CITY OF THEED, NABOO

The neimoidian officer, a lieutenant escorted by two securitydroids, carried with him documents and datapads to be handed over to his superior officer. But he was more than taken by surprise as a human, dressed in robes and hood, suddenly stepped out into the hallway right infront of him. Both droids took aim with their blasters, but before they had time to open fire, the mysterious human rapidly extended his arms as if pushing the thin air. Instantly, the two securitydroids were flung backwards, crashing and tumbling against the floor before eventually ending up as piles of scrapmetal. Walking up to the terrified neimoidian, Qui-Gon lowered his hood and locked eyes with the Federation officer. The neimoidian was petrified and unable to utter a single word.

Ten minutes later, the neimoidian lieutenant headed down a flight of stairs and entered a storage-facility. Several securitydroids stood guard as many of the booths, protected by energy-fields, that once served as storage were now serving as holding-cells keeping prisoners of war secured. A gran captain walked over to the lieutenant as he set foot on the floor.

"Lieutenant" the captain said, aiming his three eyes at the neimoidian. "What can I help you with?"

"Captain, sir" the lieutenant replied. "I am showing where we are holding the pilots prisoner."

"Showing?" the captain wondered suspiciously. "Showing who?"

The lieutenant turned as the others came down the stairs. "The jedi, of course."

The captain could hardly believe his three eyes as two actual jedi came into view in the flight of stairs. He quickly drew his blaster and took aim, the first shot deflected by a blue lightsaber into the ceiling and the second directly back at the captain, killing him instantly. The lieutenant ran to find cover as the droids opened fire, the barrage unable to get past the two lightsabers wielded expertly by the jedi. One by one, the securitydroids were shot down by their own blasterbolts, as the jedi deflected the shots back at their attackers. It did not take long before all the droids had been defeated.

Obi-Wan quickly found the controls to the storage-units used as holding-cells and deactivated the energy-fields. As the naboo pilots and soldiers gathered in the corridor, Panaka walked up to them.

"Are you all allright?" the captain inquired eagerly.

A pilot holding the rank of commander nodded. "Yes, they weren't too rough with us. Commander Temuera, third fighter division."

Panaka shook the mans hand. "Captain Panaka, personal guard of the queen."

"The queen?" a lieutenant of House Amidalas guard stepped forward. "I she..?"

"The queen is alive and unharmed" Panaka assured them all. "But we need your help to keep her that way."

Qui-Gon was next to speak. "We need to get your queen to Coruscant, so that she may convince the Senate to take action against the Federation. We need someone to pilot the royal sloop out in the hangar."

Commander Temuera looked at his liberators. "You need more than that. You need fighter-cover if you intend to get past the blockade and make it to hyperspace. And you need a damned good pilot to fly that slow moving pleasure-yacht."

Qui-Gon nodded in argeement. "Can it be arranged?"

Commander Temuera smiled. "Yeah... It can. Major Olié!" A flight-major stepped forward somewhat reluctantly. "This is Major Ric Olié, squadron leader of Bravo Wing, third fighter division. Ric, you are assigned to the queens sloop; your mission is to take her safely to Coruscant."

The major appeared suspicious and reluctant towards the mission. "If you don't mind, sir, I would rather stay and fight."

Commander Temuera did mind however. "We are at war, major. And this mission has priority over all others. The safety of the queen comes first and that means you flying her to Coruscant."

"Yes sir" Major Olié said reluctantly.

"Good" Qui-Gon said. "Let us get out of here before the Federation realize what is going on."

Everyone joined up in a corridor outside of the main hangar, preparing for the rush to the sloop. Baron Sio jumped down from a window, having spied on the courtyard outside, as the jedi returned with the freed pilots and soldiers.

"There is alot of activity out there" the baron said. "I think they have realized we are missing."

"Then it is time to leave" Qui-Gon said. "Go straight for the ship. Me and Obi-Wan will deal with the guards."

At that very moment, a doorway at the far end of the corridor opened, and in came several securitydroids and Federation soldiers that were in a very big hurry. Almost instantly, a firefight errupted between the Naboo troops and the Federation forces, filling the corridor with blasterbolts and smoke and swarms of glowing sparks as blasterbolts struck walls, ceiling and floor.

"Go!" Baron Sio urged Baroness Amidala as he picked up a blaster from a fallen soldier and returned fire down at the Federation troops. "Palpatine needs your help! Captain Panaka, get her to Coruscant! Now go!"

