The moment the Naboo Royal Starship escaped Naboo, countless Trade Federation warships were visible through the front viewport.
On the ground, Governor Gunray also issued an order to Daultay Dofine, who was the captain of this invasion, to capture the fleeing Queen.
"These are all Alliance warships!" The captain looked at the blockade in front of him.
"Break through."
As the starship's blaster cannons fired, just a few shots damaged the starship's shield and part of its hull. Astro-mechanic droids were dispatched to urgently repair the starship's defense System, and with R2-D2's repairs, the shield System was restored.
Meanwhile, on a Lucrehulk-class battleship, a B1 droid watched the constant warnings appearing on the computer, indicating that a fleet would jump out of hyperspace and arrive outside Naboo.
"Uh... Commander, I think you should see this." The B1 droid, holding a datapad, found Daultay Dofine.
"What is this?" Looking at the datapad the B1 handed him, he didn't understand its meaning.
"Commander, in one minute, a massive fleet will exit hyperspace and arrive at Naboo," the B1 explained its meaning.
"! Report to Governor Gunray immediately," Captain Dofine said to the B1 next to him.
Before he could even contact Gunray, Gunray himself and his deputy Rune Haako walked in.
"What's all the fuss about?" Gunray, who had returned to the ship from Naboo, walked into the bridge and asked.
"Uh... I think, Governor, if you look up, you'll know." At this moment, Rune Haako saw the Mandalorian fleet that had already exited hyperspace.
Gunray looked up at the sound, and familiar ships entered his sight.
"The Mandalorians are here?" Gunray asked in disbelief. Although he knew Naboo and Mandalore had a treaty, he hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
Inside the fleeing Naboo Royal Starship, everyone also saw the hyperion and a host of frigates and transport ships exiting hyperspace.
"Commander Kote is here!" Kray excitedly told everyone.
"Kote is here, I can feel his powerful The Force." Qui-Gon felt an even stronger The Force; even Great Master Yoda might not be as strong as Kote now.
At this moment, Jar Jar, who suddenly appeared from behind, said, "I'm Kote's friend too!"
"Contact Governor Kote and let us board his ship," the Queen said.
At this moment, Kote had arrived at Naboo just in time; otherwise, the people of Naboo would have been heading to Tatooine.
"Governor Gunray, should we attack the opposing ships?" Captain Dofine asked Gunray, the highest-ranking Commander present.
Gunray knew perfectly well how his modified freighters could possibly go head-to-head with the enemy. He had seen the name of the enemy flagship in Dourde's report; it had destroyed an entire outpost and tens of thousands of droids with just one shot, and Dourde's guess was that this wasn't even its strongest power.
And the name of its vagary frigate was well-known to many in the Outer Rim; just one could seize one of his convoys, and with the assistance of other starfighters, it could do even more, faster.
So, if all these fleets and his modified freighters were to fight, the best outcome would be a mutual loss.
"First, contact the opposing flagship and see what their intentions are," Gunray replied.
The communication connected, and Kote, wearing Mandalorian armor, appeared on the large screen on the hyperion flagship.
"Long time no see, the Trade Federation is up to its dirty tricks again, blockading a planet, aren't you, Governor Gunray?" Kote said to Gunray with a smile.
"You've truly misunderstood, Councilman Kote; all of this is permitted by the Council, it's legal," Gunray said, deceiving himself.
"Regardless of whether it is legal or not, according to the Naboo-Mandalore Mutual Defense Pact, Mandalore must fulfill its terms. So, will you end the blockade now, or will Mandalore end it by force?" Kote offered two options.
At this point, the Queen and her entourage also arrived at the hyperion's flagship.
"Let me handle it, Governor Kote. Let's not have a military conflict with the Alliance; let's resolve this through diplomatic means." Even the Queen's decoy was determined to resolve the matter through diplomacy.
Hearing that even the Queen of Naboo said this, Kote had no choice. If he attacked rashly, it would only be a thankless task, so he would follow the Queen's suggestion.
Gunray was also surprised to hear the Queen say this; he had even prepared for battle at any moment.
"As Queen Amidala says, but you must first stop the persecution of the Naboo people," Kote added.
"I will," Gunray ended the communication, and the two fleets remained in a standoff in the Naboo System.
"Long time no see, Queen Amidala, and Jar Jar and my friends," Kote said to Padmé and a few friends nearby.
"I really didn't want to meet under such circumstances," Padmé said helplessly.
"Kote, my friend!" Jar Jar was also very enthusiastic to see Kote again.
"Great Master, let's return to Vadir for a rest first; the Naboo Royal Starship's parts are not on this ship," Kote said to Qui-Gon.
"That's the only way. After the ship is repaired, we'll head to Coruscant." Qui-Gon had no choice; after all, the starship's hyperspace drive was broken, making it impossible to go to Coruscant. They couldn't just ask the hyperion to go, could they?
Subsequently, the hyperion detached from the fleet and entered hyperspace to return to Vadir for repairs.
Meanwhile, on the Lucrehulk-class battleship, Gunray was reporting to Sidious about the Mandalorians' intervention, and the fact that the Queen had been taken away, and that they didn't know where they were going.
"Let my apprentice help you," Sidious introduced Maul.
Gunray thought it was Korian Vos, but he didn't expect it to be someone else. He hoped this one had a better personality than Korian Vos.
This time, Maul didn't go to track the hyperion but went directly to Naboo to await the Queen and the others' return.
On Vadir, Anakin, who had been taught by Kote long ago, was playing his role. Kote decided to send Anakin to the Jedi Order as an undercover agent, and later to inherit the Jedi Order's legacy.
Anakin, at home with Zeta and Nehaal, was building the Protocol Droid 3PO. This was a droid he and Zeta had been building for a long time, a labor of love, and they had installed a golden plating on it.
"Brother Kote said he wants me to go to the Jedi Order, to infiltrate it," Anakin lay on his bed, not quite understanding why he had to infiltrate.
"That's great! I want to go too, to see what the Jedi Knights are really like," Nehaal said, working on 3PO's final System.
"But I'll miss you guys, and I'll miss Mom," Anakin said, lying on the bed, a bit vexed as to why he had to be an inside man, and all by himself.
"No, Kote said he'll be with you and find you a good Great Master," Zeta said, helping Nehaal with the final System.
"Really?! Then why didn't he tell me?" Anakin wondered.
"Because if you say it, you're likely to give yourself away, but it's really nothing. You can just secretly come back then. Kote said you should just be natural. We're helping the Jedi survive, saying that something big will happen in the future and they'll need you." Zeta didn't quite understand what his main self was saying sometimes, but she still secretly told Anakin everything.
Anakin nodded, indicating he understood roughly; he just needed to continue being himself.
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