Chapter Nine
A/N: I will just quickly go over the first bit of this as it is similar to a part in PM but I will go into more detail once my plotline starts.
Harry woke up in his room on Naboo. However he was not happy like he had been on every other day of the mission as he would probably have to leave tonight. However he was happy that he had, had the chance to say goodbye to Padme. He smiled as he remembered the two of them kissing outside of Padme's house and him giving her the necklace he got from his home world, despite her protests.
Slowly Harry got up and dressed slowly and walked to see his master, who he knew through the force was sitting down by the lake meditating. He walked down to the lake but respected his master and meditated with him rather than wake him up.
Eventually Kit finished meditating and looked at Harry. "Ah yes Harry I was meaning to talk to you. Apparently the two Jedi who were sent to negotiate a settlement, arrived at the ship about half an hour ago. The trade federation types are cowards. The negotiations should be short".
Harry nodded trying to hide his sadness. "Ok Master so I guess we will be leaving soon"? Kit nodded slowly. Harry felt a huge wave of sadness crash over him. He stood up bowed to his master and walked across the lush greens of Naboo. He walked to a statue and leant against it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew today was going to be tough but had no idea it would be this tough. He sighed again and unclipped his lightsaber and looked at it. He hadn't really had to use it and knew this mission whichever way he looked at it had been a failure. If anything since Harry and Kit Fisto had arrived things on the planet had got worse. There had been a small battle in the palace, the blockade had increased and Naboo was entering a starvation period. Since the Trade Federation had stopped all shipping to this planet. He only hoped that the two Jedi trying to force a settlement, whoever they were, had good success.
Eventually Harry got fed up of waiting around and walked to the big dining room in the castle for some breakfast. However on the way over there he heard his master calling his name. "Harry we need to get to the throne room, apparently they are having a meeting about trying to stop the Trade Federation themselves. They have even sent senators to Coruscant to try and get help from over there. We need to get over there to try and stop them. They don't know that we have Jedi trying to force a settlement to get rid of them. We need to go now".
Harry nodded jumped up and followed his master to the throne room. When they were in there, he saw some guards, a few politicians and captain Panaka. In the middle of the room however was a woman with heavy make-up and an elaborate red gown with a gold lining. Her hair was made up in a way it hung down by the side of her head. Harry knew that this woman was meant to be the Queen. However one look into her eyes told him she was a decoy, she had bright green where Padme had brown. Harry wondered if his master knew this, he assumed so. He looked at the hand maidens sitting beside her and knew instantly where Padme was. She was sitting to the far left of the fake queen and when he looked at Padme she gave him a smile but he could tell there was sadness behind it. He badly wanted to hug her but he knew he couldn't. He had known all along that this couldn't last but parting from her was harder than he could have possibly imagined.
The pair of Jedi bowed to the queen and she gestured towards two seats next to a couple of politicians. As the two sat down Panaka explained what Kit had said to Harry outside and there were objections that it was too dangerous. So Panaka raised his hand. "I know we will never reach an agreement here so I suggest we get into contact with Senator Palpatine on Coruscant. He will be a great help".
So a large holo-progector was brought in and they loaded up a message to Coruscant. However when they tried to get through to the Senate the message just faded and went flickered for a bit then eventually the message service died.
Needless to say this caused a lot of commotion and eventually the only conclusion the guards could come up with to what the cause of the problem if could be, was invasion. The Queen immediately dismissed that, but Kit Fisto and Harry shared a worried glance. It was true that the federation types were cowards but if they were working with somebody else who wanted this whole blockade to happen in the first place, invasion looked likely. If it was there would almost certainly be disaster. Naboo was a peaceful planet and if it were to be invaded there was noting that could stop it. There was no army and eventually the people would either get shot or starved to death.
Eventually Kit decided to try and talk to them but everyone ignored him so Harry walked over. Quickly asked the Queen for permission to speak, which was granted then stood up on a chair and used the force to enhance his voice. "ALRIGHT YOU LOT SHUT UP AND LITSEN FOR A MINUTE! THE ONLY REASNOBLE CONCLUSION WE CAN GET FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS BEING DOWN IS INVASION. MAYBE IT IS MAYBE IT ISN'T. BUT I THINK WE SHOULD CHECK IF THE FEDERATION IS INVADING. IF THEY AREN'T THEN WE CAN CHECK FOR OTHER REASONS, BUT IF IT IS INVASION WE NEED TO FORM A PLAN RATHER THAN ARGUING OVER OTHER POSSIBILITIES. I KNOW YOU LOT THINK THEY WONT INVADE BECAUSE THEY ARE COWARDS, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING A LOT OF UN-COWARDLY THINGS LATELY, FORMING A BLOCKADE AND CUTTING OFF FOOD. SO UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSING YOUR PLANET TO THE TRADE FEDERATION LETS SEE IF THEY ARE IN VADING OR NOT!
Harry's throat was hoarse by now so he took the force off of his voice and said, "Who's with me"?
