Okay, first time I have ever done this, but I have placed sections where, in order to achieve the full experience of this chapter, to play music in. They will be marked by numbers, so when you see the first number: 1, stop the chapter, play the song, and continue reading. You might need to read them slightly slower in order to get into sync with the music. Stop the music once you see number 1 for the second time. Then, so on and so forth. You can find these tracks on YouTube. This will be recurring when I see fit, so it may happen in a couple chapters later, or ten chapter later. I have no idea. Enjoy.

FYI: Winner of 300th review goes to Diablomaster2149. Good job. Those who didn't win, try again if we get close to 400.

BioShock Soundtrack: Big Daddy is Coming.

Mission Impossible 3: World's Worst Last Four Minutes to Live.


Chapter 27: Brain Invaders

When Jack heard that Poggle had been captured and the Autobots, or at least Ironhide and Jazz, were going to ally with the Republic formally, he had to go congratulate everyone personally. True, he was disappointed that Barricade and Frenzy, who he wanted to shove in the nearest incinerator, escaped, but Poggle was a very nice, consolation prize. Ahsoka and Barriss came, of course, because they wanted to see their masters. Ki-Adi needed to go in order to relay some important information to the Jedi. Miko, on the other hand, decided to go with them since they would all be leaving Geonosis soon, and she wanted to take some last-minute photos of the planet. She was quite bummed when she was forced to dump more than half of her pictures since they contained classified information, but at least she had some good ones.

Secretly, Jack warned the Padawans and the others not to even mention the word "zombies." He didn't trust Miko not to go look for them if she heard they existed on the planet Geonosis. Part of him thought he was overreacting, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I hear you were quite the attraction in the training room today, Miko," Ahsoka noted, deciding to make friendly conversation with the Japanese girl for a change.

"It was awesome!" Miko exclaimed, still feeling great for what she did. "Those targets never saw me coming. Of course, it got a lot harder when they started moving, but I think I can manage…" She frowned slightly. "…if I can convince my parents to teach me, that is."

"I think they would be pleased to know they have a sharpshooter for a daughter," Jack said. "You could probably convince them to teach you."

She snorted. "Yeah, after they ground me for the rest of my life."

"I'm sure they wouldn't punish you for that long a period," Ki-Adi assured, bewildered at the thought. "I mean, for them to achieve such a notion would mean they would have to follow you around for the rest of your life and hang that on your shoulders. And then you have to take into account the life expectancy of-!"

"She was exaggerating, Master Mundi," Jack interrupted.

"Oh," the Cerean replied. "I see."

The shuttle shook slightly as it landed on the familiar terrain of Geonosis. Once the ramp lowered, the boarders arrived in the form of a few clones and Poggle himself. He growled at the three Padawans, Ahsoka and Jack giving him smug smirks, but when he went past Miko-

"Smile," she said, snapping a photo of his face.

The flash blinded Poggle a bit, causing him to freak out a bit, swearing in his Geonosian tongue.

"That's one way to make him squirm," Jack stated, grinning wider. "Good job."

Miko grinned back, staring at the photo of the surprised Geonosian. "I might just post this on Facebook."

"What's this…Face Book?" Barriss asked.

"Long story," was Jack's answer.

"Well," Anakin said with a smile, "you all look better than when we last saw you."

"Thank you, Master," Ahsoka responded. "I heard you had quite the experience."

"It will have to wait for later," Ki-Adi cut in. "I'm afraid we have a complication."

"Don't we always?" Anakin asked rhetorically.

"I've just received a distress signal from our forces on Dantooine," he explained. "Master Windu's defenses held, but at a great cost to his men. They need medical supplies immediately. We can obtain these supplies at the medical station near Ord Cestus."

"We're delivering Poggle to Coruscant," Anakin countered, "and Cestus is not exactly on the way.

"The Republic must begin debriefing Poggle right away if we're to get useful intelligence out of him," Luminara added.

Anakin quickly came up with an idea. "Masters, I suggest we let our Padawans handle the supply mission.

"Whatever needs to be done, Master," Ahsoka replied. "I'm happy to help."

"As am I," Barriss agreed.

Jack shrugged. "Why not? Got nothing else better to do." He looked at Yvana. "I know we need to talk, but I promise we will once I do this for them."

"It's fine," she assured, a bit disappointed at not getting to spend time with her son. However, it could give her time to try and patch things up with Obi-Wan and, maybe, Luminara. She didn't want her son to be caught up in all that mess.

"Very well," Obi-Wan said. "Take a medical frigate. And after we've delivered Poggle to Coruscant, we'll rendezvous with you for the voyage to Dantooine."

"Oh!" Luminara suddenly exclaimed. "Almost forgot. Jackson, I wanted to thank you for contacting the Autobots for us. They were very helpful towards the end of our mission."

"No problem," he responded. "It was the least I could do. Speaking of which, where are they now?"

"Their trying to help Wheeljack load his ship onto the Resolute," Obi-Wan answered. "We did, after all, promise to help repair his ship." He turned to Miko, watching her photograph herself with a big grin. "Umm, what is she doing?"

Jack groaned. "She's taking a selfie. Don't ask. It's annoying to talk about."

He then gave another look at the Jedi and noticed that all of them were exhausted. It wasn't surprising, given what they all went through, but if he was in their shoes, he would want to have some peace and quiet for a while. Miko didn't exactly equal "peace and quiet," so he decided to do them a favor.

"Miko, how would you like to come with us on our voyage?" Jack offered.

Instantly, Miko stopped and gave him a surprised look. "You want me to go with you?"

"Well, you get to explore more of this galaxy before you head home. Plus, it's not dangerous in the slightest."

"It actually sounds boring," she stated.

He decided to sweeten the pot. "Of course, Captain Rex will be watching over you should you decide to stay."

"Did I say boring?" Miko asked quickly. "I meant 'awesome!'"

"Must be easy to get those two mixed up," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.


Within a half an hour, the Padawans and Miko were ready to depart. A group of clone troopers called Tango Company would be coming along on this venture as added security, of course. Jack personally believed it was overkill, but if something went wrong, at least they had good soldiers to help them out. Jack explained to Arcee of the situation, promising that things would be back to relatively normal once it was over, but she did warn him that he couldn't delay the inevitable for long. He didn't need her to clarify to know what she was referring to, and she was a bit right. They were all ready to depart when Captain Rex dashed towards them in a hurry. Miko resisted the urge to run when he arrived.

