The Queen's party would leave by boat to an island on the other side of the lake where a waiting bongo would spirit them away through an underwater cave that joins the main underwater route. Once in the underwater labyrinths, there would be in no danger of being discovered.
Naboo planet was practically made up of a maze of intervening bodies of water and rock. The surface of the planet was covered mostly in swamp, except for islands of solid rock out cropping here and there. Low hills and flat rolling plains stretched to the east and southeast. The only mountains of significant height were situated to the west. There were occasional bodies of water, huge lakes dotting the surface of the planet. Caves and underwater tunnels interconnected the majority of water bodies.
One could travel to any part of the planet within these tunnels. But it was extremely dangerous, a huge variety of animals, some still to be discovered, lurked in these dark waters. These route though dangerous were not impossible to cross, with a good guide-a Gungan guide- one had a much better chance of making it to ones destination in the quickest time.
Once on their way they would head for Thal Weil a dense swamp to the northwest. There, Sabe's party would meet up with the queen's party and after a short inspection of the facility by the Queen they would take off for Khandara.
That cleared, Queen Amidala brought up the question of the droid army, which made up a considerable part of their regular army. The leftover of the federation forces; these had been refurbished and reprogrammed to follow Nubian orders. But Queen Amidala never did trust them. She preferred her human guards to the droids, especially to guard the palace. Though the droids were invaluable for patrolling and monitoring the swamps and other outlying areas of the planet.
The droid control center was located several hundred miles to the west on mount Nagob, amongst the highest peaks in Naboo. Though Panaka had assured the Queen that the center had been well fortified with heavy guns and more than a hundred soldiers to keep constant guard. The Captain was certain the high peaks and the shear slopes around the facility made it impossible to any breach from outside.
Amidala though, had not been convinced; she had secretly constructed another control center in the swamps of Thal Weil, for emergency purposes. This one practically under the swamps and it had cost a good chunk of the budget. Which to Panaka had seemed a superfluous expense, considering the fact that they would need all their resources for the Freepios project.
All had gone as planned. The queens' luggage had been smuggled aboard the boat, the night before. Sabe and her party left for the picnic. As it was a holiday, and nice sunny weather to go with it, a large percentage of the populace lined both side of the street to see their queen go by.
The trip was made without a hitch.
Meanwhile Padme dressed in a loose, a maroon colored robe-her face well covered under the hood- was giving last minute instructions to Governor Sio Bibble-who would take over the administrative duties in her absence. Just then a sharp siren sounded through the palace, the Queen knew what it was-an attack on the palace. Somehow the enemy had found out, and now here escape was being blocked. The guards rushed to cover the palace doors.
"Let's go," Anakin shouted. Their cover had been blown. Who ever the enemy was knew that the real Queen was in the palace and probably knew of their plan of escape. They all ran towards the hanger-sure that the guards could hold out for just long enough, and they would have, if they would not have to deal with what seems like hundreds of droids that were streaming from all parts of the city, all heading for the palace.
Already a squadron of droids was crashing through the door, getting past the handful of palace guards easily.
"My worst fears have been realized!" Amidala said, as she looked at the wave after wave of droid soldiers pouring into the palace grounds.
She flung her cumbersome robe away and so did the other handmaidens. They wore their combat brown suits under their robes.
"To the White section!" she beckoned her party; too late! The droids were already inside the palace and spreading out-shooting every thing in sight.
They raced up the stairs to the second floor with Anakin leading the way, followed by the queen and the others,
"We have to split up!" He shouted above the din. The party broke into two teams, each team running in a different direction in search of the numerous secret escape routes that had been among the options discussed earlier.
Amidala wished luck to her friends and disappeared up the stairs to the next floor, just as droid soldiers came into the big hall. Some of the droid turned to chase after the guards and handmaidens retreating on either side of the great hallway, the main body of the soldiers, though, ran after the Queen and Anakin. They seemed to know what they were after.
Anakin, his lightsabre ready ran on, the queen in tow, he nearly surprised some droids while rounding a corner. He had the droids in pieces even before they were aware of it.
Droids being at a disadvantage in close combat, because they have to process their decisions, which make them, slow to act-certainly no match for the swift thinking Jedi. More droids were coming as the pair fled. They ran up another two floors, till they were cornered besides a thick pillar with no where else to go. Amidala took position behind the pillar and kept firing. Anakin's sword was a blur as he deflected the blaster shots back into he enemy. Soon they had a pile of mangled metal before them. Anakin was heading for the stairs again, when the queen stopped him,
"We can't go that way," "All the secret passages are mostly on the lower floors." She informed him.
