Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Chapter 10: The Battle

After the discussions were made over the plans of action in Theed, Padme and her troop headed for the capital city. Upon arriving, they split up. While Captain Panaka led the decoy half, red group, Padme led the other half, blue group. It included the Jedi, Anakin, Rabe, and Eirtae. Her group positioned themselves in some bushes across the street from the palace while red group hid across the street behind some pillars.

Before she motioned Panaka to start the diversion, she distantly heard Qui-Gon tell Anakin once they got inside the palace for him to find a safe place to hide and stay there. She could only hoped Anakin heeded Qui-Gon's words of wisdom.

The diversion then started, and all hell broke loose. As droids started shooting everywhere, Padme's group darted out of the bushes and ran for the palace. Upon entering, the droids that had been idly standing inside the ship hanger a moment before were now firing blots of blaster fire at them. The entire group, sans the Jedi, fired back. The Jedi, meanwhile, deflected the bolts of fire back at the droids with the ease of their lightsabers.

Not long into this, Padme heard Qui-Gon yell for Anakin to take cover and she yelled for the Naboo pilot forces to get to their ships.

Eventually, all the droids inside the hanger were destroyed and both groups joined back up.

Padme turned to Captain Panaka. "My guess is that the Viceroy's in throne room."

Actually it wasn't a guess. That's where she felt the presence of Gunray at.

Panaka nodded. "Red group! Blue group!" he called. "Everybody this way!"

As they proceeded towards the two metal blast doors, which led out of the hanger and into the rest of the palace, Anakin suddenly called out from where he was hiding; inside the cockpit of one of the starfighters. "Hey! Wait for me!"

"Anakin, stay where you are," Qui-Gon advised. "You'll be safe there."

"But I-" he started to protest.

"Stay in that cockpit," Qui-Gon commanded a bit more sharply than Padme thought he meant to.

But there was not time to think about that. The sliding doors ahead of them abruptly opened of their own accord to reveal the Sith Apprentice Darth Maul standing there, hood up, blocking their path. Padme as mildly surprised she hadn't sensed his presence before hand.

"We'll handle this," Qui-Gon stated.

She nodded. "We'll take the long way."

The young Queen wasn't very thrilled about this, even if she had foreseen it. For a brief millisecond she felt a note of amused pity towards Qui-Gon, being as she would never see him in the land of the living again.

Giving the Jedi Master one final look she and her entourage quickly took cover over the fire which was now being shot at them from three droidekars.

Padme and Co. fired in vain at the shielded battle droids, when Anakin then began firing torpedoes at them via the star fighter he was still in. One by one, they were each destroyed.

"Let's go," she yelled.

The way to the throne room was to be expected. They were constantly being fired at by stupid droids as they ran through countless hallways.

"We don't have time for this Captain," Padme yelled to Panaka over the sound of constant blaster fire. They were currently hiding behind pillars firing at the droids.

Suddenly hit with an idea, she fired at the window across from them and motioned for them all to follow her towards it, still dodging blaster bolts. When they reached the outside window ledge, they each shot grappling hooks from their blasters up to the ledge above them. Upon reaching it, Padme fired through the window and they entered the identical to the lower level hallway cautiously. Seeing that there were no droids in sight, she and the survivors of blue group proceeded down the hall towards the throne room while red group remained hidden. She had it planned that if she was captured, Sabe would step in.

Just as suspected, right as the company got within a kilometer of the throne room entrance, they were suddenly surrounded by a host of droidekars, though they didn't fire. They meant to capture them. The security and guards surrounding the Queen aimed their blasters at the droids threateningly.

She resisted an eye roll as she commanded in a calm voice, "Put down your weapons. They win this round."

The security and guards did as commanded and awaited capture. About a dozen or so battle droids than surrounded them and led them the rest of the way to the throne room.

Viceroy Gunray and the Settlement Officer of the Trade Federation, Rune Haako, both Neimoidian, were inside waiting for them; just as she knew they would. On their faces were smirks of triumph. Padme used every ounce of will power she could muster to keep herself back from strangling them.

Patience Padme, she told herself.

