Chapter Text
“Welp, I still think we should have brought Arrax with us.” Lucerys announces as they exited the T-6 shuttle.
“Well, I don’t think an Astromech would be very useful in a diplomatic mission, Luke.” Rhaenyra answers the moment her feet touched the huge frigate’s hangar floor.
Looking around, some cargo ships were scattered all over the place, along with some starfighters. Two pairs of footsteps were heard behind them and Luke took the chance to say loudly:
“Hah, at least we didn’t bring Vhagar too. That clunker would make any hyperspace travel insufferable with that noise” He proceeds to make some weird snoring sounds that, to be honest, didn’t really sound like whatever sounds the green astromech made.
“Your childishness is not surprising” Aemond says with a tired tone.
“Some things are better left ignored” Aemond’s Master, Alicent, didn’t take long to add.
Rhaenyra felt a bit tempted to answer, the distasteful expression on Alicent’s face made her reconsider. The smell of grease and the warm temperatures of hangars never failed to bring that reaction. On second thought, teasing her now could bring an even better reaction than she was hoping. When Rhaenyra opened her mouth, Alicent interrupted her, discreetly nodding her head towards the Mantaryan guards approaching.
The men with red uniforms met them along with a protocol droid which looked eager to welcome them even in flimsy steps.
“Ah, Jedi Masters! Governor Myrai is waiting for you in his meeting room. We are honored that the Republic has sent agents from the Jedi Order to discuss our troubles.”
Before Rhaenyra could answer, Alicent was faster and said with a polite smile:
“The honor is ours that the Governor of Mantarys has sent his very own protocol droid to welcome us.”
Any complaint she could make concerning the passive-aggressive demeanor of her fellow Jedi, her discretion was not one of them. The droid seemed pompous to receive a compliment and asked them to follow him, thanking them and talking about how much the governor appreciates the brave monks of the Jedi Order.
“But first, your weapons must be confiscated. The governor insisted that you discuss in pacific terms.”
Both Jedi Knights exchanged looks and, this time, Rhaenyra didn’t let Alicent answer first. “I'm sorry, but I don’t really see a reason why this is necessary. Our lightsabers aren’t a threat to a member of the Republic”
The sound that came out of the droid’s speakers resembled a laugh.
“Oh, but of course, Jedi Master, but these are only formalities”
Alicent signed softly. “We are here peacefully, we don’t see any problem in following such a minimal requirement.” She says while detaching her saber from her belt.
The action was followed reluctantly by Rhaenyra, who gestured to Luke to do the same after Aemond, who eagerly followed anything his master found appropriate. Two guards received the sabers, not wasting time in getting them into the sip.
“Don’t worry, your lightsabers are going to be safely stored and swiftly returned to you in your departure.”
The hallways had better ventilation, having in mind the advanced vent system that the droid seemed so proud to demonstrate, considering the new frigate model where they were currently roaming by. Lucerys and Aemond were clearly very interested in the droid’s ramblings, looking at how they were failing in hiding their teasing from one another. Given that the hyperspace travel was long, the two padawans passed way too much time in the same space and they wouldn’t be in the best terms right now, as if they ever were.
A loud rumble and the ship’s flashing lights, along with the tremors that unbalanced everyone were enough to stop any interaction.
“What was that?” Luke asked.
The droid quickly tried to calm them down. “Hm, some repairs are being made on the hyperdrive, things like that end up happening.”
Aemond and Alicent exchange looks and the padawan asks: “The repairs should be made while the ship is landed, right?”
“Oh, this new model allows that some minor failures, like the one we’re dealing with now, can be repaired without needing to.”
The padawan didn’t seem convinced, but his master put her hand on his shoulder and said: “As we already got the answers we needed, how long until we get to the meeting room?”
“Ah, well, not long! It’s just around this corner.”
Their little walk ended swiftly, the doors of the meeting room opened and they entered the opulent room decorated with an impressive amount of pieces of art such as statues of different planets of the Valyrian System.
A man with a round belly and a mustache dyed blue opened a big golden smile as soon as he put his eyes on them.
