STAR WARS
According to Jack

Episode I
THE PHANTOM MENACE




Not so long from now, in a place much like our own...




Scene 1:  An Unexpected Start

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic.  Across thousands of inhabited planets, peaceful alliances are beginning to crumble as the endless debates of politics increasingly turn to violence.

But all Anakin sees when he looks up are stars.

"Ani!  Ani, darling!  Come inside!  It's time for bed!"

His mother calls out to him from the back porch of their boxlike home.  From his perch atop the local transmission tower that he has just learned to climb, Anakin Skywalker can see the roofs of nearly identical homes stretching out in every direction, interrupted only by the occassional stepped pyramids of the commerce malls and the unnaturally regular peaks of the terrain parks.  Other towers such as this glitter more brilliant on the ground than any of the lights of the heavens.  At the horizon, the spires of a great city glow like perpetual twilight, with space traffic funneling like stardust down into its heart.

Such a sight might be seen in any number of the suburbs of the city of Theed, capital city of the planet Naboo, itself a suburb of Coruscant, the capital planet of the Galactic Republic.  But at the cusp of adolescence, despite all the spectacles he's seen on the network holos, it is nonetheless the most breathtaking view Ani has ever witnessed, and so he remains very still, hoping his mother won't think to look up.

She spends more time than he'd like looking around, her long peppered hair falling haphazardly from its bun around a face lined with worry, but finally she sighs and lets the screen door smack carelessly behind her as she retreats inside.  His heart pangs a little;  he really does love her, and he doesn't enjoy dodging her like this, but he nearly fell twice when climbing the rickety frame of this tower, and he wants to relish his accomplishment a bit longer.

He is so wrapped up in the beauty of it all that he doesn't notice the ship until it passes within a stone's throw of his head;  the structure sways in its wake.  Its lights are cut and it makes no other sound;  Ani only figures out what it is when its thruster brakes kick in to settle it down in the middle of the road several blocks away.  Steaming from its orbital entry, the hatch flies open, and two brown-robed figures leap from it, gasping for air.

Anakin shuts his eyes and concentrates.  He learned a trick recently;  if he relaxes his body and lets go of his thoughts, he can stretch his senses out farther than humans are able--even farther than his Toydarian stepfather--hearing and seeing and smelling things that no one else can.  He's never stretched quite as far as this before, but excitement propels him forward, and suddenly their speech is so clear to him that he nearly breaks his trance from surprise.

"--enium gas!  In a transport pod!  We could've been killed!" says the younger of the two, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Exactly.  That was no leak.  Someone is trying to kill us."  The elder of the two seems unflustered, looking at his surroundings rather than his companion.  Anakin feels a tingle when the man looks his way, as if their eyes actually meet, but then the man turns again and the feeling passes.

The first of the two regains his composure.  "Whoever did this has to know better than to get in the way of the Jedi."

Ani gasps.  He's seen them on the holos and he should've recognized them by their distinctive garb--identical except for their hair, which falls in a great mane around the elder and is barely past the ears on the younger--but he wouldn't have believed it enough to even think it.  These are Jedi Knights of the Republic, warriors so powerful and rare that they're living legends.  To see even one on a trip to Coruscant itself would be considered lucky;  so what are two of them doing on Naboo?

"Yes, but who did this?" frowns the elder.  "Stay on guard, Master Obi-Wan."  He pulls something from his pocket, and a moment later Anakin sees the pale blue flicker of a holographic figure standing on his palm.  "This is Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, ambassador for the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic."

"Master Qui-Gon!  Yesss!" wheezes an inhuman voice from the other end. "You are due to arrive.  The meeting with the Viccceroy and the Queen hasss already begun."

Qui-Gon's voice is nearly serene.  "We have been delayed.  With all due respect to the Trade Federation, it appears they allowed a gas bomb to be placed in the landing shuttle they provided."

"Oh noessss!  Noessss!"  Through the slithering accent, Anakin can't tell if the figure's panic is sincere or not.  "Is Jedi Knightsss harmed?"

"My partner and I are safe, but we demand that negotiations cease until we are present.  We speak on behalf of the Republic here, and you should consider this an order from Chancellor Velorum himself."

"Of courssse!  We will sssend a new ship to your coordinatesss immediately."

"No, that's alright."  Master Qui-Gon looks to the shining city in the distance.  "We will walk.  Thank you."

"Walk!  Negotiations will be delayed for daysss!  I musst inssist that--"  The transmission flicks out of existence.

Master Obi-Wan looks puzzled.  "Master Qui-Gon, you don't really think the Trade Federation was responsible for this?  They only stand to gain from our involvement in this dispute;  Queen Amidala's people are stubborn, and will tolerate the Federation boycott indefinitely without Jedi moderation."

Master Qui-Gon looks to his partner.  "That's what your Academy training tells you, but a Master in the field needs to be mindful of the living Force.  What do your feelings tell you?"

Obi-Wan makes a face of concentration similar to Anakin's own.  "I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute."

Qui-Gon nods.  "There's that.  But there's something...elsewhere.  Elusive."  Master Qui-Gon's eyes shut in meditation, and his voice betrays a hint of sorrow.  "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Well, if somebody's hiding something here, it's our job to find out what it is.  I don't think we can salvage any of our equipment from the ship without risking further contamination.  Shall we do this one on sabers and wits?" Obi-Wan asks eagerly.

Qui-Gon sighs and opens his eyes.  "Let's get on with it, then."

And nearly so fast that Anakin misses it, the Jedi are running, then leaping, then seemingly flying towards Theed, propelled a greater distance with each step, until Anakin loses sight of them in the night.  

He clings to his perch, trying to process what just happened, when something grabs him by the back of his neck and lifts him from his spot.

"There you are!" bellows his stepfather.  He is a large man, shirtless, and his blue gut bumps up against Ani as small webbed wings beat furiously to support both their weight.  "You might be able to hide from your mother, boy, but lucky she's got a Toydarian to keep tabs on you, eh?"  He twists Ani around to look him in the face, and Anakin recoils from his elephantine visage and rancid breath.

"Sorry, Watto," Anakin says through gritted teeth.

"Please, I've told you, call me Dad!"  Watto chuckles maliciously, and drifts them down toward the back porch.

"Let go of me!"  Anakin struggles from his grip, falling the small remaining distance and landing on his feet.  "You're not my Dad!"

"Sure enough, sonny boy.  You're too good for my money?  I'll take my business connections elsewhere, and you and your mother can fend for yourselves.  I'm sure there are plenty of people looking to take advantage of the skills..."  His stubbly grin grows to its full yellow width, "...of a freak like you."

Anakin swallows rising bile and says nothing.

"Good, that's what I thought."  Watto lands, then squats to look Anakin in the eye.  "Now listen here.  Mister Haako wants that communications disrupter done by second moonrise.  He's coming by to pick it up himself.  You gonna have that ready for me before bed?"

Anakin nearly spits as he speaks.  "You wouldn't have any business at all if it weren't for me!"

Watto laughs.  "Which is why I stick around.  Now get in there, and do your job, before I send you off to the freak research lab myself."

Anakin bolts into the house, darting past his mother and up to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.  His eyes scan the wires, tools and spare parts littering his floor, then over to the open husk of a utility droid sitting in the corner, and a plan forms in his mind.  His heart still races at the thought of the ship just down the road, and deep in his gut, he knows this will not be the last he sees of the Jedi.




Scene 2:  Protocol

A golden metal man stands tall and proud before the great doors of the throne room.  Concierge and herald for the Eternal Queen of Naboo, he can't help but feel honored by his duties.  He's programmed that way.

"Greetings, Viceroy Newt Gunray!  Greetings, Lieutenant Rune Haako!  I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, at your service!"

"We demand to sssee the Queen at onccce!"  

A spark flies through Threepio's annoyance chip.  The two representatives of the Trade Federation appear to lack any understanding of proper protocol, though he knows this is common among the grey suited businessmen of the snakelike Neimoidians.  If Threepio could, he might wonder how any race could rise to the topmost echelons of power in the galaxy-spanning Federation with so few manners.  But droids are not programmed to wonder.

"I'm terribly sorry," he says in perfectly accented Coruscant standard, his default setting.  "The Queen will not grant an audience with the Trade Federation until the Chancellor's ambassadors arrive."

Rune hisses a snide comment to Newt in their native tongue, and the Viceroy smiles.  Threepio replies, "Even if you were so foolish as to attempt that, I think you'd find your blasters could not penetrate these doors.  Though the Undying Queen would of course have nothing to fear from such intrusion, she would find it insufferably rude, and has taken all appropriate measures to prevent it.  If it would please you to be entertained while you wait, I could summon JK-23, the finest jester droid this side of the Outer Rim.  I believe you would not be disappointed."

Rune glares at Threepio over his darkened glasses.  "Neimoidian?  You underssstand Neimoidian?  But no one underssstandss Neimoidian excccept Neimoidianssss!"

Threepio twitches with excitement;  he is programmed to enjoy marketing his features.  "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication, including the indigenous languages of every member planet in the Galactic Republic.  My model was designed by top Techno Union engineers specifically for service to the noble houses of the ancient and exalted regency of Naboo, who spared no expense.  If you would like further demonstration--"

"Enough of thisssss!" the Viceroy exclaims.  "We come bearing manzzzanoro.  By the protocol of thossse anccient houssesss, you mussst grant usss audienccce."

Threepio's arms raise up in a manner that is undeniably mechanical, but nonetheless sufficient to indicate surprise to most bipedal species.  "Manzanoro!  A unique gift of immeasurable value!  What do you bring that would invoke such a protocol?"

Rune hands a briefcase to Newt, who lays it flat in front of him where it hovers as if thin air were a table.  With a snap, the latches release and it pops open.  Within it lies a ball of dull bronze, no larger than a human fist.  "We call it Droideka."

Threepio leans over to look at it, eagerly recording this new information.  "What does it do?"

Newt removes it from the case and holds it to his lips, whispering in his own language, "Protect."  Then he rolls it gently along the marble floor;  it bumps off a wall and lolls to a stop in the middle of the entranceway hall.  He steps aside.  Rune takes two quick strides towards it while drawing his blaster from beneath his lapel, then fires.

Faster than the laserbolt, the ball sprouts three insectlike legs and is surrounded by a whirling blue field.  The laserbolt bounces off of it harmlessly, leaving a small charred mark in the frescoed walls.

"Goodness gracious me!"  Threepio's arms zip up to the full height of their limited articulation.  "Weapons fire in the antechamber!  I must ask that you refrain from doing that again, unless direct threat is made to your bodily integrity, otherwise by the Galactic Charter of Parley our security forces will insist on confiscating your blaster at once!"

Rune sheaths his blaster.  The droideka flips back into a ball and rolls back to Newt, who stoops to pick it up.

Newt looks on it with adoration as he speaks.  "Activation and deployment of ray ssshields within closse range blassster fire.  Sssurely more impenetrable than those doorsss.  Do the Naboo know of anything like it?"

Threepio's arms drop.  "No."

"And what value would the Naboo placcce on sssuch a thing?"

"The value would be...immeasurable."

Newt walks to Threepio, grabs his wrist, and places the droideka in the protocol droid's palm.  "Then we will see the Queen immediately."

Threepio's head tilts momentarily to indicate processing, then with a socially appropriate measure of resignation he says, "Immediately."

By some unseen mechanism, the doors to the throne room open with a long slow groan, and Threepio leads the Federation representatives inside.

They walk along a red carpeted path beneath shimmering titanium arches supported by pillars on either side.  Beyond the pillars, for all appearances, lies outer space, riddled with stars and comets, novae and even galaxies packed in much more closely than they would ever truly be, but impressive to behold.  If the Trade Federation is impressed, Threepio cannot tell, and so he continues without further commentary until they reach the observation platform.  Motioning for the Federation representatives to hold back, he climbs the few stairs that lead up to an empty dais and an abrupt ledge, where he proclaims,

"We call upon thee, Amidala,
 Eternal Queen of Naboo!

 Undying ruler of millennia,
 Attended by angels,
 She is Naboo and Naboo is She!

 Let all here gathered greet her
	with bowed head and bended knee!"

Newt and Rune remain standing.  "Typical," Threepio snorts to himself as he shuffles aside to make way for his Queen.

Beyond the platform, in the darkness, there arise twelve flames.  As they draw closer, one sees that they are not flames, but women in robes of burning orange and yellow.  They sing a wordless choral fanfare as they gather to form a circle.  At the center, fading through translucence into solid existence, appears the Queen.

She is beautiful and fierce.  Her ornate blood red robes flow into a horny obsidian crest around her head, from which a bone white face peers with crystal eyes.  As her attendant host hover behind her and bring their song to a close, she lands delicately and speaks with deadpan force.

"Your display in our hall was impressive, Viceroy, but you will not like what we have to say.  Your trade boycott of our planet has ended."

"I wasss not aware of sssuch failure," hisses Newt.

The Queen continues.  "We have word that the Chancellor's ambassadors have landed, and when they see the abuses you have wrought upon us, you will be commanded to reach a settlement."

"Asss you know, our boycott issss perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to recccieve the ambasssadorssss.  We would never do anything without the approval of the Ssssenate."

"Do not lie to us, Viceroy!  The Federation has gone too far this time.  You may be able to hide your misdeeds from the buereucrats on Coruscant, but we see all that happens on Naboo."

Her angels intone in response, "For She is Naboo and Naboo is She!"

"Of courssse."

Queen Amidala glides over to C-3PO and accepts the droideka from him.

"This technology is indeed unique and invaluable.  We shall study it with great interest.  We apologize if you find this audience was not worth the cost, but we have nothing further to say."

As she reascends, there is no bow from the Federation representatives;  they stand confidently, as they have throughout.  Threepio makes a note in his memory that the number of their infractions has now exceeded the normal bounds for diplomatic immunity, and he may now submit his recording of this entire event to the Legislative Subcommittee on Diplomatic Standards as evidence for censure of the Federation.  He is drawn out of his self-satisfied feedback loop as Newt speaks a single command clearly and boldly in Neimoidian.

"DESSSTROY!"

Threepio gives a small yelp.  There is a whorl of laserfire and sparks from beyond the dais.  Fluorescent lights flicker on and wash out the universe, revealing the screens on which it had been projected.  The smoke clears to show bodies strewn across transparent steps, with one small droideka standing at attention on the remains of the Queen.

Rune laughs, and races up the steps to retrieve it.  "The Undying Queen!  Eternal!  Ha!"  He kicks her corpse.

"Now we do to Naboo asss we did to Sssshe," says Newt.  "Begin landing troopssss;  I want the capital sssecured by the end of the day.  And deploy Droideka throughout the palaccce.  Let none essscape alive!"

C-3PO remains motionless as they stride past him and out of the room;  lucky for him, droids tend to be ignored in these situations, so long as they don't call attention to themselves.  Not that he has much choice;  the overwhelming number of breaches in protocol have rendered him practically inoperable.  When the coast is finally clear, he does the only thing that seems proper.  He runs away, as fast as his mechanical legs can carry him.




Scene 3:  Escape from the Palace

The darkness of night becomes the pale just before dawn.

The concrete beneath Obi-Wan's feet gives way with a crunch, and he leaps again.  Several long strides before they reach the palace, the Jedi Masters can tell there is something terribly wrong.  The large four-winged ship hovering at the dock is not a diplomatic vessel, but rather a warship, and at the peak of their jumps they can see the skeletal shapes of battle droids disembarking.  Their dash becomes a charge, and within a few more paces they are being fired upon.

Lightsabers flash to life, blue and green.  Their blades of pure light can cut through anything.  Their infinitesimal edge is created by a laser focused through a rare crystal that can only be cut by a Jedi with guidance from the Force, and can only be wielded by the same--any lesser being would slice through their own limbs before they realized what they had done.

This time their lightsabers are wielded defensively, spinning around each Jedi in a way that catches and deflects every shot.

Obi-Wan takes out a chimney with his next landing.  In the street below him, citizens of Theed scramble to avoid falling bricks.

He peers several rooftops away at Qui-Gon, who is pinned down as three rocket pack battle droids take turns strafing him.  Obi-Wan's next leap takes him directly towards one of them, which is swiftly cut in two.  Qui-Gon jumps for the cover of a nearby park filled with trees.  Obi-Wan takes out the second battle droid, and soon the third is flying haphazardly away without a head.  Obi-Wan joins his partner under cover.

Qui-Gon's saber is still drawn before him, but his eyes are shut.  "The Queen is dead," he says plainly.  "She and her twelve handmaidens lie cold and lifeless in the throne room."

"I'll take your word for it," Obi-Wan says as he swings and barely misses a rocket pack battle droid diving through leaves and branches.  It takes a shot at Qui-Gon, whose lightsaber twitches to deflect the shot back at the droid.  The droid crashes into the nearby brush with a flaming boom.  Qui-Gon does not open his eyes.

"Most everyone in the palace is dead.  Neimoidians coordinate the unloading at the dock.  In the eastern tower, two people fight for their lives."

"Hm," says Obi-Wan, "Rescue the survivors or take out the bad guys?"

"Rescue the survivors," says Qui-Gon.

"You sure?  There's two of us.  We could do both."

Qui-Gon opens his eyes.  "Rescue the survivors."

"Very well."  Trees crack and crash nearby as a Federation tank begins to enter the woods.  "Go!"

Simultaneously they are out of the trees and on the ramparts of the palace, dashing from spire to dome as they make their way to the eastern tower.  They remove a few more rocket pack battle droids from their path, and they're through a window and rolling across a lushly carpeted floor.

An oversized statue of Amidala stands at the end of a magnificent hall, and behind its pedestal cower a Naboo soldier and a woman wearing the orange and yellow robe of the Queen's Handmaidens.  The soldier peeks out to fire his blaster, but his weapon is of no use against the two small droideka scuttling toward either side of the statue to get a clear shot.

The Jedi are on them in an instant.  Obi-Wan's lightsaber slices through the droideka shield without resistance.  Qui-Gon deflects a rapid volley of fire from his droideka, then extends his palm and telekinetically sends it crashing out the window.

"Boy are we glad to see you," the soldier says, jogging out to greet them.  "I'm Typho Panaka, Captain of the Palace Guard.  And this is--"

"Padme, Handmaiden of Amidala," says the young woman, coming up from behind him.

"Last Handmaiden of Amidala," Captain Panaka stresses.  "And you must be the Chancellor's ambassadors."

"I'm Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is my partner, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.  Sorry we're a bit late."

"The Queen is dead," says Panaka.

"We know," Qui-Gon says.  "Our condolences are insufficient, but you have them."

"We are grateful to see you at all, Masters Jedi," says Padme.

"What were those things?" Obi-Wan asks.

"New technology developed by the Trade Federation," Panaka explains.  "They call them droidekas, and the palace is crawling with them.  There are sure to be more at any moment."

"Then we must find a place to hide and talk," says Qui-Gon, "until we know more about what we're dealing with."

"This way," says Padme, leading them to a grate in one of the walls.  She picks at its screws.  Obi-Wan moves her aside, and with four quick twirls of his saber, the grate comes crashing to the floor.

*****

At the dock, the networked cyborg Tey How reports to the Viceroy.

"Sir, they've gone up the ventilation shaft."

Rune grins.  "We have them on the run now.  They're no match for Droideka."

The Viceroy scowls.  "Sssstil, I don't like it.  Tey How, get our SSSSith on the line immediately."

"Yes sir."  The cyborg does not change posture.  No difference can be seen in her eyes, covered as they are by the goggles through which she sees the network stream.  But the voice that next comes out of the speaker unit covering her mouth is not her own high-pitched electronic squeal, but rather a deep gutteral croak transmitting through hyperspace from a place light-years away.

"What is it?"

Newt unconsciously straightens his shoulders as he replies, "Thisss plan of yoursss hasss failed, Lord Sidioussss.  The Chancccellor'sss ambasssadorsss are Jedi.  We dare not go againssst them."

"Don't be such a stunted slime," croaks the voice of Lord Sidious through Tey How.  "This turn of events is unfortunate, but we must simply accelerate our plans.  Begin securing the rest of the planet."

"My Lord, with all due ressspect," hisses Rune, "Taking the capital isss one thing.  Martttial law acrosss an entire planet isss another.  Are you sssure thisss isss legal?"

"I have control of the Senate," says the voice of the Sith, "You must take care of the rest.  Law comes from power.  You need only take that power."

"And what of the Jedi?" asks Newt.  "They have essscaped with knowledge of our invasion."

For a moment, Tey How is silent.  Then, "They are no problem for the Sith.  I will send you my apprentice, Darth Maul.  He will take care of your missing Jedi."

"Thank you, my Lord.  That will ssssuffice."  Newt waits for indication that the transmission has ended, then says, "That will be all for now, Tey How."

Rune grumbles.  "Thisss isss getting out of hand.  Now there are two of them!"

"Nonsssenssse," assures Newt.  "You heard what he sssaid.  Law comesss from power.  And we have the power here."

"He hasss the power here," says Rune.  Newt waves him aside and turns to give orders to the battle droid commander.  Under his breath, Rune adds, "We ssshould never have made thisss bargain."




Scene 4:  The Last Handmaiden

Captain Panaka helps Padme climb out of the shaft and into the underground cavern, lit only by the sabers that the Jedi hold safely above their heads.  Qui-Gon raises his palm to the exit they've used and warps it shut.  "That should keep them from following us."

"It should also keep us from getting to a ship," mutters Obi-Wan.

"They've taken the whole palace, including the dock," Panaka says.  "Can two Jedi take on an entire invasion army?"

"They'd bomb the dock before they let us escape alive," says Qui-Gon.  "Jedi can survive bombs, but not elegantly.  We might have trouble protecting you while we do so."

"Theed is lost," Padme says certainly.  "We must find a way to contact Senator Palpatine on Coruscant.  He will know where best to go from here."

"I mean no offense," says Obi-Wan, "but why exactly should Jedi be taking orders from a handmaiden?"

Captain Panaka steps between Obi-Wan and Padme.  "The Handmaidens of Amidala are revered by our people;  they stand ever at the side of She who is Naboo."  He swallows hard.  "Well, stood..."

"It's alright, Captain," says Padme.  "Forgive me, Master Jedi.  You have saved our lives, and in our debt to you, we shall follow your guidance."

"Thank you!" smirks Obi-Wan.  "Now, tell us what's happened here."

Padme explains how the Trade Federation purchased an audience with the Queen;  how the entire palace felt a wave of sadness the moment she died;  how Rune exited the throne room shooting, and the horror as the droideka swept the palace shortly thereafter.  "We would have died, too, if you had arrived but a moment later."

"How did you escape from the throne room?" asks Obi-Wan.

"I...didn't."  Padme looks helplessly at Panaka.

"A thirteenth Handmaiden is always kept for the Queen," the Captain explains, "so that should one fall ill, the traditional number of attendants to the throne may be maintained.  Does something about this arrangement bother you, Master Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan is frowning.  "There's a lot that bothers me about a mystical monarchy in the Republic."

Padme places an arm on Panaka's shoulder to cool his reaction, then replies, "Those who are not born of Naboo cannot know the touch of the Eternal Queen's mind on their own.  If you understood the connection we have to our Queen, you would not question the democratic nature of our government.  You would envy it."

"Now it is we who must beg forgiveness," Qui-Gon intervenes, shooting an irritated glance at his partner.  "It is not our place to question the ways of your people."  Padme curtsies politely, and says nothing else.  Qui-Gon continues, "Though I might recommend against discussing any more state secrets at the moment."

"Oh, and why is that?" asks the Captain.

"Because we're being watched."  With a flash, the green glow of Qui-Gon's saber illuminates the golden man, its tip hovering inches from the droid's face.

"I surrender!  I SURRENDER!"

Padme laughs and runs to him, and he wobbles under her embrace.  "Threepio!  You made it!"

"Miss Padme, thank heavens you're all right!  I thought we'd lost you with the rest!"

Qui-Gon moves his saber away.

"It's alright, Master Jedi," Padme says, remaining between them and the droid.  "Threepio might as well be as close to the Queen as I am.  He was there when she was attacke."

"I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, at your service."  Threepio extends a hand of greeting, but they ignore it.  "I can corroborate Miss Padme's story;  I recorded the whole thing.  The sheer number of protocol infractions made by the Viceroy and his Lieutenant on this day boggles my circuits.  They must be reported to the Legislative Subcommittee on Diplomatic Standards with all available haste.  Why, this may even warrant going directly to the whole Committee on Governmental Ethics!"

Obi-Wan paces in thought.  "Clearly, we're not getting off the planet without a ship, and securing one will be difficult with an entire droid army pouring onto the palace dock.  Our better option at this point is to attempt to contact someone on Coruscant, and transmit to them the recording in this droid and the testimony of the palace survivors.  Padme, you mentioned the name of your Senator?"

Padme raises an eyebrow, but answers without further comment.  "Yes.  Senator Palpatine.  It was he who spoke to the Chancellor to arrange Jedi intervention in this matter.  If we can deliver a message to him, I am sure we will receive the help we need."

"The first thing the Federation will do is disrupt the intersteller communicator south of the capital," says Captain Panaka.  "All communication with Coruscant on this continent goes through there."

"Right then," Obi-Wan flicks his saber down and out towards the cavern, passing offensively close to Panaka's nose.  "Will this lead us out of the city in a generally southerly way?"

Panaka removes a flashlight from his belt and shines it in the direction Obi-Wan points.  The rocky walls descend into pitch black.  "These caverns haven't been traversed in a lifetime," says Panaka, "but yes, they are known to drain not far from the dish.  They also drain in half a dozen other places quite far from there, including the cliffs of Meadowbrook;  there's no guarantee we'll follow the right path."

"Well, then," Obi-Wan says, advancing, "I guess you'd better just follow me."

The others look skeptically at Qui-Gon.  "Best do what he says," the older master sighs.  "If there's anyone I'd follow blindly through the epically proportioned uncharted caverns lying beneath a planetary capital, it's Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Padme grabs Captain Panaka's hand and leads him forward.  "Look at it this way," she says, "Whatever's out there will eat him first."

Qui-Gon guards their rear, and Threepio's amber eyes blink twice in the darkness before he shuffles after them, calling, "Wait for me!"




