Chapter 6: Return to Naboo
After the way his time with Padme ended, Anakin found it therapeutic to use his frustrations to fuel his channeling of the Force as he went through the exercises Obi-Wan had arranged. They started out small, with Anakin simply lifting one object after another. They started by the lake, having him lift rocks and fallen tree trunks. When that proved to be easy, they took him to the resort's shipyard. He lifted one ship after another, starting small, but working his way up to the largest transports there.
The entire time he was doing his exercises, a droid camera was hovering around, recording everything he did. Palpatine and the other politicians and military leaders were out of sight but watching everything through the camera. When Anakin had proven all he could by lifting things, Obi-Wan moved on to Force-jumping. He had Anakin jump in place while channeling the Force. The heights Anakin reached were amazing to him. He quickly got bored, though.
After the jumping, Obi-Wan had him repeat the very first exercise he had been given. He practiced deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber. They started out with a single Alderanian soldier shooting at him and kept adding one after another until he was blocking the shots from seven soldiers. After that, the soldiers lined up in a circle and shot at him. This exercise was much more difficult, as he had to learn to both deflect and avoid the bolts. He avoided getting hit by a single shot.
The final test was a very extensive exercise. It was set-up to be an exact recreation of an attack they believed Anakin might have to make during the invasion. They had assembled, on an open field, an army of obsolete droids, mostly protocol droids, all armed with blasters. Anakin was to jump the large distance from the lake to the field, coming down in the middle of it. He would then have to take out the large army of droids all by himself. He tried to ask Obi-Wan what he should do, but the Jedi simply told him to trust his instincts. Anakin took that as a huge vote of confidence. He knew that previously the Jedi had feared Anakin's instincts would lead him to channel the dark side, but that fear seemed to be gone.
Several of the droids had been outfitted with cameras, so the politicians could monitor everything. Obi-Wan gave Anakin some final instructions as he walked with him out to the deck of the main building. Anakin was hardly paying attention to him, as he was trying to look across the lake to see if he could spot Padme. His spirits soared when he saw her out on her deck. She was just a faint dot, but he could see her, nonetheless. He reached out with the Force, and soon felt her thoughts and feelings.
You're doing great, Anakin, keep it up. While she wasn't with the others, she was still following everything. She was watching from her suite, bursting with pride over what she had seen.
"From here, just jump to the field, and destroy the army of droids. It's just obsolete protocol droids, so it shouldn't be too hard, but there are a lot of them. And remember, they all have blasters. They are set to the lowest setting, so they will just sting you, but it will still hurt. Good luck."
As Obi-Wan began to walk away, Anakin realized there was one thing he had neglected to tell him. "Uh, where's the field I need to jump to?"
"Use the Force to figure it out," Obi-Wan replied.
"How am I supposed to do that? I can't feel the droids in the Force."
"You'll just have to find another way."
Not knowing what else to do, Anakin figured he should try to channel the Force. He closed his eyes, and reached out with it, repeating what he had done on Tatooine. He connected with everything around him. As he did so, he could feel all the animals around him, and they were avoiding one particular spot.
Figuring that was the spot where the droids were, Anakin knelt before leaping high into the air. He flew through the sky, and when he was high enough, he could see he was heading for the right spot.
When he came down right in the middle of the army, the droids starting firing at him. As they were not programmed for war, their shots were errant. However, there were so many of them that a good number ended up being aimed right at Anakin. He blocked all of them with ease as he contemplated what to do. He remembered how he had been able to Force push entire groups to the ground before. He channeled the Force to do it and knocked down every single droid in the field.
As he looked around, he saw some of the droids were trying to stand. He wasn't sure what the people watching him back in the control room expected, but he figured they wanted to see more than just the droids knocked down. He knew that on Naboo the battle droids would not give up so easily. Anakin searched around for the droid closest to standing. With the aid of the Force, he rushed over and sliced it. He searched out the next droid closest to standing, doing the same thing.
After slicing up five droids, Anakin was startled to see several fighters coming his way. He was stunned to see them, as Obi-Wan had made no mention of fighters. He soon realized that was the point, to throw something unexpected at him to see how he would react. He didn't know what else to do, other than to grab them with the Force, and hold them where they were. They tried to fire at him, so he had to turn them all around, so their guns were pointed away from him.
As he kept the fighters hovering in mid-air, he continued to go around and slice up the droids that looked like they still had some fight in them. It was hard to multi-task and keep his concentration, but he managed.
...
The fighters hovering in mid-air were visible from the lake. When Padme saw them, she felt elated over what Anakin was doing. More and more, she was believing the mission would be a success, all because of him.
All of the servants in the resort who saw the hovering fighters wondered what was happening. They knew a Jedi was among the group that had come to the resort and figured he was behind it, they did not realize Anakin was more powerful in the Force and was the one actually doing it.
Princess Soala was in the middle of packing when she saw the fighters. She stopped and went to the window to gaze at them. The servants helping her stopped what they were doing as well.
"Is that the Jedi?" one of them asked.
"No, it's someone else," she replied.
...
After slicing up five more droids, Anakin noticed they were all still. At first, he thought they had figured out moving would just get them a lightsaber to the chest. He soon realized they had been completely deactivated.
"You can return to the lake." The voice of Obi-Wan was coming from one of the droids. He had been watching everything with the rest of the politicians. Knowing the opinion of Palpatine was the only one that mattered, Obi-Wan had his eyes solely on him. The man was hard to read, but the curled lip on his face indicated he was pleased with what he saw but trying to hide it.
"You've done a marvelous job training him, Jedi," Palpatine said to Obi-Wan.
"He didn't need much training," Obi-Wan replied. "He has a natural and instinctive ability in the Force that has never been seen before." While Palpatine had been doing his best to remain stoic and reserved, Obi-Wan could tell he was absolutely overjoyed to hear how strong in the Force Anakin was.
Anakin made it back to the lake in a single Force aided leap. No time was wasted after Anakin landed. Everyone assembled once again in the conference hall to discuss the finalized plan for the mission that had been constructed.
...
While all the dignitaries were assembling in the conference hall, Princess Soala was being escorted through the resort by Captain Antilles, the personal pilot for Bail Organa. He was going to fly her to the undisclosed location where she was to hide out during the invasion.
"We are in no hurry to leave," Antilles told her. "If there is someone you would like to say good-bye to one last time, we can do so."
"I'm okay," Soala replied, simply. She had said everything she wished to say to her sister. She didn't need one more awkward good-bye. For a moment, she thought about going down to say something to Anakin. She wanted to thank him for his kind words earlier. She refrained from doing that as well, as she figured he was too busy to be bothered for something so small.
...
Everyone was seated around the same table they had sat at before. Thrawn remained standing, as he preferred to walk around as he talked. He was wearing a brand new uniform, that of an admiral. Bail and Palpatine figured that the leader of the mission should be of a high rank, so they commissioned him an admiral in the Alderanian navy. When Thrawn could see that all seats were occupied save his own, he went ahead and began his presentation.
"I thank all of you for coming to this meeting, where I will be presenting our final plan for the mission to liberate Naboo from the Neimoidian Federation. Since my initial proposal, several of the fine details were hammered out. I will be reviewing the entire plan so no one gets lost."
"We are going to be going into this battle with a marked disadvantage in terms of numbers. While we can't amass the size of forces our opponent can, what we can do is better utilize what we do have and exploit the innate weaknesses of our opponent. While Bail has told me not to do this, I feel I must make a declaration of thanks to him. While the Alderanians have meager military forces, he has provided us the use of all of them. For that, he should be thanked."
