SCENE 5.
On the planet Naboo.
Enter QUI-GON JINN, OBI-WAN KENOBI, and JAR JAR BINKS in transport, surfacing in the waters of Naboo.
Our journey through the core is made at last,
And now shall we make way unto the queen
To warn her of this threat most imminent.
Come, Obi-Wan and Jar Jar, let us hence!
[Exeunt.
Enter NUTE GUNRAY and RUNE HAAKO with several BATTLE DROIDS, including OOM-9.
The queen hath been detainèd, Viceroy.
—Good.
This victory doth taste most succulent,
And sates the hunger of my wide ambition.
Enter SABÉ dressed as Queen Amidala, SIO BIBBLE, CAPTAIN PANAKA, PADMÉ, and other members of the NABOO COURT, guarded by BATTLE DROIDS.
How shalt thou hope to justify this bold
Attack upon our peaceful planet? Speak!
The queen and I shall sign a treaty soon;
It shall confer legitimacy on
Our occupation of the city here.
I have been told the Senate shall with haste
Proceed to ratify the treaty. Aye,
Methinks the queen shall find it in her heart
To move her hand and make the needed mark
That shall deliver her dear populace.
No treaty shall I sign. You shall not have
Cooperation in this matter—nay.
Be sensible, Your Highness, else we shall
Persuade you through the suff’ring of Naboo.
The cries most piteous, the horrid groans,
The gleam of bodkin’s touch and scream of pain,
The agony that comes from torture cruel—
These moments bleak shall have sway o’er your will.
[To OOM-9:] And now, Commander, take and process them.
I prithee, Captain, take them to camp four.
Forsooth! Forsooth!
[Exeunt Nute Gunray and Rune Haako.
Enter QUI-GON JINN, OBI-WAN KENOBI, and JAR JAR BINKS above, on balcony.
—The queen—now is the time!
The Force we leap withal, for victory!
[Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar leap down and begin fighting the battle droids.
[aside, whilst fighting:] O, with what ease these droids defeated are,
Had they but any skill in combat we
Would certain be outnumber’d, yet with such
A lack of acumen, these droids are no
More frightening than if they were but toys.
[The Jedi destroy the battle droids.
[To Sabé:] Your Highness, ’twould be best to leave the streets.
Ye courtiers, take the weapons of the droids!
O wowsa, yousa guys so bombad.
[The group moves aside, off the street.
We are ambassadors and were sent here
By our wise chancellor.
Nay, by a Jedi’s oath, there never were
Negotiations—only violence.
’Tis urgent, now, that we make contact with
The brave Republic. Time runs quickly out.
Communication means have been destroy’d.
But what of transport? Is there some nearby?
Within the hangar—follow me anon!
[The group walks to the hangar, revealing more battle droids.
Alas, too many enemies therein;
Like evil thoughts these droids do multiply.
’Twill be no problem for we Jedi two,
The weak shall be o’ercome by those more skill’d.
[To Sabé:] Your Highness, prithee journey with we two
To Coruscant. Belike you will be safe
And may before the Senate plead your cause.
With gratitude I greet your proffer’d aid,
Yet rightfully my place is on Naboo.
Yet they shall take your life should you remain.
Nay, surely they would never be so bold!
They need the queen to sign their treaty, so
To render this invasion legal. Should
They kill her, they would lose their one defense.
And yet I sense there may be more at play:
What game’s afoot is still a mystery,
No logic guides the Federation’s moves.
My feeling is: they mean to do you harm.
I would not have a queen become a pawn.
Our only hope is for the Senate’s help.
The senator, e’en Palpatine, shall need
Your good assistance in this matter, ma’am.
This situation grave is dangerous.
[To Padmé:] Aye, dangerous for all who shall go forth.
Yet we are brave, Your Highness. We shall go.
If you would leave, Your Highness, ’twill be now.
Enough, I am engag’d. I’ll challenge this,
And venture forth to plead my case before
The Senate. Hope shall be our strength and stay.
[They begin walking toward the transport.