Scene 5:  Jar-Jar Binks

They walk for what seems like a day, though that has little meaning here in the darkness.  Captain Panaka gripes occasionally about Master Obi-Wan's sense of direction, and Master Obi-Wan attempts to regale the party with a few stories of past adventures before reluctantly admitting to himself that they show no interest.  The clip-clop of Threepio's metal boots on the slick rocks is a constant, interrupted by quiet and polite complaints regarding his inability to pass through certain terrain for which his model is not warrantied.  Other than that, they travel in silence.

"Ribbit."

"What was that, Panaka?" Obi-Wan calls out over his shoulder.

"I didn't say anything."

Clip-clop.  Clip-clop.  Clip-clop.

"Ribbit!"

"Perhaps it was something you ate," Obi-Wan continues his slow pace forward, smiling to himself.

"Perhaps your famed Jedi hearing is on the fritz."

"Perhaps we would all be cheered by some music?  My databanks include all of the finest symphon--"

"Quiet!  All of you!"  Master Qui-Gon raises his hand.  They freeze, not by Force but by sudden fear.  Their breath sounds like a whirlwind, the only sound echoing through the passageway.  Then...

"RIIIIIIIIIBBBBIIIIIIIIITTTT!"

"What was that?" whispers Padme.

"Sounds like a giant frog to me," says Obi-Wan.

"Everyone, get behind me and Obi-Wan," says Qui-Gon.  Panaka draws his blaster, and they readily comply.  The Jedi stand with their sabers on guard before them, staring down the void.

"Oh goodie," says Obi-Wan.  "I've never fought a giant frog."

The sound then comes steadily, first quiet, then louder in approach.  It is a siren--no, a wail of fear, inhuman, unlike any they have heard before, standing their hairs on end.  And it's approaching fast.

Obi-Wan adjusts his grip on his lightsaber.

"aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The creature stops dead in its tracks, facing the Jedi, his long webbed hands flung in the air.  He has big floppy ears, eyes on stalks, the strangest sort of snout--like a duck with lips--and two rows of comically large flat herbivore teeth, all of which sits perched on a neck that is perhaps two sizes too long for comfort.  He looks at the Jedi for a moment, takes a very deep breath, and runs screaming back the way he came.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Giant frog is that way!" Obi-Wan shouts, pursuing the creature, with Qui-Gon not far behind.  Captain Panaka looks desperately from Padme to the Jedi, then follows the Jedi.

"Captain Panaka, wait!" Padme calls, then whines to the darkness, "Your flashlight..."

The fleeing creature is the first to burst into the cave, illuminated by phosphorescent moss.  He falls to the ground, barely missed by the enormous sticky tongue lashing out in his direction.

Obi-Wan is next, a mad grin spreading across his face as he sees the beast filling the cave.  He raises his lightsaber to attack, charges forward, and trips over his predecessor.

The tongue lashes out a second time, catching the frightened creature squarely in the chest just as he stands.

"Oh nooooooooo!" he squeals as he gets dragged towards the gaping maw of his attacker.  "Helb me!  Hey!  Helb me!"

Qui-Gon's sword slashes through the tongue;  the monster recoils, and the whole cave shakes with its roar.  Obi-Wan pounces again, and this time saber meets slimey monster flesh.  Panaka sprints through the cave entrance to join him, blaster firing at top speed.

The creature squawks a few times as he pulls the sticky end of the tongue from his body, then he turns to Qui-Gon.  "Oy!  Mooie-mooie!  I wuv you!" he exclaims.

The monster backs into a corner, attempting to escape, but Obi-Wan's slashes and Panaka's shots make quick work of it, and soon it is slumped over on its side, exhaling one last pathetic (if loud) ribbit.

"What did I tell you?" Obi-Wan smiles, sheathing his saber and walking towards his partner.  "I killed a giant frog!"

"You were just hacking at its limbs," says Panaka.  "I'm sure I delivered the killing blow."

"HA!"  Their new friend runs towards the dead monster, points at it and laughs.  "Ha HA!  Issa not so scaredy!  Issa no ting at ollo!"  He does an entirely unwarranted jig.

"Look out!" Qui-Gon shouts, pushing him out of the way just before the giant frog's body comes crashing down on top of them both, gravity making its final reconciling adjustments with such monstrous girth.  The creature leaps back to his feet before Qui-Gon does.

"You saved my again!"  the creature proclaims.  "Meesa your humble servunt!"

"Are you brainless?" shouts Obi-Wan.  "You could have been killed!"

"I spake!" protests the creature.

"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent," grumbles Obi-Wan.  "Ask any droid.  Now get outta here!"

"No!  No!  Meesa stay wit doo!  Tis demunded byda Crater, tit is!"

From a distance comes the low pulsating rumble of some other yet unidentified monster.

"Do you here that?" Qui-Gon asks the creature.  "That's the sound of a thousand terrible things.  When they find us, they will crush us, grind us into little pieces, then blast us into oblivion.  And we're heading towards them."

"Oh!  Yousa point is well seen.  Otay!  Goodie day!"  The creature offers a braod-fingered childlike wave, and turns to leave the way it came.

"Wait."

"Reverend Padme!"  Panaka runs to her as she steps carefully into the cave, with Threepio just behind.  "Are you hurt?"

"No, Captain, though I'll ask that next time you do not so quickly abandon your charge for the small promise of adventure."  She walks over to the creature.  "You're a Gungan, aren't you?"

The creature gives a low bow.  "Meesa Jar-Jar Binks.  Meesa proud Gungan warrier."

Padme eyes him cautiously.  "I'm Padme.  I attend Her Highness, Queen Amidala."

"The Queen did you spake?"  Jar-Jar makes a face as if he's eaten something rotten.  "Wellen, dat smellsa stinkowiff.  Gungan no be takin nordo Queen Naboo."

"I'm not here to give orders, I just want to talk," she says.  "How did you end up here?"

The Gungan shrugs.  "Me no know.  Meesa day starten pitty okeyday witda brisky morning munchen, den boom!  Getten berry skeered, un grabbed dat bobots, un jumpin de hole, den fightin deesa wibbit, den pow!  Meesa here."  He looks back at the giant frog, then adds with a shiver, "Getten berry berry skeered me is.  Berry BERRY skeered!"

"Masters Jedi," Padme says, turning to her companions.  "I would like for this Gungan to accompany us."

"You've got to be kidding!" moans Obi-Wan.  "First a handmaiden and a droid, now an overgrown tadpole?  We don't need to drag this pathetic lifeform along with us."

Padme is stern as she addresses Obi-Wan.  "For centuries, the Gungans have lived beneath the feet of my people, yet contact between our species is rare at best, for the distrust between us runs deep.  Perhaps it is by virtue of some higher power that we should meet one now, in this time of such need."

"I hate to say it, but she does have a point," admits Qui-Gon.  "We could use a navigator to get out of these caverns.  And who knows to what other use this local may be put?  We need all the help we can get."

"Meesa berry helbful!" says Jar-Jar.  "Meesa show you lotso tello, okeyday!"

Obi-Wan sighs.  "Very well."  He walks to the back of the cave, where two passages large enough to fit a giant frog lead down in opposite directions.  "So tell me, Jar-Jar Binks.  Which way should we go next?"

Jar-Jar steps forward and examines each passage closely.  He hems and haws to himself, making a face of exceptional concentration.  "Otay, lessee...meesa say...Idunno."

"That's what I thought," Obi-Wan says, forging on ahead.  "Left it is then."

Captain Panaka calls out after him.  "What, did the Force tell you to take a left?"

"No," says Obi-Wan, "It's just that the air doesn't smell as foul down here.  C'mon!"




Scene 6:  The Communications Disrupter

Rune Haako's sunglasses do more than keep the bright Naboo sunlight at bay.  Standing at the chain link gate of the interstellar communication dish, he glares north with amplified vision toward the drainage caves at the foot of Theed, watching the Jedi watch him.  He hopes they can also hear him.  He speaks to 00M-9, the battle droid standing next to him.

"Commander, I have good reassson to believe that the two essscaped Jedi may be coming here.  Thisss outpossst isss valuable, but we have our own communicationssss in orbit.  If you sssee any sssign of them, or of the handmaiden or sssoldier they ressscued, I want you to blow up thisss whole compound without hesssitation.  Do you underssstand?"

00M-9 salutes.  "Roger roger!"

There, that should give them pause, thinks Rune.

*****

00M-9 is poised and ready to give the command to blow the dish, but there is no need.  The two figures walking down the concrete road toward him are not Jedi, nor palace survivors, just a harmless protocol droid and a...something else.  When they're about twenty paces away, the something else suddenly turns and runs away, then stops, smacks itself on the head, returns to its companion and finishes the journey to the gate.

"Halt!" 00M-9 chirps.  "State your name and purpose!"  He's addressing the protocol droid, but it's the something else that replies.

"Meesa Jar-Jar Binks!  Meesa proud Gungan warrier!  Meesa commin wit den bombad bobot forda Lootata Hackey, otay?  Meesa make grand jesta fur olloden Gungen papa, furrinden meexa un lexxa, dattin dey no BOOM deelio cities but makim de biggol peace tuba SMASHIN Naboo, okeyday?"

00M-9 looks at the thing, then at the droid, then at the thing, then at the droid.  "What?"

Jar-Jar sighs, takes a deep breath, and speaks with more volume.  "MEESA JAR-JAR BINKS!  MEESA PROUD GUNGAN WARRIER!  MEESA COMMIN WIT DEN BOMBAD BOBOT FORDA LOOTATA HACKEY..."

00M-9 begins a quick parse of his order queue, checking to see if 
he can blow them all up anyway.  He doesn't notice the two brown blurs zipping over the fence behind him.

"...OKEYDAY!?!?"

"Follow me," 00M-9 chirps.

*****

The interstellar communications dish forms a vast building with an inverted dome, the dome being the dish pointed ever at the sky, with thick blaster-proof walls hanging down at its rim to protect its underbelly.  Over the top shimmers an expansive ray shield.  00M-9 leads the droid and the Gungan inside.

"Wait here," he chirps.  "Lieutenant Haako is away right now, but he will return before nightfall.  He will listen to what you have to say, and maybe understand it.  Until then, don't touch anything.  Corporal!"

One of the two battle droids guarding the interior of the building says, "Yes sir?"

"Watch them.  They should not be any trouble, but if they are, blast them."

"Roger roger!"

Jar-Jar Binks gulps prominently as 00M-9 leaves, the door snapping shut behind him.  Threepio examines their guards for a moment, then offers his hand to one of them.  "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, at your service."  

The guard mutters something quick in a mechanical language.  

"How rude!" replies Threepio.

Inside, the ceiling is a jungle of wires and cables, some thinner than any of Threepio's own, others thicker than Threepio's whole body.  They drape from a central pillar to uncountable sockets of all shapes and sizes along the outer wall.  Jar-Jar looks around for something to do, then leaps and tries to grab one of the low-hanging wires.  He misses.  The guards don't respond, so he tries again, and misses again.

"Master Jar-Jar," cautions Threepio, "I wouldn't do that if I were--"

On his third leap, Jar-Jar grabs a cable, tearing it out of the wall.  He holds the sparking end of it in his hand.

"Don't touch anything!" the guards say, raising their blasters and advancing on him.  Frantically, he jumps to try and plug it back in.

With a snap, the two guards are on the ground, and two Jedi are standing in their place, lightsabers humming.

"Meesa SOWWY!" cries Jar-Jar.  "Meesa wooned EBBYTING!"

"No, you did just fine," says Qui-Gon, taking in their surroundings.

"But seriously, don't touch anything," says Obi-Wan, pointing his saber in Jar-Jar's direction.

Jar-Jar slumps to the floor, sitting on his hands, and says dejectedly, "Nosa tuch NANYTING."

"Now we just need to figure out how to work this thing," says Qui-Gon.

"Bleep bleep blip bloop bleep."  The sound comes from near the central pillar.

Obi-Wan says, "Let's check there."

The Jedi advance on the central pillar, with Threepio scuttling close behind.  "Blip blip bleep bloop beep beep beep."

"Why, it's an astromech droid!" Threepio exclaims.  The Jedi look to him for further explanation, so he continues.  "A programmer's code delivery droid, capable of interfacing with just about any binary system, designed to provide modular interoperability across all platforms.  Why, he should even be capable of providing basic mechanical repairs to anything with a standardized configuration.  It's very uncommon to find one outside of a research and development lab, as they are very difficult to construct."  To a series of additional beeps, he replies, "You're welcome!"

As Qui-Gon keeps watch, Obi-Wan sheaths his saber and kneels down in front of the small trashcan-shaped droid.  Its upper dome rotates, housing several sensors and dials, while from its canister body a thin rod extends to plug into a circuit board on the central pillar.

"So this little guy is probably the communications disrupter we're looking for," Obi-Wan says.

More beeps;  Threepio translates.  "He says his name is R2-D2, and his master did indeed instruct him to disrupt all communications to and from the continent that are not Federation authorized, but that his original programmer left an override that would allow any communications...from you, Masters Jedi."

"Well, there's a lucky break!" says Obi-Wan.  "Sounds like we've got ourselves a saboteur on the inside."

"We haven't much time," says Qui-Gon, "Let's not waste it.  How long will it take him to contact Senator Palpatine?"
 
"He says that the Senator is already on hold, awaiting your call."  As Threepio translates, a holographic figure blinks to life, emitted by the astromech droid.  The figure is an elderly man with puffy white hair, wearing the formal robes of a Galactic representative, and he speaks first.

"Master Jinn!  Master Kenobi!  So good to hear from you finally!"  Senator Palpatine's voice is pleasant but urgent.  "The Trade Federation have escalated their boycott into a blockade.  My entire homeworld has been under a communications blackout since shortly after your arrival.  What news can you give of Naboo?"

"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Qui-Gon says.  "The Federation have invaded your planet and taken the capital by force of arms.  Your Queen is dead."

Palpatine gasps, bracing himself against some untransmitted object.  "The Queen!  No!  That's impossible!"

"I'm afraid so, Senator.  All residents of the palace were slaughtered, except for the Captain of the Palace Guard and one of the Queen's Handmaidens.  We have kept them safe for now."

This news seems to steady Palpatine a bit.  Qui-Gon continues.  "We have a full recording of the attack in the possession of a protocol droid..."  

Unprompted, a small rod snaps out of the astromech droid and plugs into a socket on Threepio's leg, prompting a brief "Oh me oh my!"

"...which we are transmitting to you now.  Also included will be the eyewitness testimony of the palace survivors."

"Thank you, Masters Jedi!" the Senator exclaims.  "This will do much to convince the Senate to intervene.  Can you get the palace survivors to Coruscant?"

"Can you get us off Naboo?" asks Obi-Wan.

"I'm afraid that even with the evidence you've transmitted, it could take several days before the Senate approves conclusive action.  And no Naboo ship at my disposal would be allowed through the blockade..."

"We'll find a ship," says Qui-Gon.  "We've got our own ship in orbit, we just need to find a landing shuttle to get us there.  It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Thank you!  A thousand times thank you!  I've been at my wits end, there's been simply nothing--"

"No need for thanks," says Obi-Wan, "We're just doing our job."

"Just have the Senate ready to convene when we arrive," says Qui-Gon.  "We'll do the rest."

"Oh, I will, Masters Jedi.  And thank you again!"  The transmission ends.

"Well, that wasn't too hard," says Obi-Wan.  "And to think--"

"OH NOOOOOOOOO!"

The companions turn to see Jar-Jar running away from the entranceway, where stands Rune Haako, smiling his sick snake smile.  He waves as the blast doors slide shut in front of him.  A calm feminine voice echoes throughout the chamber, informing the companions,

"Sixty seconds to self-destruct."




Scene 7:  Lucky Shot

"Fifty-nine.  Fifty-eight."

Qui-Gon jabs his lightsaber into the middle of the blast door;  it does not immediately slice, but rather begins to melt the usually unmeltable hypermetals.  "It's not cutting fast enough!"

"WEEEEEEESA GONNA DIEEEEEEEE!" yells Jar-Jar, running in helpless circles.

"Relax!" Obi-Wan shouts, pointing a commanding finger at Jar-Jar.  The Gungan collapses to the floor, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.  "Whoops, overdid it!"

Qui-Gon shouts, "Threepio!  Can this Artoo droid stop the countdown?"

"Well, I would presume so, sir.  He should be capable of--"

"Well tell it to stop the countdown!" Obi-Wan screams.

"You can tell him yourself, Master Obi-Wan.  He understands your language, he just can't speak it."

Artoo blips and bleeps in a way that almost sounds annoyed, and the voice of the alarm says, "Countdown reset.  Sixty seconds to self-destruct.  Fifty-nine.  Fifty eight."  Artoo blips some more.

"He's trying, sir, he's trying!"

Obi-Wan adds his saber to Qui-Gon's, hopping to avoid a large chunk of molten blast door as it falls to the ground.

"It's still not cutting fast enough!"

This is gonna be close.

*****

Driving away in his hoverjeep, Rune Haako watches the exploding dish in his rearview lens, chuckling to himself.  In the past couple of days, he has taken part in the destruction of both an Eternal Queen and two Jedi Masters.  And to think folks had once called him a coward!

He rolls back the top on his vehicle and lets the hot breeze from the blast rush across the back of his neck.  The cloud from the explosion begins to mushroom, and he thinks it is beautiful.

Now mind you, no one steps into the middle of a hoverway.  Hover vehicles simply travel at too insane a speed for one to ever have time to look both ways.  So when the Naboo Captain of the Palace Guard walks out into the middle of the road, Rune doesn't even think to swerve.  The soldier raises his blaster and fires.

Rune's hoverjeep begins to tilt.  A corner catches the pavement and the vehicle rolls over on itself, even as it continues to hurtle forward.  It bounces over Panaka's head and into the hoverway wall, where it bursts into flames.

There are no screams of burning death from Rune Haako, however.  He was dead the moment Panaka's bolt hit him between the eyes.

*****

Just outside the city of Theed, there is a strip of woods surrounding a lake that has never felt the cold touch of a construction droid or been seeded with genetic manipulators.  It is mother nature's last gasp on a world that has been largely terraformed, where entire uninhabited continents are nonetheless kept as trim as any palace garden.  The Handmaidens have maintained it as a sanctuary for the full ten thousand years of Amidala's rule, and in all that time, only their feet have tread its mossy ground.

Padme arrives at twilight.  They will all rendezvous here, at her suggestion, if they have survived.

She has walked all day, ever since parting from the others upon their exit from the cave, the direct route to the preserve taking her uphill where the others must head down.  From her path she could see the spectacle of the dish's explosion, and the lesser flames of the hoverjeep's impact.  She tries to keep hope.

She sits on a log at the edge of the lake, watching the first moon rise over the trees.  She can feel the despair of her city and her world all around her, palpable, and she must push through it like muddy water to move.  Her only true desire is to console the people of Naboo.  But their Queen is dead, and so there must be sorrow for now.

Panaka arrives, bearing news of Rune's death.  The delight at this news does not last long, however, for all that still hangs over their heads.  Why have the Jedi not returned yet?

In the distance, Panaka spots what appears to be the plume of a rocket pack battle droid drifting in their direction.  They scramble for cover.  It passes overhead several times, and they stay low, hoping it will pass without noticing them.

"Oh dear, oh dear, where could Miss Padme be?"

"Threepio?"

She runs back into the lake clearing to greet the droids, and actually laughs at the sight of the protocol droid suspended in the air beneath the magnetic feet of the astromech droid.  The astromech brings them to a gentle landing, and its rocket boosters retract back into its body.

"Miss Padme, it is my pleasure to introduce you to R2-D2, an extremely well put together little droid.  Without a doubt, it saved all of our lives!"

"It is to be commended," says Padme, "But what of the Jedi?"

"Here we are!" calls out Obi-Wan, as he and Qui-Gon skip down from the treetops, with a breathless Jar-Jar crashing out of the brush below them.  "Sorry we took so long, but we had to walk so these guys could keep up with us.  I mean actually walk, not Jedi 'walk.'  You should've seen it--we had to go even slower until we figured out Artoo had rockets.  Wish we would have known that all along!"

"We successfully contacted Senator Palpatine," says Qui-Gon.

"You must tell us everything!"

They do.  Panaka recounts his own adventure as well.

"Lucky shot," chuckles Obi-Wan.

"What, only a Jedi can use the Force?"

"We mustn't stay here any longer," says Qui-Gon.  "I fear we may have been tracked.  The droid's rockets bought us some time, but at the expense of secrecy."

Artoo bleeps;  Threepio translates.  "He says that if Rune Haako is indeed dead, he is now the property of his programmer, Anakin Skywalker.  Under this circumstance, he has been instructed to lead us to Master Skywalker's home."

Qui-Gon says, "Skywalker's droid has proven more than trustworthy so
far;  we may not have succeeded at all without it.  I suggest we pay its master a visit, and discover more about our hidden ally."

"I like him so far!" says Obi-Wan.

The Queen turns to the Gungan.  "Jar-Jar, why have you not yet spoken?"

Obi-Wan begins laughing, and Qui-Gon cracks a small smile.  Threepio says, "During our walk, Master Obi-Wan informed Master Binks that if he opened his mouth again, he would be made to chew on a lightsaber."

Jar-Jar's lips seal shut.  Obi-Wan topples off his log holding his gut, and Qui-Gon begins to chuckle.

Padme frowns.  "Jar-Jar Binks, I cannot control what these offworlders do to you when I am not around, but please rest assured that when you are in my presence, you may feel free to speak your mind.  Do you understand?"

Jar-Jar lets out a deeply held breath.  "Oh, tank yoo, TANK YOO Missa Padme!"  He turns to Obi-Wan and lets forth a long, sloppy wet raspberry.

*****

At the palace dock, malevolence incarnate lands its hovercycle.

It approaches Newt from behind.  Newt is talking to Tey How, hearing news of Rune Haako's death;  Tey How stops mid-sentence and begins to run.  Newt breathes in quick, as if someone has forcibly stuffed air into his lungs, and turns to face the cloaked arrival.

"No!  No!" is the only greeting Newt can think to provide.

"Where are the Jedi?"  Its whispery voice drips like excrement in an open wound.  It does not move its black lips.  Newt averts his eyes, cowering.

"Th-th-they were ss-ssighted lass-ss-sst at a n-n-nature press-sserve b-b-but we l-losst them!"  He collapses into a ball with a cry of raw fear.

"They will be found again soon," it says, "I can feel it.  And I will destroy them.  Return to your ship.  I will take charge from here."

Newt Gunray bursts into tears.

"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi," Darth Maul whispers in dark vow.  "At last we will have revenge!"




Scene 8:  The Skywalkers

Shmi Skywalker sits on the couch in the living room of her home, her face smeared and damp, staring through the holographic news projection.

"Terrorist insurgents struck again tonight," reports the news droid, "this time against the interstellar communications dish near Theed, interrupting Trade Federation efforts to retool the dish for improved freedom of access.  A curfew remains in effect for all surrounding countries while Federation police search for the rebels.  Speaking at a press conference before returning to orbit, Viceroy Gunray expressed his regret that interstellar communications would now be suspended indefinitely.  In other news, a Victory Parade will be held at high noon tomorrow along the mainway of Theed.  All citizens are encouraged to attend and show gratitude for our liberators..."

"Mom?"  Anakin places his hand tenderly on her shoulder.  "Mom?  C'mon now, you've been sitting here all day.  They're not going to tell us anything new.  I don't even think most of it is true."

"It's just..." Shmi sobs slightly.  "It's just...she's dead..."

"I know."  Anakin feels strange.  He knows the Queen is dead.  He felt the shockwave of the court's passing as surely as any other who had been born on Naboo.  And yet, he does not despair.  Deep in his gut, there is a glimmer of hope that he can neither quell nor explain.

"Oh, Ani, what are we going to do?"  He knows she isn't just talking about their family, but rather their entire world.

The doorbell rings.  Anakin tries to get up to answer it, but she grips his arm tightly and hisses, "Don't leave me!"

"Watto!" Anakin shouts, "Can you get that?  I'm helping Mom!"

Watto grumbles as he flutters through the living room to the front door.  "Who could it possibly be at this hour?  Don't they know a curfew is on?  They're gonna get us in trouble."  Anakin hears the latch of the front door opening.  "What the hell do you--"

On Watto's front porch stands an astromech droid, a protocol droid, the Captain of the Palace Guard, a Handmaiden of Amidala, two Jedi Knights and a Gungan.  The elder Jedi says, "Good evening.  Are you Anakin Skywalker?"

Watto growls under his breath, then shouts into the house, "ANAKIIIIN!"

*****

Jar-Jar sits on the couch, attempting to sip his coffee.  The small cup is awkward for his webbed hands to hold, and he makes a loud slurping sound as he tries to drink.  He makes a funny face to keep himself from spitting it across the room.  Padme smiles and pats him on the back as he sets his cup down on the coffee table.

"Thank you again for taking us into your home," she says to Anakin's parents.  Panaka and Qui-Gon also squeeze into the small living room, sipping at their coffee.  Anakin has taken Obi-Wan and the droids upstairs to see his bedroom.  "You take on a great risk, but the service you now provide Naboo shall always be remembered."

"Reverend Sister, the honor is all ours," Shmi insists.  "Knowing that you live gives hope to us all."

"Tell us about Anakin," says Qui-Gon.  "He seems to have extraordinary talent."

"The boy is good, no doubts there," says Watto.

Shmi looks at Qui-Gon as if he's discovered a secret.  "Yes....he's very special."

"But whadda handful!" says Watto.  "Genius with a programming board, don't get me wrong.  But it's like the kid can see things before they happen!  Keeping a boy his age out of trouble is tough enough, but some of the trouble that boy finds...meeya deos!  I'm lucky I'm Toydarian.  His mind tricks won't work on me."

"Hm," says Qui-Gon.  "Usually a boy like that is identified early in the Republic, and brought to our Academy.  He should have been a Jedi, no doubt...he has the way."

Shmi stiffens, and her eyes grow wide.  "No!  Master Jedi, please...I need him!"

