C-3PO finally came out of the rock he was hiding behind. In all the hubbub to capture Aalya, no one had much cared about him and had left without noticing his absense.
“Oh, dear me. What am I to do? How could Mistresses Padme and Aalya just leave me like that?†C-3PO uttered, wallowing in self pity. The inconvenient fact that they had been captured against their will got conveniently overlooked.
“Oh my, THIS will never do,†he declared, brushing the grit off marring his otherwise gleaming personage. The fact that he was going to be all alone in a strange and scary place finally prodded the protocal droid into action. “Mistress padme and Mistress aalya need me. I must do all I can to help them.†With that, C-3PO began stiffly walking in the direction that the droids had taken Aaalya.
Inside his cavern base within the temple, Nute Gunray was supervising his droid troopers. They were planting charges throughout the temple to level it and destroy the supply of adegan crystals. Afterwards, the only supply in the galaxy would be what they had loaded into the metal containers stockpiled in the room. Once, they loaded them onto his shuttle, along with the senator and that bothersome jedi, the Trade Federation would be in a very enviable postion and Viceroy Nute Gunray in particular. “I wonder what I will do with all those credits,†the neimodian wondered, rubbing his hands together and salivating at the prospect.
Meanwhile, Padme had managed to scrunch her way into a sitting position against the wall. She tried to focus out the throbbing pain of the binders which were painfully tight and pinched her skin through the thin fabric of her bodysuit. She looked at Aayla who had managed to do the same thing against an opposite wall. “mmo, mmuff smar fe moing mo so mow?†or rather “so, what are we going to do now/†before her gag muffled the words. Aalya seemed to understand and shrugged her head in the universal sign for “hell if I knowâ€
“GREAT!†thought padme. “SHE’S the jedi and she doesn’t know! Wait maybe there’s something I can use in this room†The senator scanned the room but it was completely bare. As she leaned back in despair, the jagged surface of the rock wall bit into her back.
“WAIT! THAT’S IT!†Padme thought in triumph. She used her fingers to scrape a slender sliver of jagged stone from the wall. Painfully, she twisted it into the lock of the binders securing her wrists. After one final turn, the binders clicked open, and padme’s hands were freed. Aalya watched intently as padme scrunched her way on her knees over to where aalya was sitting. They turned back to back and padme passed the stone sliver to the jedi who undid the binders on her wrist. Then Padme managed to stand and aayla undid the binders around padme’s elbows. With relief, padme rubbed her aching elbows and shoulders once they were free and removed the gag from her mouth.
“I’ll have you free in no time,†she reassured her jedi cohort. “That’s a relief,†aalya said. “hey,†padme asked “why didn’t you use your jedi powers to free us?â€
“I couldn’t,†aalya said apologetically. “The binders they used were damped in anti-mitichoridians. It’s something Dooku found that negates a jedi’s power.â€
“Anti-mitichoridians, sure†Padme said, raising an eyebrow and not buying it for a second.
“I’m serious,†aalya said defensively. “Do you think I can make this stuff up.â€
“well, now that we’re free, how are we going to get out of here.†Padme wanted to know The door is ray shielded and the deactivator is on the OTHER side.â€
“That’s HOW,†aalya said in joy, pointing to the mouth of the cavern where a certain protocal droid was not so stealthily making his way.
“Hello, is anyone there,†asked C-3PO.
“Hold it right there, republic droid scum!†ordered the battle droids, training their weapons on the hapless 3PO.
“What’s this†Gunray exclaimed. With everyone’s attention focused on C-3PO, Aalya used her force skills to deactivate the cell door and force drew her lightsaber into her outstretched hand and procured a blaster for padme.
“3PO, I could kiss you,†padme said in joy, opening fire on the surprised battle droids.