by Jude Watson
Honorable representatives of the Republic, distinguished delegates, and Your Honor Supreme Chancellor Valorum, I come to you under the gravest of circumstances. The Naboo system has been invaded by force. Invaded against all the laws of the Republic by the droid armies of the Trade—
This is where I was interrupted.
Lott Dod objected again. That spindly Neimoidian would not let me get to the end of my statement! He called for a commission to be sent to Naboo to study whether my “accusations” were true.
Accusations!
“Enter the bureaucrats,” Palpatine whispered to me. The delegate from Malastare was already calling for the rules of procedure to be obeyed. A commission must be formed.
I held my breath while Valorum consulted with his experts. Then he announced reluctantly that the Federation was right.
“Queen Amidala, will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?”
Hot rage surged through me. I had never felt such fury. To have come this far, only to be met with more delay! My people are starving—dying—and they want to appoint commissions!
Cool your anger, I told myself. It should be ice, not heat.
“I will not defer!” I said. “I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss the invasion.”
I had reached the end of everything. All my hopes. I felt sick inside, and I had to fight against the despair that rose inside me. They wouldn’t help me.
I had no choice. There was nowhere else to go. I called for a vote of no confidence in Supreme Chancellor Valorum.
His shock was visible. We locked eyes across the vast Senate chamber. I saw his gaze move to Palpatine. He felt betrayed.
I don’t regret it. Palpatine is right. The Senate is mired in its own bureaucratic mud.
Immediately, the chamber filled with excited buzzing. Bail Organa from Alderaan was the first to second the motion. He asked that a vote be taken immediately. Lott Dod once again called for further study.
The Senate erupted. A chant began: “Vote now! Vote now!”
“It appears we have started something,” Palpatine murmured to me. “Good.”
My gaze swept the quarreling, tumultuous Senate. Yes, we’d started something. We had achieved a strategic victory. But it wasn’t the one for which I had come so far, and risked so much.
Palpatine could be right. Change could be the best thing for the Senate. But change might not be in time to help Naboo.
LATER
I’m back in Palpatine’s quarters. I must record an odd conversation I had with Jar Jar.
I stood gazing out over the flashing spires of Coruscant. All that power glittered below me. And yet they could not manage to right one intolerable wrong.
Jar Jar loped up to stand beside me. I could see his reflection in the glass. His large, kind eyes were full of woe. His sympathy seemed like a warm, solid thing.
It’s strange how I’ve grown so fond of him.
“Mesa wonder why da guds invent pain?” he asked finally.
“To motivate us, I imagine,” I said.
Jar Jar nodded. “Yousa tinken yousa people ganna die?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“And da Gungans,” Jar Jar said dolefully. “Dey ganna get pasted too, eh?”
I told Jar Jar that I hoped not. Then he said something that surprised me.
“Gungans no die’n without a fight. Wesa warriors. Wesa grande army. Force fields, all dat. Gotta protect wasen ours.”
I was preoccupied with my own problems. But Jar Jar’s words cut through them like a knife. I turned to him with new interest, wanting to ask more. But Palpatine entered then. He was full of optimism about the day’s events. I saw that he considered the session a great victory.
Captain Panaka informed me that Palpatine had been nominated to succeed Valorum.
“A surprise, to be sure,” Palpatine said.
But he didn’t seem surprised. Beneath his modesty, I sensed triumph.
Well, why not? Palpatine isn’t free of ambition. And it would be good for Naboo to have our former representative as Supreme Chancellor.
I told Palpatine that I feared that even if he were elected, it would take too much time for him to get control of the bureaucrats. In the meantime, Naboo would be destroyed. There was nothing left for me to do here. It was time to return.
Palpatine was aghast. Panaka thinks it’s a bad decision, too. They both think I should remain here. Be a queen in exile, waiting for crumbs. Don’t they know what kind of Queen I am?
Well, maybe I didn’t really know, either. Until now.