"I gotta agree with my wife," says Watto.  "Little Ani has done a lot to hold this family together.  We're not about to ship him off to another planet."

"Of course."  Qui-Gon attempts to learn a bit more by shifting gears.  "Tell me, Mr. Skywalker, if you don't mind my asking.  Presumably you are not the boy's father.  Can you tell me a bit more about who is?"

Shmi begins to speak, but Watto cuts her off.  "That's aaaah rather personal, Master Jedi.  You should leave that subject alone."  They stare at each other for a moment.  "Let's go back to talking about the boy's skills, eh?  Perhaps there's some way he could help you now.  Perhaps in exchange for compensation?  We're a patriotic family, but we're also poor..."

Shmi stands.  "If you would all excuse me.  You must be famished after your long journey.  I'll go prepare us some dinner."

"I'll join you," says Padme, rising.

"Reverend Sister, you are a blessing!"

They walk into the kitchen, and Shmi opens the cupboards above the sink.  But then she shakes, and collapses against the counter.

"Mrs. Skywalker, is something wrong?"

Shmi turns to look at Padme, her eyes wild.  "The Force!" she says.  She paces toward the Handmaiden.  "You, Sister, who have never known the touch of a man.  You will recognize your own.  You will know I do not lie."  She grabs Padme's robes, desperate.  "It came to me!  It filled me!  The Force is Anakin's father!"

*****

"You're really a Jedi?"  Anakin sits on his bed as he talks, tapping adjustments into Artoo's command panel.

Obi-Wan stands smiling in the doorway.  "Sure am."

"That's so cool!  Can I be a Jedi someday?"

"Maybe.  You really build that droid yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Impressive.  What kind of schematic did you use?"

"I just had some pictures off the nets," Anakin says as if it's a shameful thing.  "And a list of all the things it's supposed to do.  I want to be a famous programmer someday, though, and every programmer needs an astromech droid!"  He looks to Threepio.  "I've never seen a protocol droid up close before..."

"I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, at y--"

"...Can I take him apart?"

Obi-Wan chuckles.  "Maybe later.  Come over here."  Ani hops off his bed and walks over obediently.  Obi-Wan takes his hand.

"Ow!  Hey!"  Anakin's pin-pricked finger flies into his mouth as Obi-Wan holds the testing unit up to the light.  "Whud dib oo doo dab bor?"

"Sorry about that.  I borrowed this from the medicine cabinet in your bathroom;  I hope your parents don't mind.  I want to test your blood for midichlorians."

Anakin's finger pops back out;  he's readily accepting of the Jedi's apology.  "What's a midichlorian?"

"Midichlorians are microscopic lifeforms that reside within all living cells and channel the Force.  They're what give a Jedi power."

"They live inside of me?"

"Inside of your cells."  Anakin still looks confused, so Obi-Wan kneels down and speaks reassuringly.  "Without the midichlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to you, allowing you to sense the Force."

"I don't hear anything!"

"When you learn to quiet your mind, you will hear."

"I don't understand."

Obi-Wan smiles and stands.  "Understanding takes time and training, young one.  Patience."

"So how many midiwhatsits do I have?"  Anakin cranes to try and see his result.

Obi-Wan looks at it and frowns a little.  "I can't quite tell.  Something must be wrong with the testing unit.  Lots, I think."

"Cool!"

Obi-Wan tosses the testing unit aside.  "Consumer-grade piece of junk.  We won't be able to say anything for sure until we get you to an authorized testing agent."

Anakin's eyes light up.  "You'll take me with you?"

"Well, first we need to find a way to get to outer space..."

"I fixed up your ship for you!  I mean, I figured it was your ship.  I traded Watto the promise of some extra work to get him to tow it into the garage for you.  It's there right now!"

"No kidding?" smirks Obi-Wan.

"Somebody really wanted that thing to crash!  The brake lines were cut, the hover inductor was reversed, auto-eject was jammed and like twelve other things!  I just got a few more adjustments to make, though, and it should be flying even better than before!"

"My goodness!  It certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Anakin Skywalker!"

Anakin smiles and extends his hand.  "It's good to meet you, too, Oberon Kernobby!"

Obi-Wan shakes his hand, and says with a hearty laugh, "You can just call me Ben."

*****

In the living room, Jar-Jar smells the swiftroasting beast and lets out a long moan.

"What's the matter?" asks Watto.

"Eeesing doda nanama?  Dassa PEEW!"

"Hunh?"

Qui-Gon says, "I think our companion is attempting to politely mention that he is a vegetarian."

"Wow!  Really?"  Watto looks at Jar-Jar with curiosity, as if he has only ever heard of such a thing.  "Well, I think maybe we got some cereal..."

"Ohhhh!" Jar-Jar moans.  "Meesa want GRASS!"

"Grass?  Oh, well, I think I know a guy...OH!  You mean like lawn clippings?"

"Uh-huh," Jar-Jar nods hopelessly.

"Well why didn't you say so?  I've got a big pile of 'em just out back.  C'mon, gigger, I'll show ya!"

"OHSSEY BOYS!"

Watto leads Jar-Jar into the backyard, and his vestigal trunk twitches as he watches the creature dig into the compost heap.  Fluttering up and away from the sight, he flips open his handheld communicator and punches a number.  The bulbous image of an answering droid appears on his palm.

"Rune Haako is not here right now.  Please leave a message after the beep.  Beep."

"Mister Haako!"  Watto speaks in a loud whisper, huddling around the communicator to hide its light.  "Listen, I got tabs on two guys I think you might be looking for.  Y'know, Jedi?  Gimmie a call and we can talk price."




Scene 9:  Death Comes Knocking

While Jar-Jar lies curled in a ball snoring near the picture window in the living room, the companions and the Skywalkers lounge around the dining room table, picking at the last of the roast beast.  Panaka stretches and rubs his belly.  "Mrs. Skywalker, that was delicious!  Worthy of a palace feast!"

Shmi blushes.  "You're too kind."

Watto belches.  "Yup, that's what my daddy always told me.  Marry a cook, don't care how they look!"  They all glance awkwardly at Shmi as Watto continues.  "It's getting late.  We can bring in some bedding for you folks to crash down here.  It's not much, you'll have to share blankets.  In the morning, Ani can finish fixing up your ship, and then I guess you're off to outer space!"

"I can finish it now!" protests Anakin.

"No, it's way past your bedtime!" insists Watto.  "'Sides, the grownups need to finish going over the details of their contract."

Captain Panaka tries to hide his irritation as he says, "Don't worry, Mr. Skywalker.  You'll get your reward."

They're startled out of their negotiations by a slow pounding knock at the door.  The Jedi rise to their feet, hands to saber hilts.  Watto floats up out of his chair as well.

"Hey!  No worries!  I'm expecting a guy!"  The Jedi frown.  "I'll shoo him off, don't you trouble yourselves.  No problems here.  Just relax and I'll take care of it."  The Jedi remain standing as he moves through the living room to the front entranceway, following to keep him in their view.  Anakin hops out of his chair and walks out in front of them.

"Seriously, no problem," Watto says as he opens the door.  But when he looks out, his demeanor changes completely.  Trembling, he lands on the front steps and crawls backwards, pointing at the Jedi.

"Th-th-THERE!"

Darth Maul strides into the Skywalker home.

Rotten teeth grin from a maroon face covered with black tribal tattoos;  from his bald head spring rows of dirty yellow horns.  Bloodshot orange eyes pierce Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon as his disgusting voice rattles through their heads.

"JEDI!"

Lightsabers blaze to life.  Maul's shines ruby red.

"Anakin, drop!" Qui-Gon shouts.  The boy drops, and Qui-Gon leaps over him.  Red saber meets green.

"Ani, get to the ship!  Take off!  Go!  Go!"  orders Obi-Wan.  Anakin dashes back through the dining room.  Shmi screams, while everyone else scrambles from their chairs to get down the stairs to the garage exit.

Bits of upholstery fly about the room as sabers spin.  Jar-Jar wakes quickly and bolts.  Maul jumps to avoid him;  Qui-Gon must pull back what might have been a swift killing blow to avoid hitting the fleeing creature.  The coffee table gets sliced in half, and with a wave of his hand, Maul sends the pieces hurtling at the Jedi.  Qui-Gon waves his aside, but Obi-Wan is knocked to the floor.

"Help them take off!" the elder Jedi shouts to the younger, thrusting his palm toward the Sith.  Maul flies backwards out the front picture window, glass shattering around him.  Qui-Gon leaps after him.

Obi-Wan retreats down the stairs and into the garage.  The hatch to the landing shuttle lies open as a ramp, with everyone already inside.  The Captain and the Handmaiden huddle close.  Jar-Jar sits in a ball with his head between his legs.  Anakin is on his back under a control panel;  he peeks out and shouts, "Ben!  I almost got it!  Start her up!"

Obi-Wan jumps into the pilot seat, looks over the dashboard controls and mutters to himself.  "I hate flying."

Maul sends the glass shards fly ing toward Qui-Gon, who barely gets his hand up in time;  they disintegrate into sand around him.  Then they are in the middle of the road, lightsabers clashing beneath the glow of the streetlamp.

With a crash, the landing shuttle bursts through the garage door, splinters flying.  It hovers upwards a bit, then drops nearly to the ground with a jolt.

"Just a few more ticks!" shouts Anakin.

Darth Maul's strikes come quick and aggressive, driving Qui-Gon away from the shuttle.  It's all Qui-Gon can do to protect himself.

From out of the garage comes an electronic cry, "Wait for us!"  Artoo floats out and through the shuttle hatch, carrying Threepio.

"Got it!" Anakin shouts as they zip above the housetops.

In the cockpit, Captain Panaka looks over Obi-Wan's shoulder.  He points to Qui-Gon.  "Over there!  Fly low!"

"Yeah, no problem!" Obi-Wan says nervously, eyes glued to the dashboard display.

With a wobble, he manages to get the shuttle up behind Qui-Gon.  Qui-Gon swings his saber with all his might, sending Maul backwards several steps.  Taking his chance, Qui-Gon leaps and lands gracefully on the hatch ramp.

"NO!"  From the house runs Shmi Skywalker, screaming.  "ANI!  COME BACK!"

"MOM!"

Anakin makes as if he's going to jump from the aircraft, but Qui-Gon grips the boy tight.  Grinning wildly, Darth Maul paces towards Shmi.  The hatchway begins to close.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"

The shuttle blasts into space with a bang.




Scene 10: Outer Space

"Panaka took over the helm," says Obi-Wan, entering the rear of the shuttle, adding, "He seemed really eager, so I let him.  Oh--"  He sees Anakin in Padme's arms, sobbing.

"Anakin, I'm so sorry," she says, but she knows exactly how little comfort her words can provide.  Jar-Jar pats him gingerly on the back, saying nothing.

"Anakin, listen to me," Qui-Gon squats before the boy, catching his gaze.  "I believe that those we love never truly leave us.  They are always watching over us through the veil that separates this world from the next, as your mother is with you even now."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows furrow in disagreement, but he keeps it to himself.

"She can't be dead," Anakin says, his demeanor growing cold.  "We didn't actually see her get killed, right?"  Nobody knows what to say.  "What do you think, Ben?"

Obi-Wan looks helplessly to the others before replying, "Best to always keep up hope, kid."

Anakin wipes his snotty nose on his sleeve, eyes resolute with hope.

With the tension broken, Jar-Jar can't contain himself any longer.

"Whassa WUZZAT!?"

"It had a lightsaber," says Padme.  "Was it a Jedi?"

"No, I'm absolutely certain that was no Jedi," Obi-Wan shudders.  "I would have remembered that face from the Academy!"

"That was a Sith," Qui-Gon says plainly.

"No, it couldn't have been a Sith, either," says Obi-Wan.  "Where would a Sith learn to wield a lightsaber?"

"Anyway," says Padme, "the Sith have been extinct since the birth of the Republic."

"Not extinct," says Qui-Gon.  "Just kept in check by the Jedi Order.  But as we battled, it spoke in my mind with a foul voice.  It called itself Darth Maul, and Darth is a title used only by the Sith.  Master Obi-Wan is correct about one thing, though.  That monster's red saber is something I have never heard of before.  He was better trained than any Sith I've ever encountered."

Jar-Jar moans with frustration.  "Dassa nohelben!  Whassa Sith!?"

Obi-Wan speaks as if mocking the Gungan's ignorance, but also as if reciting a catechism.  "A Sith is a person born strong in the Force who does not temper their power with the wisdom and training of the Jedi Order."

"Like me?"  Anakin asks with concern.

"Goodness no!  No, you're just a late admission, that's all.  You can tell when a creature's gone Sith just by looking at them.  The Dark Side of the Force horribly disfigures their body;  their skin falls off or their blood turns black or they grow horns where they shouldn't.  You saw that thing!"

"But if the Jedi Order doesn't want me..."

"Master Obi-Wan, don't scare the child," chides Qui-Gon.  "The basic training you'll need to learn to control your Force powers is available to all sentient beings, Anakin.  You'll not be denied.  From there, you'll be able to choose whether to pursue full Academy training and become a member of the Jedi Council or find your own path in the universe."

"Of course he'll join the Council!" says Obi-Wan.  "Ani, ignore Master Findyer-Ownpath here.  He likes to act all independant, but he's still following me around every time the Council gives me an interesting assignment."  Qui-Gon begins to protest, but Obi-Wan adds, "You can't deny it, old friend!  The Council is where all the action is."

The Jedi squabbling is interrupted by the sudden light of a grin across Anakin's face.  "I'm gonna be a Jedi!"

"That's the spirit!  Don't want to start an adventure with a frown, do you?  That's what I thought.  Now, you ever seen a custom Jedi interstellar spacecraft before?"

"No!"

"Then c'mon!  We should be approaching any second now, and the view is best from the cockpit.  You too, Jar-Jar.  I'm guessing you don't get too many Gungans in space.  You won't want to miss this!"

After the others have scrambled into the cockpit, Padme turns to Qui-Gon.  "A Sith?  If what you say is true, Master Jedi, then we face an enemy far darker than the Trade Federation."

"I pray I am wrong," says Qui-Gon, "But I won't bet on it.  I will ask Master Obi-Wan to summon the Council members on Coruscant, and consult with them when we arrive.  Somebody trained Maul in the Jedi arts.  We will need the Council's help if we are to discover who that was."

Padme says, "I will plead our case before the Senate.  Then I must find a way to return to Naboo;  my place is with my people.  I do not like where this is headed."

"Let us try to remember the one other thing Master Obi-Wan is right about, Miss Padme.  We must always have hope."

"I would find that a lot easier to say were I not that hope," thinks Padme, but she says no more.

*****

The Jedi ship is simply indescribable, a wonder to behold, unlike anything the people of Naboo have ever seen.  Undiscovered by the Federation blockade ships, it remains cloaked by some mechanism known only to the Jedi, sliding into sight only as they approach, dim in the shadow of the second moon.

"Will this be your first jump into hyperspace?" Panaka asks Anakin as they and Padme buckle into the rear seat of the expansive cockpit.  Anakin nods.  "Well, my advice is, don't look directly into the center of it.  Men have gone mad at the sight of it."

"Oh, don't tell him that!" groans Obi-Wan from the front passenger seat.  "A kid his age?  Now he's got no choice but to look!"

Panaka leans over to the boy and whispers, "Just look out of the corner of your eye.  It's best that way."

"Here we go!" Qui-Gon calls out, pulling a lever, and with a great whir, they're off.

Anakin sits with his hands splayed out over his face, peeking through his fingers.  At first, it seems like the stars stretch themselves out into lines, converging at an infinitely distant point.  Then it is as if all light and color in the universe has melted together into a single brilliance.  Every passenger averts their gaze except for the Jedi, and Anakin slowly lowers his hands.

"Careful, now," cautions Qui-Gon.  "Captain Panaka wasn't kidding."

Ani sits entranced for a moment longer, then from the passage outside the cockpit comes...

"MISSA PADME!"  Jar-Jar pokes his head in, one hand sincerely splayed across his eyes, and a slight stench follows.  "Meesa sowwy.  Meesa peewed."

*****

Padme leaves to go clean up the Gungan's mess.  Slowly, the other passengers accustom themselves to the view of hyperspace, none of them going mad.  When the wonder wears off a little, Anakin excuses himself and joins her.

She is on bended knee in the passenger quarters, furiously scrubbing a floor made of some inexplicable Jedi material that doesn't take well to Jar-Jar's abuse. 

"Here, let me help you with that," he says, crawling down to take the rag from her.  "I help Mom with this sort of thing all the time.  She says I have a real way with messes--making them, and cleaning them up again!  I never told Watto though, or else he would've made me program his droids AND clean the house!"

"You'll miss her a lot, won't you..." Padme says, not quite realizing that she's speaking out loud.

Anakin pauses in his scrubbing, then opts to change the topic.  He nods at Jar-Jar, snoring away under the influence of fast acting flight tranquilizers.  "Why'd you bring along one of them things, anyway?  You're far too pretty to be tending to an animal like that."

"The Gungans aren't animals, Anakin."  Padme's tone is more informative than scolding.  "They're sentient beings, just like you and me.  And a very old prophecy says they'll have an important role to play when Naboo's need is most dire.  It is said they guard the Chosen One."

"The Chosen One?  Who's that?"

"I don't know.  I'm hoping our friend here can help us find out.  Anyway, if this is what I must do to stop our people from suffering and dying, then this is what I will do.  It's what the Queen would do."

"I don't think she's dead, either."  Padme shows no response, so Anakin continues.  "But you're definitely too beautiful to be scrubbing floors.  Are you sure you're not an angel?"

Padme blushes.  She has been called an angel many times, but none have ever felt so sincere.  "Really, deep down, I'm still just a kid, Anakin Skywalker.  Just like you!  But I'm afraid we're all going to have to grow up a lot faster than we thought we would, if we're going to save Naboo."

With a few more strokes, Anakin proclaims, "There!  Done!"  He looks up at Padme, and she returns his smile.  "Hey, I want to give you something!"  He removes a small wooden pendant from around his neck.  "So you'll remember me!  I'm...I'm not sure what's going to happen to me.  I dunno if I'll ever see you again."

Padme takes the pendant.  "It's beautiful!  But I don't need this to remember you, Ani.  Many things will change when we reach the capital, but my caring for you will always remain."

The boy grins.  "You really like it?  I carved it out of a japor snippet.  It will bring you good fortune."

"We need all of that we can get.  Thank you!"  He embraces her.  As she holds him, she can feel it.  The faintest glimmer.  Hope.

Thus they make their way to Coruscant.




Scene 11: The Politicians of Coruscant

Anakin's face is glued to the window as they descend, eager to take it all in.  Obi-Wan hovers near his shoulder, eager to instruct.

From upper orbit, the planet of Coruscant seems crisscrossed with lines of fire and pockmarked with craters that burn at the edges.  "That's not fire at all, that's air traffic," explains Obi-Wan.  "The entire planet is one big city, and so traffic needs to be diverted along a specific course, known as a 'skyway,' otherwise people would be crashing into each other all the time."

They approach early dawn near the equator, flying towards what appears to be a shining silver tower perched on the peak of a craggy mountain overlooking a plain of sparkling iridescent mist.  "That mountain is made entirely of buildings," says Obi-Wan, "Hundreds of them.  The Naboo embassy is at the top of that spire;  the docks are at the base of the spire, so we'll have to take a carriage to get to the embassy."

As they draw to a landing, the mist parts, and Anakin gasps.  Where he expected to see the ground, instead he sees the tops of more buildings, lighting each other and the sky above with more colors than he had imagined existed.  Looking down, he sees every building recede into that glow.  He can't see if they ever manage to touch soil.  "Whoa!  How high up are we, Ben?"

"Too high for me to jump," says Obi-Wan, "and that's saying a lot!"  The ship jerks slightly as they touch down.  "Come now, Ani, and stay by my side.  I sense that events are about to unfold quickly, and we don't want you to get lost in the shuffle."

*****

"Reverend Sister!  Thank heavens!"  Senator Palpatine's jolly voice carries over the whipping winds of the landing platform as Padme and her companions disembark.  She makes her way directly to him, and they clasp hands.  "It is a great gift to see you alive."

"My life belongs to Naboo," she intones in response.  "I will readily give it in her service."

"And Captain Panaka, welcome!  Thank you for delivering the last Handmaiden to us safely.  We are in your debt."  He enthusiastically shakes Panaka's hand.

"Um, he had a little help," says Obi-Wan.

"Masters Jedi, of course!  You have our gratitude as well.  Why, when I went to seek help from Chancellor Velorum, I would have never expected us to be so blessed as to receive intervention from the Jedi Council..."

"The Jedi exist to serve the Republic," says Qui-Gon.  "Your gratitude is unnecessary, but appreciated."

Palpatine conspicuously ignores the Gungan and doesn't even notice the droids.  "And you must be Anakin Skywalker..."  He does not stoop, nor soften his voice as if addressing a child, but rather extends his hand in respectful greeting.  "I dare say you may be the true hero of the day.  Before your droid signed off, it transmitted quite a bit of documentation on the invasion.  Between this evidence and Reverend Padme's presence, I am certain that we shall overcome all bureaucracy and put an end to the Federation's treachery for good."

Anakin smiles so wide his face might break;  he shakes hands as firmly as he can.  "That's what I'm here for, too, sir!"

Palpatine takes a deep breath and claps his hands together, looking at the gathered entourage and radiating love.  "Let us not delay in formality any longer!  Your journey has been rough, and there is much to accomplish.  My carriage awaits to bring us to the Naboo embassy;  there you may find all the comforts of our homeworld at its best!"

*****

Less than a day on Coruscant, and Anakin is already bored.

After seeing the party safely to the embassy, the Jedi leave to speak with the Jedi Council, and Padme and Captain Panaka join Senator Palpatine in his private chambers to prepare for the special session of congress convening this evening, leaving Anakin alone in a guest suite with two droids and a Gungan.

He fiddles with Artoo for awhile, but having his nose in a control panel begins to remind him too much of home.  Jar-Jar sits hunched in front of the room's high-definition holographic projector, eagerly punching buttons on the remote as he flips through channel after channel of planetary broadcasts, but they are little different than the broadcasts on Naboo.  Much to his dismay, the embassy itself ostentatiously displays Naboo architecture, design and technology throughout.  It offers little clue regarding the thousands of cultures intermingling outside its walls.

He walks to the window and presses his nose against it, shielding his eyes against the sun to see as much as he can.  It's the same view that he saw during their approach and savored during the carraige ride.  Down below, the traffic arriving at the embassy docks is far enough away to be barely distinguishable as traffic, giving Anakin an uncomfortable sense of scale.  So he looks closer.

Just outside the window is a short ledge.  He searches the window and finds what appears to be a latch, but after several tugs in different directions, it still won't budge.

"Master Anakin," Threepio chimes, "I think you will discover that all locks at this elevation are magnetically sealed.  According to Coruscant Local Ordinance 074B-115, organic lifeforms are permitted on the exterior of a spacescraper only in cases of emergency.  All other high-elevation maintenance is to be performed by droids alone."

"Like that one?" Anakin asks, pointing at a small eight-legged silver ball scuttling along the ledge.

"No.  I believe that is a spyder, a recording droid of Federation design."

"A spy!"

Threepio speaks without distress, as if this is a common occurrence.  "Heading for the Senator's chambers, I'd imagine."

Anakin is not so calm.  "We've got to stop it!"

"I shall summon a security droid immediately."

"There's no time for that.  Who knows what it will record before they get here!"

"Master Anakin, I'm not sure there's anything else we can do."

Anakin shuts his eyes and wraps his hand around the window latch, thinking of the tiny midiwhatsits living inside of him, blocking out the projector's soundtrack and Jar-Jar's laugh and Threepio's further warnings.

"C'mon," he whispers to whatever's living in his blood, "Say something to me."

He feels a strange twitch, as if reality itself has skipped a frame.  Dubiously, he pulls at the latch.

It releases.

There is no ray shield here as there is on the docks to keep the air pressurized at this elevation;  Jar-Jar screams and Anakin grabs his chest as their oxygen gets sucked out the window.  The atmospheric recycler kicks into high gear, accompanied by a loud buzzing alarm, and they can breathe again.  Anakin thinks of the many times he had left the door open during winter, when Watto would lecture him about "paying to heat the whole neighborhood."

"I'll be right back," Anakin shouts above the rush of wind and the alarm and Jar-Jar's panic.  "Just don't tell anyone where I went!"

*****

The spyder does not seem to notice Anakin peeking around the corner at it, much to Anakin's relief.  Its sensors are all directed towards the room on the other side of the window, where the representatives of Naboo meet to discuss political strategy.  He figures stealth is his best option here;  he doubts he can catch the droid in a real chase without losing his balance on the wind-whipped ledge.  The thin air is already beginning to cloud his mind, and so he shuts his eyes and breathes deeply, centering himself.  He's about to make his move when, with his senses so heightened, he discovers that he, too, can hear what's happening in that room.

It's Padme's voice he hears first.  "Chancellor Velorum, I don't understand what you're saying.  You promised us your support."

Anakin cranes his neck to peek.  On the other side of the windowpane stands the Leader of the Free Galaxy!

"And you do have my support!"  Chancellor Velorum is tall and gaunt, with wispy grey hair and a worn look about his face.  He sounds desperately sincere.  "But I am no dictator; I must lead us in the direction that the Republic points, and the Republic is not what it once was.  The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates who are only looking out for themselves and their home systems.  There is no interest in the common good...no civility, only politics...it's disgusting.  I must be frank, Reverend Sister, even with this evidence and your testimony, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion.  What's done is done."

"Senator Palpatine seems to think there is hope," Padme says.

The Senator chimes in almost casually, "You could declare martial law for our region of space, and place an executive order to the Jedi to kick the Federation out!"

The Chancellor glowers at him.  "Senator, the plight of your people is breaking my heart.  But martial law has not been declared for centuries, and with good reason.  Need I remind you that we nearly lost the Republic last time?  No, that is a door that will not be opened on my watch."

"My apologies, Chancellor.  But what other options do we have?"

"You can always submit a plea to the courts..."

"There's no time for that," Padme says.  "The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate.  Our people are dying, Chancellor...more and more each day.  We must do something quickly to stop the Federation."