A warm applause broke out among the attendees. Bail held up a hand to quiet them down, and they all obeyed. "Providing you my forces was the least I could do. I believe wholeheartedly the warlords need to be checked immediately, or else, the galaxy will suffer major consequences." He was going to make a gesture to hand the floor back over to Thrawn, but he soon thought of one more thing he wanted to add. "Since I have everyone's attention, there is one last thing I would like to mention. I am providing special forces for the strike team headed by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi."
Anakin took note of the fact Bail had used Obi-Wan's name. Kenobi had broken Jedi anonymity with Bail, for some reason. "On Alderaan, we have rules that our troops can only be led by Alderanian officers. In order to avoid breaking those rules, I have commissioned both Obi-Wan and Anakin as generals in the Alderanian army. So, let's take a moment to congratulate General Skywalker and General Kenobi on their new positions."
The table burst out in applause for the two. Finding out he was now a general was quite a surprise for Anakin, but he was not focused on that. He was looking at Obi-Wan, wondering why the Jedi would take the commission. To him, it appeared to go against what he knew of the Jedi code. Obi-Wan had broken anonymity to take the commission, he guessed. He doubted the Alderanians would have approved of commissioning an unnamed Jedi. The second problem with the role of general was hierarchy. If they were both generals for Alderaan, did that mean they were serving Bail Organa, now?
The applause lasted a while as everyone wanted to congratulate the two. When it finally died down, Thrawn continued with his talk. "The strike team that Generals Skywalker and Kenobi will be commanding will travel to Naboo aboard the blockade runner that Queen Amidala arrived on. It will be on Skywalker to use his powers to get them past the blockade, but given what we just witnessed, I have little doubt we need to worry about that part of the plan."
"Once the Naboo ship lands, it will have to round up as many forces as it can. We have intercepted Federation transmissions from the planet that indicate there is a strong resistance on the planet. It appears to be disorganized, but it has been active. The landing party must meet up with this resistance and utilize them to protect a landing area for the clone troopers. The landing party will have five days to assemble their forces. At a pre-planned point in time, our makeshift fleet will enter the system. We will have nothing but freighters and tow ships, but it will be enough. The tow ships will have their tractor beams modified so they can either pull in a ship or push it away. Their job will be to maneuver ships in the same way as the Jedi did just two days earlier. This will cause the Neimoidians to believe they are facing off against a fleet full of Jedi. They will panic, and immediately jump to hyperspace to save their own skin. With the ships gone, our transports can land on the fields outside Theed, then march on the city and re-take it. Once the central control of the droid army is destroyed, it will all be over."
Thrawn paused as he looked around the room. Anakin could tell he was looking to see if anyone had any questions. While he had one himself, he was too scared to ask it. He was in an unfamiliar setting, and he didn't want to ask a dumb question and make a fool of himself.
"Can we really count on the Neimoidians fleeing like you expect?" Anakin recognized the voice of Sheltay Retrac. "The Neimoidians might be fearful and easily spooked, but no admiral is going to give a command to flee and leave their ground forces completely exposed."
"I agree with you; no commander would give such an order." A couple guffaws ran out from the table. "Fortunately, I am not counting on any such order being given. While Neimoidians are not known for their individual initiative, an exception can be expected when their lives are in danger. Each captain will freak upon the belief they are confronting an army of Jedi and take their ship into hyperspace to avoid death."
Thrawn stared at Sheltay for a moment to see if she had any more questions. The fact she had the gumption to ask a question gave Anakin the courage he needed.
"I do have one question." Anakin's voice was unsteady, but he soon found some resilience. "We know little about the resistance, little about their location. You said that from what we know, the resistance consists of many small, disorganized groups. How are we supposed to locate them all and unite them in the time frame we have been given?"
"A very good question," Thrawn began. "Given that the Naboo people live on a planet with a hostile population, they have always been prepared for all contingencies. As part of their preparation, they have an encrypted radio system for communication. When you arrive, you will utilize this system to contact these groups."
"From what we know, it appears these groups are not utilizing these systems." Anakin was not shy about pressing the issue further. "If they were, we would not have several disparate and disorganized groups. Instead, there would be one large group coordinating attacks against the Federation forces."
Thrawn answered Anakin. "From what we can surmise, the groups have failed to unite because despite their ability to communicate, no leader has emerged to unite them. You and Obi-Wan will be sent with a message from the queen to indicate you come with her blessing. They will unite behind you."
"That is merely an assumption," Anakin countered. "You have no idea how people will actually respond to a message coming from the queen that they cannot verify for themselves."
"I know my people, Anakin." Padme's tone was pleasant, but everyone could tell she was annoyed Anakin was questioning this issue. "They will know my voice, and they will believe it. They will understand you and Obi-Wan are my emissaries, and they will follow you."
Feeling he needed to be assertive and take command of the meeting, he stood up from his chair and walked around. He figured he was likely breaking every protocol of the meeting, but he didn't care. Given his background, he could always plead ignorance. He clasped his hands behind his back as he walked, as he figured it helped him look authoritative.
"Queen Amidala, and all other distinguished members of this panel. I do not doubt that you are all experts in your given fields, but from what I understand, I would assume that none of you have been in the kind of situation facing the resistance forces on Naboo."
Anakin paused briefly as he debated whether to bring up his past. He was fearful of revealing the uncomfortable truth to everyone, but he felt it was vital to make his point. "I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but I grew up a slave on Tatooine. Despite that, it was not all bad. I had a mother who loved me very much, as well as a stepbrother and stepfather. The four of us did our best to carve out what happiness we could, but when I was eight, my mother and stepfather were sold to a band of pirates. I did not nothing, despite feeling I possessed the power to try and save them. They were scarcely gone a week when we received word that they had been killed with the destruction of their ship."
Pausing once again, Anakin looked around to see the reception his words had so far. He could see looks of sympathy on most faces. He was doing his best to remain stoic, despite the nature of the story he was telling.
"After the death of my parents, I knew I was going to have to do something to free myself and my stepbrother. It took me years to formulate a plan, as our slave masters could kill us with the mere press of a button. I won't go into all the details of what I faced, but I soon learned the only way I would earn my freedom was if all the slaves in my city stood together and we all fought our slave masters as one. I went about recruiting others to my plan, and it took a long time as I had to be remarkably careful. I had to learn who I could trust. Telling the wrong person my plan would have meant death if they ended up going to my slave master and revealing what I was planning. This was the danger that was faced by all of us. Everyone I brought into my conspiracy faced the danger of death if our plans were ever discovered. Earning their trust was difficult, but my brother and I accomplished it because we had the same skin in the game they did."
"The resistance forces on Naboo are facing a situation very similar to what I experienced when I was trying to free my fellow slaves. They are in a dire situation, surrounded by forces that will not hesitate to kill them if they are discovered. While they might want to unite with others, they must be weary of who to trust. Revealing themselves to the wrong person means death."
"This is what we are going to be facing in trying to unite the resistance forces. All of you can sit here on another planet, safe and sound, and claim that when they hear your message, they will believe everything you tell them. I attest that the situation they are in will cause them to be paranoid. They will wonder if the Federation has discovered how to use your encrypted communication system. Padme, they will doubt that the message you send them really comes from you. No matter how much the voice sounds like you, they will question it. Even if they believe it is your voice, they will wonder if it is a trap. For all they know, you could have been captured and forced to record that message. And as for the presence of Obi-Wan and I, they have no idea who we are. They have no reason to follow us, to trust us. I don't think the two of us alone will be able to inspire them to fight like we need them to."
