6 Chapter 6

Now landed, it didn't take long for them to find the port master and pay to get the repairs done. Unfortunately, it could take several days to a week to fix all of the damage considering how severe it was. Hearing the news, Moka was disheartened that he'd be stuck on this boring planet for that long, but decided that maybe if he could find a nice bar and a few girls to play with, maybe his stay here could be a little bit more bearable.

Ready to head out and have fun in the city, the group turns around to find soldiers from the Naboo special forces blocking them, their weapons at the ready. Seeing this, Dragon Squad ready their weapons as well. Seeing this, Moka let out a heavy sigh from the trouble he sensed coming his way. "Dragon Squad, calm down. It's just the Naboo police. It's not like they could harm us even if they wanted to." Moka said jokingly. A few of the Naboo special forces grimace at that comment, but none move to refute it. Obeying Moka's order, Dragon Squad return to at ease, Rain de-priming her whistling birds, causing a few of the Naboo special forces to sweat.

At the head of the Naboo special forces was a man Moka faintly remembered as Captain Panaka. Over the years, Moka had forgotten about a lot of certain details from the movies. He couldn't believe how the MCs in the webnovels he used to read always remembered every detail of every little thing like they had the transcripts of the movie or book in front of them. But, seeing Captain Panaka brought up a bad feeling about being on Naboo, but he can't quite remember why. He feels as though something happens here on Naboo, but can't remember what or when. Seeing that there's nothing he can do since his ship is out of commission, he decided just to remain cautious.

Captain Panaka stepped forward, doing a slight bow as he got in front of Moka. "Hello, Prince Moka. If we knew of your arrival ahead of time, we could have given you a proper welcome. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Captain Panaka asked as politely as he could. He's had plenty of experience talking with other royal dignitaries, but dealing with mandalorians was always tricky.

A slight smirk appeared on Moka's face as Panaka essentially just asked him, "Why the hell are you at my house unannounced?". Moka never liked politics. Having to say something a certain way out to mean something else. Moka, like most mandalorians, liked to be direct and to the point.

"We didn't exactly have a choice. We took out a pirate fleet that was operating near here, but my ship took a lot of damage, so we had to land here for repairs. I figured your queen wouldn't mind since we did her a favor by taking out the trash operating in her backyard" Moka said pointedly.

Catching Moka's meaning, Panaka continued. "Well in regards to your honored visit, Queen Amidala wishes to invite you to the palace. So that she can welcome you personally." Said Captain Panaka as he gestured to follow him. Seeing no way out of this that wouldn't end in an even bigger headache, Moka decided to follow.

It took them nearly half an hour to arrive at the palace, but when they got there, it certainly didn't disappoint. Though not as big or nearly as fortified as the palace on Kahlua, it was definitely lavish and was a clear representation of how wealthy Naboo was. Not only was the palace beautiful, but every part of the city they passed on the way there was, though Moka suspects that Naboo only wanted to show their good parts.

Walking into the large throne room, it was very tasteful, despite it's sparse decorations. Guards lined both sides of the spacious throne room, that ended with the throne at the end of the room that sat behind a desk. On top of the throne sat who anyone could only assume was Queen Amidala along with four handmaidens, two on each side of her throne. When his eyes landed on one of the handmaidens however, something sparked inside of Moka that told him this beautiful, young girl was special, and far more than she seemed.

When Moka stood in front of the throne, he slightly bowed his head, which is customary of royalty greeting one another to express goodwill. Meanwhile, everyone except for Moka's Dragon Squad got on one knee in greeting the queen. "Greetings Prince Moka of Kahlua. We're honored to have you here, but unfortunately we weren't able to prepare properly for your visit." Said Queen Amidala in a rich, posh tone. But when she spoke, something didn't feel quite right to Moka, and he kept finding his gaze gravitating towards the handmaiden from before. When she noticed Moka staring at her, her face slightly blushed and she started fidgeting. A smirk crept on his face as he saw this, as now he knew something was up, but he decided to mess with them a little.

"Why yes, all royalty tend to say that when someone arrives uninvited," Moka said, eliciting a few chuckles from the room, but Queen Amidala's expression shifted into a frown as she was the butt of the joke. "But, I assure you, it was not my intention to come and intrude on you. Me and my crew were busy cleaning up the pirate fleet that was operating in your sector and my ship was heavily damaged in the process, forcing us to land here. Next I know, your security forces insisted on me seeing you." said Moka, not forgetting to mention how he fixed Naboo's long time pirate issue.