“Ah, they sent an entire monk front to us!” He gave them a thunderous laugh and approached them. “I’m Nir Myrai. It’s a pleasure to have you on my ship.”
“Jedi Knight Rhaenyra Targaryen” She introduced herself with a polite smile. The governor’s hands full of rings took hers in a quick handshake.
Passing to the other Knight, Nir kissed Alicent’s knuckles and she gave him a tight smile in return. “Jedi Knight Alicent Hightower and these are our Padawans, Aemond Flowers, and Lucerys Waters.”
The governor greeted them in the same way he did with Rhaenyra, both padawans looked a little startled by his demeanor.
“I see you brought them along to teach them a thing or two about politics, huh? Not just from laser sword fights, you monks live.” He says, still laughing.
“We do not see the necessity of using violence as means to end conflicts in the past few years, we live in more peaceful times.” Alicent answers.
“Oh, but of course, of course. But, you see, lately, this is not what our honest system is experiencing.” Myrai says, rounding his table and gesturing towards the four seats in front of it.
“What worries you, Governor?” Rhaenyra asks while politely refusing some refreshments the protocol droid offers her.
The governor cleared his throat, looking at her with a newfound seriousness.
“Well, the planet of Mantarys always was in important commercial routes and, with the new taxing, we found ourselves in a difficult situation.”
“I am sorry, Governor, but I’m afraid this matter should be better discussed in the Senate.” Alicent says.
“Of course, but, the new changes in the taxes, made us encounter more difficulties while dealing with pirates that have been terrorizing us constantly.”
Alicent puts her hand on her chin, thinking. Rhaenyra, then, asked.
“Do you have any idea of who they might be? We can initiate an investigation as soon as possible.”
“It’s good to see we’ll receive an immediate answer to our troubles from the Republic, I was afraid we would need to strengthen our relations with the Union.”
Nir comments in relief and waves a dismissive hand. Alicent and Rhaenyra frown instantly.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think we are familiarized with this… Union-” Alicent says.
The governor's eyebrows shoot up and he scratches his thin beard.
“Well, maybe it’s because it’s pretty new, but the idea isn’t.”
Before he could say anything, a new thunderous sound reached the room, the tremors shaking the floor and the walls. The guards at the door lost balance for a second and the protocol droid dropped a cup, its content spilling through the carpet.
“Pardon me.” The droid said.
The governor scratched his beard and smiled tightly, waving his hand, “These droids don’t really have a good balance, huh? They never fix their clumsiness while producing them.” He laughs and Rhaenyra didn’t find in herself the urge to correspond, Alicent only smiled.
“Uh, where were we?” He asked.
“These new Union of…” Alicent says.
“Of New Valyria! I believe your companion has already heard about it?” He asked, looking at Rhaenyra.
She could even feel the weight of Alicent’s look on her and struggled to keep a straight face.
“I can’t say I have.”
The governor raised his eyebrows in surprise. At the same time, Rhaenyra felt Lucerys grip her arm and looked at the boy who was wearing a worried look. Imagining that his worries were related to the topic being discussed, she smiled warmly at him, trying to comfort him. Spearing a look to her side, Alicent still observed her with weariness, and the governor, not realizing the tension, just continued:
“I thought that, with your last name, you would know. Bah, I shouldn’t have assumed, as various species spread across the galaxy like water, Targaryens could too..”
The grip Lucerys had on her arm didn’t waver, in truth, it only tightened. Alicent cleared her throat uncomfortably and Rhaenyra felt her own eyebrows frown.
“As you see, the Valyrian System is a long way from Coruscant, Governor, the news can be a little late” Alicent tried to keep the sharp tone away from her voice, but Rhaenyra noticed it anyways. The way she massaged her cuticles was telling.
Then Rhaenyra felt a shiver down the back of her neck, Lucerys let go of her arm and the chair Alicent was sitting on creaked against the floor. The frigate’s sirens went off and the lights went out for a few seconds, an explosion made everything shake, and the lights were back along with a yell:
“Pirates!”
The governor got up from his chair and ordered:
“Take the Jedi Knights to their sabers, they are more than capable of dealing with the situation!”