"So, what are you proposing then?" Padme's voice contained a weariness that indicated she was agreeing with Anakin's pessimistic assessment and wanted answers on how to overcome it.
Anakin took a deep breath as he appeared hesitant to answer. "What they need, is to see a leader who has come to join them. One who has come to have the same skin in the game they have. One who will face the same fate should everything fail. Instead of relying on a message, you should rely on word of a royal return. Once a single resistance group sees a royal has come to their aide, word will spread quickly throughout the rest of the other groups. I believe they will trust eyewitness accounts of a royal return. Once we contact one group, we can send out messengers. Hearing word from other resistance fighters that one of their leaders has returned will earn us their trust and inspire them to fight. That is what I believe must be done, Your Highness."
Padme hung her head as she wondered if she could truly do what Anakin was suggesting. While everyone in the room agreed with what Anakin was saying, they felt Padme, as the planet's sovereign, couldn't put herself in danger like that. They also knew Padme couldn't quite say this herself.
Bail Organa ended up speaking up for her. "Anakin, while there is much truth to what you are saying, it is impossible for Padme to do what you are asking. She needs to be with us, coordinating forces, and negotiating a surrender with the viceroy when the time comes. I am sure she would be willing to put herself in danger, but if anything were to happen to her, it would be chaos."
"I agree with everything you are saying." Anakin kept his hands clenched behind his back as he took a short bow in Bail's direction to show his respect for the royal. "Maybe I should have been more specific with my words, but I never intended for Padme to join our strike team. I understand she is needed here. However, there is another royal who can fill the role we need, Princess Soala."
Now, murmurs of disbelief rang out through the crowd. "Princess Soala!" Bail Organa was incredulous. "She is but a child."
"She is only two years younger than me." Sounds of surprise rang out through the room as they were surprised to find out Anakin was so young. Given his immense size, everyone believed he had to be much older. Anakin ignored the noise and continued. "And might I remind you, she will not be alone. I give my word to the queen that I will not let any harm come to her sister."
From the look on Padme's face, Anakin could tell she was furious with him. She was not going to accept his proposal. From the looks on everyone else's face, they seemed warm to the idea. Padme was going to have to find some good arguments to keep her sister from being sent on the mission.
"She may be close to your age, General Skywalker, but she is in no position to be fighting a war."
"If you remember back to Tatooine, Soala was quite exceptional with her handling of a blaster."
Padme's anger grew, and it made her look even more attractive to Anakin. "We should not be forcing her to go."
"No one will be forcing her. In fact, I know she wants to join us. I talked to her, and she expressed displeasure over being sent away. She knows this mission, if successful, will be long remembered by the people of Naboo. She does not want the history books to record that she was hiding when her planet needed all the help it could get."
"She is on her way to an undisclosed location. It is too late for her to come back. Her ship should be on its way by now."
"Radio the ship and recall it."
"They are flying in radio silence, so no one will know who they are carrying. It is too late."
Anakin had enough of Padme's protests. It was time for him to act himself. He closed his eyes as he calmed himself and reached out with the Force. He knew what he was capable of, and he knew he could bring the ship back. Reaching out with the Force, he was able to locate the ship flying away from the resort by sensing the Force presence of its inhabitants. Knowing where the ship was, Anakin was able to reach out and stop it, holding it in place.
...
"What happened?" Captain Antilles yelled. He was filled with fear as the ship stopped abruptly. "How did we stop? It must a be tractor beam, but there's no other ship on the scope."
"We're not caught in a tractor beam, we're caught in a Force hold." Unlike the captain, Soala was feeling no fear at all. Instead, she was feeling joy. She knew it was Anakin who had a hold of the ship, and she had a good idea why.
...
A short while later, Soala was sitting at the table in the conference hall. Thrawn was repeating the mission plan once again, spending extra attention on the exact role she was to play in it. At the end, she was asked if she wanted to join the team. Padme jumped in to tell her that she was free to decline, and that if she did no one would think any less of her. Soala paid little attention to the words of her sister. She enthusiastically agreed to go.
...
The strike team assembled the next morning. It was a reunion of sorts for Obi-Wan, Anakin, Olie, Tarsals, Soala, and most importantly, R2-D2. They had decided to take the droid along in case they needed his hacking skills.
Right before they left, Padme said a long good-bye to her sister. She told her to be careful and implored her to stay close to Anakin and never leave his side. He had promised to watch out for her, and she had great confidence in him. Soala agreed to stay close to Anakin, although she still believed her sister was being overprotective.
While Anakin would have appreciated a moment alone with Padme, he knew they were not going to get the chance. The two stared at each other, and they could soon feel their connection form.
The princess. I need you to take care of the princess. Padme spoke to Anakin in her mind.
I will guard her with my life. I would rather die myself than come back here without her. Padme received Anakin's reply through the connection.
Padme knew that everyone was watching as they stared at each other, so she had to say something audible to him. "I have confidence in you," she said to Anakin. Her thoughts were saying what she really wanted him to know. I love you.
Anakin read her thoughts but kept his expression stoic. He didn't want to give anything away. "I know," he said to her before turning back around and climbing aboard the ship.
...
When the Naboo blockade runner exited hyperspace, there was a moment of relief among the strike team. While they had just entered a system that presented them with danger, they were relieved their journey was coming to an end. The ship had been cramped with all the troops on it. The cramped confines led to meaningless conflicts, except for the clone troopers. Their quarters on Kamino had been even more cramped, so what they had on the ship felt like a luxury to them.
The relief the team felt quickly dissipated when the capital ships blockading Naboo appeared in front of the cockpit. The strike team leadership was gathered in the cockpit together. Except for Anakin, they all grew fearful seeing those ships again. They could remember how close they had come to death when they escaped.
Olie was piloting, with Tarsals siting in the co-pilot's seat. Anakin and Soala occupied the two seats behind them, with Obi-wan standing over Anakin's shoulder. Olie mapped out a route for them to reach the area on the planet they were aiming for. When the navigation was complete, he turned around to speak to Anakin.
"It's time for you to do your thing. Are you ready?"
"As ready as I will ever be," Anakin replied. He closed his eyes as he concentrated.
Everyone in the cockpit was staring at the warships in front of them. They were now close enough to be in range of the first line of ships, and they started firing at the Naboo cruiser. The shields were blocking everything, but they would not hold forever. They needed Anakin to do something quickly.
All at once, every warship in front of the Naboo cruiser started moving as if they were being pushed by invisible hands. Not only were they being pushed away, they were being turned around, so they couldn't fire at the ship.
Anakin was lost in the Force. The power he was feeling was immense. The Force presences he was sensing were innumerable. Most of them were near, but he could feel there was at least one that was distant, maybe even light years away. As he concentrated on it more, he soon felt the familiar touch of Padme's mind.
...
Padme woke with a start. The feint light of the moon was reflecting off the lake and into her suite. As everything looked quiet, she sat-up in bed trying to figure out what had caused her to wake. Not seeing anything, she tried to think what she had felt right when she woke. It was then that she noticed she was connected to Anakin. Somehow, it had formed across the great distance they were separated. She felt a great deal of relief to know they had made it past the blockade and were on their way to the surface of Naboo.
...
The warships didn't launch their fighters until the cruiser had passed them. Olie watched the display as it tracked the fighters lining up behind them. The display showing the rear view was full of robotic fighters. Just as Olie was going to yell to Anakin to do something, he saw them being pushed around. Anakin was moving them as if they were nothing more than gnats.
