Following the blockade of the planet Naboo by the Trade Federation, Jedi ambassadors Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were dispatched on a Mission to Naboo by Republic Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum to resolve the month-long blockade. They secretly traveled aboard the Consular-class cruiser Radiant VII, where they were greeted in the Saak'ak in orbit around Naboo by the protocol droid TC-14. While Jinn and Kenobi waited in a conference room, TC-14 informed the Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray that the Republic had sent Jedi.
Gunray felt threatened and consulted Darth Sidious, the secret mastermind of the blockade. Sidious ordered the Jedi to be killed and for the Trade Federation to begin landing their troops on Naboo. They began by destroying the docked Radiant VII, killing crewmembers Maoi Madakor and Antidar Williams. Jinn and Kenobi sensed the ship's destruction and noticed dioxis gas filling the conference room, holding their breaths to survive the poison. A group of OOM-series battle droids arrived at the conference room and were instructed by Gunray to deal with the Jedi's remains. Instead, Jinn and Kenobi emerged and began cutting down the battle droids. They quickly headed for the bridge entrance, where Jinn began cutting through the blast door with his lightsaber.
Their attempted intrusion was interupted by the arrival of two droidekas who immiediately fired upon the Jedi. Recognizing that they could not penetrate the droids' shields, Jinn and Kenobi escaped into the ventilation shaft. They emerged to see the Droid Army preparing to land on Naboo, and snuck into separate transports so they could meet on the world's surface. The Jedi eventually arrived in Theed, Naboo's capital, to rescue Queen Amidala, who was dismayed to learn that the negotiations to end the blockade had never occurred.
The Trade Federation stationed a battle fleet around Naboo, led by the flagship Saak'ak.
The Sith Lord Darth Sidious, known publicly as Senator Palpatine of the planet Naboo, sought to dominate the galaxy to complete the Sith Grand Plan. In 32 BBY, Palpatine convinced Republic Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum to support the passage of Senate Resolution BR-0371, which resulted in a loss of profits for the Trade Federation, but also allowed them to significantly expand a Droid Army.
The Neimoidian Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray was secretly under the sway of Sidious, who convinced him to blockade a planet in response to BR-0371, preferably Naboo, his own homeworld. Six months after the passage of BR-0371, the Trade Federation launched the blockade of Naboo, halting all commerce to the world by surrounding it with a battle fleet of Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighters, including the Saak'ak, which served as the flagship. The Sith and Neimoidians' eventual goal was to invade the planet itself with the Droid Army, convincing Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo to sign a treaty relinquishing the planet and its plasma reserves to the Trade Federation. The Trade Federation leadership believed that Amidala would quickly capitulate, creating an example that would intimidate other worlds, but she refused.
Chancellor Valorum dispatched the Radiant VII to transport Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to resolve the blockade of Naboo.
Naboo's circumstances were debated endlessly by the Senate Galactic Republic for close to a month. At that time, Queen Amidala communicated via hologram with Valorum, explaining that she held him personally responsible for the suffering of her Naboo. The chancellor chose to break protocol through private action, using his Jedi friend Adi Gallia to request aid from the Jedi Council without informing the Senate. Jedi Master Mace Windu dispatched Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi to negotiate with the Neimoidian Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to bring an end to the blockade. Valorum informed Amidala that he had sent Jedi ambassadors to deal with the blockade.
Valorum prepared a dossier for Jinn to provide intelligence on Naboo and the Trade Federation. In it, he expressed a concern that an armed conflict with the Trade Federation could destablize the galactic community, and that he suspected a hidden influence behind the blockade that he hoped would reveal itself. He also hoped the Jedi reputation would frighten the Neimoidian's into compliance. Jinn and Kenobi traveled to Naboo aboard the Radiant VII, a Consular-class cruiser which, given the sensitive nature of the mission, was piloted by a skeleton crew consisting of Judicial Forces personnel Antidar Williams and Maoi Madakor.
