Chapter 21: Halting Scientific Progress
The planet Minntooine was a remote water planet in the Outer Rim Territories. A Commerce Guild-controlled junta maintained power on the aquatic world. It was a new home to many Quarren who were fleeing from Mon Calamari. Minntooine was a Confederate planet, though there was one thing on this particular planet the CIS kept secret from even its own members. A top-secret Separatist research facility was hidden in the oceans. Or it would have been secret if the Republic had not learned of its location.
An AA-9 gunship transport flew low over the water and dropped off a Republic aquatic transport. The transport sank into the water and started for the Separatist research station. The AA-9 gunship transport left in haste, not wanting to get caught and spoil the element of surprise.
The very same research station was home to Dr. Khosa Skelhar. Dr. Khosa Skelhar was a Selkath scientist. Over a decade ago, an Ithorian scientist had come to his homeworld of Manaan and took him away. At the time he did not know why he had been chosen, learning later that he was Force sensitive. The Jedi Order had missed him. The Ithorian had tried to teach Skelhar to unlock his hidden power but all efforts had proven fruitless, the Selkath had lived too long without any training or instruction in the ways of manipulating the Force. But it was discovered that Skelhar enjoyed science, and the Selkath went on to pursue an education and eventually earned a doctorate.
Five years ago, Dr. Skelhar attracted the attention of the Felacatians, who hired him to find a cure for their species' curious condition. Felacatians were bipedal humanoids with short fur and a tail. But when Felacatians spent too much time in hyperspace, they would morph into a dangerous, predatory, cat-like creature. With great practice, a Felacatian could transform at will and restrain from morphing when they didn't want to. Few Felacatians had the massive willpower needed to maintain control at any time they chose. Needless to say, this kept most Felacatians from traveling the galaxy. But that was about to change.
"Bring in the volunteer," Dr. Skelhar told Major Frix, the ranking Felacatian officer assigned to the project.
"Yes, Doctor." Major Frix was one of the few Felacatians that was able to master his transformation, even being able to travel through hyperspace for extended periods of time.
"Lie down on the table please," Dr. Skelhar told the Felacatian private who entered the lab. The low-ranking soldier did as he was told.
"Apply the restraints," Skelhar croaked. A pair of ADK-25-MED medical droids went about binding the Felacatian's arms and legs as Skelhar had ordered. The Selkath spoke with a heavy accent and on occasion, would accidentally revert back to speaking his native language. Khosa Skelhar preferred his native tongue, but it was only spoken on Manaan, and he never wanted to return to his miserable home planet again. So it was either trudge through Basic or learn another new language. Khosa thought he had wasted enough time learning to communicate with others, he preferred to explore the realm of science.
"Finally, my people will be free to leave our homeworld," Frix smiled.
Before Skelhar could begin the operation, an OOM command battle droid barged into the laboratory.
"What is it, Commander AC-2?" Dr. Skelhar asked. "I'm about to start a procedure here." Dr. Skelhar was not in the mood to put up with the simple-minded battle droid, not when he was on the verge of success. For most of the five years he spent employed by the Felacatians there were no battle droids guarding him. The planet Felacat had pledged its support to the Confederacy once the war started, but it was really just an empty oath since they could not send their soldiers off world. The CIS had learned of Skelhar's work and immediately moved droids in to guard him. They wanted a cure just as much as the Felacatians; with a cure the CIS could move Felacatian soldiers into their already diverse ranks of organic troops.
AC-2 was painted in a green army camouflage pattern and had blue CIS emblems on his shoulder plates. "Halt the project and prepare your research for departure."
"What? Why?"
"We have an unidentified ship on scanner."
"So?" Dr. Skelhar didn't see what the problem was. Submersible vessels had passed by the base before and they had remained undetected.
"This one is heading straight for the base. They know we're here. We have no arrivals scheduled at this time and they're not transmitting access codes. It's the Republic."
"It can't be. No one knows we're here," Major Frix stated.
"It's time to pack up and go, Doctor."
"But my research, it's nearly done. I can't stop now."
"Your research will cease to exist in the next hour if you don't pack up now. I'm preparing defenses, but we need to leave. Our location has been compromised. Even if we win the battle this base is no longer safe."
"Very well, AC-2. I will defer to your judgment in military matters."
Frix howled in frustration. "Why is this happening now? We're so close!"
"Doctor, I recommend you carry this on your person," AC-2 offered the Selkath a SE-14 blaster pistol.