Before Aemond and Luke could take a step near their masters, who shot up immediately from their chairs, Rhaenyra says:
“You two, stay here. Protect the Governor.”
The padawans seemed uncertain, especially Aemond. Alicent gave him a soft smile. “May the Force be with you, my Padawan”. He smiled back, weakly. “May the Force be with you, Master.”
Rhaenyra decided to say her goodbyes with a soft: “You’ll be alright, Luke. I believe in you.” He smiled warmly “And I, in you.”
The Jedi Knights, then, didn't waste any more time and departed through the automatic doors along with four more guards. The red flashing lights of the alarms made seeing a difficult task and the sirens muffled the sounds of their footsteps. The hallways were long and curved, so having a good idea of what was coming in front of them was a challenge. And just like that, they stumbled across an unexpected troop. While they passed through the escape pods area, the four Mantaryan guards in front of them were shot down without any warning or hesitation from their attackers. The blaster shots never ceased and the first thing that came to Rhaenyra’s mind was to reach for her lightsaber that wasn’t there. Alicent, on the other hand, thought differently and used the Force as a shield.
Alicent was doing her best to contain the countless shots, and Rhaenyra had some seconds to think about one thing. The attackers weren’t any pirates, but battle droids? Instead of elaborating, she took a quick look at the escape pods and at Alicent, who was visibly struggling and still holding the shots. Without a second thought, Rhaenyra activated the door to one of the pods, entered it, and pulled Alicent inside using de Force.
The auburn-haired Jedi fell ungracefully onto the cushioned passenger seat. Rhaenyra caught the exact moment when the exorbitant amount of blaster shots was finally released and probably hit the wall that once was behind them. She also had time to pull one of the blasters from the fallen guards before the doors closed.
“I could have redirected the shots!” Alicent exclaimed, panting.
Rhaenyra looked back at her and snorted.
“Yeah, I imagined.” She says watching the clear sweat on Alicent’s brow.
Brown eyes focused on the blaster in Rhaenyra’s hand.
“And you could have used that earlier. We wouldn’t be stuck here if you had thought faster.”
“Look, I saved your life by thinking fast, okay?”
“Oh, yes, of course, because what do you think will happen to us when inevitably those droids open the doors? Being shot?”
“Well, I-”
Their discussion was interrupted by the characteristic tremor of an escape pod being detached from its ship. Rhaenyra lost balance and fell, landing on top of her fellow Jedi. The Targaryen looked up only to encounter furious brown eyes looking back at her, Rhaenyra couldn’t help but give her a dull and apologetic smile before being shoved to the ground.
“Hey!”
She didn’t get an answer, having in mind that Alicent was more concerned with sitting on the pilot’s seat in the small control booth. Fancy, Rhaenyra swiftly thought, looking at the controls and making fast work of sitting on the copilot seat.
“What do you intend to do?” Rhaenyra asked as Alicent turned the autopilot off.
“Make a turn, and enter through the hangars, we could make contact with the Order there on the T-6.”
“That is madness! What if there are already more droids there?”
“Well, then we’ll be crashing through the hangars.”
Rhaenyra still looked at her, bewildered.
“Have you lost your mind? Did you hit your head in the fall? I would suggest this, not you!”
Alicent snorted. “Well, I guess you’re predictable, then.”
“Hey!”
Before they could argue even more, another tremor shook the entire pod, and the alarms started flashing. Both Jedi tried to contain the situation, Rhaenyra looked at the warning panels and said: “We were shot!” Alicent gave her an exasperated look. “The controls are failing! We’re getting drawn to the nearest orbit!”
The stars were turning into lines through the pod's windows, what seemed like a crimson planet was getting closer and closer.
“Where are we going to land?”
Alicent gave her a bitter short laugh and answered:
“‘Landing’ is wishful thinking.” She said looking at the panels, “We are going to crash into the nearest moon, Oros.”
Rhaenyara tried to activate the shields when everything in front of them turned into characteristic red flames. Alicent let go of the helms and gripped her seat: “Hold on!”
The ground was getting uncomfortably close.