The Jedi wait for negotiations to start
As they approached the Saak'ak, Madakor communicated with Gunray via transmission that the Jedi wished to board the vessel, and the viceroy stated that he would happily receive the ambassadors. Jinn could already sense the nervousness of the Neimoidians through the Force. Once the Radiant VII had landed, Jinn pondered to Kenobi why the Trade Federation had selected Naboo receiving no answer. The Jedi were greeted by the protocol droid TC-14, who led them to a conference room before leaving to retrieve Gunray. Kenobi shared his unease with his master, sensing through the Force that something was wrong. Jinn assured him that he needed to focus away from his anxieties, and that he expected the cowardly Neimoidians to quickly resolve their issues.
TC-14 informed Gunray and Daultay Dofine that the ambassadors were Jedi, causing both to panic. Gunray ordered Dofine to distract the Jedi while he contacted Sidious, an order Dofine refused, insisting that TC-14 rejoin the Jedi instead. TC-14 arrived in the conference room with beverages for the Jedi, and Kenobi questioned the time they had spent waiting while Jinn sensed an unusually high level of fear in the Neimoidians. In a meeting on the planet Coruscant with his Sith Master, Darth Plagueis, Sidious received word from Valorum that the Jedi had been sent to Naboo. Both were concerned, believing the Neimoidians could panic and reveal Sith's intentions, and knew that Jinn and Kenobi were cause for concern, as they had interupted previous Sith schemes.
Sidious assured Plagueis that the two were no much for the thousands of battle droids at the Trade Federation's disposal, and that he would order Gunray to kill them. Plagueis believed that Jinn could hide and wreak havoc on the Saak'ak, so Sidious concluded that they would commence the invasion ahead of schedule, changing the Jedi's objectives from arresting the Neimoidians to protecting the Naboo. The Neimoidians conferred with Sidious via hologram, Gunray was unsure of the course of action, knowing the Jedi would not have Senate approval for the mission, while Dofine's fear of the Jedi led him to claim that the scheme had already failed. Sidious dismissed Dofine and ordered Gunray to begin the Invasion of Naboo, assuring him that he could guarantee the invasion's legality. Gunray questioned what was to be done with the Jedi, and Sidious stated that the chancellor should not have involved them, ordering their deaths.
Sidious orders the deaths of Jinn and Kenobi
Gunray immediately ordered Haako to destroy the Radiant VII and sent a squad of battle droids to deal with the Jedi. Sidious's apprentice Darth Maul, who had watched the transmission, asked his master whether he truly believed the Neimoidians could kill the Jedi, and Sidious responded that even fools such as the Neimoidians could get lucky. Maul knew that the Neimoidians would fail and hoped that he would be summoned to battle the Jedi in order to prove himself.
The battle droids discover that the Jedi are still alive
Gunray pressed a button to view the hangar where the Radiant VII was docked, and barely hesitated to activate the hangar's autoturret. Williams and Madakor noticed the turret turning towards them, but were unable to raise their shields in time and were killed by turretfire, along with additional manual fire by the droid OWO-3 ordered by gunner Jull Dremon, which destroyed the Radiant VII. Jinn and Kenobi immediately sensed the disturbance and drew their lightsabers, before noticing that the room was being flooded with poisonous dioxis gas, which killed the Neimoidian pylat birds on display in the conference room. The Jedi began holding their breaths. A group of ten OOM-series battle droids marched to the conference room, where Gunray ordered them via hologram to destroy what remained of the Jedi.
The programming of one of the droids, SSA-1015, assured him that the Jedi could be defeated. Once the droids opened the door, TC-14 emerged, apologizing for her interuption as she escaped into the corridor. The droid leader OWO-1 ordered a corporal to investigate, but first they saw the activated lightsabers and began firing with their E-5 blaster rifles. Jinn and Kenobi quickly cut down the droids, slashing through them, deflecting their fire, and using the Force to push three of them down. Panicking at the loss of transmission from the droids, Gunray ordered the bridge of the Saak'ak sealed off and called for droidekas to deal with the Jedi. Haako expressed doubt that he and Gunray would survive the hostile encounter.