"Rex," Jack greeted, "what's up?"

"I actually came to give the kid something," he explained, panting a bit.

Miko pointed to herself, surprised. "Me?"

Rex nodded, holding out a blaster carbine. "Commander Jet told me of your fine shooting today and I decided to give you this to hold on to. Safety's on, so don't worry."

Carefully, she took the gun in her hand, examining it with a grin. "Have to admit: it's a cool souvenir."

"It was Breaker's."

The grin was wiped off her face in an instant. "Why are you giving me his gun?"

"Two reasons, kid: I wanted you to have something to defend yourself. I know about that secret war going on, and you might need this ace up your sleeve should the war come to you. The other reason is that I wanted you to remind yourself the price he paid to keep you safe. I don't say that to make you feel guilty; I need you to honor his memory by not getting yourself killed by trying to get thrills. You understand me?"

The Japanese girl nodded slowly. "I understand. Thank you, Rex."

"Good luck, kid."

As Rex walked off, Jack gave her one more piece of advice. "Don't treat it like a toy."

"Come on, you two," Ahsoka urged.

Quickly, Miko and Jack entered the medical frigate as it began to lift off. It would be a while before they reached Ord Cestus, so the Padawans, after informing Kit Fisto that they were coming, decided to rest some more. Miko was against it, wanting to explore the frigate, but one lap around the ship later instantly made her bored. Compared to the Resolute, this place was two steps down from what she saw.

She tried chatting it up with a couple of clones, but they weren't much at talking. A couple of them didn't even want to be here, but orders were orders. One clone with green eggs in his backpack just glared at her. Was she so annoying that the mere presence of her made people hate her?

"Not the friendliest bunch of clones," Jack admitted when he noticed what happened, "but not all clones are the same."

"Isn't that a paradox?" Miko asked before her stomach started to growl.

"It's been a while since I ate, too," Jack said. "Let's go eat in the cafeteria."

There wasn't a lot of food in there, but it did have meat and vegetables…at least, food that looked like meat and vegetables. It didn't help that Jack still didn't know what half the stuff were, but it was better than nothing. The meat was a little dry and the vegetables didn't have much flavor, unfortunately. Jack correctly assumed that this was what clones and Jedi had to eat on a regular basis, so he and Miko decided to tough it out. At least they had clean, drinkable water.

"Hard to find a good seat here, wouldn't you say?" Jack joked as he sat at Ahsoka's table in the vacant cafeteria. "I thought you and Barriss were gonna snooze for a bit."

"I couldn't," the Togruta admitted. "It was a stark contrast to all the fighting we were doing for the past few days."

Jack nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I can still hear the shots being fired even when I close my eyes for a bit."

Barriss, motioning Miko to sit next to her, decided to chat with her. "I'm sorry that you came to our galaxy during wartime. It was a relatively peaceful place before the Clone Wars began."

"Hopefully, I can visit again soon," Miko replied. "I can only imagine what other planets are around here."

Ahsoka chuckled. "No way could you see all the planets in this universe, Miko. Space is a little too big."

"Would be boring if it was," the Japanese girl pointed out. "Don't know if I said this before, but sorry about calling you an alien earlier. I didn't know it was an insult."

"I forgive you," the Togruta assured. "Sorry I've made you feel unwelcome around here. It was a little stressful around here."

"I've gotten used to it," she replied. "It's fine."

Ahsoka turned her attention back to Barriss. "I was thinking about what you said earlier about enjoying the peace while it lasts. As a Jedi, I'm not sure I know how to do that."

"Master Windu has said we are keepers of the peace, not warriors," Barriss said.

"Then what was that I saw you all do with your light swords?" Miko asked, confused. "Violent diplomacy?"

Chuckling, Barriss answered with, "You have a point, Miko. However, once the war is over, it will be our job to maintain the peace."

"Yes, but will we do so as keepers of the peace or warriors?" Ahsoka pressed. "And what's the difference?"

Jack furrowed his brow in thought. "No idea, actually."

"I don't have all the answers, Ahsoka," Barriss admitted. "Like you, I'm a learner. What does your Master tell you?"

"Anakin?"

"Do you have any other Masters?" Jack questioned.

Ahsoka glared at him before answering Barriss's query. "Um, you might find some of his thoughts on the future, uh, a bit radical."

"Really? Why?"

Ahsoka sounded concerned as she spoke. "Let's just say my Master will always do what needs to be done. I'm not even sure how peacetime will agree with him."

'"Do what needs to be done,"' Jack repeated, pushing his empty tray away. "He might have a point."

"But at what cost?" Barriss asked. "As Jedi, we should never have to sacrifice our ideals in order to succeed our missions."

Jack sighed, wishing he could understand the ins and outs of the Jedi Order so he could figure out how to try and change things. "Barriss, I'm all for keeping things at right and wrong, like the Light Side and the Dark Side, but sometimes, we have to do things that we would be uncomfortable doing in order to save lives. Back on Earth, myself and a friend of mine were captured by a terrorist organization and tortured. The Autobots had strict policies about not harming humans, but they had to break the rules in order to save our lives. They killed humans to save us. I know they didn't like it, but it had to be done."

Barriss also gave a sigh, processing this information. "I wish we didn't have to make such decisions. It just goes against what we were taught."

"The universe is gray, girls," he sadly informed them. "It sucks, but that's the truth. I wish we didn't have to make those decisions either."

"I wish I didn't have to eat this garbage," Miko complained, changing the subject. "I'm thinking of asking that one guy to lend me one of his eggs."

"Eggs?" Ahsoka questioned. "What eggs?"

"One of them had several green eggs in his backpack," she explained. "They probably taste a lot better than this stuff. You know, it kind of looks like ham in a certain light. We could probably have green eggs and ham."

"Green eggs and ham," Jack muttered, rolling his eyes. "Haven't read that book in years." As he thought about it, he began to frown. "Wait a minute. Green eggs?"

Just then, the door opened as two clones entered the room, one with white hair, the other with black.

"Evening, Ox, Edge," Ahsoka greeted. "Would you like to join us?"

"And can I have one of those eggs?" Miko requested.

They didn't answer and just glared at them.

"Is something wrong, troopers?" Ahsoka asked, concerned at their lack of response.

Jack's eyes widened in horror, putting the pieces together. "Scrap!"

With a quick motion, Jack grabbed Miko and pulled her to the other side of the table just as Ox and Edge opened fire on them. Ahsoka and Barriss were quick to deflect them, shocked at their actions. Jack shoved Miko behind the seat just as the two girls flipped the table on its side, creating a barrier.