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ran into the hangarbay, lightsabers activated, and came immediately under fire from the enemy troops present. The two jedi advanced as they deflected all incoming fire, and in doing so, provided cover for the nabooans as they ran towards various vessels.

In the corridors the firefight continued with more and more Federation troops arriving. Securitydroids took point while soldiers followed in support. It did not take long before Baron Sio and his companions were hopelessly outgunned and outnumbered.

Halfway to the sloop, Baroness Naberrié was wounded from a shot to her leg and tumbled. Baron Louka stopped to help her on her feet, but was in turn shot dead in the crossfire. Padmé stopped to rush to her mothers aid, but the Shadow Maidens grabbed hold of her, and through their combined strength, dragged the queen along with them towards the yacht.

"Mother!"

"Go!" Baroness Naberrié urged her daughter, holding her wounded leg where she lay on the floor. "Get out of here!"

"Mother! No!"

At that point, Federation troops began to in earnest pour into the hangar. The two jedi deflected hundreds of blasterbolts in an amazing display of agilty and skill with the lightsaber.

Queen Amidala, reluctantly escorted by six of her handmaidens, entered the sloops general area together with Jar-Jar and they all hurried to strap themselves in, while Major Olié and three household guards ran through the chamber. A narrow doorway slid open and two polished protocol-droids, having been activated by the presence of crew and passengers, stepped out of their small compartment.

"Good day" the silver-colored of the two droids said. "I am H-7SR, etiquette and customs. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"And I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations" the golden of the two droids then added. "I hope this flight will be a pleasant experience for everyone."

Panaka stood on the ramp of the sloop, firing his blaster and waved at the two jedi. "Come On!"

Qui-Gon and is apprentice ran for the ship as the fightercraft came to life around them and took off one by one. The jedi ran up the ramp and Panaka slammed his hand against the controls that sealed the ship airtight.

"Get us out of here!" Panaka shouted over the comlink.

In the cockpit, Major Olié ignited the sloops engines and took off, pushing the Federation shuttles baring his way to the side as he accelerated to catch up with the fighter-cover. Slamming into the three shuttles shook the entire ship, and everyone onboard not yet securely fastened in a chair, fell to the floor, including the two jedi and Panaka.

XXX XXX

Baron Gelda and members of his staff, along with several Federation advisors and officers, ran out on a balcony just in time to see the royal sloop and an escort of Naboo fighters rush off towards the clouds above Theed.

NABOO ORBIT

Commander Temuera had all pilots call in, and gave the order to form up in a standard escort pattern around Queen Amidalas sloop. The plan was simple enough; the sloop would head straight for the blockade, with all power that could be spared redirected to the shields, and the shields then set at double-front for maximum protection as they advanced upon the Federation cargo-haulers. The unshielded aft was to be protected by four fighters, protecting the sloop with their own shields, while the remaining eight fightercraft provided overall cover and support.

Commander Temuera, taking point flying ahead of the sloop, was first to spot the Federation blockade. "Three Federation battleships at point one seven. Here's where the fun begins."

Major Olié activated the sloops intercom. "We are about to get fired upon. I suggest everyone brace for impact."

It did not take long before blasterbolts rained in towards the naboo vessels.

"Push your engines!" Commander Temuera instructed, his face stern as heavy fire filled space around him. "Nobody veers off! We need to push through!"

Suddenly, one of the fighters succumbed to the incoming barrage and was torn apart in several dozen pieces as the ship exploded.

"Stay on course!" Commander Temuera ordered.

The sloop shook with each hit, and they were many. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan struggled to maintain balance as they entered the cockpit. Looking out the cockpits viewports, they clearly saw the Federation ships in the distance, not to mention the thick rain of bright red blasterbolts fired by heavy quadlinked blastercannons.

Obi-Wan could not hide being worried at the scene. "I have a bad feeling about this!"

Another fighter was ripped apart by the incoming fire and the debris shattered against the sloops shields. Major Olié operated his controls as fast as he could to compensate, to anticipate and to keep the ship flying. With a bright flash yet another fighter was destroyed by the Federations guns. The Federation cargo-haulers came closer with each second. Throughout the sloop, red lights flashed and the entire ship shook violently as more and more Federation cannons hit their mark.