"To be realistic, Reverend Sister, I'd say you're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being."

"That is something I cannot do."

"Then bring your case before the Senate this evening.  Perhaps I have misjudged your chances;  this is a matter in which I would delight to be proven wrong.  If there is any way within the rules to help your people, I will do all that I can to assist you."

The spyder's legs retract into itself.  It sprouts translucent wings, and darts into the air.  Before he can think about it, Anakin has jumped up and snatched it.  Much to his dismay, he doesn't land.




Scene 12: Anakin's Fall

Anakin clings for dear life to the small ball of a droid.  The droid flaps its wings furiously, but they are still losing altitude.  Gripping the droid tightly in one hand, he uses the other to flip open its control panel hatch.  Underneath, a display panel flashes the red droid symbol for self-destruct mode.

"That's not good!"  Anakin lets go and the droid zips away just in time before disintegrating into a puff of smoke.

Now Anakin is in free fall.  Once again, it takes him a moment to adjust to the scale of his surroundings;  his progress relative to the mountain of buildings is so slow that it doesn't seem like he's falling at all.  Despite his dire circumstances, he cracks a wide grin and lets forth a whoop of joy, spreading his arms as he faces the clouds beneath him.  He's going to be a Jedi.  He can handle this.

Yet Ben's voice nags from the back of his mind.  "Too high for me to jump..."

"Well," Anakin says to himself, "Guess I'll just have to make sure I don't go all the way down."

It's taking him long enough to fall that he doesn't feel rushed, so he decides to experiment.  His heart is racing but he's bursting with self-confidence, so it doesn't take him long to center his attention on his powers.  With every fiber of his being, he commands the Force, "FLY!"

He thinks that perhaps he feels the wind whip strangely for a moment, but there is no discernable change in his course.  He decides to be a bit less ambitious.

"SLOW!"

It seems to work, as the rushing air feels less powerful and more like a cushion, but as far as he can tell, he's still descending.  It's a start.  Next he tries, "LEFT!"

He begins to drift toward one of the taller peaks in the clouds;  as he draws nearer, their edges lose all distinct shape and the sky begins to fog around him.  He could get lost quickly in here.

"Right!  RIGHT!"

Now he's getting worried.  The floor of clouds is accelerating towards him, and he fears that once he reaches them, he'll be done for.  He sees the sparkling line of skyway aircars within range, and he steers himself toward it.

THWUMP!  He lands on a vehicle and sends it veering down with him;  he leaps from it as it spins out with a trail of smoke.

He lands on the hood of a second car, looks back at the first and shouts, "Sorry!"

He looks through the windshield of his new hitched ride, and nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees the driver.  A large spherical white head rests on a neck that disappears below the steering wheel;  big round saucers of eyes stare into his own.  The driver opens a tiny slit of a mouth to bare two rows of pin sharp teeth.  The steering wheel turns, the car flips upside down, and Anakin is falling again.

He lands in the passenger seat of a convertible with its top down.  Its driver is even stranger than the previous;  a hunched up creature with a horselike head, gripping the steering wheel with both hands and prehensile feet.  

"Pudu!" the driver spits a curse at him, and pulls back one of those large paws.

THUNK!  Anakin recoils from the blow.  Blinded by pain, he doesn't even realize he's returned the punch until after he's done so.  They scuffle, weaving in and out of traffic, Anakin dodging a frenzy of flying extremities until he's able to firmly clock the creature in the head and it passes out.

The convertible tips into a nosedive.

Anakin shoves the comatose creature aside and wedges himself into the driver's seat.  He knows how an aircar is supposed to work, and he's repaired them plenty of times, but he's only been allowed to drive one once or twice, and he doesn't recognize the dashboard configuration at all.

"Let's see what this button does!"

The ship begins to spin.

"Wrong button!"

He punches a few more buttons, but only manages to extend the roof.  Finally he pulls a lever that seems to need pulling, and the vehicle tilts back up.

"That was close.  UH-OH!"  The skyway above him disappears into a tunnel in the side of a massive cliff of buildings that he's about to hit.  He yanks at the steering wheel, dinging the back end of the car on the corner of the tunnel, just barely making it through.

"Whoo-boy!  This is tense!"

He bobs between cars and cuts some very close turns.  The neon-trimmed walls of the tunnel race past him, and his entire attention focuses on not hitting them.  Other cars swerve to avoid him.

He misses a turn by a smidge, and the front power coupling gets knocked off, dangling by a wire as it thumps against the side of the speeding aircar.  He rolls down the window and stretches his arm out to try and fix it without letting go of the steering wheel, but he can't reach.  He stretches some more, and the power coupling appears to jump back into place of its own accord.

"Hey!" he says, looking at his hand.  "Check that out!"

He pops out of the tunnel and into a wide valley between buildings.  Getting the hang of the controls, he slows and drops below the traffic line to get his bearings.

"Now to land this thing!"

He descends, and begins to make out the shapes of individual aliens mingling on the street below.  Not wanting to hurt any of them, he spots a mostly empty alley and turns into it.  Only after he turns does he see the dead end.

He covers his face with his arms and wills himself to live.

There's spinning and crashing and darkness.

Anakin feels pressed in on all sides, but unhurt.  He shifts and feels an unexpected rustle all around him.  He closes his hand around several small foam balls;  he's surrounded by them.  He finds the door latch and opens it.  He and the driver and hundreds of foam balls spill out into the street.

He scrambles to his feet.  The car is totaled;  its hood crumpled into a wall.  As he backs away from the steaming wreck, increasingly strange creatures gather in a circle around the scene, with bug eyes and lizard skin and too many heads, each one different.  At his heel, the car's former driver stirs and begins to groan.

Anakin stumbles for a moment, disoriented and confused, and finally has a chance to be afraid.  Backing away from the crowd, he turns and runs.




Scene 13: Use of Force

Anakin doesn't know how long he's been away now.  The sky remains a constant brownish haze of artificial light and air pollution, so he has no sense of the time of day.  Yet somehow it rains a bit here, a putrid oily rain that leaves him feeling even dirtier.

For awhile he avoids the populated thoroughfares.  Fearing that the police might be after him, he sticks to alleys and eerie barren corridors whose walls extend upward into endless blackness.  Alien rodents scuttle through trash in the shadows.  As the shock of the fall and the crash wears off, he remembers that he is on this planet as a guest of the Jedi and the embassy of Naboo, all of whom owe him a debt for his help, and that anyone who's looking for him is probably more worried than angry.  Yet when he returns to the main roads, he finds no police or search party, just a throng of foreigners, each stranger than the last, chattering to each other in a language that he can't understand, walking in the glow of signs and billboards that he can't read.  Eventually he sits to rest on a quiet bench near and far enough from the foot traffic to feel safe.

He thinks about his mother.  He hopes she made it away safe.  He tells himself that the Sith was there for the Jedi, not for her.  Surely the Sith would have left as soon as they got away, leaving her behind as an innocent bystander.

The face of Darth Maul flashes through his mind, loathing innocence.

Yet now Anakin knows his own power.  When he returns to Naboo, he'll be able to find his mother and protect her from the terror of the universe, and they'll both be able to leave Watto behind for good and lead happy and loving lives.

If he returns to Naboo.

He doesn't want to cry in public.  He stifles his tears, pressing his fist to his lips to bite them back, but a few slip through.

"Hey, kid," says a high croaking voice, startling him out of his sadness.  "Wanna buy a deathstick?"

The short man in a leather jacket would look almost exactly human but for the antennae on his head.  He holds out a small case filled with cigarettes.

"Um, no," Anakin says.  "I don't want to buy a deathstick."

"Aw, you'll like 'em," the man says.  "They'll open up your eyes and your mind..."

"I said I don't want to buy a deathstick!"  Anakin snaps.  He feels a tingle similar to when he opened the window latch, slowed his descent or repaired the power coupling--like he's just used the Force.

"You don't want to buy a deathstick."  The way the man says it seems off, as if he's reading from a script for the first time.  He tucks the case back into his coat and then stands there looking slightly confused.

Anakin's face dawns with the realization of what's happening.  Extending his hand to focus his powers a bit more, he says, "You don't want to sell anyone deathsticks."

"I don't want to sell anyone deathsticks."

Anakin smiles.  "You want to go home and rethink your life."

"I want to go home and rethink my life."  The man turns to walk away.

"Hey, no, wait!" Anakin says, jumping up from his bench and grabbing the man by the arm.  "First, take me to Senator Palpatine of the Naboo."

The man nods.  "Take you to Senator Palpatine of the Naboo."  He takes a few steps forward, stops, then grimaces and rubs his forehead, his antennae twitching with frustration.  "I don't know where he is."

"Then find someone who does," Anakin says.

"Rogg," the man nods.  "I'll take you to Rogg.  Then we'll take you to Senator Palpatine of the Naboo.  Then I will go home and rethink my life."

The man takes Anakin's hand and leads him down the road.  Anakin looks relieved.  The man looks terrified.

*****

Senator Palpatine strolls along the dock toward his carriage, reciting instructions to his entourage of aides.  "The Handmaiden is already at the Senate building.  I need you to transmit the contents of this data crystal to her right away--she'll need time to read it before I get there.  Tell her I've found a way, regrettable though it may be, for us to force the Senate's hand on this issue.  The law provides us with one last resort, if the Chancellor will not yield.  And you--I want you to try contacting the Jedi again.  Find out if one of them will be there to testify.  We're going to need--"

Somebody screams, and everybody turns to face the dock entrance.  There stands a roughshod crowd of aliens and humans, pacing intently toward the Senator.  Guards draw their weapons and shout orders to halt, but the crowd continues forward.  The Senator then notices several officers of Coruscant law enforcement among the crowd, none of whom seem worried.  Even stranger is that he recognizes some of the aliens at the forefront of the crowd as well-known criminals of Coruscant, all of whom look really nervous.  The Senator waves his own guards back and approaches them.  

They are lead by Greb Solo, number one on the Coruscant Intelligence Agency's Most Wanted list, a pinkish pale blob in a pinstripe suit.  He walks right up to the Senator.

"Take the boy to Senator Palpatine of the Naboo," he grumbles.

The crowd parts, and out walks Anakin Skywalker, damp, dirty and bold.

The Senator's bellows of laughter can be heard across the whole dock.  "There you are!  We've been looking all over for you!"

"Senator, I'm really sorry it's just there was a spy and then I fell and--"

"Don't worry about it, you're just in time!" says Palpatine.  "We're on our way to the congressional hearing, and I'd be most pleased if you sat by my side during the proceedings.  There won't be time to clean you up, but I don't think it will hurt our case if you look a litte war-torn.  You--" he points towards one of his aides, "--get Master Skywalker onto my ship and get him something to eat.  You--" he grabs another aide and gestures toward the crowd, which is beginning to fall out from Anakin's spell, "--arrest the ones that need arresting, and give the rest a small reward for their help."  Some of the criminals try to run, but they find themselves staring into the barrels of Naboo blasters.  "Now come along, Anakin!  It's time to save our homeworld!"




Scene 14: The Eternal Queen

The Senate Chamber engulfs the same enormous scale as everything else on Coruscant, its amphitheater bowl shingled with platforms for each of the thousands of sovereign planets of the Republic.  Each platform is itself the size of a large conference room, comfortably sitting a couple dozen people in plush chairs.

Anakin sits with Palpatine in the front row of the Naboo platform.  Craning his neck around, the boy sees that the rest of their platform is packed with the Senator's staff and other prominent Naboo citizens who were on Coruscant at the time of the invasion.  Yet he sees no sign of the people who brought him here.  

Palpatine pats him reassuringly on the leg.  "They will be here when they're needed, don't worry.  Honestly, the beginning is really boring."

Sure enough, when the Chancellor's platform rises in the center of the assembly and Velorum's holographic image flickers to life just beyond the ledge of every platform, none of the mumbling chatter subsides.  It's as if the Chancellor walks through rote paces, and Anakin wonders to himself what the point of it is.

"Ahh, political tradition!" Palpatine sighs to himself, as if answering Anakin's unspoken question.  "Almost makes you comfortable enough to talk face to face with the people trying to murder you, doesn't it?"

Finally, amidst the ritualistic words, Chancellor Velorum says, "The Chair recognizes the Senator from the sovereign system of Naboo."

"That's my cue!" Palpatine says, rising and walking to the edge of the platform.  At every other platform, his own holographic image joins the Chancellor's.

"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate," he begins.  "A tragedy has occurred on our peaceful system of Naboo.  We have become caught in a dispute you're all well aware of, which began right here with the taxation of trade routes, and has now engulfed our entire planet in the oppression of the Trade Federation.  To present our allegations, I..."

He hesitates, turning to look at the rear entrance to the platform, then at Anakin, then back to the Chancellor's hologram.  "I present Amidala, the Eternal Queen of Naboo, to speak on our behalf."

The rear entrance opens, and in walks the Eternal Queen of Naboo.  She is adorned in a glittering dress as dark as deep space.  Her pale face stares out from a mane of black feathers with an expression hard as stone.  As she walks forward, Anakin recognizes her immediately by the pendant around her neck.

It's Padme.

Palpatine returns to his seat beside Anakin, and the Queen's hologram replaces his own.

Another hologram appears.  It is the serpentine Senator of the Trade Federation, Lott Dodd.  "Thisss isss outrageoussss!  I object!"

"The Chair does not recognize the Senator from the Trade Federation at this time!" scolds the Chancellor, but the Trade Federation hologram does not fade.

The Queen's voice bellows over the low rumble of questioning murmurs coming from every platform.  "Honorable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Your Honor Supreme Chancellor Velorum, I know the doubts that must now unsettle your mind.  Yet know it is true, I am Queen Amidala."

"A deccception!  A lie!"

The Chancellor disregards Senator Dodd.  "Your Majesty, we received proof of your death from your own people.  These proceedings were meant to initiate an inquiry into that event.  How...how do you explain yourself?"

"Since the birth of the Republic I have ruled Naboo as the Eternal Queen, always through the consent of my people.  None have known the secret of my undying rule.  Today, in order to secure our future, that must change."  An abrupt silence falls across the entire assembly.

"Chancellor Velorum, earlier today you met me as a Handmaiden of Amidala.  Now I must tell you that I am Amidala.  My Handmaiden sisters are Amidala.  We have been cloned throughout the centuries, always remembering who we are, forever reborn into a consciousness that spans a planet and never ends.  We have been twelve by the side of the one in the light, and one hope hidden in shadow and secrecy.

"For all these years the people of Naboo have been peaceful, a shining gem on the crown of the Republic, offering our abundance without fear.  All of this changed recently when Naboo was invaded--against all laws of the Republic--by the droid armies of the Trade Federation, and my thirteen sisters were slaughtered by the Viceroy himself."

"I object!  There isss no proof!"  Lott Dodd shouts above resumed murmuring.

"Overruled!" shouts Velorum, but they ignore him.

The Queen says, "Today we bring you proof of this invasion in abundance."

"Our occupatttion of your planet isss well known and perfectly legal.  But thisss claim that you are Queen Amidala isss incredible.  Queen Amidala isss dead.  We demand a commissssion be formed to either confirm the exissstance of thisss cloning technology, or--more likely--demonssstrate that thisss woman isss an impossster!"

In his mind, Anakin hears Padme's whisper.  "I need your help now, Ani."  He isn't even surprised.  It's as if she has always been in there listening, and as if he's long been waiting to hear her.

"THE TRUTH OF OUR CLAIM MAY BE VERIFIED BY ANYONE BORN OF NABOO."  The unison chanting of every being born of Naboo startles the chamber into renewed silence.  Delegates with Naboo-born aides stare at them in wonder as they stand up and say, "FOR SHE IS NABOO AND NABOO IS SHE."

The magic of the Queen's power hangs in the air, and for a moment nobody does anything.  Then another hologram appears, a creature with three eyes on a red cowlike head.  "The Congress of Malastare concurs with the honorable delegate from the Trade Federation.  A commission must be appointed...that is the law."

The Chancellor begins to respond, but a blue figure with two long horns leans into the range of his holographic projection and whispers in his ear.

Palpatine leans over to Anakin and says, "Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic, and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add.  This is where Chancellor Velorum's strength will disappear."

The Chancellor sighs.  "The point is conceded...Section 134A takes precedence here.  Queen Amidala of the Naboo, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to be sent to explore the validity of your claims?"

The Queen speaks for herself now, but all those born of Naboo remain standing.  "We will not defer!  We have come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty NOW.  We will not suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!  When the bureaucracy of government allows such atrocity, it is incumbent upon the leadership to set aside formality and guide us towards what is right.  If this body is not capable of action, we suggest new leadership is needed.  In accordance with the rules governing this session, we move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Velorum's leadership."

The Senate Chamber explodes with the shouts of thousands of delegates.  The Vice Chancellor takes control of the proceedings and calls for order, but the shouting continues.  Somewhere in there, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan seconds the motion, and soon, through no magic of Amidala, most of the chamber is chanting, "Vote now!  Vote now!"

Palpatine smiles and says to Anakin, "Now we will elect a new Chancellor--a strong Chancellor.  One who will not let our tragedy continue."

Anakin is speechless and happy.  He doesn't know exactly what the Queen has done here, but the wave of excitement passing through the Naboo platform and across the chamber makes it seem like they've just saved the galaxy.

"Well what's all this fuss about?"

Obi-Wan appears at Anakin's side.  "Ben!"  Anakin gives him a big hug.  "The Queen just stood up to the Chancellor and the bureaucrats!  The Senate is gonna stop the invasion!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure that will help!" Obi-Wan laughs.  "Anakin, I hate to drag you away from all this fun, but the Jedi are ready for you now.  Do you think--"

Before Obi-Wan can finish, Anakin turns to Palpatine and says, "I gotta go now!"

The Senator pauses in his applause to nod and wave goodbye, smiling with tenderness and joy.

In the hall beyond the Senate chamber, Obi-Wan leads Anakin up to a tall man with a conical forehead and a long white moustache.  "Anakin Skywalker, I'd like you to meet Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi.  He'll be spending some time with you to evaluate your powers."

Anakin shakes the Jedi Master's hand and says, "I know your species.  You're Cerean, right?"

"Well," Ki-Adi says in a soft and soothing voice, "I started that way."  Across the great cone of his forehead open five more sets of eyes.  Anakin gasps.

"I'll leave you two kids alone," says Obi-Wan, walking away.  "See you in a few hours, Ani!"




Scene 15: The Vision of Ki-Adi-Mundi

"Can you hear me?"

The voice is inside of Anakin's head, but it's not like the Queen's voice;  he doesn't like it there.  "Yes," he says weakly.

"Say it with your mind."

"Yes," Anakin thinks.

"Very good.  You don't like me looking at you like this?"

Anakin's two open eyes dart between Ki-Adi's twelve open eyes, each one lightsaber blue and staring right back at him.  "No, sir," he thinks.

"Of course not."  The five rows of extra eyes close, and Ki-Adi says quite plainly, "We'll work our way up, shall we?  Follow me."  He leads Anakin to an elevator and they enter.

As they wait, Ki-Adi reopens the first pair and looks at Anakin in contemplation.  "You wonder if these eyes mark me a Sith?"

"I'm sorry, sir.  I didn't mean to think that."

"It's alright, Anakin.  Are you sometimes afraid of the terrible things you cannot see?"

Anakin nods.

"Then imagine how much braver you must be once you can actually see them.  The Force granted me the blessing of these eyes when I was ready to open them with compassion, and so I do not condemn others when I see their fear.  These eyes are of the same substance as the deformities of the Sith, but I have been trained to bear them and make of them a thing of beauty.  You understand, I can see."  He smiles gently at Anakin, and Anakin feels more relaxed.  "This isn't what you expected though, is it?"

"I thought..."  Anakin says, and then instead thinks, "I thought there would be a test like in school, right?  And maybe you'd ask me to guess shapes on hidden cards or something.  Maybe a blood test to check my midi--midiklorons."

"Very good," thinks Ki-Adi.  "Master Obi-Wan did mention your exceptionally high midichlorian count.  Let's take a look, shall we?"  He opens the next pair of eyes, and Anakin feels more than naked;  the Jedi is looking beneath his skin, inside his body.  "Yes, your flesh streams with creatures of the Force.  Yet do they give you your great power, or are they drawn to the great power that is yours to give?"

From anyone else, Anakin would let that pass as a rhetorical question, but the way Ki-Adi-Mundi pauses makes him think he's expected to answer.  "I--I don't know, sir."

"Correct," thinks Ki-Adi.

The elevator doors open, and Ki-Adi gestures for Anakin to exit first.  He steps out to find himself atop the peak of the Senate building, with the lights of the capital twinkling through the clear night in every direction.  There's a ledge, followed by a long drop into the brilliant ribbon of the street below.  

Ki-Adi opens the third set of eyes and says, "I hear you had quite the fall today."

The scene replays in Anakin's mind, and he knows Ki-Adi can see it all:  the cars he crashed, the driver he beat up.  "I didn't know!  It was an accident!"

"This is why we must train to control our powers, Anakin.  Does a small bug care that it is an accident when your giant foot crushes it?"

"No."

"Now tell me, would you still have jumped, knowing that your survival might mean harm to others?"

Anakin tries to quell his response, but there is no hiding his thoughts from Ki-Adi.  "Yes.  I could stop the spy droid, and I did, and it helped me save my home world.  I would do it again."  Anakin is surprised by the brashness of his own thoughts.

"There is no hiding from your own darkness when you are seen through the eyes of the Force."  The fourth set of eyes opens.  "If you would fall again, then so be it."  Ki-Adi pushes him off the ledge.

Anakin plummets between the skyscrapers of the capital, nearer the ground here than he ever was earlier today.  Traffic is dense and aircars whip past him, but in his shame he avoids them.  The orange glow of the massive street below draws rapidly closer, and he sees that it's not air traffic at all, it's fire--a great river of molten rock, flames licking off the surface.  The heat begins to burn his flesh as he approaches.  His world blazes.  The pain consumes him.

Anakin's mind floats in darkness;  he cannot feel a thing.  "Am I dead?" he thinks.  "Have I failed?"  He recalls Qui-Gon's words of reassurance as they blasted into space.  If this is death, then where is...

"Your thoughts dwell on your mother."

Anakin jumps back into his body.  He wrings his hands together just to feel them.  All he can see is the pale form of Ki-Adi drifting before him, five open sets of Force eyes glowing with a light of their own.

"I miss her," Anakin admits.

"You are afraid to lose her..."

Anakin grows a little angry.  "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything!"  The rows of eyes flare, and Anakin winces.  "Fear is the path to the Dark Side.  Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering..."

"I'm not afraid!"

Anakin finds himself again looking down on his mother as the Jedi shuttle takes flight.  He once again hears her screams of desperation, and sees Darth Maul pace towards her maniacally.  But this time, no closing hatch obscures his view as, with the briefest flick, Maul's saber cuts his mother in two.

"NO!" Anakin thinks.  "That's not what happened!"

The scene fades, and he hears Ki-Adi's voice speak soothingly yet sternly.  "This is what the Force has shown you, and you deny it?  I sense much fear in you."

"I'm not afraid..." Anakin says quietly.

"Then we will continue..."

Above two pillars of five eyes, a single eye opens, shining gold.  Anakin hears a deep rumble, as if existence were collapsing around him, and though Ki-Adi-Mundi's voice never loses its calm, it now surrounds Anakin and encompasses all things.

"A JEDI HOLDS THE FATE OF WORLDS IN HIS HAND.  HE MUST HAVE THE DEEPEST COMMITTMENT TO OTHERS, THE MOST SERIOUS DESIRE FOR TRUTH.  YOUNG ONE, I HAVE SEEN YOUR FEAR, AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS.  LET US NOW LOOK INTO THE FUTURE, TO SEE WHAT YOU WILL MAKE OF IT!"

Just like that, the trance is over.  Anakin is sitting in a conference room of the Senate building, quite real, without the insubstantial quality of the visions he has just seen.  It takes a moment to get his bearings, but then he is filled with immense relief, like one who has just woken from a nightmare to discover himself safe in bed.  Then he sees Ki-Adi.

The Jedi Master sits across from him, sweating and shaking.  He grips the armrests of his chair so hard that one of them snaps.  All his eyes are open, including the great gold one at the peak of his head, and every one is transfixed on Anakin.  Ani does not feel this gaze;  it's as if it passes around him and through him, and he glances behind him for a moment to reassure himself that there is nothing there but the wall.

"Hey," Anakin says, standing, "Master Mundi, are you alright?"

Ki-Adi recoils as Anakin draws near, eyes wide open, his face contorting into a silent scream.  Then with a soft pop, all of his eyes explode, and he collapses to the floor.

Anakin stands frozen, covered in gore, panting mouth agape.

He doesn't know how long he stands there;  he's simply in shock.  The Jedi Master does not move.  Blood seeps from his eye sockets into a pool around his head.  Eventually there is a knock at the door, followed by distant shouting.  A few moments later, Obi-Wan bursts into the room, and Anakin feels safe enough to faint.




Scene 16: Palpatine Promoted

"Queen Amidala!  Good morning!  I hope you were able to rest well after last night's proceedings."  Palpatine rises from his chair to greet her as she enters his office.  She is adorned simply and attended only by Captain Panaka, but she carries her regality with her now, as if the simple mortal handmaiden has become an unnecessary pretense.

"Congratulations on your election, Chancellor Palpatine," she says.  "I regret that I could not be there when it happened.  I hear that it was nearly dawn before debate ended."

"Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty.  It is you who should be congratulated!  Together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."

The Queen remains diplomatically deadpan as she says, "I don't require congratulations, Chancellor.  I require a clear legal condemnation of this invasion from the Senate.  I fear by the time you have control of the bureaucrats, there will be nothing left of our cities, our people, our way of life..."

"You must understand, Your Majesty, that the Federation has control of the planet;  the law is presently on their side.  I can cut through the red tape that Velorum could not, but even our allies will need some reassurances before authorizing forces to intervene on your behalf."

"What reassurances do they need?"

"Well, to be honest, some of our greatest opposition comes from those who have recently overthrown their own ancient monarchies, men like Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan."