The whole room was shocked when they heard the pirates plaguing them were no more. The queen and a peculiar handmaiden was especially surprised. "You defeated them? But how? They had such a large fleet and refused to negotiate under any circumstances!" Asked Queen Amidala, still shocked.

As much as Moka loved seeing her shocked expression, he grew tired of standing there explaining himself and wanted to hurry to the closet bar so he could drink and hopefully find a decent girl. "Well, House Kahl loves surpassing impossible odds. But as you can imagine, me and my crew are dreadfully tired after the harsh battle, so if you can just point us to the closet bar and hotel, we'll be out of your hair." Said Moka slowly backing away, trying to escape. He hated politics.

"Hotel? Nonsense, you have done me and my planet a great service. You and your people can stay here as my guests. It is the least I can do after all you've done for us." Queen Amidala said, looking quite proud of her decision.

'No, the least you could've done was let me go to a bar so I can drink in peace!' Moka thought to himself as he realized his stay here just got that much worse. Now he was forced to be in the care of Naboo royalty. If he was going to be stuck here, he was going to try to have fun while he was at it. "My, that is mighty generous of you. Well, if you insist on us being in your care, I would love for one of your handmaidens to...assist me in these coming days. Hmm, how about the cute girl right there." Moka said, pointing to the suspicious girl from earlier, causing the whole room to gasp and some of the guards to become tense. 'I love it when I'm right! That girl is definitely special.' Moka thought to himself with a smirk.

"Prince Moka, this.. this is entirely inappropriate! She is a handmaiden, not some… harlot off of the street!" Queen Amidala said both angry and nervous.

Not seeing any reason to stop, Moka continued. "I'm not sure why you're so upset. This is pretty customary when royalty is visiting another, that they assign a servant to make sure all of their needs are met and that they are satisfied with their hospitality. Is this the extent of the Naboo hospitality?" Moka asked with fake disappointment in his tone. Though what he said is true, it's not strictly required.

Hearing this, the entire room, grew increasingly uncomfortable, including the queen and the handmaiden in particular. Seeing that he's teased these annoyingly innocent people enough, Moka decided to stop. "Geez so tense, you all act like this handmaiden is the queen herself." Moka said jokingly, but it was at that moment when flashing of memory went through his mind. The handmaiden, Padmé WAS the damn queen! Not only that, but she marries Anakin Skywalker and has his damn kids! He also remembered that they met when Naboo got attacked by some rich business assholes. He doesn't know when, but he had a very bad feeling that it would happen soon. This was it, this was why he had such a bad feeling about coming to Naboo!

Moka was so deep in his thoughts, that he didn't even realize everyone's shocked expression when he offhandedly guessed the true identity of the queen. Moka was only brought out of his thoughts by a heavy sigh. "How did you know? No one, not even Jedi masters were able to guess my true identity." Said Padmé stepping forward, shocking Moka's whole crew that his dumb guess turned out to be right.

"That's because the Jedi Order has grown terribly incompetent. They couldn't even save me from getting kidnapped, and I was in the heart of their very temple! But also, you're so innocent and such a bad liar, it was clear that you were hiding something. All it took was connecting the dots." Moka said, giving himself a reason as to why he knew what was tantamount to a national secret.

"Hmm, well that was very clever of you. I had heard that you were different from other mandalorians, and now I see why. Well, as you now know my true identity, you can imagine why now I can't share a bed chamber with you, despite how nicely you tried to word your inappropriate request." Said Padmé as she traded places with the disguised handmaiden who Moka faintly remembered was named, Sabé. Moka couldn't fight the smile that crept on his face as he watched this cute girl get a haughty attitude with him. It just made him want to tease her even more.

"Well, I don't know about that, my queen. My bed chamber will always be open to you." Moka said with an exaggerated bow, which caused his crew to laugh, but for the Naboo guards to grow tense and tightly held their weapons. Padmé on the other hand, grew a deep blush, but to her credit, kept her composure, which Moka found that he oddly respected.

