been manually opened.

"Where is the Senator?" Asked the guy that escorted us inside of the neutral zone yesterday.

"We got separated in the darkness." Said one of the guards.

"I'm here." I said as I walked out, I had to cover my eyes with my hand to avoid being blinded by a light. "Not thanks to your security system. This isn't a vault, it's a tomb." I spoke the truth. "What is going on?"

"My deepest apologies, Senator." Said the leader of this gang.

"It seems I'm witness of many firsts on Scipio. Is this an unfortunate incident or a cover-up?" I saw Padmé's astonished face and a smile she was trying to hide.

"I'm- I'm not sure what you mean."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to report on your sad state of affairs to the Chancellor, excuse me." I walked downstairs with Clovis and Padmé closing the line. "Where is Dormé?" I asked in a whisper as we walked away and got a transport to get to the Senator's quarters.

"She should've come back by now." Said Padmé imitating the tone of my voice.

"She knows the plan, we'd rendezvous at your quarters. She'll meet us there." Said Clovis. When we got to the room, I walked into the bedroom and changed the dress for a much more comfortable outfit. A beige sleeveless shirt with leathered stripes that were clicked over my chest, gloves, trousers and boots. I removed the pistol holder and kept it in a suitcase of the Senator's.

"Did she find any wires the other day?" I asked once I had walked back into the living room.

"She didn't find any." Padmé answered and I nodded.

"Let's see if you got what we needed." Said Clovis. I took out the device with the downloaded information and he plugged it into a holo-projector. The yellow holograms of the vault's numbers started going down until the whole thing was red and there were zeros everywhere. I looked at Padmé and she frowned with worry. "Like I said, the vaults are empty."

"The Chancellor must see this immediately." The door snapped open and in walked a wounded Dormé. "Dormé!" I yelped and ran towards her. "She was shot." I looked at Padmé and saw horror in her eyes. The image of Cordé dying in her arms surely replaying in her head. "I need a first-aid-kit." I said. "Veré." I called. "Veré!" Her eyes filled with tears looking at me. "The first-aid-kit that's in my suitcase, now, please!" She stood up and rushed to find it. "Clovis, help me move her to the couch." He grabbed one of Dormé's arms while I took the wounded one. "Dormé, talk to me, what happened?" Padmé walked back into the living room, the kit open for me to use what's inside.

"The...sniper." She groaned when I made pressure with a gauss over the wound to stop the bleeding. "There must be a probe on us, otherwise how did he...find me?" I nodded and moved her up to see if it had gone through.

"It's superficial, the blast didn't go through you. You'll be fine." She nodded. "Veré, take Dormé to the bedroom and bandage her arm." I asked my sister as I injected a stim on Dormé's shoulder. Padmé grabbed Dormé's good arm and threw it over her shoulders, then, she grabbed the kit and walked towards the bedroom.

  That's when the opposite door hissed open. I rushed to grab the device with the intel out of the holo-projector and handed it over to Clovis discretely. In walked the leader of the local police and his two guards. I frowned at the intrusion.

"Senator Amidala." Said the tall Munn dude. "You're under arrest for espionage." I blinked.

"What?" I asked.
"No, there's been some sort of mistake." Said Clovis at the same time. Padmé walked out of the bedroom and just watched the scene.

"Take her away." Ordered the cop. One of the guards grabbed my arm and took me away but I pushed his hand away in a second.

"I have powerful friends. The Chancellor will hear about this." They made me step out of the room, I looked over my shoulder and nodded at Padmé before the doors closed behind me.

They sat me on a speeder and took me to a facility, once inside, they threw me into a cell, everything was dark and colder than any other room in this freezing planet. "Hey!" I screamed, not caring about faking Padmé's voice. "Hey! I have the right to make a call, you know?! You hear me?!" I banged the door from my side and looked out the small window that's on the door, only managing to see the hallway. "Hey! Hey!" The door hissed open and I gave a step back when a soldier walked in and threw my comm-disk at me, which I caught effortlessly. "Thank you." I said calmly now.

"You have one minute."

"Technically I have as long as I want, until I hang up my call." He rolled his eyes and walked out. I sighed and contacted the only emergency contact I care to have.

"Lana, hey, how's everything going?"Said Anakin once his blue image appeared before me on top of the disk.

"Uh, not great." His image frowned. "Where are you?"

"Alone at home, Cal'll return in a few days and I wasn't call to any mission, why?" I nodded. "Where are you?"

"Uh, well, promise not to laugh?" He nodded, the worry washing off his face. "Jail." He smiled and looked away to avoid laughing, not succeeding. "Shut up." A smile cracked my lips, it does sound amusing. "You need to get here and bail me out." The door opened. "Master Jedi, I need your help." He noticed I adopted Padmé's voice.

