Part Three: Awakened Powers

The Naboo Representatives came out from underneath the office table, shock etched on all their faces at the sight of the dozen wrecked battle droids.

'There's no time for any of this,' Arnold thought impatiently.

"Senator Helga, I'm Arnold Skywalker. My master sent me here to protect you from the bounty hunter. He's gone, but he'll be back soon with more battle droids . . . "

"More! More did you say!" Li-la Binks asked, terrified. "Exqueze me, meesa not liking that ever-so much!"

"Under these circumstances, I think you should come with me to the Jedi Temple on Coresaunt until all of this has been settled. It's the only place you'll be safe."

"Who's after me?" Helga demanded. "Why? Why me?"

"I'm really not too sure myself, but you can't stay here, it's too dangerous!" Arnold said, firmly.

"He's right, my lady," Sheena said then. "Your safety is of the highest importance!"

Helga looked at him with those intense blue eyes a moment and nodded. "Very well, I will go with you, Master Skywalker."

Arnold blushed slightly, "Actually, I'm still just a padawan learner."

Helga smiled, "Well, you're still the closest thing to a Jedi around here, so you'll have to do."

Arnold frowned slightly as he saw her smirk, knowing he was being teased.

Helga turned to her fellow representatives. "The rest of you need to get away from here. It's me they want, they'll ignore all of you."

Li-la Binks stepped forward. "Meesa going with you, Senator Helga." There was a stubborn look in the Gungan's eyes.

Helga looked over at the young Jedi. Arnold nodded, "She can come, I guess."

"Good luck, Senator," Lorenzo said finally, before they departed.

Arnold, Helga, and Li-la Binks all walked quickly down the hallway of the palace.

"Where are the docking bays here?" Arnold asked.
"Down the left hall," Helga said, then stopped suddenly, looking at him annoyed. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" Arnold asked confused, turning toward her.

Helga rolled her eyes at him. "Look here, I don't care if you are a Jedi, I'm the Galactic Senator here and you'll follow my lead, got it, bucko!" She pointed a finger at his chest.

Arnold scowled, annoyed with the arrogant girl. "Look, your worshipfulness, let's get something strait here, I'm the one saving you here, remember?"

"Well, I am a member of the government, so I outrank you, football-head!" She shot back.

Arnold looked at her bewildered for a second, "Football-head?" Then he looked at her annoyed again. "Listen to me, you . . . "

Suddenly, a lazer blast came from down the hall barely missing them and hitting the ceiling above them. The three turned to see six droid dekas rolling into the hallway, weapons ready.

"Uh ho," Arnold said, "this is not good!"

He grabbed Helga by the arm and pulled her quickly down another hall. Li-la Binks followed closely behind, screaming, "Retreat! Retreat!"

"Li-la, shut up!" Helga said angrily and annoyed.

"I thought we'd have more time than this," Arnold said. "I guess they sent down more droids already . . . "

Oh that's just great, football-head! Boy this is some rescue!" Helga said, sarcastically.

"Maybe you'd prefer it back in your office, your worshipfulness?" Arnold shot back, equally sarcastically.

More lazer blasts cut off their argument.

Then Arnold's communicator beeped.

"Arnold, come in!" Stinky's voice said over the device.

Arnold answered. "Stinky, where are you?"

"I'm on a ship I borrowed from our Federation chums," he answered. "What's your position?"

"Running," Arnold said, lazer blasts passing by them, Li-la Binks screaming.
"Do you have Senator Helga with you?"

"Yeah, but we're going to need your help, I can't get back the way I came, you have to come get us!"

"Okey Dokie," Stinky said, "We'll be there in a few minutes, try and get to the roof."

"Roger that," Arnold said, then asked, "Um, what do you mean, we?"

Then he heard Stinky sigh and say, "Well, I reckon we have ourselves a new protocol droid."

Arnold then heard Sid 3PO's voice say, "Oh thank you, master. You won't regret it."

"Um master, about other passengers . . . " Arnold said, sighing ironically.

"Space ship?" Li-la Binks said, "Meesa no like space travel! Meesa gets ever-so space sick!"

Arnold could actually hear Stinky sigh over the communicator, "Why do I have the feeling that we picked up another pathetic life form."

Having overheard that comment, Li-la Binks said, "How ever-so wude!"

Arnold sighed again, "I'll explain later, just come get us!"

He put the communicator away and ducked down another hallway, pulling Helga who yelped when he tugged her. "Not so rough, you little shrimp!"

They gave the droid dekas the slip. Then, Arnold felt another surge in the Force. He activated his light saber and was ready to deflect the lazer blasts from just in front of him, and charging at the emerging battle droids and cutting them down in no time.

Helga felt the same sense of awe from back in her office, thinking how brave he was to take on those robots single handedly like that.

Then the wall near them exploded, and Harold Fett, using his jet pack, flew into the hallway. He aimed his blaster at Arnold and fired, only to have the blasts deflected by and hitting the last battle droids in the hallway.

"Now lets see how good you are without your tin toys," Arnold said, taunting the bounty hunter, standing in front of Helga and just behind Li-la Binks.

