Chapter 8: Naboo

The edge of the Andromeda galaxy was silent, as dark space tends to be. From numerous small rifts in the very fabric of space, dozens of GC vessels slipped back into real-space. Unlike the other fleets that have recently come to Andromeda, this fleet was not meant for science, or war. It was meant to build.

The Seed Fleet began arranging itself, its central vessel stretching an impressive 50 kilometers. Over the course of several hours, it began laying down foundries for Sentinel drones. All of the vessels began laying the foundation for the massive "dry dock" that would provide a foundation for the largest Ark ever built. It was a central Halo ring, 5,000 kilometers in diameter. A flurry of construction drones set to work, Hard Light assembly arrays being used to fuse the Forerunner Alloy together to form the scaffolding.

Large vessels began breaking off from the formation, slipping back into the void. Planning was essential, they arrived over the gravity wells of gas giants, all of them harboring the essential gases for World Building procedures. These specialized ships began practically swallowing the gas giants whole, their enriched guts finding a home in the storage that the Domain offered. These valuable planets were scanned intently, ensuring that they were well out of the way from civilized space.

As gas giants found themselves swallowed by the Singularity Cores of the disposable vessels, they were transported back to the Andromeda Ark's building site. The few days that passed allowed for the central Halo's scaffolding to be complete, the blue underglow of GC technology pulsing through its metallic superstructure. The five World Builder vessels began converging on the central scaffolding, orienting their forked bows towards the center.

As the vessels approached, their bow began to glow with an iridescent blue light, which was mirrored in the center of the Halo ring. The central point of manipulated gravity began gathering the exotic metals, gases, and compounds that were gathered by the World Builders, allowing the Sentinels to begin gathering the materials for transport to the now-constructing Ark Scaffolding.

The first week was filled by the construction of the Ark's power array, an artificial star, not unlike Sol, that would mold the raw matter brought to it by the World Builders into the Ark. The eight arms of the Ark would be built two at a time, with six of them designed to mirror the native habitat of the GC species. One would be tailored to Humans, one to Sangheili, one to Unggoy, one to Kig-Yar, one to the Lekgolo, and one to the Jiralhane. The final two arms would not be built to harbor a species in its natural habitat, but they would have purpose. One would serve as the GC's shipyard and port in Andromeda, allowing for ships to be built, rearmed, refueled, and repaired. The final arm would harbor embassies, companies, trading hubs, and outreach facilities. Each arm of the Ark would cover the same area as Earth, with variations on its terrain, climate, and ecosystem to better suit the resident species. The Ark would not only be a base for GC military operations, it would be a home for the people of the Coalition.

The Ark began reaching out towards the stars, built by the Sentinels and guarded by the Seed Fleet. The Ark's year-long construction had begun.

XXXXX

Two LAAT gunships were directed into the hanger bay on the outskirts of Naboo's capital building, setting down in the designated area for Republic transports. The airtight doors on the side of the transport opened up, allowing Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Anakin to step onto the planet's surface. SPARTAN Team Gamma followed behind, wearing their black Gel-Layered bodysuits. Greeting them at the landing pad was the Queen of Naboo, Captain Typho of the Naboo Guard, a golden humanoid droid, and a strange-looking humanoid that appeared amphibian in nature, wearing some form of hat and coverings, and carrying a walking staff of some kind. The SPARTANs recognized her as a Gungan, one of the two natives to Naboo.

As the seven occupants of the dropship stepped onto the hanger bay's floor, the Queen let a smile cross her face as she spoke up. "General Kenobi, General Skywalker, thank you for coming."

"Of course, your highness." Obi-Wan said, ignoring Anakin's nervous look.

"I see you brought some friends from the Galactic Coalition." The Queen added, giving the SPARTANs a nod. "It is an honor to have you here."

"Of course, ma'am." Alice responded, giving a polite half-bow.

"Where's Padme?" Anakin asked, his outburst earning a wince from Kenobi.

"She went to look for the lab." Typho responded, causing Anakin's eyes to go wide.