"Troopers, stand down!" Ahsoka ordered.

"We're screwed," Jack stated, slamming his tray into Edge's face after Barriss severed his gun in half. Ox tried to come in from the other side, but Ahsoka Force Pushed him into a dazed Edge, knocking the both of them out.

"What happened!?" Miko yelled, terrified at what just happened. "I thought they were on our side!"

"That's a good question," Ahsoka sneered, staring at the knocked out clones.

The door opened again as two more clones, Trap and Havoc, entered the room, weapons at the ready. Instantly, three lightsabers and a blaster were pointed at them.

"What are you doing?" Trap asked, shocked as they raised their hands in the air.

"Two clones just attacked us!" an angry Ahsoka exclaimed. "What is going on?"

"Trap, do you know what happened to these troopers?" Barriss questioned, trying to stay calm.

"Couldn't tell you, Commander," he answered. "I'm just as confused as-!"

"You're in charge of those men!" she reminded him, losing patience. "Did you order them to kill us?"

"No, sir," Trap responded. "I did not."

"You're lying!" Miko uncharacteristically snarled, ready to shoot.

"Don't get trigger-happy," Barriss warned her. "We need to understand the situation."

"I understand that we were almost killed!" she shot back. "What's there not to understand?"

Ahsoka was trying not to panic at almost being killed by clones. "What's happening? Why would they do this?"

"They were infected," Jack answered, not taking his eyes off the clones.

"What?" the girls all asked, briefly looking at him.

"One of the clones must've gotten infected by one of the Geonosian worms before he left, hence why he brought the green eggs and why those two attacked us."

Ahsoka looked at him, flabbergasted. "Infected? When did all of this happen?"

Jack gave her a confused look. "Didn't Anakin or Luminara fill either of you in?"

"We had the medical frigate mission to do," Barriss explained. "Explanations would happen later."

Havoc interrupted this time. "Sirs, we came in here because we heard shots."

"Why should we believe you?" Barriss asked, not lowering her lightsaber.

Trap had a solution. "Look, no guns."

Both the clones slowly put their guns on the ground and kept their hands raised afterwards. Convinced, the three Jedi deactivated their lightsabers and Miko finally lowered her blaster, though she was wary of them.

"If these men were indeed infected," Barriss started, looking at the knocked-out clones, "we need to contact our Masters and inform them of the situation. We could have an outbreak on our hands."

"There are zombies in this galaxy?" Miko asked. When Jack gave her a "Really?" look, she amended her statement. "Hey, I'm not about to take pictures of them."

"Just making sure," Jack replied cautiously.

"Excuse me, sirs," Trap said. "We should make sure that we're still in control of the bridge."

Barriss immediately contacted them. "Bridge, this is Barriss. Respond."

Ahsoka didn't wait for a response. "We need to get up there. The bridge might have been compromised for all we know."

"But these two will be coming around any minute," Barriss informed them.

"Havoc can watch them until we check on the bridge," Trap offered.

Ahsoka nodded. "Okay, let's go!"

The group ran dashed out of the room, but Jack stopped to remind Havoc of one thing. "If you see the worms come out of them, shoot them."

"Understood, sir," the clone responded.

As Jack followed the group, he had a bad feeling that it was gonna get worse.


(The Resolute)

Yvana slowly approached the bridge with trepidation. She didn't know how this was going to end, but she knew that if she start making amends, she had to do it now before they reached Coruscant. What she did to Luminara was not acceptable, even if it was understandable. Like Obi-Wan said before, she was lucky not to have been thrown in the brig.

Speaking of her old childhood friend, he had the decency to apologize for the low remarks he made earlier. He even admitted that the banter between them was music to his ears. He missed that so much. Needless to say, Obi-Wan started to let go of his feelings of hurt and betrayal, but he still couldn't quite forgive her for her actions. It was understandable.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, she finally entered the bridge and found who she was looking for.

"Luminara, can I talk to you?" Yvana asked cautiously.

The Mirialan turned around with a calm look on her face. "What is it, Yvana?"

"I wanted to apologize for what I did to you back on Geonosis," she explained. "I, uh, wasn't thinking straight."

Luminara sighed. "You were consumed by grief at the thought of losing your son. If there's one thing I should have taken into account, it was that the bond between parent and child can be just as strong as Master to Padawan. However, that is why, as Jedi, we must detach from our emotions because of something like what you just did."

"Even the best of the best can make grave mistakes," Ki-Adi, who was also at the bridge, reminded them. "I am just glad that Yvana retained the sense to not make an even greater mistake." He stared at the woman in question pointedly. "You need to start controlling your emotions again, Yvana, for the sake of everyone."

"Yes, Master Mundi," she responded.

"I won't be able to guess what the Council will do once you return, Yvana," Ki-Adi informed her. "Whether to be punished or expelled is a mystery, but there will be some harsh, but true, things said. I just wanted to warn you in advance."

"I'm prepared for all of that," Yvana replied. "As long as my son doesn't suffer for my actions, I will accept whatever punishment is bestowed upon me."

Just then, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Rex entered the room, having been summoned earlier.

"The cargo ship failed to check in on schedule," Luminara said, turning to them. "I attempted to contact them, but there is no reply."

"I don't like it," Anakin stated. "Something's up."

"It's certainly most unlike either Padawan to lose contact," she agreed.

"They're in trouble!" Anakin concluded.

Yvana was growing anxious at this information. This was supposed to be a simple mission and Anakin's declarations were making it worse.

"Anakin, have faith in your Padawan," Obi-Wan advised.

"She would have checked in," he protested.

"Like you always do?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin sighed. "Good point."

His old master pressed the point further. "Sometimes I don't think you realize how alike you two have become."

Ki-Adi cleared his throat. "We need to continue our interrogation of Poggle."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, agreed. He's being most uncooperative."

"Typical," Yvana sneered.

The three Jedi Masters left the bridge and headed towards the brig while Anakin and Yvana held back.

"Keep your ears open in case Ahsoka or Jack calls," Anakin whispered to Rex.

"Got it," he replied.

The two remaining Jedi departed, hoping that they were just being paranoid.


(Medical Frigate)

The atmosphere was uncomfortable for all of them. Already, two clones were infected, and it started to seem like they were the only ones not infected by the worms. Of course, Miko was the most terrified of them all. Sure, she played a few zombie games, but that was all virtual reality. This was real, deadly life!

