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bedlamsbardI've had a couple of questions about the third universe at the end of Wake the Storm, and you know that I'll never give up a chance to talk about an AU because OH MAN I LOVE AUS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, and I am really, really fond of this one. (And thanks to juliekarasik, who talked it out with me and worked out some of the bits about Anakin.)
Under the cut because of slight spoilers for Wake, as well as for length.
Given how much I like AUs, there was about a 95% chance that Wake was going to end by sliding into a third 'verse -- that 5% was for the possibility it was going to end with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme on the run in their home universe. I never seriously considered having them end up in the OT universe. (If I hadn't already known where Wake was going to end, there probably would have been about five chapters in the middle where Anakin slid between different universes.)
When I sat down to come up with the final 'verse for Wake, I was looking for three things: familiar enough to be instantly recognizable (nothing that was based off the Old Republic, the post-OT EU, or the Legacy comics), different enough to be shocking (nothing from the OT or that was too close to the PT/TCW 'verse), and easily extrapolated off a single divergence point from canon. Less importantly, it had to be an AU where a brief scene could communicate all this both to the audience and to the mains in a believable manner.
On initial inspection, the universe that our mains find themselves in at the end of Wake looks like a complete mirrorverse: Dooku is Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Padme is running the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Obi-Wan is casually executing Jedi in Padme's name. It's supposed to look like the worst possible universe that they could end up in, then (if there was a sequel) slowly resolve itself into one that makes sense given the context that shaped it as the mains interact further with it and eventually with their counterparts. I thought of it as a world of Machiavellian intergalactic politics, civil war, and intense personal loyalties; maybe a little closer in some ways to the gray areas of the post-RotS and OT-era galaxy than to the black and white of the PT. If in TPM, Palpatine's plan to plunge the galaxy into war had been abruptly sidelined by Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, I wanted this to be a world where he had succeeded -- though not, perhaps, to the extent that he had originally planned.
The divergence point for the Queen's Knight AU comes fairly on in TPM. In the canon, the Naboo royal cruiser runs the blockade and is damaged; they have to stop on Tatooine in order to replace the hyperdrive. In this 'verse, the hyperdrive is never damaged, so the cruiser proceeds onto Coruscant without stopping anywhere. As a result, Qui-Gon and Padme never meet Anakin, Anakin doesn't leave Tatooine, and Qui-Gon never has the initial clash with Darth Maul that lets the Jedi know that something wacky is going on.
Now, in TPM, once you take out the events on Tatooine, Anakin doesn't have that much effect on the main plot until the return to Naboo. There's some Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan tension, there's the discussion with the Council, but none of that has any effect on the main plot line. Padme, her handmaidens, her crew, and the Jedi return to Naboo, where events go as in canon up until the space battle. (I did briefly consider whether Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan not knowing about Maul in advance would affect the fight, but ultimately ruled that out.)
Without Anakin and Artoo in that starfighter, the droid control ship is never destroyed, deactivating the battle droids on the surface of the planet. As a result, although Padme succeeds in recapturing the palace and the city of Theed, along with taking the Viceroy of the Trade Federation prisoner, and Obi-Wan kills Maul after Qui-Gon is killed, the Gungans lose the battle on the plain and the Trade Federation blockade remains in place. Padme, Obi-Wan, her handmaidens, and what remains of her troops manage to hold the city of Theed, while the Trade Federation retains a force on the planet while besieging the city (which is shielded). Fighting on Naboo comes down to a war of attrition on the Federation's part and fierce guerrilla fighting by the Naboo and the Gungans. The Trade Federation jams communications so that the Naboo can't contact Coruscant, which also means that Obi-Wan can't contact the Jedi Temple and tell them that (a) Qui-Gon is dead and (b) that Maul is a Sith or a Dark Jedi. Meanwhile, Palpatine, who has still been elected Supreme Chancellor, does what he told the Trade Federation in TPM that he'd do and jams up the Senate so that no help can get through to Naboo, as well as preventing the Jedi from going to investigate when they don't hear from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. (Presumably he also realizes that Maul has been killed, but doesn't necessarily immediately act to replace him because he's waiting to see what happens.)