"And you let her go?" Anakin asked.

"Senator Padme can be very difficult to stop when she has made up her mind." The golden droid said, moving in a very robotic and inorganic way.

"I know what you mean…" Anakin said, sighing.

"This is Peppi Bow, she was the last person to see them." Typho said, gesturing to the Gungan.

"Theysa lookin' for the sick-maker." Peppi said, her accented speech being found highly grating and irritating by the SPARTANs, but they didn't let it show.

"They?" Alice asked.

"Representative Binks was with her." The Queen said.

"Why didn't you send someone to look for them?" Anakin asked, looking to Typho.

"Given the latest developments, we thought it best to wait for you."

"These latest developments being…?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Come, it would be better to discuss this in the Command Room." The Queen said, motioning for everyone to follow.

The Queen and Typho led the way through the halls of Naboo's Palace, decorated in a sparse tan-brown color scheme. The ornate decorations lining the walls were certainly indicative of royalty, but also had a sense of humility to them. It certainly showed that this was one of the wealthiest planets in the entire Republic.

After a few minutes of walking through the winding halls of the Palace, they entered a small circular room, lined on the walls by computer terminals, with a central holographic projection table in the center. On the table, rested the head of a B-1 Battle Droid, with wires running from the back of its head to small ports on the side of the table. The Queen directed everyone to stand around the central table, pressing a few buttons on the side as she spoke. "We did a complete scan of the Battle Droid's memories and managed to recover some of them. We managed to uncover this on in particular."

As she finished speaking, a hologram of a tall, lanky, blue humanoid alien morphed into being on the table. It wore a white labcoat of some kind, had slanted eyes, and a very elongated and thin neck and head. "Who is that?" Kenobi asked.

"Doctor Nuvo Vindi, senior medic for the Perma Families." The Queen answered. "He disappeared without a trace just over ten years ago."

As the Queen noticed the room had fallen into an expectant silence, she began playing back the memory of the Doctor. It appeared to be him speaking through a communicator, with whoever was on the other side remaining out of the projection. "Yes, I do believe we finally have enough of the Blue Shadow Virus to start filling the bombs."

"He said bombs…" The golden droid, C-3P0, said, earning a bleep from R2-D2.

The SPARTANs were visibly uncomfortable, with a look of absolute disgust across Alice's face. The hologram continued speaking after a slight pause, presumably due to Vindi listening to whoever was on the other end. "Yes, we should only need to send one bomb to each key star system, and galactic trade should take care of the rest." At that, the hologram faded out, leaving a darkened projection table.

Obi-Wan was the first to speak up, as the SPARTANs were too busy fuming. "If those bombs get delivered, we'll be facing a galaxy-wide plague. This war will be the least of our concerns."

"Your highness…" Alice began, catching the Queen's attention. "What exactly is the Blue Shadow Virus?"

"It's a virus that is incredibly deadly, most only surviving forty-eight hours after contracting it." The Queen explained. "It causes incredible amounts of blood thinning and deoxidization, turning the victim blue, hence the name. It was eradicated centuries ago, but it would appear that he has managed to create an airborne strain."

Through clenched teeth, Alice continued her questioning. "How can you know that it's airborne?"

"He mentioned that they would be put in bombs and delivered to key star systems." Typho said. "That would only work with an airborne strain, as the original strain of the virus only existed in water."

"Absolutely sickening…" Alice said, her face having gone from the normal, stoic expression that most SPARTANs wore, to a very uncomfortable and downright angry-looking one.

"There is some good news, however." Typho continued. "Senator Amidala found the lab, and managed to send us coordinates before she vanished. We managed to take a deep-scan of the area, and we have a rough projection of what the lab looks like." As Typho spoke, he pressed a few buttons, allowing a holographic projection of the underground facility to appear.

"It's enormous…" Obi-Wan said, looking to the hologram.

It certainly was. It seemed to reach at least a full kilometer below the planet's surface, with numerous branching halls. "We managed to identify the three entry points." As Typho continued, the three rooms closest to the surface were highlighted. "As well as the main lab." The central room, to which six others connected, was highlighted in red as well.