As the group were about to go down a corridor, security shields blocked them from going any further, much to their annoyance.

"Someone doesn't want us going up there," Ahsoka deduced.

"The worms are smarter than I thought," Jack added.

"I'll attempt to override the controls," Barriss said, crouching down towards the controls.

None of them noticed Trap backing up slowly, pointing his gun at Barriss's back…except for one.

"No!" Miko shouted, running at the clone.

A swift right hook to the face knocked her down in an instant.

He fired a couple of shots at Barriss, who deflected them quickly before destroying his gun. Jack, then, lunged at Trap, pinning him to the wall.

Suddenly, Jack saw something that he would be seeing in his nightmares tonight.

Trap's eyes turned completely white while he opened his mouth, revealing the worm in all its disgusting glory.

"Hold still," Jack ordered, trying to keep the clone from escaping and trying to get a clear shot at the worm.

To his shock, the worm quickly jumped out of Trap and shot itself directly into his nostril. It seemed a Jedi Padawan suited its needs more than the clone. Jack staggered back as he felt the creature latch onto his mind, feeling like it was trying to take his brain apart piece by piece.

"Jack, no!" Ahsoka screamed.

They couldn't do anything as writhed on the floor until his own eyes turned white briefly. Once they returned to the blue eyes, he stood up as if a puppet was bending him up, and stared at the group with the most terrifying smile he could ever have.

"Time to play," Jack cackled, igniting his lightsaber.

"Jack, fight it!" Ahsoka begged.

"This isn't you!" Barriss pleaded.

Miko didn't say a thing as she watched the display. She was too petrified to even say anything.

He was about to lunge at them when something completely unexpected happened.

Jack and the worm began to scream simultaneously as he collapsed on the floor, tossing and turning as if he was having a seizure. Blood started to pour from his nose and his ears while flashes of his past went by that could cause someone to have epilepsy. Ahsoka and Barriss tried to get to him, but a sporadic Force Push sent them and Miko back. One half of the worm appeared out of his nose, which he managed to grab.

"GET OUT!" Jack screamed, yanking the creature out of his nose.

Disgusted, he tossed the barely-alive, blood-covered worm aside, which was shot repeatedly by Trap, who was massaging his hand in pain.

Ahsoka and Barriss rushed to Jack's aide as he slumped to the ground.

"Jack, talk to me!" Ahsoka demanded, rolling Jack on his back.

"It hurts," he groaned, putting both hands on his head. "It hurts so much."

Trap started walking towards them, but Miko, who had a bruise on her face, pointed her gun at him.

"I'm not infected anymore," he promised, raising his hands once more.

"I'm not taking any chances this time," she informed him coldly.

"How were you able to fight it?" Ahsoka asked, helping him up in a sitting position.

"His flashburns," Barriss explained as she crouched down next to him. "It seems the parasite was trying to mind control him, but it didn't count on a burned mind. It was too much for it to take." She examined his injuries, frowning. "Not good. He's facing internal bleeding. I can slow the process down, but he needs a medic fast!"

"Ox was our medic," Trap told them, massaging his head, "but the bugs got to him too. They got my men!" He shuddered at how he felt when the worm was inside of him. "I couldn't stop myself, Commander. I couldn't stop that…thing from taking control. It was like every action I made was pulled by invisible strings. I could see myself attacking you all, but I couldn't resist it. All of my men are now slaves to things now!" He slammed his fist against the wall. "Damn it!"

"It wasn't your fault, Trap," Barriss assured, working her healing. "You couldn't have known something like this would happen. Lower your gun, Miko. He's not a threat anymore."

She reluctantly did so, but gave a deadly warning. "Twitch in wrong direction and you're dead."

Trap nodded. "Yes, sir."

Miko allowed a smirk. "Nice to be recognized as a higher authority." She looked at Jack, concerned. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"For now," the Mirialan answered, levitating the blood from his face. "Again, he needs more help than I can provide."

Jack grunted in pain. "So, if I don't get help, I just might die? Great."

"It's not going to happen!" Ahsoka stated firmly. "I won't let it happen!"

Barriss turned to Trap. "Trap, I need you to take Jack and Miko back to their quarters and do everything you can to protect them. Ahsoka and I will have to quarantine the ship."

"Yes, sir," he replied.

"Am I gonna die?" Jack moaned, starting to feel out of it. "I went through this already."

"You'll be fine," Ahsoka promised. "We'll stop the worms from spreading."

She carefully hoisted him up and Trap put the kid's arm around him.

"Don't worry, kid," Trap said. "We'll keep you safe. Good luck, Commanders."

"Come on," Miko urged. "The longer we wait, the more chances they'll have to kill us."

The three of them departed from the premises towards the sleeping areas while Ahsoka and Barriss ran down a few hallways in the opposite direction until they heard familiar clicking sounds.

"That sound," Barriss observed, "it's..."

"Geonosian," Ahsoka snarled, barring her teeth.

The two Padawans hid behind the open doorway and watched six clones conversing in Geonosian converging onto an uninfected clone. Two of them had him pinned down while a third brought the egg with a worm sticking out of it.

"We have to help him," Ahsoka said.

Unfortunately, the worm was too fast and jumped right into his nose. Like the rest of the clones, he, too, was infected.

"It's too late," Barriss stated sadly.

Blasterfire from behind caused the girls to turn around, their lightsabers deflecting the shots. They backed up into the room and closed the door with Force. Now, they had to contend with seven clones, who all began to approach them, eggs at the ready. Ahsoka and Barriss levitated the eggs to them and sliced them apart. Enraged, the clones opened fire just as the clone on the other side of the door got through. Ahsoka was forced to deal with that one's shots while Barriss had to contend with the seven. Of course, Barriss levitated several crates to the ground, separating the group. Timing it just right, the Togruta deflected a shot into the clone's shoulder, taking him out of the fight. The two ran for cover, kicking a clone away, and tried to search for a way out.

"Barriss!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "Let's go for the vent!"

Nodding, the two Force-Jumped up the crates while dodging blasterfire and landed on the walkway. Barriss levitated the vent open, tossing part of it down at the clones, scattering them. The two then lunged into the vent and escaped the clones for now, but they still needed to figure out a plan. They stopped moving when clones ran beneath them.

"I'll go to the reactor room and disable the thrusters," Barriss said. "You head for the aft comm-center and send a warning to Master Fisto. We have to stop the ship from reaching the medical station."

