Chapter 5 Rescue

JarJar opened his mouth to say something, but Jesse grabbed onto his beak, shutting it.

"Shh!" he hissed.

JarJar rubbed his beak indignantly.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan leaped into the courtyard and began attacking. Jesse watched, fascinated as they ducked and dodged, sending blaster bolts from the droids right back into their midst until finally they were all destroyed.

"Yousa guys bombad!" JarJar exclaimed, jumping down with Jesse.

"Your Highness, we are the Ambassadors, for the Supreme Chancellor." Qui-Gon introduced them.

"Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador." A short man with white hair remarked.

Jesse snorted at the understatement, and Qui-Gon shot him a stern look.

"The negotiations never took place." He said, "Your Highness, we must make contact with the republic."

"They've knocked out all our communications." A man with dark skin reported.

"Do you have transports?"

"In the main hanger. This way." He led them down a hallway to a door. He opened the door a crack and peered through. Battle droids were everywhere.

"There are too many of them." He said.

Jesse just grinned and shook his head. They were Jedi after all.

"That won't be a problem." Qui-Gon addresses the queen, "Your Highness, under the circumstances, I suggest you come to Coruscant with us."

"Thank you, Ambassador, but my place is here with my people." She politely declined.

What? If she stays here she'll be killed. Jesse watched Qui-Gon's reaction carefully, but he didn't betray any emotion.

"They will kill you if you stay." He said, almost matter-of-factly.

"They wouldn't dare." The short man said with heat.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal. They can't afford to kill her." The dark man explained.

"The situation here is not what it seems." Qui-Gon persisted, "There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you."

The short man quickly grasped the point and turned to the queen. "Please, Your Highness, reconsider. Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us... Senator Palpatine will need your help."

The dark man shook his head, "Getting past their blockade is impossible, Your Highness. Any attempt to escape will be dangerous."

"Your Highness, I will stay here and do what I can...They will have to retain the Council of Governors in order to maintain control. But you must leave..." the short man persisted

Queen Amidala raised a hand for silence and turned to her handmaidens. "Either choice presents a great risk...to all of us..."

One of the girls lifted her chin. "We are brave, Your Highness."

"If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now." Qui-Gon said quietly, still waiting for the queen's decision.

The queen took a deep breath. "Then, I will plead our case before the Senate. Be careful, Governor." She said to the short man.

"Well then," Qui-Gon looked through the door. "let's go."

"We need to free those pilots." The dark man pointed to a group of men.

"I'll take care of that." Obi-Wan began walking swiftly toward the group.

"Follow me." Qui-Gon led the way to a ship. A battle droid stepped in their path.

"Where are you going?" it demanded.

Qui-Gon didn't bat an eye. "I'm Ambassador for the Supreme Chancellor, and I'm taking those people to Coruscant."

The droid looked confused. "You're under arrest!"

"Go!" Qui-Gon shouted to the queen while igniting his lighsaber. He and Obi-Wan made short work of the droids while Jesse reluctantly followed the others into the ship. He really wished he could fight too. So far, except for looking after JarJar, he'd been pretty useless.

Considering you're not even supposed to be here… He reminded himself as they took off amidst blaster shots directed at them.

The sleek spacecraft sped away from the planet of Naboo- directly toward the blockade. Jesse ran to the cockpit and joined Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

"Captain Panaka, do you have a cloaking device?" Qui-Gon asked the dark man.

Panaka snorted. "No, this is not a warship, we have no weapons. We're a non- violent people, that is why the Federation was brave enough to attack us."

The captain of the ship looked up from the control panel, "We won't make it. The shields are gone."

"The Astro-droids will get it fixed." Qui-Gon said.

"We're losing droids fast." Obi-Wan reported.

"If they can't get those shield generators fixed we will be sitting ducks." Panaka said.

Jesse clenched his jaw and stared out the window at the attacking ships. How many times had he almost died since hiding on the transport? Each time either Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan had been able to pull something off, but this time there was nothing they could do. It was all up to the droids that were rapidly being destroyed until there was only one left.

Suddenly the captain shouted. "Powers back! That little droid did it. He bypassed the main power drive. Deflector shield up, at maximum."

"Yes!" Panaka exclaimed. Obi-Wan and even Qui-Gon looked relieved. Jesse grinned.

"That was close." He said.

"What? You haven't gotten enough near death experiences yet?" Qui-Gon teased.

"If I ever complain about being bored again…" Jesse just shook his head.

"There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant; the hyperdrive is leaking." The captain reported.

Qui-Gon immediately turned his attention to a star chart. "We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship."

Obi-Wan looked over his master's shoulder and pointed, "Here, Master. Tatooine. It's small, out of the way, poor. The Trade Federation has no presence there."

"How can you be sure?" Panaka sounded doubtful.

"It's controlled by the Hutts." Qui-Gon said.

"The Hutts?" Now Panaka was incredulous.

"It's risky, but there's no alternative."

"Who are the Hutts?" Jesse asked.

Qui-Gon didn't get a chance to answer as Panaka broke in, "You can't take Her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters! If they discovered her..."

"Are gangsters worse than battledroids?" Jesse asked, raising his eyebrows the way he'd seen Qui-Gon do.

"Well, no, but…"

"It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation, except the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us an advantage." Qui-Gon said.

Panaka took a deep breath in frustration and raised his hands in surrender.