If the Senate doesn’t condemn the invasion, fear and aggression will rule the galaxies. I will fight against the Trade Federation until my very last breath.
I hear those words, and they surprise me. I’ve always been an advocate of peace and diplomacy. I don’t believe in fighting.
Yet I will fight. Die fighting, if I have to.
LATER
QUEEN’S ROYAL STARSHIP
I am Padmé again. It is not safe for me to remain Queen while traveling. By agreeing to be Queen, Sabé has again pledged her life. After we had changed clothes, we hugged each other, gripping tightly. We both know we may be switching roles for the last time.
I might die as Padmé. Sabé might die a queen.
When we got to the landing platform, the Jedi were waiting. The sight of Qui-Gon made my heart lift. Qui-Gon bowed and pledged his continued service to the Queen.
Sabé nodded in gratitude. “I welcome your help. Senator Palpatine fears the Federation means to destroy me.”
Qui-Gon’s look was resolute. “I promise you, I will not let that happen.”
We entered the ship. Ric Olié took his place at the controls. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon sat nearby. Jar Jar left the cockpit because he was afraid of takeoffs, but he lurked in the corridor in case he was needed. Artoo wheeled into place to monitor the controls. And Anakin waved at me. I was so glad to see him. I hate to bring him into the middle of a war, but I know Qui-Gon will watch out for him.
On my way to the Queen’s quarters, I took a last look back at all of them. What an unlikely group. A Jedi Knight and his apprentice. A Gungan. A droid. A boy.
But they’ve become my allies. I am glad to be returning home with my friends.
I have a plan.
If I’m going to be a warrior queen, I have to get a running start. I’ve thought long and hard on this. My enemies are vastly more powerful. They have more weapons. They have more troops. They have everything I don’t have. Everything you need for war.
But they do not have something that I have: surprise.
I’ve called a meeting with the Jedi and Captain Panaka. Sabé and I must switch places again. I need to be Amidala for this. I have a feeling they won’t be easy to convince.
LATER
They were impossible. But I won, of course. After all, this is my ship.
It’s the same old argument. If I land, I will be captured. If I’m captured, I will sign the treaty. I watched Panaka’s lips form the same old words.
I am so tired of being underestimated! Enough. I don’t mind being underestimated by the Neimoidians—I can use that to my advantage. But when my own military leader treats me as a figurehead, I want to howl.
I didn’t howl.
I said this: I am going to take back what’s ours.
Qui-Gon said what I expected him to say. As a Jedi, he could only protect me. He could not fight a war for me. Captain Panaka reminded me that there were only twelve of us, as if I couldn’t count. He said we had no army, as if I had forgotten that fact.
I ignored them. I turned to the figure who had been slouching against the wall, wondering why he was there, and most likely dying to run away.
“Jar Jar Binks!” I called.
He immediately snapped to, all twitching hands and clumsy feet. “Mesa?”
I would have smiled at him, if I were Padmé. Instead, I onl
y softened my voice.
“I need your help,” I said.
LATER
The Federation has spotted us. There is only one battleship in orbit above Naboo. After all, they control the planet. There is no more need for the blockade.
So they know we are here. Within minutes, we will be landing in the Gungan swamp.
The planet looks so peaceful as we approach it from above. There are no signs of war, just the deep greens of forests and meadows and the lovely blues of the seas.
But on this planet lies my greatest challenge. I’ll have to summon up everything I’ve learned and everything I know. I’ll have to find every drop of courage I possess. What lies ahead will take everything I am, and ask for more.
I will write again when I can.
We waited at the edge of the Gungan swamp. The dank smell felt thick in my lungs. My feet sank slightly in the mud. The overhanging trees dripped shadows onto the murky surface of the lake.
Jar Jar had disappeared beneath the surface some time ago. He would make the first contact with the Gungans below in the bubble city of Otoh Gunga.
