EXT. ALDERAAN - ALDERA - SPACEPORT - DAY

The transport drops down from the sky, weaving in and out of incoming and outgoing traffic. The craft reaches the ground, touching down on the tarmac and powering down.

The hatch lowers, and out steps the Colonel, followed by the Princess and her bodyguards, the Jedi, and Tarpals and Vaness. Waiting for them is Bail’s father, the Viceroy of Alderaan.

The two Organa men embrace, greeting one another.

VICEROY ORGANA : It is good to see you, son. I received word of your mission and its outcome. I’m glad you made it out of there.

COL. ORGANA : It is good to see you again as well, Father. I’ll be returning to Nabu soon, though - with your blessing, hopefully.

VICEROY ORGANA : My blessing?

COL. ORGANA : The Senate refuses to send another armada to Nabu. I’ve promised the Princess of Nabu herself that I would have our fleet assist her. I need your approval to ready the ships.

VICEROY ORGANA : If I allowed you to do this Alderaan would be rendered defenceless. We would be at the mercy of our enemies.

COL. ORGANA : Please, Father ... I made this promise to her. She’s been through so much ...

VICEROY ORGANA : Let me see this girl.

COL. ORGANA : She’s right here. (to Amidala) Come, Amidala. I'd like you to meet my father, the Viceroy of the Royal House of Alderaan.

Amidala steps forward. She looks up into the elder Organa’s eyes, making contact.

AMIDALA : You will give your son those ships, to let him create this fleet. You’ll gladly give him your blessing.

VICEROY ORGANA : Oh, Princess, and how do you know this?

AMIDALA : Call it destiny, fate, the will of the gods. Whichever it is, it’s going to happen.

VICEROY ORGANA : (laughing) She’s strong-willed, Bail. There’s much spirit in her. (to Amidala) You’ll get those ships, my dear. There’s a matter of procedure, but I’m sure we can overcome it.

AMIDALA : Thank you, Your Majesty. You’ve made a friend of the House of Naberrie.

FATHER ORGANA : The House of Organa accepts your offer of friendship, Princess. (cont’d) Come now, Bail, lets get you and your guests away to the palace.

The group departs, leaving the standing transport behind and passing through the teeming numbers of people crawling over the spaceport.

EXT. NABU - LANDSCAPE - TWILIGHT

Viceroy Nute Gunray’s personal battleship cruises slowly over the ground, casting gale-force winds over the grass below. Several animals scurry, seeking shelter from the metallic behemoth.

INT. NABU - NUTE GUNRAY’S PERSONAL FLAGSHIP - NUTE GUNRAY’S PERSONAL CHAMBERS - TWILIGHT

Gunray stands before Maul’s projected image. His eyes are unfocused and his skin extremely pale.

NUTE GUNRAY : In a matter of days the landing platform will be complete, and we will be able to bring the command ship down and secure it into place. Our hold on Nabu will be complete, and you may then do whatever it is you wish with the people of this world.

MAUL : Good ... You are finally doing your job right, Viceroy.

NUTE GUNRAY : I only ask one thing in return ...

MAUL : You needn’t worry. You will receive your full payment.

NUTE GUNRAY : That’s not what I’m talking about.

MAUL : What then?

NUTE GUNRAY : Once Nabu is yours, we are finished. The Federation Neimoidia will have no further business with you or your Order.

MAUL : That’s where you’re wrong, Neimoidian. You sold your soul when you agreed to the plan - you created a pact that can never be broken. You are in our pocket forever.

NUTE GUNRAY : Whatever ... Just let us rest for a while.

MAUL : When this is over, you may rest for however long you wish.

NUTE GUNRAY : Many thanks ...

MAUL : Now, let us talk of preparations for my arrival.

NUTE GUNRAY: What?

MAUL : I will pay you a visit when construction of the command centre nears completion. I want the final stages of this conquest to go smoothly. I will be there personally to make sure it does.

NUTE GUNRAY : Of all the gods that must exist, no!

MAUL : You have a new god now. (cont’d) Farewell, Nute Gunray.

The holographic man dies away. Gunray collapses upon the derelict projector with a moan, and begins to sob.

