HP: Dance of the Veela

The Great Temple/Rebel Base…Yavin 4…

The command base of the Rebel Alliance was busy at the best of times and today it was even more so as a new faction was going to join the Alliance. Padme was herself distracted from the growing tensions in the leadership of the Alliance as the leader of the new Rebel faction was someone that she had wanted to see for a very long time but never been able to before.

The silver-coloured sleek starship landed and the ramp descended, seeing the familiar uniforms of the Naboo Security Force made Padme honestly yearn for the days that she had seen them every day but she stifled it as the leader of the Naboo Liberation Movement came down the ramp.

She was a few years older than Padme herself with hair that showed signs of starting to go grey but her familiar face brought a lump to Padme's throat. The other woman recognised her too, both staring at each other, the other woman in shock at seeing her after all these years but that didn't last as they both ran to each other and hugged each other tightly.

"I knew you alive!" Sola said with so much emotion at finally finding the sister that her family had feared dead for nearly twenty years.

"I'm so sorry but I couldn't contact you or anyone from our family…if I did it would have made you all such big targets." Padme said with sorrow that she had been forced to keep away from her family for so long. Sola however was not even mad as she was just so happy that her little sister was alive.

"How are our parents?" Padme asked, desperate for news and Sola willingly obliged.

"Growing older but they are okay. They're with my girls." Sola told her and Padme smiled, wondering just how much her nieces had truly grown since she had last seen them. She had heard that Pooja had become senator for awhile before returning home to avoid being arrested by the Empire. She still had the image of Pooja as a sweet little girl with curls in her hair but she was in her twenties now. She sighed and hoped to see them all soon.

"Speaking of which, I have some introductions to make of my own." Padme said with a smile as this was the first time that her children would meet a member of their extended family. Anakin who had been watching nearby came forward to greet his sister-in-law who at least she was familiar with. "Anakin you know." Padme said with a smile and Sola shook his hand before three new figures came close and Sola stared at them in surprise briefly as Padme introduced them.

"This is Luke, Leia and Mace." Padme said and Sola was momentarily stunned by the fact that her sister had children of her own now. Luke and Leia were nearly eighteen and looked so much like their parents while Mace was a little younger and had his mother's dark hair and his father's face. She smiled as she realised just why her sister had stayed away all this time, she and Anakin had a family that they needed to keep safe. Her parents were going to be so happy to hear about this while disappointed that they had never known them growing up. So were her own daughters when they got the chance to meet their cousins.

"It is an honour to meet you." Luke said politely as he shook her hand while Leia and Mace took his lead and did the same, Sola smiled and told them.

"There is no need to be so formal, I am so happy to meet you." She told them and gave each of them a hug which they returned now the ice was broken. They went to a meeting room and Sola caught Padme up on all the news of her family that she had missed all these years, not least of which was that she now had a great niece as Ryoo had a daughter of her own, Wila Naberrie. It stunned Padme but she was eager to meet her sister's grandchild but that was when Sola dropped something of a bombshell in regards to that.

"Wila…is a gifted child…that sort of gift." Sola said pointing to the lightsabers on the belts of Anakin, Luke, Leia and Mace which surprised all of them. "It's been hell trying to keep it under wraps, Ryoo had to relocate to the Lake House as her daughter keeps doing things with the force and we can't let anyone see them."

"She must be powerful." Anakin remarked if she was using the force so easily without training and Sola then made a request.

"Anakin, she needs training to control it. We don't want to see her taken by the Empire!" Sola said with distress at the mere idea of the Inquisitors snatching her granddaughter away and Padme took her hands to comfort her which did calm Sola a little.

Anakin though was ambivalent as he already had five students to teach and a sixth would be a hard thing especially as Wila was still very young but then he felt his mind turn back to something that he had been trying to put off for some time…not wanting to let go he thought with a sigh as that old fear reared its head.

Luke and Leia…they were ready. He reluctantly admitted, they were prepared to stand up on their own and make their own way and mark on the galaxy and while he knew this deep down, he had been afraid of letting them go. They were his children and every fibre of his being demanded that he protect them but they weren't little younglings anymore he thought with unease.

Seeing his sister-in-law and Padme look at him along with his own children he nodded in acceptance and promised.

"I'll train her."

Sola looked deeply relieved at that, so did Padme but then after that Sola also told them the reason that the Naboo Liberation Movement was finally joining the Rebel Alliance.

"We are ready for uprising but…we can't overtake the Empire alone." Sola admitted there were many on Naboo that wanted to be free of the Empire but they didn't have the weapons or means to do it alone. They needed help from the Alliance.

Padme immediately was ready to go but she stopped as she realised that Mon would never allow it, she thought anger creeping into her thoughts for the first time. Despite the fact they were clearly at war Mon seemed unwilling to consciously recognise it and would never permit the Rebellion to aid the Naboo in their fight. Too high profile, sure to stir up retaliation and all the other excuses she would give but Padme was done listening.