The rest of the room looked stunned, well except for Kit who had a smile on his face. Then an old politician stood up. "You have no idea what you are talking about boy, so why don't you shut up and let the adults,"-
The rest of his speech was cut off by an angry shout. And it came from Padme. "HE HAS MORE IDEA ABOUT THIS THAN YOU DO YOU USELESS OLD MAN, UNLESS YOU FORGET HE SAVED THE QUEENS LIFE AT THE ELECTIONS SPEECH AND I PERSONALLY THINK HE IS TALKING SENSE"!
She then bowed apologised for shouting and sat down again, and the man looked like he had aged another fifty years. Then the Queen stood up, "Well I personally don't think the trade federation would go that far. But as the young Jedi said Trade Federation has been unusually brave recently so I think it is a possibility. So I agree let's see if it is invasion and then if it is not, we can think of something else to do".
The rest of the room humbled its agreement and Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his master. "Great speech, my young Padawan you may have saved this planet.
Then Panaka stood up. "So ok we need to check if it is invasion, so I will send my guards out to look for"-
Then a guard spoke, "um captain there won't be any need for that look". He pointed out of a window and everyone instantly knew what he meant. There were loads of brown platoon attack crafts, hovering towards the castle and they all had the trade federation mark on them. Then the Queen spoke in a hushed whisper.
"Well I will be dammed it is invasion".
That was when the reality sunk in. Naboo was being invaded. There was nothing they could do to stop it.
Suddenly Panaka spoke. "Ok so the Planet is being invaded. We need to get the Queen out of here now and we need to help the civilians". Then he turned to Kit Fisto. "Master Jedi what will there be on those ships".
Kit turned around a grim look on his face. "Well I would hazard a guess at battle droids but it could be anything".
The captain nodded grimly. "So a plan to get the queen out of here". He walked up to the throne and pulled a few blasters out of a hidden space in one of the arm rests. Then he threw them to the handmaidens, and the Queen. "For emergencies to protect yourself, ok here is my plan, a group of guards are to go into the streets to help civilians, then I think a group of guards are to be put in the entrance hall to hold them off and protect out politicians, and then, me and another group of guards are to help escort our Queen to the hanger". Then he turned to Harry and Kit Fisto "Jedi will you help us fight for our planet"?
Kit Fisto looked at the guard. "The code says for us to use the force for peace and I guess if we fight we are fighting for peace so yes we will help you".
The captain smiled "thank you, so you can help us escort the Queen, but of course help my guards".
Kit nodded, "I agree so let's get this plan going then".
The captain nodded. "Is that plan acceptable to everyone". The people in the room nodded. "Then let's get started, we have a little time but not much, I will go get my guards and tell them their roles, your majesty, I suggest you wear something a little less conspicuous". With that he left and the Queen nodded and left for her chambers, Padme smiled at Harry as she walked out, but Harry could tell she was scared.
Harry turned to face his master and could tell Kit wanted to talk to him. He beckoned him to follow him and they walked into a silent chamber and Kit looked straight at him.
"Harry listen I was not expecting this to happen but I am really proud of you for making them stop arguing. But anyway, this is incredibly dangerous and if I die, just protect the Queen and her handmaidens, what I am trying to say I guess is just be careful, I can't get into contact with the council or the other Jedi they sent on the mission. So I don't know if they know about the invasion. ".
Harry nodded "Of course master, may the force be with you".
Kit nodded to Harry "and may the force be with you too my young apprentice".
The two walked back into the room and the atmosphere was tense. There were a few guards with rifles and blasters, the Queen was back with her handmaidens and Harry knew that they were just waiting for Panaka.
Then he noticed Padme looking out of the window. Harry walked over to her watching out for anyone looking, but Kit was talking to the queen and the handmaidens were listening in.
Harry walked over and leant against a wall near her and after checking that nobody was looking, gave her hand a quick squeeze. She looked over at him and Harry saw the raw emotion in her eyes. She quickly looked around then mouthed to him, please promise me you will be careful.
Harry sighed slowly and nodded and gave her hand another squeeze and mouthed you too I love you.
Padme nodded quickly and mouthed I love you too.
Harry walked away as he passed her there arms brushed together and their hands met for a brief moment and she gave his a tight grip, but a second later it was gone.
He walked past her and looked back for a second but she had already looked away. He sighed sadly trying to ignore the feeling of dread in his stomach. Then Panaka walked back into the room. "Ok we are ready my guards are in their positions let's get going to the hangar. If the battle droids start shooting it won't be long until chaos ensues".
The rest of them nodded and they started walking towards the hanger on the complete other side of the palace. The guards had their hands on their blasters, walking in front. The Queen and her handmaidens (now dressed much more casually than before" were behind them and Harry and Kit were bringing up the rear
After about twenty minutes of walking silently through the palace. They heard an enormous explosion. They all looked at each other and knew the battle had begun. They started to run through the corridors and then they took a turn through a door and walked through a large room that Harry assumed was for ballroom dancing. Then they heard a shot and saw a guard fall over the side of a bridge, which Harry assumed led to a different part of the castle and battle droids walked onto it. Then they turned and saw the group and started shooting.
Harry and Kit leapt into action. They pulled of their cloaks. Then they leapt up on the bridge and easily slashed through the droids. When they jumped down they saw a large group enter through the door they had entered through and they started shooting again.
