"aaaa" - talking through a holocomunicator or comlink. aaaa - inner thoughts and Force Visions. 'aaaa' - talking through a bond.
AN: Thank you princesselsaamidala22 for your review of the last chapter.
We've made it! This is the final episode in the Geonosian Arc!
After finally securing the planet of Geonosis for the Republic and also shutting down the droid foundry, the Jedi manage to capture Poggle after liberating Luminara from Queen Karina's temple as she had been captured while chasing after the Separatist Leader.
While Anakin, Obi-Wan, Luminara and Ki-Adi-Mundi escort the captured Geonosian Archduke to Coruscant so he can be interrogated, Rosella, along with Barriss have been assigned to oversee a supply run to a medical station with a group of Clones.
Chapter 17: Night of the Brain Controlled Clones
Later that same day, after Rosella and Barriss had been sent back to the Resolute, examined by Corric and another medic and told to rest and relax, they had been released from the medbay and were now on a shuttle with Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, heading back down to the dusty surface of Geonosis.
Rosella was feeling a lot better. Her stay in the medbay had been a little longer than she'd hoped because of the minor headache that she had received in the reactor room. It had ended up turning into a small concussion and Corric had kept her there until he was satisfied that she was going to be alright.
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Once their shuttle landed on the ground, Barriss was the first to exit, followed by Rosella as two troopers from the 41st Elite Corps pushed Poggle onto it. The girls ignored the Archduke as he said something to them in his language.
As the first trooper reached the top of the ramp, Ki-Adi-Mundi appeared as he had been called up to the cockpit while the girls were exiting the transport. He passed by the bound Geonosian leader, also choosing to ignore whatever had just been said. "I'm afraid we have a complication," he said as he made his way down the ramp.
"Don't we always?" Anakin asked dryly, a small smile appearing on his face.
Behind him, Barriss took her place next to her Master and Rosella stood beside her, making sure she was behind her father's right shoulder.
"I've just received a distress signal from our forces on Dantooine," the Cerean Jedi replied. "While Master Windu's defences have held together under all the fighting, his men are in no shape to continue the battle. They need medical aid immediately. Fortunately for us, we can get these supplies at the medical station that we have near Ord Cestus."
Anakin's eyebrows narrowed upon hearing the news. "Master Mundi, please don't take this the wrong way, but we have to deliver Poggle to Coruscant and Cestus isn't exactly on the way."
"Anakin is correct," Luminara spoke up as she walked forward so she was standing next to Obi-Wan. "The Republic must begin debriefing Poggle as soon as possible if we are to get any form of useful intel from him."
Anakin began to brainstorm, trying to come up with an idea of how to handle this situation. Then he turned around and spotted Rosella and Barriss who were standing next to each other. While he was a little hesitant to send his daughter on another mission after what had happened with the factory, he knew that he needed to let her grow and get used to working with other Jedi. He also knew that they needed to get Poggle to Coruscant and they needed to help Master Windu. "Master Luminara," he said as he walked behind both of the girls and placed one of his hands on each of their shoulders. "Since our padawans have just been cleared to come back to the field, I suggest we let the two of them handle the supply mission."
"I'm happy to help out with whatever needs to be done, Master," Rosella said.
"As am I," Barriss responded, taking a step forward.
Obi-Wan thought about it for a minute. "Very well," he said. "Take a medical frigate to use for the trip. When you arrive at the medical station, the two of you will wait for us to arrive once we have successfully delivered Poggle to Coruscant. Then we will all head to Dantooine together."
Anakin let go of the girls shoulders and watched as both Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi-Mundi made their way onto the shuttle. Luminara nodded to Barriss and received a nod as well as a curtsy from her in return before following the other two Masters.
Neither Barriss or Rosella noticed as Anakin turned to look over his shoulder at the ruins of the Temple that he, Luminara and Obi-Wan had just come out of.
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Over by the ruins of the Progate Temple, there was a group of five clones who had managed to fall asleep while finding some time to relax before their next mission. A few meters from where one of the clones was sleeping, there was a round shaped egg laying in the dirt. As it began to move, part of the shell cracked open, exposing the worm inside to the fresh air and light as it popped out of its home.
It slithered from its shell, making a high-pitched screeching sound as it smelled a new host nearby. Upon discovering the clone, the worm slithered across the bottom of his helmet, up his leg, over his right hand, up his chest and disappeared into the nose.
The clone grunted and soon all was silent again.
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Their Lieutenant, a clone named Trap, came up to them. As he looked around and saw that they were all sleeping, he raised his blaster towards the sky and fired it.
Four out of the five men woke up and reached for their weapons which were laying beside them, but only three of them leapt to their feet as they looked around for the nonexistent threat.
"Sorry, boys. Hope I didn't interrupt your nap time," Trap said, watching as one of his men sat up.
"No sir," one of the men replied. "Do you have another mission for us?"
"You bet," Trap responded as he marched in front of his men. "We are going to be making a medical supply run to Ord Cestus."
Another trooper scoffed, having turned his head away as he sat on the ground. "I thought we were bred for battle, not running errands," he complained as he stood up, only to come face to face with his commanding officer who had stopped in front of him, which caused the man to jerk backwards, nearly falling to the ground.
"Hey!" Trap said, letting his slightly towering stance linger close to the trooper who was under his command. "We are soldiers Pulsar. That means we go wherever we are needed and follow the orders that are given to us by our superiors. I'm sure you don't have a problem with that, do you?"
Pulsar immediately stood at attention, not wanting to be given a crappy job like cleaning the toilets or their barracks back on Coruscant with nothing but a toothbrush when this mission was over. "No sir!" He replied. "I don't have a problem with that."
"That's what I thought. Now, get your gear together and let's move!" Trap ordered.
Pulsar sighed as he and the others turned to grab their things. As he walked over and knelt to grab his pack and blaster, a frown appeared on his face when he looked up and saw that his vod was still laying on the ground, having slept through the entire briefing. "Hey Scythe, come on," he urged as he stood up with his blaster in one hand and his pack in the other. Then he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Get up brother. Up and at 'em. We've got another mission to do."
When Scythe didn't answer and instead just rolled over with his back towards him, Pulsar bent down, picked up his helmet, stood up and walked away, as he didn't want to get in trouble for being late.
As Scythe rolled over into his back and laid his hands on his stomach, he suddenly jerked around and threw his arms into the air. Then his eyes rolled upwards and when they settled down, it was back to his normal brown eye color. Then his body slowly got up off the ground in a weird way that was not normal for any of the clones.
"Hey, Scythe," Pulsar said as he turned to see his fellow vod on his feet. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Thank you, sir," Scythe said.
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Rosella headed up the ramp of the medial frigate, followed by the clones that would be traveling with her and Barriss.
As Scythe headed up the ramp behind everyone else, he glanced backwards at the pack that was on his back which was filled to the brim with the same type of parasite that had broken free from its egg and taken over his mind.
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Anakin watched from the ramp of the shuttle as the medical frigate took off and reached out into the Force. He sensed that something was wrong, but was having a hard time trying to figure out what exactly made him feel so uneasy.
After shaking it off and telling himself that Rosella would be fine, he entered the shuttle, letting the ramp close behind him. Then the shuttle took off, heading for the Resolute which was waiting for them.
