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While this was going on there were some low key discussions of a different sort going on. Chewbacca found himself pressed to add several more Wookies to his guard detail of the queen, who was a hit with the locals with her bravery, her forthright manner, and how simply likable she was.
Her stance against slavery and corruption also had won her a lot of renown before her arrival, and he found that the king had gently pushed things along in that area so that the queen would always be guarded by Wookies. Later, as they were leaving, Chewie would be pulled aside by the king and told in no uncertain terms that the Republic needed more leaders like young Padme. "Corruption is too soft a word for what has been going on in the Senate. This new chancellor might be trying to push an anti-corruption agenda, but he is not having much luck at all so far. We need to look to build up more alliances that don't go through the Senate. Never forget how lukewarm the Senate response was to our trouble with the Trade Federation overAlaris Prime."
That night, however, such thoughts were far away from Padme. She danced the night away, feeling Aayla's arms around her, their breasts pressing together; feeling Harry's arms around her, solid, sure, and protective; feeling her own friends, dancing and having fun. It was possibly the best night of her young life, and she fell asleep on the patio that evening only to be carried inside with other youngsters. She woke up the next day and found herself between Sabe and Aayla with their arms around her.
Feeling the morning light begin to caress her legs, Padme lay there, thinking. Why are they so friendly? Why are they so warm and welcoming? If, if they weren't in a relationship and if one or the other was being so friendly, I would know what they were doing. But this is so strange.
She felt Aayla's arms around her and heard Sabe beginning to make that huffing noise she always did when about to wake up. Padme could feel a smile appear on her face as she heard Harry and Chewie's voice from nearby. Perhaps I am over-thinking things. After all, there is little chance that after this, Harry, Aayla, and I will be able to spend any time together again like this. Perhaps I should simply enjoy their friendship. And if it became more, well, she could cross that chasm when she came to it.
OOOOOOO
The first problem facing Dooku in his quest to end the threat of the Sith Lord was finding him, of course. Now he had the name of the being, however, and despite being a public figure, Hego Demask was relatively unknown. Dooku began to quickly back track his history, trying to find the Muun's base of operations. He knew that there had to be one somewhere, but the question was where?
Unfortunately, he ran into the problem that Hego had not been seen in public for over a year now, and before that he had stayed out of the public eye to a level that was astonishing for someone in as powerful position as the head of the banking clan. Then again, that power was based on money after all, not personal charisma or physical holdings, Dooku reflected. Yet another area where the Order's lack of dedicated computer specialists hurt us. The Force can be little aid in terms of following a money trail. Outside of Quinlan, Tholme, and perhaps a handful of others, I doubt any Jedi would even know how to start such a hunt.
However, Dooku was a Jedi Master who had been sent on thousands of missions in his time, from the heights of Core World society to the depths of the worst slums in the known galaxy. He had contacts in nearly the universe over, and some of them included slicers of immense skill. With Padawan Potter and the others away, Dooku too was able to leave the training facility for a time to meet in person with a slicer who owed Dooku an immense favor, having saved the man's wife and his own life on a mission where the man had been framed for a job he hadn't committed.
The discussion with the slicer went incredibly quickly, and Dooku walked away from the meeting with the name of Hego Demask's yacht, which according to what the slicer had discovered had become his home recently. So recently, Dooku made the intuitive leap that Hego had decided to use the yacht as his base going forward after his apprentice had been killed by Mace on Naboo.
The ship in question had been seen in orbit over Coruscant and elsewhere, but it had also disappeared at times, which was worrisome. It meant to Dooku that the Sith Lord might have another permanent base elsewhere. However, with no way to trace the ship's movement beyond a certain level, Dooku would have to hope that the Sith Lord's base could be found after the Muun himself was dead.
With a specific target in place, Dooku returned to the training center, determined to complete Padawan Potter's training to his satisfaction. That this would also allow him to train himself further in the young Jedi's family techniques, as it were, was also a part of his plan going forward.
OOOOOOO
Though Padme and her bodyguards had to turn around only a day after their arrival to head back to Naboo, Harry and the other Jedi planned to stay on Kashyyyk for a few days. She was Queen after all, and duty always called. She boarded the ship the locals had produced for her, their version of a specialized messenger ship, turning back on the gangplank to wave farewell. Harry held up a hand in turn, as did Aayla. "We'll be in touch," Aayla said, a wide smile on her face.
"Believe it!" Padme said with a laugh. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you!" all the Jedi intoned, watching their friend head into the ship.
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