"No, thank you. I will leave the shooting up to you and your troops." This was not the first time AC-2 offered a blaster to Skelhar. The command droid was insistent that he have the means to protect himself but Skelhar declined the offer every time. The Selkath scientist was never comfortable holding a blaster and had no desire to use one.
The battle droid momentarily gave up on arming the pacifist. "I want you and your research packed on the transport in half an hour." AC-2 turned and left. Major Frix went after the command droid, not wanting to be left out of the loop.
"Release the volunteer," Skelhar told the medical droids. The Selkath let out a guttural sigh; he would just have to pick up where he left off later.
"We're almost there, General," clone sergeant Gnasher informed his leader.
"Good, it's cramped in here." Obi-wan Jakoby was not a fan of riding in aquatic transports, they always seemed so slow in comparison to aircraft.
"I doubt we'll be able to stretch our legs in an undersea base," Jack said.
"It won't give our target much room to run either," Tai tried to look on the positive side of things.
"Right, about this target…" Kicker started. "What is it again?"
"Dr. Khosa Skelhar," Jakoby answered.
"Ugly name," Kicker said.
"A common trait among aliens," Jack added.
"And what sort of alien is Dr. What's-his-name?" Kicker asked.
"A Selkath," Ace answered.
"And what does a Selkath look like?"
"I'm not sure," Ace answered.
"How hard could it be?" Jakoby was confident. "We just grab whoever is not a droid."
"We've have incoming aqua droids," the transport captain said over the loudspeaker. Jakoby rolled his eyes. This was expected, how boring.
"They spotted us fast," Kicker commented. "Droids aren't usually this quick on the uptake."
The Jedi pulled out his comlink. "Send out the scuba troopers, captain." As if the captain needed to be told.
The Republic transport let loose eighteen clone scuba troopers, while thirty aqua droids swam from the CIS research station. It would have been a problem, but the aqua droids could not destroy the transport fast enough before it docked with the station, at least not while having to deal with the clones.
The Republic transport attached to the station with no interference from the aqua droids.
"They're not just going to open the door and let us in," Kicker complained. "Where is the-"
"I'm going to open it," Jakoby interrupted.
"What? How?" Kicker dumbly asked. The clone commando knew the answer as soon as the words of the question had left his mouth.
"The Force of course." Obi-wan Jakoby reached out through the Force, feeling his way through the base's lock mechanisms and electronics. After a few brief moments of silence, there was a thump and the CIS hatch opened. "I amaze even myself," Jakoby opened his eyes. The four clone commandos went in first.
"One of the hatches has been opened!" Major Frix exclaimed.
"We opened the hanger to release the aqua droids," an OOM pilot battle droid explained.
"No you idiot! It's not the hanger! Who authorized this?"
"No one," AC-2 answered.
"Someone had to! It wasn't hacked or blasted open! We have a traitor in our midst!"
"We do not," AC-2 corrected the Felacatian.
"One of your droids must have been hacked!" Frix accused.
"Negative. I would know. And I doubt one of your soldiers would jeopardize the research. This is the work of a Jedi."
"They can do that? How do you know?"
"When impossible things happen, there's always a Jedi involved. We need to deploy the droidekas to that hatch immediately."
Major Frix calmed down. It appeared that the command droid knew what he was doing.
"They've sent in rollers!" Jack yelled. The hallway they were in was long, narrow, and devoid of any cover whatsoever. The hallway was barely wide enough to allow the two droidekas to stand side-by-side with their shields up.
The destroyer droids were able to strip the commandos of their shields with ease. The Republic troopers were able to get back down the hall to the T-intersection where they came from.
"Right, now what?" Tai asked. The droidekas were a fair distance away and grenades might not make it all the way.
"Let's see what this stations made of," Jakoby started cutting a hole in the wall with his lightsaber, hoping to make an entrance into another part of the station.
It took longer than he would have liked, but Jakoby cut through to another room, which turned out to be a food storage area.
"Minecar, stay here and distract the droids, we'll go around and get them from behind."
"Yes sir!" Minecar fired a DC-15x sniper rifle down at the droids. The long-range weapon provided accuracy, but not the power to punch through the droidekas' shields. It did make for a convincing attack and the destroyer droids kept trying to shoot the clone lieutenant.
Jakoby and the other clones meandered around long enough and eventually were able to get behind the two destroyer droids.
"EMP grenade," Jakoby whispered to Ace, who handed him a V-6 haywire grenade.