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The medical frigate left Geonosis' atmosphere.
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The padawans were on the bridge, currently speaking to Kit Fisto, who was at the medical station.
Barriss looked at the viewscreen that was above them. "We are ready to make our jump, Master Fisto," she reported to the Nautolan Jedi Master.
"Good. I'll make sure that everything is ready to be loaded on the frigate when you arrive," he responded.
The medical frigate made its jump into hyperspace.
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After exiting the bridge, both girls decided to head to their assigned room to try and sleep before they arrived at the medical station. But since it was a different change of pace from being on a battlefield or even being back at the Jedi Temple, the whole ship was quiet.
Rosella, who had been trying to sleep on her side, rolled over onto her back, and then onto her other side so she was facing Barriss. The pillow that she was using had a symbol of the Republic on it and her lightsaber was stashed underneath it. The teenager was feeling restless as she turned back over to face the wall. Even though she had meditated with the older girl to help clear her mind, she still couldn't sleep. Her eyes fluttered as she turned over, then opened as she looked at Barriss.
The Mirialan padawan, who was laying on her back, with her saber tucked underneath her pillow, sensed that Rosella was looking at her. "What?" She asked, without even opening her eyes. "What is it?"
Rosella sighed, rolled over so she was facing the ceiling of her bunk, and replied, "It's really quiet in here. I guess you could say that I've just gotten used to all the fighting that we've been doing over the past few days."
Barriss opened her eyes and turned her face towards Rosella. "You should try and enjoy the peace while it lasts," she said. "I'm pretty sure that when we return to Coruscant, it won't be like this for long. This war seems to be getting worse every day."
Rosella rolled over so she was facing her friend. "I can't," she responded with a small shake of her head. "Let's go eat."
Barriss nodded and sat up. Grabbing her lightsaber from underneath her pillow, she attached it to her belt. After Rosella had done the same thing, they got up and headed towards the door.
Upon exiting, they made their way to the mess hall.
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As Barriss and Rosella headed down the brightly lit corridor, chatting to each other, they didn't sense nor see Scythe as he walked down the adjoining one.
Making sure that they didn't see him, the trooper turned towards the room where his clone brethren were sleeping. Reaching over, he pressed the button, watching as the door in front of him slid open. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped inside the room, hearing the door slide shut behind him. Once he looked around and made sure that everyone was asleep, he slipped the pack full of eggs off his back.
Kneeling on the floor, he set the pack down and lifted up the flap. Scythe selected an egg and studied it before looking up at the rest of the troopers. Taking out another one, he rolled his hand across the floor, releasing them both so that they rolled down the hall and came to a stop in front of a pair of beds. Then he repeated the process, until every bunk that held a sleeping clone had an egg in front of it.
Scythe stood up. One by one the eggs wriggled on the floor and then hatched as one worm, sometimes two, slithered out and up onto the beds. Then they disappeared into the clone's noses, causing the men to involuntarily jerk around and then fall back onto their mattresses.
Then the clones, who were now under the worms control, sat up in their bunks with a blank expression on their faces as they looked in front of them. Scythe walked to the middle of the room and turned to his left as a small smile crept onto his face.
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The two girls were sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall with a tray of food and cup of water in front of each of them. The room was somewhat dark, with only one light having been turned on that cast a sort of spotlight on them.
Rosella, who was pushing her food around, finally grabbed a piece with her fork. "I've been thinking about what you said back in our room, about enjoying the peace while it lasts," she said, bringing the fork up towards her mouth. "As a Jedi, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to do that. I mean before the war, we were at the temple, learning things like how to diplomatically settle conflicts that would pop up throughout the galaxy and the rule that we were only supposed to use our lightsabers as a last resort. Now that we are at war, the temple has been a little more busy with classes and missions and other things." Then she took a bite of the food that was on her fork.
Barriss, who was sitting across the table from Rosella, placed her fork down beside her tray and glanced up at the younger girl. "Haven't you heard Master Windu say on multiple occasions that the Jedi are meant to be keepers of the peace, not warriors?" She asked. "Once this terrible war is finally over, it will be our job to maintain the peace." She picked up her fork again and continued eating.
"Yes, I've heard Master Windu say that," Rosella said, referring to the time that he had said those exact words to her at the beginning of her apprenticeship. She was still a little confused as to what the elder Jedi meant by the phrase. "I understand that it's going to be our job, but how are we supposed to do that? Will we be keepers of the peace or warriors?" She tapped the middle of her tray with her fork. "I know that we have been trained as warriors for the purpose of winning this war, but we have also been trained to negotiate peaceful settlements without the use of our lightsabers. Why are we being taught to fight if we aren't going to use our skills at all once this war is over? Is there really a difference between being a keeper of the peace and being a warrior?"
The older girl looked down at the table, with her hand that held her fork placed against her chin as she thought about the questions that Rosella had asked. In truth, Barriss had never really thought about why they had been taught to fight or what it meant to truly be a warrior. What was even more troubling was that she also had a few questions that didn't have answers. Since the Jedi weren't going to need the GAR after the war was over, where were the clones going to go? What was going to happen to them? "I'm afraid that I don't have any of the answers that you're looking for, Rosella," she replied. "Like you, I'm still a padawan. What does your Master tell you when you ask him those questions?" She reached for her glass of water, pausing as she moved it towards her lips.
"Anakin?" Rosella asked warily, looking up from her food. "Oh, um," she shifted around a little as she placed both her hands on the table in front of her tray. "You might find some of his thoughts on the future, uh, a bit radical." She held up her other hand and pinched two of her fingers together.
"Really?" Barriss asked, with a rather amused expression on her face. "Why?"
Rosella sighed and replied, "Let's just say my master will always do what needs to be done to save those who are innocent or someone that he cares about." Then she shook her head. "I'm not even sure how peacetime will agree with him."
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Both pilots were sitting in their seats, as they were in charge of making sure that the medical frigate arrived safely at its destination.
Suddenly, the door to the bridge slid open.
Scythe, who had his hands behind his back, and two of his fellow troopers stood in the doorway.
One of the pilots turned around and noticed them. "I'm sure the only reason you're here is to check up on us," he said, causing his fellow pilot to turn around as well. "Am I correct, Scythe?"
Scythe said nothing, not even bothering to greet either one of the clones who were in their seats.
The pilots just looked at each other and turned around as they went back to their jobs. "Well, you don't have to worry about anything going wrong up here," the same pilot from before said, wanting to reassure his brothers that they were fine. "We are still on course and all the systems are green."
Neither of the two pilots noticed as Scythe and the two troopers walked into the room. Then there a light clicking as a pair of blasters were cocked and the two pilots turned in shock to find two of their own vod aiming straight at them.
"What the…?"
Neither clone said anything as they fired their blasters. Their aim was true, and the two pilots slumped over, dead at the controls.
"We have control of the bridge," Scythe proclaimed proudly and calmly.
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Just as Rosella and Barriss were about to get back to their meals, the door to the mess hall slid open and two clones stood in the entryway.
Rosella noticed them and smiled, which caused Barriss to turn around. "Evening, Ox, Edge," she greeted them. "Would you like to join us?"
The two clones just stared at the Padawans, neither of them saying anything.
"Is something wrong, troopers?" Rosella asked, a small hint of wariness in her voice as she realized that something was wrong.
