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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐄

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After getting to shore and sneaking through the streets of Theed, they managed to spot Queen Amidala being escorted by a group of droids along with her advisors, guards, and handmaidens. Aurora crouched down with the Jedi and Jar Jar on one of the many bridges in the city as they watched the group get closer and closer. Once they were close enough, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan jumped down from their hiding place followed by a lot less graceful Jar Jar. Aurora watched from the bridge as the Jedi took out the droids by cutting them in half with their lightsabers. She was surprised when a small smile formed on her face as she watched the battle, only for it to fade when she spotted a droid sneaking up on a very busy Obi-Wan.

The Tinsley girl's instincts took over before she could even think as she pulled her blaster from its holster and jumped down from the bridge. As soon as her feet made contact with the stone street, Aurora stood up to her full height and shot the droid sneaking up behind Obi-Wan. The Padawan instantly looked back after hearing the blaster before watching the droid fall over. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of the droid's state before his attention fell on Aurora. Before Obi-Wan could even ask how she jumped down from the high bridge without injury, his attention was drawn to his Master when he began to speak.

"We should leave the street, Your Highness," Qui-Gon stated while gesturing in the direction they needed to go as the guards grabbed the fallen droid's blasters.

Aurora stayed silent from her place in the middle of the Queen's handmaidens as they followed the Jedi Master through the streets of Theed. The Tinsley girl's mind was on overdrive as it replayed everything that had happened since she left the palace that morning. She would be the first to admit she didn't expect to find a droid army on her day off...but she was also told that she didn't have the best luck.

"Are you alright, Aurora?" a voice said, pulling Aurora out of her train of thought before she looked in the direction of the sound to find Padmé staring back at her with concern in her eyes.

"Yes, Padmé. I'm alright," the Tinsley girl responded as she glanced back at Obi-Wan before her attention fell back on his master, "I just regret not getting a warning to Queen Amidala sooner."

"No one blames you," the brunette girl said while sending the older girl a reassuring smile, "it's not your fault the Trade Federation took out our means of communication."

It wasn't long after that when Qui-Gon led them into an empty alleyway before turning around to address the Queen of Naboo and her loyal followers. "We're ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor."

"Your negotiations seemed to have failed, Ambassador," Sio Bibble responded without even attempting to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"The negotiations never took place," the Jinn man clarified as he looked between the Governor and the Captain of the Royal Guard, "it's urgent that we make contact with the Republic."

"They've knocked out all our communications," Captain Panaka told the Jedi Master.

"Do you have transports?"

"In the main hangar," the Captain of the Royal Guard answered before pointing in the direction they needed to go, "this way."

Once again, everyone followed the Jedi Master toward their only means of escape. As soon as they reached the hangar, they spotted a group of droids guarding the captured pilots. Even though Aurora tried her best to keep her hope alive, the sight of her imprisoned allies sent a wave of doubt over her. When she looked over at her captain, she could tell he was thinking the exact same thing.

"There are too many of them," Captain Panaka spoke his and the Tinsley girl's thoughts as they looked over at the Jedi.

"That won't be a problem," Qui-Gon reassured them before he turned around to address Queen Amidala, "Your Highness, under the circumstances, I suggest you come to Coruscant with us."

"Thank you, Ambassador, but my place is with my people," the Queen of Naboo responded with all the confidence she could muster.

"They will kill you if you stay," the Jedi Master bluntly stated in an attempt to convince the Queen to agree to his suggestion.

"They wouldn't dare," Governor Bibble declared, causing everyone to look over at him with confusion in their eyes.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion legal. They can't afford to kill her," Captain Panaka explained, only for Qui-Gon to turn his attention away from the man to look at Queen Amidala once again.

"There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There's no logic in the Federation's move here," the Jinn man said as he continued to try to persuade the young queen, "my feelings tell me they will destroy you."

"Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us," the Governor of Naboo stated after turning his attention toward Queen Amidala, "Senator Palpatine will need your help."

"Either choice presents great danger...to us all," the young queen responded as she looked back at her handmaidens.

"We are brave, Your Highness," Padmé responded as Queen Amidala looked down at the floor beneath her feet before her attention was drawn back to Qui-Gon when he started speaking.

"If you are to leave, Your Highness, it must be now."

"Then I will plead our case to the Senate," the young queen declared then looked toward the gray-haired man standing across from her, "be careful, Governor."

Governor Bibble sent the young ruler a simple nod in response before Queen Amidala, Aurora, the handmaidens, and some of the Royal Guards began following the Jedi into the hangar. The Tinsley girl watched as Captain Panaka said something inaudible to the Jedi before Obi-Wan separated from the group and approached the captured pilots. Her eyes stayed glued to the Padawan for a moment longer before her attention was drawn back to the situation at hand by the robotic voice of the droid commander guarding their ship.

"I'm an ambassador to the Supreme Chancellor. I'm taking these people to Coruscant," Qui-Gon told the droids without skipping a beat while everyone behind him did their best to keep their emotions at bay.

"Where are you taking them?" the droid commander asked the Jedi Master as Aurora wrapped her hand around her blaster without thinking.

"To Coruscant."

"Coruscant? Uh, that doesn't compute, uh," the droid responded as he looked around the hangar to avoid eye contact with the group in front of him, "uh, wait. You're under arrest."