"And the bombs?" Alice asked.

"There is a high amount of radiation coming from this room here." A room near the deepest point was highlighted. "It's the most likely place."

Anakin sighed. "We can't just go in there, guns blazing. If Padme's in there, she could be killed."

"It's a risk we might have to take." Kenobi responded. "Vindi and those bombs cannot leave this planet."

"What if one goes off during the attack?" Ahsoka asked.

"It's better to have one planet infected than the entire galaxy…" Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sighed again, looking to Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, go with the Gungan and scout out the area."

"Kathryn, you're going too." Alice said, addressing the team's combat lifesaver. "We'll notify FLEETCOM and the Republic and get some reinforcements."

"Yes, ma'am." Kathryn said, nodding.

XXXXX

Kathryn and Ahsoka followed behind the Gungan as they trekked through the marshes of Naboo, heading towards a central swamp. The air was humid and hot, making the air feel unnaturally heavy. As they entered the large, central swamp, a strangely shaped ship came into view. "That's the ship belonging to them." The Gungan said, pointing to the ship as she walked past.

As they walked deeper into the swamp, Peppi found herself elevated slightly, and everyone noticed a quiet robotic whirring. Kathryn and Ahsoka both looked down, finding Peppi to be standing atop a small camera, which had popped out of the ground.

"Peppi, don't move!" Ahsoka said, motioning for Kathryn to keep out of the camera's sight line. "It's a scope…"

Kathryn called her armor into real-space as she walked in the scope's blind spot, scanning her surroundings to ensure that no others were watching the area. Once her armor was fully assembled, she activated her Active Camouflage module, fading out of sight and ducking behind the root of a massive tree. After a moment, Ahsoka pushed Peppi behind the same root through the force, and jumped behind it herself.

They watched as the scope scanned the area for another few moments, then slid back underground. As the swamp descended into an eerie silence, Ahsoka and Kathryn both let out a sigh of relief. "Too close..." Kathryn muttered, pushing her helmet back into Slipspace.

"No kidding…" Ahsoka said, pressing a small button on her wrist's armored plate. "Master, are you there?" She asked.

"Ahsoka?" Came Anakin's voice over the communicator. "Did you find Padme?"

"No… we found their ship though." Ahsoka explained. "She's probably inside the lab, but the whole place is wired with pressure sensors and scopes."

"Is the area around the lab secure?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, it's all quiet out here." Ahsoka responded.

"Good, I need you to detonate a Thermal Detonator over the southern end of the facility, cause a distraction." Obi-Wan said. "We'll give you the signal when we arrive."

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka said, nodding. Anakin cut the communication from his end.

Kathryn pulled her Light Rifle into real space, along with her helmet. She scanned the area through her rifle's scope, spotting the area that Kenobi asked Ahsoka to drop the detonator on. A small plate of metal was visible, covered by a thin layer of dirt.

After a few minutes, Ahsoka received a small ping on her communicator, being the signal that Kenobi referenced. She pulled a small, spherical grenade from her belt and reached out through the Force. She pushed it towards the slab of metal in the ground. As the grenade reached the air just above the metal, Ahsoka brought her hand down in a quick motion, causing the explosive to slam into the metal and detonate.

The compound not unlike Thermite began burning through the metal, metal and chemical vapors being visible from the point of impact. A mere moment later, a trio of LAAT gunships flew overhead, one settling a few meters above the hole that Ahsoka's grenade had created in the ground. The other two settled over two other points, each of them dropping similar explosives to the ground.

From the nearest LAAT, six rappel wires descended from the sides, allowing the blue-accented clones of the 501st Legion to start their descent into the facility. Ahsoka and Kathryn stood up, Ahsoka motioning for Peppi to stay behind. The two bolted towards the entrance in the ground, Ahsoka jumping in, followed closely by her SPARTAN partner.