Without a word, both troopers stepped forward, aimed their blasters at the padawans and opened fire.
As the girls quickly got up from where they were sitting and jumped into action, Barriss knocked over the bench that she was sitting on, giving herself more room to maneuver as she and Rosella ignited their lightsabers and began deflecting the blaster fire onto the walls of the mess hall. While the Mirialan padawan was busy defending herself against the two clones, Rosella deactivated her lightsaber and leapt up onto the edge of the table, causing it to tip onto its side, knocking their trays and glasses to the floor as she bent over, catching herself on the bench behind her as she used it as a springboard managing to flip over it as she crouched on the ground.
Barriss deactivated her lightsaber and leapt up, grabbing onto the edge of the table as it fell and flipped over it, crouching down behind it with the younger girl.
The clones continued to fire their blasters as they approached the table.
"Troopers, stand down!" Rosella ordered from behind the now flipped table as she reignited her lightsaber.
Barriss glanced at Rosella, narrowed her eyes and then reignited her lightsaber as she quickly sprung up from her crouched position. She sliced off the end of the weapon that Edge was using, before punching him in the face with the hilt of her lightsaber. Then she crouched down again, deactivating her saber in the process.
As Ox stepped forward and aimed his blaster at Barriss, Rosella stood up, held out her hand and force pushed him into his brother, who was just getting up off the ground. Both clones flew backwards, with their heads coming into contact with the wall. The teenager lowered her hand and they slid to the floor unconscious.
Rosella helped Barriss up and after determining that it was safe to do so, they walked around the table, crossed the room and cautiously approached the two men with their lightsabers in their hands. As both of the girls looked at each other and then back at the troopers who were currently in dreamland, neither of them bothered to look up when the door to the mess hall slid open again and two more clones ran into the room. As soon as they saw the scene in front of them, they immediately raised their weapons and pointed them at the Jedi.
Barriss turned around when she heard a noise come from behind her. Rosella copied her actions. As both of the troopers calmly walked towards them, they quickly jumped back and threw their hands into the air as a pair of blue lightsabers were ignited and pointed at their throats.
"What are you doing?" The first clone cried in confusion.
"Two clones just attacked us," Rosella said, her voice loud and stern, but also mixed with a little fear. "What is going on?"
"Trap, do you have any clue as to what happened to those men?" Barriss demanded in a calm and even tone.
"None at all Commander," he responded, a small hint of nervousness in his voice. "I'm just as confused as…"
"You are in charge of those men," the Mirialan snapped, her voice on edge. "Did you order them to kill us?"
"No, sir," Trap responded with a shake of his head. "I would never order any of my men to do that."
"Then what is going on here?" Rosella asked, still holding her lightsaber up to the other clone's throat. "Why would they do this?"
"We don't know, sir," the other clone replied, sparring a quick glance at his fellow vod who nodded in response. "The only reason that we're here is because we heard the sounds of blaster fire and came to investigate."
"Why should we believe you?" Barriss asked, still not satisfied with either response.
"Look, no guns," Trap said.
Rosella and Barriss kept their sabers trained on the two clones as they placed their weapons on the ground. After sharing yet another glance with each other and then turning back to the men who had stood back up with their hands still in the air, both padawans withdrew their lightsabers and deactivated them.
"That still doesn't explain why these men attacked us for no reason," Barriss told the group.
Rosella then remembered something that her father had told her. "My master had a clone betray them once, a traitor who was paid off by Ventress," she said.
"I don't think that's what we're dealing with here," Barriss responded, before turning around to look at the two men who were still unconscious. "This feels like something far more complex. There has to be a component that we're missing."
"Pardon the interruption, sir, but we should make sure that we are still in control of the bridge," Trap said.
Barriss raised up her right arm, activating her wrist com. "Bridge, this is Barriss," she said. "Please respond." She had no success, only getting static and silence.
"Something doesn't feel right," Rosella said, not liking the situation that they were facing at all. "We need to get up there and figure out what is going on."
"But these two will be coming around any minute," Barriss responded. She didn't want to leave the two clones without any supervision as she wasn't sure what their next course of action would be.
"Havoc will stay here and watch them while we check on the bridge," Trap told her.
"Alright," Rosella said, agreeing with their little plan. She quickly glanced over at Barriss, softly smiling as she got a nod of confirmation. "Now come on. Let's go!" She headed towards the door and rushed out once it slid open.
Trap picked up his blaster rifle and exited the mess hall behind Rosella. Barriss followed them. It was obvious that something wasn't right.
Havoc bent over, picked up his vod's DC-15A blaster rifle and straightened up as he kept a very close watch over the two unconscious clones.
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Aboard the Resolute, which was in hyperspace since Poggle was being transported to Coruscant, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Rex came up behind Luminara and Ki-Adi Mundi who were standing on the bridge.
As they approached, Luminara turned slightly so she could speak to them. "I do not wish to alarm either of you, but the medical frigate failed to check in with the Resolute as scheduled," she said, then fully turned around to face them. "I attempted to get in contact with the pilots, but no one is answering my calls."
"I don't like this," Anakin said as he shook his head and clenched his gloved-metal hand into a fist. "I thought something didn't feel right when we were leaving Geonosis and this only serves to prove that I was right."
"It is certainly most unlike either Padawan to lose contact," Luminara said to her fellow Jedi.
"They're in trouble," Anakin concluded. "We need to go help them."
"Anakin, have a little faith in your padawan," Obi-Wan told him as he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I know Rosella doesn't have a communicator with her since she had to break the one that she wore on her wrist to get in contact with me after the foundry came crashing down on top of her and Barriss, but even that wouldn't have stopped her from finding another way to check in," Anakin responded as he narrowed his eyes.
"Like you always do?" Obi-Wan asked with a little amusement in his voice as he raised one of his eyebrows at his brother.
Anakin sighed a little. "You do make a good point," he said. The Knight always checked in with whomever he was working with on a mission, but it was never on time.
"Sometimes, I don't think you realize how alike you two have become," Obi-Wan said.
Ki-Adi cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "We need to continue Poggle's interrogation," he said.
Obi-Wan nodded. "I agree," he said. "As of right now, he has not been all that cooperative with us." Turning around, he left the bridge with Ki-Adi-Mundi and Luminara right behind him.
Anakin stepped forward so he was standing where Luminara had been as Rex walked up to him. As soon as the other Jedi were out of earshot, he headed towards the 501st Captain. "Keep an eye out and your ears open just in case Rosella calls," he said.
"Got it sir," Rex replied as Anakin left the bridge.
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Scythe looked behind him as Ox and Edge dragged the dead, non-infected pilots out of the bridge. Then he turned to Havoc, who was sitting in the pilot's seat. "Engage the autopilot and put up the security shields," he said. "I don't want anyone else coming in here."
The trooper followed his orders and pressed a few buttons on the dashboard.
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As the Padawans and Trap arrived at the hall that led to the bridge, the ray shields that were on either side of the hall suddenly popped up, blocking them from accessing the room.
Rosella glanced over at the older girl. "It looks like whoever is behind this doesn't want us heading up to the bridge," she said.