Jakoby rolled the grenade between the two destroyers and it went off, taking out both the droidekas' shields. Jakoby then threw his lightsaber and sliced the droid duo in half.
"Took long enough," Minecar yelled from the other end of the hallway. "What, you guys stop for tea?"
Jakoby was about to issue a smartass response to his lieutenant when a voice behind him caused him and the clones to turn around.
"Hey," a B1 said. The clones blasted the lone battle droid before it could get a shot off. "No time for witty banter!" Jakoby and his collection of clones pressed onward right into a squad of super battle droids.
In the command room, AC-2 was trying to keep the droids organized while Major Frix left to round up his Felacatian soldiers.
"Commander, we've lost the destroyer droids' signals," a pilot droid stated.
"The aqua droids have defeated the clones outside the base, only three are still operational," another said.
"Get those aqua droids back in here. We need their assistance against the Jedi. Where are my super battle droids?"
"Half their signals have gone out sir."
"I want all battle droids to fall back to the hanger."
"Roger roger."
"The droids are falling back," Tai said.
"Cowards. They should stay and fight. It's not like they have anywhere to run on this station," Kicker tried firing at a fleeing B1, but missed.
"Spread out! I want all battle droids destroyed. If you come across any worker or medical droids, capture them. They may be able to lead us to the labs. Oh, and if you see anyone who looks like a scientist, capture them too."
"You heard the General! Get moving!"
Jakoby froze for a moment. "Look alive boys, we've got new friends to play with." Through the Force, Jakoby sensed the Felacatians approach before he actually saw them.
Felacatians had a superior sense of balance, as well as great speed and reaction time. These attributes gave the typical Felacatian an advantage over a human, or in this case, clone. The Felacatian troopers struck fast and hard. Before anyone could blink, three clone troopers were taken down.
"Watch it! Watch it!"
"Arghh!"
"They fight better than the droids!"
Though they initially attacked with E-5 blaster rifles, the Felacatian soldiers quickly closed the gap and engaged the clones with vibroblades. The deadly melee weapons easily sliced through clone armor but were useless against Jakoby's lightsabers.
After Jakoby butchered half of his squad, Major Frix ordered his remaining soldiers to pull back. But once the Felacatians pulled back away from the clones, Jakoby was free to Force push them all down. The Felacatian warriors were quick to get up to their feet, but not before the clones shot another three.
Major Frix threw his vibroblade at the Jedi, who caught it with the Force and propelled it back at him. The blade lodged itself into Frix's left shoulder. The Felacatian officer howled in pain as he ripped the weapon out.
More of his solders started to fall to blaster fire. Being one of the last alive, Frix turned and fled from the fight. The clones finished off the stragglers who didn't turn tail with their leader.
"That wasn't so bad," Minecar said once the Felacatians were all gone.
"Don't relax get just yet," Ace stated.
AC-2 unlocked some of the station's outer hatches, the command droid planned to flood the base. The droids wouldn't drown but the clones might, and AC-2 was running out of options. AC-2 contacted Major Frix via a comlink, "I'm flooding the station, get yourself to the transport now, Major."
"I'm on my way," a stressed reply came.
The Republic troops separated as they moved throughout the base, the opposition they predicted seemed to have sizzled out.
"This is too easy. It's never this easy," Gnasher said to Jakoby.
"Don't worry, it isn't easy yet. No one has found the scientist yet. If he gets away-" the Jedi's sentence was cut off as he was suddenly fired upon by a trio of aqua droids.
"Stick to the water!" Gnasher blasted two of them while Jakoby hacked the third into thirds.
The pair kept going, running into the four commandos and most of the other clones.
"Sir," Minecar addressed his general. "It seems the droids are running for whatever ships they have stored in their hanger."
"Do you know anything about the research?"
"No sir. It may already be aboard for evacuation."
Army camouflage B1 battle droids and clone troopers blasted at each other as PK and MSE-4 droids scurried to the Separatist transport docked in the hanger. "You organics are so fragile." Two ADK-25-MED medical droids helped the injured Major Frix to the ship.
AC-2 helped his battle droids hold off the clone aggressors. The command droid fired an E-5 in his left hand and a SE-14 pistol in his right. Throughout the fight he managed to kill three clones.