Once the clones had passed, they continued crawling.

"I don't know, Barriss," Ahsoka replied. "I think we should stay together."

"As do I," she agreed. "Unfortunately, that's not a luxury we have right now. One of us must succeed, Ahsoka. If you need to, you'll do what must be done. I know it."

Reluctantly, the Togruta conceded. "Yes, of course. Then I'll see you soon."

The two split off, their missions at hand. For the clones, Jack, and Miko's sakes, they had to succeed.


"You know," Miko started, pacing around the room. "If this was a video game, Trap would be the character killed off because he's the cool guy."

"Don't joke about that, Miko," Jack muttered, massaging his damaged head while lying on his bed. "It's in bad taste."

Trap, ignoring her comments, kept his ear on the door. "I don't hear anyone coming in. Let's hope it stays that way."

Jack chuckled mirthlessly, not caring about the pain he created by doing so. "With my luck, it's going to get worse. This is the third time in two days I almost die. I should start making a checklist. Actually, I won't be able to if I'm dead." His comlink beeped, which he quickly answered. "Hello?"

"Jack, I'm in the comm-center," Ahsoka informed him. "As we speak, I'm contacting Master Fisto."

"Keep me on the line," he requested. "I may need to say something important."

"Okay," she replied, a little unsure.

"Ahsoka," Kit Fisto greeted. "I was beginning to worry that-."

"No time for warm greetings, Master," Ahsoka interrupted. "We have a situation." She quickly filled him in on the terrible incidents that had occurred, including Jack's damaged head. "As long as these things are on board, we dare not dock with the medical station, which is bad because we need to get Jack help."

"You must bring this ship in!" the Nautolan Master stated firmly. "The only way we can stop these parasites is to analyze them."

Ahsoka needed to protest this. "You don't understand how terrible these things are. Jack has been critically injured by these things. What if they get loose?"

"We will take precautions," he assured.

"Listen!" Jack interrupted with a raised voice, grunting in pain after several words. "Don't care about me, okay? The risk…too great, Master."

"I understand your concerns," Kit replied, "but the longer we wait to receive the supplies, the more clones die."

Jack didn't have the energy to argue anymore.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master Fisto," Ahsoka said, "but I will follow your instructions."

"He's gonna get them infected," Jack groaned when Kit signed off.

"We have to trust that he knows what he's doing," she responded. "I'm gonna contact Anakin. Maybe he can help."

"If I survive this, I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to leave my room," he chuckled, knowing that his mom will get wind of this.

The Togruta chuckled back as she tried to lock in on the Resolute's signal. "Almost got it."

Rex's voice came through. "Cargo ship TB-73, this is clone Captain Rex. Please respond."

"Rex, this is Ahsoka," she answered. "Boy, am I glad to hear your voice."

"Likewise, sir," the captain replied. "I've got someone here who wants to speak with you."

Now, Anakin's worried voice came in. "Ahsoka, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Well, not exactly," she admitted.

"Worms are back," Jack explained quickly. "Infected clones. Gave me brain damage or something. Need medical attention."

"Jack, you need to save your strength," Ahsoka ordered.

He sighed. "Yes, Mom."

Ahsoka was not amused. "Jack, if you die on me, I will bring you back so I can punch you in the face."

"Enough, you two," Anakin ordered. "Ahsoka, make sure you have a wrist com. Keep it on. I'm going to interrogate Poggle. He might have some answers. Find Barriss and wait for my signal. Jack, stay in your quarters. You can't risk going anywhere."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but the door opened to reveal Barriss.

"Commander," Trap greeted, saluting, "did you-?"

He was cut off by the lightsaber plunging into his chest, killing him.

"Dammit!" Jack swore as Miko opened fire. "They got Barriss, too! Trap's dead and we're next!"

"I'm coming, Jack!" Ahsoka shouted.

A single Force Push caused the Japanese girl to slam against the wall.

"Weakling," Barriss sneered.

Jack stumbled out of the bed, brandishing his lightsaber while he was on the floor. If he wasn't dying, he would have found his action funny.

"You cannot beat us," she stated as he slowly rose to his feet. "You cannot stop us."

With one hand on his head and the other holding his lightsaber, Jack did a jab to back her up. It didn't work, for all she did was knock the attack aside. Barriss went on the offensive and put Jack in a saber lock. Once her face got close enough, he slammed his head against hers, causing her to stumble back. With a Force Push, he sent her out of the room and against the wall.

"Oh, that was a stupid idea!" Jack moaned, his head hurting worse now.

Stumbling like a drunk, he went out of the room, almost tripping over Trip's corpse, and tried to attack. The key word being tried. With a smug, she effortlessly disarmed him and kicked him to the ground.

"Pathetic little creature," she said.

"Says the parasitic worm who can't survive without needing a host," he retorted. Normally, taunting a possessed Jedi would be considered a foolish move, but he wanted to keep her attention off Miko so she could escape.

Of course, two-thirds of his plan worked. Barriss advanced towards him, Miko ran out of the room, but the girl opened fire on the Padawan. She deflected the shots and charged at Miko. Knocking the blaster out of her hands, Barriss slammed her head against the wall taking her out.

We're dead. Jack thought to himself. Sorry, Ahsoka. You're not gonna make it.


(The Resolute)

Anakin was enraged by what was happening to the Padawans and Miko and it showed as he marched towards the brig. The Geonosians just couldn't leave them alone, could they? There would be no bargaining. There would be no negotiations. Anakin would get the answers he needed one way or the other. He chose not to tell Yvana about the events that was happening since she had the tendency the freak out when it came to her son in grave danger. All the more reason to get this over with quickly.

"Leave us," he growled to the guards, who walked away right after that.

He was about to go in when he noticed Yvana rushing storming towards the cell with a pissed-off look on her face. Apparently, she overheard the whole conversation. Anakin was about to stop her when logic, or his version of logic, kicked in. Yvana could be threatening when she was upset. Let her take on Poggle.

"Out of my way, Skywalker!" she ordered.

"After you," he stated, deciding to stick around in case she tried to kill Poggle. Plus, a sadistic part of him wanted to enjoy watching this.

To his surprise, Yvana pulled a chair and sat down in front of him, confusing the Geonosian.

"I'm going to be blunt," she said calmly. "Your worms decided to hitch a ride on the medical frigate and now the Padawans are in danger. Would you please tell me how to stop them?"

Poggle just spat at her in his Geonosian tongue.