Olie could feel when they reached planet's atmosphere and knew at that moment, they were safe. The warships and fighters were not designed for atmosphere flying and thus, could not follow them. He doubted they would face any of the planetary defenses, as he doubted the Neimoidians would bother to man them. They would have figured their blockade gave them all the protection they needed.
As they continued flying to the surface, they faced nothing in the way of attacks. The landing site chosen for them was a spot not too far outside Theed, in the grassy plains that surrounded the city. Their landing spot would be obvious, and the ship easily found, and that was part of the plan. They knew the Federation would be able to track them, and they figured that by landing close to the city, the Neimoidians would believe they had taken refuge there. Instead, they were heading in the opposite direction, away from the city and towards the thick forests and swamps that encircled the grassy plains.
The second they touched down, the strike team exited the ship and ran towards the swamps. They had all their equipment ready to go and made it out of the ship in a matter of seconds, just as they had planned. In their plans, they figured they had an hour until the Federation was able to triangulate where they had landed and send out a scout ship. Running at full speed, they knew they should be able to make it to the cover of the swamp before the Federation reached their abandoned ship.
They reached the forest without seeing any sign of the Federation. Once there, they found a spot of thick foliage where they could stay hidden. It was only then they stopped to rest. Olie used his tablet to check on the ship and read its sensors. When he first checked he saw the sensors weren't detecting anything, but a mere five minutes later an alarm sounded.
"Something reached the cruiser," Olie announced to all the others. He shut down the connection as he wanted to make sure the Federation didn't track any signal.
Everyone looked to Soala, awaiting orders. She felt uncomfortable with the thought of giving a command, so Obi-Wan took the initiative. He gently reminded everyone that they should be on their way. They all picked up their packs and walked deeper into the forest, heading for the swamps that held the old Gungan ruins where they expected to find a resistance group.
The ruins they were traveling to was an old city that had been abandoned by the Gungans long before the humans ever arrived to colonize the planet. The humans never understood why, but it was considered a cursed place by the Gungans, one they avoided. That made it the perfect hideout for a resistance group. The ruins provided cover from any scout flight, as well as fortification in case they were ever discovered and attacked. Also, with the Gungans aiding the Federation in the invasion, it helped to have a spot where they refused to go.
Tarsals oversaw their progress, and when he saw they were a mile from their destination, he announced for them to stop, just as they had planned. The rest of the plan called for Tarsals and Olie to make their way to the ruins themselves and meet up with the resistance group there while everyone else stayed back. Tarsals and Olie were to check in every ten minutes, and if they encountered any trouble, they were to refrain from radioing, letting the others know they were to assume the worst and leave.
The princess gave the two their instructions before they left. It was nothing they hadn't heard before, but Soala needed to show some leadership, and the two were more than willing to let her build up her confidence and authority. Before they left, they pledged to honor her by completing their mission.
Obi-Wan was in charge of taking their calls. Everyone hovered around him for ten minutes as they anxiously awaited the first one. When it came through, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Being just a mile away, it didn't take them long to reach their destination. Everyone listened intently to that message. "We are at the ruins and have found a group of about twenty." While everyone stayed quiet, they were all feeling disappointed over the news. Given the immense size of the ruins, they had expected a much larger force to have congregated there.
Olie explained why their expectations had been wrong. "A large number of men made it out here. They were anxious to fight, and quickly planned to carry out a hit and run attack against the droid army. They all went, as no one wanted to stay behind. It was an attack that went horribly for them. The twenty men here are the only ones that made it through."
The heart of almost everyone sank as they were dejected by the horrible news. The first resistance group they had come across proved to be nothing close to what they had been hoping and expecting to find. The only person not feeling dejected was Soala. She knew it was time to show some of that royal leadership and inspiration.
"This is just one group," Soala reminded them. "There should be others. Remember, Thrawn told us their intelligence picked up reports of multiple groups making attacks. We just have to find them. Multiple hideouts for multiple groups, that was the plan, so if one fell, there were others to rely on. The only thing we really needed out of this group was initial contact, and they have provided that. The fact we are not finding exactly what we want just makes it more imperative that we move quickly to find and establish contact with the other resistance groups are out there."
Soala leaned closer to the microphone. "Olie, Tarsals, this is Soala. Tell the others there what our plans are and let them know we are going to need volunteers to scout out the other locations and find the other resistance groups. We are coming with the list of locations, and I will converse with you on the scout assignments. That is all. Out."
All eyes were on Soala awaiting orders. "Everyone should have everything together. Let's go."
...
As they neared the ruins, Anakin realized they didn't exactly have any protocols set up for identifying themselves. He figured there would be lookouts watching for them. Everyone expected the lookouts to be discreet, thus, they were shocked when someone simply yelled to them.
"Hello there!" Obi-Wan and the clone troopers all jumped and tried to find the source of the voice. They had instinctively assumed the voice was an enemy, making it a good thing that whoever had spoken was staying hidden.
"I mean you no harm," the voice yelled. He was continuing with prudence as he recognized that simply jumping out from his hiding spot would not be a good idea.
"You can come down from there, this is Princess Soala, and I assure you know harm will come to you."
While Anakin was looking around the treetops for the man, he saw a streak fall from one and hit the ground. The streak turned out to be a young man. From the uniform he was wearing, it was clear he was a member of the military. He didn't look to be very old, though. He looked so young that Anakin was surprised he was old enough to be in the military. It didn't help that he was looking at Soala like a starstruck teen.
"It's really you," he said in a soft voice that Anakin had trouble hearing. "Captain Olie told us you were with them, but I just couldn't believe you would come back here." He shook his head in disbelief. "Follow me."
As they followed the teen, Anakin's head was swelling with pride that everything he had said about Soala's role on the mission was coming to fruition. The man's reaction was showing that Soala's inclusion on this mission was inspiring others just as he had predicted.
"Our primary base is in an old abandoned Gungan transportation hub," the man explained as they walked. "The layout we were left had identified it as a temple. Whoever mapped it out must have thought that only a temple would be that large, or perhaps they just hadn't explored the whole thing, but the structure extends deep into the ground, and terminates at the shores of an underground lake. While the lake doesn't connect to any of the surrounding swamps anymore, it must have at one time."
"So, that would mean the place was abandoned not because of some curse, but because it no longer became convenient for the Gungans to travel to." Anakin said all his thoughts out loud. "If that is the case, then the Gungans might not be as fearful of coming here as we think."
"If they knew we were here, they would have attacked by now," the man pointed out.
Anakin was not reassured by the man's words, but there were more pressing concerns to deal with. When they descended into the underground structure, and Anakin saw the extent of the resistance forces, he realized if the Neimoidians knew the truth about that group, they wouldn't consider it worth attacking.
Looking around the group, Anakin figured he could count on one hand the number of men who must be regular soldiers. All the others either looked too young, too old, or too weak to be a real soldier. It appeared the regular soldiers had been joined by civilian volunteers. It was a situation that didn't exactly bode well for what they had planned.
When the men saw Soala, the half of them who appeared to be military regulars gaped at her in awe. The men who were civilians seemed puzzled by their reaction. When they were told it was Princess Soala, they gaped at her in awe as well.
Olie and Tarsals wasted no time in approaching Soala and telling her everything they had been doing. They told her they had briefed the group on what their overall plan was and what they needed out of them immediately. All the men assembled were prepared to travel all around Theed in order to unite the resistance groups.