Barriss turned to her right and spotted the controls next to the entrance. She knelt down in front of the panel. "I'm going to attempt to override the controls," she said, beginning to tap away at the buttons. "Once the ray shields are down, we can get to the bottom of this."
Rosella stood behind her fellow padawan and watched. Trap staggered, took a step backwards and raised his blaster, aiming at Barriss with a near smirk like expression on his face.
Barriss stopped pressing buttons as she heard the sound. Her eyes shifted to glance behind her and she quickly reached for her lightsaber, unhooking it from her belt as she twisted around. Once her hilt was in her hand, she ignited the blue blade and managed to block the shots that Trap fired at her. Then she used her saber to cut Trap's blaster in half. The clone let out an angry growl and leapt at her, managing to wrap his arms around her which caused Barriss to let go of her lightsaber. The blade deactivated as it hit the wall and landed on the floor.
As the Mirialan tried to push Trap off her, the lieutenant let out an inhuman scream as his eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth opened, revealing the long, slimy, greenish-yellow worm that slithered out of it. "He's infected!" She shrieked, leaning back as far as she could go as the worm tried to leap out of his mouth and land on her. Quickly dodging the worm's movements, her eyes shifted towards her lightsaber which was still on the floor. She wrenched a hand free and summoned it to her. Once her weapon was in her hand, she slammed the hilt up against the clone's chest plate and ignited the blade, killing him in an instant as she pushed him back with her other hand and then placed that same hand on his face. She shoved him away while deactivating her blade and placing the hilt back onto her belt.
Trap's body fell backwards as it hit the wall and slumped to the floor.
However, the worm was able to jump out of his mouth and land on Barriss' neck. "Get this thing off me!" She squealed in frightened disgust as she managed to grab the worm, pull it away from her body and then fling it into the air.
Rosella grabbed her saber, ignited it and sliced the worm in half. Then she deactivated her blade and kept the hilt in her hand as she watched it fall to the floor. The older girl stepped back and brushed herself off.
The teenager's stomach rolled with disgust as she glanced at the worm that was on the ground, smoke drifting up off both halves. Then she shuddered as she asked, "Ugh, what is that?"
Barriss, who stood a few meters behind her as she didn't want to get too close, replied, "It looks like some type of parasite. If that thing is controlling their actions, then Havoc was probably being controlled as well."
Rosella nearly shuddered for a second time. "Mind control," she said thoughtfully, watching as the worm struggled one last time and then lay still. "Well, that explains a lot. Trap was one of my many friends. He would never have tried to kill us."
Barriss knelt down and picked up one half of the worm.
Rosella knelt beside her and picked up the other half. "How did these things get on board in the first place?" She asked.
Barriss looked at the half that was in her hand. "One of the clones must have gotten infected on Geonosis and brought them onboard without knowing it," she responded.
Rosella glanced at the half that she was holding between two of her fingers before looking up at Barriss. "We'll have to quarantine the entire ship," she said. "Since we don't know how widespread this is, we'll have to be on alert. Don't trust anyone until we know they're on our side."
Barriss then remembered where they were heading. "We should also contact Master Fisto and let him know about the situation," she told her.
Rosella nodded in agreement as they got up, dropping both halves of the worm back onto the ground. "Let's go," she said.
Both of them ran down the hall and turned left, leaving Trap's dead body behind.
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While trying to locate the communications room, the girls made their way down a few more hallways before running around a corner. Barriss gradually decreased her speed upon hearing a very familiar set of noises coming from the room that was ahead of them. Rosella copied her movements since she heard the noise as well.
Barriss tilted her head and listened to the sounds. "Do you hear that?" She whispered. "It's coming from up ahead."
Rosella nodded. "Yeah, I hear it," she whispered back, pausing as she heard the faint clicking, chattering and buzzing sounds that were coming from the room. "Its…Geonosian."
Both padawans crept towards the room and crouched on either side of the doorway as they made sure that they were out of sight. Peering inside of what looked like a cargo hold, Rosella nearly gave them away as she clapped her hand over her mouth when she realized that almost all of the clones were infected by the worms. She and Barriss watched as four of the infected troopers were walking towards Ox and Edge. The two troopers were holding another struggling clone against a crate while Havoc, who was speaking Geonosian, approached him with an open egg in his hand.
The non-infected clone leaned away as the worm seemed to leap at him from the egg.
"We have to help him!" Rosella hissed to the older girl.
Barriss listened to what she had to say and then looked at the scene in front of her.
The worm leapt free from the egg that it had been in and dove into the clone's nose. His head was flung backwards as the worm burrowed itself in his brain, and soon after, his body began to shake as he tried to fight off his captor's grip.
"I'm really sorry, Rosella, but it's too late," Barriss said, knowing that there was nothing they could do that would help their predicament.
The clone continued to thrash around and make noise until his eyes rolled back in his head. Ox and Edge helped him stand up. Then both troopers let go of his shoulders once he was fully under the worm's control.
While the girls were still trying to process everything that had happened, another trooper ran down the hall and turned in their direction. As the clone ran up behind them, he raised his blaster in the air and fired a shot that flew past Barriss' head.
The Mirialan felt the warning from the Force and immediately spun around, one of her hands going down to her belt. She quickly snatched her lightsaber from where it hung at her waist and ignited it, bringing the blade up to block another shot that would have hit her. As she blocked another one, the trooper switched tactics and fired a shot at Rosella, who already had her saber in her hand with the blade ignited as well.
As she deflected the shot away from her, the trooper continued firing his blaster.
The noise soon attracted the attention of the other troopers who were in the large hold and the last one to have been infected looked at the two females and pointed at them as they came into the room, still deflecting the blaster fire. Suddenly, Rosella used the force to push a button on the panel that was next to the door, causing it to slam shut in the clone's face.
After lowering her hand, Rosella and Barriss slowly turned around to find that all the men were now watching them. Then Havoc turned around and began to walk towards them, an egg cradled in the palm of each hand. Rosella knew what was going to happen once those eggs got near and held up her right hand, using the Force to pull them out of the troopers hands. As they landed on the floor and rolled towards her and Barriss, both girls used her sabers to slice them in half.
The clones screamed like Geonosians as they grabbed their blasters and opened fire on the Padawans. The door behind them slid open and Rosella twisted around to take on the clone who had first fired on them.
Barriss waved her left hand, using the force to pull down a few crates. Two of the troopers saw the falling boxes and managed to get out of the way as they charged at the Mirialan padawan. She calmly moved forward, weaving her lightsaber through the motions that made up Soresu, the third form of lightsaber combat as she deflected the laser blasts away from her.
Rosella managed to deflect a few more of the shots that came her way. One of the shots bounced off her blue blade and hit the trooper in his left shoulder, causing him to let go of his blaster as he flew backwards and landed on the ground, clutching his right hand over the wounded area.
Barriss ran forward and sliced a troopers blaster in half as Rosella joined her behind one of the containers. The teenager moved a few steps to her right as she reached the edge and peered around it. One of the infect troopers saw her and raised his blaster, firing a few shots in her direction. Quickly pulling her head back, she glanced around the room, desperately trying to come up with a solution. Knowing that neither of them wanted to harm any of the clones since none of this was their fault, she realized that they needed to escape. Then she looked up and spotted the vent. "Come on, let's go for the vent," she said, gesturing towards it.