"Unless you have a full immunity agreement signed by the Chancellor himself," the protocol droid in cell translated, "I will tell you nothing, Jedi."

'"Immunity,"' Yvana repeated as if every syllable had meaning. '"Immunity."' She took Poggle's hand into hers, holding it softly. "Yes, you need immunity, don't you, Poggle? You see, you invertebrates have the problem of having no bones. You have an exoskeleton, and boy, is that fragile."

1.*She slowly started squeezing Poggle's hand, causing him to clench his teeth in pain. "So delicate, so breakable. Of course you would need immunity. Who would want to live a life full of the fear that you break easily?" She clenched the hand harder, making Poggle squirm more. "Now, you need to ask yourself what would happen if, by chance, you did not answer my question. Perhaps you don't fear death. Maybe you do. I don't know, but pain. Pain is a different story. Every can break under the right set of pain, whether it'd be physical pain, or emotional pain. Considering not many people like you, I'm inclined to think the former." He tried to move, but Yvana kept him from leaving with the Force.

"Again, what happens if you don't answer me? Well, I'd start with these hands. Yes, these hands that have controlled the fate of millions. Your arms would be next, but I would stop. Why? Because I would go down and work my up. Feet…legs…pelvis. Then, your wings. Oh, yes, your wings. The things that make you insects special." Now Poggle was yelling at her to make it stop according to the protocol droid, even pounding the table with his other hand, but she continued in her calm tone. "Cut them off with a lightsaber? Oh, no. Much too clean. Bare hands? Yes. That would hurt. By then, you would be lying on the floor, begging for death and spilling your guts. I would take the information and then leave you here on the floor struggling to breath. And then, after 20 minutes of suffering, you…" She twisted the hand to the left, ignoring his painful cries. "…will…" She bent the wrist down. "…die."

With a single pull, Yvana ripped Poggle's hand from his arm, making him scream in pure agony. She examined the hand, surprised that the crushed piece of exoskeleton was once a hand. Afterwards, she tossed the hand aside and stared at Poggle.

"So," Yvana continued, "shall we begin?"

Poggle started shouting quickly in his Geonosian tongue.

"The worms can freeze to death," the droid translated. "Please, make it stop. I beg you."

Yvana smiled. "Thank you for your cooperation, Poggle. If I need you to…elaborate, I know where to find you. I do hope you have a good day."*1.

She passed Anakin as she left the cell, who stared at her with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide. It was official: he was terrified of this woman.


(Medical Frigate)

2. (40ish-second mark)* It was as if time slowed down. Jack felt his brain trying to beat him death as he was sprawled on the floor. At the same time, Barriss was advancing towards Miko, who was backing up on the floor. The Mirialan wasn't going to kill her right away; she was going to toy with her. If Jack was in good condition, they wouldn't be in this mess. Right now, he couldn't concentrate hard enough to summon his lightsaber.

I'll just have to improvise. He thought to himself.

Slowly, Jack began to raise himself on the floor. He didn't want to go too fast and alert Barriss to his plans. He resisted the urge to grunt in pain and continued to get up from a crawl.

"Time to die, you pest," Barriss sneered, raising her lightsaber.

Now in a standing position, Jack charged at her and managed to tackle her against the wall by the time she noticed. Quickly, he slammed his fist into her wrist, making her lose her grip on her lightsaber and he kicked it away. Barriss shoved him back, aiming a kick which he dodged. He put both hands on his head at an attempt to quiet the banging in his head and to lure her into a false sense of security. She attempted to get close, but Jack jerked his head up, bringing up his elbow directly into her face. After he silently thanked Mission Impossible for teaching him that move, Jack threw a punch, but Barriss was ready this time. She blocked it and did a spin kick, sending the teen against the wall. She called her lightsaber to her only for Jack to shove her arm down, making the hilt hit her face. For better measures, he slammed another punch against her face to daze her more. Finally, Jack, building up his strength, lifted his leg and kicked her. A normal kick would send an opponent backwards, but a kick combined with a Force Push sent Barriss flying to the other side of the hallway, hitting the wall unceremoniously. *(end 1:42 mark) 2.

Panting heavily, Jack started to collapse, but Miko managed to catch him in time.

"Leave me," he begged, grimacing. "Run."

"No!" she responded vehemently. "I'm not letting you die."

"We're both going to die if you don't go," Jack informed as he watched Barriss's lightsaber fly towards its master. Ahsoka, where are you?

Miko once again tried to shoot her, but the shots were deflected away.

"Nice knowing you, Jack," the Japanese girl said with a gulp. "What the chances you can take her down?"

"Zero," he grunted as Barriss was almost on top of them.

"Get down!" a familiar voice shouted.

Instantly, both Jack and Miko dropped to the floor as a green blade prevented Barriss's blue blade from striking its mark.

"What took you so long?" Miko asked, annoyed at how long it took for her to show up.

"Clones," Ahsoka answered before looking at her friend. "Barriss, snap out of it!"

She responded with several offensive attacks which the Togruta managed to block easily. Ahsoka backed up, getting Barriss away from Jack and Miko, trying to give them time to escape.

"Now's our chance," Jack whispered. "Let's get out of here."

He wasn't completely surprised when Miko carefully placed him on the floor and slowly crept up on Barriss. Jack would've have tried to stop her, but he was getting weaker with every second. Ahsoka wanted to warn the girl, but if she did, Barriss would kill Miko instantly. Instead, she made a gamble and let her do whatever it was she was about to do, but that also meant to keep Barriss's focus on her.

"Barriss, you can fight this!" Ahsoka pleaded, trying to reason with her friend as they got in another saber lock. "You're stronger than these worms. You can do it!"

The Mirialan sighed in a mocking way. "Oh, Ahsoka. So sentimental. And here I thought Jedi were supposed to remain unattached."

BAM! Miko smashed the butt of her rifle against Barriss's head, knocking her out cold.

"Nice work," Ahsoka complemented, giving a friendly pat on her shoulder as she went to Jack's aide.

"Yes!" Miko exclaimed, fist-pumping the air. "I just saved someone and defeated someone powerful. How's that for awesome?"

"Celebrate once we get out of this," Jack stated as Ahsoka hoisted him up. "She's not gonna be out for long."

Ahsoka looked at Jack and gasped. "Oh, no! You're bleeding again."

Sure enough, there was some blood starting to fall from his nose and ears again.

"Not good," he said, frowning. "Looks like Barriss's temporary healing just ended."

