A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
STAR
WARS
Episode I
The Queen’s Gambit
The greedy Trade Federation strike first by sending a Dark Jedi, Darth Maul inside the Royal Palace to attack Qui-Gon Jinn in the power generator room, assisted by his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Maul attacks in a Frenzy; and again and Qui-Gon takes 3 quick blows. Deeper inside the palace, newly activated droids are given a command to head down the hall where, all of a sudden, a number of Naboo Palace guards are gathered. One guard falls in the crossfire as either the Queen or her decoy - the one dressed in red - ascends the window ledge up to the second level of the palace while two of her guards, ambitious to help their queen, rise to the third level.
Though the Naboo know the palace is important, as they need to secure the Throne Room and take the Viceroy prisoner, they can’t be successful unless the Gungans keep the main Droid Army occupied at the edge of the swamp and Anakin in his starfighter can destroy the droid control ship.
Lined up on opposite sides of a shield generator, the droids at the battlefield near the swamp cross the Gungan's shield aggressively with two squads, wiping out a squad of Gungans and severely injure another. The Gungans, not being the most intelligent strategists when it comes to fighting in an open field, panic and charge with their cavalry Kaduu right away but their weapons are found to be ineffective against the destroyer droids on the other side of the shield. Meanwhile, in space, Anakin finds himself coming across his first wave of droid fighters...
“Let’s try spinning, that’s a neat trick!" Anakin shouts to R2D2, spiraling his ship almost out of control but miraculously making it through.
Elsewhere...
Maul continues to battle Qui-Gon while Obi Wan waits behind the laser shield but before he strikes next, in what seemed like an act of fate (an extra random Theed draw) Qui-Gon summons the force and heals to full. Obi Wan, sensing his chance, jumps into the fray but only takes a hit when Maul counters Obi Wan's poor, first attack. Darth Maul, sensing weakness in his new opponent, turns to battle Obi Wan instead.
While Maul faces his opponents outnumbered, the Trade Federation uses their superior numbers to eliminate the troops on the 3rd floor, those guards' earlier ambition now seeming unwise. A couple of guards on the 1st floor fall as well, as a more droids rush forward, now effectively creating a blockade of droids no guard can rush through at the mid-way point on the 1st floor. The Red queen takes a couple hits also and the Droids seem to have luck on their side in the palace. But just as quickly, four guards charge their lower level counterparts, each killing a droid and breaking the blockade. All shots against the droidekas however, include the Red Queen who is, by now, all alone on the second floor, seem to be ineffective.
On the battlefield the Gungans are not fairing any better as the Kaduu who foolheartedly rushed forward earlier are cut down by 2 droid squads. Another droid squad finishes off a lone Gungan and destroyers rush forward, killing even more Gungans. The battle and fate of the Trade Federation seems to be swinging in their favor (drawing bonus cards every round) and, with the exception of with the Jedi battle, the force seems to be on their side (good rolling). Almost unnoticed however, Anakin passes yet another wave of droid ships.
“Weee!"
All of a sudden, the droid control ship releases two more waves of fighters. The stars almost disappear in front of Anakin’s eyes as the huge mass of ships swarm in front of him like flies. Getting to the control ship looks almost impossible now.
A couple more Palace Guards fall to droid fire on the first floor before disaster strikes for the hopes of the Trade Federation.
Gaining a sense of urgency, multiple troops ascend to the second and third floors, killing droids as they do so and even taking out a couple destroyers with a few lucky blaster shots. Finally the destroyers go on the offensive, deploying one a piece rolling up to both the third and second floors. The lone guard remaining on the third floor falls to its fire while the second floor’s forces are also thinned. A the bulk of the troops are still down by Panaka and the queen dressed in purple, either the real queen or the decoy. Two destroyers roll - one from up top - down to the second floor to attack the Red Queen but miraculously she dodges the flury of blaster bolts.
Near the swamp...
Droid squads now penetrate all areas of the Gungan shield and the droid commander sees it fit to now redeploy two of his unneeded destroyers back to the palace where he hears there is a strong force of Naboo guards there, endangering the Viceroy. No sooner does he do this than a couple of catapult shots fire above the Gungan ranks, wiping out a droid squad and cutting one of his other destroyer groups in half.
In the generator room, Obi Wan is now taking the brunt of Maul’s fury. Tactically, Maul is lulled into a false sense of security though as Qui-Gon, who has made few aggressive attacks, instead positions it so that Obi Wan can make his way on the outside, with Qui-Gon blocking Maul from persuing.
“Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs," he shouts back at him.
Maul, exhausted and halfway beaten turns to face Qui-Gon yet again.
More and more droid ships poor out of the control ship.
“This is tense!" Anakin says as he narrowly passes one more swarm only to be pursued by another.
“We're hit, R2! Aah! Everything's overheated. This is not good"
Once more at the battlefield...
A long standoff occurs with neither side making much progress. Far from being phased by the Gungans latest weapon however, the droids finally regroup sending in droid squads two by four again and earning more victories (cards). The Gungans gain little and begin to break, all but abandoning the fight.
At the palace the one of the destroyer droids dispatched from the battlefield is immediately cut down in a hail of guard blaster fire. If the Trade Federation was overwhelmed by the effectiveness of their droids against Gungans, they were equally mortified at the abysmal performance of their droids in the Palace. Still, more focus goes into wiping out any of the Palace Guards that were able to ascend and a couple more on the ground floor fall as well as the droids attempt to block up the lower window ledges.
An older though wiser Qui-Gon has put a valiant fight up against Maul who, consumed with the Dark Side’s flaws of being blinded by rage and overconfidence, takes and gives a lot of damage. A couple lucky swings (extra card draws) gives Obi Wan an opening. With a frenzy of attacks Obi Wan cuts Maul in half, his body falling down the generator shaft as Obi Wan, regretful he did not assist his master more, immediately takes down the palace hall only to find the way is blocked by a mass of Palace Guards and droids fighting.
Though the starfighters and the battle in the swamp seem to be going in favor of the Trade Federation, it may matter little if the palace fight keeps going the way it does.
The Gungans are now in almost full route but the droids, now less concerned on pursuing them, merely round up and eliminate a group here and there. Instead, at the palace only a little less than a dozen Guards still remain but now with Obi Wan behind them. Instead of falling back, the droid commanders send the few remaining droids and the destroyer forward sacrificially to further block the Guards’ and Jedi’s advance. A guard or two fall before they two run past the droids, as equally as ineffective in their exchange of fire with the droids they run past but now, at least, behind the blockade line.
Initially kept back by the lines of a few droids and the mass of his own troops, Obi Wan finally cuts down a droid with ease and dashes almost all the way across the first floor; a destroy droid falling to the fire of yet another lucky guard blaster shot.
Hearing the reports of the fight downstairs, Nute Gunray begins to panic and contemplates calling for more reinforcements from the battlefield, "Where are those droidekas?"
The Trade Federation’s forces on the bottom floor all but scattered, Panaka and half the remaining guards ascend to the second floor, blasting and now almost outnumbering the droids on the second floor. The guards seem to each be marksmen, almost unable to miss. Obi Wan runs far forward, first to the stairs on the first level, then midway through the halls on the second level with lightning speed.
The Trade Federation is in trouble. A droideka finally arrives from the battlefield ready to pursue after him but one of the few remaining guards on the first floor destroys it immediately. The Trade Federation really needed that! Instead, the remaining droids on the second level make a fighting retreat to block the stairs leading up to the third floor, injure the Red Queen more and take out a guard. In all this, Panaka is trapped on the stairway between 3rd and 2nd floors by droids.
Then the rush on the final floor begins...
The Red Queen and the Purple Queen both ascend, to the third and second floors respectively. A couple troops follow the Red Queen while the remaining ones attempt to shoot their way through the droids barrier on the second floor while 1 of the 3 remaining guards on the 1st floor repels his way up to the throne room - the first troop to arrive and ready to take the Viceroy prisoner!
The droids now slightly outnumber the palace forces on the 3rd floor, with 2 remaining guards on the 1st floor, none on second but with Obi Wan, Red Queen and Panaka on 3rd the odds do not look good for the Federation. The Red Queen, now known to be the real queen, goes down as does the Guard in the throne room and the throne room fills with droids. Panaka first gets unstuck on the stairs and then fights his way to the Throne room along with 1 guard, killing the droids there but not before the guard goes down and Panaka takes a wound. The Droids effectively block movement wherever they can and continually reinforce to keep Obi Wan back who kills a couple droids and shrugs all but one or two shots off. All Guard movement is slowed but no Guards remain except two downstairs. Upstairs the Purple Queen, Panaka and Obi Wan remain... where is Qui-Gon?