Jinn and Kenobi under fire by droidekas
In only seconds, Jinn and Kenobi made their way to the bridge, acting as a seemingly unstoppable force able to anticipate their opponents attacks. Jinn began cutting through the doorway with his lightsaber while Kenobi cut down approaching battle droids. Gunray had the blast door activated, believing it would hold them, but Jinn's lightsaber was still able to pierce the door. The bridge crew stared transfixed as the blast door melted away, leading to various mutterings until Gunray screamed for silence. Just as Haako complained about the lack of droidekas, two units, the leader P-59 and subordinate P-60, rolled up behind the Jedi and began rapidly firing on them. Jinn sensed their arrival was forced to withdraw from the door to help Kenobi block their fire, and the Jedi realized that they could not breach the droid's shields. They used the Force to speed away, escaping behind the droids and into a ventilation shaft.
The droidekas switched to biological scanners, allowing them to spot the Jedi as they entered the shaft. Haako was scarcely able to believe that they had survived, and Gunray stood in disbelief at the Jedi's involvement, believing they were impossible to kill. It did not occur to the droids to search the service vents as a team of Humans would have, which Jinn was thankful for as he and Kenobi crept through them. When they emerged in the Saak'ak's hangar, Jinn and Kenobi saw the ruins of the Radiant VII, and the Droid Army preparing for the surface invasion, considering it an odd play for the Trade Federation to make. Jinn instructed Kenobi to stow aboard separate C-9979 landing crafts, hoping to warn the Naboo and Chancellor Valorum about the invasion. Kenobi joked that his master had been right about the length of the negotiations.
Jinn and Kenobi's mission triggered the Invasion of Naboo early
Queen Amidala connected with the Saak'ak via transmission, believing that the blockade had been resolved by the ambassadors. Gunray denied that they had arrived and lied that Amidala had been mistaken. Amidala told Gunray that he had gone too far, and he responded that the Trade Federation would not act without Senate approval. Haako told Gunray that the queen was right and questioned whether she suspected an attack. Gunray was unsure, but ordered that communications on Naboo be disrupted immediately.
To that end, Gunray dispatched the B1-Series battle droid OOM-9 to land on Naboo ahead of the rest of the Droid Army to disable transmitters that would have allowed Naboo to spread word of the invasion to the Republic. In a meeting of the Naboo Royal Advisory Council, Amidala communicated the ambassador's lack of presence to Palpatine via hologram, which Palpatine claimed to be shocked to hear based on assurances from the chancellor. Naboo Governor Sio Bibble realized that a disruption could only mean a forthcoming invasion. Amidala hoped that negotiations would be able to save the Naboo, while the rest of her advisors were doubtful.
During Kenobi's voyage down to the planet, he disrupted the ship's communications so as not to reveal his presence. The disruption attracted the attention of the rest of the ship, and Battle droid squad 8313 was sent to investigate, forcing Kenobi to eliminate the squad. Moving through to the Armored Assault Tank storage bay, he contacted Jinn, who ordered him to either the main control room or the turbine room in order to force the ship to crash-land. Kenobi fought his way through to the turbine room and disabled the turbines. He then went to the main control room and cut down all the present battle droids. He then disabled the holoprojector and went down the hole to the lower level and proceeded to the Multi-Troop Transport bay, where he fought and destroyed a new type of assassin droid armed with a cortosis blade. After the droid was destroyed, Jinn ordered Kenobi to hide until he landed.
The Trade Federation's landing craft were deployed in groups of three to cut off the Naboo cities from each other. Among the transports was TT-6, which carried the majority of the officer battle droids, and TT-9, an auxiliary mobile supply transport. The Neimoidians searched the Saak'ak for the Jedi, realizing that they must have escaped onboard a landing craft. They transmitted to OOM-9, ordering him to continue searching, and the droid responded that they would be found if they were present.