Up until now Padme had been reluctant to raise these issues with Mon and do what she knew she would need to do to get the Rebellion ready to actually take on the Empire. There was great danger but that was the risk you took for the things that you believed in, Padme thought feeling that old spirit from when she had been queen and done everything in her power to save her people from the Trade Federation.

Now, she thought to herself she would need to do that again. For her people, for her family, for the galaxy.

She got the same fierce look on her face that both Anakin and Sola knew well, that she had made a decision, stepped through the door and locked it behind her before shooting the controls so it could never be opened again. She would not be stopped from whatever course that she had decided to take now they all realised and knew something big was coming.

- x -

Leia meanwhile was looking at a private message that had been sent to her, she smiled as she read it and hoped that Markus was doing okay.

They had been corresponding since their unintended mission together although she had not admitted that to her brothers and especially her parents…by the force she could only imagine what they would make of that.

He did have to maintain security for his people but he allowed her some knowledge of what was going on and the fact that things were looking bleak for the Rift Alliance worried her. He had told her as much that the alliance didn't really help each other any more and worse Thrawn was now turning his attention to the Mandalorians. Markus had complete faith in his father to see them through this but he was not sharing what he was planning, even with most of his family which was upsetting to his children but their mother the duchess Ara had reassured them that a plan was in work.

Leia worried deeply as if the Mandalorians did go down then it would be a terrible, perhaps lethal blow to organised resistance against the Empire. They were a symbol for many people and inspired a lot people to fight back and keep fighting however bad it was. The Rift Alliance would probably completely collapse without them.

She had told Markus that he could come to them if the worse came to the worse but he had told her that he would never abandon his family when they needed him the most.

Just like she could not abandon hers to go to him.

It figured Leia thought with annoyed resignation that the first guy who had truly caught her attention and he was a devoted to his duty as she was to hers.

But he had mentioned that he and his family had something special planned for Thrawn that would take him completely by surprise. She could only guess just what it was but it sounded big whatever it was and she was genuinely interested in just what the Mandalorians had been working on.

- x -

That evening Bail Organa had arrived at Yavin 4, Padme was ready to meet him the moment he arrived and he greeted her warmly which she returned before they retreated into the temple to talk in private. As much as she hated it, she had HK-47 keeping on guard duty to make sure they wouldn't be seen or overheard which she disliked having to do but she didn't want to risk Mon learning what she was doing before she did it.

Bail noticed this and was puzzled by the reason she would have the psychotic droid on watch while they spoke.

"Bail, Mon…she's getting worse and the Alliance honestly feels like its coming apart. One big shock would be enough to shatter everything we've built." Padme told him and Bail to her surprise didn't seem even remotely shocked by this and nodded.

"I've noticed too but since I was busy with Alderaan, you travelling with your family and Garm busy on Corellia who was there left to hold the Alliance together?" Bail told her having felt much the same as she about some of the decisions Mon was making but it was simply the way things were. No one could devote themselves to the Alliance as she could.

Padme then with a reluctant frown told him.

"Some of the different faction leaders came to me." She told him and he raised a worried eyebrow as she continued. "They aren't willing to put up with it any longer. They said they would support me if I went against her."

Bail honestly was shocking that it was coming to effectively what amounted to a coup and he was extremely concerned about what this could do to the Alliance but Padme then told him.

"There will be no coup, its time we did what we should have done when we first formed the Alliance." Before going on to tell him what she intended which worried him still as the implications could tear the Alliance apart but it was perhaps the best way to stop Mon if Padme could get as much support as possible.

Byss, Deep Core…

Palpatine watched with satisfaction as the first pureblood Sith clones came to life, they were unlike many of their attempts at cloning force sensitives. These clones were all able to use the force and had a natural affinity for the dark side. Even though it would take grown acceleration for a few years to make them usable they were a great potential weapon that could bolster his armed forces.

If only the Cylo Directive was going as well, Palpatine thought with disgust at the sheer foolishness of the man responsible.

Cylon was a true genius at cybernetics, Palpatine would allow that statement but a complete fool otherwise. He believed that the galaxy was dying and that the only way for it to survive was through his work in not only cybernetics but even splicing other species DNA in the hopes of making them stronger! The force was obsolete and that all society must be as he envisioned.

What a fool Palpatine thought dismissively, the force was eternal and unending while his creations showed their failings time and time again. None of them had proven a match for Vader and he had just proven it by ending him in the Kuat system along with his creations when they had unsuccessfully tried to hijack the new flagship of the Imperial Fleet, the Executor which he had given to Vader as a gift.