When Kathryn and Ahsoka landed, just a few moments behind six 501st Clones, they were in the middle of a firefight between the Clones and numerous B-2 and B-1 Droids. Ahsoka quickly bolted off towards a concentration of droids, slashing through them in an impressive display of finesse and agility. Kathryn stood her ground, relying on her armor's energy shielding to protect her from the stray blaster bolts that inevitably found their way to her. She simply fired into the advancing droids, covering Ahsoka as she darted through the lumbering machines.

The Clones and their Jedi/SPARTAN support were able to advance after a few moments of firing. Kathryn motioned with her hand, signaling the Clones to move up. Behind her, six more 501st Clones descended the wires, and they fell in behind her.

Kathryn propelled herself forward, assisted by her armor's internal systems. She quickly caught up with Ahsoka, her lightsaber blocking a few blaster bolts from a group of advancing B-2 droids. Kathryn ignited the Hard Light projector on her wrist, causing a blue shield to materialize before her. The hail of automatic blaster fire bounced off of her shield, but its integrity was surprisingly being whittled away rather quickly. She leveled her Light Rifle over the top of the shield, firing into the droids as they lumbered around.

The advance of the Clones, Padawan, and SPARTAN was halted as three Droidekas rolled around the corner, unfurling into their quadrupedal form and firing their blasters at the advancing Republic/GC forces. The small, rapid strikes against Kathryn's projected Hard Light shield caused it to be quickly whittled away, earning a muttered curse from the SPARTAN. She allowed her Light Rifle to clatter to the floor as she reached over with her spare hand to grab a Splinter Grenade from the Void, tossing it towards the Droidekas.

The small silverite grenade landed between the two front droids, going off a moment later. Nanoscopic particles accelerated to an ionized state began to flutter around the area, tearing into the Droidekas shields. Despite the droid's best attempts, they could not back up quick enough to escape the grenade's last, devastating effect. The particles were all pulled towards the point of detonation at light speed, hypercompressing the droids and crushing them under their own acceleration towards the grenade's core.

A moment later, a small explosion rocked the ground just behind the third and final Droideka, the sheer force sending it into several pieces as its shielding failed. Behind the wreckage came General Kenobi and six EOD Troopers of the 212th. "Need some help?" Kenobi asked, quickly dashing his saber through the torso of a B-1 droid that was attempting to crawl away.

"We had it handled." Ahsoka said, giving the elder Jedi a small smile.

"How're things on your end?" Kathryn asked, looking to Kenobi.

"Going well." Obi-Wan responded, checking his wrist-mounted communicator. "The lab's secured, and Anakin should've reached Padme by now." Obi-Wan looked to his troopers. "Alright, we'll take care of the bombs."

"We'll keep the droids off your backs." Ahsoka said, accented by the distant sound of blaster fire, with the occasional Hard Light weapon mixed in.

With that, Kenobi took off towards the bomb room, while Ahsoka and Kathryn remained in the main junction, digging in and keeping the droids occupied. The sheer number of droids in the facility was rather impressive, given that they never seemed to stop shambling towards the dug-in SPARTAN, Padawan, and Clone Troopers. The slower, clunkier droids were easily dispatched by the elite SPARTAN, Force-sensitive Padawan, and defending clones.

After Kathryn fired a quick bolt of Hard Light through the torso of a B-2 Battle Droid, she heard the general communications channel light up. "Anakin, I'm guessing you didn't capture the doctor?" Obi-Wan asked, concern in his voice.

"I'm working on it!" Anakin responded. "What about the bombs?"

"I'm working on it." Obi-Wan replied, sarcastically. "Vindi has remotely activated the bombs, and they're counting down! And just to make this more difficult, one of them seems to be missing!"

"Oh, that's great!" Anakin complained. "Ahsoka, we have another situation. Send all of the clones to search the facility!" Just as Anakin spoke, he rounded the corner, the collection of 501st Clones following behind. He ran straight into the defending SPARTAN, Padawan, and clones. He spoke directly to the SPARTAN and Padawan, deactivating his communicator. "We've got a missing bomb, and Vindi's trying to escape."