This goes on for the better part of a year. Near the end of it, Obi-Wan and Padme start sleeping together -- they're in a horribly claustrophobic environment, under a lot of stress and more or less constantly fighting, and Obi-Wan is also the only person on Naboo besides the Gungans who's technically outside the Naboo chain-of-command. Eventually, Bail Organa, who at this point in time is the junior representative from Alderaan, shows up with a humanitarian aid ship and sits outside the Trade Federation blockade until they eventually let him through with the caveat that he has to make sure that the Viceroy is still alive. At this point, Naboo's largely been forgotten by the Senate because the Trade Federation isn't talking about it and Naboo itself doesn't seem to be saying anything, so surely not much is going on. The Jedi are a little more concerned -- Dooku can tell that Qui-Gon is dead, but they're prevented politically from actually doing anything at this point, and since they haven't had an official request from the Naboo or heard anything from Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, their hands are tied as far as acting without Senate permission. Given that Obi-Wan has been telling Padme that the Jedi will come, he's understandably frustrated and feeling mildly betrayed by their inability to do so, especially since he doesn't know why they're not there.
Bail gets through the blockade, understandably cautious because literally no one has heard anything from Naboo in months, and meets with Padme and Obi-Wan, who he initially just takes as another member of the Naboo Royal Guard, since by this time Obi-Wan is in civilian clothes except for his lightsaber. Padme tells Bail everything, then Obi-Wan gives him a datachip to pass on to the Jedi Council.
It's at his return that the Jedi start getting really worried, because Obi-Wan's report is the first sign they have that Qui-Gon died under circumstances outside of the ordinary. Dooku starts kicking up a huge fuss, because he's been telling the Council for weeks that something is really wrong, but no one did anything. The Senate, despite Bail Organa's report, continues to waffle on even sending humanitarian aid, let alone actually interfering. Palpatine, obviously, does not help, though to all appearances he's doing the best he can.
The blockade and invasion actually ends without any outside interference, though, because the Trade Federation has decided that it is Just Not Worth It and reluctantly accepts the treaty that Padme has drawn up and the captive Viceroy has signed. They withdraw, the Republic comes in claiming that it's going to help Naboo deal with its problems and recover from the occupation, the Jedi Council comes in to deal with Obi-Wan and investigate the Maul thing, and the Trade Federation gets off with a slap on the wrist. Naboo is really angry with the Republic for not arriving earlier or doing anything at all -- only Alderaan seemed to care. Obi-Wan's disillusionment with the Jedi Order is at an all time high, because he promised Padme that they would come, he promised Padme and he promised the Naboo, but they never came. The Council tells him that they're leaving some Jedi to help Naboo with its recovery and to mediate with the Trade Federation (because good luck doing any interplanetary business without the Trade Federation), that they'll investigate Qui-Gon's death and the identity of his attacker, and that he's ordered to come back to the Jedi Temple before he takes his Trials. (Given that it's very irregular for a padawan to be on his own for a year, and because they can tell at this point that he's gotten very attached to Padme and Naboo, they want to make sure that he's still fit to be a Jedi rather than just granting him his Knighthood the way they do in canon.)
Obi-Wan tells them to go to hell. He has a better offer. He resigns the Order to stay on Naboo with Padme and the people he spent the past year protecting. Romantics say that he left for love, cynics say he left out of betrayal; the truth is a little bit of both. Given that a bunch of HoloNews reporters are on site to cover the liberation of Naboo, he accidentally does so pretty publicly, and the press laps it up with a spoon, to the absolute horror of the Jedi Order; it's a PR disaster for them.