Once their lightsabers were deactivated and back on their belts, they moved almost in sync, leaping in the air as they jumped onto a towering and shaky pile of containers before leaping onto the service walkway that was above them. Running out into the middle, Barriss used the force to remove one of the vent covers, letting it fall on top of the crates that she had knocked over earlier which caused the troopers on the ground below to stop firing as they took a step back.
Barriss leapt in first, followed by Rosella. One of the clones resumed firing as they scrambled away into the darkness.
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The Padawans kept crawling through the vents, having left the sound of blasters and Geonosian-speaking clones behind. Upon coming up to one of the vent covers, they both stopped moving.
As the girls looked through the slats and saw three troopers ran underneath their hiding place, it was clear that that every one of the blue and white armored clones were searching the ship for them.
Barriss looked at Rosella as soon as the men were out of sight. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we're going to have to split up," she said, lowering her voice to make sure that they weren't overheard. "I'll go to the reactor room and figure out some way to disable the thrusters. I want you to stick to our original plan and head for the aft comm-centre. Once you get there, send a message to Master Fisto and warn him about the worms. We have to stop the ship from reaching the medical station."
Both girls waited until the coast was clear before they crawled across the slats and continued through the vent.
Rosella was a little concerned about their plan as they crawled side by side. As she reached out into the force, the teen was a little uncomfortable with the feeling that she was getting. It was more of an uneasy one that had her going over what the older girl had just told her. "I'm not sure about this Barriss," she said. "Those troopers are all over this ship and the last thing that we need is for one of us to get infected. I really think that we should stick together."
"I'm glad you agree because that's what I think we should do," Barriss responded as they came to a halt at an intersection in the ventilation system. "Unfortunately, that's not the best option for either of us right now. One of us must succeed." She paused for a moment, then softened her gaze as she looked at her friend. "I trust you Rosella and I know that when the time comes, you will do what must be done."
Rosella sighed. "I know," she replied reluctantly. "Hopefully, I'll see you soon." Turning to her left, she crawled past her friend and disappeared, heading for the comm room.
Barriss, meanwhile, continued in the opposite direction.
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At the medical station, Kit Fisto was not smiling as he stood beside the staff officer who had answered Rosella's call.
"As long as these things are on board, Barriss and I don't think that we should be docking with the medical station when we arrive," Rosella told the Jedi Master. Her face was currently the only thing on the viewscreen.
"I'm afraid that I have to disagree with you on that decision, Padawan," Kit told her as he shook his head, being careful not to hit the officer. "The only way that we can come up with a solution to your problem is if we analyze one of the parasites and for that to happen, you must bring the ship in."
"But you don't understand the level of control that these worms have over their hosts," Rosella responded, concern in her voice. It was clear that the situation aboard the frigate was bad. "Master, if one of the worms was to escape, then all the staff and wounded patients will be in danger."
"Don't worry," Kit reassured her. "The staff and I will take all of the necessary safety precautions to protect the wounded and ourselves from getting infected."
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Rosella sighed, knowing that she couldn't disobey instructions from another Jedi Master. "I still don't think this is a good idea, Master Fisto," she said, "but I will follow your instructions."
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Barriss was still on high alert as she removed the vent cover and jumped down, landing on the floor in a semi-crouched position. As her eyes scanned the hallway, she noticed that there were no clones in sight. Tightly clutching her lightsaber in her right hand, she slowly made her way to the room where the reactor was.
Upon reaching the room, she reached out to open the door but withdrew her hand when she noticed that it was already open. Sensing that something was off, she kept her body tense as she entered the room.
The warning came too late.
The Padawan had only taken a few steps into the room when suddenly she was stunned as high volts of electricity slammed into her body, forcing her to take a small step backwards. Barriss cried out as she struggled to keep her grip on her lightsaber, but the electricity was too much for her to handle and she inadvertently dropped it onto the ground.
After a few more minutes of the intense shocking, Barriss was unable to stay on her feet and fell to her hands and knees. As soon as the electricity stopped, she gasped and placed her left hand on her chest.
"If there's one thing we clones know," Edge said as he bent down, picked up her lightsaber, and flipped it around so he was holding it the right way, "it's how to stop a Jedi."
Slowly, Barriss raised her head to see the same men who had attacked her and Rosella in the mess hall standing outside of the entrance. As soon as she got to her feet, she heard the sounds of blasters being readied and quickly turned around to see three more troopers standing between her and the reactor room.
Two of them, she couldn't remember their names, had their blasters drawn and aimed at her, while Havoc was holding an already cracked egg in his hand. As he walked towards her, Barriss' eyes widened as she knew what was going to happen. "NO!" She cried as loudly as she could.
But the ray shield popped up and swallowed the rest of her cry for help.
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In the comm centre, Rosella's eyes were narrowed in complete concentration as she kept trying to establish a connection to the Resolute. "Come on," she said. "I've almost got it."
Suddenly, Rex appeared on the viewscreen. "Medical frigate TB-73, this is Clone Captain Rex," he said. "Please respond."
"Rex, it's Rosella," she said, a quick sense of relief rushing through her at the sound of his voice. "Boy, am I glad to hear your voice again."
"Likewise, Commander," he replied. Then his head turned to look at someone who was out of range. "I've got someone here who wants to speak with you." Then he stepped out of the way.
A few minutes later, Anakin walked over and took Rex's place as he frantically asked, "Rosella, what's going on? Are you okay?"
Rosella sighed a little. "I'm fine," she responded, hoping that would help calm him down. "But I can't say the same for the men who are on the ship with us. All of them, except for the pilots, have been infected with a mind control parasite."
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A few halls away from the comm centre, Havoc and the rest of his men made their way down one of the corridors. They were still searching for Rosella, who was the lone remaining Jedi that wasn't infected by one of the worms.
Barriss, who was walking alongside Edge, split off from the group as they turned around a corner and went to the right. Her eyes were half-closed as she headed towards the comm-center where she knew Rosella was calling for help.
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"Here's what I want you to do Ella," Anakin said. "Look around for a spare wrist comm. Once you have one, place it on your bracer and keep it turned on. I'm going to go question Poggle. He might know how to stop the worms."
Rosella quickly glanced around the room and spotted a spare wrist com resting on the right side of the terminal that she was using to speak to her father. Reaching for the small device, she picked it up, attached it to her left bracer and pressed the button, seeing it light up green. Then she looked up at the viewscreen as her father gave her some last minute instructions.
"Find Barriss and wait for my signal," Anakin told her.
Rosella nodded. Anakin and Rex nodded back and the transmission ended, the screen fading to black. She sighed and stayed where she was, mentally reviewing the instructions that her father had given her in her head. As she was about to get up and go find Barriss, she felt a familiar presence next to her and looked to her right, nearly jumping as she saw a figure staring at her through the map display.
"Barriss, you're back!" she exclaimed in relief. "Were you successful?"
Barriss didn't respond. She just stood there and gave Rosella the same stare that Edge and Ox had done when she had been in the mess hall.
"Barriss?" Rosella asked warily as she narrowed her eyes and looked at her friend. "What's wrong?" Her entire body tensed, ready to defend herself as the Mirialan held up her hand in response. "Barriss! No!"
Barriss ignored Rosella's warning and used the Force to shatter the map screen.