In a fit of desperation, a few last extra battle cards earn the Trade Federation a few good attempts on Panaka, taking him down to 2 remaining damage. Obi Wan finally gains entrance to the Throne room, he and Obi Wan dispatching more droids into rubble heaps but locking the Purple Queen out who takes the focus of some droid fire and becomes in danger of becoming a casualty herself.
Now would be a good time for Anakin to hurry...
The two last guards repel upward to the throne room, finally, right before a squad of droids arrive fresh from the Gungan battle. The count is Obi Wan, Panaka - on his last breath - and 2 Guards in the Throne room with the Purple Queen outside with 4 droids. A Droid moves into the Throne Room and kills a Palace Guard and another hits the Purple Queen - she knows if she takes two more hits like that she’ll likely die. All of a sudden the droid’s marksmanship has become red hot.
The droid in the throne room dies as does Panaka. The Trade Federation now has 3 droids left. Though they know their control ship is relatively safe - for now - they are dangerously low on reinforcements on the 3rd floor and the next nearest ones are too far away. They need to strike now!
With three remaining droids they try and analyze all the data that might lead them to victory.
“Doooezzz not compute! Dooooezzz not compute!"
With three remaining droids, they need to kill a Guard and hit the Purple Queen twice to win and, with no reinforcements anywhere close to the action, they need to do it before the next Naboo card which will surely kill 1 of the Droids and bottle up the Throne room.
All three make their move. The first goes into the throne room and takes a shot at the Guard aiming at the Viceroy from a remote corner. A dead shot, right through the rib cage! Next, two droids swarm around the decoy Queen. 1 takes a shot. The bolt rings loud, echoing in the hall and the decoy tries to evade but it burns through her hand as she drops her blaster. The last droid takes aim as the decoy watches, defenseless. The shot fires. Her lifeless body falls to the floor.
Though in the Throne Room, Obi Wan, backed only by Qui-Gon who must have passed out from exhaustion in the generator room, cannot hope to overwhelm the Viceroy and their hordes of droid. They flee.
“They're no match for droidekas." Viceroy Nute Gunray proclaims.
In space, the potential to balance of the force ends as Anakin’s smoking Naboo fighter crashes down onto the planet below, but not before seeing waves of Gungans fleeing their battlefield, dying as they are pursued and shot down by the remaining droid army.
STAR
WARS
Episode I
The Queen’s Gambit
The greedy Trade Federation strike first by sending a Dark Jedi, Darth Maul inside the Royal Palace to attack Qui-Gon Jinn in the power generator room, assisted by his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Maul attacks in a Frenzy; and again and Qui-Gon takes 3 quick blows. Deeper inside the palace, newly activated droids are given a command to head down the hall where, all of a sudden, a number of Naboo Palace guards are gathered. One guard falls in the crossfire as either the Queen or her decoy - the one dressed in red - ascends the window ledge up to the second level of the palace while two of her guards, ambitious to help their queen, rise to the third level.
Though the Naboo know the palace is important, as they need to secure the Throne Room and take the Viceroy prisoner, they can’t be successful unless the Gungans keep the main Droid Army occupied at the edge of the swamp and Anakin in his starfighter can destroy the droid control ship.
Lined up on opposite sides of a shield generator, the droids at the battlefield near the swamp cross the Gungan's shield aggressively with two squads, wiping out a squad of Gungans and severely injure another. The Gungans, not being the most intelligent strategists when it comes to fighting in an open field, panic and charge with their cavalry Kaduu right away but their weapons are found to be ineffective against the destroyer droids on the other side of the shield. Meanwhile, in space, Anakin finds himself coming across his first wave of droid fighters...
“Let’s try spinning, that’s a neat trick!" Anakin shouts to R2D2, spiraling his ship almost out of control but miraculously making it through.
Elsewhere...
Maul continues to battle Qui-Gon while Obi Wan waits behind the laser shield but before he strikes next, in what seemed like an act of fate (an extra random Theed draw) Qui-Gon summons the force and heals to full. Obi Wan, sensing his chance, jumps into the fray but only takes a hit when Maul counters Obi Wan's poor, first attack. Darth Maul, sensing weakness in his new opponent, turns to battle Obi Wan instead.
While Maul faces his opponents outnumbered, the Trade Federation uses their superior numbers to eliminate the troops on the 3rd floor, those guards' earlier ambition now seeming unwise. A couple of guards on the 1st floor fall as well, as a more droids rush forward, now effectively creating a blockade of droids no guard can rush through at the mid-way point on the 1st floor. The Red queen takes a couple hits also and the Droids seem to have luck on their side in the palace. But just as quickly, four guards charge their lower level counterparts, each killing a droid and breaking the blockade. All shots against the droidekas however, include the Red Queen who is, by now, all alone on the second floor, seem to be ineffective.