Once Olie and Tarsals were finished speaking with the princess, they activated a holograph detailing Theed and the surrounding areas. The three of them started going through the areas where the other groups were likely to be found. They then selected scouts to contact them.
The process ended up being a long one, giving Obi-Wan and Anakin a lengthy amount of time to observe the group assembled before them. Obi-Wan was not impressed with what he saw, and it was apparent from the expression on his face. Anakin did his best to talk to him about it while keeping his voice low, he didn't want the others to find out what their Master Jedi really thought of them.
"So, what do you think of the force we have assembled?"
"Not what I was expecting, not even close. Only half of the men seem to be actual military regulars."
"I admit, they seem a little raw, but I think they will be able to do their job." Anakin couldn't help but make a realization. "All these non-soldiers are in the same position I am. Yet, you're trusting me to fight. Why shouldn't they be accorded the same respect?
"We train soldiers for a reason," Obi-Wan countered. "Very few people have the fortitude to face a dangerous situation with the proper level of calmness required. So much of Jedi training, military training is designed to build up a person's courage so they acquire the belief they can handle any situation. People must be trained to remain calm in a crisis. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Military protocols have been developed through centuries of trial and error. Sending out untrained troops is just asking for trouble out of people who have to find out things for themselves that they should have otherwise been taught."
Anakin let out a snicker as he found what Obi-Wan was saying humorous. "I see something completely different when I look at them. I see the group of slaves that I led to freedom. We didn't have any training in anything. We were facing a crisis that you would have considered us to be unprepared for. Yet, we came through with the courage we needed. All the training you insist upon doesn't matter as much as the make-up of a group and the cause they are fighting for. With my group of slaves, we had our lives and our freedom, and these men have the same thing. This is their home, and they all have families here they are fighting for. They may make some mistakes out of ignorance, but it will be negligible. They have something to fight for, and their opponents don't."
Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin caught a glance of the look Obi-Wan was giving him. The look conveyed his skepticism. Obi-Wan's skepticism was of the arrogant kind. Despite all of Anakin's arguments, he still didn't believe that Anakin had the slightest clue what he was talking about. He was a Jedi who had been on countless missions over the years. Anakin had nothing more than a few moments of glory to his name.
...
When all the assignments had been made, the scouts left to partake their journeys. Almost all twenty of the resistance fighters were sent out as scouts. This left just the strike team in the abandoned hub. After the cramped quarters on the Naboo cruiser, everyone was ecstatic to have the room to spread out. It was something they took full advantage of as they dispersed to find places to sleep.
It took just a day for the first scouts to return. They had successfully contacted the groups they had been sent to find and returned with a couple members of that group. The moment each fighter set eyes upon Soala, they practically fell apart in awe that she was truly there. Just as Anakin had predicted, they had found it hard to believe she had returned to their planet but seeing her filled them with a will to fight. They were all anxious to return to their groups and inform them of what they had seen with their own two eyes.
While Soala's presence was having the predicted effect, that was the only thing that was going according to plan. Almost all the resistance groups had the same story, wanting to do something for Naboo, they rushed out immediately to try and fight the Federation. They all suffered the same failure. The intelligence reports were proven correct. While the resistance had been active, their activity had led to their devastation.
Over the course of the next day, more resistance fighters came in with the same story. Soala listened to their stories like a proper stoic royal. She thanked them for what they did and told them she was proud of them taking initiative. Inside, her feelings were much different. She was becoming more and more dejected over the news they were not finding the forces they had expected. Thrawn had told her what kind of numbers they were going to need to successfully carry out their part of the mission, and they had nothing close to it.
There were several moments where Anakin thought he should talk to Soala, but she kept disappearing. It was obvious to him she wanted to be alone. He wished she would take some advice, mainly his, on what she should do. After a while, he told himself that he needed to have the confidence in her that he expected everyone else to show her.
Anakin had been using all the dead time to meditate and try to better learn to channel the Force. He was in the middle of such an exercise when he heard a commotion coming from the main entrance. He ran out to see everyone huddled around the final group of scouts to return. He had to push through the crowd to see precisely what was happening. When he could, he found the scouts had returned with a pair of Gungans and were fighting to keep the other resistance fighters from taking their anger out on the pair.
"They need to see the Princess," one of the Naboo soldiers was yelling. "They are on our side. They have fought alongside us and many of their friends died with us."
Tarsals stepped forward and placed himself between the resistance fighters and the two Gungans. Anakin thought that would serve to calm the angry crowd, but all that happened was they now tried to push Tarsals out of the way in order to get to the other two Gungans.
Anakin knew he had to do something, but he didn't know what. Suddenly, he remembered what Obi-Wan had done when the two of them were facing an angry crowd in the gambling hall back on Tatooine. He hadn't quite agreed with what Obi-Wan had done, but it had been effective. Unable to think of anything else, he decided to try the Jedi method for calming a crowd.
"Enough!" he screamed as he activated his lightsaber and stepped out. The hiss and the hum of the saber instilled fear in the rest of the crowd. They all backed away from Anakin as he took a position in front of the Gungans.
There was fire in his eyes as he stared back at the crowd. The look was a bit of an act, as he was trying to channel the actual anger he was feeling into an intimidating expression. From the looks on the faces on the rest of the resistance fighters, his expression was having the desired effect. They all appeared scared of him as they were unsure of what he might do.
"These two need to speak to the princess," he bellowed. "You need to let us pass."
"That won't be necessary." The voice of the princess seemed to emanate throughout the whole room. There was an authority to her voice that Anakin had never heard before. He looked around at the group and they appeared to be even more fearful of her than they had been of him.
He couldn't see her himself, but the parting crowd made it apparent where she was coming from. When it completely parted, he could see that Obi-Wan was with her. He must have been the one to fetch her.
"Thank you for protecting them, Anakin." Soala looked around the crowd again to make sure they weren't thinking about disobeying her orders.
"I knew you would want to talk to them, Your Highness. Just doing my part." Anakin bowed to the princess as he moved out of the way.
When Anakin looked back at the Gungans, he saw they were staring at the princess in awe. She ordered them to stand and they obeyed her, looking like they were in a trance. "I assume you came here because you have a message for me."
The Gungans took turns speaking, telling her how they were part of a much larger contingent of Gungans who wanted to fight off the Neimodian invasion. They appeared proud of the willingness of their species to join the resistance, but that pride quickly disappeared when Soala started probing them with some questions.
"Has your group of Gungans always been against the invasion?"
"No." While only one of them replied, they both looked incredibly sheepish to have to confess the truth.
"Explain your roles."
The two Gungans clearly didn't want to answer the question, but knew they needed to be truthful if they were going to win the trust of the princess. They explained how almost all the Gungans had participated in some way in helping the invasion force when it arrived. The two of them had served in front line units. They quickly became disillusioned by the actions of the Neimodians and some of the actions of their own leaders. They admitted that part of their disillusionment came from not getting the spoils they had expected. That came first, only after that did they start to understand they should never have attacked the Naboo. They had lived their lives believing they were owed much by the Naboo, but after the invasion, they realized they had no reason to hold the Naboo responsible for anything. They were sorry for ever holding the grudges they had. They realized the error of their ways and were willing to join with the Naboo to expel the Neimoidians, so that the two species might be willing to live in peace together, separate, but side-by side.
"Are all the other Gungans in your group like you?" Soala asked. "I mean, have they all come to the same realizations you have?"