Amidst the chaos Jakoby saw an alien he didn't recognize. Some aquatic-looking species. It wore a white suit with blue trim. He didn't look like a soldier or an officer but he looked important. Given that this was a secret Separatist installation, that meant he was probably an evil scientist, the evil scientist that he was searching for. That possibility was reason enough for Jakoby to snatch him up. If he turned out to be a simple engineer, then there would be a problem.
Dr. Skelhar saw the Jedi and the clones and started to run. Something was wrong, his feet were moving but he wasn't going anywhere. The Jedi held him mid-air through the power of the Force.
"Release me," Skelhar demanded.
"Ummmm, no."
"I'm just a cook," Skelhar tried to fib his way out of the situation.
"I don't think so. Don't you know you shouldn't lie to a Jedi?"
The paranoid command droid AC-2 had always insisted that Skelhar carry a sidearm blaster, something Khosa would not do and now regretted. Why would he ever need a blaster? How would a scientist like himself get in this situation? Why was the Republic targeting him? Why was the Jedi Order carrying out their dirty work?
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Oh, I don't know…maybe it has something to do with you trying to unleash the Felacatian armies upon the Republic."
AC-2 saw that the Jedi had Skelhar in his grip. The OOM command droid suffered no delusions that he would be able to defeat a Jedi. He would not engage the Jedi in combat, despite what was at risk. As long as the research was safely transported away, they could always get another scientist to finish up the work. AC-2 and his battle droids went for the transport.
"Wait! Where are you going? You've got to save me!" Khosa called after the command battle droid.
"I told you to hold onto that blaster. Goodbye, Doctor."
"No! No!" Skelhar squirmed in the air, trying to break free of his invisible restraints.
"The research is all here," a LEP servant droid held a crate.
"Let's go!" AC-2 yelled at the bot. Idiot. The dumb worker droid had just decreed where the research was right in front of the Jedi.
With the Force, the Jedi yanked the box away from the rabbit droid.
Things had gone from bad to worse, but there was nothing to be done about it. Some of the clones gave chase but AC-2 successfully left on the S-TRN, being able to escape was in some small way a victory.
Tai opened the crate. It was filled with datapads containing the research.
"Use an EMP grenade," Jakoby ordered.
"No!" Skelhar protested. "You can't!"
"Silence, Separatist scum!" Jakoby threw him against the wall. Tai planted a V-6 haywire grenade in the middle of the datapads.
"Do it."
Tai set off the EMP grenade. In a blurry flash, five years of research was gone.
Anger boiled up inside Skelhar. He had identified with the Felacatians' plight. They wanted to be able to leave their homeworld; he knew the feeling. He had escaped Manaan but the Felacatians were now stuck on Felacat. "You monster! You just destroyed five years of research! I could have freed the Felacatians from their homeworld!"
"And we can't allow that, can we?" Jakoby smirked.
The smile slathered across the Jedi's face drove Skelhar insane. He treated the whole tragedy so casually, as if five years of his life going up in smoke was funny.
"I'll kill you!" Skelhar harnessed his anger and channeled it into a force of rage. Rage that took the form of a Force push. Jakoby was knocked on his ass.
"What was that?"
The clones raised their weapons, but did not fire. "That was a Force push, General." Ace had seen enough Force pushes in his time to know what one looked like.
"A Force sensitive, huh?" Jakoby got to his feet. "Funny, you don't look much like a Sith to me."
"I'm…I'm not." Skelhar realized the Jedi or his clones might strike him down if they thought he was a Sith. "I'm no Sith. I swear!" In his panic, Skelhar started bubbling on in his native language.
"No, I suppose your not. If you were then you'd be the most spineless Sith I've ever seen."
"What Sith have you seen?" Ace challenged his general.
"Don't call me on this stuff Ace! I trying to demoralize the enemy if you don't mind!"
"Yes sir," Ace's response had a touch of sarcasm. The clone commando would challenge his general again in the future, it was just the kind of casual relationship they had. Obi-wan Jakoby and his clones were always giving each other a hard time.
"The Jedi Council will still want to know about this."
"Shouldn't we get back to our ship? This place is flooding."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get going. Come on Doc." Using the Force, Obi-wan Jakoby dragged the screaming Selkath down the hall.
"What, you afraid of a little water, Tai?" Kicker picked at his squad mate.
The Republic forces made it back to their transport before the station completely flooded. Despite searching, they could not locate the S-TRN. It was no loss, the way the Selkath carried on, Jakoby was certain that the droids hadn't gotten away with any of his research. The battle droids had escaped, but Jakoby had the prize.