Everyone stared at the spot where he had disappeared. They were all impatient for his return. They were also irritated at the Queen, but couldn’t show it. They had no idea why we’d landed here, or why the Queen had sent Jar Jar below. I didn’t want Sabé to reveal my plan until I knew the first part would work. Everything depended on that. I drew my cloak around me and focused my mind on what lay ahead.
Finally, we saw the waters part. Water streamed over Jar Jar’s long head. Slowly, he emerged and climbed onto the bank.
“Dare-sa nobody dare,” he told us.
“Probably taken to camps,” Captain Panaka said.
“Or wiped out,” Obi-Wan said, his hand on the holster of his lightsaber.
The disappointment hit me like a blow. But Jar Jar was already shaking his head, his flapping ears flying. He said that the Gungans were probably hiding in their sacred place.
We followed Jar Jar away from the lake, deep into the swamp. He followed no path that I could see. Every so often we heard the buzz of Federation STAPs overhead, but the dense foliage protected us from being spotted.
Jar Jar stopped suddenly in a small clearing. The trees here were enormous, with thick, twining roots like huge snakes slithering against the dark earth.
He lifted his head and made an odd, chattering sound. A second later, Gungans appeared out of the forest, riding kaadu.
Jar Jar greeted an officer as Captain Tarpals. The captain did not look overjoyed-to see Jar Jar.
“Wesa comen to see da boss,” Jar Jar told him.
The captain cast an extremely unfriendly eye over all of us. “Mebbe ouch time for all-n youse,” he muttered.
“Ouch time” didn’t sound like a good sign. The Gungans formed an escort on either side of us. We walked even deeper into the swamp. Now the overgrowth blocked out even a tiny patch of sky. It was as though we were in a deep green bubble. A bubble that smelled like rot.
Then ruined buildings began to appear, suddenly rising out of the luxuriant growth. Part of a column. A statue with no arms or torso. Some sort of archway. Vines twisted around the decaying stone, and tendrils drifted across the grass like fingers clutching at our feet.
We arrived at a clearing filled with refugees. At one end was a large, ruined temple covered with vines and moss. Massive statues looked as though they had once supported the roof. Now there was no roof, and the statues were broken and lay on the ground. A large stone eye gave me a hostile stare.
It was all so strange and eerie. The Gungans looked at us with angry eyes. Had I led us into a trap? I had made a decision based on desperate need, but also on how I felt about Jar Jar. He was decent and good. But what about his people? He could be the exception rather than the rule.
A stout Gungan walked out, flanked by officers.
“Boss Nass,” Jar Jar whispered to the Queen.
I had coached Sabé on board the transport. I had told her exactly what to say, and how to say it.
She stepped forward. “I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo,” she said in a clear voice. “I come in peace.”
Boss Nass did not look friendly. “Naboo biggen,” he boomed angrily. “Youse da ones who bring Mackineeks. Yousa just as bombad as dey are. Yousa all die’n, mesa think.”
Captain Panaka and the Naboo guards and pilots stiffened. The Jedi held themselves as casually as they always did. Even when the Gungans pointed their electropoles at us.
Not a good start. Boss Nass was contemptuous of the Queen in her rich robes. I saw the glint of fury in his eyes. To him, Queen Amidala was just as guilty as the Federation for the harm that had come to his people.
Speak, Sabé! Try again!
“I wish to form an alliance…” Sabé began.
It would not work. I knew it, felt it in a flash of insight. Sabé could do so many things as Queen. She couldn’t do this.
Amidala couldn’t sway Boss Nass, either. Padmé couldn’t do it.
They both had to do it.
I’d have to strip away my last defense. Reveal my biggest secret.
I can’t! I thought. My secret was the source of any power I had left. What would I be without it? What if by revealing who I was, I ended up failing my people? What if, by staying silent, I lost my last, best chance? Under my tunic, I felt Anakin’s japor pendant against my skin. Maybe it was a symbol of a new power I would achieve. The power of truth.