At this, she nearly betrays emotion.  "Alderaan!  But we were steadfast supporters of their democratic revolution!  They know that Amidala rules only through the consent of the governed."

"Exactly.  Senator Organa knows this, but they're walking their own thin line, afraid that condemnation of the Federation invasion would carry condemnation of their own liberation in its wake.  And the Federation itself is already building a strong case against you;  when they thought you were dead, they were content to leave well enough alone, but now that they know you live, they're spreading rumors that you've got the whole of Naboo under some kind of Jedi mind trick.  I'm afraid your display at last night's proceedings didn't help.  They have even begun to use the term witchcraft..."

"Enough of this!" Amidala commands.  "I have survived millennia of such accusations;  they shall not dissuade me now."

"My apologies, Your Majesty.  I meant no offense, and I know these are lies.  I only meant to impress upon you the tenuousness of our position.  As it please you, I can arrange for you to meet with Senator Organa and others over the next several weeks, to provide them the reassurance they need.  Show them the person behind the legendary Queen, and they will learn to trust."

There is a long breath as she examines the Chancellor.  "No, Chancellor.  I will not well serve my people by remaining here to argue my legitimacy with offworlders.  This is your arena.  I feel I must return to mine.  I have decided to go back to Naboo."

"Go back!  But Your Majesty, be realistic!  You would be in danger!"

"My fate will be no different from that of our people."

"Please, Your Majesty, stay here where it's safe until all legal options can be exhausted," pleads Palpatine.

"No place is safe, if the Senate does not condemn this invasion."  She eyes him cautiously, as if contemplating many possibilities.  "Chancellor, you have said that you will do everything possible to stop the Federation.  What can you do to help us now?  Surely there must be resources available at your discretion."

Palpatine sighs and looks down in thought, then snaps.  "The Chancellor's Guard!  There aren't many of them, but they have ships of their own.  I'll spare as many as I can to send with you.  They're supposed to be protecting me against assassination, but I am proud to face the danger in defense of Naboo."

This seems to dissipate the tension in the room.  "You have our gratitude, Chancellor.  The two Jedi who brought me here have also pledged to return with me, to protect me from the monster that attacked us at the Skywalker home."

"Speaking of which...what of the boy?  What is to become of young Anakin Skywalker?"

The Queen does not immediately respond;  she peers at him as if he has become indecipherable.  Then she says, "I am told the Jedi Council is deciding his fate as we speak.  Our hope is that he will be sent to the Jedi Academy to train."

"It has been long since Naboo has produced a Jedi," says Palpatine.  "I'll be watching his career with great interest."

Amidala gives a single practiced nod.  "As will we all.  Chancellor, thank you for your help.  I pray you will bring sanity and compassion back to the Senate."  She turns to Panaka.  "Come, Captain!  We must take back what is ours!"

Chancellor Palpatine smiles and waves as they leave.  "I bid you safe journey, Your Majesty, and may the Force be with you!"

*****

Shortly thereafter, Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka walk down a hallway that has been cleared for the Queen's safe passage.  She finds these security precautions unsettling, but now that she is reduced to a single body, they are likely all that is standing between her and death.  She is unperturbed by the political machinations revealed by Chancellor Palpatine;  she learned to roll with those punches a long, long time ago.  Yet the absence of her entourage of Handmaidens and the distance between this body and her people has left her feeling dulled in the senses, and the universe seems to have become dark, cold and silent.  She feels isolated and alone, quite unlike herself.

"Excuse me, Your Highness...Your Highness?  Queen Amidala?  Reverend Padme?"

She snaps out of her introspection to realize that she has stopped, and Captain Panaka stands staring at her anxiously, arms out in preparation to catch her should she faint.  "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yes, thank you Captain."  She regains her composure immediately.  "We should never have come here;  Reverend Padme was not yet fully grown, and we let the instincts of our young body overwhelm our courage.  We must return now, reclaim our throne and crush those who have dared to invade Naboo."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Panaka says, saluting sharply and smiling.  "Shall I begin preparations for an assault on the Palace?"

"Not yet, Captain," she says, continuing their walk down the hall.  "The Federation will have it well guarded, and without the backing of the Senate, our people will be conflicted, unsure of what is right and hesitant to pick up arms.  Luckily, ours is not the only security force on Naboo."

Panaka raises an eyebrow at her as they turn and enter the guest suite.

"Jar-Jar Binks..." she says.  The Gungan looks up at her dumbly from his place on the floor, where he has been mashing buttons on a hologame controller.  "I need your help."




Scene 17: The Jedi Council

Master Qui-Gon meditates.

He is in the Jedi Council chambers, a simple circular room with whitewashed walls and high windows streaming sunlight.  The available members of the Council sit at their pallets around him, meditating as well, but none goes so deep into the Force as the old drifter.  He stares past the room and the sky and the stars, through the past and the future and into a place that seems to be opening up just for him.  The other Jedi feel a smallness in themselves despite their training, knowing that one who has renounced all but the most basic respectful affiliation with the Order could achieve such power without any apparent corruption, and so their meditations seek to temper these negative emotions.  Those years of training serve their purpose, and none remains confined by such smallness, but rather each blossoms into compassionate awareness of the others;  that is how they know they are ready to begin.

No words are spoken, not even in thought;  the Council communes entirely in feelings.  First there is great sadness expressed by Master Mace Windu that the pallet of Master Ki-Adi-Mundi is empty this day, and it ripples throughout those gathered.  Yet it does not carry the weight of blame or condemnation, for none know what Ki-Adi's many eyes saw when he was with Anakin, nor even where they looked;  when the blinded master regained consciousness, he said only that they were not meant to know.  They then share Master Barriss Offee's memory of tending to his wounds and her confidence when she parted from him that he would not despair, but would turn even his blindness into a thing of beauty. 

Then Master Qui-Gon recalls the ugliness of Darth Maul's face and the deftness with which the Sith wielded its lightsaber, and all are puzzled that this beast would have been trained in saber combat, for only those trained by Jedi know how to construct and wield these weapons, and no Jedi would dare train a Sith.  Doubt is felt by those who presume innocence only for the blue-sabered members of the Jedi Council, though these feelings carry less weight in Master Qui-Gon's presence.  All agree that Master Obi-Wan should return to Naboo with Master Qui-Gon and investigate the matter further.

Then Master Kit Fisto, one of the newest members of the Council, expresses relief that the boy Anakin Skywalker has been given a draught to dull his powers, and a consensus is revealed among the Council that the boy should not be trained, but should have this drink administered in a greater dose, such that it will dull his powers for life--a recourse usually only taken for emergent Sith who actively refuse the training of the Jedi Academy.  Beneath their symphony of agreement is the slightest note of shame from Master Obi-Wan, for he was expected to inform Master Qui-Gon of this decision previously, and he hasn't had the heart.  The Council then realizes that Master Qui-Gon is hiding his reaction from them.

"I wish to speak with Master Yoda," Master Qui-Gon says quite plainly.

One collective mind shatters into many as each Jedi reacts differently to this request.

Some take affront that an outsider would so bluntly request an audience with the Head Master of the Order, or that he would so casually bypass their own will.  Others grow eager at the thought of seeing the reclusive master, who for centuries has not sat regularly with the Council, but has rather spoken through the few apprentices he has trained in each generation.

Master Obi-Wan contemplates how this is a perfect example of why Qui-Gon couldn't be on the Council even if he wanted to be.

Then the commanding presence of Master Mace Windu directs their focus to the entrance, where stands Yoda, First of the Jedi.

He is a shriveled green lump of a creature, no taller than an adult human's knee, wrapped in a small brown robe and leaning on a tiny walking stick.  His elfin ears are perked as he listens to the echoes of their thoughts, and only after he has everyone's attention does he speak.

"What say you, Master Qui-Gon?"

"Good friend, I wish to take on Anakin Skywalker as my padawan and train him in the ways of the Force to become a Jedi."

"If a teacher you would be, Master Qui-Gon, the Council you could join."

Several of the Jedi nod their heads in agreement.

Qui-Gon addresses the full Council.  "For ten millennia this Council has wisely tended the garden of the Force.  We Jedi who walk a separate path have respected the supremacy of the Order, even as you have always respected our freedom to choose our own way.  Yet now I find there is a place in this garden you will not tend;  you would rather it wither than flourish.  And so it falls to me.  This is not a task I have sought, but I will see it done."

There is guilt among the Jedi, and Yoda bows his head.  "Spoken truly you have, Master Qui-Gon.  Yet much I fear in Skywalker's training.  By the Dark Side clouded this boy's future is."

The other Jedi grow uncomfortable to hear their old teacher express fear, though they must acknowledge they share it.

"He is too old," says Mace Windu.  "There is already too much anger in him."

Qui-Gon continues to speak without judgment.  "Finding him was the will of the Force...I have no doubt of that.  It is even possible he was conceived by the midichlorians.  And for him to appear at the same time as this Sith...there is much happening here.  He must be trained...."

Qui-Gon trails off as he locks eyes with Yoda, and nothing is said for some time.  The other Jedi know that the two great Masters now communicate without words, but they do not share their ineffable conversation with the rest.  Then Yoda speaks.

"Your padawan the boy may be."  There is a tingle of surprise from the other Jedi, but if they object, they hide their feelings from their Head Master.  "And upon you responsibility for his training lies.  Stop you, the Council will not.  Help you, other Jedi may.  But caution you this Council has, and should you fail...your own failure will it be."

"Thank you, good friend," says Qui-Gon.

Nothing more is said.  Both Yoda and Qui-Gon shut their eyes, and the others soon follow.  A clash between two of the strongest wills the galaxy has ever known comes to an end in peace under the warm sunlight.




Scene 18: Padawan

In the embassy guest suite, Jar-Jar Binks sits on the floor with his arms around his legs, listening wide-eyed to Threepio.

"Anso de biggum galatic bombad super boss wassum booed by deesin odders..."  Threepio speaks the dialect as fluently as any native Gungan, including randomly generated grammatical violations of the native Gungan dialect.  He is, after all, the best the galaxy has to offer in protocol droids.  "...and de Naboo galatic made de bombad super boss.  But dem Queen Amidala no be trustin by den galactics, anso ebben da Naboo bombad super galatic boss hassa no helben furden Naboo.  Ohwohno!"  With a small jerk, he raises his metal hands to his face.

"Ohwohno!"  Jar-Jar concurs, mimicking Threepio's action.  "Wat den?  WAT DEN?"

"Deesin baddum Federation hassa mekaneeks ollorda Naboo.  Daysum say, 'Dissa planet awrds!'"

"Gungans no be goin witoudda fight!"  Jar-Jar insists.  "Weesa hab grand army!"

"But dey worsen part, Jar-Jar!  Dey worsen part!"  Here even Threepio has to pause to process how he could possibly describe this in Gungan.  Finally he takes a shortcut by emulating the sound of a lightsaber, raising his arms in the air and shouting, "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Jar-Jar throws up his arms and and shouts "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" in agreement.

Threepio continues.  "Nobody knowen deesin Sith wit lightstik, but dem bombad--Master Jedi!  What a coincidence, I was just about to mention you!"

The door to the suite opens, and in walks Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Where is Anakin Skywalker?" the Jedi Knight asks without emotion.

"He's in the bedroom.  Poor thing, he's slept all morning."

Qui-Gon enters the bedroom without saying anything else, so Threepio turns back to Jar-Jar.  "Where was I?  Oh yes.  Dem bombad Master Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn..."

"Wake up," Qui-Gon says sternly to the tangle of sheets and sleeping boy.  Anakin stirs.  "Come on, now, it's time for you to start your training."

Anakin rubs his eyes.  "But...Master Mundi..."

"Master Ki-Adi-Mundi is recovering and will survive.  He looked where he should not have, and paid the price."

Anakin's eyes pop open.  "So I got accepted into the Academy?"

"Not quite...the Council is not prepared to train you at this time.  I will train you.  You are now my padawan."

"Oh..." Anakin says, somewhat crestfallen.  "What's that?"

Qui-Gon seeks to put this delicately, without laying his philosophical conflicts with the Jedi Council at Anakin's feet during his first lesson.

"Padawan learning is the ancient way of training Jedi.  Millennia ago, before Head Master Yoda founded the Jedi Order and opened the Academy, those who sought training in the ways of the Force would apprentice themselves to a single Master.  They were called padawan, and they would obey their Master in all things, and in return the Master would train them, until the day came when they would set aside the name of padawan and become Masters in their own right."

"So now...I'm your padawan learner?"

"That is correct."

"And I have to do everything you say?"

"Only if you want to live."  Qui-Gon sees the panic his words instill, and stoops to comfort.  "Anakin, do you believe you could learn from watching me?"

Anakin thinks honestly about the people he has already hurt when using his powers.  He nods.

"Then you may stay by my side and watch.  We will go into danger, but so long as you do what I say, I promise you will be safe, and you will learn what you need to know.  That is why a padawan must obey his Master.  Otherwise I couldn't in good conscience let you follow me.  Do you understand?"

"Uh-huh," says Anakin.  "I mean--yes, Master Qui-Gon."

"Very good.  Now, go wash up.  There is much to be done today.  And don't forget to blub your teeth!"  Anakin rolls out of bed and slouches towards the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Qui-Gon turns to find Obi-Wan in the entranceway.  "Have you had a listen to that?" asks Obi-Wan, gesturing back toward the main chamber.  "It's fascinating, the perspective you can get from hearing modern politics explained in Gungan!"

"Good afternoon, Master Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon says curtly.

Sensing Qui-Gon's displeasure, Obi-Wan says, "Look, I'm sorry about the Council's reaction.  I did my best to convince them to train Anakin, but...well...the boy is dangerous.  They all sense it.  Why can't you?"

"The boy's fate is uncertain, not dangerous," says Qui-Gon, sitting himself cross-legged on the bed.  "Many on the Council seem to forget the difference.  They've grown so powerful that they fear what they cannot control."

"And you think YOU can control him?"

"No, but I can teach him, and hope that whatever he does, he does with wisdom.  This is all we can do for any sentient being, Master Obi-Wan.  It is all I can do for Anakin, and it is all I can do for the Council."

"Hmmmm," says Obi-Wan, hiding his emotions.  He looks to the bathroom door.  "I don't suppose he can hear a thing we're saying right now?"

"With the poisons the Council gave him, that does seem unlikely."

"Does he know?"

"I have not told him;  that is your trespass to confess."

"Perhaps it is better, for the moment, for him to believe his powers have limits," says Obi-Wan, but Qui-Gon has shut his eyes in meditation and says no more.  Obi-Wan returns to the main chamber of the suite.  Neither Jedi notices Artoo in the corner, silent but operational.

*****

Meanwhile, in orbit around Naboo...

"You have doomed ussss!" Newt Gunray shouts at the shrouded holographic figure standing in his private quarters on the Federation flagship.  "You asssured usss your apprenticcce would kill the Jedi, and yet they essscape!  You asssured usss you control the Ssssenate, and yet Palpatine isss now Chancccellor!"

"So it would seem," chuckles the image of Darth Sidious.

"You DARE laugh at me?" Newt gasps.  "I will exposssse you to the galaxy!  Thisss world isss lost, but I can ssstill ssssave the Federatttion and my own ssskin by telling everyone about the real menaccce--the Ssssith!"

The chamber doors rush open, and Newt turns to face Darth Maul as he strides into the room.

"And YOU!" Newt seethes.  "I'm not afraid of you anymore!  Go ahead and kill me if you want.  I've got all the evidenccce I need againssst you ready to be ssssent to every sssstation of the Galactic Newssss Network the minute I go missssing!"  Maul just glares down at him impassively through bloodshot eyes.

"Well, Lord Maul," croaks Sidious, "He does seem to have us in quite the bind.  What would you...suggest?"

"You're angry," sneers Maul.

"Damn right I'm angry!" says Newt.

"And you want to direct your anger..." says Maul.

"I want to direct my anger!" says Newt.

"...at those who deserve it."

"...at thossse who dessserve it."  Newt clenches his fists.

"We support your rule here, we are your allies," Maul says, beginning to slowly circle the Viceroy.  "Crush the dissidents on Naboo, gather up those who oppose you and destroy them."

"Gather up the disssssidentsss," Newt says, "and dessstroy them."

"Palpatine is a politician," adds Darth Sidious, "He will not oppose you if the only people left on Naboo are voting in your favor."

Newt simply stands there entranced.

"And you will not reveal the Sith," growls Maul.

"I will not reveal the Ssssith."

"Now leave us."

Viceroy Gunray leaves his own quarters, and Darth Maul grins broad.

"Well done, Lord Maul," says Sidious.  "You are beginning to learn the more subtle powers of the Dark Side."

"I could have ripped out his heart and feasted on his intestines."

"Instead, he shall serve you thousands.  A slave is more valuable than a corpse."

"Yes, Master."

"And now...how will you atone for your failure to slay the two Jedi?"

"I will confront them again, and remove their snide heads from their bodies."

"Hmmm...no, not yet.  You have lost the element of surprise.  You are not ready to face them again."

Maul kneels before the hologram.  "Lord Sidious, I will do what you ask to prove myself worthy."

"Good!  Good!  You are near your proving ground.  Now tell me, Lord Maul..."  Beneath the shadows of the hood of his cloak, Sidious can be seen to smile.  "Have you ever heard the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"




Scene 19: A Concise History of the Gungan People

As the sun sets on the misty Coruscant horizon, five sleek yellow starfighters of the Chancellor's Guard rocket to the sky, entering hyperspace in formation.  The Jedi ship flies among them, silver and subtle, seen only by those with Force powers.

On that ship stands a figure in the emerald green uniform of the other fighter pilots, but this is only a disguise.  She might actually be the immortal ruler of a planet, or she might just be a young girl played as a pawn in a game of ancient forces, but here on the ship, it falls to her to lead this mission.  Is it wrong, then, that she has asked her droid to do most of the talking?

She stands at the head of the conference table surrounded by the very same crew that escaped Naboo with her--her Captain, the Jedi, the Gungan and the boy.  Beside her, C-3PO delivers his report.

"From what we know of recorded history," says Threepio, "the Gungans first appeared on Naboo shortly after the foundation of the Galactic Republic, a century into the rule of Her Royal Highness Queen Amidala.  They appear to have evolved from the native amphibian life, and this is corroborated by the oral tradition I have begun to record, in which the Gungans refer to themselves as the Kiddos Udda Wibbits."

Jar-Jar nods enthusiastically at the only phrase he recognizes, and begins to recite the same prayer he shared with Threepio earlier.  "Uh-huh!  Da Kiddos Udda Wibbits, da Meexa Uddo Holos, furda protata da ollodo papa, inda undatings lolo..."

"Jar-Jar, please let the translation droid do its job," groans Obi-Wan.  Jar-Jar slinks back into his chair.

"Interesting," says Qui-Gon.  "I know of no other instances of a species evolving into a sentient race since the birth of the Republic.  The intelligent races are thought to have been set unchanging aeons ago."

"Sir, my databanks include all that is known about the biological origins of the Gungans.  My information distillation subroutine has concluded that further details are not pertinent to the immediate task, but I am, after all, just a droid, and I defer to your mindful assessment."

"Please, continue with your original report," says Qui-Gon.

"The Gungans appear to have several prayers and songs that are passed from one generation to the next, and this is their only source of knowledge of their own history.  Master Binks shared with me those passages he could remember.  Of these, the most relevant is as follows:

	Da Gungans guard, to time da ripe,
	Dee Choosin One, fur time to fight

	When Naboo in de holo come,
	When Naboo peeps to time is done,
	Den is born de Choosin One

	Und Gungan army simpy cold
	Be bombad army standin bold
	Unda Genral Choosin One"

Threepio stops there, and they all sit in contemplation for a moment.

"Hunh, that was nearly intelligible," says Obi-Wan.

"Thank you, Threepio," says the Queen.  "Gentlemen, I believe this army of the Gungans is the key to retaking our world.  The Naboo have never had a standing army of their own.  Our security forces contain themselves to matters of domestic law, and are not trained for war.  We have always relied on the droid armies of the Republic to come to our defense against external threat, and they have never failed us--until now.  Now, then, is the time to fight spoken of in the Gungan prophecy.  We shall travel to the Gungan territory on the continent of Meadowbrook, and summon their army to come to our aid."

"But why do you think they'll help us?" asks Anakin, who has been sitting quietly by Qui-Gon's side until now.  "It sounds like we won't get their army until we figure out which one of them is the Chosen One."

Obi-Wan chuckles.  "But that's the easiest part, Ani, you'll see!  Any Jedi walking among a primitive people is as good as a god on earth.  We'll have them believing that one of us is the Chosen One in no time.  Why, we could even pretend it's you!"

Anakin flushes, and Jar-Jar scowls.  "You no be lyin to da Boss Nass," Jar-Jar says.  "Boss Nass know da Choosin One anda faker!"

"Yeah," Anakin says, glowering at Obi-Wan.  "And it's wrong to lie!"

"Calm down, my young padawan," says Qui-Gon.  "Trust in the Light of the Force and no lie will prevail.  Many prophets foretell the coming of a savior to a world in need.  When we do bring salvation to a people, are we not the fulfillment of their prophecies?"

"I...guess."

"It is only a lie if we fail," says Obi-Wan, "And we won't fail!"

"Nevertheless," consoles Qui-Gon, "Your instincts are wise, young one.  Master Obi-Wan is correct that any one of us may be the Chosen One, but we must not presume to know the will of the Force before it has been revealed.  Your humility commends you.  Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Qui-Gon."

"Very good.  Now, I want you to meditate as I taught you earlier."  Anakin sits upright in his chair and shuts his eyes.

The Queen turns to Panaka.  "Captain?"

Captain Panaka rises, turning on a holographic projection of Naboo above the table.  "If we use all of the information available to us, which includes tidbits gleaned from Jar-Jar, then the Gungan capital is most likely located somewhere here, in the marshes to the west of Meadowbrook.  The Federation blockade is concentrated here, around Theed, leaving Meadowbrook relatively unguarded.  We should be able to slip in undetected..."

They strategize.

*****

It doesn't take long for their strategy to fall apart.

They are approaching Naboo.  Each passenger grips to keep from losing their balance as the ship rocks from a nearby explosion.

"What wuh DAT!"

Panaka checks the console.  "Federation starfighters, a dozen of them.  They came out of nowhere!"

"What happened to slipping in undetected?" yells Obi-Wan.

"They must have known we were coming," says Qui-Gon.

"We're outnumbered!" cries the Queen.

Anakin looks around frantically.  "What kind of guns does this thing have?"

"We don't need guns," replies Obi-Wan, running for the airlock.

"Captain, take the helm!  Anakin, you stay here!" orders Qui-Gon, joining his partner.  The inner door of the airlock shuts behind them as they strap breathing units to their faces, and before Panaka can tell them exactly how crazy they are, Obi-Wan presses the button that ejects them into space.

The air around Obi-Wan disappears and the vacuum stretches at his skin, but he uses the Force to hold himself together as inertia carries him toward an enemy fighter.  The Federation ship cuts through the sky like a metal bird of prey, blasting one of the Chancellor's Guard before Obi-Wan can get there.  The Republic ship trails smoke as it spins up toward the planet above him.  With a flash of blue, Obi-Wan slices the Federation ship clean down the middle, bouncing off half of it to change his trajectory.

Qui-Gon points his palm at one approaching enemy ship and redirects its course into another;  they explode in a large fireball.

The Jedi cannot exactly fly, but using the power of the Force they pull themselves from one enemy to the next, swinging their way through the space battle.

None of the Federation ships have noticed the cloaked Jedi ship, but debris from another exploding Republic ship smashes into it, piercing shields designed to protect against energy weapons.  The ship quakes.  Panaka curses.  Above a wailing alarm, Anakin shouts, "Artoo!"  The little droid zips over to a control panel and inserts a slender probe.

Flying past each other, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon raise their palms to one another as if in greeting, using the Force to push away from each other toward their next targets.  A Federation ship swoops in at Obi-Wan, blasting lasers rapid-fire;  Obi-Wan uses his saber to deflect a laserbolt right back at it, and it bursts into flame around him.

Soon the Federation ships are all destroyed, but alas, so are the Chancellor's Guard.  Two faint lights, green and blue, drift through a field of rubble.  On the Jedi ship, R2-D2 restores power to the atmospheric thrusters, and Captain Panaka flies around to retrieve Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan waves his arms wildly, his saber flashing like a beacon.  The planet above him increasingly feels like it's rather the planet below him, and his clothes begin to smoulder as he falls toward it.

"I see him, I see him!" Panaka says in response to Ani's furious pointing.  The ship flies gently sideways and catches Obi-Wan's floating body in the airlock.

"Don't get to do that everyday!" exclaims Obi-Wan as he stumbles back aboard, smoking slightly.

"It's not over yet!" shouts Panaka from the cockpit.  "Fuel lines were hit!  Tanks are bone dry!  Strap yourselves in and cross your fingers, we're landing wherever we can!"

The passengers comply and, the Force being with them, they roll and tumble towards a survivable landing on the western edge of the continent of Meadowbrook.




Scene 20: Captured

The hatch of the wrecked ship creaks open, and the crew make their way tentatively into the morning fog.  They can make out the silhouettes of giant tufts of grass reaching up to twice human height before bending back to the ground.

"Issa so good beein home!" says Jar-Jar, running ahead of them.  He opens his arms as if to give a big hug to everything he can see.

"We should get as far away from the ship as we can, as fast as we can," says Obi-Wan.  "The Federation was surely able to track our entry."

"I wouldn't be so sure," says Captain Panaka.  "They call this the Gungan Triangle.  Something about this part of the world wreaks havoc on electronics.  Landscaper droids get lost out here all the time."

Artoo bleeps, and Anakin translates.  "Artoo says all but his most basic visual and auditory sensors are offline."

"Still, the Federation was expecting us," says Obi-Wan.  "I don't like it."

"Gungan territory..." the Queen says to herself.  Then she turns to the others, and speaks with her voice of authority.  "We're still on track.  We must find the Gungans."

"I don't think that will be a problem, Your Highness," says Qui-Gon.  "I think the Gungans have found us."