Receiving a tap on his arm by Jona, Moka realized he was going too far and decided to end this so he can go drink. "Okay, okay, calm down I was just joking. I see now that Mandalorian humor doesn't mesh well on Naboo. I'll be sure to note that if I ever decide to do stand-up comedy here, but I digress. My Queen, I'll be frank here. You and your people clearly never liked me, especially considering the last ruler went on record slandering and insulting me and my people by saying that were brutes and war-mongers. Also I don't like you all because you're judgemental and act as though you're superior, judging others for going to war and doing what they must to see their people thrive, just because you and your people were born fortunate. So how about this. Me and my crew will go our own way and secure our lodgings, and you won't have to bother with us lowly brutes. Is that good for you, My Queen?" Moka asked with a hint at venom at the end of his question. Yes, Mandalore had issues and was currently in the middle of a horrible clan war that he planned to end soon, but there is no nation without its problems.

Everyone except for Dragon Squad was shocked at Moka's hateful tone. Everyone on Dragon Squad and Kahlua knew how much Moka loved his people, and the only reason he even restrained himself this long was because he was dealing with royalty and more than likely wanted to still have sex with the Queen. Padmé was equally surprised that the once joking Moka had gotten so serious with her, but could not find fault in his words.

The last ruler was definitely not one to restrain his words and often caused trouble for Naboo, which is why she was now the new ruler. She had promised to be a better ruler, but now saw that she was just as judgmental as the others. She couldn't deny how much she hated violence and how easy some others were to quickly choose that route. But Moka was right that Naboo is very fortunate and that may have blinded them to the plight of other worlds. This was the reason Naboo had such few allies as is, and this interaction only brought that glaring issue to the light.

Padmé was unsure of how to respond. Sure Moka teased her a little, but Naboo was definitely in the wrong by not only insulting him, the future ruler of a nation, but the entire Mandalorian people. And so far, it seems this interaction only made things worse. Seeing how tense the room had become and seeing no other option that wouldn't further hurt relations, Padmé could only let out a heavy sigh and relent. "Prince Moka, I am truly sorry for the pain and insults you and your people had to endure, and I deeply apologize on behalf of the whole of Naboo. If you truly wish to not be in our care during your stay, I would completely understand, and not take any offense. Anywhere you choose to stay, just tell them I sent you, and I will cover all expenses. I hope that one day our people could grow closer and that me and you can someday be friends." Said Padmé with a Solemn expression. She truly regretted her naiveness as despite his readiness to choose violence, Moka has done more good for the universe than most.

Moka from a small child, Moka has done a great number of things. One of his biggest accomplishments was taking in all orphans and giving them a place among his House. This was a big move that rocked a bunch of nations and organizations. Not only did Moka just bump his faction's numbers up considerably, he also gained a big PR boost, as who doesn't love someone that took care of orphans?

As a result though, many planets started keeping a tighter lease on their orphans in fear of losing more of their people, but unfortunately they didn't take nearly as good of care for them as Moka did for his. Compared to other nations, Moka's finances were endless, and not just thanks to beskar. Moka instituted government-funded education for all of his people which earned him smarter, more capable people. He also started their asteroid mining operations, which resulted in find more resources, beskar included, and prevented further damage to his beautiful planet. He also boosted Kahl Corps operations, making it practically a household name. They made everything from children's toys to luxury yacht starships.

Needless to say, Moka has made the Kahl Corps and Kahlua as a whole extremely prosperous and successful earning them hate from many jealous nations and organizations, which is partly what made the last Naboo leader to slander them so harshly.

Moka knew that many rivals funded a campaign to slander him, but the campaign failing and bad timing are the only reasons he hasn't gone and killed them himself. But soon his plans will come together and he'll bring his enemies to their knees. Tired of this farce, Moka decided to end the conversation. "Thanks for your generous offer, but these brutes came with plenty of funds, so I don't need your handouts. Have a good day, Queen Amidala." Said Moka with disdain, as he turned and left the throne room, Dragon Squad following close behind him.

Padmé wasn't sure why, but when Moka called her, "Queen Amidala" with such disdain, it hurt her. Padmé was so used to everyone pinning for her attention and loving her immediately, she didn't know how to handle someone who just flat out hated her and her people.

The worst part was, as she watched the back of Moka and his crew walking out of the throne room, she couldn't help but feel as though that she was going to need him one day, and that when that day came, he wouldn't give her the time of the day. With this in mind, Padmé resolved to do her best to find a way to mend the relationship between Naboo and the Mandalorians, and hopefully gain a new friend in the process.