My knees were shaking as I stepped forward, “I am Queen Amidala.”
Somehow I’d expected that exposing my secret would create a vacuum inside me, and fear would rush in. But that didn’t happen. I felt satisfied. The two parts of me came together. I could almost hear the resounding click as the two contradictions became a whole.
“Sabé is my decoy and protection,” I said.
I heard Artoo beep softly behind me. Anakin looked at me in disbelief.
We are still the same, my eyes told him. He looked down at the ground.
Boss Nass sniffed suspiciously. The Gungans didn’t lower their electropoles.
“I’m sorry for my deception,” I said. “It was necessary. Although we have not always agreed, our two great societies have lived side by side in peace for generations. The Trade Federation has destroyed your world and mine. You are in hiding. My people are in camps. If we do not act together, all will be lost forever. I ask you to help us, Your Honor.”
I had not won him over. He stood, legs apart, unmoved. What could I do to convince him?
“I beg you to help us,” I said. I dropped to my knees before him.
Captain Panaka and his troops gasped. I knew what they were thinking. A Naboo kneeling before a Gungan! Well, they would kneel, too. What did this invasion tell us but that all of the people of Naboo had to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight as equals?
“We are all your humble servants, Boss Nass. Our fate is in your hands,” I said.
Slowly, one by one, they knelt. Finally, the Jedi knelt, too.
The silence pressed against my ears. Even the chattering birds were quiet. It seemed an eternity before I heard an odd, chugging sound.
Boss Nass was laughing.
“Yousa no tinken yousa greater den da Gungans! Mesa like this. Maybe wesa bein friends.”
And thus, the great alliance of the Gungans and the Naboo was formed.
Now, for the battle.
The Gungan army is getting ready for war. Kaadu are being prepared, weapons gathered. I have sent Captain Panaka and a small squad back to Theed on a reconnaissance mission.
Boss Nass has brought us to the grasslands surrounding the swamp. Here is where the great battle will be launched. Here is where we wait for Panaka’s return. Everything depends on his getting close enough to Theed to gather information.
LATER
Panaka is back. His mission was successful. He has reported that most of the people are in camps, as we knew. But a few officers and guards have maintai
ned an underground resistance movement. He brought back as many leaders as he could find.
He added that the Federation army was much larger than we’d thought. “This is a battle we cannot win,” he told me gravely.
It was time to reveal my plan at last. We don’t need to win the battle. It is only a diversion. While the Gungans draw the droid army away from Theed, we’ll enter the city through the secret passages by the waterfalls. Once we reach the palace, Captain Panaka will create a diversion. A small squad of us will enter the palace and capture the viceroy. Without him, the droids will be lost and confused.
I asked Qui-Gon what he thought of the plan. I’m not afraid anymore of seeming weak if I ask for advice.
He looked thoughtful. “The viceroy will be well guarded.”
I could see Captain Panaka’s military mind working. He lives on our peaceful planet, but he’s well trained in military tactics.
“The real difficulty is getting into the throne room,” he said. “Once we’re inside, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
Qui-Gon turned to Boss Nass and told him that there was a possibility that many Gungans would be killed.
Boss Nass nodded. He was ready for that.
I had considered this, too. I didn’t want Naboo’s freedom to be on the backs of slaughtered Gungans. I volunteered our pilots to immobilize the droid army by knocking out the Droid Control Ship orbiting the planet. If we could get beyond their ray shields and knock out communications, the droids would be helpless. The droids cannot think for themselves—if we destroy the Control Ship, they will be paralyzed.
Did I spy a flicker of approval on Qui-Gon’s rugged face?
“A well-conceived plan,” he said. “But there is great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate the shields.”
Obi-Wan spoke for the first time. “There is a greater danger. If the viceroy escapes, Your Highness, he’ll return with another droid army. And I’m certain he will show no mercy.”