"I'll get there as soon as I can, Senator." He said and the transmission ended. The guard took away the disk and walked out, the door closed behind him.

I stood there in the cold cell and walked from one side to another. I never thought of how terrible it must feel to be here forever, no window to know how the time moves, how many hours or days it had been. I sighed.

I sat down on the uncomfortably rigid bed that's in the cell and stared at the door. I laid down and looked at the ceiling. I wish I could have some sort of entertainment to not bore my brains out, but I'm not that lucky.

I closed my eyes and waited to fall asleep. It was rough, I couldn't rest at all, I couldn't fall deeply asleep. I woke up paced around and meditated. I played with the pendant of my necklace, took off my boots and made them float using the Force, etcetera. Rinse, repeat. Time goes by real slow in here. I fell asleep again. I didn't know how long it had been when the door hissed open and my eyes snapped open.

"Well, well, well." Said a lovely familiar voice. "What exactly is going on here?" He had his arms crossed and he reclined against the door frame. I smiled and giggled when I saw him.

"Huh, not much." Anakin chuckled. "I'm glad to see you."

"Guess I'm not only useful to fight battles at the front, I can also bail Senators out of Jail." I scoffed.

"How long have I been here?" He stepped in and the door hissed shut as he sat beside me.

"Couple days."

"Couple days? No way." He nodded.

"Yeah, I tried to get here two days ago but the Council didn't let me interfere. When I told him it was you the one locked up pretending to be Padmé, they let me come." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Is she okay? And Dormé? She got injured."

"They're safe and sound." I nodded calm to know Padmé's okay.

"She said it had been a sniper, I suppose the same guy that attacked Padmé by the balcony. The question is, who's this guy?" He sighed.

"I don't know. Just as I don't know why I'm bailing you out, or why the Muun say that one of Amidala's handmaidens was the one that sabotaged the power grid." I frowned.

"Did they interrogate them?"

"Only Dormé, they noticed her arm wasn't great, but she didn't say anything. Then they were asked to leave the system." A pause. "What exactly is going on here? What have you gotten involved into?" I sighed.

"You need to get me out of here. Clovis-"

"Clovis?" His voice turned a bit aggressive. "What exactly does Clovis have to do with all of this?" He stood up.

"I can explain, just not here."

"How can you ever put your trust in a man like Clovis? Specially after what happened the last time?"

"I'm helping my sister, Anakin. And if you want to talk about last time then tell my why did you blow my cover?" He blinked. "He told Padmé that she lied, that she didn't even go to meet with Dod, that it had been me. How and why did he know that?"

"I- I don't know. I just said it, and I'm sorry. Is your identity hidden this time?"

"It is." I sighed. "I need to get out to find out what is going on in here. There is something very wrong with the banks."

"Why is it that when Clovis is around, your excuse's always that you're helping Padmé?" I frowned angrily.

"Excuse me? I haven't been giving you excuses, I have been helping her. I am the Senator's shadow for her to stay away from harm and danger." He turned around. "Why this sudden reaction? You don't trust me?" He didn't answer and my heart broke a little. "Anakin." He banged the door with his fist and the door opened for him to step out, the Muun guards flanking him. "Anakin, please."

"You know? Maybe I'll just leave you here." I frowned.

"Ani..." He sighed.

"You've already been released under my custody. You better come with me before I change my mind." He turned around and walked away. I tightened my fists together and walked out behind him. The guards handed over my belongings and I clipped the watch and the comlink to my glove.

We were escorted out of the neutral zone and found ourselves back on the landing zone I had parked the ship days ago. We didn't share a word the whole way there, for the Munn guys were too close. When I looked over my shoulder and saw them walking the other way, I spoke.

"I need you to trust me. I can't leave without the files Clovis and I took from the vault." He sighed.

"And where exactly do you suppose we look?" He asked.

"The discs may be outside the city at Clovis' private residence. Speeders at your nine." He looked over and nodded.

"Fine. I'll do this for you and my friend, not for Clovis." He said his name with a childish high pitched voice. I couldn't help but chuckle. He brought the communicator close to his mouth. "R2, have the ship ready in case I need you." He said and the droid beeped.

We hopped on a speeder and Anakin piloted away from the landing zone. I guided him towards the area where I remember the residence was. The house rose at the top of the snowy cliff and we landed on the area destined for the ship. We got off the speeder and walked down the pathway. I had the sense of being watched again. I looked around without stopping my walk but didn't see a thing.

"Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"Like someone's watching." I saw his face focusing on finding the sensation.

"I do. Better stay sharp." We walked into the home and it was not like it had been few nights ago. The furniture was upside down, ashes from the fireplace on the ground, pots of plants destroyed, etcetera. It was a mess. "Cozy place." Said Ani with a dry scoff and I sighed.