Enter BATTLE DROIDS guarding PILOTS, including RIC OLIÉ.
The pilots must be freed if we would fly.
’Twould be my joy to free them of their bonds.
[Obi-Wan makes his way toward the pilots as Qui-Gon is stopped by a guard droid.
Desist at once, and take no further step.
I am the chancellor’s ambassador.
I tell thee I must take these people here
To Coruscant.
—Well, where shalt thou take them?
To Coruscant, thou brute.
—Why, you shall take
Them, then, to Coruscant. Alack, this doth
Go ’gainst my programming, doth not compute!
Behold, I place you all under arrest.
Thou shalt a ghost droid be ere I am through.
[Qui-Gon destroys guard droid with his lightsaber. Obi-Wan destroys droids guarding pilots. Sabé, Padmé, and Captain Panaka begin to board transport.
Anon, we fly!
—Ye pilots all, make haste!
[The pilots run to various vessels. Ric Olié boards the queen’s transport with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
It is my duty and mine honor to
Protect and serve the queen whom I adore!
[The ship flies off. Exeunt.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI and JAR JAR BINKS aside in ship, with ASTROMECH DROIDS including R2-D2.
Pray, stay thou here and mischief do thou none.
[Exit Obi-Wan.
Heigh-ho, my lads. Are ye misunderstood
As Jar Jar Binks and his dear Gungans? Eh?
Know ye of human prejudice and scorn?
Methinks ye must, as all nonhumans do.
[Exit Jar Jar.
Enter QUI-GON JINN, OBI-WAN KENOBI, CAPTAIN PANAKA, and RIC OLIÉ in cockpit.
The blockade doth appear, to work us woe.
They shoot at us, and we are sorely hit!
The generator of the shield is down.
Mayhap this doth betoken our defeat!
[Astromech droids move outside the ship to repair the shield generator.
Beep, meep, beep, squeak, beep, whistle, meep, meep, hoo!
[Aside:] It is my time to serve and prove my worth!
I would the brave Republic serve with pride,
For I do long for some advent’rous life,
With galaxies to see and quests to take,
And even more: I long to be inspir’d
And join a noble cause to which I may
Contribute all my strength and skill and wit.
Now to it, R2, serve thy very best!
[Several astromech droids are destroyed by fire from the blockade.
Alas, these droids do fall like winter snow,
Each flake snuff’d out by flaming sword of fire.
We soon shall have no more, and then we’re lost.
Without the generator we are dead—
The shots shall find their mark and end our lives.
The shields are gone. ’Tis done, my comrades. Done!
Beep, meep, beep, hoo!
—But O, what sign is this?
The power hath return’d, and with it, too,
Our prospect of survival. O, hurrah!
The droid hath done the deed; he bypass’d the
Main power drive. Deflector shields are up
To maximum effect, and we are sav’d.
[R2-D2 returns inside the ship.
One thing remains, however, worthy friends:
There ship hath not not sufficient power to
Deliver us to Coruscant. It is
The hyperdrive, it leaketh out, like blood
From some deep wound within its metal core.
We must make landing to repair, refuel.
No ship is shipshape sans a solid structure.
[consulting star charts:] Look, Master, here is found a planet near.
I have not heard its name: ’tis Tatooine.
’Tis small and poor, and far from ev’rything;
The Federation hath no presence there.
What confidence have you in this remark?
The planet is controllèd by the Hutts.
The Hutts, indeed. Such lowly gangsters of
Base reputation, fill’d with avarice:
Their minds on money, money on their minds.
Such lowly, wormlike villainy as theirs
No royalty should e’er bear witness to,
Or forcèd be to find the strength t’endure.
O nay, ye Jedis, find another course:
Pray, let us not take her to Tatooine!
E’en if they did discover her, ’twould be
No diff’rent than if our lame ship were bound
For any place the Federation holds.
Except, my friend: the Hutts expect her not,
Nor are they searching for the noble queen.
We do, then, have a strong advantage here—
Thus let us land, with hopefulness sincere.
[Exeunt.