Rosella quickly got out of her seat, shoving the chair away from her as she threw her hands up in front of her face, creating a barrier in the force to keep some of the larger shards of glass from cutting her skin. As the glass settled on the floor, she lowered her hands and looked up in shock at the older Padawan.
"I'm your friend!" Rosella exclaimed. "Barriss, snap out of it!"
Barriss didn't answer her. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, darkly smiled at the younger girl and ignited her lightsaber.
Rosella took a step backwards as she saw the older girl leap up onto the bottom half of the shattered map display. As soon as Barriss had jumped off and was flying towards her with her lightsaber held over her head, Rosella grabbed her saber off her belt and ignited it as she spun around and blocked Barriss' blade before it could strike her. The teenager then used her blade to spin the older girl's around in a circle before forcing it to her left. She traded a few blows with her mind controlled friend before clashing sabers again.
Rosella tried again, this time wanting to reason with her friend. "Barriss, this isn't you! It's the worm!" She said, desperately hoping that some part of the calm and reserved padawan was still in there, fighting to regain control. "Fight them!"
As soon as Rosella saw the older girl smirk and felt the increase in pressure on her saber, she knew that she needed to escape and find somewhere to hide until Anakin got in contact with her again. Looking down towards the floor, she knew that her next move was the only way of getting out of the room alive. Glancing up at her friend, she forced their lightsabers upwards and then lashed out with her foot, placing it on Barriss' stomach as she shoved the Mirialan backwards, sending the girl flying over the remains of the map display as she landed on the floor.
Once Barriss regained consciousness, she heard the sound of a lightsaber deactivating. As she pushed herself up with her opposite hand, she saw the younger girl run towards the door at the other end of the room and disappear once it opened.
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Once Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Luminara had finished with their interrogation, they left Poggle's cell and headed back up to the bridge.
After a few minutes, Anakin look the lift down to the detention block and exited. After walking around the small command center, he made his way down the long hallway, hands clasped behind his back.
Both of the clones who stood outside the Geonosian warlord's cell immediately stood at attention, their guns raised in the air.
Poggle and the translator droid that he needed, since none of the Jedi could understand the language that the creature spoke, stared at Anakin as he stood outside their cell.
"Leave us," he said to the trooper who stood on his left.
Both of the clones who were stationed outside didn't question Anakin's orders. The one who had been spoken to simply nodded and left, his partner following a few minutes later.
Then the shield deactivated and Anakin walked in. He was not very happy with the situation that Rosella and Barriss were in and he was going to get the answers that he needed one way or another. As he walked down the steps and made his way over to the table, he raised his right hand, calling on the force as he glared at the Archduke.
"You will answer my questions," he said, a threatening tone in his voice.
Poggle scoffed at the attempt for he knew that it wasn't going to work and spoke in his native tongue. Then he turned his head away.
"Your feeble Jedi mind tricks will not work on Geonosians. The other Jedi have already learned this," the translator droid said in its prim and proper voice.
Anakin lowered his hand, straightened up and turned around. He narrowed his eyes as he knew that he was going to have to come up with a different plan if he wanted to make Poggle spill what he knew about the worms. This was something that he didn't want to do, since it was the opposite of what his mother, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had been teaching him all his life, but he knew that in order to save Rosella, and Barriss, he was going to have to tap into his anger and use it.
"Mind tricks?" He asked, scoffing a little as he thought about what he was about to do. Then, without any warning, he spun around and lashed out with his fist, swinging it into the side of Poggle's face. The force of the blow was enough to throw the Archduke out of his seat and onto the cold, hard floor in the corner of the room.
"I don't see the need to use a mind trick to get you to cooperate with me," he said as he lightly shoved the droid to the side and stepped closer to the Geonosian who was now huddled on the ground.
Poggle, who wasn't afraid of the Jedi Knight, said something in his native language.
The droid, who now stood behind Anakin, said, "I will never talk, Jedi."
Anakin extended his right hand and called on the Force as he gripped the Geonosian Archduke by the throat and lifted him into the air. "We'll see about that, Poggle," he said, glaring at the bound creature who was now clawing at the invisible hand that was wrapped around his throat, trying to ease the heavy amount of pressure that threatened to break it.
As the Knight lifted him higher into the air, the Geonosian began to kick with his legs and thrash around as he found himself dangling in the air and gasping for air that wasn't making it into his lungs.
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Rosella dashed down the corridor, sliding to a stop in the middle of the hallway as she kept her lightsaber in her left hand. Then she stood up and kept running as Barriss appeared right behind her with her lightsaber ignited.
Barriss raised her right hand and thrust it out at Rosella, causing the teenager to stumble around and fly through the air as she spun around and slammed into a wall. As the teenager slid down onto the floor and then raised her head, she saw her mind controlled friend racing towards her. Quickly igniting her lightsaber that was in her left hand, Rosella had just enough time to swing her saber upwards as she blocked the incoming strike.
Rosella struggled a little as Barriss increased the pressure of her blade, but finally managed to back up just enough to make it to her knees and force the older padawan to back up. She quickly got up off the ground and kicked Barriss in her stomach for a second time. The force of her kick sent the older Padawan stumbling backwards, giving Rosella just enough time to turn to her right and launch herself into a roll as she got to her feet and turned around, holding her lightsaber in a horizontal position.
The worm that was controlling Barriss soon regained control and she turned to her left as she went after the younger girl.
As Rosella backed away, she found herself on the defensive as Barriss lashed out with her blade, managing to block two of the more wilder swings that were headed her way. She was forced to duck and weave as they turned a corner in the hallway. In the back of her mind, she knew that if she was to get hurt, there was no doubt that she would be getting a lecture from her father about being more alert and aware of her surroundings when this mission was over.
After dodging the rest of Barriss' swings, she jumped into a backflip and quickly slipped into a crouch, sweeping her left foot out from under her as she knocked Barriss off balance before leaning back and balancing on one hand and foot as she kicked the older girl in the stomach again. This time, the kick was enough to send Barriss flying backwards. The Mirialan landed on the floor as her lightsaber deactivated on its own.
While the older girl lay stunned on the floor, Rosella took her chance, ran down the corridor and disappeared as she hastily rounded the corner, glancing behind her to see if she had been followed.
When the teenager saw no sign of her new friend, she deactivated her lightsaber, placed it back onto her belt and leapt up into the same vent that she had come out of in order to get to the comm centre in the first place. Luckily for her, the cover was still on the other side of the shaft where she had placed it.
She stayed out of sight as Barriss passed underneath her, looked around and then continued to run down the corridor. Then Rosella moved the cover back into place.
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The doors that led to the larger communication room behind the bridge opened and Anakin nearly ran into the room, having slightly picked up his pace the moment he got off the lift after leaving the detention area.
"I was finally able to get in contact with Rosella aboard the medical frigate," he said, causing Rex and the others to turn and face him.
"What's their status?" Obi-Wan asked as he lifted one of his arms from where they were crossed just below his chest. Then he dropped them as he watched his brother walk past Rex and Ki-Adi-Mundi.
"Do you remember those Geonosian worms that we discovered on the planet?" Anakin asked as he made his way up to the small communication terminal that was tucked into an alcove. Without waiting for an answer from either Obi-Wan or Luminara, he continued speaking. "It seems that a few of them found their way onboard the frigate and have infected the troops that are with them."