Harry knew the group needed some cover and used the force and pulled a long table towards them and put it on its side, so that they could crouch behind it. The guards got what he meant and took cover behind it. Then Harry ignited his blade and sprinted towards the droids and started to slice through them.
It was absolute chaos, snipers had started to shoot from the bridge and more droids had come through a door on the other side so the group of fighters were surrounded. They took cover behind the table and fought as best as they could. Shots were being fired everywhere and droids were still falling thanks to Harry and Kit's blades. However for every droid that was destroyed even more came in. Eventually the droids had fully surrounded the group and with over one hundred blasters pointing at them, they all knew it would be useless to fight back.
Then one droid at the front talked in a robotic voice "you will come with us any resistance is useless, hand over your weapons".
Almost instantly blasters were dropped to the floor, Harry looked at his master who nodded sadly and he unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and dropped it on the floor. Harry was shocked but knew if he resisted he would die. He picked his lightsaber off his belt and went to drop it.
But then he heard as quick as lightning something flashed through the room and loads of battle droids dropped to the floor. Harry didn't know what just happened but didn't care. He stood up and used the force to push back hundreds of droids while they were distracted then summoned his lightsaber and sliced through more. The rest of the group reacted slower but soon knew what to do and soon Harry cut the last battle droid to the ground. It was only then that he wondered what had caused the distraction.
The answer came almost as soon as he had asked the question however. He looked up and saw Aayla Secura standing there hands on her hips grinning at the rest of the group. Then Harry felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and grinned. It was Yux one of his friends.
Harry turned around and slapped him on the back. "What are you doing here mate"?
Yux grinned at him, "we were sent on a mission to try and negotiate a way to get rid of the blockade but once we knew it was an invasion that went out the window. Our ship was destroyed and Aayla knew you too were down here so we got here as quickly as we could. We met a Gungan on the way he distracted the droids to get us here quicker".
Harry smiled at one of his closest friends, "so what was that thing that distracted the droids".
Yux grinned again, "that my friend was one of my masters many tricks".
Harry decided he didn't want to know anymore then he saw Captain Panaka introducing himself to Aayla and Harry guessed he was thanking her for saving their lives.
Then suddenly a weird creature ran through one of the doors into the room and he ran up to Aayla "Droids follow Jar-Jar they coming this way".
The group froze they didn't know if they could pull off another massacre of droids. Then they heard a noise that they really didn't want to hear. They turned to the door and they saw their fears roll in: Droidekas. Harry had studied these in his days as a youngling. They were tough, had good firepower and could strike fear into even the most skilled Jedi.
Harry heard lightsaber's igniting and he did the same. Almost immediately afterwards the Droidekas started firing. The four Jedi blocked all the shots they could and were force back in doing so. But knew there was only one way they could destroy a Droideka. The only way to do it was to cut off the power supply to their shield, and the only known way to do that was to make them go into roll mode.
Then Harry had an idea. He didn't know if it would work but it was worth a try. He leapt up onto the bridge where the droids had come in originally, used all the force he could and pulled down the wall above the door which was above the Droidekas. A huge crack appeared in the wall and it fell onto the droids, and the shooting ceased.
Slowly the Jedi de-activated their lightsaber's and walked to the pile of rubble. After they had moved some of it aside they was the Droidekas lying in pieces underneath. Kit muttered "they must have tried to roll away as it fell on them". Then he turned to Harry. "Harry that was very reckless but I am impressed that you thought of it well done". The others congratulated Harry and he took the compliments.
Meanwhile Captain Panaka had been looking out of the room then he turned back, and looked at the Jedi. "More droids are on the way, they don't give up, listen you can protect the Queen better that we can. Me and my soldiers will stay here and hold them off as long as we can. Get the Queen to the hangar and get her out of here".
There was instant uproar. "No" yelled the Queen, then Kit shouted "but you could die". More shouts were made but Panaka simply held up his hand for silence. "Listen if we all stay here and fight they will surround us eventually and kill us all one by one. They will take control of the planet and do who knows what with it. Guards are you with me".
All the guards' immediately responded with "yes sir". Everyone knew then that it was pointless trying to argue. The Queen came forward. "Very well Captain, it was an honour to work with you".
The captain smiled, "It was an honour to serve under you your Majesty please just help the planet get out of its mess and get it back to its former glory".
The Queen smiled "I promise".
Everyone then said goodbye and the rest of the group not including the guards walked out. Everyone had a growing feeling of dread inside them. They knew that they would almost certainly die. Eventually they made it to the hangar and after a brief battle they made it on board. Nobody knew how but the Gungan Jar-Jar Binks was still with them. As the ship made its way off of Naboo Harry hoped that they could resolve this madness on Coruscant, but he was not sure that they could.
A/N: There you go chapter nine. And before you go telling me that I shouldn't have killed off Panaka, I KNOW THAT HE JOINED THE EMPIRE AND HE FOUND OUT ABOUT ANAKIN AND PADME'S MARRIAGE. But it will happen differently in this, just please go with it. Please Review I like to hear peoples opinions on my work.