At the same time, Dooku resigns the Jedi Order in order to represent Serenno in the Senate. While Obi-Wan's resignation was accidentally public -- I'm not sure how public, because I doubt he actually did so in public, but the HoloNews found out about it almost immediately -- Dooku's is carefully staged. He talks about how the Jedi Order has lost its way, how its autonomy has been sublimated by the Senate, how the Senate was ultimately responsible for the tragedy on Naboo, and how this should never be allowed to happen again. The Jedi's PR disaster gets even worse.
Over the next few years, Padme, who continues to rule Naboo as Queen, is carefully doing some investigating to get backers for a petition to the Senate to reduce the power of the Trade Federation, to cut down on bureaucracy, etc.; this is the group that eventually becomes the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Palpatine's doing some maneuvering where he can, in order to push Padme's group in a more military direction, as well as quietly emphasizing their danger to the Senate. I'm not sure exactly when things come to a head, but there begins to be open conflict between the two much earlier than in the canon, though not yet a publicly declared war. (Palpatine manipulates Padme into ordering the clone troops from Kamino.) At about this point, Dooku manages to push Palpatine out of the Supreme Chancellor's spot and take over, which Palpatine never saw coming. But the Trade Federation and the other unions with Senate standing -- the Banking Clan, the Techno Union, etc. -- are also pushing back, and through complicated Machiavellian politics, the Republic ends up militarily supporting them against the systems that are in rebellion, including Naboo. Which is when Padme says, "Fuck this," and secedes from the Republic, along with several thousand other systems, forming the Confederacy. And that's when this universe's version of the Clone Wars really begins.
Now, some character-based things: Obi-Wan might not be a Jedi -- and he's fairly outspoken about this -- but he would rather cut his heart out than rather become a Sith, because the Sith killed Qui-Gon. At one point, Palpatine as Darth Sidious made some careful overtures at him, figuring that a Jedi who's gone rogue might be interested in going to the Dark Side. This went over very poorly, and ever since then Palpatine's been gunning for Obi-Wan -- he also figures that with Obi-Wan dead, Padme will be easier to manipulate, and he'd rather deal with a dead martyr than a live rogue Jedi. The Jedi would also really like to capture Obi-Wan, preferably alive, because if he's alive then they can make him publicly renounce Padme and the Confederacy. They're also strongly convinced that he's gone Sith.
In the canon, Padme steps down from the position of Queen after two terms; in the QK AU, she remains Queen, partially because at that point they're already in conflict and if she steps down, there's a good chance that the fledgling Confederacy will just fall apart, allowing the individual members to be punished by the Republic. The Naboo have a lot of personal loyalty for her that probably wouldn't transfer over to another monarch. By this point, there have been assassination and kidnapping attempts from both sides. She and Obi-Wan have been together for thirteen years, and she's pregnant with their first child (although she miscarried once before during a previous assassination attempt). She's hard as nails and completely devoted to her cause, because she understands that they've gone so far that there's no turning back now. You win or you die, and she doesn't intend to die.
And, of course, the third member of the trio: Anakin. After Shmi Skywalker gets sold to Cliegg Lars, Anakin manages to deactivate his implant and run away from Watto, but he can't stay with Shmi because Jabba's slave-catchers will find him. Instead he flees offworld (he's probably a young teenager at this point) and spends the next few worlds working his way on various ships and on various planets, making his way in the galaxy on his own. He uses the Force sloppily and instinctively, never having had any formal training; the first time he runs into a Jedi Knight, it goes really poorly -- the Jedi attempts to take him back to Coruscant, then decides he's too dangerous to live (the Jedi are on really high alert after Obi-Wan's resignation and the beginnings of conflict in the Mid and Outer Rim) -- and as a result Anakin absolutely hates Jedi. They're not too fond of him either; they've got a kill or capture on sight order for him. By the time he's twenty-three, Anakin is a smuggler and a petty criminal wanted on over a dozen worlds for various crimes (not counting the Hutt worlds, where he's wanted for the crime of stealing himself as a runaway slave). He has his own ship, which he won in a swoop race on a borrowed bike. He works for the Confederacy sometimes, but he's mostly a freelancer who will work for the highest bidder. He's essentially Han Solo without Chewbacca.