"I saw Vindi give a little droid a bomb." Padme said, catching up with Anakin.

"Split up, find that droid." Anakin said, motioning to his clones and Ahsoka.

"Let's move!" Ahsoka declared, running down one of the four hallways, Kathryn following behind.

XXXXX

"Obi-Wan! Doctor Vindi's escaping!" Anakin shouted into his communicator, his lightsaber slowly cutting through the metal blast door. "He's at the landing platform!"

"I'm on my way!" Obi-Wan responded. "Can anyone else come in to assist us?"

Alice listened to the conversation over the communicator, pulling her Hard Light Blade out from the torso of a B-2 droid. "I'm en-route." She replied, kicking the droid aside. She quickly closed and sealed her armor, sending the proper signal to her Neural Lance. Upon her command, her armor opened up a portal, roughly her height and width, into the Slipstream. The clones around her looked rather startled, but she paid them little mind as she stepped into the black emptiness of Slipspace.

After a mere moment of Slipspace Transit, she dropped back into real-space just behind Anakin, her armor clanking heavily against the metal floor. The Jedi looked momentarily stunned, seeing a SPARTAN emerge from a portal to another dimension right before his eyes. He quickly caught himself and continued cutting through the blast door. "Almost got it…" Anakin said, his voice straining as he pushed his saber through the metal.

A few moments and inches moved later, Obi-Wan and six Clone Troopers rushed down the hallway. Anakin reached out through the Force and pushed the blast door's new opening inwards, causing a circular slab of metal to collapse onto the other side.

Before anyone had completely stepped through, a hail of red blaster fire came raining down on them from the slowly-raising platform holding both Vindi and a CIS Shuttle. The Clones quickly funneled through, along with the Jedi and SPARTAN. "Hold your fire!" Alice ordered the Clones. "If he drops any of those vials, this planet's done."

Anakin propelled himself upwards through the Force, sending himself sailing towards the slowly elevating platform. He made it about halfway, catching himself on the hydraulic piston, and continuing his ascent. Obi-Wan followed suit, with Alice choosing to shunt herself back into Slipspace, emerging atop the platform, her Light Rifle aimed directly at Vindi's center mass. "Doctor Vindi, drop your weapon immediately." Alice ordered.

Vindi seemed to tense his grip on the blaster pistol, eventually tossing it aside. A mere moment later, Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to climb atop the platform, just before it reached the surface and shut itself off from the underground facility. Both of them ignited their sabers, pointing them towards Vindi. Vindi held out a single blue vial, seeming to contain a concentrated gas.

Before the thin, lanky Vindi could shatter the vial against the metal platform, he was tackled to the ground by Peppi, which knocked the virus vial into the air. Obi-Wan managed to reach out through the Force, catching it and slowly lowering it to the ground.

Anakin and Alice ran over to where the Gungan had Vindi pinned. As they approached, Vindi began laughing. "You're too late, Jedi! The bomb's going off, and this damned planet is doomed!" Just as the small timer on his wrist reached the detonation point, Jane came over the comms.

"All bombs defused, facility secure." She said, letting out a strained sigh. "Even the missing one."

Vindi's expression shifted to wide-eyed horror as he saw the small smile on Anakin's face. Alice spoke up again. "Now, Doctor, you are under arrest for several war crimes and the use of bio-weapons on a peaceful garden world." She kept her rifle leveled against his head the entire time he stared back at her.

XXXXX

Kathryn strolled through the bomb storage room, taking stock of the disabled bombs. One bomb in particular caught her eye. Her eyes widened beneath her helmet. "One of the virus containers is missing!" Kathryn declared into her communicator. "The little droid probably has it."

Padme came over the communicator. "You heard her, scan the entire facility and find that droid!"

Kathryn jogged out of the room, calling her Light Rifle into existence. After a few minutes of walking around the subterranean facility, she eventually came upon Ahsoka, Rex, and a few Clone Troopers that were scanning the area. "Ahsoka!" Kathryn called out, catching the Padawan's attention. "Any luck?"

