Synopsis: The Blue Shadow virus is unleashed and affects Padme, Ahsoka Tano, Vaessa Orin and a good number of clone troops. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have a limited 48 hours to locate the only cure found on a strange planet.

Hard-pressed Jedi and their valiant clone troopers

have thwarted an insidious Separatist plot

to plant bombs loaded with the deadly blue shadow virus

in key republic systems.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have captured the vile scientist behind the nefarious scheme, Dr. Nuvo Vindi.

Now the Jedi prepare to transport Vindi to the Republic capital for trial.

An alarm went off. "What's going on?" Ahsoka asked, confused.

"I don't know, but it can't be anything good," I answered.

A loud explosion rocked the lab. "Virus leak," said Rex.

"Get to the safe room," I ordered. "Now!"

We ran as fast as our legs could take us, which was a lot faster for Jedi, but still not fast enough to out run the big cloud of blue smoke following us.

"There's the safe room!" I yelled, spotting the circular door revealing the glowing red room.

"No chance!" Rex replied.

"Hurry! The doors are closing!" A clone - Soren, I think - yelled.

"Don't worry!" Ahsoka told them, and me and her held the door open using the force.

"Get inside, Captain," she said.

When the last clones were through, we let go and jumped through just in time.

"Ahsoka, what is going on down there?" Anakin asked Ahsoka through her comlink.

"The droids released the virus," Ahsoka replied. "We've managed to seal the lab."

"And Padme?"

"Haven't heard from her since the bomb." The comlink was cut off. "Someone else contacted him," Ahsoka informed me.

"The Senator?" I asked.

"Probably. Not sure, though."

"No no no!" Soren slammed his fist into the control panel. "Some of the virus got in here," he told us. "We didn't close the door fast enough."

"We may be dead men, but we can still stop those droids," Rex told us.

"Agreed," I answered.

"Don't be so downbeat, you two," Ahsoka said winningly. "Our masters will find a cure for this virus."

I exchanged a look with Rex. "Maybe," I said.

"Hey, we're not dead yet," she joked.

"Is anyone out there?" Senator Amidala's voice came from Ahsoka's comlink. "Can anyone hear -"

"Senator Amidala, we're trapped in the safe room at the end of complex B," Ahsoka responded.

"We'll be right there." The Senator paused. "Are you contaminated?"

Ahsoka looked over at the door. To my horror, a pair of troops were coughing. "I'm afraid so," Ahsoka said sadly.

The comlink shut off. "What do we do now?" Ahsoka asked.

"We could play a game," I suggested.

"Very funny, Commander Orin," Rex replied.

"No, I'm serious," I told him. "Any suggestions?"

"We did use to play this game in my clan," Ahsoka said slowly. "Rock, datapad, blaster, truth!"

"'Rock, datapad, blaster, truth'?" I asked.

"Yeah! You would close your eyes and say either rock, datapad or blaster. Rock beats blaster, datapad beats rock, rock beats blaster!"

"How does rock beat blaster but not datapad?" Rex asked.

She shrugged. "You wanna play?"

I nodded. "Fine," Rex answered.

"Okay. Close your eyes, no peaking, and... rock!" I said datapad and Rex said blaster.

"Okay. Vaer, you're down a life because blaster beats datapad, Rex is down a life because rock beats blaster, and I'm down a life because datapad beats rock."

"Lives?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, you get three," she explained shortly.

We played two more 'rounds' as Ahsoka called them, and, unsurprisingly, me and Rex lost.

"What happens now?" I asked.

Ahsoka grinned evilly. "This is where the truth bit comes in. I have to ask a question to each of you and you have to answer honestly."

"No," I said immediately.

"Wait, what?" Rex asked, startled.

"That's the rules."

"We're not doing that," I told her.

"Yes we are. You signed up for this, didn't you? Wasn't it your idea to play a game in the first place?"

Rex glared at me. "I didn't sign up for a pact of hones-"

"Rex, have you ever dated a girl, and if so, who was she?" Ahsoka interrupted.

I turned to Rex. "Have you?" I asked.

"Well... no," he managed.

"KNEW IT!" Ahsoka yelled.

The sick clone troopers looked at her as if she was mad. Rex had gone the same colour as a radish. "Soka, maybe turn it down a little?" I suggested.

Her montrals darkened. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "It's just he's been boasting about the girls he's dated for months, when in reality he's never been with a single one!" She turned to me. Oh no. "What about you, Vaer? Are you interested in anyone?"

Images of Emeryx flashed through my head. "No," I lied. "No, I'm not interested in anyone."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"You're blushing."

"That's not what going red means, Soka."

"Yes it doe-" there was a loud buzz and the door opened, revealing Senator Amidala and Jar Jar Binks.

The senator walked forward and put a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ahsoka, Vaessa."

"Don't worry about us, Senator," Ahsoka replied.

"Might I remind you, we still have a job to do," I told her gently. "And there's no way we're no gonna rest until it's done."

"Agreed," Ahsoka said. "Come on, troops. There's still a battle to be won."

"You and Jar Jar take the north corridor, me and Vaessa will take the South," she told us.