Speaking of the new Super Star Destroyers as they had become known Palpatine thought proudly as the most powerful and largest ships in Known Space belonged to him, three of which were now operational. One was the Executor itself which would be commanded by Vader while the second Lusankya was now buried near his palace on Coruscant as an emergency evacuation ship for him should he need to flee the capital for some reason and now was being used as a prison for select prisoners. The third the Annihilator was being put under Grand Admiral Thrawn's command for the coming invasion of Mandalorian Space. Regardless of how well built their ships were with Thrawn in command of such a powerful fleet and with a flagship that capable it would not be long before they shattered and turned on each other. Palpatine found that particularly amusing as they had been a thorn in his side for too long, rumours of the great power held by the Ordo children though gave him some pause as he considered whether he might after breaking them find some use for the bloodline, not least of which for keeping the Mandalorians he allowed to live loyal to the Empire…potentially they might even be useful in creating a new clone body for himself he considered before putting that matter aside as it was all academic. Thrawn would soon have his fleet rallied and that would be the end of the Mandalorians and the Rift Alliance! Palpatine thought with a cackle.

- x -

SSD Executor, Deep Space…

It was a fine vessel, Darth Vader thought as he meditated in his private chamber.

The Executor was a powerful instrument and he would make good use of it, he thought to himself with pride at getting such an asset under his command. Soon it would be joined by a fleet of the best Imperial Ships imaginable to enforce their will on the galaxy.

Vader however had his own plans; he would make sure that not only were the officers on this ship more afraid of him than the Emperor but replace key ones on other ships of the fleet to make sure when the time came that they would serve him.

It would take some time to find officers that would be useful for his plan to destroy Palpatine but he would do it, Vader swore to himself, if he was to take his revenge then it would need to be done carefully but he would do it and then he would hunt down Anakin Skywalker and destroy him! Vader thought as the dark side stormed away inside him.

Reijar, Ordo System…

Haron was sitting in his office having a discussion with Alia Atreides over their latest joint project, given that it would soon be needed there was little time left to waste.

"The Infinity is complete; she is now engaging in her initial trials and it all looks promising. No major issues to report." Alia told him and Haron nodded to her stern faced as he knew a lot was riding on this and there would be virtually no room left for error.

"Where will Thrawn attack do you think?" Alia asked, looking at the star chart of the Mandalorian border. Haron looked at it himself and having thought over every possibility combined with what Haron knew of him…he could guess.

"Hydran's Drift." Haron said as he pointed to a small area on the far reaches of their space. "The area suffers from intense gravitational shifts that make jumping to hyperspace very difficult but not impossible. It also makes it impossible to mine or put defence satellites there as the gravity will continuously shift them out of position and its so isolated that putting a fleet out there is impractical. But if a fleet did get through there, they have a direct shot at some of our less fortified planets. That's where it will be." Haron said with worry as it was going to be the battle that decided the fate of both their peoples would be fought there. He only hoped that Eliza's strategy worked, it was a bold and perhaps desperate one but it would certainly shock the enemy he conceded having kept an eye on what she was planning to do.

That was when he felt a surge in the force, Alia felt it too and they got to their feet, the hands going to their lightsabers before Ara came in with a shocked look on her face.

"Haron, you are never going to guess who want to talk with us." Ara told them and then gave a name that shocked Haron, Alia was confused as she had never heard of them before but soon a meeting with hastily arranged.

- x -

Deep Space, Mandalorian Border…One Day Later…

The Spirit of Fire had been rushed into the role of flagship along with whatever other ships that had been available to form the honour guard, this meeting was as much about projecting strength as it was making alliances.

The other same did not disappoint, not only arriving with ten capital ships of their own along with five Star Destroyers that they had captured from the Empire as proof of their superiority, something the Mandalorians were only too happy to return as they had as many in their own fleet.

On the Spirit of Fire Haron stood with Ara, Markus and Astoria, ready to receive their guests. The tension was thick as the waiting continued before at last a rather decorative shuttle appeared in the landing bay. It parked itself and the loading ramp descended and guards in elaborate dress uniforms emerged, the Mandalorians despite being on their best behaviour all thought the fancy dress worn by the guards looked ridiculous but they held it in as the actual ones they were here to see appeared.

She came down the ramp first, dressed in an elaborate gown that would make even the Naboo think was too much and she radiated smugness and a sense that she felt that she was better than them from ever pore. Narcissism ran through her entire body and she cared for only herself. More than that she was a sociopath with a deep and entrenched lust for power.

She was around Haron and Ara's age and the young man that accompanied her was roughly as old as Astoria. Dressed in robes himself although much more functional than the woman's and was much more modest and laid back, his sense of self-worth though was not very strong, having been beaten down and seemed to think that his entire existence might be brought to an end by the woman next to him if she felt like it, something that Haron and Ara could well believe if what they sensed about the woman was right.

