Follow the Rules

Assassination

Nearly a year had passed since then. Mina Bonteri followed through with what she said and seceded from the senate with several thousand other systems. Padme took the news hard, as Mina had been something of a mentor to her. However, with the help of Melanie, she has become a strong voice of reason in the republic. Today in fact Melanie and Padme were travelling to Coruscant to vote on the issue of whether or not to create an army for the republic to help the Jedi who were spread thin trying to keep peace in the galaxy during this time.

"Coming in for landing" Melanie heard over my earpiece.

"Copy that." She replied and readied her landing gear. Captain Typho had believed it necessary for Padme to fly in her own starfighter in case of an assassination attempt. Melanie agreed with him and made sure to fly in a starfighter too. Some of the pilots at Naboo had given her lessons throughout the year because she'd always wanted to know how to fly and now it was paying off. She wasn't the best but she could still keep Padme safe if it came to it.

Melanie touched down and quickly ran to meet Captain Typho and Padme on the landing deck. The two girls bumped shoulders to reassure each other.

"We made it. Guess I was wrong, there was no danger at all." Captain Typho grinned before moving towards the main ship and Padmes decoy. However he had made it not one step before the chrome ship exploded, throwing the three of them back a few steps. Padme got up instantly and sprinted towards Corde, who was disguised as Senator Amidala. Melanie had smacked her head in the blast and found it a little difficult to get up. She finally made it in time to hear Padme say that she shouldn't have come back. Captain Typho said something about how that was Cordes duty and now Padme had to do hers. Melanie agreed with what he said but was too dazed to agree. Padme helped her walk towards their speeder. As soon as her butt hit the seat, her eyes closed and she lost consciousness...

"You!" Padme called to a guard when they landed. "Take Melanie to a medical center. When she wakes tell her I am visiting the Chancellor."

The guard nodded and jumped into the speeder, taking the woman to the nearest hospital.

- - - - - - - -

When Melanie woke she was very confused. She called out for Padme but instead the head of a guard entered her vision.

"Hello, sorry I'm not Padme." He said.

"Ah yeah obviously..." Melanie said sarcastically making the guard laugh slightly. She sat up slowly, grimacing a little as her head pounded subtly. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She wanted me to tell you that she's visiting the Chancellor."

"Now that's a visit I don't mind missing out on." Melanie thought before realising she said it out loud and clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Just pretend I never said that alright."

"Don't worry I agree with you. He always seems a little creepy don't you think?" The guard grinned at her and she looked around nervously before nodding and cracking a smile. "Anyway the nurse said you could go whenever you woke up. She said that you had a small concussion and that with a day of rest you'd be fine."

"Awesome," Melanie said as she slid off the bed. She could still smell the burning scent of smoke on her clothing. The guard led her towards their speeder and took her back to Padme's apartment. When they arrived at the apartment she thanked the guard and hurried up to her room for a shower.

As she was applying shampoo, she tried to move around the bruised area, occasionally bumping it and hissing. She heard some voices out by the living area so she turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. Thinking it was only going to be Padme out there and in a rush to make sure her friend was okay, she fast-walked around the corner only to come face to face with the backs of two men.