what was happening. 'Although our people do not always agree, Your Honor,' she continued, her voice softening, 'we have always lived in peace. Until now. The Trade Federation, with its tanks and its 'maccaneks,' has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build. The Gungans are in hiding, and the Naboo have been imprisoned in camps. Ifwe do not act quickly, all that we value will be lost forever.'
She stretched out her hands. 'I ask you to help us, Your Honor.' She paused. 'No, I beg you to help us.' She dropped abruptly to one knee in front of the astonished leader of the Gungans. There was an audible gasp of surprise from the Naboo. 'We are your humble servants, Your Honor,' Padme said so that all could hear. 'Our fate is in your hands. Please help us.'
She motioned, and one by one, her handmaidens, Panaka, and the Naboo pilots and guards dropped to their knees beside her. Anakin and the Jedi were the last to join them. Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin saw Jar Jar standing virtually alone in their midst, staring around in wonderment and shock.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then a slow, deep rumble of laughter rose out of the throat of Boss Nass. 'Ho, ho, ho! Me like dis! Dis good! Yous no think yous greater den da Gungans!'
The head Gungan came forward, reaching out with one hand. 'Yous stand, Queen Amidoll. Yous talk wit me, okay? Mebbe we gonna be friends after all!'
The senior Sith Lord appeared in a shimmer of robes and shadows as his protege and the Neimoidians walked slowly down the corridor leading from the throne room back to the plaza. 'We have sent out patrols,' Nute Gunray said, concluding his report to the ominous figure in the projection. 'We have already located their starship in the swamp. It won't be long until we have them in hand, my lord.'
Darth Sidious was silent. For a moment Nute Gunray was afraid he hadn't been heard. 'This is an unexpected move for the Queen,' the Sith Lord said at last, his voice so low it could barely be heard. 'It is too aggressive. Lord Maul, be mindful.'
'Yes, Master,' the other Sith growled softly, yellow eyes gleaming.
'Be patient,' Darth Sidious purred, head lowered in cowled shadows, hands folded into black robes. 'Let them make the first move.'
In silence, Darth Maul and the Neimoidians continued on as the hologram slowly faded away.
Boss Nass was as mercurial as he was large, and his change of attitude toward the Naboo was dramatic. Once he decided that the Queen did not consider herself his superior, that she was in fact quite sincere in her plea for Gungan help, he was quick to come around. The fact that his dislike of the battle droids was every bit as strong as hers didn't hurt matters, of course. Perhaps he had been hasty in his belief that the 'maccaneks' wouldn't find the Gungans in the swamps. Otoh Gunga had been attacked at daybreak two days earlier and its inhabitants driven from their homes. Boss Nass was not about to sit still for that. If a plan could be put together to drive the invaders out, the Gungan army would do its part to help.
He took Amidala and her companions out of the swamp to the edge of the grass plains that ran south to the Naboo capital city of Theed. Any attack would be mounted from here, and the Queen had come to the Gungans with a very specific plan of attack in mind.
The first step in that plan involved sending Captain Panaka on a reconnaissance of the city.
As they stood looking out from the misty confines of the swamp toward the open grasslands, waiting for Panaka's return, Boss Nass trundled up to Jar Jar.
'Yous doen grand, Jar Jar Binks!' he rumbled, wrapping a meaty arm around the slender Gungan's shoulders. 'Yous bring da Naboo and da Gungan together! Tis very brave thing.'
Jar Jar shuffled his feet and looked embarrassed. 'Ah, yous no go sayendat. Tis nutten.'
'No, yous grand warrior!' Boss Nass declared, squeezing the air out of his compatriot with a massive hug.
'No, no, no,' the other persisted bashfully.
'So,' Boss Nass concluded brightly, 'we make yous bombad general in da Gungan army!'
'What?' Jar Jar exclaimed in dismay. 'General? Me? No, no, no!' he gasped, and his eyes rolled up, his tongue fell out, and he fainted dead away.
Padme was in conference with the Jedi and the Gungan generals, to whose number Jar Jar Binks had just been added, so Anakin, at loose ends, had wandered over to keep company with the Gungan sentries who were keeping lookout for Panaka. The Gungans patrolled the swamp perimeter on kaadu and kept watch through macro binoculars from treetops and the remains of ancient statuary, making certain Federation scouting parties didn't come up on them unexpectedly. Anakin stood at the base of a temple column, still trying to come to terms with Padme's revelation. Everyone had been surprised, of course, but no one more than he. He wasn't sure how he felt about her now, knowing she wasn't just a girl, but a Queen. He had declared he would marry her someday, believing it so, but how could someone who had been a slave all his life marry a Queen? He wanted to talk to her, but there wasn't any opportunity for that here.
He supposed things wouldn't be the same after this, but he wished they could. He liked her as much now as he had before, and to tell the truth he didn't care if she was a Queen or not.
He glanced over at the girl and the Jedi Knights and thought how different things were here than they had been on Tatooine. Nothing had worked out the way he had hoped for any of them, and it remained to be seen if leaving his mother and home to come with them was a good idea after all.
The Gungan lookout standing atop a piece of statuary above him gave a grunt. 'Dey comen,' he called down, peering out into the grasslands through his macro binoculars.
Anakin gave a yell in response and raced over to Padme, the Jedi, and the Gungan generals. 'They're back!' he shouted.
Everyone turned to watch a squad of four speeders skim over the flats and pull to a stop in the concealing shadow of the swamp. Captain Panaka and several dozen Naboo soldiers, officers, and starfighter pilots jumped down. Panaka made his way directly to the Queen.
'I think we got through without being detected, Your Highness,' he advised quickly, brushing the dust from his clothing.
'What is the situation?' she asked as the others crowded close to them.