"What now?" Miko asked, keeping her eyes out for clones.

"My master informed me of the worms' weakness," the Togruta answered, walking down the corridor while holding up Jack. "They can't stand the cold. After I drop you two off somewhere safe, I'm gonna rupture the coolant system. It'll turn this ship into an ice cube."

"And us," Miko added, worried.

"It's a risk we have to take," Jack stated firmly, grunting some more.

Suddenly, a few clones rounded the corner and began blasting at them. Ahsoka placed Jack against the wall with one hand and deflected the shots with the other. Miko fired several shots near the troopers, but she didn't score any kills because she didn't want to kill them. However, she did shoot one in the leg. To make matters worse, a conscious Barriss came from behind and charged them, thirsting for kills.

It was then that Jack truly realized that he was, at this point, a liability. Both Miko and Ahsoka were protecting him from getting killed, which he was appreciative of, but he needed to give them the chance to cut loose and remove himself from the equation. He looked forward and noticed the hallway that was blocked by security shields earlier. Right now, the shields were down, giving him the opportunity he needed.

With as much strength as he could muster, Jack lunged into the hallway while activating the shields by telekinetically pushing the button. The four walls came up, but the teen was directly in the middle of them.

"What are you doing!?" Ahsoka shouted as she was forced to contend with both Barriss and they clones.

"Lightening the load," Jack explained, getting himself in a sitting position. "Miko, blast the controls."

Miko shot a couple shots into the panel, removing the easy way to bring the shields down.

"You can't complete the mission lugging me around," he continued. "Rupture the coolant system and stop the worms."

Ahsoka Force-Pushed the clones into the wall, knocking them out temporarily. That just left Barriss, who was choking Miko with the Force. The Togruta kicked the Mirialan back and went on the offense, driving her away from the girl.

"I think she has it out for me," Miko said, coughing. "Your girlfriend is pretty awesome!"

"She's not my girlfriend," Jack retorted, feeling woozy on top of his pain. "Miko, do you know where the coolant system is?"

She nodded slowly, but then her eyes widened when she read between the lines. "No. You can't be asking me to-."

"Miko, you have to!" Jack exclaimed, holding his head. "Ahsoka is keeping Barriss off your back, I'm trapped in these shields with brain damage, and the clones will wake any second. If you don't do it, we'll be dead sooner and the worms will continue to go on infecting people. It's a miracle that we haven't died sooner. Now, get going!"

Completely understanding the stakes of this mission, Miko ran towards the room, jumping over the forms of the clones as they began to wake.

"Hey, bugs!" Jack shouted against his better judgement. "Over here!"

It worked. The four clones came in view, giving him a glare as he waved.

"You can't reach me," he taunted in a sing-song voice.

Growling, one of the clones crouched down next to the destroyed console and began tinkering with it. It would take a while, but they would eventually lower the shields and get to Jack. He hoped, though, that Miko would be able to rupture the coolant system by then.

Suddenly, a horrifying thought just came to him: he just sent Miko to her death!


This is really, really terrifying. Miko thought to herself as she hid from the clone troopers. This isn't a game where if you die, you can try again. If I die, I stay dead. Come on, Miko. You faced a zombie Decepticon before. Ok, ran from a zombie Decepticon. You can turn off the coolant system. Now, think. Which way was the place?

It came to her, entering the door on her right. As anticipated, she reached the coolant system. Slowly, Miko walked down the walkway towards the control panel, keeping an eye out on deranged clones and Jedi and those disgusting worms. There were so many buttons and levers on the panel, making her realize that this would be a bit of a problem.

She heard footsteps approaching behind her and jumped towards the panel, dodging blasterfire in the process. Sadly, a laser pierced her leg, causing her to fall to the ground. Crying in pain, Miko fired back at Havoc as she desperately crawled behind the panel, panting heavily.

"You've got guts, kid," Havoc stated, firing shots near her, "but it's the end of the line."

He smirked when he heard Miko panting, slowly drawing closer the control panel. He circled around left and appeared directly in front of…her phone. It seemed to be the one making all the noise

"What?" he asked, confused for a second.

BANG! A laser tore through his forehead, killing Havoc instantly. She had snuck around the other way and fired the shot from the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Miko whispered, trying not to cry as his body hit the ground.

Once the worm left the body, she fired three shots at it, the third taking its head off.

The Japanese girl didn't have time to address that this was her first kill. She had to complete the mission. Hoisting herself to stand on one foot, grunting in pain, she decided to pull the lever in front of her. Either this would rupture the coolant system, or blow up the ship. Who knew what could happen?

Fortunately, the cool air started to seep into the room, letting Miko know that she had done it. She was happy and sad at the same time. She was happy that the worms would be killed now, but she was sad that she ended up killing a man in order to do it and she would probably freeze to death before she could crawl away in time. After all, this was ground zero.

So, Miko moved herself over to her phone and sat down, scrolling over the pictures she had taken, shivering from the cold. She wanted to remember these fond memories for the last time. Tears slid down her face as she began to cry, accepting the inevitable.


You did it, Miko. Jack grinned when the ship began to freeze, but he covered his bleeding ears when the demonic screams of the worms sounded. The clones collapsed to the ground after a bit, solving that problem, but Jack was still trapped between the shields. He shivered from cold, hoping that Ahsoka and Miko were all right and they would all still be around when this over. Unfortunately, the room began to spin as he found himself blacking out, the last things on his mind were how much his head hurt and that Miko might not make it through this.

Removing the vent cover while shaking, the extremely cold Ahsoka raised herself out of the vent surrounded by fog. She managed to evade Barriss by taking cover in the vent, but knowing the Mirialan, she would find her eventually. While the Togruta was thrilled that the bugs would finally freeze to death, she still needed to slow the ship down. It just came out of hyperspace with a direct course for the medical station.

"The bridge," she said, feeling pleased that her luck was holding up. "At last."

Quickly, Ahsoka entered the bridge and took a seat in the pilot's chair while activating the communications. She needed to talk to the station and update them on the situation while she could.

"We're coming in awfully fast," she stated. "This is Ahsoka Tano. Can you hear me? I'm shutting down the engines. I'll try to reverse the-!"