And that is the world that the gang from Wake wanders into.
juliekarasik, who talked it out with me and worked out some of the bits about Anakin.)Under the cut because of slight spoilers for Wake, as well as for length.
The holoimage showed the front of the Theed Royal Palace and part of the Palace Plaza, just capturing the edges of a watching crowd being held back by a line of Naboo guards. More guards lined the steps, all the way up to the first landing, where one of the queen’s portable thrones was flanked by orange-gowned handmaidens and the members of the Naboo Royal Advisory Council, including – Anakin drew in his breath – Palpatine. Sitting in it was Padmé herself, wearing an elaborate black and gold mantua with diamonds on the breast. Her hair had been fixed in round crescents on either side of her head, displaying the gold headpiece that served as one of the Naboo monarchy’s royal crowns. Her face was painted white, with a red beauty mark on each cheek and the scar of remembrance on her lower lip. Standing beside her was Obi-Wan, clean-shaven and dressed in gray and scarlet Naboo court garb, though he still had a lightsaber clipped to his belt. He stood closer to the throne than any of the handmaidens, and even in the hologram he had a pronounced air of danger to him.
“I don’t understand,” Padmé murmured.
Amidala’s voice carried clearly through the holoprojector. “As you know, the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic are currently engaged in hostilities as we fight for our independence. Until now, these actions have been confined to distant systems and deep space battles. Today marks a turning point in the war, my people. This very morning, the Galactic Republic sent two Jedi assassins to take us prisoner or, if unable to do so, to kill us.”
There were shouts of protest from the watching crowd.
Amidala raised one hand to quiet them. “We are unharmed, thanks to our Queen’s Guard. Though we are at war, the Jedi have always conducted with themselves with honor. But no longer! By this act, they have proven that they are no more than the hands of the Senate, which left us to suffer beneath the yoke of the Trade Federation thirteen years ago. Already the Supreme Chancellor has asked for mercy for these would-be assassins.”
“No!” someone in the audience yelled, just close enough to be picked up the holorecorder. “Kill ‘em! Republic scum!”
“I told him that this time the Republic has gone too far. There shall be no mercy!” Amidala said, her voice carrying over the shouts. “Bring out the prisoners.”
Four Naboo guards escorted a pair of Jedi onto the landing in front of her, forcing them to their knees. Anakin drew in his breath as he recognized them – Luminara Unduli and Eeth Koth, both Masters.
Both Jedi looked fearlessly at the Queen, ignoring the jeers and shouts from the audience. “You are making a grave mistake, your majesty,” said Eeth Koth.
“The Republic,” Amidala said, “made a grave mistake when he sent you to kill us. Captain Kenobi, execute the sentence.”
Unclipping his lightsaber from his belt, the other Obi-Wan strode forward. The blade ignited in a beam of white light.
“Traitor,” Luminara said. “You used to be a Jedi, Obi-Wan.”
“That was a long time ago,” said the other Obi-Wan, and swung the lightsaber.
Next to Anakin, Padmé gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth. Obi-Wan himself made a small, pained sound.
The other Obi-Wan turned to face the plaza, lifting a head in each hand. “Behold the heads of the enemies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems! Long live the Queen!”
“Long live the Queen!” echoed back at them from the watching crowd, amidst cheers.
Obi-Wan tossed the heads down to lie beside the limp bodies, turning back to the Queen. Amidala rose from her throne, placing her hand lightly on his arm. For a moment she stood still, facing the plaza, and at last said, her voice almost intimate, “Supreme Chancellor Dooku. Next time either send better assassins or don’t bother.”
There was a ripple of laughter. The Queen turned away, accompanied by the other Obi-Wan and followed by her handmaidens, and vanished behind a line of Naboo guards. An instant later the hologram winked out.