Before the Gungans could answer, one of the Naboo fighters who had brought them in replied. "We were just a tiny resistance group when the Gungans found us. We thought we were dead, but instead of killing us, they told us they were on our side, and that they had a lot of friends. We met up with them and saw they were telling the truth. Wanting to do something for the effort immediately, we charged a nearby hangar. We had little in the way of weapons, but we had enough numbers to overpower the droid sentries and tear apart the fighters inside. It was dangerous, reckless, and almost suicidal. I can assure you the Gungans would not have participated in the raid if they were just participating in some type of ruse."
After hearing from the humans, Soala turned her attention back to the Gungans. "Is there anything else I should know?"
"Yes, we have the support of not just the swamp Gungans, but the Gungans living in the core." From the look on her face, Soala made it clear she didn't believe what she was hearing. "I know what you must think. The deep core Gungans are isolated, and completely uncaring about what takes place on the surface. Trust me, when they found out about the invasion, and the role of the surface Gungans, they were livid. They feared the Neimoidians would end up invading their space. They were planning their own counterattack when a few of us contacted them for assistance. They are fully on board with any attack against our occupiers."
"So, we have much in the way of manpower, but what about weaponry?"
"We have our Gungan energy weapons. They may not be powerful, but with our numbers, I think it will be enough."
The Gungan did not sound confident as he spoke, and everyone, including Soala, noticed. She appeared deep in thought. "You did well, all of you. I will need some time to consider what I want to do." Before she left, she looked at all the other resistance fighters assembled. "Nothing is to happen to the two Gungans, or the fighters they came here with. Anyone who has a problem with them, better keep it to themselves. Any violation of this will result in the administration of the ultimate punishment I have the power to make."
No one quite knew just what the ultimate punishment was. Their minds immediately went to the worst, so they all trembled with fear as they watched her walk away.
Anakin thought about chasing after her, as he figured she could use someone to bounce ideas off. He wasn't able to, as Obi-Wan came up to talk to him instead. "I saw you took a lesson from me."
"I was desperate, and it was the only thing I could think of." Anakin was half-joking, half-serious. "It ended up being more effective than I had expected."
"So are you willing to accept you were wrong earlier."
"In that situation, I was right to have a problem with what you did. In this situation, I was right to copy you."
"How convenient that you never do the wrong thing."
"Now, you're understanding me." Anakin gave him a sly grin. He could guess Obi-Wan wanted to make a lesson out of the situation, but he was more concerned with finding Soala. He had an idea of what she should do, and he wanted to make sure she heard it.
...
He knew the area Soala had occupied as her quarters and headed right there. When he got there, he found her sitting cross-legged on the floor. She turned around when she felt someone coming up on her. He got nervous for a moment, but upon seeing him, she gave him a big smile.
"Thanks for taking the initiative to come and speak with me. I was hoping I could get some advice from someone." She went ahead and stood so he wouldn't have to look down to talk to her.
"If you wanted to speak with someone, you could have just asked?"
Soala slumped her shoulders as she looked dejected. "I thought about asking but didn't do so because I didn't want to look weak. I didn't want to look like I needed someone to tell me what to do."
"Sometimes the best way to look like a leader is to acknowledge when you need help."
"You've just turned into mister perfect recently. First, you put yourself at great risk to protect those Gungans, thank you for that, by the way. Now, you'll full of insight at just the right moment."
"I wish your sister realized I was as perfect as you do?"
"If we get out of this, I promise I'll do my best to bring her around to my point of view. Speaking of my sister, I was wondering if you have a feeling about what she would do if she were in my situation."
Anakin was a bit taken aback by Soala's question. While he had a close connection with Padme, he didn't think it could match the knowledge Soala had from spending her entire life with the woman. Anakin's mind raced as he tried to think up a proper response.
"While I don't know everything about your sister's view of Gungans, I do know her well enough to figure out what she would do. Given how she never held the Gungan populace responsible for the assassination of your parents, I think she would be willing to trust any Gungan willing to offer their assistance."
"I had that thought as well but trusting Gungans who had nothing to do with the assassination is much different from having to trust Gungans who played a role in the invasion." Soala sighed as she looked off into space. "I really wish I could talk to Padme and get her opinion."
"There is a way we could do that."
Soala was puzzled by what Anakin was saying. "How can we talk to her, we're supposed to be under radio silence?"
"Padme and I can talk to each other without having to use a radio." Anakin did his best to talk softly as he didn't want anyone overhearing him.
Once again Soala was puzzled, but as she thought things over she started to understand what he was trying to tell her. "Can you, can you talk to her through the Force?" Anakin simply nodded his head. "How can the two of you do that? The Jedi said thoughts can't be read through the Force."
"Apparently, those rules don't apply to me." He couldn't help but smile over what he could do and what he shared with Padme. "I don't understand why, but your sister and I, ever since we've met, we've been able to form a deep connection with each other. We can feel each other's emotions and read each other's thoughts."
Thinking back to everything she had witnessed since they met Anakin, Soala couldn't help but giggle. "That explains so much about why the two of you always acted like you did around each other." She shook her head as so many things became clear. "The two of you have something special, is it special enough for you to communicate across the light years of space."
"I was able to connect with her when we first arrived. I was deep in a Force trance then, but I think I could do it now. I think I've learned how to channel the Force enough to do so."
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
Once again, Anakin calmed himself as he channeled the Force and tried to reach out with it. He could feel his presence extending across space. It wasn't long until he felt the familiar touch of Padme's mind.
...
"Welcome back, Queen Amidala," Threepio said to Padme when she walked inside her suite. "I hope your meeting was fruitful."
"Yes, very. Has my dinner arrived yet?" Given all the meetings she was having with everyone, she preferred to dine alone and appreciated the time to herself.
"I checked with the kitchen right before you arrived, and they said it would be here in a matter of minutes. I will wait by the door for them so they can bring it in right away. I would hate for it to get cold."
"Okay Threepio, you do that." The droid didn't seem to understand they delivered the food on a hot plate so it wouldn't get cold.
As she waited for her food, her mind drifted to Anakin and Soala, as it had almost every few minutes. She had been thankful that she had connected with Anakin and been able to sense they made it through the blockade okay. That was days ago, and she knew a lot could have happened since then. She wished she could get some sign they were still okay.
At that moment, her wish was granted. She could feel the touch of Anakin's mind, and she immediately knew he was okay. For a moment, she feared he was connected to her to tell her something was wrong with Soala, but he soon allayed her fears.
I am here with Soala. We need to talk with you.
Padme was overcome with emotion upon finding out the two of them were still alive and okay. She let out a sob, which she muffled with her hand, as she didn't want Threepio to know anything was happening.
What do the two of you need?
We have a situation here, and we need your advice. I must be truthful with you before I begin. We were able to land safely and make it to our hideout without being spotted. Scouts were sent out to contact other resistance groups, but none of them came back with good news. Almost every resistance group decided to pursue its own war. Raids were made which turned out to be disastrous. The resistance groups were decimated.
Upon hearing the truth of the situation, Padme's heart sank. Given how fortunate she had been since they escaped from Naboo, she figured her run of good luck would go on with no end. She should have known it would have to end some time, and it appeared that time was now. She sent a message to Anakin giving her thoughts.
If the forces we need are not there, then we will have to abort. We will find another way to save the planet. Don't worry, we will be able to get you out. We can arrive with the tow ships and clear out an area for you to escape. In fact, a few ships could probably make their way out. That is what you should do. Get the resistance fighters to steal as many ships as they can and make their way off the planet. They will help us if we can make another attempt to liberate the planet.
