"Your Highness, I am Qui-Gon Jin and this is Obi-Wan Kenobi. We were sent by the Supreme Chancellor to negotiate with the Trade Federation."

"Your negotiations seem to have failed, Ambassador," Amidala states coldly.

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

"They've knocked out all our communications."

"Do you have transports?," Obi-Wan asks.

"In the main hanger," Padme answers, "My Queen, I can lead the way."

Amidala nods and they quickly disappear down an alleyway as alarms are sounded. In the main hanger bay, Qui-Gon cracks open a side door to the central hanger. He looks in over his shoulder while the rest of the group are behind him. They see several Naboo spacecraft guarded by about several droids. Off ot the side, he spots Captain Panaka and several pilots. "We'll have to free those pilots," Qui-Gon turns to the queen, "Your Highness, under the circumstances, I suggest you come to Coruscant with us."

"Thank you, Master Qui-Gon, but my place is here with my people."

"They will kill you if you stay."

"They wouldn't dare," Padme tells him, "They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal. They can't afford to kill her."

"The situation here is not what it seems. There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Federation's move. Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us."

"Be brave, Your Highness," Padme tells her.

"Senator Palpatine can help," Amidala considers her options, "Together, we can plead our case before the Senate. Padme and I will go with you."

The door opens to the main hanger and they rush for a sleek chrome spacecraft. Obi-Wan heads toward the group of captured pilots while Qui-Gon approaches the guards at the ramp of the Naboo craft. "Where are you going?," the head guard asks. "I'm Ambassador for the Supreme Chancellor, and I'm taking those people to Coruscant," he tells the droid. "Negative," he draws his weapon, but is cut down. Obi-Wan attacks the guards around the pilots, slicing one droid in half while removing the arms of another before he can fire. Padme runs in, firing at the droids at the edge of the hanger bay door; they all plummet down the steep cliff outside. Captain Panaka and the freed pilots quickly grab discarded blasters and exchange fire with the droids across the hanger. Padme leads Amidala up the ramp to the chrome ship as Qui-Gon slices through a droid, letting it tumble onto the ground. Obi-Wan uses the Force to throw another droid into a small cluster, knocking them all down. "Captain!," Padme shouts down to Panaka who rushes alongside Obi-Wan to the chrome ship. Captain Panaka leaps into the pilot's seat with Obi-Wan as the navigator, "Hold on, everyone!". The rest of the passengers strap themselves to the seats in the passenger area. The ship lifts off as the Naboo pilots down below lay down suppressive fire.

Moments later, the ship exits the hanger and speeds away from the planet of Naboo as anti-star craft canons fire at them down below. The craft dips away from the canon fire, leaves the atmosphere and soon heads for the deadly Federation blockade. Captain Panaka, navigates toward the massive battleship. "The hyperdrive is disabled," Obi-Wan announces. "Let's see if I can get the R2 units online," Panaka explains. In the droid hold, several astro droids stand in a row. The all look alike, except for their paint color, and they all seemingly come alive at once as they file out of an airlock and slide along the outer surface of the ship. The Federation ship fires on the craft, shooting one droid off the surface. They make their way to a device mounted on top of the ship. Tools extend from their bodies as they begin to remove the object. Another droid is shot off the bow. Finally, the object comes off and the droids open a compartment that was underneath. Another droid is shot off, leaving one blue R2 unit who works furiously. The ship's console lights up and Panaka exclaims, "The hyperdrive is back! That little droid did it." The lone blue droid finishes his repairs and goes back into the ship. "Get us as far away as possible," Obi-Wan exclaims, then the Naboo spacecraft races away from the Federation battleship at lightspeed.

In the Federation battleship conference room, Nute and his head security officer sit around a conference table with a hologram of Darth Sidious.

"Lord Sidious, we control all the cities in the North and are searching for any other settlements," Nute explains.

"Destroy all high-ranking officials, Viceroy...slowly...quietly," Sidious sneers, "And Queen Amidala, has she signed the treaty?"

"She has disappeared, My Lord. One Naboo cruiser got past the blockade."

"I sense you are not telling me all that you know, Viceroy."

"The Chancellor... sent two Jedi to force us into a settlement. We attacked them, but they escaped. We believe they may be on that ship."

"Find them! I want that treaty signed and I want the Jedi destroyed."

"My Lord, it's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range."

"Not for a Sith," a second Sith lord appears behind him with red skin, dark facial tattoos, and a hooded cloak, "This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship. For your sake, pray the Jedi never reach the Senate."

"Yes, My Lord," The hologram fades off and Nute turns to his officer, "This is getting out of hand...now there are two of them."

"We should not have made this bargain," the officer tells him, "What will happen when the Jedi become aware of these Sith Lords?"

Back on the Naboo ship, Amidala sits in the Queen's chambers. The R2 unit stands before her, flanked by Panaka and Padme. "It's an extremely well put together little droid. Without a doubt, it saved the ship, as well as our lives," Panaka explains.
"It is to be commended," Amidala announces, "What is its number? The little droid lets out a series of bleeps. Captain Panaka leans over and scrapes some dirt off it and reads the number, "R2-D2, Your Highness.
"Thank you, R2-D2. You have proven to be very loyal...Padme. Clean this droid up as best as possible. It deserves our gratitude."

Padme takes R2 into another section of the ship just as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan show up. "Your Highness, we are coming out of hyperspace," Qui-Gon explains, "The device used to disable the hyperdrive did considerable damage and we will need to replace it."

"The R2 unit got the drive working but we barely had enough power to leave the system," Obi-Wan continues, "We'll need to stop and find a method of acquiring a new hyperdrive."

"What's the nearest system?," Panaka asks.

"A remote planet called Tatooine. It's a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation. There we will be able to make needed repairs, then travel on to Coruscant."
Panaka turns to Amidala, "Your Highness, Tatooine is very dangerous. It's controlled by an alliance of gangs called the Hutts. I do not agree with the Jedi on this. Perhaps you should consult your handmaiden?"

"When Padme returns, we will discuss the matter. Thank you, Master Qui-Gon."

Once they leave the Queen's quarter's, Obi-Wan turns to Qui-Gon, "I wsh they would trust your judgement."

"Patience, my young padawan," Qui-Gon tells him.