Chapter 87: The Phantom Menace ( Part 2)

A FEW HOURS LATER, IN THE SEWERS OF THE THEED CITY:

Captain Panaka was worried for the queen and his people. The siege was not a simple attack of some powerful pirate group but a full blown invasion initiated by Nute Gunray. He was holding the people of Naboo hostage in order to force the Queen to sign some truly damaging treaties with him and in proxy, with the Trade Federation. Captain Panaka had every member of the enemy forces he had encounterd in their escape, killed as he knew that the monsters hiding inside people come out at these moments, he did not want the innocent people of Naboo to suffer. Captain Panaka watched as the Queen contacted her allies in the Senate and The Jedi High Council and asked for help. According to the conversion he had overheard, a Jedi Master and his Padawan were coming to negotiate peace.

Captain Panaka seriously doubted the usefulness of a single Jedi Master and his padawan in a fight against an entire army composed of weaponized droids and mercenaries but he didn't voice his thoughts as the Queen had for the first time gained a shadow of hope after her conversation with her allies. Captain Panaka ordered the guards with him to stand guard while he went to scout the surroundings. Captain Panaka balled his fists as he saw his people being herded like a cattle into the makeshift prisons. He could hear how the mercenaries jeered lewdly at the innocent daughters of Naboo and discussed less than pleasant things about them. It took all of his self control to not to attack these mercenaries but he was able to hold himself back.

Captain Panaka thought, " For the atrocities and grief you have brought down on the people of Naboo, I, Panaka Tregor, a son of Naboo, swear that none of you will leave from Naboo alive." Captain Panaka returned back to their base and reported his findings to the Queen and secretly inducted the guards in his oath. Captain Panaka knew that he himself would not be able to finish the hundreds of mercenaries that were present on his homeworld but all the guards together, would be more than enough to deal with these scum. As Captain Panaka was busy making his revenge plans, THE MONARCH exited the hyperspace near the sun of Naboo.

ABOARD THE MONARCH, THE PERSONAL STARSHIP OF THE EMPEROR :

Alexander was going over the various reports of his kingdom. Alexander was quite surprised at the distortion of facts, the historians of his kingdom had done with the events concerning him. Alexander was portrayed as a kind and just king who had the well being of his subjects as his first priority. Alexander knew that he was not a bad fellow but he was not as kind as he was depicted by the historians. Alexander then turned his attention to the upgradation process of the Ballastians.

The upgradation process depended on the amount of midichlorians that were present in the cells of the Ballastians undergoing the upgradation. It was the midichlorians who helped in evolving the Ballastian. The Ballastians had prepared after much trials and errors, a chart which displayed the metals which a Ballastian could use for his upgradation, in accordance with the midichlorian count. The will of Ballastian to withstand the pain of upgradation was also a deciding factor. The amount of pain experienced during upgradation depended on the atomic number of the metal and it's density.

Out of 100,000,000, only one Ballastian had the necessary midichlorian count of 100,000 per cell, which was the base requirement for attempting the Phrik upgrade. The amount of pain exprienced during the upgrade, either killed or shattered the minds of the Ballastians but the gains were worth it. The Phrik Ballastians gained an immense boost in their bodily capabilities along with hundreds of thousands of years of lifespan. There were 100,000 Phrik Ballastians in the kingdom right now. The magical technology of the kingdom had advanced enough to perform surgeries on the Phrik Ballastians also. The Ballastians adopted and improved the test tube baby method to fit their racial requirements. This caused a boom in their population as nearly all the female Ballastians wanted to experience the joys of motherhood as their carbon counterparts.

Alexander was brought out of his thoughts by Captain Nemo's report of their arrival. Alexander arrived in the control room and found Adam the communications officer; Serek and Jerek the twin brothers who were the gunner and navigator respectively; and Captain Nemo who was the strategist. Alexander saw the droid station and ships that were forming the blockage above Naboo. Alexander spoke up, " So, these are the forces which Sheev Palapatine has gathered for his starting act. Soon, he would present himself as a candidate for the position of chancellor of the Senate. Captain Nemo, please contact Anna."

After a few seconds, the call was connected and Anna's face appeared on the screen, Alexander could see the fear that Anna now had towards him deep in her eyes. Alexander let out a sigh and said, " Do you know why I punished you and others?"