When they landed on the surface, Kenobi and Jinn were separated. Kenobi hid in the swamps and swam to the shore, where he faced a squad of B1 battle droids. After dispatching them, he hid in the water again. He then met a Gungan named Jar Jar Binks. The two ran away from Federation Single Trooper Aerial Platforms, and Kenobi fell into the swamp water. Once back on land, he was used a pushed a stump to climb on top of a log where Binks was perched. The Gungan ran off, and Kenobi followed. Kenobi destroyed the droids in his way. He then jumped into the water; when he got back on land he faced more battle droids in his way around a stuck Multi-Troop Transport. He jumped around a series of small islands in the swamp to avoid the carnivorous fish. Kenobi found Binks again and asked if he had seen his master. Binks said yes and led the young Jedi away. Kenobi tried to follow the Gungan and got stuck in a pit. He got out by pushing a stump to where he could climb out and grab a vine to climb across to the other side. He followed Binks to a droid staging area, and took hold of a heavy repeating cannon to blast two destroyer droids. After that, Binks led him back to Jinn.
Kenobi and Jinn met the Gungan Jar Jar Binks on Naboo.
Jinn saw Binks in the path of a Multi-Troop Transport and tackled him to the ground, saving the Gungan's life. As Jinn chastised Binks for his clumsiness, Kenobi ran towards them, pursued by two Single Trooper Aerial Platforms, which Jinn destroyed by deflecting their fire into them. Kenobi and Jinn persuaded Binks to help them, and the Gungan lead them into the swamps In the meantime, Gunray and Haako communicated with Sidious, where they chose to avoid telling him about the missing Jedi.
By the time Kenobi reunited with Jinn, his lightsaber had shorted out. After traveling through the swamps, Binks led the two Jedi into the water of the swamps and into Otoh Gunga, the Gungan capital. There they were brought before Boss Rugor Nass and his advisors. Jinn used a mind trick to convince Nass to lend them a Tribubble bongo and a path to Theed. Nass agreed and told them to travel through the planet's core. Jinn was also able to free Binks, who was going to be punished for returning from his exile. Binks and the two Jedi were able to navigate through the porous core and end up near Theed, surfacing on the Solleu River.
Jinn and Kenobi eventually met with the Naboo leadership, where they revealed what had become of their negotiations.
The morning after their landing, the Droid Army captured Theed with relative ease and escorted Amidala and her entourage from Theed Royal Palace. While battle droids escorted them to Camp Four, Jinn and Kenobi mounted a rescue, revealing that they were the chancellor's ambassadors and that the negotiations were prevented. The Jedi planned to escort Amidala to Coruscant to testify on the Trade Federation's crimes, eventually doing so after a delay forced them to land on the planet Tatooine for some time. During the Fall of Theed, a rumor spread among refugees fleeing the city that the Jedi Order had sent a platoon of Knights to storm the blockade, but they had been captured. TC-14's regularly scheduled memory wipe was scheduled earlier than usual to hide any evidence of the incident from the Senate, but she was destroyed aboard the Vuutun Palaa in the Battle of Naboo before it took place.
The Mission to Naboo was created as the opening action scene for the 1999 prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, written and directed by George Lucas. It first appeared in the film's novelization by Terry Brooks, released on April 21, 1999 before the film's premiere on May 19, of that year. Early concept art for the film by Doug Chiang portrayed Kenobi alone meeting with the Trade Federation aboard their battleship, as Jinn had not been integrated into the story. The forty-second issue of Star Wars Insider, released in February/March of 1999, revealed a shot of the Jedi approaching Naboo and hinted that their investigation was about to turn deadly. The mission was first identified in the 2012 reference book Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary.
Former Marvel Star Wars comics editor Mary Jo Duffy described the scene as her favorite moment of the prequels, acknowledging that it took her back to being a rabid Star Wars fan.
In the film, two droidekas attack the Jedi, but the numbers vary across different sources. In the novelization and movie storybook, ten droidekas arrive to attack Jinn and Kenobi, and in the comic five roll in.
In both novelizations, Jinn and Kenobi hide from the droidekas after detecting their presence, rather than using the Force to escape immediately as portrayed in the film.
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