Theed
As the Naboo entered the atmosphere the Enterprise remained in orbit, maintaining a distance from the droid control ship but its presence did not go unnoticed. Nute Gunray was informed of this as he, Rune Haako and Darth Maul were shown an image of the ship.
"It was with the Naboo ship as it entered the system but it's not landing." Dofine reported from the bridge of the Vuutun Palaa.
Darth Maul frowned, recognizing the ship from Tattooine but said nothing. It matched no known records but the Outer Rim thrived on unregistered vessels.
"There's no matching record of such a ship." Haako mentioned.
Nute frowned, looking at the image of the strange vessel. "And it's just sitting there?"
"It's remaining out of range on the other side the planet." Dofine answered.
Nute was nervous, something that wasn't new these days but he remembered Sidious' orders. All vessels entering the system were to be destroyed or detained. The Naboo ship carrying the Queen was an exception.
This vessel was not.
"Intercept that ship at once and have it detained or destroyed." Nute ordered.
"Yes, Viceroy." Dofine shifted, ending the communication.
Kirk had just entered the transporter room with Spock and McCoy when a call from the bridge stopped him.
"Bridge to Captain." Sulu's voice came over the intercom. "We have detected numerous craft emerging from the other ship in orbit. They're on an intercept course with us."
Kirk walked over the main console to reply. "What do you make of them?"
"Small and armed, Captain. They appear to be fighters."
"Go to Red Alert, I'll meet you on the bridge." Kirk said, turning to the door. "Bones you wait here, Spock come with me."
Spock immediately followed him while McCoy sighed. "Every time."
Once he was on the bridge, Kirk was immediately at his chair while Spock took over the science station. "Status."
"Over seventy five armed craft on approach, Captain." Chekov reported. "Deflectors up and main phasers are charged."
"Spock?"
"They are unmanned, Captain. Armed with forward plasma based lasers and torpedo launchers." Spock reported from his scans. "Essentially piloted by onboard computers. I am also detecting a modulating signal from each fighter being directed from the control ship."
"Well, we heard the Trade Federation relies heavily on droids." Kirk muttered, watching as the fighters approached. "Can they do any damage?"
"Negative. Our navigation shields can block their weapons. However with enough numbers they could begin to wear down our deflectors." Spock answered.
Compared to the deadly plasma energy bolts of V'Ger which the shields were only able to block once the weapons on the droid starfighters fielded by the Trade Federation were literally a step in then opposite direction: primitive and insufficient.
"Well let's not give them a chance. Mr. Chekov, lock phasers onto the approaching fighters." Kirk said.
"Phasers locked, Captain." Chekov reported.
Just as the droid fighters came into range they fired, their blasters bouncing off of the Enterprise's deflector shields. The quadr-transducer shield that held off a single blast from V'Ger easily repelled the blast fire while the phaser banks fired with amazing accuracy, taking out the nearest droid fighters. The fighters broke off in all directions, their droid brains directing them to regroup and try again.
"Wide arc, Mr. Chekov." Kirk said.
The phaser banks continued firing, the beams widening and destroying more droid fighters as they regrouped.
Vuutun Palaa
Bridge
"Our fighters are being destroyed."Tey How reported, the information flowing through her head-set. "The ship is destroying them."
"Impossible." Dofine said as he looked out the viewport to see their droid fighters easily being destroyed.
The beams weapons from the unknown ship were spreading out and moving to hit the droid fighters with astounding precision and so easily it was like batting away a housefly.
Dofine was nervous now at seeing his fighters easily being destroyed. "Pull back our fighters and keep our shields up. Launch half our fighters and have them form a defense screen around us."
He would need to consult Gunray about this.
Enterprise
Bridge
"Fighters pulling back, Captain." Sulu said.
Kirk could see that as he turned to Uhura. "Uhura, can you open a channel."
"Hailing now, Captain." Uhura replied. "I've managed to isolate their communication frequencies. Channel open."
Kirk sat down and pressed a switch on his chair. "This is Admiral James T. Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise to the Trade Federation vessel. We are aware of your current occupation of this planet and have no wish to initiate hostilities with you. We only provided escort to Queen Amidala who wishes to end this conflict for the safety of her people. We take no sides in this matter but wish to end this with no further bloodshed."
There was no reply but Kirk wasn't expecting one.
"Captain, I've managed to identify the range of their control frequencies. Their range is about sixteen thousand kilometers." Spock reported.
Kirk nodded. "Mr. Sulu, take us into low orbit around the other side of the planet and take us about seventeen kilometers away from the ship."
"Aye sir." Sulu said, making the adjustments.
Kirk turned around and walked over to Spock's station. "You scanned their frequencies?"
