『Vuutun Palaa』

"We have an incoming transmission," Vaylin pointed towards the holoprojector in the center of the cabin, blinking a few times as she slowly pulled herself off the chair and onto her feet.

Ento followed after her, stepping off his own seat and walking over to the projector. He then glanced towards Dooku who nodded to him, who then went back to looking out the viewport.

"We have ten minutes until we reach the exit vector, make it quick." Dooku spoke as he kept his eyes on the Queen's starship. He was curious of what their plan was, they didn't have an army or the Judicial Forces with them.

If they were planning on doing guerrilla warfare, their plan to retake the planet might work. However it would need more than just the Security Forces to do so. On top of that it seemed the Trade Federation had air superiority, as well as space, on their side.

Most of this would depend on them destroying or disabling the Droid Control Ship blockading the space over the Planet of Naboo. If they didn't do it in time, it was likely they'd be overrun and the Queen would be killed. Otherwise, she'd also be forced to sign the treaty.

Dooku remained their pondering.

"Answering," Ento repoted as he placed a hand on the projector's main computer console and a hologram appeared in front of them, Quarsh Panaka and the Queen of Naboo.

Ento's eyes rested on Padmé, a faint smile across his lips. He hoped that she wasn't going to let herself get hurt or killed in this stunt. "Captain Panaka... Queen Amidala."

"Ento, Vaylin... Master Dooku," The Queen looked over the three of them, "We need to capture the Viceroy before he can get off world. It's unlikely the Federation is going to remain here much longer, he cannot get away with the atrocities he's committed against my people. "

"If you land anywhere near Theed, you might end up getting shot down..." Dooku interjected.

"We're going to be landing in swamplands. We've come to believe that Gungans might've been fled from their subaquatic villages and cities if they were attacked." Panaka stated as the Naboo had gone to war with the Gungans before. If they were attacked and losing a battle, they often moved away from obvious targets such as their settlements.

"Where did you get this information?" Dooku raised a brow at this, even though they had been to war with these Gungans before in the past during the previous Reign, that didn't make up for some unforeseen gaps in this information.

"Jar Jar, Master Jedi. The Gungan that occupied us to Coruscant and is current enroute with Jedi Master Qui Gon Jin. We've been strategizing with them in order to come up with a foolproof plan of attack." Panaka responded with his arms crossed as he seemed to dislike the Jedi Master, or at least Jedi in general. Though it seems he tolerated the 'mind wizards' that were aiding in retaking their home.

Ento and Vaylin couldn't help but sense his surface thoughts, he actually blamed the Queen's pacifistic ways for this whole scenario. If the Naboo had their own military like they had in the previous regime, they wouldn't be suffering at the hands of the Trade Federation.

"In the case, how do you plan on signalling us to attack the Trade Federation Control Ship?" Dooku with one leg crossed over the other, narrowed his gaze on the Queen.

Padmé solemnly returned the gaze, she was a politician, not a military strategist. However that didn't mean she wouldn't fight to retake sovereignty over her world and save her people.

"We want you to remain in synchronous orbit above the City of Theed. Once we've made contact with the Gungans, we will set off a flare from the forested swamplands." Padmé stated as her fingers grasped at the arms of the chair. This was a farfetched plan, far from foolproof, at least in Dooku's and Ento's eyes.

Vaylin on the other hand simply nodded, as if having no problem with it.

"How about we destroy their shuttles and ground to air compliments as a distraction?"

"They're holding our people hostage. If we attempt to retake the city, they may end up killing the Security Forces within the Palace." Panaka stated as he shook his head.

"They might as well do the same if you were to land in the swamp, and not be there when they arrive to capture you. That... Or the hostages may already be dead, or perhaps even enslaved." Dooku let out a withdrawn sigh as he glanced towards Vaylin who was looking to him now.

"There are over a thousand different scenarios, perhaps even millions." Vaylin gestured towards the two holographic figures on the projector. "Their plan may wor--"

"If they kill the hostages, nobles and security forces, on the planet... Then they would be tried for war crimes against the people of Naboo." Dooku responded and shook his head, "The Trade Federation may be blazen, but they are cowards, especially once the Jedi get involved. They won't do what won't make them a profit. If anything, the less damage they do, the less loss."

The Queen and the Head of Security looked to one another, then back towards Dooku. His plan to attack the Naboo Garrison with hit and run tactics, started to sound better, and might actually work a bit smoother then their initial plan.

"Once we exit Hyperspace, we'll engage our cloaking device and follow you down onto the planet. It's going to be a close call, Your Majesty." Dooku would continue to wisely inform the two before looking towards the other teens in the ship with him.

"We'll see you then, Master Jedi." With that the Naboo Starship's transmission cut. Only a few more minutes to go until they met the hyperspace exit vector.

"Ento, once we exit hyperspace, you'll be taking the helm." Dooku ordered.

Ento acknowledged his Master's orders with a nod before looking to Vaylin.

Vaylin made a slight look of contempt, she felt useless. There was very little for her to do onboard the starship. The guns were all controlled by the pilot's console.