Obi-Wan looked at him. "How did they get on board in the first place?" He asked.
"Poggle informed me that the parasites must have needed a new host after we raided and subsequently destroyed the Queen's temple in order to rescue Master Luminara," Anakin flatly replied as his fingers flew over the controls of the unit. "The only people who were near the ruins of the temple when we were assigning the padawans the supply mission would have been the clones. One of them must have gotten infected and then moved the eggs onboard in his pack, therefore infecting the other vod who were with him."
"You interrogated Poggle?" Luminara asked, sounding a little surprised.
"I did," Anakin answered curtly as he stopped what he was doing and turned around. His eyes were slightly narrowed in anger. Then his gaze softened ever so slightly as he turned back to the terminal. "There wasn't time to get the rest of you."
Even though he wasn't looking directly at his brother, Obi-Wan knew that the younger male had done something that none of the other Jedi Masters would have dared to do.
"How did you get him to talk?" Ki-Adi asked.
"Look, all that matters is that he told me how to stop the worms," Anakin said, countering the Jedi Master's question with his statement.
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A group of six clones marched underneath the ventilation shaft that Rosella was currently crawling through as she wanted to avoid being caught by the mind-controlled troops and Barriss. As they headed down the hall, the teenager stopped where she was, got into a rather cramped, but comfortable position as she crouched down in front of a vent cover and held up her right arm. She tapped the button that was going to allow her to speak into it and said, "This is Rosella. Come in."
"Rosella, listen to me," Anakin said. "Those worms can't stand the cold!"
"Cold?" She asked. "That's how I'm supposed to stop them?"
"That's what Poggle told me," Anakin replied. "You'll have to locate the frigate's cooling systems..."
Just then, a single clone happened to walk underneath the slats. As soon as Rosella saw that the trooper had stopped moving and was beginning to turn around, which indicated that he overheard part of their conversation, she instantly let go of the button that she had been pressing, slapped her hand over the speaker and darted out of sight. She heard Anakin's muffled voice talking but waited until the clone turned back around and started to walk away from the slats before uncovering it again.
"Did you hear me?" Anakin asked, a sense of urgency slipping into his voice when he didn't hear Rosella's immediate response. "You need to rupture the coolant system!"
She waits until the trooper is far away before pressing the button on her wrist communicator. "Rupture the coolant system," she murmured in a low voice so only her father could hear her. "Got it."
As soon as she disconnected the call, Rosella reached for the cover, removed it and placed it on the right side of the opening. Once she had lowered her head and made sure that the coast was clear, she dropped down, landing on the floor. After sensing the Force flare up around her, she glanced behind her only to find that no one was there.
Remembering that she only had one chance to save not only herself but everyone on this ship and the medical station, she turned around and made her way down the corridor.
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Barriss made her way down a different corridor, glancing to her left and right as she was searching for her fellow padawan.
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A few minutes later, Rosella successfully arrived outside the room where the coolant system was located. She breathed a sigh of relief as she had been able to reach the area without running into any of the clones or Barriss. As soon as the door slid open, she entered, letting the door slide shut behind her.
After making her way down the steps, she quickly got to work, pushing all sorts of different buttons on the large terminal as she changed the settings to ensure that it was no longer going to be warm when she was finished. When she was finished, she reached over, placed both hands on the lever and pulled it down.
Rosella watched as the panels on the terminal turned dark and then looked up as the vents began spewing forth icy-cold fog.
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Scythe had been lining up his brothers in the cargo bay. Each one of them carried a pack which held eggs with more of the worms ready and waiting. Then the trooper looked up as the vents started spewing icy cold air into the room.
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The frigate emerged out of hyperspace and was now heading towards the medical station.
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Inside the medical station, Kit Fisto, one of the staff officers and a Kaminoan doctor stood over a holotable, looking at the projected hologram of the frigate that was spinning in the middle. Less than an hour ago, he had received a transmission from Anakin who had explained how to defeat the worms that were onboard the ship.
The Nautolan Jedi Master gently placed one of his hands on the table as he said, "That's Rosella's ship. It just came out of hyperspace. Send out the tugs to help guide them in."
The officer who was standing next to him nodded, walked away from the holotable and moved over to his station. Then he sent out the command.
Kit walked away from the holotable. As he stared out the window at the tugs that had gone out to help guide the frigate in, he said, "Send out a warning to everyone who is on the medical hazard team, Inform them that I don't want anyone boarding that ship until all of the parasites have been contained." Then he turned around. "Sound the alarms and prepare the sub-zero conduits."
A clone stood at attention and then ran off to carry out his orders.
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Both of the Republic tugs flew out on either side of the large ship and turned around as they got into position.
"Engage the tractor beam," one of the clones said.
His partner followed his orders and began to press a few buttons on the central console.
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Rosella, who had run out of the maintenance room and was now heading towards the bridge, ran around the corner and through the icy cold fog before coming to a stop in front of a vent. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she glanced behind her before staring up at the cold vapour that was pouring out of the opening.
Suddenly the Force sent her a warning as she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her.
"There you are," Barriss hissed as she ignited her lightsaber. "Did you really think you could hide from me?"
Rosella turned around just in time to see the Mirialan begin to charge at her. Quickly turning around, she leapt up into the vent, even though she knew that it would be even colder inside and crawled away.
As Barriss ran up to the vent, she held her hand up in front of her face as the vapour was making it hard to see. After a few minutes, she continued down the hall.
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All across the ship, the infected troopers screamed as they fell to their knees. The cold air was working as one by one, the worms began to lose control over the men, causing them to pass out and collapse on the floor.
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Rosella slowly and cautiously lifted the vent cover above her head with shaking arms as she popped her head out and looked around. At least the hall was empty. As she turned her head and saw the door, she placed the cover down and hopped out.
"The bridge," she muttered as she shakily climbed out of the vent. "At last."
Wrapping her arms around her again, she stumbled down the hall and pressed the button, watching as the door slid open. Quickly entering the room, she let the door slide shut behind her as she darted over to one of the pilots' chairs, turned it towards her and sat down. Then the teenager started flipping switches and pressing buttons on the dashboard in front of her as she attempted to make contact with the medical station.
"We're coming in awfully fast," she said. "This is Rosella Ngaire. Can anybody hear me?" There was no answer, but she pressed on. "I'm going to try and shut down the engines. Hopefully, that will help reverse the-"
The Force flared around her. Rosella quickly turned to see Barriss, who immediately ignited her lightsaber and swung it in front of her face as the older girl struck the dashboard, completely obliterating the controls as sparks flew off the panels and an alarm began to go off.
As the frigate jerked to one side, Rosella got up out of the seat and climbed onto it as she leapt over it, twisting around in the air as she landed on the floor near the rear of the bridge. Multiple tubes came loose and dropped from the ceiling.
Barriss happened to be standing near one of them and was blasted in the face by ice-cold air. The older Padawan let out a scream as she tried to protect her face.
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The tugs were having a hard time as they tried to maintain their control over the ship.
"I'm having a hard time slowing her down," the first clone said as he began to panic.
"There's no one on the bridge!" The second clone responded. "Those pilots must be dead!"
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"Sir, she's listing," one of the staff officers reported.