"Someone was looking for the files. They must know Clovis has them."

"Maybe they found what we were looking for and that's why he's missing." He chuckled. "We can only hope."

"Anakin, you're not helping. And that's something mean to say."

"I'm sorry but I cannot not be mean to him when he almost got you killed."

"And I understand that, I really do, but I need you to understand the importance of these files. They'll expose a corruption that goes to the very core of the Banking Clan." I saw movement from the corner of my eye on the lower floor to the left and stopped my walk. "Clovis!" I said using Padmé's voice. He stepped out of hiding and I walked downstairs with Anakin following behind me.

"Padmé! I knew you'd come." He said and tried to hug me, but I placed my hands on his shoulders to keep my distance, looking over my shoulder on instinct. Clovis' eyes met Anakin's figure. He had a frown on his face, eyes off, and arms crossed over his chest. "You again?"

"Yes, me again." He said as he stood between me and Clovis. "Alright, lover boy, where's the disc?" He extended his hand to take the device.

"I'm not about to hand over the information to some pilot." Anakin scoffed.

"I'm not some pilot, I'm a Jedi Knight who can save your life if you hand over the files." I tried to place my hand over his shoulder but I knew I shouldn't. "So...what's it gonna be? You're gonna give us the disc?"

"What, so you can leave me stranded like last time?" The three of us started walking upstairs.

"Well, that depends on how well-behaved you are." I rolled my eyes at their childish behaviour and walked a few steps faster, I turned around and placed my hands up to make them stop walking.

"Could you two please stop bickering, so we can get out of here?" I asked and we resumed the walk. When we had reached the upper level, the sense of danger was triggered. I looked at Anakin and he looked at me.

"Get down!" He said and we found cover. He stepped in front of me to deflect the blasts with his lightsaber, saving Clovis in the process.

"Thanks." He said once we had found cover near the wall.

"Wasn't you I wanted to save." I groaned.

"Anakin, get us out of here." I asked.

"Follow me." The gate opened and we stepped out looking around. "Run for it!" He ordered and we started running. The sniper kept on firing at us but Anakin covered our flank. I got to the speeder and turned the engines on.

I piloted a few meters away from the landing zone when I looked over my shoulder and found one of those hideous Anoobas, a hiena like the ones that hunt us down at The Citadel. I heard Anakin landing behind me and made the transport fly forward. A few meters away, we received a direct hit to the engines. They turned off and the speeder fell making vertigo take over my body. I held on to the wheel as I could and we fell onto the snow. Thankfully, the speeder had a snow motorbike design, we could use that.

"R2, bring the ship around and pick us up." Anakin commanded the droid as I manoeuvred the speeder. I heard him deflecting blasts constantly until the aim of the attacks changed from us to the ice that's above us underneath some arches. I pressed the controls forward and avoided being impaled. For the second arch, Anakin was the one to push the ice away by using the Force and separate us from the attacker. "This guy's a bounty hunter and I think your sister and I know him, Senator."

"Oh, really?" I said.

"Did she ever mentioned some guy named Embo?" I groaned.

"Once. That guy, really?" Guess it doesn't matter if you give Bounty hunters a hand even once, they'll turn against you even if you were friends once if you'd head has a price.

"Yup." We entered a lower area of the ice land, like a tunnel or a trench. Embo attacked from above and Anakin deflected the blaster fire back at him as he could. I looked up to have a better look at the bounty hunter until Clovis spoke.

"Look out!" He said. We had reached a crossroads.

"Anakin!" I yelled and he turned around to see what I was seeing. He stuck his lightsaber on the ice and created a thin mist to cover which way we had gone through from Embo's sight. I turned the controls to the left and everything was silent for a moment. "Did we lose him?" Before any of us could answer, the blaster fire hit from the front. I grunted when one of those shots hit my shoulder and I fell backwards. I saw and sensed Anakin's worry. "I'm alright." I said when Clovis bent down beside me and Anakin took over the controls.

He deflected some more blasts and then pushed Embo away by using the Force. His scream echoed everywhere and we managed to escape from him. We got out of the icy trench just to see how the mountain was coming to an end and the edge of the cliff was getting closer and closer.

"R2, hove in on my signal." No answer. "R2?!" The sudden fall made me gasp. I held on to Clovis' arm and impulsed myself up to jump as I usually do, landing on the wing of the ship roughly while Anakin landed on the glass of the cockpit. "Hey, nice catch, buddy." He opened up a hatch and we got into the ship. "Allow me to have a look." He said as he bent down next to me.

"It's nothing." I said. "Superficial wound." He injected a stim on my shoulder and I hissed.

"You'll be alright." He sat down as pilot and I sat as co-pilot while Clovis sat behind us. We didn't share any more words as he piloted us home.