Star Trek: The Phantom Menace.
USS Dreadnought, NCC-59285.
Chapter 6: Return To Naboo.
"Is he to be trained?" Qui Gon asked the council he now stood before. He had been summoned the next morning so as to be told the results of Anakin's test.
"No, He is too old." Mace Windu told him with a shake of his head.
Anakin bowed his head, tears threatening to fall, but he kept them in, he would not cry in front of his idols.
"He is definitely the chosen one. You must see that." Qui Gon argued, surprised by their decision. Could they not feel the warmth coming off of the boy? The way the light side reacted to him?
"Clouded this boy's future is." Yoda replied with a sigh.
Apparently not then.
"I will train him, then. I take Anakin as my Padawan learner." Qui Gon said quickly.
"A Padawan you already have, Qui-Gon. Impossible to take on a second it is." Master Yoda stated with a frown.
"The code forbids it." Mace Added.
"Obi-Wan is ready, I have full faith in him." Qui Gon dismissed, gesturing to his student, who stood at his side.
"I am ready to face the Trials." Obi Wan agreed, Eager. He wasn't entirely happy about how quick Qui Gon was to push him aside, but he did understand his teachers eagerness.
Slowly he had come to see the truth for what it was, Anakin was strong in the light, the force sang about his presence.
"Our own counsel we will keep on who is Ready." Yarael Poof replied.
"He is headstrong and he has much to Learn of the living Force... but he is Capable. There is little more he can learn from me." Qui Gon continued, ignoring the tall Councillor.
Yarael was always to cynical for his taste.
"Young Skywalker's fate will be decided Later. Now is not the time for this. The senate is in disarray and Queen Amidala is returning home... which puts pressure on The Federation and could widen the Confrontation." Mace Windu explained.
"And draw out the queen's attacker" Ki Adi Mundi pointed out.
"Go with the queen and Starfleet to Naboo and discover The identity of this dark warrior." Mace Ordered Qui Gon and Obi Wan.
"This is the clue we need... to unravel the Mystery of the Sith. May the Force be with you." Yarael Poof finished.
And that was that.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Your Majesty, it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you." Qui Gon greeted Queen Amidala as he entered the room she was waiting in.
"I welcome your help Master Jedi. Senator Palpatine fears that the Federation means to destroy me."
"I assure you I will not allow that to happen." Qui Gon promised.
"Neither will we." Captain Decker added, walking through the doors and into the room. He had been informed of everything that had happened on the planet, and while he wasn't entirely surprised, he had hoped that they would not be alone in sympathising with Naboo's plight.
Nevertheless, the starfleet captain would assist the Queen and her people through 'diplomatic' ways. (Wink wink, nudge nudge)
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"Is the planet secure?" Darth Sidious asked his subordinate.
"We have taken over the last pockets of Primitive life-forms my lord. We are in complete control of the planet now." Gunray revealed.
"Good. I will see to it that in the senate things stay as they are. I am sending my apprentice, Darth Maul, To join you. He will sort out any Jedi problems that arise." Sidious told them.
"Yes, my lord." Gunray relented, bowing his head as the Sith Master ended the transmission.
Gunray's assistant looked pale, well more pale than usual. "A Sith here? The situation is officially out of hand, if one of us fails, we will be killed for sure!"
Gunray merely nodded, unable to reply as he had nothing to say. He could only agree. He should have never agreed to anything, but it was too late now.
~ - ~
"Do you think the queen's idea will work?" Obi-Wan asked. They had landed in the swamps and now waited by a speeder.
"The Gungans will not be easily swayed. And we cannot use our power to help her. But yes, I think it will. She has other allies too, remember." Qui Gon reminded the young man.
"I'm sorry for my behaviour, Master. It's not my place to disagree with you about the boy. And I am grateful you think I'm ready to take the trials." Obi Wan apologised.
"You've been a good student, Obi-Wan. And you're a much wiser man than I am. I foresee you will become a great Jedi knight." Qui Gon smiled, turning to look at his Padawan with pride In his eyes.
~ - ~
"The starfleet captain has requested to board our ship. They wish to negotiate on behalf of the Naboo." Gunray stated.
"This is an unexpected move, let them come aboard but make sure they are escorted by battle droids at all times. It could be a diversion, but that is of no consequence. Kill them the moment the Queen reveals herself." Sidious ordered.
Gunray bowed before walking away, leaving the communications room quickly.
Once the Neimodian had left, Sidious turned to face his apprentice. "Lord Maul, I sense that you will be more useful planet side. Remember your training, use your anger but Let them come to you"
"Yes, my master."
~ - ~
The group follows Jar Jar as he moves through the swamp. Queen Amidala had asked him to find his people and then bring her and her allies to them. She needed all the help she could get.
Jar Jar had reluctantly agreed.
Suddenly he stops and sniffs the air. So the group stops behind him.
"Yeah, disseh it!"
Jar Jar makes a strange chattering noise. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Gungan Captain and a few other Gungan soldiers riding on domesticated kaadus emerge from the brush.
"I have a bad feeling about this master." Obi Wan whispered to Qui Gon.
The Gungan soldiers herded the group to an open area where the ruins of a grand temple with massive carved heads can be seen. Boss Nass and several other Gungan council members walk out and onto the top of a three-quarter-submerged head.
"Jar Jar, yousa payen dis time. Who's da uss-en others??" Boss Nass demanded to know.
Queen Amidala steps forward from the group. " I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo...I come before you in peace."
Boss Nass spits onto the floor. "Naboo biggen. Yousa bringen da Mackineeks... Dya busten uss-en Omm. Yousa all bombad. Yousa all die'n, mesa tink!"
