Three days ago, a "traffic accident" in the highest-level legislative district on the planet Coruscant had shocked the entire Galactic Republic. It had been a truly horrific tragedy...
The accident had destroyed the landing pad at Spaceport 066 and more than a dozen ships and aircraft docked there, including the beautiful chrome Naboo Royal Starship Queen Padmé Amidala had arrived in from Naboo. Its exterior had been polished by hand by a master craftsman. Several buildings had also been severely damaged, including the landing pad itself and structures beneath it and within a kilometer of the site. Hundreds of droids and living beings had been injured or killed!
In the first few minutes after the horrific accident, news of it spread through every media outlet and network on Coruscant, then beyond the Republic's capital, radiating from the Core out toward the far reaches of the galaxy. Many people believed that:
No one could possibly have survived at the scene—not Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo, who had just arrived on Coruscant and disembarked, nor the delegation accompanying her, including Annie, the head of state of the Republic's newest member, the Hero Federation. They had to be dead!
Everyone was convinced that no one could survive such a horrific accident, caused by an out-of-control starship engine. They might not even be able to find a body intact enough to identify! Under those circumstances, even the Jedi Masters of the Republic—with their many extraordinary abilities, formidable combat skills, quick reflexes, and ability to take on a hundred opponents at once—would have stood no chance.
Therefore,
many senators and people who closely followed the Republic's domestic affairs felt their hearts sink as soon as they heard the news. They knew things were about to go badly. They feared this could brew into a huge