The Gungan warriors step through the haze, spears pointing menacingly.  They are larger than Jar-Jar, and they wear clanking armor trimmed with rust.

"Halten!" commands what appears to be their leader.  He sits astride a kaadu, a hairless beast of burden that could easily be his close evolutionary cousin.  "Whoo goesen dere?"

"Heyo, Capn Tarpals!" Jar-Jar responds.  "Meesa back!"

Upon seeing Jar-Jar Binks, the Gungan Warriors gasp and mutter.

Tarpals furrows his brow.  "Noah gain, Jar-Jar.  Yousa goen tada Bosses.  Yousa in big dudu dis time!"

"Jar-Jar, what's going on here?" asks Qui-Gon.

"Iss embarrissing, boot...meesa bean banished.  Me forgoten."

"You FORGOT you were BANISHED?" Obi-Wan asks, agog.

The Queen steps forward.  "Captain Tarpals, we mean you no harm.  We are ambassadors of the Naboo people."  Tarpals frowns.  "We come seeking the aid of the mighty Gungan army.  Please...take us to your leader."

Tarpals examines her warily, then commands his fighters, "Boind da hands."

They advance, and Panaka reaches for his blaster.  "Hold, Captain," says the Queen, offering out her wrists to be tied.  "Show them our trust."

The guards bind them.  Artoo and Threepio are strapped to a crude cart pulled by a second kaadu.  "How embarrassing!" exclaims Threepio.

Tarpals swings his spear above them and declares broadly, "Yousa awr nah prisnahs odda Gungans!"

*****

They march in a loose clump surrounded by their guards.  Day breaks clear and blue above, but the tall grasses form a thickening forest around them.  Captain Tarpals leads the way confidently.  As they walk, Anakin winds among them, making conversation.

"Why'd you get banished, Jar-Jar?" he asks.

"Tis a long otello, buta small part wawdabe mesaaaah...clumsy."

"They banished you because you're clumsy?" 

"Meesa causey mabee one or duey lettal bitty axadentes...yousa say boom da gasser, un crash der Bosses heygibber...den banished."

"Well, things are looking up," snickers Obi-Wan, overhearing.  "I was starting to worry that Jar-Jar might represent the smarter end of the Gungan bell curve."  Jar-Jar makes a pathetic moan.  "Oh, chin up, I'm just kidding around with you.  Think of how happy everyone will be to see you when you return with the Chosen One!"

Anakin falls back a few paces, not wanting to get into that conversation again.

He wiggles his bound wrists, which are starting to itch.  Turning to one of the guards, he says, "You know, you don't have to have me tied up like this."  The Gungan ignores him.  Giving it another go, Anakin raises his hands and attempts to focus the Force.  "Untie me!"  The Gungan looks at him and snorts, and Anakin frowns.  "I said untie me!"

"Anakin, come over by me," Qui-Gon says, turning to his padawan.  Anakin sighs and jogs to catch up.

"I don't get it, Master Qui-Gon," he says.  "Why are we going through all this?  You're a Jedi.  You could just tell these Gungans to fight for you, and they'd have no choice, right?"

"That's exactly the point, Anakin," Qui-Gon explains.  "When you use the Force on others, you take away their ability to choose, and that ability is what defines each of us as self-aware beings.  In ancient times, the powerful Sith Lords would amass for themselves armies of mindless loyal slaves who had no choice but to murder their loved ones if the Dark Lords commanded it.  Life was torture for the slaves, who longed for freedom.  And this is why the Sith ultimately fell;  the slaves took every opportunity they had to subvert their masters.  The more the Sith tried to control the galaxy, the more the galaxy resisted.  When the Jedi finally appeared and gave the galaxy a choice, the galaxy chose the Jedi."

"Yeah, but it's not like you'd be telling people to murder their family," Anakin says, swallowing back the thought of his mother.  "You'd just be making them untie us!"

"But we don't have to;  we are in no danger.  We can walk with our hands bound, and the Gungans can have their free will, and when the time comes, they will freely give us their aid.  Even the smallest action can have a mighty consequence;  be mindful of your small actions, and you will be prepared to be mighty."

Anakin thinks about it.  "So...not having to use the Force is even better than being able to use the Force."

Qui-Gon smiles.  "You take quickly to wisdom, Anakin Skywalker.  I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight."

Anakin grins, puffing up a bit at the compliment.  The Queen, who has been listening in, smiles as well.

"We're all really proud of you, Ani," she says.

"Thank you, Padme.  I mean, Your Highness."

She blushes.  "I'm glad you met me as Padme.  You don't need to bow in reverence to me.  I know the hearts of all my people, and they love me for it, but even the Eternal Queen needs a friend."

Now it's Anakin's turn to blush.  "Oh, wow.  Um...so, you even know what I'm thinking right now?"

"Not here.  My powers are even weaker here than they were on Coruscant;  the field affecting the droids is also affecting me."

"It's affecting all of us," says Obi-Wan, eager for Anakin to believe as much, and the glare Anakin gives in return unnerves him.  "Well, relatively, at least," he adds with a wink, and Anakin feels his bonds loosen.  The boy scratches as discreetly as he can, which isn't very.  Padme giggles.

"Her Highness the Queen must be restored to her throne in the palace," says Panaka sternly, breaking the stoic silence of his march.  "Only there will she have the power to unite our people against the invaders."

"Thank you, Captain," she says, her voice cooling.  "We have not forgotten the peril of our position."

No more is said, and they walk on.  Anakin, with wrists no longer burning, loses himself in thought.  He has plenty to think about.

*****

After hiking much of the day, they arrive at the edge of a lake.

"Step onnada bongo," commands Captain Tarpals, gesturing to the large purplish green platform floating on the water.  The Jedi are the first to be prodded forward by the Gungan spears.

"And what's a bongo, I wonder?" Obi-Wan mutters under his breath.

"A transport, I hope," Qui-Gon replies.

They step on and it wobbles slightly.  Obi-Wan lifts a sticky boot.  "Ew.  I think it might be alive."

Anakin and Panaka join them, and each turns to offer his hand to the Queen.  She accepts both their hands and steps aboard.  "Trust," she reminds them all.

Jar-Jar tries to stop them, but spears block his way.

"Nosa Jar-Jar," says Captain Tarpals.  "Da Naboo be goin ta Boss Nass."

Jar-Jar calls after them, "Deysa setten yous up!  Goen truda bongo is bad bombin!"  But before they can respond, the bongo snaps shut around them like a giant flytrap and slinks away beneath the surface the lake.  The other Gungans give a loud cheer, but Jar-Jar just gulps.




Scene 21: The Sunken Tomb

The tomb is exactly where his Master said it would be, a giant bubble of air clinging to the deepest corner of the lake.  Eerie grey light makes its way through the dome of murky water, glinting off a thin waterfall gurgling into a basin near the back of the hall.  Under a ledge behind the waterfall, carved into the lake wall, the looming elongated stone visage of the Last Sith of Old seems to meet Darth Maul's gaze, oozing the mysteries of the Dark Side.

Darth Maul smiles in triumph, even before his task is complete.  He points a taloned finger at the statue.

"Dark Father Plagueis!  I, Dark Lord Maul, Chosen of Dark Lord Sidious, command you to reveal your secrets!"

Nothing happens.

This angers Maul, who seizes upon the anger and repeats his command with more Force.  The only thing that moves is the water, unperturbed in its fall.

Forgetting all formal ritual, the Sith raises both hands and shuts his eyes, concentrating all his power on tearing the statue away from the wall.  It does not budge.

He howls in frustration, and those few fish swimming near the dome flee for their lives.  He fears that he will fail.  He must draw strength from that fear.  He refuses to fail.

His lightsaber flashes to life.  He leaps through the waterfall, hacking at the long face of the ancient Lord, but his saber bounces off without leaving a mark.  He continues to strike it anyway, venting his emotion, until he senses a large school of creatures swimming toward the dome, oblivious to his presence.

His first instinct is to kill this annoyance as quickly as possible, but he remembers his Master's teachings.  He hides himself behind the rocky folds of the statue's cloak.

The procession of Gungans passes through the barrier of the dome as if it weren't there, switching from paddle to step with the grace of swans landing--man sized snot colored swans.  Most of them are warriors in their rusted armor;  a few seem to be priests in dull robes, bearing yellow globes that cast a warm light.

One Gungan is fatter than all the rest and wears purple robes.  "Hurryden!  Hurry!" he says.  "Da time is now!  Alloden signs is here!  Da bobots hab come!  Da bongo is snapped!  Come den!  Deesin what we waitin for!  Today we meetin da Choosin One!"

The Gungans shuffle about to stand in a presentable formation before their altar.  One of them points up and shouts, "Look!"

They collectively gasp as the bongo pod descends from the ceiling on a thick vine.  This has never happened before--usually the bongo plant simply digests anything that steps on it--so they are quite astonished.  With a sudden spasm, it ejects its five gooey occupants onto the floor and retracts back into the lake.

"Visitahs fromda Naboo!" declares the Gungan assistant chief priest, "Beholden de Biggum Boss odda Gungans, Boss Nass!"

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon leap to their feet but do not draw their sabers.  Obi-Wan wipes his eyes quickly with his sleeves, and both Jedi assess their surroundings.  The Queen is similarly calm and collected, as both Anakin and Panaka help her to her feet.  Boss Nass looks down at them from the altar, the magnificent curtain of the waterfall behind him.  The Queen steps forward to address him.

"Boss Nass, I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo.  I come before you in peace.  Although we do not always agree, Your Honor, 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.  If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever.  I ask you to help us."

He shows no response, only a dour stare.

The Queen falls to her knees.  "No, I beg you to help us.  We are your humble servants.  Our fate is in your hands."  Following her lead, her companions likewise prostrate themselves.

Boss Nass smirks, then chuckles, then lets out a full belly laugh.  He speaks with a deep clear voice.  "Honestly, Your Highness, get up off your knees.  I know who you are, and I've been expecting you."  As our heroes stand in awe of his diction, he addresses his fellow Gungans.  "See!  Is as meesa say--da Naboo no tinken deysa greater den da Gungans.  Maybe wesa bein friends!"  The priests nod, and the warriors whisper among themselves.

"Your--Your Honor!" stammers the Queen.

"Please, we are equals.  You may call me Nass."  He steps down from the altar, taking her arm.

"Thank you, Nass," she says.  "And you may call me P--Amidala."

"P'Amidala," he says, and she blushes, hoping none of the others notice.  "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"I wish it could have been under less dire circumstances.  Our planet is in peril;  the grand army of the Gungans offers us hope."

"Does it now?" he frowns, and gestures toward his soldiers.  "P'Amidala, I'm sorry to tell you this, but these are the best of my warriors."  One of the warriors picks his nose.  "Why do you think we did not conquer you long ago?  Do not fear, though, for your arrival here today foretells the coming of the one who will unlock the secrets of this tomb and lead our army to victory.  One of you five is the Choosin One of Gungan prophecy."

"How will we tell?"

Boss Nass now speaks to them all.  "It is said by our people that the bongo will deliver the one who can stop the flow of water through the holy basin, and only then will the blessings of our Creator be upon us.  Which one of you has the power to do so?"

"Showtime," says Obi-Wan to himself, stepping forward.  Qui-Gon reaches out to stop him, but gets shrugged off.

"Boss Nass, I am Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Knight of the Jedi Order, and I think I'm up to the challenge."  Nass nods for him to proceed.

Obi-Wan rubs his hands together, raises them before the waterfall and pushes with the Force.  The crowd of Gungans gasp as the water slowly turns upon itself, becoming a tendril of liquid that shrinks until it is smooth with the surface of the dome.  The Gungans cheer.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Obi-Wan says, mostly to himself and Qui-Gon, as water begins to rush around their feet.

Panaka points and shouts "The basin!"  Water now gurgles up and out from the basin into which it recently fell, threatening to fill the cavern.

"Undo!" commands Obi-Wan, pointing at his seal, and the water comes crashing back down in its former fall, to everyone's relief.

"Hrm," Obi-Wan mutters.  "I am absolutely certain that's not how water is supposed to work."

"Master Qui-Gon," says the Queen.  "Hopefully you will have more success."

Everyone looks to him, but Qui-Gon shakes his head.  "No, Your Highness.  I sense a dark power in this place.  I beg your forgiveness, but I am not the one to unlock its secrets."

More murmers from the crowd, and Boss Nass frowns.  The Queen tries to apologize, but Nass just points to Anakin.

"What about the child?"

Anakin looks to Qui-Gon, but his Master looks suddenly puzzled, staring at him with a gaze as intense as Ki-Adi-Mundi's.

"Go on, then, Anakin," says Obi-Wan, pushing him forward.  "Give it a try."

Anakin looks to the waterfall, raises his hands, and nothing.

"Try again," encourages Obi-Wan.

Anakin shuts his eyes and grasps internally for that feeling that triggered his powers in the past, but he feels only emptiness.

"Concentrate," says Obi-Wan.

Anakin whirls angrily to face him.

"Dammit, Ben, you know very well why I can't!"

There is stunned silence.  Obi-Wan Kenobi is caught off guard, and doesn't know what to say.  The boy knows.

A dark laughter of satisfaction echoes through the hall.  Every eye turns to the altar as Darth Maul steps through the waterfall.

"Gungans, behold your Chosen One..."  Maul grips his lightsaber hilt at its center, and both ends flash red, creating a staff of deadly light.  "...and DESPAIR!"




Scene 22: Duel of the Fates

Obi-Wan leaps high in the air, his blue saber unsheathing with a hum as he lands between his friends and the Dark Lord.  Darth Maul bears down on him before he can make a witty quip.

Gungans scream, diving back into the walls of the watery cavern, their light globes rolling across the floor.  Boss Nass ushers the Queen and Panaka to the side opposite the altar, leaving Anakin and Qui-Gon to stand staring at the duel.

"Anakin!  Come on!" shouts the Queen.  At the sound of her voice, he runs back to her side.

"Any day now, Jinn!" shouts Obi-Wan, barely able to deflect Maul's rapid barrage.  Qui-Gon's green saber jumps to life, and he joins the fray.

Darth Maul's double-sided saber is able to land two blows for every one from a single Jedi, leaving them evenly matched.  Lightsabers spin faster than those watching can follow, and though Darth Maul is stuck between foes, the Jedi are the ones on the defensive.

Panaka takes aim at Darth Maul with his blaster, but the Queen stays his hand.  "No!  Blasters can be deflected by lightsabers.  He could kill any one of us with your shot!"

"This altar will run with your blood, Jedi!" bellows Maul.  "Its power shall be mine!"

Obi-Wan turns a fumbled strike into a punch, and Maul reels back a step.  Anakin lets loose an involuntary whoop of excitement, but Maul is back on the attack before it's all the way out.

In Anakin's imagination, great battles such as this were always accompanied by a soaring orchestral soundtrack, but now there is no sound but the buzzing clash of saber on saber.  As the fight moves across the hall, he and the other noncombatants inch their way along the wall, attempting to stay as far from the fight as possible.  Soon they are the ones upon the altar, with the Jedi and Sith clashing below them.

"Focus, Qui-Gon!" shouts Obi-Wan, growing frustrated that his partner seems to be holding back.  "What's got your head?"

"Do you see it, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asks with a calm that would make you think he was meditating in a field of wildflowers.

"What, the angry Sith that's trying to kill us?"

Buzz, whirr, hack, humm.  "The vergence in the Force," says Qui-Gon.  "Right here, right this moment, that which was hidden is made clear.  There is only one path through the coming darkness...one path to the light.  What we do next will decide the fate of us all."

"Yeah, so we'd better win!"

Darth Maul laughs.  "Listen to the geezer, little man!  The time of the Jedi is over!  Here begins the new age of the Sith!"

Qui-Gon takes no note of the Sith's taunts, but his saber technique slides even more into automatic, his attention caught by something beyond Obi-Wan's perception.  "But there IS a path, Obi-Wan!  I can see it now!  There will be pain, suffering, and loss, but the galaxy can yet prevail over the Dark Side!"

"Stop with the riddles, old man!  What are we supposed to do?"

For Anakin, time crawls to a standstill;  he will carry the next few moments with him for the rest of his life.  Darth Maul lands a kick directly to Obi-Wan's chin, sprawling him out at the foot of the altar.  This leaves Maul open to attack, but Qui-Gon doesn't go for it.  Instead he stands upright and looks directly at Anakin, beaming such love and forgiveness that Ani's heart seizes with the hurt of it.  Qui-Gon sheaths his lightsaber.

"No..." Anakin whispers.

Time regains its speed, and Darth Maul's saber pierces straight through Qui-Gon's chest.  He crumples to the ground.

All is still.  Obi-Wan lies stunned at the sight.  Padme gasps;  at either side of her, Panaka and Nass stare in mute shock.  Darth Maul stands panting over Qui-Gon's defeated body.  And Anakin...

Anakin stands, fists clenched, at the pinnacle of the altar.  "You killed my mother," he seethes at Maul.  "You killed my Master."  With a snap and a flash, a blue spark connects between himself and the statue behind him.

Darth Maul grins and paces toward Anakin, dual saber spinning.  "And now I'll kill the rest of you!"

"You're a murderer..."  More electrical snaps, and Anakin begins to glow.  "You're a monster, and you...deserve...to DIE!"

The blast flows from the statue, through Anakin and into Maul, the power of the tomb racking Maul's body.  The others scramble off the altar as the waterfall begins to bend into the beam.  With a final visceral yell, Anakin sends a column of rushing water directly at the Dark Lord, washing him away.

*****

All the world seems to be noise and flickering shadow to Obi-Wan, but he ignores it, running to take Qui-Gon in his arms even as Anakin sends the contents of the lake flying above them.

"Hang on there, buddy.  Come on now..."

"It is too late...it's..." Qui-Gon chokes on blood.  "Promise me, Obi-Wan...promise me you'll train the boy..."

"Yes, Master," cries Obi-Wan.

"Set a good example for him.  Show him...show him what a good man can be.  He will bring balance to the Force...I have seen it...in the end...our only hope..."

"I will.  But--but you will!"  Obi-Wan speaks through tears.  "You can't die!"

Qui-Gon smiles.  "I always tried to tell you, Ben," he sighs.  "We never truly die..."  He shuts his eyes, and breathes his last.

Above them, the rapids of Anakin's judgment continue to roar.

*****

At the edge of the lake, Captain Tarpals sits on a log, enjoying the twilight of the day.  His soldiers likewise lounge.  They have delivered many Naboo wanderers into the bongo these past few years, at the insistence of Boss Nass, and nothing ever comes of it.  All it means is that the Boss will be occupied for the rest of the evening, and he and his meexa can relax.

But what is that rumbling sound?

The geyser rockets out of the water and over their heads, and Tarpals leaps to his feet.  His soldiers flee from the lakeshore, but he is transfixed, watching the lakeshore flee from them as it drains.

The earth quakes and the lake turns inside out, the ground jutting upward in chunks.  Tarpals scurries up a thick blade of grass to avoid the mud sliding down the new hill.

"Holey Plagoo..." he whispers in awe.  The mud clears to reveal a hillside covered in Gungan machines of war--Bombad Canons, Shell Makers, Caterpullits and more.  Some he doesn't even recognize.  They shine like they're brand new.

At the summit stands a statue, sparking with power.  It casts bolts of lightning down on the Gungans, paralyzing them with its charge, and Tarpals tries to scramble back down to get away.  But when the warm energy reaches him, there is no pain.  For the first time in his life, Captain Tarpals feels whole.

*****

Anakin gasps for breath, wiping the water from his eyes.  Below him stretches the countryside of Meadowbrook, and he sees where it gets its name;  blue ribbons wind across a field of green to meet the setting sun at the horizon.  His anger recedes like the echo of a drumbeat, and for a moment he forgets everything except this beauty.  He feels powerful, more powerful than he has ever felt before.  He's on top of the world.

Across the hillside, beached Gungan warriors and priests stare at themselves in wonder.  The warriors' armor shines with a light of its own;  the priests' globes crackle with silver fire.

"Behold the Choosin One!  He has unleashed the power of the Gungans, and he shall lead us to victory!"  The booming voice of Boss Nass carries down the hillside, and the Gungans turn and fall to their knees.  Anakin realizes they're bowing to him, and he remembers.

Obi-Wan, Padme and Panaka crouch around a body.  Anakin remembers, but he doesn't want to see.  He can't accept this, not yet.  There's too much for him to process all at once.

He is past the Gungans, down the hill and deep within the tall grass forest before he knows he's running again.




Scene 23: Funeral Pyre

A full white moon casts the world in colorless tones, lighting Obi-Wan's way as he carries the body through the night.  He is alone;  when he walked away with Qui-Gon limp in his arms, he didn't speak a word.  None of the others tried to stop him.  His face is puffy from crying and physical exhaustion.  He does not aid his journey with the Force;  the burden in his arms and legs numbs the burden in his heart.

Now he enters a clearing.  Small white flowers spring from a soft carpet of shortgrass underneath a canopy of stars, their gentle scent carried on the breeze.

"Here is a good place to meditate, old friend."

He lays the body against a stump and shrouds it with his cloak.  Then he begins to wander the nearby brush, collecting the thicker stalks of dead tallgrass and bushes;  this is the closest he will find to firewood on this continent.  After a great deal of effort, however, the pile still does not seem large enough to suffice.  He collapses next to Qui-Gon to take a breather.

"I suppose you would say you're not really dead.  That you've become One with the Force or gone off to heaven or something like that.  I never did pin down exactly what you believed about that."  He pauses a moment, as if he expects the body under the cloak to respond.  His tears begin anew.  "So any sort of sign now would be reassuring.  Just something simple.  Let me know you're still listening."  Nothing.

"I should have listened to you.  I should have done more to try and convince the Council to train Anakin.  I should have convinced the Council to train Anakin.  There was no excuse for their fear;  Jedi Knights are above such things.  Anakin should be at the Academy right now, and we should not be here, and you should not be there.

"But of course you'd say there was no other path, that everything happened the way it did for a reason, that the choices we made were the choices we were always going to make and all we can do is understand why we made them.  I understand well enough, old friend.  That doesn't make it any better.

"I think, if I could do anything differently, I would have told the boy what we did to him.  I should have fessed up to it right away.  You and I couldn't have stopped the Council, but I didn't have to lie for them.  Because that's what it was--a lie.  I kept telling myself that it would be good for him to work to overcome this disadvantage, that training is all about setting boundaries anyway.  Well, he broke through the boundaries we set, and now he's gone.  He could trust you, but now you're gone.  He's got no reason to trust the Jedi Council.  No reason to trust me.  I just wish he could know how sorry I am."

From the darkness comes a voice.

"Apology accepted."

"Ani!"  Obi-Wan stammers as the boy walks into the moonlight.  "I didn't--I had no idea you were there.  I...I'm glad you came back."

"I got tired of running."  Anakin, unlike Obi-Wan, does not look like he's been running.  He stands tall and speaks with confidence and seriousness.  "I understand why you did what you did, Ben.  You were afraid of me.  The Jedi Council was afraid of me.  I was afraid of me, too.  Afraid of my power.  That's why I ran."  

He stoops over the body and pulls aside the cloak, hesitantly touching the cold face as he speaks to his dead Master.  "But I can't run from it, can I?  It's a part of me.  It's inside of me, like the midichlorions.  All I can do is learn how to use it to help others.  That's what you wanted to teach me, wasn't it, Master?  And this was the best way you could think to do it?"

He stands again, and offers his hand to Obi-Wan.  "I forgive you, Ben."

Obi-Wan accepts his hand, and Anakin helps him to his feet.  "Thank you, Anakin."

Anakin looks from the body to the burn pile and says, "Let's finish this."  Obi-Wan nods, and together they resume collecting fuel for the fire.

They work for some time in silence before Obi-Wan speaks again.  "So what do you intend to do when we're done with this?"

Anakin's voice reflects the thought he's put into it.  "I am the Chosen One.  I'll go back to the Gungans, lead their army against the Federation and free my planet.  Will you join me?"

"Anakin, you should know, if you haven't pieced it together yet...there's no chance that army will win against the Federation.  Even with the ancient technology you uncovered, living soldiers are no match against droids.  The battle is just a diversion;  Queen Amidala wants to draw the droid army away from Theed, so that she can slip into the palace with a small strike team.  She's got some kind of secret weapon in the throne room.  But the Gungans will be slaughtered.  There's a chance you will be, too."

Anakin stops his work, and speaks quietly  "Ben, all of this is for Padme.  She's the soul of this world.  I've lost everything else, and if ancient prophecy has given me superpowers just so that I can die saving her, then I'm prepared to do my part.  Are you?"

Obi-Wan sighs.  "You're right.  I'm sorry--again.  There's always hope.  I'll stay by your side in this battle, and do all I can."

"No," says Anakin.  "I want you to stay with Padme.  Go to the palace with her.  Make sure she's safe.  Make sure she gets whatever she needs.  She's our hope."

They step back to examine the burn pile, still smaller than it should be.  "When this is all over," Obi-Wan says, "I will go to the Jedi Council and insist that you get the training you deserve.  I'll train you myself, without the approval of the Council, if I must."

Anakin frowns.  "Why do you think I would still want training from the Jedi Knights, after what they did to me?"

"Look, I know we can't exactly claim the moral high ground at the moment, but the Council means well.  And your powers are still young and underdeveloped.  There is so much you're capable of, you just need someone to guide you through it.  If you give us a second chance, the Jedi Order will show you the full extent of..."

He trails off as Anakin shuts his eyes and raises a hand toward the burn pile.  With a rustle, the thickest and heaviest stalks from the surrounding forest fly into the clearing, coalescing into a large, dense pyre.

"I don't know how I did what I did back there," says Anakin, "I don't know if I could drain another lake;  that was the statue, I think.  But whatever happened, it cleansed me.  I've got my powers back, and I know how to use them now, without the help of the Jedi Council."

"Okay.  Right," says Obi-Wan, surprised at the level of control Anakin is showing.  "How about we talk about that later then?  No need to rush into any long-term commitments."

Anakin nods.  He raises a hand towards Qui-Gon's body, but Obi-Wan stops him.

"No," says Obi-Wan.  "Let's do this with as little Force as possible.  It's what he would have wanted."