"Your little insurrection is at an end your highness," Gunray said, his tone as triumphant as his facial expression. "Time for you to sign the treaty. And end this pointless debate in the Senate."

"Viceroy!" a voice suddenly called out behind them. Everyone whipped around and there in the entranceway of the room stood Sabe, still dressed as the Queen. "Your insurrection here has ended!" She fired her blaster at a droid, which stood merely a hair away from the Viceroy.

"After her!" Gunray commanded. "This one's a decoy!" Padme smirked. That's what you think.

In the confusion, she was able to go over to her throne and retrieve the two pistols she kept concealed inside the armrests.

"Captain!" she called out, tossing him one. He caught it, and together they proceeded to shot down and destroy all the droids in the room.

"Jam the doors!" Panaka commanded of the guards. They did so, retrieving some of the fallen droids' blasters in the process.

The Queen stalked angrily towards Gunray and pointed her blaster pistol at him. "And now Viceroy, we will discuss a new treaty. One in which you release all the captive Naboo citizens you have in camps and go to jail."

"Yes, yes of course," he sputtered, eying the pistol in fear. "Just please, don't kill me."

"I, unlike some, am not a murderer." She stated coolly.

Snapping her fingers, several guards stepped forward towards the two Neimoidians. "You're under arrest Viceroy," she pronounced in triumph.

The guards arrested both the Viceroy and Haako and marched them out of the room and onto the first level of the building. As a bonus, the control ship orbiting the planet had obviously been destroyed, for everywhere one looked now they saw deactivated battle droids and droidekars. Padme instructed the guards to take the Neimoidian duo to the dungeons below while she and the others – her handmaidens, Panaka, and a few other security personnel – searched the palace for the Jedi.

Stretching out with her feelings, the young Sith proceeded into the heart of the Theed Royal Palace, where the capital city's generator complex laid. There, along with her five handmaidens, she found Obi-Wan Kenobi bent over the still, dead form of Qui-Gon Jinn.

She ran over to him. "Padawan Kenobi!"

He looked up slightly. "Queen Amidala," he acknowledged.

Upon reaching him, she bent down beside him. Getting a closer look at the Jedi Master, she placed a gasped hand to her mouth.

"The Sith did this?!" she asked, though she already knew.

Obi-Wan nodded sadly. "Yes."

She got up with her blaster raised and whipped all around. The handmaidens quickly mimicked her moves. "Where is it now?" she growled out.

"Dead, your highness. I killed it," was his emotionless reply.

She sighed, lowering her blaster. "I see."

She then swiftly turned to Yame. "Yame, retrieve Captain Panaka and the rest of the Royal Guard. They'll be able to take Master Jinn somewhere for the time being."

Yame, for once, didn't argue, and simply did as she was told with a brief nod.

Padme then turned to Eirtae. "Go alert Chancellor Palpatine of the Viceroy's capture, and inform the Jedi Council of Jinn's demise."

Eirtae nodded and was on her way.

Turning back to Obi-Wan, she found that he was looking at her oddly.

"Chancellor Palpatine?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She allowed a slight smirk. "Let's just say Palpatine was the only real nominee for the position of Chancellor. Believe me Padawan Kenobi," she gave him a pat on the shoulder, "he was elected."

Obi-Wan gave a simple nod.

A group of guards arrived not long after, running in the room. A few of them were pushing a stretcher.

"Padawan Kenobi, are you alright?" Captain Panaka asked upon arrival.

"Yes, thank you Captain. I'm fine," Obi-Wan said tiredly.

Panaka nodded and then helped the other guards lift the dead form of Qui-Gon onto the stretcher.

The rest of the day was spent in victory at the Trade Federation invasion coming to an end, yet a sense of loss at the death of Qui-Gon at the hands of Darth Maul. Anakin became an instant hero at his destruction of the droid control ship, which shocked all because of his age. As she expected, news of Palpatine's election reached Naboo later that day when she returned to the palace late that night after helping her police and guards free the captive Naboo in camps all around the planet. The entire Jedi Council was there to greet them when they arrived back, much to the surprise of Padme. She naturally didn't expect so many Jedi to come. Since of this, she didn't see much of Obi-Wan or Anakin the rest of the day.