"Well I'm heading for my room where I have a means of escape."
" What do you mean?" The queen asked.
"Your highness there is no time to argue." Anakin said, grabbing her arm and ready to move.
Just then his comlink buzzed.
"Skywalker here," he said switching it on, as they trotted away in the direction of the guest rooms- "Calken here Sir! We have the Sith,"
" You do! Good!" Anakin said his face lighting up.
"It seems those droids were mostly interested in the queen, we found a side route to hanger 3 only a handful of droids in guarding it. We had no problem taking them." Calken said "Sir head for the roof we'll be waiting there." He finished.
"The girls? What about the girls" Anakin asked still running only this time they were heading for the roof
"The girls are safe here with me. All of us made it safely to the ship." Calken informed them. The Queen was relieved to hear that. "Okay Calken we're heading for the roof we will be there in two minutes." Anakin said.
Surprisingly they reached the roof without much resistance. Anakin didn't like the creepy feeling overtaking him, but had no time to dwell into it; he had to catch the ship now.
At last they reached the roof, Amidala quite out of breath. They ran to an open part of the roof, sure enough there was his beloved "Sith" hovering just above the roof as it banked low, its ramp already coming down from the aft. They ran towards the ship. Blaster shots rang out before it could land or come low enough for them to board it. Anakin saw that the roof was already swarming with droids.
Coming out of every dark corner here and there. It seemed the enemy been expecting them- the comm chat between Calken him had been intercepted. The two were surrounded with no option but to surrender. Human soldiers in palace guard uniforms, advanced cautiously on them, pointing their blasters menacingly at them. Anakin saw death and murder in their eyes.
Suddenly Anakin grabbed the Queen by the waist as he made a leap for the Sith which the pilot had brought round for another pass. Amidala held tight as they flew at least twenty feet into the air. Anakin made a neat landing on the ramp of the craft but before he could get a firm hold, the Sith banked steeply as it got a direct hit on one of the vertical stabilizers.
Amidala screamed as Anakin seemed to tether on the ramp for a split second waving his free hand wildly trying to get his balance, and then they were over the side and falling into empty space.
The Ship rolled and banked wildly as it rose into the sky, plumes of smoke emitting from it as it disappeared into the haze in the direction of the swamps.
They seemed to be falling into an endless void. Amidala clutched Anakin tightly, she was sure she would not survive this one. Then they landed, on one of the huge terraces that opened out to the waterfalls. Not with a jarring thud as she had expected but a with soft thump from Anakin's boots.
Putting her down, he grabbed her hand and was running again right for the railing. Once again she was hoisted up by the waist and pulled up onto the wide balcony railing. Anakin looked around, hesitating for just a split second, taking a quick measure of the location down below and then his mind was made up.
Amidala's stomach lurched as she looked down at the wildly churning broth at the foot of the Great Falls, hundreds of feet below. She couldn't believe it when she realized what his intentions were.
"Anakin NO!" too late they were already airborne. Soaring over the yawning gap to the guest balconies-She shut her eyes. Feeling herself fall for what seemed like eternity, when suddenly her breath was knocked out of her as Anakin grabbed for the balcony railing on one of the lower floors.
The jar yanking her out of Anakin's hold, he grabbed out and just managed to get her arm. There was Anakin one arm and foot over the railing and rest of him hanging out. The weight of the struggling Queen holding him there as she flayed about helplessly in midair. She could see the roaring falls deep below her feet. Anakin's hold was slipping, he tried to support her with his free foot. she grabbed his leg, clutching to it with all her might. With hands free he hauled himself over the railing.
The sudden jerk again had the queen slipping. She screamed but no one heard her over the roar of the falls. She grasped onto his foot her knuckle white as she strained to keep her precarious hold, praying his boot would not come loose. Anakin pulled his leg up carefully, then grabbing her by the hand he pulled her over the rails. Trembling like a leaf, she clung to Anakin in an effort to calm her shaking body. But there was no time for to comfort her.
The Balconies above had protected them, so far, from direct fire from the roof, but now several STAPs-Single trooper aerial platforms-skeletal vehicles made of handles and footholds supporting one droid in standing position-were heading their way. He tore away Amidala's arms from around his neck and dashed away with her to the far corner of the balcony. There it was, the Sith speeder bike, their last means of escape. He quietly thanked Maul for his benevolence, as he mounted it.