Sensing the danger, Ahsoka rolled out of the chair just as Barriss's lightsaber smashed down on the controls. Due to that stunt, the ship began tilting slightly, dislodging several cooling ducts. Barriss got her face-full of an icy blast from one of the ducts, making her shout in surprise and pain. With the worm inside her weakening, she found herself trying to kill Ahsoka harder. She sliced down sloppily, Ahsoka dodging that one easily, and was slammed against the wall by said Togruta. Not backing down, Ahsoka grab one of the spewing ducts and shoved it in Barriss's face, eliciting one of the most terrifying screams from both her friend and the worm. The Mirialan collapsed on the ground, greatly weakened by the cold, as Ahsoka approached her slowly.

In a moment of clarity, Barriss uttered three words that no one should ever hear: "Kill me, please."

"I can't," Ahsoka replied, saddened by all the pain her friend was going through.

Quickly, the Togruta ran to the window and noticed the medical station getting ever so closer to them. There was no slowing down the ship with the controls destroyed. She turned around just in time to get Barriss's hands wrapped around her throat. The Mirialan opened her mouth, letting the worm try and reach the Togruta, but she managed to punch her back, giving her enough time to kick her in the path of the ducts.

Cautiously, Ahsoka activated her lightsaber, once again approaching Barriss. The worm was hanging out of her mouth going through its death throes while its host was screaming in agony. Ahsoka knew what she had to do to end Barriss's suffering, but she had time it just right. If she cut too close, she could kill Barriss.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Ahsoka brought her lightsaber down.


(Medical Facility)

Kit Fisto watched the frigate zoom towards the facility as two clone pilots tried to slow it down with their tractor beams. It was going to be close, but he had faith that the two men would be able to prevent the ship from crashing. However, the Padawans on board were a different story. The last he heard from Ahsoka was her being attacked by a possessed Barriss as the ship grew colder and colder. The subzero temperatures would kill the worms for sure, but they could also kill the people on board, especially the ones who weren't Force-Sensitive. At least the clones had some form of protection with their armor, so he believed they would survive, but the girl…

Kit brought himself out of his thoughts the moment the ship was successfully docked. The pilots had done it, thank the Force, but there was still work to do.

"The temperature's below freezing, sir," the clone next to him stated after scanning the ship.

"Let's board then," Kit replied, determined, "but stay on guard. They may still be dangerous.

The Nautolan Jedi ran towards the ship with two clones in tow. Once the doors to the bridge opened, they cautiously stepped inside, taking in their surroundings. Just like the clone said, everything was covered in ice. Immediately, Kit spotted Barriss and Ahsoka lying on the ground covered in frost, but they were still alive.

He knelt down and slowly lifted up Ahsoka's chin, who could barely open her eyes.

"Hello, Master Fisto," the Togruta softly, shivering. "We're ready to pick up the supplies."

Kit smiled, relieved that the worst was behind them. "We'll take care of that. You rest now, Ahsoka."

"Jack…Miko…"

"We'll find them," he assured. "Just rest."

Ahsoka's version of resting was passing out.


The first thing Jack felt the moment he woke up was how numb his brain felt. He felt groggy, slightly nauseous, but at least he was still alive. Without getting up, he gazed at the surroundings, noticing the constant, boring theme of white. At least there was a view of space in his room.

He touched his forehead, feeling the bandages around them. The bleeding from his nose and ears had disappeared, so that was a good sign, and he could still remember things recently and long-term, flashburns aside. All in all, he considered himself to be very lucky.

Then, he realized he wasn't alone. Yvana, Anakin, and Ahsoka were all waiting for him.

"Jack!" Yvana exclaimed, happy that he was awake.

He gave a pained groan before speaking. "I swear we went through this scenario not too long ago. How long was I out for?"

Smiling slightly, she responded with, "A few hours. Ahsoka woke up before you and she and Anakin wanted to check up on you. How do you feel?"

"Banged up mentally," Jack answered. "Did everyone make it out all right?"

"The worms died from the cold," Ahsoka answered. "The clones that were infected made it out okay." She paused, bowing her head slightly. "Well, most of them, I mean."

Jack sighed, remembering Trap's death, but he had to do a head count. "How many died?"

"Two clones: Havoc and Trap," Anakin stated.

"And Miko?" he found himself asking.

"She's alive," Anakin assured, "but she almost didn't make it. It was a miracle that she survived that room. Right now, she's in another room recovering from severe hypothermia and a laser wound to the leg."

"Barriss?"

"Sleeping," he answered. "She'll make a good recovery thanks to all of you."

"Good." Jack slowly raised himself into a sitting position as a confused thought occurred to him: Yvana didn't get up to give him a hug. He wondered why for a moment, but it passed when he spotted the reason.

His own mother was handcuffed behind the chair she was sitting in. Judging from the design of the binders, they negated the Force.

"Mom, why are you handcuffed?" Jack dared to ask, part of him not wanting to know why.

Anakin knew he was not going to like this, so he decided to answer his question. "When we found up the worms were attacking you all, Yvana decided to have a chat with Poggle."

'"Have a chat?"' This was off to a great start.

"Long story short, Poggle caved in after I removed his hand and the Jedi didn't take kindly to that," Yvana quickly finished.

Jack's eyes widened, but the action caused him to hold his head in pain. "Can't believe you did that."

Ahsoka sat down next to Jack, hoping that if it came from her, he wouldn't completely freak out. "There's more: you and Yvana are heading back to Coruscant very soon. The Council has been informed of the recent developments and they are ordering you two to stand in front of them and explain everything."

Jack knew that this would happen eventually, but he never imagined it would happen at one of the worst possible moments. He was just recovering from a terrible ordeal and now the Council wanted to have an interrogation?

Slowly, he lowered himself back on the bed, longing for the comfort of unconsciousness. "One thing after another. One thing after another."


Sorry if the ending felt rushed. I wanted to have it posted by tonight so I can finally work on the next, and probably hardest, chapter yet. You all knew this was coming for quite some time and I see that I have people wanting Yvana to tell off the Council and the Council to bash Yvana for her actions. To those I will say this: wait and see. I have to take great care doing this.

Apologies for the lack of Transformers in this chapter. I couldn't exactly fit them in this time.

Here's something you should know: I almost killed Miko off, but Hayden101 convinced not to, so Miko fans, congrats. She will live to the next chapter. Speaking of, hope her character development here was solid because she's gonna be leaving soon, FYI.

I hope you guys didn't think that Jack being able to fight the worm's control do the flashburns was annoying. Remember what the Geonosian queen said: "Your mind, my mind." In other words, the worm would get the pains of a burned mind instantly. I didn't want Jack to get out in tip top shape hence the brain problems he had.

Review, please.

Next chapter: Do I even need to say it?