"Yes, Captain. They use a rolling encryption but with so many fighters and droids the ship's computers are likely limited, possibly only to a handful of variations. It's evident that this Trade Federation relies on quantity, not quality in this as I noticed some patterns in the performance in the droids were for the lack of a better word: sluggish. It's possibly despite that the number of droids on the ship and planet can overwhelm their control systems." Spock surmised.
"Is it possible to jam their transmissions?" Kirk asked.
"Possibly. Logically given the number of transmitters aboard that ship they can change frequencies and patterns immediately." Spock stated. "If I may offer an alternative?"
"By all means." Kirk smiled, bowing his head slightly.
"It may take too long before they decide to attack again to look for a method of jamming their frequencies. I believe simpler method would be to disrupt or overload their communications through their frequencies." Spock stated.
"You are saying they can be bombarded with something on the same wavelength?" Kirk assumed.
Spock nodded. "It's very possible, Captain. Of course it would have to be more powerful than the control system on the control ship."
"Sir, Dr. McCoy reports our guest is ready and waiting in the transporter room with him." Uhura reported.
"We're on our way." Kirk immediately got back on track. "I think we know who talk about this."
The Naboo spacecraft had landed in the Gungan swamp.
Troops unloaded the ship in the background as Obi-Wan approached Qui-Gon. "Jar-Jar is on his way to the Gungan city, Master."
Qui-Gon's thoughts were elsewhere. "Good."
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stood silently for a moment. "Do you think the Queen's idea will work?"
"The Gungans will not be easily swayed, and we cannot use our power to help her." Qui-Gon answered sternly.
Obi-Wan hesitated. "I'm...I'm sorry for my behavior, Master. It's not my place to disagree with you about the boy. And I am grateful that you think I am ready to take the trials."
Qui-Gon looked at him for a long moment and them smiled. "You have been nothing but honest to me. Honesty is never wrong. I wasn't lying to the Council when I said you were ready, Obi-Wan. You are. You have been a good apprentice, Obi-Wan. And you are a much wiser man than I am. I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight. You will make me proud."
"If I do, it will be because of what you taught me."
Jar-Jar swam down into Bubble City, entering the main square of the bubble city. He stood, stunned, in amazement and fear, nervous and shaking. "Ello! Where das everybody?"
The plaza was empty. He noticed that many of the buildings are shot up as if there had been a battle of some kind.
Jar-Jar exited the swamp lake and walked over to Queen Amidala, Captain Panaka, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Padme, Eirtae, Rabe, Anakin, Artoo, four pilots and eight guards stood in the background near the starship. "Dare-sa nobody dare. Da Gungan city is deserted. Some kinda fight, mesa tinks."
"Do you think they've been taken to the camps?" Obi-Wan asked.
"More likely they were wiped out." Panaka said.
"No...mesa no tink so. Gungan hiden." Jar-Jar denied.
"Do you know where they are, Jar-Jar?" Qui-Gon asked.
"When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place. Mackineeks no find them dare. Mesa show you. Come on, mesa show you!"
The group followed Jar-Jar away from the lake. They followed Jar-Jar as he moved through the swamp.
Jar-Jar stopped and sniffed the air as the group stopped behind him. "Dissen it."
Jar-Jar made a strange chattering noise. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Captain Tarpals and six other Gungan troops riding on kaadus emerge from the brush.
"Heyo-dalee, Captain Tarpals."
"Binks! Noah gain!" Tarpals groaned.
"Wesa comen to see da boss."
Captain Tarpals rolls his eyes. "Ouchtime, Binks... Ouch time for all-n youse, mebbe."
Jar-Jar, Queen Amidala, Anakin, Artoo, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Padme, Rabe, Eirtae and the rest of her group were led through a clearing full of Gungan refugees. At the far end were the ruins of a grand temple with massive carved heads. Boss Nass and several other Rep Council members walked out on the top of a three-quarter-submerged head.
"Your Honor…Queen Amidala of the Naboo!" Captain Tarpals said, allowing Amidala to step forward.
Jar-Jar stepped forward, looking very nervous. "Uhhh…..hello-dalee Big Boss Nass, Your Honor."
"Jar-Jar Binks, yousa payen dis time. Who's da uss-en others?" Boss Nass asked.
Queen Amidala stepped forward with Captain Panaka and the Jedi standing behind her. "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo...I come before you in peace."
"Naboo biggen. Yousa bringen da Mackineeks. Dya busten uss-en omm. Yousa all bombad. Yousa all die'n, mesa tink." The boss snorted.
Captain Panaka and half a dozen guards and pilots looked around nervously, and the Gungan troops raised their long power poles. The Jedi stay relaxed. Anakin watched everything with great interest.
Amidala seemed strangely hesitant and tense. "We have searched you out, because we wish to form an alliance..."
Suddenly, Padme stepped forward. "Your Honor..."