On the battlefield the Gungans are not fairing any better as the Kaduu who foolheartedly rushed forward earlier are cut down by 2 droid squads. Another droid squad finishes off a lone Gungan and destroyers rush forward, killing even more Gungans. The battle and fate of the Trade Federation seems to be swinging in their favor (drawing bonus cards every round) and, with the exception of with the Jedi battle, the force seems to be on their side (good rolling). Almost unnoticed however, Anakin passes yet another wave of droid ships.
“Weee!"
All of a sudden, the droid control ship releases two more waves of fighters. The stars almost disappear in front of Anakin’s eyes as the huge mass of ships swarm in front of him like flies. Getting to the control ship looks almost impossible now.
A couple more Palace Guards fall to droid fire on the first floor before disaster strikes for the hopes of the Trade Federation.
Gaining a sense of urgency, multiple troops ascend to the second and third floors, killing droids as they do so and even taking out a couple destroyers with a few lucky blaster shots. Finally the destroyers go on the offensive, deploying one a piece rolling up to both the third and second floors. The lone guard remaining on the third floor falls to its fire while the second floor’s forces are also thinned. A the bulk of the troops are still down by Panaka and the queen dressed in purple, either the real queen or the decoy. Two destroyers roll - one from up top - down to the second floor to attack the Red Queen but miraculously she dodges the flury of blaster bolts.
Near the swamp...
Droid squads now penetrate all areas of the Gungan shield and the droid commander sees it fit to now redeploy two of his unneeded destroyers back to the palace where he hears there is a strong force of Naboo guards there, endangering the Viceroy. No sooner does he do this than a couple of catapult shots fire above the Gungan ranks, wiping out a droid squad and cutting one of his other destroyer groups in half.
In the generator room, Obi Wan is now taking the brunt of Maul’s fury. Tactically, Maul is lulled into a false sense of security though as Qui-Gon, who has made few aggressive attacks, instead positions it so that Obi Wan can make his way on the outside, with Qui-Gon blocking Maul from persuing.
“Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs," he shouts back at him.
Maul, exhausted and halfway beaten turns to face Qui-Gon yet again.
More and more droid ships poor out of the control ship.
“This is tense!" Anakin says as he narrowly passes one more swarm only to be pursued by another.
“We're hit, R2! Aah! Everything's overheated. This is not good"
Once more at the battlefield...
A long standoff occurs with neither side making much progress. Far from being phased by the Gungans latest weapon however, the droids finally regroup sending in droid squads two by four again and earning more victories (cards). The Gungans gain little and begin to break, all but abandoning the fight.
At the palace the one of the destroyer droids dispatched from the battlefield is immediately cut down in a hail of guard blaster fire. If the Trade Federation was overwhelmed by the effectiveness of their droids against Gungans, they were equally mortified at the abysmal performance of their droids in the Palace. Still, more focus goes into wiping out any of the Palace Guards that were able to ascend and a couple more on the ground floor fall as well as the droids attempt to block up the lower window ledges.
An older though wiser Qui-Gon has put a valiant fight up against Maul who, consumed with the Dark Side’s flaws of being blinded by rage and overconfidence, takes and gives a lot of damage. A couple lucky swings (extra card draws) gives Obi Wan an opening. With a frenzy of attacks Obi Wan cuts Maul in half, his body falling down the generator shaft as Obi Wan, regretful he did not assist his master more, immediately takes down the palace hall only to find the way is blocked by a mass of Palace Guards and droids fighting.
Though the starfighters and the battle in the swamp seem to be going in favor of the Trade Federation, it may matter little if the palace fight keeps going the way it does.
The Gungans are now in almost full route but the droids, now less concerned on pursuing them, merely round up and eliminate a group here and there. Instead, at the palace only a little less than a dozen Guards still remain but now with Obi Wan behind them. Instead of falling back, the droid commanders send the few remaining droids and the destroyer forward sacrificially to further block the Guards’ and Jedi’s advance. A guard or two fall before they two run past the droids, as equally as ineffective in their exchange of fire with the droids they run past but now, at least, behind the blockade line.