The unarmed speeder's only special equipment was a high-acceleration engine. Shaped like a curved fish shape it was amazingly fast and able to cut tight corners at high speeds. The open design gave superb visibility.
Amidala sat behind him, her blaster ready looking around for droids-He marveled at how fast she had recovered from her shock. Anakin hit the ignition. He had the speeder shooting for the open area off to the right of the balcony but another squad of STAPs came round the far corner. Finding his path blocked on all sides he veered sharply back towards the slide doors. Using the force to push open the slide door he drove in full thrust into the room, closing the thick glass doors behind him.
He had reach the heavy wooden doors of the room when he heard the glass smash as two STAPs crashed through. By the time they were in any position to fire he was out of the door and into a wide long corridor. Amidala's blaster was waiting for them as they followed out of the door. Down the corridors they shot, Amidala blasting away back and front to clear the way of mostly, surprised droids they met there.
More droids on STAPs crashed in through the corridor window, heading straight for them in a bid to block their way. The pair was now sandwiched between the oncoming and pursuing droids. With a deft move Anakin had the bike turn left into a wide lobby, the droids didn't see it coming. The two squads crashed into each other with a deafening explosion, sending pieces of metal flying every where.
"Another welcoming party to receive the Queen," Anakin joked as more droids moved out from connecting corridors in an effort to block their path. The buzz and flash of blasters followed them as Anakin swung the bike up, down and from side to side dodging their fire, with uncanny accuracy.
The droid commander informed his men to close off the main exits of the building. But Anakin was not heading for the exit, to their surprise he turned left into a cavernous hall at the end of which was a huge window overlooking the swamps, behind the cliff on which the palace sits. Amidala was shooting away and droids fell every where.
"Brace yourself" Anakin, shouted, as they smashed through the window. Bringing down the whole antiquated structure of the mosaic window to the ground, the huge pieces of tranparisteel shattering against the marble floor with deafening crescendo, drowning out the ping ping of the droid fire that rang out even when the fugitives were gone.
By the time the droids got to the window, the speeder was a dark spec, disappearing in a steep arch down towards the mist-shrouded jungle of 'The swamp of misery'. Thick smoke trailing from behind the speeder.
Naboo planet was practically made up of a maze of intervening bodies of water and rock. The surface of the planet was covered mostly in swamp, except for islands of solid rock out cropping here and there. Low hills and flat rolling plains stretched to the east and southeast. The only mountains of significant height were situated to the west. There were occasional bodies of water, huge lakes dotting the surface of the planet. Caves and underwater tunnels interconnected the majority of water bodies.
One could travel to any part of the planet within these tunnels. But it was extremely dangerous, a huge variety of animals, some still to be discovered, lurked in these dark waters. These route though dangerous were not impossible to cross, with a good guide-a Gungan guide- one had a much better chance of making it to ones destination in the quickest time.
Once on their way they would head for Thal Weil a dense swamp to the northwest. There, Sabe's party would meet up with the queen's party and after a short inspection of the facility by the Queen they would take off for Khandara.
That cleared, Queen Amidala brought up the question of the droid army, which made up a considerable part of their regular army. The leftover of the federation forces; these had been refurbished and reprogrammed to follow Nubian orders. But Queen Amidala never did trust them. She preferred her human guards to the droids, especially to guard the palace. Though the droids were invaluable for patrolling and monitoring the swamps and other outlying areas of the planet.
The droid control center was located several hundred miles to the west on mount Nagob, amongst the highest peaks in Naboo. Though Panaka had assured the Queen that the center had been well fortified with heavy guns and more than a hundred soldiers to keep constant guard. The Captain was certain the high peaks and the shear slopes around the facility made it impossible to any breach from outside.
Amidala though, had not been convinced; she had secretly constructed another control center in the swamps of Thal Weil, for emergency purposes. This one practically under the swamps and it had cost a good chunk of the budget. Which to Panaka had seemed a superfluous expense, considering the fact that they would need all their resources for the Freepios project.
All had gone as planned. The queens' luggage had been smuggled aboard the boat, the night before. Sabe and her party left for the picnic. As it was a holiday, and nice sunny weather to go with it, a large percentage of the populace lined both side of the street to see their queen go by.
The trip was made without a hitch.