INT. ALDERAAN - ALDERA - ROYAL PALACE - WAR ROOM - MORNING

The war room, a theatre converted for military purposes, has high walls and a massive stage. Several thousand Alderaanian soldiers take their places in their seats. With them are Organa and the Jedi. On the stage stands the General Noums.

The lights in the room go dark, and the schematics of three Neimoidian Federation droids - a standard battle droid, a destroyer droid, and a droid fighter - are projected on the stage screen. The images are enlarged, providing details on the inner workings of the machines.

GEN. NOUMS : Take a good look, gentlemen. The B1 battle droid, the droideka, and The Vulture-class droid starfighter. Armed with a simple blaster rifle, the B1 is a cheap model, and it shows in it’s flimsy design. It is a moderate threat at best individually, posing a real threat only in great numbers. The droideka and droid fighter, however, are both very formidable. (cont’d) The starfighter carries four blaster cannons, two energy torpedo launchers, with a compact body that can reach speeds of 1200 kilometres per hour in a planet’s atmosphere. The droideka can adopt a wheel configuration, allowing rapid movement. It carries twin blaster cannons, which can unleash a torrent of laserfire, and is equipped with a deflector shield generator capable of projecting a shield capable of deflecting weapons fire as powerful as a light artillery bolt. Each of these droids are different, with their own strengths and weaknesses - the B1 more so than the others, of course.

A series of laughter rings out throughout the chamber.

GEN. NOUMS : (cont’d) But these droids are all built and utilized by the Neimoidian Federation, and all are slaved to a central control computer. A central computer usually located onboard the command ship.

The image of the droids are replaced with an image of a pyramid-shaped starship.

GEN. NOUMS : This is the command ship. A pyramid-shaped starcraft twice the size of a Lucrehulk. The Federation droids are all controlled en masse from here. (cont’d) Now, when Neimoidian begin occupation of a captured world, they bring their command ships down onto the surface of that world to offer them better protection from an enemy force.

The holographic ship is shown descending to a planet’s surface, where it lands upon a pyramid-shaped landing platform.

GEN. NOUMS : Take out the command ship, you take out the droids. The majority of the Federation army falls to pieces right then and there, leaving only the larger capital ships to deal with. (cont’d) Unfortunately, when grounded on the surface the pyramid will be surrounded by a powerful shield. A conventional bombardment from space just won’t work. you’ll have to get up close and personal to take it out.

An image depicting the inner workings of a command ship is shown.

GEN. NOUMS : The pyramid is a massive battery, housing a reactor which constantly generates energy to power the personal shields, coordinate the droid armies, etc. This process creates large amounts of waste energy as a by-product. This excess energy has to be discarded in order to keep everything in running order, which it is. It is channelled through massive conduits, and ejected from the ship. (cont’d) Accessing the command ship’s computer, one can take control of the systems which control these conduits and seal them off.

An enlarged image of the reactor core is shown, with a large computer console situated atop a catwalk.

GEN. NOUMS : The Neimoidians design these pyramid ships so that their mainframes can only be accessed from a solitary console, a console installed within the guts of the reactor core itself. It is from this console where all commands are entered. (cont’d) Once the conduits are sealed off, the excess energy generated by the reactors will have nowhere to go. A chain reaction will begin, and then ...

The image of the entire command centre is restored. The image of the pyramid glows bright, then explodes in a shower of light. The projector then turns off, and the lights in the theatre return.

GEN. NOUMS : The Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi have graciously offered to infiltrate the Federation command ship. They will fly a captured enemy craft and dock with the pyramid, then make their way to the core to complete the sabotage.

ALDERAANIAN SOLDIER : General Noums, is it true that the ships of the Neimoidian fleet are equipped with double-blind cloaking devices?

GEN. NOUMS : Ah, yes, the cloaking devices. Thank you for reminding me. (cont’d) It is true, the Federation seems to have figured out the Kaminoan cloaking technology and backward engineered it. You won’t have anything to worry about. All ships in the fleet will have Jedi on staff to help detect these invisible ships. Nothing can beat the senses of a Jedi. (cont’d) Now you know what you have to do. Keep your wits about you and don’t screw up. Luck be with you all.

The soldiers get up out of their seats, and begin to file out of the chamber.