Dooku's eyes rested on Vaylin as well, sensing her discomfort, her feeling of uselessness. "Strength comes in many forms. Support your new found friend, it is one thing that only you can do at the moment. This is where your training begins, Girl..."

Vaylin's eyes seemed to beam brightly hearing his words of encouragement, her gaze returning to Ento who nodded, "Understood."

Dooku wasn't planning on training the girl officially, but he could sense the instability of her power and even witnessed it. Her powers were instinctually influenced by her emotional state. If she were to get angry, they'd all be in deep poodoo, especially while they were in the vacuum of space on a starship.

On top of that, training her in the way of the lightsaber may help her form a meditative technique to keep herself calm and focused; both physically and mentally.

+ + +

There was only one ship remaining above the planet of Naboo, the blockade had been broken, as the resistance of the planet had been believed to be utterly squashed.

"Sir!" Tey How, a Neimoidian female, with cybernetic enhancements which allowed her to interface directly with the ship, shouted with a robotic voice. "Our Sensors are picking up incoming Hyperspace Vectors from behind the Moon!"

"How many Ships!?" Daultay, a Neimoidian male, who was the Captain of the Droid Control Ship Vuutun Palaa demanded an immediate answer.

"Two ships, Sir! One of them is Naboo, the other... Inconclusive." The mottled grey skinned Neimoidian looked towards her fellow cohorts as she was searching through the data within her cybernetic ocular implants.

"The Queen has returned! We will be able to get her to sign the treaty." Turning towards the communications officer, "Lieutenant! Relay this information to the Viceroy."

"Yes, Sir!" Sil, the Communications Officer of the Vuutun replied.

The two vessels exited hyperspace behind the moon at this point, the Naboo Starship flying in front, while the other vessel cloaked itself a few meters off its portside.

"Sir!" Tey How screeched in confusion.

"What it is?" The Captain looked to the Pilot of the Battleship, panic already evident in his voice.

"One of the ships have vanished! There is no more sensory data available."

"That is impossible!" Daultay snarled as he walked over towards the onboard readouts for the sensors. His pilot wasn't lying about the sensory output, information pertaining to the second starship had completely vanished. "Scramble the fighters! Make sure that ship, wherever it may be, cannot attack us without being seen first!"

It was clear they had made an error. Even as they had scrambled their fighters, there was no attack. Sacrificing their droids proved worthless, as the Scimitar didn't take the bait.

+ + +

"Their latest transmission places the Trade Federation's Viceroy in the Royal Palace." Dooku uttered as he stood beside the pilots seat as Ento was taking to the helm.

"Couldn't we just... Go in and kill the Viceroy ourselves?" Vaylin asked with a brow raised, resting her forearms on the back of the pilot's chair.

"If we do that, we'd be leaving ourselves open to attack from their droid army along with the Battleship in orbit," Ento responded with a light sigh, feeling her weight on the back of the seat he was currently situated in.

Her eyes traced over the three thousand meter by three thousand meter cargo freighter which was overhauled into a Droid Control Ship and Battleship. It appeared formidable compared to their singular armed craft.

"Once we take out the shuttles and landing crafts, the Viceroy won't be able be able to escape. That's when we take out the Battleship overhead." Ento recited the plan that all three of them already knew. Though it was good to be reminded at least once.

Vaylin poked the tip of her tongue out from behind her lips briefly before retracting it. She had never seen a strafing run before and was secretly looking forward to seeing things explode.

Soon Ento maneuvered the ship beneath that of the Naboo Starship during planetary reentry. The last thing he needed was for them to be noticed right away, it was best to remain anonymous. So as the warm red hue formed over the tip of their ship, they still went unnoticed.

It only took a few minutes before they were within the lower atmosphere, having cut through the ambient atmospheric turbulence without a conflict.

With their nose pointed towards Theed, the occupants of the Scimitar watched as the Naboo Starship veered off towards the swamplands where they planned to land.

"Starting our attack run," Ento spoke in a cool tone and smirked at his own voice.

Dooku raised a brow, grinning at the boy's enthusiasm before turning his attention to the circumstances in front of them. Their approach was unabedded and the ship ran silently.

Ento could feel the droids, their drop ships, their individual synthetic energies.

For a moment there, he visualized himself as a master of a massive army entirely under his control. Any enemy, any foe, he could trample them down with the cold metal of droids.

That was until he came back to reality, his eyes narrowing on the City of Theeds that was before him. He couldn't let the Viceroy escape, or even leave the city.

Dooku raised a brow, watching as the boy's hands tightened around the joystick.

Vaylin would place her one hand on his shoulder, seeing him getting either overly excited or caught up in his thoughts. Though she said nothing encouraging, she gave his shoulder a light squeeze.

Feeling her hand squeeze his shoulder, Ento couldn't help but loosen up a bit, they were within range of their target in less than a minute. They were approaching the Palace from the hangarside that faced the swampy plains and the forest beyond it.

"Thanks..." His gaze moved towards the targeting computer as he primed the Proton torpedo launcher and the six concealed laser cannons. The sound of a weapons lock sounded, the image of an Armored Assault Tank lit up the screen.

He fired the missile.