She was feeling Anakin's emotions, and could tell he did not believe there would be any chance of another attempt to conquer the planet. She could also sense he was telling this to Soala, who was there with him. She could read his thoughts as Soala responded. She didn't pick up everything, but she could tell Soala had the same thoughts he did. She wanted to find a way to fight and complete her role in the mission. The problem was, there was no way for her to do that.
There is a way for us to complete our mission. We just contacted a resistance group that had several Gungans with them. Two of the Gungans came here and told us there is an army of them who have come to realize helping in the invasion was a mistake. We could use the army of Gungans to fight the droids and clear the landing area. Soala is conflicted, as she doesn't know if the Gungans can be trusted.
As Padme read Anakin's thoughts, she couldn't help but remember the speech he had given at their planning session. He had mentioned how all it would take for the mission to fail was a single person revealing their plans to the Neimoidians. In an army of Gungans who had at one time cooperated with the Neimodians, the odds were high that there would be at least one who would betray them. Through her connection with Anakin, she could tell Anakin was feeling the same way.
Padme was facing a tough choice. All she could think was that they should abandon the mission and just concentrate on making it away from there safely, but she knew the two of them would never accept it.
A brief smile came across her lips for a moment as she could feel that while Anakin didn't want to recruit the Gungans, he still wanted to go ahead with the mission. He believed he could practically take on the entire droid army by himself.
Should I tell your sister not to recruit the Gungans?
Padme let out an audible sigh as she was conflicted. On one hand, she wasn't sure they could trust the Gungans. On the other hand, she didn't want Anakin and Soala trying to complete their mission with deficient forces. She had to accept the best course of action was to try and trust the Gungans. It wasn't ideal, but either choice presented problems. She just needed an argument to push Soala in the direction she wanted to go.
Anakin was in her mind and telling her trusting the Gungans wasn't their only choice. Their betrayal during the Neimoidian invasion should have proved them untrustworthy to her.
Being reminded of the invasion made Padme realize there was at least one reason they could trust the Gungans. The Gungans knew about the invasion ahead of time, and none of them warned us about it. They can police their own, they have always been able to do so. They are a society that has tough rules for shunning those who break orders. They will keep their people in line, you can count on that.
While Padme expected Anakin to pass along the information to Soala, he was refraining, as he was dead-set against them employing the Gungans. Padme, through her thoughts, kept pestering Anakin to tell Soala what she wanted. Soala had figured out Anakin was hiding something from her. He started pestering her as well.
"I can tell my sister told you something. Reveal to me what it is?"
Anakin sighed as he realized there was no way to lie his way out of it. "She wanted me to point out to you that before the invasion, none of the Gungans revealed it to you. The species is good at policing their own, any Gungan who goes against their leaders finds themselves shunned."
"So, I take it my sister believes we should recruit the Gungans into our ranks and utilize them as a resource."
"Yes, I guess so."
"Well, if that's settled, then we have to move on to the next problem. Finding a way to arm them."
Through the connection the two shared, Padme was able to hear what Soala was saying. Anakin could feel her shock that they had been discussing utilizing the Gungans when they had no weapons for them.
If you don't have weapons, then don't use the Gungans. Padme was screaming in her mind what she wanted Anakin to relay to Soala. He dutifully repeated that message, as it would lead her to the decision he wanted.
"Shut the connection down," Soala demanded of him.
"And why should I do that?" Anakin asked.
"Because I don't want her to talk me out of what I have planned." Padme knew what Soala said, and immediately she became furious that her sister was now trying to cut her out of the decision making. She desperately wanted to know what Soala was thinking.
"And what do you have planned?" Anakin didn't need any prompting from Padme to ask.
"I want to raid an armory so we can acquire weapons for the Gungans." Padme heard everything through the connection, and she instantly became furious. Her anger was too much for Anakin, and he shut down the connection. He started to feel it was a mistake to talk with Padme in the first place, as he had wanted to talk Soala out of her decision to utilize the Gungans. He didn't like the idea of risking everything to raid an armory, and he tried to talk Soala out of her decision.
"Raiding an armory to equip the Gungans is not what we need. Our forces are scarce, and we should not be risking them like this. You've been spending days hearing about how every resistance group tried to attack the droid armies, only to find themselves decimated when the droids brought in reinforcements and counterattacked."
"Yes, I've been listening to them, and I've learned why they all failed. They didn't have a strong leader making plans for them, but they do now."
Given what Soala said, Anakin got the feeling she was planning on doing something rash. "I'm responsible for bringing you here. I believed in you, but I believed in you simply following the orders others gave you. I don't think we should be deviating from them. We don't have the resources to waste on another raid. If it were to fail, we would not be able to provide the cover for the coming clone army."
"And if we don't have more forces properly equipped, we won't be able to provide the cover they need." Soala no longer sounded like a young teen. She was talking with a gravitas Anakin had never heard before.
"You have me at least. I think you will find that I am all that is needed."
"If you can do so much, then why don't you believe you can make this raid successful?"
"Because I understand my limitations. I don't have a problem attacking when I know reinforcements are coming, but with this raid, it will just be us. Don't count on my help, because I won't be giving it to you.
"You're supposed to be following my orders," Soala reminded him.
"Unless you can find a way for punishing me, then I don't exactly have to follow your orders." Soala got a sly look on her face that conveyed to Anakin exactly what she was thinking. He didn't like the look. He stared at her angrily as he put a hand against the wall and leaned into her. He was trying to look intimidating so she would understand he had no fear of her. "I have no worries about what you might tell my sister. Have you forgotten already that she is on my side with this issue?"
"You made a promise to my sister that you would look after me, protect me, keep me safe. How can you do this if you don't accompany me on this mission."
"In my opinion, the best way to keep you safe is to keep you from going on this insane mission. If I don't go, there is no mission."
Soala gave him a smirk that made her look like a bratty child rather than an adult leader. "You don't have the power to keep me from going. Just because you aren't willing to follow my orders, doesn't meant there aren't other people who will."
In a flash, Soala ducked under Anakin's arm and took off running. Anakin was so stunned, Soala made it to the end of the hall before he even looked around.
"Wait," he yelled as he ran after her.
...
Time and time again, Padme tried to re-establish her connection with Anakin, but she failed. She needed to know what the two of them were going to do. She was beginning to feel despair over the entire mission. It had always been a gamble, one that stood little chance of paying off now. The plan was intricate, and if just one part of it failed, then the whole thing failed. They had failed to find the forces on the planet they had been expecting, and without them the clone troops would never be able to land safely.
As she became filled with despair, tears started to fall down her cheeks. While she hadn't heard the door open, she did hear Threepio wheeling the cart with her dinner over to her. She tried to compose herself quickly, but she was still sniffling when he reached her.
"Is everything all right, Mistress Padme?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, her voice cracking.
"I will never understand human behavior," the droid said as it walked away.
...
Anakin didn't catch up with Soala until she had already reached the main hall of the compound. The eyes of everyone were on her as she walked out into the center of it. Without saying a word, she had the attention of everyone as they all became silent, anxious to hear what their leader had to say to them.
She took her position in the center of the room and looked out at the crowd to make sure all eyes were on her before she started speaking. When Anakin got a glimpse of her face, he could see her gaze was piercing. She was standing with her chest puffed out. It worked in giving her an air of authority.