Given how much I like AUs, there was about a 95% chance that Wake was going to end by sliding into a third 'verse -- that 5% was for the possibility it was going to end with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme on the run in their home universe. I never seriously considered having them end up in the OT universe. (If I hadn't already known where Wake was going to end, there probably would have been about five chapters in the middle where Anakin slid between different universes.)
When I sat down to come up with the final 'verse for Wake, I was looking for three things: familiar enough to be instantly recognizable (nothing that was based off the Old Republic, the post-OT EU, or the Legacy comics), different enough to be shocking (nothing from the OT or that was too close to the PT/TCW 'verse), and easily extrapolated off a single divergence point from canon. Less importantly, it had to be an AU where a brief scene could communicate all this both to the audience and to the mains in a believable manner.
On initial inspection, the universe that our mains find themselves in at the end of Wake looks like a complete mirrorverse: Dooku is Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Padme is running the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Obi-Wan is casually executing Jedi in Padme's name. It's supposed to look like the worst possible universe that they could end up in, then (if there was a sequel) slowly resolve itself into one that makes sense given the context that shaped it as the mains interact further with it and eventually with their counterparts. I thought of it as a world of Machiavellian intergalactic politics, civil war, and intense personal loyalties; maybe a little closer in some ways to the gray areas of the post-RotS and OT-era galaxy than to the black and white of the PT. If in TPM, Palpatine's plan to plunge the galaxy into war had been abruptly sidelined by Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, I wanted this to be a world where he had succeeded -- though not, perhaps, to the extent that he had originally planned.
The divergence point for the Queen's Knight AU comes fairly on in TPM. In the canon, the Naboo royal cruiser runs the blockade and is damaged; they have to stop on Tatooine in order to replace the hyperdrive. In this 'verse, the hyperdrive is never damaged, so the cruiser proceeds onto Coruscant without stopping anywhere. As a result, Qui-Gon and Padme never meet Anakin, Anakin doesn't leave Tatooine, and Qui-Gon never has the initial clash with Darth Maul that lets the Jedi know that something wacky is going on.
Now, in TPM, once you take out the events on Tatooine, Anakin doesn't have that much effect on the main plot until the return to Naboo. There's some Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan tension, there's the discussion with the Council, but none of that has any effect on the main plot line. Padme, her handmaidens, her crew, and the Jedi return to Naboo, where events go as in canon up until the space battle. (I did briefly consider whether Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan not knowing about Maul in advance would affect the fight, but ultimately ruled that out.)
Without Anakin and Artoo in that starfighter, the droid control ship is never destroyed, deactivating the battle droids on the surface of the planet. As a result, although Padme succeeds in recapturing the palace and the city of Theed, along with taking the Viceroy of the Trade Federation prisoner, and Obi-Wan kills Maul after Qui-Gon is killed, the Gungans lose the battle on the plain and the Trade Federation blockade remains in place. Padme, Obi-Wan, her handmaidens, and what remains of her troops manage to hold the city of Theed, while the Trade Federation retains a force on the planet while besieging the city (which is shielded). Fighting on Naboo comes down to a war of attrition on the Federation's part and fierce guerrilla fighting by the Naboo and the Gungans. The Trade Federation jams communications so that the Naboo can't contact Coruscant, which also means that Obi-Wan can't contact the Jedi Temple and tell them that (a) Qui-Gon is dead and (b) that Maul is a Sith or a Dark Jedi. Meanwhile, Palpatine, who has still been elected Supreme Chancellor, does what he told the Trade Federation in TPM that he'd do and jams up the Senate so that no help can get through to Naboo, as well as preventing the Jedi from going to investigate when they don't hear from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. (Presumably he also realizes that Maul has been killed, but doesn't necessarily immediately act to replace him because he's waiting to see what happens.)