Captain Panaka and the Nubian Troops look around nervously, however the Jedi and S31 Officers watch everything with great interest.
The Queen seems nervous but steels herself and begins to speak. "We wish to form an alliance-"
Suddenly, Padme steps forward.
Boss Nass frowned. "Whosa dis?"
"I am the real Queen Amidala, that is my decoy. My Protection...my loyal bodyguard." Padme admitted.
Anakin is stunned, but Qui Gon and Obi Wan smirk. They had known.
"I am sorry for my deception, but under the Circumstances it has become necessary to protect myself. Although we do not always agree, Your Honour, our two great societies have always lived in Peace...until now. The Trade Federation has destroyed all that we have Worked so hard to build. You are in hiding, my people are in camps. If we Do not act quickly, all will be lost forever...I ask you to help us...no, I Beg you to help us." Padme pleads, falling to her knees before prostrating herself towards Boss Nass.
Slowly, the Nubian Troops, Jedi, Anakin and the S31 officers do the same.
"We are your loyal servants, do with us as you wish." Padme tells the High Gungan.
At this Boss Nass begins to laugh. "Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans.. Mesa like dis. Maybe wesa bein friends. Free them, wesa are now allies!"
The Gungan soldiers cheer before helping Padme and her friends up, greeting them eagerly now.
~ - ~
(Hours earlier)
"Officially, we can do nothing. Yes a few droid fighters fired on our ships, but that could be dismissed as faulty programming or something else. We cannot fight with you against the trade federation." Captain Decker revealed with a sigh.
Padme nodded, understanding the need to stick to one's principles. Without rules, there would be chaos. She was saddened to hear that they couldn't fight by her side though.
"However, my brother would like for you to stay behind so he can talk to you about another matter. I am needed else where." Decker added, a small smirk on his face. He then bid them farewell and left the room.
"The people of Naboo don't have time for this, what is this Captain Decker thinking?" A handmaiden muttered, only for Commander Jameson to turn to her.
"Of course they don't, that's all part of the plan. The ambassadors are going to approach the trade federation ship and talk it out, distracting the Viceroy and his assistant. Meanwhile, Queen Amidala and a few squadrons of Starfleet Marines head to the Gungan council to get their help in retaking Naboo. They then take back the capital and launch fighters to attack the control ships, surprising the Viceroy. As he's distracted, the starfleet 'Ambassadors' which are secretly Section 31 agents, will disarm the Viceroy, take control of his ship and order the shut down of the droids." He explained.
"What makes you so sure the Queen will approve of such a plan?" the handmaiden replied with a frown.
"I don't know, will you?" Jameson asked, causing the handmaiden to stiffen.
Padme then took down her hood, seeing no point in keeping it up in present company if they all knew. "How did you figure it out?"
"I'm trained to see these types of things, gestures, body language, from the movement of a person's eyes to the way they twitch their lips. You made subtle gestures with your fingers when you think nobody is looking, obviously you've trained the decoy to say certain things based on those signals. She quickly darts her head in your direction, and It's a good thing nobody else has figured this out yet, otherwise the Trade federation would have what they want already." The officer replied, giving Padme a wink before walking off.
The young girl paused, finding herself grateful that these new allies of theirs were indeed so honourable. If they weren't, then her people and planet would have been surely doomed.
Padme pitied this group of peaceful explorers. They had been forced to invent new ways to defend themselves simply because others were hostile towards them, it seemed no matter where you live in this universe, someone would find a reason to hate you for being different..
It seems this Section 31 had some very competent officers, and the queen shuddered to think of them ever being used against her.
Starfleet was looking to be a very powerful new faction in the galaxy, their few numbers notwithstanding. These people had been through hell and back, and had the literal and mental scars to prove it. But here they were, still alive and still willing to fight for what they believed in.
They were definitely a faction not to be trifled with. And funnily enough, Padme found herself feeling safe and trusting in their presence because of it.
"For the record, he needed to step away so as to have plausible deniability. Now that he's gone though, we can get down to business, Starfleet officially cannot get involved as we have no quarrel with the Trade federation. However, As the highest ranking official of Section 31 in this galaxy, I see Viceroy and his allies as a threat to starfleet. Therefore I am offering any and all resources I have at my disposal to aid Naboo in taking him down." Commander Jameson revealed.
Padme smiled, a look of gratitude on her face.
With friends like these, the Trade Federation had no chance.
(Present)
"The honourable Viceroy Nute Gunray welcomes you aboard his humble Trade vessel. He apologises for the presence of the security droids but none can be too careful these days." A silver Protocol droid stated.
"It's perfectly alright, we more than understand. Perhaps we could convene to somewhere more private for the negotiations?" Ambassador Decker suggested.
"What makes you so sure we'd even hear you out? You are unknown, you could be playing us for fools." Rune, Gunray's assistant accused.
"You're right, we are unknowns. But that means you have the privilege of creating a trade agreement and perhaps alliance with a new faction who has access to resources and technologies that you don't. Wouldn't such a partnership be...beneficial to you?"
Gunray paused for a moment, thinking of the amount of credits he could make with access to this new faction. The opportunity was too good to pass up!
But, ever the businessman. Nute never revealed his true feelings on the matter. (He didn't need to, the starfleet negotiator saw the man's eyes light up with greed)
"Very well, I suppose we will hear you out." Gunray replied with a fake sigh, gesturing for the party to follow him to a conference room.
(End of chapter six)
Sorry for the long wait, Im often busy with work or very sick. Im trying I promise.