"I am pleased to have your attention, as I have an important announcement to make to you. After some deliberation, I have decided on the course of action we must take. We arrived here with certain expectations as to what we would find among the resistance groups. I hate to admit the number of fighters we found were not what we expected, not nearly enough for us to carry out the task that has been assigned to us. However, we have benefitted from a godsend of good fortune, by discovering that there is an army of Gungans willing to help us." Soala motioned to Tarsals and the two Gungans when she mentioned them. As she continued, she spoke directly to them. "With your help, I wish to recruit and utilize them."
"We are glad to place ourselves and our people at your service, Your Highness," one of the Gungans said.
"The Gungans can be powerful allies for us, provided they have the right weapons," Soala added. "I am afraid their energy weapons will not be enough for the advanced technology possessed by the droids. I have a plan for eliminating that problem. As many of you realize there are armories full of weapons surrounding Theed. All we need to do is raid one, steal its weapons, and use those weapons to arm the Gungans."
The mood in the room changed instantly upon hearing of the princess's plan. Many of the men assembled in the room had participated in similar raids which had ended in disaster. They were skeptical of her plan but dare not question her.
If Soala picked up on the change of the mood, she gave no indication of it. She was about to say something, when a hand finally went up in the crowd. Anakin let out a breath of relief when he saw the hand belonged to Obi-Wan. He was hoping the Jedi would question her, as just maybe she would be willing to listen to him.
"Your Highness, I understand why you feel the need to carry out such a raid, but I do not understand what makes you believe this one would be successful. Similar raids carried out so far have ended in disaster. The droids are just too adept at rushing reinforcements to any scene of attack."
"I know about the failings of the previous raids, but that is something that can work to our advantage. We have seen why the other raids failed, we can learn from those mistakes, and put together a plan that will be successful. From what I have heard, the previous assaults all failed because there was no coordination between the different groups. What we need is for one force to engage the droid army at one armory, then disappear. Despite their disappearance, the Federation will still rush as many forces as they can to face them. That will leave them unable to reinforce any other armories that are attacked, including the one that I am planning for us to raid."
Anakin was quite impressed by her plan, but Obi-Wan still had some questions. "Are you sure a distraction will be enough?"
"Not entirely, but I think we might be able to utilize a secret weapon in our assault on the armory."
"And what would that secret weapon be?"
A cunning, mischievous look fell over Soala's face as she slowly turned her head to stare right at Anakin. His heart sank as he figured out what was coming next. "As many of you may have heard, we have an exceptionally strong Jedi on our side. Well, he may not technically be a Jedi, but he is an extremely strong Force user, nonetheless. Many of you may have heard of the exploits of General Skywalker. What he did to allow us to safely land on this planet was remarkable. He displayed a power that I hope to harness and utilize on this raid. That is, as long as he agrees to go."
Soala gave him such a piercing glare it made Anakin feel like she was boring a hole in him. He would have liked to know where a power like that was coming from. She was being bold and putting him on the spot. With his promise to watch over her and keep her safe, he knew he couldn't let her go off on this raid without him.
"I will follow you wherever you go, Princess." He did his best to make his reply sound authentic.
Upon hearing Anakin's words, a smirk appeared ever so briefly on Soala's face. "I am glad to hear that, General Skywalker. Now, I will need a moment with a couple members of my command team, Captain Olie and Lieutenant Tarsals, so that we may pick out the target and come up with the fine details of the plan. I will return shortly. Before I go, though, I want you to know that not everyone will be going on the raid. A small portion of you will remain as a back-up force, in case we need to call you in for extraction. General Kenobi, you will stay behind and command this force."
"Gladly, Your Highness." Obi-Wan looked relieved that he wasn't being asked to go on the raid.
"If there is anyone here who wishes not to go on the raid and stay behind on the back-up force, please inform either General Kenobi, or General Skywalker." With everything settled, Soala walked away. As she did so, Olie and Tarsals got up and dutifully followed her. They went to the room she was using as her private headquarters.
After she was gone, the room stayed quiet. A few of the men restarted conversations, but many of them were silent, dutifully waiting for the return of the princess. Obi-Wan came over to speak with Anakin.
"Are you the one who talked her into this?" he asked.
"No, I'm the one who tried to talk her out of it, in fact. She came up with everything on her own." He didn't feel like revealing how Padme had been a part of the conversation.
"You tried to talk her out of it? Why did you agree to go on the raid then?"
"Because I made a promise to Padme that her sister would come through this safely. That promise kind of requires me to follow Soala, no matter where she goes and no matter what she does."
A smirk came across Obi-wan's lips as he thought of something. "So, had you agreed to go on the raid before she put you on the spot like that?"
"No, I hadn't."
Obi-wan let out a giggle. "Looks like she's much more astute than I thought." His giggle quickly changed to a sigh. "She's being reckless, though."
"She's being bold," Anakin said as he tried to correct him.
"Sounds like you agree with the raid now."
"I'm still not sure this is the best idea, but I approve of the sentiment, at least." Anakin's mind drifted back again to his effort to free himself and his fellow slaves. He had prided himself on being bold in that situation, despite the fact Owen had wanted to be cautious. He laughed to himself and shook his head as he thought about the way roles were reversed now. In this situation, Soala was the young kid, wanting to be bold because she didn't quite understand the difficulty of what she was attempting. Despite only being two years older, he thought of himself as the more mature and wiser one needing to hold her back. On Tatooine, his boldness had paid off for everyone. Perhaps Soala's boldness would pay off in the same manner.
The princess was not gone long as it did not take much time to work out the final details with Olie and Tarsals. She went back to her position in the center of the room and began explaining the details of the mission, using a holo-graphic image of Theed as a visual aid.
"The armory we will raid is located on the outskirts of the city, at the northeastern end, near the mountains. I know it is a good distance from here, but it will work out for us. During the time it will take us to reach it, the diversionary force can carry out their attack on an armory on the opposite end of the city. Since we will be attacking the northeast end of the city, we will want the diversionary force to stage an attack at the southeast end. There is a small armory located near the water fall, meaning the grounds for retreat will be tight, but still amenable to a hit and run raid. By the time the Neimoidians send their forces there, we will be at our armory at the northeast end, staging our attack."
"In making the assignments, I did my best not to break up too many of the various groups we have. The Alderanian commandos and the clone troopers will form the diversionary force. You will be under the command of Captain Olie and Lieutenant Tarsals. For the Naboo forces, we've put together several platoons. Two-thirds of you will depart with General Skywalker and I for the assault on the police armory. The other third of you will stay with General Kenobi and await instruction in case either strike team needs reinforcement. Hopefully, you will be able to stay here."
The princess paused for a moment to see if there were any comments. "If no one has any questions, we can give you your assignments and assemble for departure. Naboo soldiers, please see Captain Olie or Lieutenant Tarsals for your platoon assignments. I need to go and get ready myself. When I return, we will head out."
After Soala left, Anakin was alone as Obi-Wan went to see who was staying with him. As Anakin watched the men get their assignments, he could see either elation, or dejection. In order to practice his Force sensing skills, he tried to sense what the soldiers were thinking and feeling. He could read that every soldier wanted to go raid the armory. They were all anxious to do something to help free their planet. He could feel the soldiers who were selected to go on the mission were elated while those who had to stay behind were dejected.
It didn't take long for Soala to return. When she did, Anakin could see she was wearing a loose-fitting battle outfit. He knew it was Padme's, as clothes for Soala had not been packed on the panic ship. It fit her just well enough so she didn't look ridiculous in it, not that anyone would have thought less of her if she did look ridiculous in the outfit. They didn't care how she appeared, all they cared about was the courage and the boldness she was showing. They believed in her, and they were willing to follow her anywhere.