This goes on for the better part of a year. Near the end of it, Obi-Wan and Padme start sleeping together -- they're in a horribly claustrophobic environment, under a lot of stress and more or less constantly fighting, and Obi-Wan is also the only person on Naboo besides the Gungans who's technically outside the Naboo chain-of-command. Eventually, Bail Organa, who at this point in time is the junior representative from Alderaan, shows up with a humanitarian aid ship and sits outside the Trade Federation blockade until they eventually let him through with the caveat that he has to make sure that the Viceroy is still alive. At this point, Naboo's largely been forgotten by the Senate because the Trade Federation isn't talking about it and Naboo itself doesn't seem to be saying anything, so surely not much is going on. The Jedi are a little more concerned -- Dooku can tell that Qui-Gon is dead, but they're prevented politically from actually doing anything at this point, and since they haven't had an official request from the Naboo or heard anything from Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, their hands are tied as far as acting without Senate permission. Given that Obi-Wan has been telling Padme that the Jedi will come, he's understandably frustrated and feeling mildly betrayed by their inability to do so, especially since he doesn't know why they're not there.
Bail gets through the blockade, understandably cautious because literally no one has heard anything from Naboo in months, and meets with Padme and Obi-Wan, who he initially just takes as another member of the Naboo Royal Guard, since by this time Obi-Wan is in civilian clothes except for his lightsaber. Padme tells Bail everything, then Obi-Wan gives him a datachip to pass on to the Jedi Council.
It's at his return that the Jedi start getting really worried, because Obi-Wan's report is the first sign they have that Qui-Gon died under circumstances outside of the ordinary. Dooku starts kicking up a huge fuss, because he's been telling the Council for weeks that something is really wrong, but no one did anything. The Senate, despite Bail Organa's report, continues to waffle on even sending humanitarian aid, let alone actually interfering. Palpatine, obviously, does not help, though to all appearances he's doing the best he can.
The blockade and invasion actually ends without any outside interference, though, because the Trade Federation has decided that it is Just Not Worth It and reluctantly accepts the treaty that Padme has drawn up and the captive Viceroy has signed. They withdraw, the Republic comes in claiming that it's going to help Naboo deal with its problems and recover from the occupation, the Jedi Council comes in to deal with Obi-Wan and investigate the Maul thing, and the Trade Federation gets off with a slap on the wrist. Naboo is really angry with the Republic for not arriving earlier or doing anything at all -- only Alderaan seemed to care. Obi-Wan's disillusionment with the Jedi Order is at an all time high, because he promised Padme that they would come, he promised Padme and he promised the Naboo, but they never came. The Council tells him that they're leaving some Jedi to help Naboo with its recovery and to mediate with the Trade Federation (because good luck doing any interplanetary business without the Trade Federation), that they'll investigate Qui-Gon's death and the identity of his attacker, and that he's ordered to come back to the Jedi Temple before he takes his Trials. (Given that it's very irregular for a padawan to be on his own for a year, and because they can tell at this point that he's gotten very attached to Padme and Naboo, they want to make sure that he's still fit to be a Jedi rather than just granting him his Knighthood the way they do in canon.)
Obi-Wan tells them to go to hell. He has a better offer. He resigns the Order to stay on Naboo with Padme and the people he spent the past year protecting. Romantics say that he left for love, cynics say he left out of betrayal; the truth is a little bit of both. Given that a bunch of HoloNews reporters are on site to cover the liberation of Naboo, he accidentally does so pretty publicly, and the press laps it up with a spoon, to the absolute horror of the Jedi Order; it's a PR disaster for them.
At the same time, Dooku resigns the Jedi Order in order to represent Serenno in the Senate. While Obi-Wan's resignation was accidentally public -- I'm not sure how public, because I doubt he actually did so in public, but the HoloNews found out about it almost immediately -- Dooku's is carefully staged. He talks about how the Jedi Order has lost its way, how its autonomy has been sublimated by the Senate, how the Senate was ultimately responsible for the tragedy on Naboo, and how this should never be allowed to happen again. The Jedi's PR disaster gets even worse.