Harold Fett was already in action, he fired his blaster at the ceiling above Arnold, who used the Force to deflect the falling plaster. As his attention was turned, Harold used a stun grenade which he threw right at Arnold, who foolishly used his light saber to try and stop it, only to have it explode, knocking both him and the pathetic Li-la Binks to the floor.
"Oh no!" Helga shouted, as Arnold hit the wall hard, his light saber flying down the hallway.

"Now your mine, Jedi scum!" Harold Fett shouted, raising his blaster at Arnold to finish him off.

Later on, Helga would remember that inside of her, something just seemed to hit her all at once, and that the air around her seemed to feel like it was living . . .

Helga stepped forward, not thinking about the fact she was unarmed and shouted, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

She raised both of her hands out in front of her the air around her felt electrically charged, and without warning, Harold Fett was blown hard through the wall next to the hole he'd made, with a force more powerful than the blast from the stun grenade he'd used. He fell thirty stories down the side of the building and the cliff down to the river behind the palace.

On the spaceship a mile above them and descending, Stinky Kenobi felt a sudden disturbance in the Force.

Millions of miles away, on Coresaunt, both Darth Curly and his master felt the same disturbance, Darth Curly was surprised by it, but the Sith Emperor just seemed to smile, as if it were expected.

"So, it's happened," the Emperor said, smiling a secret smile.

"But how?" Darth Curly asked, confused.

Back on Naboo, both Arnold Skywalker and Li-la Binks sat up, stunned. Li-la because she saw it happen. Arnold, because he'd seen it and felt it in all of its intensity through the Force.

Even more stunned was Helga, who looked at the hole wide-eyed, then fainted.

Arnold quickly rushed over and kneeled next to her. "Senator Amidala! Helga! Helga, are you okay?"

Her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes very slowly. Then she said weakly, quietly, "I . . . I feel so strange, drained . . . "

Arnold sat her up, looked up at the gaping hole and back at her strangely, "How . . . how did you do that?"

"I...don't know . . . I just . . . " she looked up at him, "I was afraid you . . . I thought you were hurt."

Arnold smiled, despite the surprised he felt, the shock was still new inside of him. "I...I'm okay, I guess."

Then he heard the sound of the droid dekas down the end of the hall.

"We have to get out of here now." Arnold said, turning his hand to his light saber and using the Force to draw it to him.
Helga looked at him. She'd felt something coming from Arnold before the light saber flew to his hand.

"D-did I just . . . feel that?" She asked.

Arnold turned to look at her, "Huh?"

"What you did just now," she explained weakly, sounding tired. "I felt you do it."

Arnold's eyes widened at that, "You did? But . . . " he stopped himself. This was no time for a conversation.

"We have to get out of here," he said, looking down the hall to see the droid dekas rolling into view a hundred feet away and closing.

Then outside the gaping hole in the wall, a spaceship suddenly appeared. Painted on the side, in bold purple lettering were the words "The Moave Avenger." The door opened next to the hole and Sid 3PO stood inside beaconing them inside.

Arnold helped Helga to her feet and gave her to Li-la Binks, "Get her aboard!"

Li-la helped Helga onto the ship, The Moavue Avenger while Arnold, reactivates his light saber and held off the lazer blasts from the droid dekas long enough to buy some time before he jumped onto the ship.

The ship then took off into the sky into space.

While Sid 3PO and Li-la Binks helped Helga into the back, Arnold went to the cockpit and found Stinky Kenobi at the controls.

"Stinky, how are we going to get past the blockade ship in orbit? I hope you have a plan." Arnold said, looking out the window at the approaching Trade Federation command ship.

Aboard the Trade Federation Battleship, Commander Nadine turned to Viceroy Wolfgang. "Viceroy! The ship is headed toward us!"

"Lock on the tractor beam! We need the Senator alive!" he shouted.

Nadine hit the controls, but nothing happened. "The tractor beam isn't functioning!"

"What!" Wolfgang shouted.

"The Jedi must have deactivated it when they escaped," Grand Moff Rhonda stated, annoyed.

The Moave Avenger streaked past, going to light speed once it was out of orbit.
"NO!" Wolfgang shouted angrily! "FIND THEM! TRACK THEM!"

Nadine shook her head, "No use, Viceroy, they've already gone beyond long range sensors."

Suddenly, the consol. light at the communication's desk beeped. "Transmission coming in . . . it's Lord Curly," Commander Nadine said, looking up horrified.

The room went quiet . . . dead quiet.

"P-put him on," Wolfgang said, weakly, a terrified look appeared on his face.

A hologram of the black-clad Dark Lord of the Sith appeared before him.

"Lord Curly, I have to . . . uh . . . uh . . . " Wolfgang's voice was cut off as he began to choke. His hands went to his throat.

"You have failed me for the last time, Viceroy!" Darth Curly said, in a creepy monotone voice, then turned to Rhonda. Even as Wolfgang choked to death, he said, "Grand Moff Rhonda, you will take your ship to the Angola cluster and await for my arrival. You are the new leader of the Trade Federation now, Viceroy Rhonda."

Rhonda bowed, looking over at what was left of her former boss and the price of failing the Dark Lords of the Sith.

"Thank you, Lord Curly, I won't fail you," she said, still happy to be in charge.

"See that you don't, Viceroy," Darth Curly said, in what was a very serious tone.

To Be Continued . . .