Artoo whistled a quiet 'uh oh.'
"Whosa dis?" The boss demanded.
"I am Queen Amidala."
"HUH?!"
Artoo whistled in astonishment. Anakin was stunned. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan gave each other a knowing look.
Padme pointed to the 'Queen'. This is my decoy...my protection...my loyal bodyguard."
She looked to Anakin and the Jedi. "...I am sorry for my deception, but under the circumstances it has become necessary to protect myself."
She turned to Boss Nass. "Although we do not always agree, Your Honor, our two great societies have always lived in peace...until now. The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build. You are in hiding, my people are in camps. If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever. I ask you to help us...no, I beg you to help us."
Padme dropped to her knees and prostrates herself before Boss Nass. There was a gasp from Captain Panaka, his troops and the handmaidens.
"We are your humble servants...our fate is in your hands."
Slowly, Captain Panaka and his troops bowed down before the Gungan Council. Then the handmaidens, Anakin and finally the Jedi. The Gungans are puzzled by this
Boss Nass began to laugh. "Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans? Meeesa lika dis! Maybe… wesa… bein friends."
Boss Nass started to shake his head, spit flying everywhere as everyone cheered.
Theed
Nute, Rune and Darth Maul were in the throne room with the Viceroy speaking with a hologram of Darth Sidious. "...we've sent out patrols. We already located their starship in the swamp... It won't be long, my Lord."
"This is an unexpected move for her. It's too aggressive… Lord Maul, be mindful. Be patient... Let them make the first move." Sidious said, turning to his apprentice.
"Yes, my Master." Maul answered softly.
"There is…one other matter, my Lord." Gunray shifted in his chair. "An unknown ship has entered orbit of the planet. We tried to detain or destroy but it destroyed our fighters."
Sidious frowned at that. "Show me this ship."
A projection of the strange ship destroying the droid Starfighters was shown to the Dark Lord who stared at it in silence for a moment. "Do you know what this ship is?"
"We only know the name of the ship and its captain. It's called the…USS Enterprise commanded by one…Admiral James T. Kirk." Gunray answered. "They claim they do not wish to intervene but they will not leave either."
"And what do you plan to do about it?" Sidious asked silkly.
Gunray shifted a bit. "It is the recommendation of Captain Dofine that we call for reinforcements to deal with this unknown ship at once."
He wasn't sure what to expect and only hoped that it was a wise decision.
"Very well. Put out a call for reinforcements and ensure this ship is destroyed. I want no interference from anyone." Sidious surprisingly agreed.
"Yes, My Lord." Gunray said before the transmission ended and turned to Haako. "Contact Vicelord Kav immediately."
A Gungan sentry sat on top of the ancient temple head, searching the landscape with a pair of electrobinoculars.
He saw something and yells down to Anakin at the foot of the statue. "Daza comen!"
"All right. They're here!" Anakin yelled and runs over to Padme and the Jedi, who are discussing a battle plan with five Gungan generals while Sabe and Eirtae stood nearby.
"Good, they made it".
Four speeders pulled up to the group. Captain Panaka and a dozen or so guards and pilots piled out and join the group.
Nearby, Boss Nass put his arm around Jar-Jar. "Yousa doen grand. Jar-Jar bringen usen and da Naboo together. Tis a bery brave ting."
"Oh, yousa no go sayin dat. Tis nutten." Jar-Jar humbly denied.
"No, yousa grand warrior!"Nass declared.
"Oh, no, no, no..."
"So, wesa make you… Bombad General!" Boss Nass declared.
"General?! Oh, no…" Jar-Jar's eyes rolled back, his tongue flopped out and he fainted.
Boss Nass just laughed as he walked over to the briefing.
"I think we got through without being detected, Your Highness." Panaka greeted.
"What is the situation?" Padme asked
"Almost everyone's in camps." Panaka replied. "A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground resistance movement. I brought as many of the leaders as I could."
"Good. The Gungan army's much larger than we imagined."
"Very, very bombad!" Boss Nass agreed with the Queen.
"You'll need it. The Federation army's also much larger than we thought, and much stronger." Panaka hesitated. "Your Highness, this is a battle I do not think that we can win."
"I don't intend to win it. The battle is a diversion." Padme smiled. "The Gungans must draw the Droid Army away from the cities. Artoo?"
"Got it." Artoo whistled, and began emitting a holoprojection of the City of Theed.
A path was shown through the cliff side underneath the city.
"We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side. Once we get to the main entrance, Captain Panaka will create a diversion, then we can enter the palace and capture the Viceroy. Without the Viceroy, they will be lost and confused. Neimoidians don't think for themselves. "
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan looked on with interest.
"What do you think, Master Jedi?" Padme asked the two.
"The Viceroy will be well guarded." Qui-Gon pointed out.