Initially kept back by the lines of a few droids and the mass of his own troops, Obi Wan finally cuts down a droid with ease and dashes almost all the way across the first floor; a destroy droid falling to the fire of yet another lucky guard blaster shot.
Hearing the reports of the fight downstairs, Nute Gunray begins to panic and contemplates calling for more reinforcements from the battlefield, "Where are those droidekas?"
The Trade Federation’s forces on the bottom floor all but scattered, Panaka and half the remaining guards ascend to the second floor, blasting and now almost outnumbering the droids on the second floor. The guards seem to each be marksmen, almost unable to miss. Obi Wan runs far forward, first to the stairs on the first level, then midway through the halls on the second level with lightning speed.
The Trade Federation is in trouble. A droideka finally arrives from the battlefield ready to pursue after him but one of the few remaining guards on the first floor destroys it immediately. The Trade Federation really needed that! Instead, the remaining droids on the second level make a fighting retreat to block the stairs leading up to the third floor, injure the Red Queen more and take out a guard. In all this, Panaka is trapped on the stairway between 3rd and 2nd floors by droids.
Then the rush on the final floor begins...
The Red Queen and the Purple Queen both ascend, to the third and second floors respectively. A couple troops follow the Red Queen while the remaining ones attempt to shoot their way through the droids barrier on the second floor while 1 of the 3 remaining guards on the 1st floor repels his way up to the throne room - the first troop to arrive and ready to take the Viceroy prisoner!
The droids now slightly outnumber the palace forces on the 3rd floor, with 2 remaining guards on the 1st floor, none on second but with Obi Wan, Red Queen and Panaka on 3rd the odds do not look good for the Federation. The Red Queen, now known to be the real queen, goes down as does the Guard in the throne room and the throne room fills with droids. Panaka first gets unstuck on the stairs and then fights his way to the Throne room along with 1 guard, killing the droids there but not before the guard goes down and Panaka takes a wound. The Droids effectively block movement wherever they can and continually reinforce to keep Obi Wan back who kills a couple droids and shrugs all but one or two shots off. All Guard movement is slowed but no Guards remain except two downstairs. Upstairs the Purple Queen, Panaka and Obi Wan remain... where is Qui-Gon?
In a fit of desperation, a few last extra battle cards earn the Trade Federation a few good attempts on Panaka, taking him down to 2 remaining damage. Obi Wan finally gains entrance to the Throne room, he and Obi Wan dispatching more droids into rubble heaps but locking the Purple Queen out who takes the focus of some droid fire and becomes in danger of becoming a casualty herself.
Now would be a good time for Anakin to hurry...
The two last guards repel upward to the throne room, finally, right before a squad of droids arrive fresh from the Gungan battle. The count is Obi Wan, Panaka - on his last breath - and 2 Guards in the Throne room with the Purple Queen outside with 4 droids. A Droid moves into the Throne Room and kills a Palace Guard and another hits the Purple Queen - she knows if she takes two more hits like that she’ll likely die. All of a sudden the droid’s marksmanship has become red hot.
The droid in the throne room dies as does Panaka. The Trade Federation now has 3 droids left. Though they know their control ship is relatively safe - for now - they are dangerously low on reinforcements on the 3rd floor and the next nearest ones are too far away. They need to strike now!
With three remaining droids they try and analyze all the data that might lead them to victory.
“Doooezzz not compute! Dooooezzz not compute!"
With three remaining droids, they need to kill a Guard and hit the Purple Queen twice to win and, with no reinforcements anywhere close to the action, they need to do it before the next Naboo card which will surely kill 1 of the Droids and bottle up the Throne room.
All three make their move. The first goes into the throne room and takes a shot at the Guard aiming at the Viceroy from a remote corner. A dead shot, right through the rib cage! Next, two droids swarm around the decoy Queen. 1 takes a shot. The bolt rings loud, echoing in the hall and the decoy tries to evade but it burns through her hand as she drops her blaster. The last droid takes aim as the decoy watches, defenseless. The shot fires. Her lifeless body falls to the floor.
Though in the Throne Room, Obi Wan, backed only by Qui-Gon who must have passed out from exhaustion in the generator room, cannot hope to overwhelm the Viceroy and their hordes of droid. They flee.
“They're no match for droidekas." Viceroy Nute Gunray proclaims.
In space, the potential to balance of the force ends as Anakin’s smoking Naboo fighter crashes down onto the planet below, but not before seeing waves of Gungans fleeing their battlefield, dying as they are pursued and shot down by the remaining droid army.