"The escort ships must maintain control," Kit said as he continued to look out the viewport.
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Rosella ducked and dodged out of the way as Barriss attempted to slice her in half with her lightsaber. There was no way she was using her saber against her friend, even if she was tightly holding her hilt in her hand.
Instead, she snuck up behind the Mirialan and shoved her into one of the panels before turning around and making a mad dash for the dangling pipe that was near the front of the bridge. She pointed the open end at Barriss, blasting the cold air right into her face, hoping that the drop in temperature would be enough to force the worm to give up.
Barriss began to scream as the cold air finally began to have an effect on her. She gripped her head as the worm let out a high-pitched squeal that seemed to come from her mouth. Then she fell to the ground.
Rosella let go of the pipe as she slumped to the floor behind the co-pilot's seat.
Barriss glanced up and pushed herself off the floor as she said, "Kill me, please."
Rosella's eyes widened in surprise as she glanced at the older girl and saw that the normally vacant look that used to be in her eyes was now gone. Even though she hadn't known her for long, she could sense that Barriss, who was now in control of her own body, was willing to sacrifice herself so that no one else who was aboard the station would have to go through this.
"I can't," the teenager responded. Even though she was still shivering, Rosella turned around, stumbled to her feet and climbed onto the other seat as she practically collapsed onto the control panel from the effort. As she looked out the viewport, she could see the medical station getting closer as the frigate rapidly approached one of the docking ports.
The Force flared up as a quick warning, one that had the younger girl turning around to see Barriss lunging at her. The worm must have regained control. As the older Padawan wrapped her hands around Rosella's throat and slammed her against the central panel, the worm finally made an appearance, screaming as it tried to leap out of Barriss' mouth and land on her.
Rosella clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it into the side of Barriss' face, hoping that she hadn't hurt her friend as the Mirialan padawan stumbled back. The teenager then lashed out with her foot, forcing the older girl to stumble even further as she backed up underneath one of the pipes that were spewing cold air onto the floor.
As the teenager hopped off the central panel and landed on her feet, she ignited her lightsaber, the blade glowing blue in the frost and ice-covered bridge. Making her way over to Barriss, she hesitated for a moment, nearly taking a step backward as a disgusted look appeared on her face since she could still see the worm that was sticking out of her friend's mouth.
Barriss raised her head and placed her hands on either side of it as she screamed, allowing the worm to poke out even further.
Rosella took a deep breath, gathering what remained of her strength and asking the force to guide her hand. Then she closed her eyes as she swung her saber at her friend.
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"Full power, now!" The first clone said as both of the clones tugged as hard as they could on the controls.
Finally, the frigate began to slow down and the tugs were able to get it locked into a slot in the medical station.
"We got her. We got her," the second clone said as he sighed in relief and flashed a thumbs up at his partner. "Attach the sub-zero conduits."
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"General, we scanned the frigate and the temperature is below freezing," the staff officer reported to the Jedi Master, who was standing right next to him.
Kit turned to look at the rotating hologram of the frigate and said, "Let's board then, but stay on high alert. Those worms may still be dangerous."
He waved his hand as he moved away from the holotable. Two clones followed him as they ran out of the room and boarded the medical frigate.
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Within the frigate, the clones were freezing and unconscious. The worms were dead.
Once it was safe to enter, a team of medical troopers, all of whom were wearing hazmat suits entered and swept the entire ship from top to bottom, gathering the infected troopers and bringing them onboard the medical station for treatment.
When Master Fisto and the two clones who had accompanied him arrived at the bridge, he opened the door. Both clones entered and aimed their blasters at nothing but air. Then they stepped aside and allowed the Jedi to make his way into the room.
On the floor in front of them were the remains of a brain worm that had been sliced in half.
Beyond the remains were Rosella and Barriss. Neither girl was moving. The younger padawan was still, both of her arms wrapped around the Mirialan as she sat slumped against the back of one of the seats. The only signs of life were the puffs of breath that appeared with each breath they took.
Fisto walked forward, crouched down in front of Rosella and lifted her chin with his hand.
Rosella's eyes slowly opened as she saw the Nautolan Jedi Master kneeling in front of her. "Hello, Master Fisto," she said, her voice shaking as she struggled to speak. "We're here for the supplies." Her head slowly drooped again as she slipped back into unconsciousness as her body temperature was below the normal range that it needed to be in for her to stay awake.
Kit softly chuckled and replied, "We'll take care of that. You rest now, Rosella."
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Rosella slowly opened her eyes, then closed them again. As she opened them again, she could see her father sitting in a chair across from her bed. Once she remembered everything that had happened aboard the frigate, she gasped as she lurched forward, her eyes going wide.
Anakin turned towards the noise. As soon as he saw the panicked look in his daughter's eyes, he got up and quickly moved over to her bedside. "It's all right, Ella," he said as he placed his mech hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. Once he saw that she recognized who he was and where she was, he softly smiled. "You're safe now."
"Barriss?" Rosella asked as she felt her father gently guide her back onto her medical bed.
Anakin tucked her in and responded, "Barriss is fine, thanks to your efforts." They glanced over at the older Padawan, who was asleep in her own medical bed. "And so are the clones."
Rosella turned so she was looking at her father. "What were those things?" She asked.
"I think I can answer that question," Kit replied, a smile on his face as he walked into the room. "Master Kenobi and I have analyzed the parasite ones that were on the frigate. They are the same type of creature you found on Geonosis, Master Skywalker."
Anakin stood and turned to face him. "We'll have to inform the troops on Geonosis," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Those worms might explain how they recaptured the planet the first time. I don't want it happening again."
Kit turned to look at Rosella, Anakin following his gaze a moment later. "You have been through quite an ordeal, little one," the Nautolan told her.
"Master Skywalker?" Rosella asked. "May I have a word?"
Anakin nodded and then exchanged a look with the Jedi Master, who turned back to face her, nodded and left the room to give them some privacy.
Rosella looked at her father as he came over and sat on her bed. "Master, on the ship," she paused, trying to think of the right words to say. "Barriss wasn't herself. She asked me to kill her. She told me that when the time came, I would know what to do, but…"
"But you couldn't do it," Anakin responded, an understanding tone in his voice.
Rosella looked at her father and shook her head. "No," she said. "No, I couldn't." Then a slightly confused look made its way onto her face as she looked at her blanket, then back at him. "But should I have? I mean, it worked out now, but if we had failed, if the ship docked and the worms spread and..."
"Ella," Anakin gently responded as he reached over and took her hand in his. He could sense the deep confusion behind her questions and knew that she was uncertain about what she had done. "It's your duty to save as many lives as you can. Barriss knew that you could save a lot more if the worms were destroyed, which she thought meant killing her as well." Then he stood up. "But you did the right thing. You knew that the cold temperature would kill the worms. I'm guessing that this is something you've already learned, but letting go of our attachments is a difficult lesson for all of us. You chose to follow your instincts. I'm sure that Barriss would agree that you made the right choice."
Turning towards the door, the Knight walked towards it, passing Barriss' bed.
Rosella watched him leave the room. Then after glancing at her new friend, she rolled over and blinked as she looked out of the large window that was next to her bed, watching as a medical frigate flew past the Resolute and two Nu-class attack shuttles entered the cruiser.