Together they lift the body of Qui-Gon Jinn onto the pyre.  Obi-Wan uses the dead Master's green lightsaber to ignite it, then tosses the saber into the blaze.  They stand together in front of it, watching the flames lick up into the night sky.  For just one brief moment, Obi-Wan believes he sees the shimmering image of Qui-Gon standing on the other side of the fire, smiling at them.  Then he blinks, and Qui-Gon is only a memory.

They keep their vigil until morning, when the last embers finally fade.  Then Obi-Wan returns the way he came;  this time the body in his arms is a sleeping boy.

*****

Far away from them, the landscaping droid GS-459 whirs to life with the sun and resumes its endless task of driving around Meadowbrook, mowing the lawn.  Every day thousands of droids like him go about their duties, trimming the hedges, planting gardens, polishing the massive decorative sculptures that have been scattered here and there over the centuries, all to ensure the most pleasant and inoffensive getaway for the millions of Naboo that regularly fly to the continent for an afternoon picnic.  True, GS-459 has not seen a single human for several days, but this does not deter him from his work.  Meadowbrook must be ready for them when they return.

He chugs along on his programmed course, designed for optimal efficiency given the nuances of the landscape, and barely stops himself before plummeting into a river that is not on any of his internal maps.  Irritated, he uploads an inquiry to his brethren in the region, then downloads their confirmation that this river did not exist the day before.

He proceeds to follow the river's edge, looking for a way to cross, but he calculates a very low probability of finding one among the rapids.  He's about to upload a request for an alternate mowing strategy when his emergency override circuits kick in.  He has detected a lifeform lying on the bank ahead of him, apparently injured.

He rolls toward the humanoid, exercising his limited vocal capabilities.  "Do you require assistance?"  The creature stirs and groans.  "Sending distress call.  Please stand by."

GS-459 catapults into the air, arcing through the sky before crashing onto a distant hill and smashing into a thousand pieces.  Darth Maul stands up and cracks his back with a hiss.  He looks around to get his bearings and ensure he has left no other witnesses, then begins the leaping journey back to Theed.




Scene 24: Preparations for War

Beneath the blades of those giant grasses that evolved for generations in a hotspot of the Force, the Gungan troops muster with amazing efficiency.

The priests quickly discover that their sacred "brite-a-lite" globes are in fact ammunition.  A small debate arises over their exact properties between Obi-Wan, Captain Panaka and Boss Nass, who it turns out has a surprising grasp of Force physics.  In the end, the most they can agree on is that the orbs seem to be some kind of electromagnetic pulse contained by the Force, disabling nearby circuits on impact--perfect for fighting a droid army.  Now the priests go about piling the ammunition (which they now call "boomers") into carts, while the warriors distribute armaments etched with the light of the Force.

"It's like the Gungans were made for this," observes Panaka.

Anakin does not sleep long, and when he wakes, he is quick to pull Boss Nass aside.  They spend much time in private conference together.

"Your droids are safe," Nass adds as an afterthought to a lengthy description of the resources available to Anakin.  "Shall I have them kept in our secret place, with the Gungan priests and children?"

"Naw, I'm gonna need Artoo," says Anakin.  "And nobody but me can understand him without Threepio.  They make a good team.  We'll take both of them with us."

"As you wish."

"Hey...whatever happened to the Gungan that brought us here?  Jar-Jar Binks?"

"Jar-Jar!  Hmm."  Nass's frown stretches as low as it can go.  "That boy's on kaadu cleanup duty.  That's about all I trust him to handle, and even then, I worry he'll find a way to get us all killed.  That kid is, as my people say, bad bombin."

"That just doesn't seem right," says Anakin.  "He risked his life helping to get me here.  We all make mistakes.  Some of the biggest mistakes come from the folks who have the most to offer;  I'm starting to learn that now."

Boss Nass sighs.  "Very well.  You're the Choosin One."

"I'm just saying," Anakin replies, disliking this deference without agreement.  "Maybe your Creator made Jar-Jar for a reason."

"Your Creator, too," says Nass.

"Ex--excuse me?"

"Anakin, the Choosin One--YOU have been sent by our Creator to restore balance to the Force in the dark times to come.  At least, that is how the story goes, in our own stilted terms.  Our Creator did not bless many of us with the full gifts of language, but that same Creator created you, with all your powers."

"I--I don't know if..."  Anakin wriggles.  "But you see, there's lots of prophecies about powerful people, and Jedi are powerful people, so when we show up..."

"I have always had faith in our stories," Nass reflects as Anakin trails off.  "But after the sights I have seen since your arrival, I no longer consider it a question of faith."

Anakin thinks about this, and then says sternly, "Jar-Jar Binks.  What would he rather be doing, if he were left to choose how to serve our cause?"

"I believe he thinks of himself as a warrior."

"Then team him up with a warrior," says Anakin.  "Put him with Captain Tarpals, and tell him that the Chosen One demands that Jar-Jar Binks be given every opportunity to show his courage in battle."

Boss Nass bows low.  "As you wish."

*****

"Oh!  Thank godssss!" Newt Gunray hisses to the holographic image of Darth Maul projecting on the main deck of the Federation command ship in orbit.  "I thought the Sssith had abandoned usssss!"

"Explain yourself," Darth Maul's voice tears at the corners of Newt's mind.

"There hasss been no word from Darth Ssssidious," squeaks Newt.  "For nearly a day now--ow."

The deck of the ship quakes with Maul's anger, even at this distance, and the Neimoidian crew nervously grip their equipment.  "He's waiting to see who comes out on top," Maul seethes.  "It is the Sith way...ally with the greatest power."

"The planet is ssssecure, My Lord.  Mossst of the people are in detention campssss.  Our sssatellitesss indicate an army assssembling near the wildernessss of an adjaccccent continent, but it appearssss to be made up of primitivessss.  We do not expect much resssissstancccce."

"Send all available troops," grumbles Maul.

"M-M-My Lord?  Our troopsss are already sssspread thin.  We have jussst enough to guard the campsss..."

"Send the troops from the capital."

"My Lord!"

"I will guard the palace.  You will wipe them out.  All of them."

"Yesss, My Lord!"

*****

At the ridge where the tallgrass forest of Gungan territory meets the maintained lawn of Meadowbrook Park, the leaders say their goodbyes.

"You do your world a great honor today, Anakin Skywalker."  Padme speaks warmly and regally, even as she sits astride a Gungan hovercycle in a fighter pilot's uniform.  The hovercycle, quite recently a Gungan bicycle, now crackles with the power of the tomb as it floats above the ground.

Anakin, garbed in supercharged Gungan armor and sitting astride a kaadu, looks more like a man than a boy.  "Aw, it's nothing!" he smiles.  "Just a favor for a friend."  They look each other in the eyes and giggle.  They're both nervous.

"Look!  There he is!"

Another Gungan hovercycle speeds across the park towards them, bearing Captain Panaka.

"What's the situation?" asks the Queen.

"A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground movement;  I've given them instructions and they await your signal.  The Federation Army is also much larger than we thought, and much stronger.  They've emptied the palace;  it looks like they'll be throwing everything they've got at the Gungans.  Good news for us, but bad news for the Gungans, I'm afraid."

"You let me worry about the Gungans," says Anakin.  "We know what we're here for."

"Anakin..." says the Queen.  She continues her thought telepathically.  "There's no need at all for you to get yourself killed in this.  Keep yourself safe.  Everything I'm doing is for you, and all the children of Naboo."

Anakin's response rings clear and controlled in her mind, a product of Anakin's power rather than her own.  "I think I'm growing up pretty fast, Padme."

"I'm serious," she says out loud, undeterred by his display.  "Don't die out there."

"Okay, I won't," says Anakin, noticing for the first time that he had stopped caring at all about his own well-being.  He shudders;  this is a new experience for him.  It helps to know someone else out there still cares.  "Really.  I promise.  No dying."

She nods.  "Good."

Obi-Wan and Boss Nass walk together out of the forest, deep in discussion of physics.  "But how do you propose we test for it?" asks Obi-Wan.  "You can't just assume that the AT field feeds back on itself, what?  Because the Force itself wills it?"

"You might say that," says Nass.  "But either way, if you just assume the field is sentient..."

"But that's an absurd assumption!"  Obi-Wan sounds desperate to make his point.  "It's like, next thing I know you're going to be asking me to just assume the galaxy is flat!  Am I right?"  He addresses that last question to Anakin and the Queen, who look back with utter incomprehension.

"Master Kenobi," Nass says politely, "Though I may disagree with you a great deal on matters of projection dynamics, it is a rare delight to have anyone with whom I can discuss such things.  I am glad for the time we have had together."

"Oh, this isn't over yet," smirks Obi-Wan.  "We'll take this up again at the victory party.  Don't think you'll get out of it that easy!"

"May the Force be with you, Master Kenobi," Nass says with a bow, "that it be so."  He turns to Anakin.  "My Lord, your army awaits your command."

"Thank you, Boss Nass!"  Anakin salutes.

Padme says, "Nass, when we spoke earlier, you mentioned a secret shortcut to Theed?"

"Yes, of course," says the Gungan leader.  "The speediest way to the Naboo..." He grins broad, like a child showing off his favorite toy.  "...is through the planet core."

No one is sure what he means, so they just watch as he steps away from them and kneels in prayer, mumbling words to the ground.  As he speaks, the ground gives way into a sinkhole, creating a bottomless passage with a nearly vertical drop.

"You can close your gaping mouths now," Nass laughs, turning back to them.  "Our Creator blessed my people with this ability, and long have we used it to traverse beneath your feet, but don't even begin to ask me how it works.  Have no fear.  The ground will heal itself in time, and your hovercycles will help you navigate the drop.  You should come out the other side a short ride from the Cliffs of the Naboo."

Obi-Wan looks around, disappointed.  "Only two hovercycles?"

Nass shrugs.  "Before yesterday, we only had two bicycles."

Obi-Wan walks toward the Queen's hovercycle.  "Well, Your Highness, if you don't mind, I'll just..."  He sees the look on everyone's faces.  "...jump.  I can manage, no worries.  Jedi Knight, and all that."

Anakin looks to Obi-Wan, Captain Panaka and Padme.  "So...this is it, huh?  You ride, we march, and today we save the world?"

Obi-Wan salutes Anakin.  "May the Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker!"

Anakin returns the salute.  "And also with you, Obi-Wan Kenobi!"

There's nothing left to be said.  With a final nod, Obi-Wan takes a running leap and plummets down the hole.  Captain Panaka revs his cycle, Padme takes a last look at Anakin, and they both speed over the edge, sailing harmlessly into the depths.  Just like that, they're gone.

Anakin's face turns to stone.  "Boss Nass, order the troops into marching formation."

"Yes, My Lord!"

A horn sounds across the landscape, and with the slow pace of creatures bound to their feet for travel, the Gungan army makes its way out of the forest.




Scene 25: The Battle of Naboo

The sky is the most perfect blue that a sky can be, speckled with the fluffiest of cotton clouds.  The grass waves with shifting shades of green, flashing pink and golden flowers in the afternoon breeze.  It's a surreal contrast for Anakin, who feels like he's walking into a child's picture book to face his doom.  For the amphibious army trudging behind him, it's downright miserable.

"Dis sun doen murder tameese skin!" Sergeant Binks complains to Captain Tarpals as their company takes up the rear.  "Whassa Ani tinkin, marchin da Gungans inta dat!?!?"

"Yous betta be hopin da Choosin One tinkin good," says Tarpals, annoyed that on this greatest of all days for the Gungans he should be left in the back to babysit.  "Yousa sniffin kadoodoo witoutim, Sahjint!"

The army is on a flat plain, making their way toward a gradually sloping ridge.  Boss Nass and Anakin take the lead on kaadu, with Artoo flying along by their side carrying Threepio.

Anakin commands the army to halt.  "We haven't much time," he says, "But if we can make it to the peak of that ridge, we will have the high ground."  He shuts his eyes and stretches his senses.

Artoo bleeps, and beneath him, Threepio automatically translates, "Artoo's long-range scanners have yet to detect Federation troops."

Anakin reaches out with his mind...

It's too late to reach the high ground.

"Boss Nass!  Raise the shields immediately!"

"Makem da shells!" Nass commands.  The order is relayed to the keepers of the gigantic fambaa beasts that bear the shield generators.  Anakin had thought the fambaa were extinct, but now thunderclaps rip across the plain as ray shields fountain up from the backs of these prehistoric behemoths.  The shields fall like a gentle rain, encapsulating the army on all sides, and not a moment too soon.

Droid laser missiles are exploding onto the shields before any of the Gungans see them coming.  The noise is deafening.  The kaadu buck, and Nass and Anakin leap from their mounts and let them retreat.  The shields hold.

"Steady!  Steady!"  Anakin shouts to his warriors as the last of the barrage echoes away.  "Activate personal defenses!"

The warriors press buttons on their gauntlets, and long personal shields of pure energy snap into existence in front of them.  Jar-Jar fumbles with his, bashing his wrist against the ground to try and make it work until Tarpals activates it for him.

"Here they come!"

Over the ridge rolls a pack of nearly a hundred droideka.  The shell of the Gungan army's outer shield wobbles as they penetrate through it.  Once inside, each ball sprouts three legs and its own shield, letting forth a volley of blaster fire.  Most of the blaster shots bounce off the Gungan personal shields, but a few Gungans begin to fall.  The Gungans return fire with their boomers, small ones thrown by sling and large ones thrown by catapult, but the boomers smash harmlessly against the droideka defenses as they continue to advance.

Anakin and Nass retreat slightly to stay out of the direct line of fire.  Nass begins to run among the troops, issuing commands to keep them organized and direct their attack.  Anakin, however, is dazed and bewildered, watching the front lines clash.  The droideka are plowing his army under faster than he could imagine, and a knot forms in his stomach.

He raises a hand tentatively toward a droideka and pushes it back with the Force, but the droideka simply snaps into a ball and rolls back to where it was.  He uses his shield to deflect blaster fire from a second droideka, and uses the Force to send it hurtling toward the first, but they simply bounce off each other.

"C'mon, don't panic," he thinks to himself.  "All these Force powers, there's gotta be something I can do to stop these things!"

Another droideka directs its fire at him, and he reaches out and grabs it with the Force.  He holds the spinning ball hovering over the ground.  He shuts his eyes, and tries to block out the chaos surrounding him, focusing all his attention into a squeeze.

KERCHUNK!  The droideka collapses into a twisted hunk of scrap metal and falls harmlessly to the ground.

Anakin looks at his hand with awe.

"I...I can CRUSH things with my MIND!"

He reaches for another droideka.  Once again, it takes great effort and focus, but then there's another kerchunk and another dead droideka.

"YEEEE-HAW!" Anakin bellows.

*****

Padme and Captain Panaka reach the base of the mountainous cliff that forms the boundary between Meadowbrook and Theed.  Waterfalls sprout from the cliffside as the taller continent drains onto the shorter.  The duo dismount from their hoverycycles.

"Did you see where Obi-Wan went?" asks Padme.

"Probably up the cliff already," says Panaka, pulling a launch tube from a compartment on his hovercycle and unfolding it.  "Scouting for danger.  Or just showing off."

He presses a button on the assembled tube, and it sends a grappling hook rocketing up the side of the cliff.  A moment later, he is able to pull the trailing wire taut, and he attaches it to a harness on his back.

"Your Highness," he says respectfully, opening his arms to her.  "If you don't mind, we only have one..."

She steps into his embrace.  "Thank you, my Captain."

With a push of a button, they are both speeding up the cliffside as the retracting wire lifts them.  About halfway up, Padme nods toward the plain below them.

"Look!"

Rows and rows of battle droid foot soldiers stand in formation, loading onto transport ships.

"There are more troops than there are ships," says Panaka.  "They'll be sending them in waves until the job is done.  What your basic model battle droid lacks in sturdiness, it makes up for in number.  Hang on, we're almost there."

With a jump and a roll, they're over the edge of the cliff and on solid ground.  Obi-Wan stands there, looking up at the palace.

"It's completely empty," he says.  "We could walk right in if we wanted to."

"I don't like this at all, Your Highness," says Captain Panaka.  "Why would they care so much about the Gungans that they'd leave the palace undefended?"

"Maybe they heard that the Chosen One has come," says Obi-Wan.  "I can't say I blame them.  Anakin is going to put up a good fight, that's for sure."

"The secret path is faster," says Padme, "and will take us exactly where we're going.  Follow me."

*****

Though Artoo and Threepio are not targets for the droideka, they still risk damage in the melee, and so they move well away from the battle.  Artoo bleeps.

"Yes, my friend," says Threepio, "It does seem the droideka are no match for your maker.  But I'm afraid he's not fast enough.  The Gungans will be crushed before he's finished."

More bleeps, then Threepio says, "These are actually a larger model of droideka than I saw in the palace.  These must be the full-sized versions."

"What else do I know about them?  Well, their command system is entirely in Neimoidian.  They appear to respond exclusively to commands in that language.  An effective measure, considering that only Neimoidians can speak Neimoidian."

"Of course I can speak Neimoidian!  I am fluent in over six million forms of communication--"

Artoo blips with extreme frustration.

"Yes, I speak Neimoidian and I'm not Neimoidian.  But I don't count--I'm just a droid.  Deactivate the droideka myself?  Why my little friend, that just wouldn't be pro--ah--AH!"

Before he can say any more, Artoo lifts him by the shoulders and flies them both back to the battle.  Laserbolts whiz past Threepio, and Artoo bloops angrily.

"I--I see your point, my friend!"  Threepio hisses in the Neimoidian tongue, "DISSSENGAGE!  DISSSENGAGE!"  The nearest droideka flips into a ball and starts to roll away.  Artoo blips some more.  "I mean--SSSELF-DESSSTRUCT!"  The droideka explodes.  Threepio shouts it again and again as they fly across the battlefield.  The Gungans scramble to avoid the shrapnel, and soon the droideka have been completely destroyed.

"Dada teechum!" laughs Jar-Jar, making an obscene gesture at some droideka remains.

"Notten ovah yet, Sahjint Binks" says Tarpals, pointing.  Droid troop transports line the ridge.

"Reformen da ranks!" Boss Nass commands, shuffling a much smaller army back into line.  Anakin projects his mind to the ridge to get a closer look.

The doors of the troop transports slide open, and racks of droids slide out.  With a repetitive clanking, the racks unfold and drop thousands of metal cubes into formation.  The cubes transform themselves into spindly humanoid battle droids, flimsy but difficult to target, each bearing a powerful blaster.  All at once, the droid army begins its perfectly synchronized march toward the Gungans.

*****

On the command ship in orbit, Tey How delivers her report.

"Viceroy, we have detected a small party of Naboo rebels entering the palace.  The Queen is with them."

"The palaccce," Newt mutters, waving a hand dismissively.  "Our Sssith will no doubt ssstop them."

"Yes, sir."

Newt pauses for a moment of personal independent thought.

"If the real battle isss in the palaccce," he ponders to himself, "Then the power isss there, too.  Sssso why am I up here, and not with the power?"  He clenches his fist.

"Prepare my lander, Tey How.  I am going to the palaccce.  Do not tell the othersss."




Scene 26: The Tragedy of Darth Maul

Padme, Panaka and Obi-Wan jog through the concrete maintenance passages of the palace.  They reach a side passage that is blocked by translucent energy shields at regular intervals, and Padme motions for them to stop.

Obi-Wan pokes at the first shield with his lightsaber, and it bounces off.

"Force shutters line the path," explains Padme.  "We'll have to move quickly when they open to get through before they close again."

"Exceedingly rare technology!" exclaims Obi-Wan.  "Your Highness, what do you have back there that requires ventilation with Force shutters?"

Before she can reply, the shutters swing open.  The three run down the hallway and into a great chamber.

Obi-Wan nearly drops his saber at the sight that greets them.  Sparkling tubes filled with brilliant white crystals reach from deep within the ground to several stories above them, through the heart of the palace to its peak.  Circular spoking catwalks line their height.  "Lucasite resonance crystals!  Here!  Your Highness, what..."  He looks at her, and his eyes widen with comprehension.  "Oh!  I get it now!"

"We must hurry," says Padme.  "The trap door to the throne room is at the top of the spire.  We'll have to climb."

The wonder in Obi-Wan's face changes suddenly to apprehension.  His precognitive reflexes respond and he spins to deflect Darth Maul's strike just as the Sith leaps out of the passageway.

"It's alive!" gasps Padme as she and the Captain duck for cover.

Obi-Wan deflects three more of the Sith's strikes, then sends Maul flying back through the passage with a powerful Force punch.  Maul lands on his feet and charges with a roar, Force shutters closing behind him.  The last shutter closes before he makes it through, and he's left to beat at it with his lightsaber.

"Run!" Obi-Wan shouts.  "I'll stay here and hold it off!"

From behind the shutter, the Dark Lord chuckles and points to the retreating pair.  Panaka stops, turns with a scowl and fires his blaster at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan deflects the shot.  "You weak minded fool!"

"Thus speaks the great Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi!" mocks Panaka.  "Here to save the weak fools of Naboo who can't take care of themselves!"  He fires again, easily deflected.  "You get off on this, don't you?  Well, what if we don't need you, huh?  What if we can do this ourselves?  I can destroy that beast!  Hell, I can destroy you!"

"Captain Panaka, he's playing off your worst self!" pleads Obi-Wan.  "Control your emotions, focus your--"  Panaka fires again.  "Aw, nevermind!"  Obi-Wan sheaths his saber, raises both of his palms forward flat at Maul, and the Sith's spell is broken.

Panaka shakes his head.  "Master Kenobi, I didn't mean..."

"Of course you didn't!  Now run!"

The Jedi keeps his hands up until his companions get away.  The Sith paces back and forth behind the Force shutter, panting and looking daggers at Obi-Wan.  Calmly and purposefully, without taking his eyes off Maul, Obi-Wan sits.  The Sith's crimson saber taps the shutter tauntingly.  Obi-Wan takes a deep breath, shuts his eyes, and begins to meditate.

*****

At first, Anakin thinks they're winning.

The Gungan boomers knock down the droids as easily as a child's game, and the droid blasters cannot penetrate the Gungan personal shields.  Droid limbs litter the ground as the Gungan warriors let forth their whooping battle cry.

But here and there, another Gungan falls.  Maybe one for every one hundred droids destroyed, but the droids keep on coming, and nobody's making more Gungans.

Anakin's senses reverberate with the power of the Force, and he feels each and every one of the Gungan deaths like a needle in his head.

He looks to the ridge, where another wave of droids unloads from the transports.

Boss Nass clutches a sack of boomers, chucking them at an advancing line of droids.  Anakin pushes the droids aside, leaving them in a tangled heap, and runs to him.

"I'm going to hit them where it hurts," Anakin tells the Gungan leader.  "Nobody follow me, alright?  Just keep on fighting!"

"We shall fight to the death," shouts Nass, raising a boomer in the air, "FOR THE CHOOSIN ONE!"  The nearby warriors let out a blood-curdling shout.

Anakin whistles a quick series of blipping notes, and Artoo rockets to his side.  Together, they charge into an ocean of droids.

*****

"I will cut you down like I did your boyfriend, you pathetic Jedi!  I'll drink your blood and spit on your corpse!"

As Obi-Wan meditates, Darth Maul shouts blasphemies at Obi-Wan, accusations of perversion and weakness, desecrations of his ideals and words that would drive most good men to fury.

Obi-Wan opens one eye.  "Really?  Is that all you've got?"

The shutters swing open, Obi-Wan jumps to his feet and the rematch begins.

Obi-Wan remembers a night long ago, when he was still a student at the Jedi Academy, eagerly sneaking out into the gardens to learn from the young rogue Master who refused to join the Council properly.  Qui-Gon was going through his history buff stage back then, obsessing over the earliest days of the Republic, and he read out loud from a scroll that documented the ancient battles between Jedi and Sith while Obi-Wan laid listening and watching the stars.  As he now fights, Obi-Wan can once again hear Qui-Gon's youthful voice reciting...

"There's a grace to be seen when the cool Jedi lightsabers 
	clash with the fiery Sith,

"As if they are not combatants but dancers--
	not enemies but partners, 
	walking through steps of such perfect elegance 
		that surely they must have practiced together 
			their entire lives

"For each knows the future, 
	each sees the move that the other will make
	such that with every flash of the saber 
		and thrust of the Force, 
	they meet at a place they have mutually chosen 
		and touch only where both have decided to touch

"And when one finally falters,
	whether Sith passion or Jedi wisdom
	casts its foe from this world,

"The onlooker feels as though they have both failed,
	that the mistake is as mutual as the dance,

"For the greatest tragedy
	is that the dance should end
		in a galaxy that rarely knows such beauty."

Obi-Wan had giggled to think of the Sith as beautiful, as horrific as their deformities were depicted in his studies.  Now, as he leaps to avoid Maul's next blow, the words take on new meaning.  His brow sweats with grim determination.

The two sides of Maul's lightsaber spin in such a flurry that Obi-Wan must duck and roll out of the way.  Darth Maul cackles, "Don't make this so easy!  Use your hatred of me!"

"I don't hate you," says Obi-Wan, going on the offense with several swings of his saber.  "You have been mislead.  For all I know, you could be redeemed with the right training.  Maybe that's what Qui-Gon saw, and why he let you strike him down."

With a deft cut, Obi-Wan disables one half of Darth Maul's double-sided saber, and the odds suddenly feel a bit more even.

Darth Maul jumps up the catwalks, attempting to pursue the others, but Obi-Wan is able to intercept him and kick him back down a few levels.  Obi-Wan leaps after him, landing a powerful strike with his saber that Maul is barely able to resist.  For a moment they are locked unmoving, lightsabers crossed between them.

"The old man could not defeat me!" seethes Maul, pushing Obi-Wan away.  "Neither could the boy that you all fear!"

"I'm not afraid of Anakin," Obi-Wan says with Qui-Gon's stillness, "I know he thinks I am, but I'm not.  I just want what's best for him."

"YOU WILL FEAR ME!"

"Naw," Obi-Wan replies.  "I pity you.  All you have is your fear and your hatred, and that's no good against me."

