Escape

Story
John runs into the city, looking for any signs of life.

John: Darn it. I hope I’m not too late. (John turns a corner, and sees a group of skinny, tannish humanoid droids leading a group of human prisoners. He turns around real fast, going back around the building. A droid fires a shot at the wall.)

Droid 1: What is wrong? (The company stops.)

Droid 2: I thought I saw something.

Droid 3: Check it.

Droid 2: Roger, roger.

The droid walks forward, and the humans are silent. The men were dressed in guard outfits, one of them anxious. In the middle was a woman in a large dress and white makeup covering her face. Surrounding her were a series of handmaidens, all with red head pieces covering their heads. The droid goes around the corner, and there was nothing there.

Droid 2: Just a false alarm.

Droid 3: Let’s keep going.

Droid 1: Roger, roger. (Droid 2 rejoins the group, and they continue on. Then, ChamAlien becomes visible, watching them go by.)

ChamAlien: That looks like a queen, or at least a very rich person. Now, what to do? (ChamAlien turns invisible again, and begins to follow the group.) End Scene

The group of prisoners are put into a force field cage, and the Droids leave. ChamAlien is on the outside of the door, watching.

ChamAlien: Have to be discreet now. Can’t alert them to my presence. (ChamAlien turns into Grey Matter, and walks into the room. He crawls along the wall, making his way to the control unit of the force field.)

Grey Matter: Hm. Level 4 technology. Unique energy signature. Neimoidian. Explains the low level tech of the droids, who seem particularly fragile. Their connection and power levels are significantly low. In theory, a blast from any Level 7 tech would be enough to disable the force field. That being said, most regulated weapons are Level 3.

Voice: Hello? Who’s there? (Grey Matter turns, and sees one of the handmaidens looking at him.) What are you?

Grey Matter: I’m a Galvan. You’re pretty sharp to notice me. What’s your name?

Handmaiden: Padmé. Who are you, and are you here to help us?

Grey Matter: You can call me John. And I will help, though it’s better if no one knows I’m here. Now, what exactly is the situation?

Padmé: The Trade Federation, a big weapons trading organization, has invaded our planet of Naboo. The Viceroy want Her Majesty to sign a treaty to make the invasion legal. (A group of Droids come back, and Grey Matter runs off, hiding from view. One of the Droids puts in a code, and the force field fades.)

Droid: Let’s go, humans. (They start marching off. Grey Matter runs into the group, and climbs up Padmé, who makes a noise as he does. He gets into the headpiece, being hidden from view.) End Scene

The Droids lead the prisoners through the city, and they approach a bridge overhead. From the bridge, two guys in black armor, one skinny and one bulky, jump down, firing blasters at the Droids. The Droids fire back, but the skinny one dodges and charges in, punching and destroying the Droids with his fists. Once all the Droids were destroyed, the bulky one’s helmet pulls back into the armor, revealing Tetrax.

Grey Matter: (Softly) Tetrax! He’s a good guy, Padmé. You can trust him.

Tetrax: (Going down on one knee.) Your Majesty. I am Tetrax, and I’ve been sent by the Plumbers to check on the incident here, and to provide assistance. This is my partner, Whip.

Whip: Will you give it a rest, Tetrax? (Removes helmet, revealing that he was the same species as Swampfire.) More Droids will come.

Guard: Thank you. I am Captain Panaka. Everyone, get their weapons. (The guards grab the Droid’s weapons.) What do you have planned?

Tetrax: I’d like to get Her Majesty off Naboo, and back to Coruscant.

Queen: No. I will not abandon my people. They need me.

Panaka: Your Majesty, you are no use to them captured. We need to get to Coruscant, and alert the Senate.

Tetrax: We snuck down onto the planet, so we have no ship.

Panaka: Then we’ll just have to take one. There should be a ship in the hanger bay. Let’s go. (The group runs off, the guards surrounding the handmaidens and the Queen.) End Scene

The group arrives at the hanger bay, which was covered in Droids. There are Droid guards surrounding a group of pilots.

Panaka: If we are to escape, we’ll need to save those pilots.

Grey Matter: Should be easy enough. (Grey Matter jumps off Padmé’s shoulder, and runs over. She sees this, and just watches him go.)

Tetrax: No problem. Panaka, focus on getting everyone on the ship. We’ll handle the Droids.

Whip: You wouldn’t say that if you could be harmed by them.

Tetrax: Hey! You can’t either.

Tetrax and Whip walk out first, and the Droids spot them, firing. Tetrax swings his arm, creating crystals that come out of the ground, destroying several Droids. Whip charges into the group, and releases fire from his hands, burning through the Droids. One of the Droids starts firing at the other Droids, and the pilots are freed.

Tetrax: Quickly! Get on board! (The pilots run, getting onboard the ship. Tetrax and Whip  finish off the Droids, including the one that was firing at the others. They then get on the ship, which begins to take off. Grey Matter comes out of a pile of Droid debris.)

Grey Matter: Ugh! That was bad. (Turns to see the ship leaving.) Uh-oh! (Grey Matter runs after the ship, turning into Upgrade. He jumps and grabs onto it, morphing with a part of it and phasing inside.)

The ship leaves the hanger, dodging the anti-aircraft shells. They fly off the planet.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Padmé
 * Queen
 * Captain Panaka
 * Tetrax (first re-appearance)
 * Whip

Villains

 * Battle Droids

Aliens

 * ChamAlien
 * Grey Matter
 * Upgrade

Trivia

 * John stays hidden in the shadows the entire episode, Padmé being the only one to know of his presence.
 * Tetrax returns.
 * It's learned that the Trade Federation has invaded.
 * The species from the Trade Federation, the Neimoidian, is mentioned.