Meanwhile Padme dressed in a loose, a maroon colored robe-her face well covered under the hood- was giving last minute instructions to Governor Sio Bibble-who would take over the administrative duties in her absence. Just then a sharp siren sounded through the palace, the Queen knew what it was-an attack on the palace. Somehow the enemy had found out, and now here escape was being blocked. The guards rushed to cover the palace doors.
"Let's go," Anakin shouted. Their cover had been blown. Who ever the enemy was knew that the real Queen was in the palace and probably knew of their plan of escape. They all ran towards the hanger-sure that the guards could hold out for just long enough, and they would have, if they would not have to deal with what seems like hundreds of droids that were streaming from all parts of the city, all heading for the palace.
Already a squadron of droids was crashing through the door, getting past the handful of palace guards easily.
"My worst fears have been realized!" Amidala said, as she looked at the wave after wave of droid soldiers pouring into the palace grounds.
She flung her cumbersome robe away and so did the other handmaidens. They wore their combat brown suits under their robes.
"To the White section!" she beckoned her party; too late! The droids were already inside the palace and spreading out-shooting every thing in sight.
They raced up the stairs to the second floor with Anakin leading the way, followed by the queen and the others,
"We have to split up!" He shouted above the din. The party broke into two teams, each team running in a different direction in search of the numerous secret escape routes that had been among the options discussed earlier.
Amidala wished luck to her friends and disappeared up the stairs to the next floor, just as droid soldiers came into the big hall. Some of the droid turned to chase after the guards and handmaidens retreating on either side of the great hallway, the main body of the soldiers, though, ran after the Queen and Anakin. They seemed to know what they were after.
Anakin, his lightsabre ready ran on, the queen in tow, he nearly surprised some droids while rounding a corner. He had the droids in pieces even before they were aware of it.
Droids being at a disadvantage in close combat, because they have to process their decisions, which make them, slow to act-certainly no match for the swift thinking Jedi. More droids were coming as the pair fled. They ran up another two floors, till they were cornered besides a thick pillar with no where else to go. Amidala took position behind the pillar and kept firing. Anakin's sword was a blur as he deflected the blaster shots back into he enemy. Soon they had a pile of mangled metal before them. Anakin was heading for the stairs again, when the queen stopped him,
"We can't go that way," "All the secret passages are mostly on the lower floors." She informed him.
"Well I'm heading for my room where I have a means of escape."
" What do you mean?" The queen asked.
"Your highness there is no time to argue." Anakin said, grabbing her arm and ready to move.
Just then his comlink buzzed.
"Skywalker here," he said switching it on, as they trotted away in the direction of the guest rooms- "Calken here Sir! We have the Sith,"
" You do! Good!" Anakin said his face lighting up.
"It seems those droids were mostly interested in the queen, we found a side route to hanger 3 only a handful of droids in guarding it. We had no problem taking them." Calken said "Sir head for the roof we'll be waiting there." He finished.
"The girls? What about the girls" Anakin asked still running only this time they were heading for the roof
"The girls are safe here with me. All of us made it safely to the ship." Calken informed them. The Queen was relieved to hear that. "Okay Calken we're heading for the roof we will be there in two minutes." Anakin said.
Surprisingly they reached the roof without much resistance. Anakin didn't like the creepy feeling overtaking him, but had no time to dwell into it; he had to catch the ship now.
At last they reached the roof, Amidala quite out of breath. They ran to an open part of the roof, sure enough there was his beloved "Sith" hovering just above the roof as it banked low, its ramp already coming down from the aft. They ran towards the ship. Blaster shots rang out before it could land or come low enough for them to board it. Anakin saw that the roof was already swarming with droids.
Coming out of every dark corner here and there. It seemed the enemy been expecting them- the comm chat between Calken him had been intercepted. The two were surrounded with no option but to surrender. Human soldiers in palace guard uniforms, advanced cautiously on them, pointing their blasters menacingly at them. Anakin saw death and murder in their eyes.
Suddenly Anakin grabbed the Queen by the waist as he made a leap for the Sith which the pilot had brought round for another pass. Amidala held tight as they flew at least twenty feet into the air. Anakin made a neat landing on the ramp of the craft but before he could get a firm hold, the Sith banked steeply as it got a direct hit on one of the vertical stabilizers.
Amidala screamed as Anakin seemed to tether on the ramp for a split second waving his free hand wildly trying to get his balance, and then they were over the side and falling into empty space.