Over the next few years, Padme, who continues to rule Naboo as Queen, is carefully doing some investigating to get backers for a petition to the Senate to reduce the power of the Trade Federation, to cut down on bureaucracy, etc.; this is the group that eventually becomes the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Palpatine's doing some maneuvering where he can, in order to push Padme's group in a more military direction, as well as quietly emphasizing their danger to the Senate. I'm not sure exactly when things come to a head, but there begins to be open conflict between the two much earlier than in the canon, though not yet a publicly declared war. (Palpatine manipulates Padme into ordering the clone troops from Kamino.) At about this point, Dooku manages to push Palpatine out of the Supreme Chancellor's spot and take over, which Palpatine never saw coming. But the Trade Federation and the other unions with Senate standing -- the Banking Clan, the Techno Union, etc. -- are also pushing back, and through complicated Machiavellian politics, the Republic ends up militarily supporting them against the systems that are in rebellion, including Naboo. Which is when Padme says, "Fuck this," and secedes from the Republic, along with several thousand other systems, forming the Confederacy. And that's when this universe's version of the Clone Wars really begins.
Now, some character-based things: Obi-Wan might not be a Jedi -- and he's fairly outspoken about this -- but he would rather cut his heart out than rather become a Sith, because the Sith killed Qui-Gon. At one point, Palpatine as Darth Sidious made some careful overtures at him, figuring that a Jedi who's gone rogue might be interested in going to the Dark Side. This went over very poorly, and ever since then Palpatine's been gunning for Obi-Wan -- he also figures that with Obi-Wan dead, Padme will be easier to manipulate, and he'd rather deal with a dead martyr than a live rogue Jedi. The Jedi would also really like to capture Obi-Wan, preferably alive, because if he's alive then they can make him publicly renounce Padme and the Confederacy. They're also strongly convinced that he's gone Sith.
In the canon, Padme steps down from the position of Queen after two terms; in the QK AU, she remains Queen, partially because at that point they're already in conflict and if she steps down, there's a good chance that the fledgling Confederacy will just fall apart, allowing the individual members to be punished by the Republic. The Naboo have a lot of personal loyalty for her that probably wouldn't transfer over to another monarch. By this point, there have been assassination and kidnapping attempts from both sides. She and Obi-Wan have been together for thirteen years, and she's pregnant with their first child (although she miscarried once before during a previous assassination attempt). She's hard as nails and completely devoted to her cause, because she understands that they've gone so far that there's no turning back now. You win or you die, and she doesn't intend to die.
And, of course, the third member of the trio: Anakin. After Shmi Skywalker gets sold to Cliegg Lars, Anakin manages to deactivate his implant and run away from Watto, but he can't stay with Shmi because Jabba's slave-catchers will find him. Instead he flees offworld (he's probably a young teenager at this point) and spends the next few worlds working his way on various ships and on various planets, making his way in the galaxy on his own. He uses the Force sloppily and instinctively, never having had any formal training; the first time he runs into a Jedi Knight, it goes really poorly -- the Jedi attempts to take him back to Coruscant, then decides he's too dangerous to live (the Jedi are on really high alert after Obi-Wan's resignation and the beginnings of conflict in the Mid and Outer Rim) -- and as a result Anakin absolutely hates Jedi. They're not too fond of him either; they've got a kill or capture on sight order for him. By the time he's twenty-three, Anakin is a smuggler and a petty criminal wanted on over a dozen worlds for various crimes (not counting the Hutt worlds, where he's wanted for the crime of stealing himself as a runaway slave). He has his own ship, which he won in a swoop race on a borrowed bike. He works for the Confederacy sometimes, but he's mostly a freelancer who will work for the highest bidder. He's essentially Han Solo without Chewbacca.
And that is the world that the gang from Wake wanders into.