The small squadron of naboo ships shot past the Federation vessels, pushing through the thick layer of overlapping fields of fire provided by the cargo-haulers many blaster-turrets. Three more naboo fighters were shot down as the crossfire became overwhelming. Major Olié was just about to switch his shields to double-aft, instead of double-front, as the sloop shot past the Federation blockade, when suddenly the sloop seemed to crash into something quite violently. Ric Olié struggled with the controls before finally regaining control of the ship.

"Port engine is hit!" the major briefed the others in the cockpit. He then activated the com-system, "This is Olié. I've lost one engine. I need you to keep them off my back."

"Roger that" commander Temuera replied over the comlink. "Listen up everyone. Form up behind Ric and keep him safe. That ship must hit hyperspace, that's an order."

Ric Olíé activated the repair-protocol onboard which in turn deployed four R2 units on the exterior of the sloops hull. The little droids instantly moved over to the damaged engine and began repairs, various tools extending out of their bodies. Soon after, the heavy barrage from the Federation cargo-haulers diminished until not a single shot came their way.

"The guns" a naboo pilot said over the comlink, "they've stopped."

Commander Temuera was the first to realize why. "Enemy fighters at eight two mark five. Brake off and attack!"

The six remaining naboo fighters veered off and took the fight to the enemy, splitting up a squadron of twelve Vulture-class fighter-droids. Meanwhile, the sloops R2 units continued their repairs as best they could while Ric Olié began calculating the jump to hyperspace. Two more of the naboo fightercraft were shot down, but not before the naboo pilots had destroyed four of the fighter-droids.

Obi-Wan, having taken a seat in the cockpit, noticed what the console next to him revealed. "Two fighters are closing in from behind."

"Do we have any weapons?" Qui-Gon asked.

"No!" Panaka said while doing his best to act as co-pilot.

"Missiles!" Obi-Wan informed rather agitated.

Two missiles, launched by one of the fighter-droids, closed in on the sloop at great speed, eventually detonating against the shields of the luxuary yacht, and in the process managed to shake free two of the R2 droids that were conducting repairs; the droids tumbling off into space. Commander Temuera was by now the last one left of the naboo fighters as he tried to catch up to the sloop, closely followed by three fighter-droids. The two fighter-droids that were pursueing the sloop kept firing, weakening the shields with each hit.

"Shields are failing!" Panaka said as he checked his consoles.

"I know" Ric Olié said, fully concentrated on his flying.

"Without shields we will be shot to pieces!" Panaka pointed out.

"I know!" Olié growled and pushed the sloop to its limits.

Panaka watched the shields growing weaker and weaker until, "We've lost shields..."

The sloop now took direct hits on its hull, armor-plating being scorched and at times punctured. One of the R2 units was unfortunate enough to take a direct hit from one of the fighter-droids, and was more or less utterly obliterated by the sheer volume of raw energy directed at the little droid.

Commander Temuera came in behind the two droids giving chase to the sloop and managed with a well aimed volley of fire to destroy one of them, all while the commander himself took one hit after the other from the fighter-droids chasing him.

Ric Olié could hardly believe it when several lights turned green in the cockpit. "Engine-power at maximum!" he said, quite surprised, and glanced over at the display showing the status of the ships repair-protocol, indicating that three R2 units were out of order and one was still active and operational. "The little droid did it!"

Commander Temuera managed to land another volley, this time on the last of the fighter-droids taking shots at the sloop, and the Vulture was torn apart as a consequence. "Ric?" the commander said over the com-system. "Ric, do you read?"

"I'm listening" came the reply.

"Get the hell out of here. I'll hold them off. You just make sure to compleat the mission. May the Force be with you."

The commander hit his retro-thrusters which took his pursuers off guard, allowing them to fly past his fighter. Commander Temuera quickly activated his afterburners and took chase after the last three of the fighter-droids, firing his blastercannons in order to split them up so to keep them from locking onto the sloop.

"He'll never make it" Ric said while watching the dots moving on the scanners.

Panaka felt uncomfortable about the situation. "We can't help him. Not without weapons."

Qui-Gon placed a hand on Ric's shoulder. "Then let him not die in vain."

Ric sighed, feeling empty inside. "Hyperdrive ready" he eventually said, "hold on."

Commander Temuera had a clear view of the sloop as it shot off into hyperspace at incredible velocity. He felt relief at the sight, knowing they had succeeded, knowing that from this point on he could not fail. Around him, the fightercraft exploded and he was engulfed in flames.