We crept up on a group of droids climbing up a ladder. "Hey!" I yelled, and I started cutting them down, the Senator and the troops shooting any stragglers.

Droids came in from another corridor, followed by Ahsoka and her troops. Me and the Senator ran up to the foot of the ladder, where a final droid had managed to get to the hatch. "Don't open that hatch!" Senator Amidala ordered.

"Ha! Too late," the droid said.

A whole lot of shooting took the droid out, and it fell to the ground, destroyed.

We ran down the corridors until we encountered a group of droidekas. Ahsoka, being Ahsoka, jumped onto one of them and began attempting to cut a hole in it's shield. I, meanwhile, focused on deflecting the shots.

"Thisa help," Representative Binks said, firing at the droideka Ahsoka was trying to cut down.

"Representative, no!" I yelled, and jumped on him so the deflected fire zoomed past him... and into a kink in the senator's suit.

"Senator!" I yelled, and ran up to her.

"I'm so sorry," I said, as air leaked out of Senator Amidala's suit.

She removed her helmet. "Don't blame yourself, Vaessa," she replied. "These things tend to happen in a war zone."

We continued to cut down droids and mark exits. At one point, Ahsoka fell against the ladder of a hatch, and I caught her. "I'm fine," she attempted to reassure me.

"No, you're not," I said forcefully. "Hear, let me help you..." I let her lean against me. I exchanged a look with Rex. I knew we were both thinking the same thing - with Ahsoka's small body, she'll be the first to go.

I contacted Obi-Wan. "Master? Can you hear me? Master?"

Anakin and Obi-Wan's hologram came into view.

"We destroyed all the battle droids inside the compound, master," I panted. "Naboo is safe from further contamination."

"Master?" Ahsoka groaned.

"I repeat, Naboo -" I broke into a fit of coughing. "Naboo is safe, Master."

"Promise me no-one will ever open this bunker," Senator Amidala panted. "Good-bye, Anakin. I -" the connection broke off.

We sat around our temporary base, waiting for death to arrive. "What a waste," the senator said, looking over at the dead body of Soren.

"With all due respect, Senator," Rex sighed. "This is what these men were born to do." It was impossible to miss the bitterness in his tone.

"That doesn't make it any less cruel," I told him between coughs.

"I hope their sacrifice was not in vain, and it helps shorten this war," the senator told Rex.

Ahsoka broke into a series of coughs as she attempted to sit up. We had lay her down under my cloak after she couldn't stand up anymore.

"It will do, Padme," she said weakly. "You must believe that it will..." she blacked out completely.

"Ahsoka!" I yelled, running to catch her. I felt her pulse desperately. I exhaled. "She's alive," I told the others.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Rex asked, coughing.

I didn't want to think about that. "Let's play that game we were playing earlier," I suggested, mainly to take my mind off what might happen after death.

"Rock, datapad, blaster, truth?" Rex asked. I nodded. "Okay."

To no-one's surprise, we tied last. "Who will go first?" Padme asked.

"I'll ask Rex," I panted. "Rex, how old are you chronologically?"

"Twenty."

"No, how many years have you been alive for?"

He hesitated. "Ten."

"Ten?" I asked. "Well, that explains a lot."

"I'm still twenty mentally, you know."

"Yeah, but you've still only had ten years of experience being alive," Padme pointed out.

"Now you, Padme," I said. "What are your feelings concerning Anakin Skywalker?"

"I can't answer that."

"You have to."

She looked conflicted. Then she muttered something I couldn't hear.

"What?" I asked.

"We're married!" she said loudly.

There was a very loud silence.

"Ah," Rex managed.

"Padme, what? I mean - when?" I asked.

"After the Battle of Geonosis," she said quietly. "We couldn't tell you, because..." she trailed off. I knew what she meant to say, though. Because Anakin would loose everything.

"Please don't tell the council," she begged.

"You outrank me," Rex said. "If you give me an order, I sorta have to obey it."

"And if Anakin gets kicked out, Ahsoka will be destroyed," I said carefully. "I can't do that to her."

Padme smiled softly. It began to blur, though, and it quickly faded to black.

Obi-Wan's face appeared above mine. "Hello, Vaessa," he greeted.

"Hey, master," I managed. "Is Ahsoka safe?"

He smiled. "Thanks to you. Rest now. You've earned it."

"VAER!" a voice yelled, and I was shrouded in purple.

"Oh. So she did wake up," another voice said, sounding put off.

The person with a death grip around my neck released me, and I was greeted by a familiar blue and purple young girl.

"Niya," I said happily.

She flipped her hair back. "The one and only."

I looked past her to see Ryliane and Caleb looking at me expectantly. "Don't die of enthusiasm that I'm alive," I told them.

"You were never going to be dead," Ryliane scoffed.

"Don't mind her," Daniyelle told me. "She's just salty because she lost a bet."

"DANIYELLE!" Ryliane shouted, and tried to jump on her, but she sidestepped. I grinned at Caleb who gave a shy wave.

I pulled Ryliane away from Daniyelle, who made a break for it. "One of these days, you two are going to kill each other," I laughed.