The Ship rolled and banked wildly as it rose into the sky, plumes of smoke emitting from it as it disappeared into the haze in the direction of the swamps.
They seemed to be falling into an endless void. Amidala clutched Anakin tightly, she was sure she would not survive this one. Then they landed, on one of the huge terraces that opened out to the waterfalls. Not with a jarring thud as she had expected but a with soft thump from Anakin's boots.
Putting her down, he grabbed her hand and was running again right for the railing. Once again she was hoisted up by the waist and pulled up onto the wide balcony railing. Anakin looked around, hesitating for just a split second, taking a quick measure of the location down below and then his mind was made up.
Amidala's stomach lurched as she looked down at the wildly churning broth at the foot of the Great Falls, hundreds of feet below. She couldn't believe it when she realized what his intentions were.
"Anakin NO!" too late they were already airborne. Soaring over the yawning gap to the guest balconies-She shut her eyes. Feeling herself fall for what seemed like eternity, when suddenly her breath was knocked out of her as Anakin grabbed for the balcony railing on one of the lower floors.
The jar yanking her out of Anakin's hold, he grabbed out and just managed to get her arm. There was Anakin one arm and foot over the railing and rest of him hanging out. The weight of the struggling Queen holding him there as she flayed about helplessly in midair. She could see the roaring falls deep below her feet. Anakin's hold was slipping, he tried to support her with his free foot. she grabbed his leg, clutching to it with all her might. With hands free he hauled himself over the railing.
The sudden jerk again had the queen slipping. She screamed but no one heard her over the roar of the falls. She grasped onto his foot her knuckle white as she strained to keep her precarious hold, praying his boot would not come loose. Anakin pulled his leg up carefully, then grabbing her by the hand he pulled her over the rails. Trembling like a leaf, she clung to Anakin in an effort to calm her shaking body. But there was no time for to comfort her.
The Balconies above had protected them, so far, from direct fire from the roof, but now several STAPs-Single trooper aerial platforms-skeletal vehicles made of handles and footholds supporting one droid in standing position-were heading their way. He tore away Amidala's arms from around his neck and dashed away with her to the far corner of the balcony. There it was, the Sith speeder bike, their last means of escape. He quietly thanked Maul for his benevolence, as he mounted it.
The unarmed speeder's only special equipment was a high-acceleration engine. Shaped like a curved fish shape it was amazingly fast and able to cut tight corners at high speeds. The open design gave superb visibility.
Amidala sat behind him, her blaster ready looking around for droids-He marveled at how fast she had recovered from her shock. Anakin hit the ignition. He had the speeder shooting for the open area off to the right of the balcony but another squad of STAPs came round the far corner. Finding his path blocked on all sides he veered sharply back towards the slide doors. Using the force to push open the slide door he drove in full thrust into the room, closing the thick glass doors behind him.
He had reach the heavy wooden doors of the room when he heard the glass smash as two STAPs crashed through. By the time they were in any position to fire he was out of the door and into a wide long corridor. Amidala's blaster was waiting for them as they followed out of the door. Down the corridors they shot, Amidala blasting away back and front to clear the way of mostly, surprised droids they met there.
More droids on STAPs crashed in through the corridor window, heading straight for them in a bid to block their way. The pair was now sandwiched between the oncoming and pursuing droids. With a deft move Anakin had the bike turn left into a wide lobby, the droids didn't see it coming. The two squads crashed into each other with a deafening explosion, sending pieces of metal flying every where.
"Another welcoming party to receive the Queen," Anakin joked as more droids moved out from connecting corridors in an effort to block their path. The buzz and flash of blasters followed them as Anakin swung the bike up, down and from side to side dodging their fire, with uncanny accuracy.
The droid commander informed his men to close off the main exits of the building. But Anakin was not heading for the exit, to their surprise he turned left into a cavernous hall at the end of which was a huge window overlooking the swamps, behind the cliff on which the palace sits. Amidala was shooting away and droids fell every where.
"Brace yourself" Anakin, shouted, as they smashed through the window. Bringing down the whole antiquated structure of the mosaic window to the ground, the huge pieces of tranparisteel shattering against the marble floor with deafening crescendo, drowning out the ping ping of the droid fire that rang out even when the fugitives were gone.
By the time the droids got to the window, the speeder was a dark spec, disappearing in a steep arch down towards the mist-shrouded jungle of 'The swamp of misery'. Thick smoke trailing from behind the speeder.