Anna said, " Because we didn't stand up to expectations. We failed you, Your Majesty."

Alexander, " Yes, you failed me. I had expected better from all of you. I had thought that you all would have realised the importance of 'Project Hades' and had completed it till now but you didn't and that enraged me. You endangered the lives and souls of all the people under me. I had briefed you all about the powerful evil beings of the multiverse who take over the newly born afterlifes and eat the souls of all those who bear it's mark. 'Project Hades' is the best current defense we could put up against such beings and is the most important project of the kingdom. I know that you now have two small children now Anna. These entities like to torment the souls of the innocent the most and who are more innocent than young children? What would have happened Anna if during my seclusion, one such entity had attacked us, you would have not been able to even resist let alone fight back." Alexander could see the expression of horror on Anna's face at the thought of her children's souls being tormented and then, eaten.

Alexander continued in an angry tone, " I know that your families and friends were clamoring to demand an explanation from me. Hah!!! The only reason that they are alive till now is because of your services to the kingdom. You think I won't know about it. You were able to pacify them but seeds of anger and hate have taken home in their hearts."

Anna stammered in panic, " We are all loyal to you, Your Majesty."

Alexander laughed and said, " Oh!!! I know that they all are loyal to me but that doesn't mean that they cannot have other feelings towards me. You can be loyal to someone but that doesn't mean that you have to like or love that person. A person's loyalty can stem from his sense of duty also. They are loyal to me because they feel that they are indebted to me for what they have and achieved till now so they will not betray me." Anna let out a sigh of relief.

Alexander continued, " I know why you didn't complete the ' Project Hades '? You wanted to save your images in front of people." Alexander said in a sarcastic tone, " 'The Kind and Gentle Madam Representative' ; 'The Valiant Thompson' and ' The Commoner's advocate Minister Jackson'; these are the names that the people of kingdom gave you over the years of my absence. When the so called myriad beings rights groupees clamored to have the slaughter of slavers and pirates stopped, you easily bowed down to their demands. That's the reason why you three didn't execute ' Project Hades' which required the execution of billions of criminals which are present in the kingdom. Don't believe for a second that I have forgiven you, when this galaxy is conquered, you three will get your just punishments. Now, tell all the senators under my command that the Senate would agree to help Naboo. If you don't disappoint me anymore, I will not further punish you." Anna shakily nodded and Alexander said, " Adam!! Disconnect us."

When the comm was disconnected, Alexander continued, " Contact Carter." These Ballastians were the strongest bodyguards that Carter had picked for Alexander. They were the best agents that Carter had under his command. The Royal crew was an identity cover. Soon the face of Carter appeared and he bowed in greeting. Alexander just send the memory of his conversation with Anna to Carter. Carter's eyes blazed in fury and he said in a cold voice, " THEY DARE!!"

Alexander replied, " It doesn't matter now but I want at least two sets of eyes on every person that is related to these three and of course, on those three also. I have read their minds and have prepared a list of these people with their descriptions. I am transferring the list to you. Have you completed the task which I had given you?"

Carter nodded and said, " Yes, we have, Your Majesty. I had put all the resources of my department to this task. That's why, I was not able to monitor those three but I will create another wing to monitor the internal affairs of the kingdom."

Alexander, " So, how many of them accepted my rule?"

Carter, " We were able to recruit 4.5 quadtrillion people to our kingdom. Your idea was brilliant, Your Majesty. What if we can't conquer the main planets, we can surely convert the people to follow us. According to your instructions, we first slowly took over the government of all the planets in the Republic. We left the canon planets as it is but the rest were fair game. Then, the families and friends of our new subjects submitted to us over the years and now after so many years, we control nearly all the governments. As per your instructions, we allowed the sith spies to roam free but continued to monitor them."

Alexander continued, " When Padmé Amidala brings her proposal in the Senate allow her to have only marginal victory but tell her and her allies that it would take weeks before proper action could be taken. This will right the fate's circle. Also, hack all the enemy ships above Naboo so that the Queen and her allies don't die in their escape attempt. Only so much damage to their hyperdrives must be caused so that they could reach Tatooine. These are my only instructions for the time being."

The comm was disconnected and Alexander turned to Captain Nemo and said, " I am going into meditation. Wake me up when the Queen successfully escapes." Alexander then shifted to his suite and entered meditation.

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