"Nothing over here." Ahsoka said. "I've already sealed up the facility, so if a leak does happen, it'll stay down here."

"Smart." Kathryn agreed, nodding. "I've already cleared-"

Before Kathryn could finished, the facility's alarm blared to life, the klaxons signaling a breach in containment. "Get to the safe room!" Ahsoka shouted, pointing down the hall. "Move!"

As Kathryn sprinted behind the Clones and Ahsoka, she shouted into her communicator. "We have a containment breach. I repeat, we have a breach in virus containment!"

The group ran faster than they thought possible, covering most of the facility's second level in the matter of a few moments. Ahsoka was forced to hold the closing blast door open with the force, allowing the others to make their way inside. Kathryn used her augmented strength and her armor's added strength to hold it open for the younger Padawan once inside, allowing the door to seal.

The entire group of ten found themselves catching their breath, with one of the Clones being the first to break the silence. "That was too close..."

"No kidding..." Ahsoka agreed, letting out a sigh.

"Shit!" One of the Clones shouted, looking into his armor's internal computer systems. "Some of the virus made it in with us... we weren't fast enough."

Everyone in the room, including Ahsoka, paled at the revelation. Kathryn knew she would be fine, her armor was sealed and could recycle air for days on end, but the others were not so lucky. The knowledge that the nine others in the room with her could suffer a death at the hands of a disease like this made her sick to her stomach. She quickly opened up a communication to her Fireteam. "Alice... we have a virus containment breach. Ahsoka, Rex, and eight Clone Troopers are contaminated."

XXXXX

Alice froze up as the gravity of the situation dawned on her. Anakin looked about ready to bust an artery, and Obi-Wan looked downright mortified by the recent happenings below the surface of Naboo. Alice's expression hardened as she forwarded the information to Admiral Lasky through the GC's Quantum Entanglement Communication Network, and turned to begin marching towards the Separatist shuttle.

The SPARTAN Fireteam leader stepped aboard the shuttle, spotting Vindi in one of the seats with his wrists and ankles restrained, and let a snarl cross her lips. She quickly sent an armored fist into the glass helmet of his environmental suit, shattering the helmet and jolting the doctor backwards. In a single, fluid motion, she reached out with her other hand and grasped around Vindi's thin, elongated neck. She forcefully tossed him into the open air of Naboo, causing him to land right in front of the two stunned Jedi.

Alice called her Bolt Pistol into real space, grabbing the weapon with one hand and picking Vindi up by his neck with the other. She jammed the pronged weapon into the Doctor's chin, her grip just lax enough to allow the blue-skinned doctor to gather breath. "Where's the antibodies for this virus, Vindi?" Alice demanded.

Vindi barely stifled a laugh. "You mistake my goal, newcomer... my job was to manufacture a virus, not to cure it."

Vindi winced as the weapon was pressed deeper into his skin. "We don't have time for games, Vindi." Anakin said, gripping his saber at his hip.

"Yes, kill me now and spare these old bones the Blue Shadow's dire embrace." Vindi taunted, a small smirk on his face.

The smug smirk was immediately dashed by Alice bringing her pistol down across the doctor's head, a sickening crack making his broken nose known to the world. "Either you talk, or I have your mind Composed and I'll sift through every one of your sick, twisted, little fucking thoughts until I find what I need."

The doctor seemed stunned for a moment, realization dawning on his face that, due to the GC's massive technological advantage over the Republic and CIS, it was likely that the SPARTAN was not exaggerating. 'There-There's a root on Iego! It's called Reeksa Root! You can synthesize a cure from that!"

"Thank you for your cooperation." Alice said, throwing the doctor aside.

"Well, let's go!" Anakin said, motioning for everyone to follow. "We need to get this root immediately."

"Iego is deep within Separatist Space." Obi-Wan explained. "It'll be quite dangerous."

"If anyone can handle it, it's the three of us!" Anakin countered.

"On that, we can agree." Obi-Wan said, nodding.