The Clone Wars: One-shots

Challenges of the Senate (P1)

Timeline: Sometime between the Clone Wars Season 2 and 3. 

Context: When Padme was Queen and Senator, she had 13 handmaidens trained to protect her, even being able to impersonate her if needed. Sabe was Padme's closest handmaiden and friend. She also excelled in pretending to be her, more so than the rest of the maidens. Soon after Padme became a senator, Sabe retired from being a handmaiden to help slaves on Tatooine.

Small notes: Padme and her handmaidens always saw Senator Amidala and Queen Amidala as separate people from Padme herself. They worked together to create their personas to ensure they could all put up the facade if need be. 

This story is heavily centered around the politics of the Clone Wars, a decent amount of it taking place in the Senate dome.

It was late at night on Coruscant; the towering buildings and zooming cars lit the city like stars in the sky. Padme Amidala was in her office, waiting to get a transmission from an old friend.

Sabe was one of Padme's handmaidens throughout her term as Queen of Naboo. She and Queen Amidala could practically be the same person. They worked to create personas of Queen and Senator Amidala, so Sabe could always fill in for her, from how she spoke to the smallest gestures she made. The handmaiden's job was to protect the Queen and Senator with her life. That was why Padme needed her now.

Earlier, Padme sent her a transmission explaining her plan: Sabe would formally propose the Chommell Sector Protection Bill as Senator Amidala. The bill would make it illegal for neutral parties to travel through the sector or to any planets in it unless they've been permitted to by a ruler or senator of said planet. It would stop those groups from blockading and invading Chommell Sector worlds like the Trade Federation did to Naboo some years before the war started. The bill's passing was significant to Padme- and she knew Sabe understood that.

They had both seen first-hand what the Trade Federation was capable of.

But Padme had other matters she quickly had to address. She needed to go off-world to Scipio to scan for evidence of the InterGalactic Banking Clan favoring the Separatists. There had been rumors about the clan not demanding interest from those opposing the Republic. If the speculations were true, it would explain why the Republic had to pay such exorbitant loaning fees throughout this crisis.

Because if the Republic didn't get charged so much extra interest, the Banking Clan would collapse.

After waiting a couple more minutes, Padme's holo-pad started going off. Picking it up, the metal cold in her hands, she accepted the incoming transmission.

A miniature, holo-projected version of Sabe appeared. She gave Padme a warm, welcoming smile.

"Sabe! It's so good to see you," Padme said, returning the gesture. But both knew this call wasn't for catching up. "Will you be able to help?" She asked.

"My hands are yours."

^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^

Sabe would never understand how Padme could wear such formal clothes on a daily basis- she could barely last a few hours; the weight of the headdress and the many layers of her attire constantly dragged her down.

Her headdress had a large black bow in the back that held her brunette hair up in a bun. The leftover ribbon wrapped around her scalp over to her hairline, where an array of deep blue gemstones lay.