"The difficulty's getting into the throne room. Once we're inside, we shouldn't have a problem. " Panaka said.
"There is a possibility with this diversion many Gungans will be killed." Qui-Gon added.
Boss Nass shrugged. "Wesa ready to do are-sen part."
Jar-Jar smiled a very worried and sheepish grin. Anakin watched with interest, as did Artoo.
"We have a plan which should immobilize the Droid Army." Padme assured Qui-Gon. "We will send what pilots we have to knock out the Droid control ship orbiting the planet. If we can get past their rayshields, we can sever communication and their droids will be helpless."
"A well-conceived plan." Qui-Gon nodded. "However, there's great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate the shields on the control ship."
"And there's an even bigger danger. If the Viceroy escapes, Your Highness, he will return with another droid army." Obi-Wan added.
"Well, that is why we must not fail to get to the Viceroy. Everything depends on it." Padme's steely gaze took in each of the warriors in turn. "We leave for Theed in one hour."
Just as everyone was about to break four pillars of light shined near them, materializing into Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy and…
"Mom!" Anakin shouted, running forward…
And leaping into the arms of Shmi Skywalker.
"Well," McCoy looked around and saw everyone looking at them as still as a statue. "Are we late?"
Nute, Rune, Darth Maul and a hologram of Darth Sidious walked through the hallway.
"Our young Queen surprises me. She is more foolish than I thought".
"We are sending all available troops to meet this army of hers assembling near the swamp. It appears to be made up of primitives. We do not expect much resistance." Gunray reported. "As for the strange ship, Vicelord Kav will be arriving with two more additional battleships within the hour."
"I feel there is more to this, My Master. The two Jedi may be using the Queen for their own purposes." Darth Maul spoke next.
"The Jedi cannot become involved. They can only protect the Queen. Even Qui-Gon Jinn will not break that covenant. This will work to our advantage..."
"I have your approval to proceed then, My Lord?" Gunray asked nervously.
"Proceed. Wipe them out...all of them."
"You freed his mother?" Obi-Wan asked.
Shmi and Anakin were happily chatting away from the group as they spoke.
"It wasn't just them." McCoy answered with a smile. "That scan I had of Anakin's transmitter made it easy to locate each transmitter on almost every slave on Tattooine. With a little help from Mr. Spock we were able to shut them all down."
"So all the slaves have been liberated?" Padme asked.
"Well, we asked Miss Skywalker if she wanted to be freed, she said yes and then she passed the message around and from there things picked up. It wasn't easy because a lot of the slaves depend on their owners for housing and food." Kirk began. "Many of them were afraid their owners would just have a new transmitter placed in their bodies or they would be killed if they tried escaping. We remember you mentioning that Tattooine was controlled by the Hutts."
"We did." Qui-Gon nodded.
"Well, since we didn't want to risk the attention of a criminal empire at the time we made a compromise." Kirk looked at Padme. "Your Highness."
Padme looked surprised. "You know who I am?"
"We suspected. Don't worry, you were good at hiding yourself but we, mostly Mr. Spock picked up on the hidden glances the 'Queen' made with you and almost every major decision she made, you were present for." Kirk explained with a small smile. "And it was a brilliant idea. If a decoy was made to sign the treaty and discovered, the Trade Federation's occupation would be rendered illegal by your Galactic Senate, especially when the representatives were all present to ratify it."
"Thus, humiliating your captors and possibly provoke the Senate into retaliation." Spock finished for his commanding officer. "Impressive and logical, Your Highness."
"Thank you…But I am still confused on what compromise you made with the slaves." Padme replied.
"Well, say you free your planet. Would you be interested in giving safe haven to the freed slaves we have up on the Enterprise?" Kirk asked slowly.
"You have how many slaves on your ship?" Panaka asked.
"Obviously we don't have enough guest quarters and even the cargo bay is kind of full. We managed to beam up all the slaves from Mos Espa and several more settlements but Mos Espa's was the largest." Kirk explained, further surprising the Jedi and the Naboo. "They all agreed to come with us when we showed them how we could safely get them off planet and to somewhere safe and so far the only planet that I can think that…will be safe is your planet, Your Highness. We can offload the slaves once we know we can settle them here."
"You want to settle them here? Naboo is not a refuge planet." Panaka argued. "And we can't take them in when we are in the middle of a war."
"But we can after the war." Padme said, cutting off her captain's argument. "Naboo has a long history of providing humanitarian aid. But first we need to drive the Trade Federation from our planet."
"That's also another reason we're here. All though we can't officially involve ourselves in this war, it's possible the Trade Federation may decide for us. They've already tried to attack us once and I have a feeling they will do so again. That's why Mr. Spock," Kirk gestured to his science officer. "Would like a word with Mr. R2."
"Mr. R2?" R2 beeped. "…I like that."