PROLOGUE A long time ago in a galaxy far far away For generations the Jedi Knights had kept peace among the many worlds of the Galactic Republic They did not make the laws that was the task of the Galactic Senate The Jedi merely enforced them Sometimes they negotiated sometimes they used their awesome fighting skills sometimes they used the mysterious mysterious power of the Force Their methods had been extremely effective For a thousand generations there had been no major war in the galaxy Only a few planets had experienced severe conflicts One of these planets was the small watery world of Naboo During an argument over taxing trade routes the powerful Trade Federation landed a huge droid army on Naboo The recently elected Queen of Na- boo young Padmé Amidala refused to surrender Her heroism and the efforts of the Jedi brought a quick end to the conflict but many of the Naboo people had been hurt or killed
The experience left a strong impression on Padmé When she finished her two terms of office as Queen she did not retire from politics Instead at the urging of the new Queen she ran for the office of Galactic Senator and became Naboo's representative In the Senate she was a strong voice for peace Such a voice was much needed The Senate had become large and choked with bureaucracy Many people were frustrated some even talked of leaving the Republic and forming their own government These Separatists were not a serious threat until Count Dooku a former Jedi Knight brought them together under his leadership The Separatist movement made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to continue to maintain peace As the Jedi's task grew harder more and more star systems joined the Separatists Many in the Senate feared that if the Separatists refused to see reason there would be war- and everyone knew that there were too few Jedi to keep the peace For the first time in a thousand generations the Senate had to vote on whether to create an army Tension rose as those who feared the chaos caused by the Separatists clashed with those who feared that creating an army would destroy all hope for peace Senator Padmé Amidala was one of the leaders fighting fighting to prevent the creation of an army Her passion and her commitment to peace strengthened during 5
the brief invasion of Naboo ten years earlier made her arguments very convincing when she spoke to the Senate More than one of the Senators who favored creating an army would have been glad to see Padmé disappear for good Padmé knew the danger but her sense of duty was strong and her love of peace was stronger As the time for the final decision drew near she headed for Coruscant to cast her vote against the Military Creation Creation Act 6