Before the droids even had a chance to aim their blasters, Qui-Gon unsheathed his lightsaber and took out the five droids in front of them. The Jedi Master shouted for the group behind him to get onto the ship while he blocked the blasts coming from some of the other droids that occupied the hangar. Aurora stood in the doorway of the ship as she watched Obi-Wan take out the droids surrounding the pilots, freeing all the men and allowing them to either board the ship or escape the hangar.

Once the Jedi boarded, the Tinsley girl closed the ship's door before following Qui-Gon into the cockpit of the ship. Aurora stood between the Jedi Master and the Captain of the Royal Guard as they flew through the sky and out of Naboo's atmosphere. As soon as they made it into the space surrounding the planet, they spotted the Trade Federation's blockade stationed in the distance.

"There's the blockade," Ric Olié, Queen Amidala's personal pilot, announced as his eyes scanned over all the Trade Federation's ships. Not even a second after he finished speaking passed when the enemy ships began firing at them, resulting in the ship shaking from all the hits before a loud alarm cut through the air. "The shield generator's been hit!"

Everyone stared at one of the small screens on the dashboard as four droids appeared on the ship's exterior. The machines didn't hesitate to begin their work on the ship, only for one of them to be blasted into space before they could even start.

"We're losing droids fast!" Obi-Wan exclaimed after watching the second droid getting knocked off their ship.

"If we can't get the shield generator fixed, we'll be sitting ducks," Captain Panaka told them right as another droid was sent into the great unknown.

"The shields are gone," the pilot announced as he continued to press buttons on the dashboard before the red lights on one of the screens turned green. A shocked look appeared on Ric Olié's face as he looked at the screen to see one droid left standing. "The powers back! That little droid did it! He bypassed the main power drive! Deflector shields up at maximum!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the ship moved even faster than before. Aurora had to grab the back of a chair to avoid stumbling back as they flew past the blockade. Her actions earned her a small smirk from Obi-Wan that she chose to ignore. Once they were cleared of the Trade Federation's blockade, Ric Olié scanned over all the screens in front of him. It wasn't long before Aurora watched the grin on his face slowly fade away after he read the information on one of the screens. After he pressed a few more buttons on the dashboard, the pilot let out a sigh and looked back at his allies in the cockpit with him. "There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking."

"We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship," Qui-Gon announced as Obi-Wan sat down at one of the computers to look for places they could go to.

"Here, Master. Tatooine," the Padawan announced, causing Aurora to look over at him with a hint of disbelief in her eyes at the sound of the planet's name, "it's small, out of the way, poor. The Trade Federation has no presence there."

"How can you be sure?" Captain Panaka questioned after sitting down in one of the seats next to Ric Olié.

"It's controlled by the Hutts," the Jedi Master told them, confirming the information the Tinsley girl had on the planet.

"You can't take Queen Amidala to a planet run by the Hutts," Aurora declared, causing everyone to look over at her as if remembering she was in the room with them, "if they discovered her-"

"It'd be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation, except that the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us an advantage," Qui-Gon argued in a tone that was eerily calm while his Padawan sent the young Royal Guard a slightly annoyed look.

No one else said a word no matter how much they agreed with the young guard as Ric Olié began taking them in the direction of Tatooine. Once the pilot assured them they would make it to their destination in a reasonable amount of time, the Royal Guards and the Jedi made their way to the back of the ship to update the Queen on their current situation. Along the way, Captain Panaka grabbed the droid that fixed the ship so he could be rewarded for his efforts.

When they arrived in Queen Amidala's chambers, they found the young royal sitting on her throne surrounded by her handmaidens. Aurora sent Padmé a small smile after walking into the room before she stopped next to Captain Panaka, who stood in front of the Queen and across from the Jedi.

"An extremely well-put-together droid, Your Highness," the Captain of the Royal Guard told Queen Amidala as he looked away from the droid and to her, "without a doubt, it saved the ship, as well as our lives."

"It is to be commended," the young queen announced while turning her full attention to the astromech in front of her, "what is its number?"

In response to her question, Aurora knelt down and rubbed off the dirt covering the droid's number. Her eyes scanned over the now visible digits before she got to her feet and faced Queen Amidala. "R2-D2, Your Highness."

"Thank you, R2-D2," the Queen of Naboo said with a small smile on her face, causing the droid to happily chirp in response to the ruler's appreciation. Queen Amidala watched the astromech for a moment longer before calling out Padmé's name, making the girl in question walk forward until she was standing beside R2-D2. "Clean this droid up as best you can. It deserves our gratitude."

The astromech let out a few more beeps as a thanks to the Queen before the latter's attention moved back to her guards. "Continue, Captain."

Both of the Royal Guards exchanged a knowing look then they turned their attention toward the Jedi. Qui-Gon kept his eyes glued to the guards for a moment before he let out a small sigh and stepped forward. "Your Highness, with your permission, we're heading for a remote planet called Tatooine. It's in a system far beyond the reach of the Trade Federation."

"I do not agree with the Jedi on this," Captain Panaka declared as soon as the Jedi Master finished speaking.

"Nor do I," Aurora added without even glancing over at the two Jedi intently watching her.

"You must trust my judgment, Your Highness," the Jinn man said as he looked away from the young guard and back to Queen Amidala, who stared at the Jedi Master for a long moment before agreeing with his plans.

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