She walked up to them as bold as you like and smirked broadly at them before introducing herself which was hardly necessary but played to her own vanity.

"Well, the legend about Mandalorians never being out of their armour is true. I would have thought you would at least have dressed up somewhat to greet me." She said with scorn which only made the Mandalorians feel like shooting the woman but they refrained from doing so and Ara who would take the lead in these negotiations given who they were speaking too stepped forward.

"We dress to show we are warriors, always ready to go at a moment's notice. It would take hours to get out of that dress unassisted, not to mention as our armour is beskar, we are hardly the ones dressing poorly, are we?" She said with a smug smirk.

The other woman looked ready to spit fire at those words but the younger man at her side thankfully had some more spine than they had first thought and spoke up.

"This is hardly the best way to conduct a first meeting, greetings. This the most esteemed Ta'a Chume, Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium. I am Prince Isolder, her son and I am most delighted to meet you." He said and it was a testament to his character that he was not as power hungry or uncaring as his mother. His eyes did briefly linger of Astoria which all of the Mandalorians noticed and did not like but it was not in a lustful way but more like curiosity.

That confused them and Haron who wondered just what the Hapes Queen Mother and her son would want with them walked forward and shook the man's hand, Isolder was intimidated slightly by Haron but at least could look him in the eye.

"Welcome to Mandalorian Space, royalty is not a common thing in our territory so let us retire to the meeting room to discuss whatever it was that you wished to meet about." Haron said and Ta'a Chume smirked before telling him with a glance towards Astoria which set all of them on edge.

"Oh, I am sure we will."

- x -

Hours Later…

"Not a chance." Haron said as he, his wife, Markus and Astoria retired to a separate room to discuss just what the horrid little Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium wanted.

"Give the word father and I will kill the bitch and her spawn myself with my bare hands." Markus said growling with anger at what they had demanded in exchange for their help in the war.

"Get in line." Ara said to both of them, quite ready to kill the bitch herself.

The Hapes Consortium had impressive firepower in their Battle Dragons although they suffered issues with overheating and long recharging cycles, not to mention the drive system was very fragile and easy to disable and the targeting computers were limited which meant while the ship might be good against a single target, against multiple targets it was extremely vulnerable especially if it had to attack alone rather than in overwhelming numbers.

Adding to those problems was that their fleet lacked a heavier starfighter to take the role of an offensive bomber and their Miy'til starfighters were often inferior to that of other nations due to their frailty and poor armament.

Those issues the Mandalorians could easily help them solve but there was something else that they made a condition of their new alliance, certainly before they even thought of offering any military assistance.

Astoria…would wed Prince Isolder, and become the next Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium or rather a pawn of Ta'a Chume who they could tell wanted to use her to gain control of the Mandalorians. To literally have one of the most powerful militaries in known space in her back pocket and she was even willing to kill every other Ordo to make that happen, maybe to actually even try to make Astoria Mandalore solely so she would control everything.

Astoria however remained quiet, she had sensed such things too and couldn't help but feel sorry for Isolder as clearly his mother was a monster. She was unlike the rest of her family considering that perhaps this deal was the key to something she herself had wanted, at least partly.

"This is my life." Astoria told them suddenly which made them all look at her which she honestly felt sometimes they didn't really see her, they would now she thought with determination.

"I will do this." She told them much to their shock.

"Sweetheart." Haron started to say but Astoria put her hand up to stop him and explained her reasoning.

"You have both been the most wonderful parents that I could ever have asked for." Astoria said and then turned to Markus. "And the best big brother, but I need to find my own destiny and this could be it. I help our people and you when you need it and I rule my own domain…my way." Astoria said with a similar cunning to her mother which made Ara especially look at her in surprise.

"And as for the witch who thinks she could control us." Astoria added thinking of the terrible Ta'a Chume. "We can deal with her. Once I am married to Isolder she will wait for a short while before making her move so we will make ours first." She said with cold deliberation, her meaning clear.

Haron and Ara both blinked while they looked at their eldest daughter in awe, when had she become so strong minded and determined? They asked themselves, when had she grown up?

Markus was also shocked at his sister's decision; he would never have imagined that she would have consented to an arranged marriage but given her reasons he could understand why now.

Ara and Haron both hugged their daughter; she gratefully accepted it as she was somewhat scared of the step she was about to take. Markus too hugged her before Haron told her with a horrible resigned sigh.

"Whatever happens and wherever you go, you remain our daughter and we will always love you." Haron said to her as she hugged him.

"I know father, I love you too." Astoria said sadly, knowing if she wanted to make her own life and legacy free of the baggage that came with her family then she had to do this but she would never cut herself off from them, no she thought with outright rejection of that idea. She would never cut them out of her life and she intended to make sure they saw her often.

But she wanted a life of her own, this was perhaps the best way she thought.