Darth Maul begins bashing down repeatedly, and Obi-Wan must keep his saber steady in front of him to deflect the rage-fueled blows.

"Really, I've never been afraid of anything," Obi-Wan continues as their sabers meet again and again.  "I don't know what it is.  Maybe I'm broken, missing a gland or something like that.  Maybe I'm lucky.  Or maybe--OOMPFH!"

Darth Maul's foot meets Obi-Wan's chest with a grotesque crunch, and the Jedi is thrown back, landing face down on the catwalk.  The lifeless hilt of his lightsaber rolls across the floor.  Smirking, Maul nudges the saber with his toe, and it falls into the darkness below.

"...or maybe..." wheezes Obi-Wan, pushing himself up slowly, "...I just make a great Jedi!"

With a holler of pure Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi charges Darth Maul.  Unarmed, defenseless, he sprints toward the Dark Lord of the Sith, who grips his red lightsaber and prepares for another easy kill.  At the last instant, Obi-Wan leaps with a flip, his lightsaber zipping back from the depths and into his hand.

The air in front of Maul mists with blood, and the Sith's face freezes in shock.  He falls backwards, over the edge.  Obi-Wan grips his chest and watches with relief as the two severed halves of Darth Maul's body tumble into the black of Naboo's depths.




Scene 27: Return of the Queen

Captain Panaka crawls up into the throne room blaster first.  The chamber remains as it was when the Queen was attacked--whitewashed walls, clear plastic steps, a blank screen waiting for a projection.  Finding the way clear, he helps Padme up.

She sees before he does.

"Captain, look out!"

It's too late.  The blaster shot hits him in the head, and he collapses.

"NO!"

"Yessssss!" hisses Viceroy Newt Gunray.  "Time to finissh what we ssstarted, Queen Amidala!"

Keeping his blaster pointed at Padme, he walks over and kicks Panaka's blaster far away from the Captain's limp hand.  "On your kneesssss!   Handsss behind your back!"  Padme complies.

"You'll never get away with this!" she says, glowering at her captor as he binds her hands.  He pulls her close, face to face with his blaster digging into her jaw.  She can smell his sour venomous breath.

"Lisssten to me, Amidala!" he hisses.  "You're lucky to be alive.  I killed you onccce, I can do it again.   Now you mussst decccide.  If you help me, I may let you live."

"I'll never help you, you snake!  I'll give my life for my people!"

"Really?"  Newt begins to pace, delivering his evil monologue.  "You are one of the oldessst creaturesss in the galaxy.  After ten millennia of life, are you really prepared to die?  Have you ever been prepared to die?  I'm thinking no.  I'm thinking an immortal ssssuch as yourssself would give up all elssse to avoid death.  Am I wrong?"  She says nothing, so he continues.  "You came here today for sssomething.  A sssecret weapon.  What isss it?"

"The...throne..."  Padme speaks softly, eyes on the floor in shame.

"I ssssee no throne."

"I have to ascend the steps," she whispers.  "It will rise to greet me."

The Viceroy grabs her roughly by the arm and drags her up the steps of the dais.  When they reach the peak, there is a mechanical clank and whir as the room recognizes her.  The harsh lights fade, and majestic galaxies whirl to life around them.  Newt looks down, and it seems he is standing on nothing but air.  Terrified, he presses his blaster against Padme's skull.

"Thisss better not be a trick!  I will kill you where you ssstand, and you can die where your sssissstersss did!"

"No!  No!"  Padme whimpers.  "See, the throne!"

Near them floats a steel chair with a high back, simple and sturdy in design, without any of the ornamentation that one typically finds from the Naboo.  It is a chair with a purpose.

"It will work for anybody," says Padme.  "It's a neural amplifier."

"Ssssso!  That'sss how you do it!  That'sss how you control thisss world!  Ssssit on your throne and dominate the mindsss of an entire planet!"  Newt laughs.  "Why you devioussss bitch!  Of courssse the people love you!  You give them no choiccce!"

Padme keeps her eyes downcast and her voice small.  "That's not quite how it works, Viceroy."

But the Viceroy pays her no mind;  his attention is absorbed by the throne.  He walks toward it with delight.

"And now, the people ssshall love ME!"

He casts one more dubious look at Padme, making it clear that he's not taking his blaster sights off her, and then he seats himself on the Throne of Naboo.

*****

Below them, Obi-Wan shuffles up a ramp, arms wrapped around broken ribs.  The tubes of lucasite reaching below and above him begin to spark and pulse with a preternatural hum.

"I knew it!" smiles Obi-Wan.  "That genius of a goddess did it!"

The tubes flare, sending a wave of energy up toward the throne room.

Obi-Wan grins and sighs through the pain in his chest, "Cool!"

*****

"I can sssee them!" the Viceroy cries out triumphantly.  "My godsss, there are ssso many of them!"

His mind reaches out and touches the minds of each and every human born on Naboo.  Millions of souls mingle with his own.

And they are all in pain.

Their sorrow, despair and terror grip him, and he feels it all.  Children torn apart from their families, ripped from their homes and thrown into dirty concentration camps, watching their loved ones die in public executions carried out by heartless skeletal battle droids.  Millions of voices scream out to him, echoing with hopelessness and doubt, crying for him to save them, desperate to see the blood of their oppressors.

"What have I done?" he whispers.  "No...I didn't know!  I'm ssssorry!  It wasssn't me!  I couldn't have known!  WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!"

Leaping from the throne, Viceroy Newt Gunray flees for his life, wailing repentance.  He bursts through the throne room doors with a bang, his bellows recede, and there is only silence and the spinning of galaxies.

Panaka moans.

"Captain!" Padme stumbles down the stairs and to his side.

"Your Highness," groans the Captain, attempting to sit up.  Half of his face is burnt black and red.  One eye is gone;  the other is wide open and as focused as ever.

"I've got to get you to a medic droid," says Padme.

"No!" Panaka gasps, "No, you've got to sit on that throne!"  He reaches out and picks apart the knot tying her wrists.

"Thank you," she says, kissing him tenderly on the lips.  "Thank you for everything."

He shuts his remaining eye.  "Go!  Now!"

Padme runs back up the steps, and Queen Amidala retakes her throne.

Across the planet, millions of scared and frantic citizens hear the soothing yet commanding voice of their eternal mother proclaim, "MY PEOPLE!  I HAVE RETURNED!"

"We live!  And now we shall destroy those who have invaded the peace of our home!  Our Gungan allies have lured the Trade Federation forces away from our cities!  Already the Viceroy flees for his life!  You need only rise up now, rip apart our droid captors and taste again of freedom!  My people!  The choice, as always, is yours.  WHAT SAY YOU?"

Millions of souls become one in spirit.  A world torn apart finds that it is again whole.  Hope and courage flood the planet with a force more powerful than any boomer, blaster or lightsaber.  Naboo resistance leaders far and wide pull their weapons from hiding and raise them up high, screaming her name.

"FOR AMIDALAAAAAAAA!"

Their droid guards don't stand a chance.




Scene 28: The Chosen One

As the tide turns in favor of the humans, it turns against the Gungans.  A thin line of battle droids finally manages to wind its way to the fambaa beasts.  The fambaa fall under droid blaster fire, and with them fall the Gungan outer shields.

Captain Tarpals still bravely chucks boomers at the advancing droids, and does not understand why Boss Nass now runs the opposite direction, commanding retreat.  He understands a moment later, when the first of the Federation bombs begin to fall.

Jar-Jar Binks runs screaming past him, attempting to hide in a retreating wagon of their biggest boomers.  As he climbs up the back, the rear hatch falls open and boomers tumble out.  He runs back toward the droids, fleeing the rolling boomers.

Perhaps it's because of the adrenaline of battle and the desire to tear victory from the jaws of defeat, but this is not what Captain Tarpals sees.  Captain Tarpals sees Seargent Binks, Chosen of The Choosin One, valiantly leap upon the wagon and rip open the hatch, sending a torrent of their most powerful boomers crashing down upon the droid forces.  Binks charges where others retreat, with fury (not fear) in his eyes, as the boomers bouncing around him cut a swath through the enemy lines.

Jar-Jar trips and falls, his leg becoming entangled in the remains of a droid arm.  A legless droid on the ground wraps its hands around his neck, attempting to strangle him.  As Jar-Jar struggles to get them off, Captain Tarpals sees Seargent Binks use half of a dead droid to beat back the other droids.  Jar-Jar's leg remains caught in the droid arm, and the blaster in its grip fires every time Jar-Jar flops it against the ground.  Captain Tarpals sees these stray shots take down several more droids;  he does not see when one of these shots hits Boss Nass in the back.

Captain Tarpals runs to Jar-Jar's side.  "I nosa gib up!" he proclaims, brandishing a spear with a sparking tip.  "I fightin wit yoo, Sahjint Binks!"

Seargent Binks tosses aside the droid bones and faces the enemy.  They are completely surrounded.

Jar-Jar throws up his hands.  "My give up!  My give up!"

Tarpals reluctantly follows suit and lays down his spear, for he believes that Jar-Jar's courage is matched only by his wisdom in choosing surrender over death.

Thus is born the tale of the Mighty Binks.

*****

Droids scatter where Anakin lands as he hops his way to the Federation transport ships.  Artoo flies well above the fight, unnoticed.

"ANAKIN!"

His heart bursts with joy to hear her voice in his mind.

"Padme!  You did it!"

"We have victory in Theed.  How fare the Gungans?"

"Gimmie a minute, I'll get back to you on that!"

He blocks her out without realizing he's done so, partially because he doesn't want her to know he's got droid blasters pointed at him on every side, and partially so that he can focus his attention on turning them into another droid scrap heap.

Finally, he sights what he's been looking for:  a droid transport retracting empty racks, preparing to fly back to Theed to pick up another round of troops.  He whistles to Artoo, takes a leap, and they both slip inside the transport just as the doors close.

"Find a terminal!" he tells his droid, but Artoo has already plugged into the ship of his own accord.  The ship rocks, and Artoo beeps.

"No autopilot?  Hang on!  I'll take care of it!"

He squints in the dim inner light of the ship until he finds the door of the cockpit.  Wrenching it open with the Force, he finds a Neimoidian pilot shouting into a communicator.

"Mayday!  Mayday!  Enemiesss have infiltrated the transssport!  Terminate sssecure connectionsss!  I repeat, terminate sssecugh!"

Anakin throws out his hand, and the pilot's head hits the window with a wet thud.

"Sorry!  Really sorry!" says Anakin, pushing the pilot out of the seat and taking control of the ship.  His eyes dart between the dashboard and the bobbing landscape speeding past them.

"I don't think it got through!" he calls back to Artoo.  "Send the confirmation codes!  Don't let them know we're here!"

Artoo blips and bleeps as he hacks his way into the Federation system.  Meanwhile, Anakin searches for a trigger, finds it, pushes it, and smiles as the ship shoots lasers into the ground.

"We've got guns!"

He turns the transport ship back to the battle, spotting a line of Federation tanks blasting the retreating Gungans with energy cannons.  He fires, and the tanks explode into fireballs.

Artoo bloops.

"No time to brute force the password!" Anakin shouts.  "Just guess something obvious!  Think like an insecure Viceroy!  Use that imagination algorithm I gave you!"

Artoo beeps.

"There you go!  Now upload the IDE virus!  That should do the trick!"

Anakin flies the trasport up high to view the battlefield.  Moments later, the battle simply stops.  The tanks cease their fire.  The battle droids fall to the ground, deactivated.

"We did it, Artoo!"

The transport plummets as well.

"Uh-oh!  Abandon ship!"

Anakin and Artoo jump from the ship right before it hits the ground and explodes in a blaze.  Anakin rolls across the ground and lands on his feet.

Gungans cheer and jump for joy, swinging droid limbs around in celebration.  They rush to lift Anakin above their heads.

He reaches out with his mind.

"Nass!  Boss Nass!"

Anakin wrenches himself from the arms of the fawning Gungans and runs to the side of the fallen leader.

"You did it, Anakin!" says Nass.  "You have saved my people and yours..."

"Hang in there, big guy!"  Anakin looks to the Gungans.  "Someone get a doctor!  Where are your medics?"  The Gungans look back with incomprehension.

"It's alright, it's alright..." says Nass.  "I lived to see the coming of the Choosin One, and I die knowing all the prophecies of my people are true."  He takes Anakin's hand.

Anakin doesn't know what to say.  He knows the dying words of Boss Nass are going to be in praise of him, and he does not feel worthy of the blessing.  But he wishes to show respect and honor in the Gungan's final moments, and so he bites back the urge to humbly protest, and braces himself to accept his place on the high pedestal.

"Child of Darkness!" Boss Nass says with a fatherly smile, "As was foretold, you shall destroy the Jedi and bring balance to the Force!  You are the harbinger of death, Anakin Skywalker!  You will be the greatest Sith the galaxy has ever known!"

With a croak and a shudder, Boss Nass the Literate breathes his last.

"What?" asks Anakin.  "Wait--WHAT!?!?"

He backs away from Nass slowly, refusing to believe what he has just heard.

Captain Tarpals and Jar-Jar run up next to him.

"Nosa cryin' M'Lord!" Tarpals shouts over the commotion, "Boss Nass die duh gloryus det!"

"Ani!" is all Jar-Jar can shout.  "Aniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."

The Gungan sycophants blur together, their cheers fade away, and all Anakin can hear is his own breath, rattling as if he were wearing a mask, slowly in, slowly out, slowly in, slowly out...

"Ani?  Ani, come back to me..."

"Mom?" Anakin asks his shifting vision.

"Ani, I'm sorry.  She's no longer with us.  I'd know if she was."

"Padme!"

"Anakin, you're blocking me out.  What's wrong?  All I can sense is despair, confusion..."

Anakin concentrates, controls his emotions, and the world snaps back into focus, all dead droids and jubilant Gungans.

"No, see!" says Anakin.  "We won.  We won!"

Anakin feels her smile, though he cannot see it, and her relief.

"We win!  We win!" shouts Jar-Jar, spinning Anakin around in a tight hug.

"Yeah," says Anakin.  "See?  Everything's going to be alright now."

The Queen can tell he does not believe this.

"You can come home now, Anakin," she says, absorbing his pain.  "Come on home."

And for all the power in the galaxy, that is all that he wants.




Scene 29: Republic to the Rescue

Chancellor Palpatine stands aboard the bridge of the Alderaan diplomatic flagship, the Tantive, watching hyperspace blur the stars.  But it is not hyperspace that maddens his mind.

"I do hope we're not too late," he mutters for the umpteenth time.

"Have no fear, Chancellor!" consoles Bail Organa, "The Federation will yield immediately when they see the combined might of the Republic pointed in their direction!"

"Thank you, Senator," replies Palpatine, "I will say again, as terrible as it was to discover a Federation spy planted in the Chancellor's Guard, I am grateful the betrayal turned the Senate's opinion against the Federation and lead to the Authorization of Martial Intervention."

"The people of Alderaan know there are times when we are justified in taking up arms," says Bail, "And it will be a refreshing change of pace when we return to the Senate, knowing that you have vetted the bureaucracy and replaced all traitors with citizens loyal to our democracy."

"Yes, indeed," says Palpatine, "You will forgive me for seeming distracted.  I know we fight for a noble cause, but at the moment, all I can think of is my Queen.  I worry she'll have gotten herself killed before we get there."

"You show great courage, Chancellor, riding with our forces into what may be a fight.  It is clear you care a great deal for Amidala."

"She is no less than the soul of my people," says Palpatine, "I would be remiss if I did not see to this personally."

The Tantive jumps out of hyperspace in orbit around Naboo.  Behind it, a fleet of hundreds of Republic battleships likewise snap to a halt.

"Battle stations!" commands Organa, "Ensign, broadcast the Senate resolution to the Trade Federation flagship!"

"Uh...sir..." says the ensign, staring down at his monitor, "Sensors do not detect any Federation vessels in the system.  The blockade is gone!"

A warm smile spreads across Chancellor Palpatine's face.  He addresses the surface of his homeworld, responding to a voice only he can hear.

"Yes, Your Majesty!  I will be down right away!"  He turns to Senator Organa.  "It would seem Queen Amidala has, as the kids say, beaten us to the punch.  Prepare my landing shuttle!"

*****

Queen Amidala sits on her steel throne, garbed in a glorious silver dress.  A new scene projects around her.  Small puffs of clouds drift lazily through clear blue sky, and the endless green grasses of Meadowbrook stretch far beneath her.  Chancellor Palpatine and Senator Bail Organa kneel at the edge of the observation platform, along with many other diplomatic representatives that have joined the Republic fleet.  She motions for them all to rise.

"Chancellor, Senators and Ambassadors," proclaims the Queen, "We are grateful for the support you have shown our world.  Today we are living proof that tyranny can never overcome freedom, that when we stand together as equals in defense of democracy, we will prevail!"

The assembly applauds enthusiastically but professionally, without cheers but with sincere agreement.

The Queen takes on a more grave tone.  "In this vein, today we must rectify our own past negligence.  Our world of Naboo is populated not only with humans and other citizens of the Republic, but also with a race known as the Gungans.  They are not a spacefaring people, and yet they are sentient, no less worthy of self-determination than any of us here gathered, and they sacrificed much for our victory.  And so on this day, and every day forward for as long as Naboo bears life, I proclaim the Gungans emancipated lifeforms!"

The crowd murmurs with surprise, but not displeasure.

"Each and every Gungan is now a full citizen of Naboo and the Republic, eligible to vote in all elections at a planetary and galactic level, and we shall work with them to establish a Gungan national government rooted in constitutional democracy.  If we are to continue to sit on this throne, we will do so only with their consent.  To do otherwise would be a betrayal of all that we have fought for, and make us no better than our Federation invaders.  Do we have your support in this endeavor?"

The representatives of the Republic look around to see what their peers are thinking, and none find cause to hide their true feelings.  When the applause begins, it comes with cheers.

Chairman San Hill of the Intergalactic Banking Clan, a Muun with his species' characteristic elongated face, makes his way forward and addresses the Queen as the applause fades.

"Your Majesty, what of the cloning technology that has given you your eternal life?  The legends of my people speak of the possibility of such technology, and we would pay richly for access to your knowledge.  Will you be sharing with those of us you have called your equals?"

Chancellor Palpatine intervenes to reply, "Chairman Hill, cloning is a dangerous technology, but we recognize its potential to benefit all people.  We shall work with representatives from each of your worlds to ensure that, if Naboo's secrets of cloning are ever revealed, it is done in a way that is ethical, equitable and uplifting for all life."

Those gathered murmur and nod in agreement with his words.

"Honorable Delegates," says the Queen, "We are thankful for all that you have done, and we wish further audience with each of you at a later time, but we have been through many trials and must rest.  We hope that you are amenable to the quarters we have provided, and we welcome you to stay with us as long as you are able.  The people of Naboo offer you their gratitude."

The crowd applauds one final time.  They begin to exit the throne room, where they are greeted by personalized protocol droids ready to shower them with hospitality.  Some try to approach the Queen for further private conversation, but find their way blocked by Captain Panaka, who does an admirable job of hiding his healing injuries beneath his soldier's stance.  The patch over his eye only makes him more intimidating.  The Queen ignores the respectful pleas for acknowledgment, instead gazing wearily down on the projected landscape beneath her, thumbing the small pendant around her neck.

"Where have you gotten to, Anakin?" she thinks.  "Come back to me..."

*****

The Jedi Council chambers lie empty, the shades drawn closed between sessions, and so Master Yoda meditates in the dark, enjoying the solitude.  He notices when Master Mace Windu enters but says nothing, allowing Windu to attain a measure of inner peace simply from his presence.  Finally, the Head Master speaks.

"What troubles you, Master Windu?"

"Anakin Skywalker.  You truly desire for Master Kenobi to take this boy on as his padawan?"

"Let go of my desire, I must," sighs Yoda, "If so chooses the boy, Obi-Wan's padawan he will be."

"But if this boy is the fulfillment of the Sith prophecy..."

Yoda opens his eyes.

"Young one, for this we fear to accept Skywalker?  Whispers of Sith prophecy?"

Mace Windu bows his head in shame.

"It is said he will destroy the one who trains him!"

"Of all Sith it is thus said," Yoda smiles, "Lucky we are, then, that Obi-Wan believes not in Sith prophecy."

"You are ever wise, Master Yoda."

"That were true, I wish..."

Yoda shuts his eyes.

"The Sith slain by Master Kenobi, Darth Maul...know you who trained him?"

"No, Master Yoda.  It could not be one of our own.  We stand regularly in communion with all Jedi, Council and Protestor alike--all who wield lightsabers.  We would know if any of them were trying to hide something like this!"

"I know not, either," sighs Yoda, "Always hidden, the Dark Side.  Difficult to see, until too late, all is made clear."

Opening his eyes, the ancient little Master pokes his apprentice with his walking stick.  "One thing know we for sure!  Trained by somebody, Darth Maul was.  And see Skywalker trained by the Sith, I would not."

"I agree."

"Always two there are, Padawan and Master, never one without the other.  Many years may pass before revealed the truth is.  Vigilant and alert we must be!"

"Yes, Master Yoda.  Thank you."

"May the Force be with you, Master Windu."

"And also with you, Master Yoda."




Scene 30: Triumph

"There you are!"

Obi-Wan speaks to the boy meditating in the field of wildflowers amongst the ashes of the dead Master who barely had time to teach him to meditate.  Anakin opens his eyes, but says nothing.

"This is only the second place I looked," says Obi-Wan, "I went to your house.  It's all boarded up.  I was there for a few days--I needed some time to heal, anyway--but you never came around."

"I'm never going back there again," Anakin says flatly, "There's nothing left for me there."

"Well, I should have known better," says Obi-Wan, looking around at the cold grey day, "This is a much better thinking place.  You'd want to be alone."

"I AM alone, Ben."

"Not so much as you think."  The Master joins the boy cross-legged on the ground.  "The Council has given me permission to pick up where Qui-Gon left off.  I am to be your new Master, if you will have me."

"What about that drug you gave me, to remove my powers?  I'll take some of that instead, if you've got it."

"Anakin, you can't really mean that..."

"I do!"

He stands up brusquely, raising a cloud of ash that blows off in a chill wind.

"All my life, I knew I was special, better than everyone around me.  I dreamed of getting off this planet and visiting each and every one of the stars, because I knew I could.  I knew I had it in me to do great things.  But now that I've had a taste of greatness--Ben, what I wouldn't give to be normal!"

"Nobody's normal, Anakin," says Obi-Wan, "Everyone's different.  And each of us is called upon to do great things in our time, no matter our power.  No drug will change that."

"And what if I hurt people?  What if my great thing is a bad thing?"

"Well, no drug can change that, either," says Obi-Wan, "We all make mistakes, and the bigger we are, the harder we fall."  He locks eyes with Ani.  "But that is why we train.  That is why we work so hard to learn to approach the universe with compassion and forgiveness, rather than judgment and condemnation.  We will each need forgiveness ourselves, in due course."

Ani looks off in the distance, in the direction of Theed.  "I don't want things to change."

"You can't stop change, any more than you can stop the moons from setting," Obi-Wan sighs regretfully.

"I thought I could figure this out on my own, but...I think I found out that using my powers is a lot more complicated than having them."

"This path has been placed before you, Ani.  The choice to take it is yours alone.  Listen to your feelings.  You know what's right."

Anakin nods.  "I want to be a Jedi, Ben."  The Force ripples with the truth of his words.  "I want to do what's right."

"And so you shall, my young padawan."

Obi-Wan pats the ground next to him, and Anakin seats himself once again.  As they shut their eyes and sink deep within the Force, they do not see the figure of Qui-Gon meditating beside them.  But he is there.

*****

The sun shines down bright on the main street of Theed on the day when the Gungans march to the palace to claim their place as citizens of the Galactic Republic.  Naboo humans and alien spectators from across the galaxy squeeze into the sidewalks to get a better view, waving a rainbow of colored cloths in celebration.  They cheer not only for the Gungans but for themselves, their Queen and their victory over the invading Federation forces.  This parade marks the culmination of a month of rest and festivities declared by Queen Amidala.

The Gungan army marches in formation, but it is not weapons that they bear.  Though their attempted explanations are unintelligible, it appears they have reforged their weapons of war into instruments of joy.  Their armor is now played as horns, their helmets beaten as drums, their slings string lutes and their spears fly banners.  As they dance and make merry along the street, they seem created for mirth as much as they were ever created for battle, and Naboo babies squeal with delight when they pass.

The Gungan priests sing a wordless song with the voices of children, one that captures the spirit of hope and freedom so perfectly that Chancellor Palpatine goes home humming it, and later insists that it be formally arranged as the official anthem of the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.

Beside Palpatine, on the steps of the palace, Queen Amidala stands in a resplendent gown of white trimmed with gold, grinning like a young girl.  Captain Panaka smiles as well, even as he tries to look serious and ever attentive.  C-3P0 is also there, and he waves to R2-D2, who is parked at the front of the crowd with his maker.

Anakin stands in his new Jedi tunic and robe with his arms folded and his shoulders back, trying his hardest to be a shorter reflection of his Master.  His hair is cut in the style of a Jedi student, buzzed short with only a small tail of hair in the back, a reminder (as Obi-Wan explained) that no slate is ever truly clean.  Together, he and Obi-Wan cast an intimidating presence, both of them smirking and ready for a fight, though confident that no fight will find them today.

The Gungan procession approaches the palace steps, their newly elected leader at the forefront on kaadu.  Mighty Boss Binks, hero of the battle, nods and smiles and waves politely to everyone as he passes.

"I am glad to see my coaching on etiquette paid off," Threepio says to nobody in particular, "We'll make a gentleman of Master Jar-Jar soon enough!"

Jar-Jar trips as he dismounts, but recovers gracefully enough and ascends the steps.  He kneels before Queen Amidala, who takes his hand and lifts him to his feet.  Together, they hold a sparkling boomer above their heads.  It floats upwards like a balloon, and bursts into brilliant fireworks.

"PEACE!" proclaims Queen Amidala, her thought echoing through the mind of every child of Naboo.

"PEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!" yells Jar-Jar, leaping into the air with joy.

And so there is peace on Naboo, for a time.