(Hey Everyone, was able to get this chapter completed, and I'm sure you're all gonna like the further evidence of the Autobots helping the Clone army against the Decepticons trying to let the Blue Shadow Virus loose on Naboo just for them to gain a deadlier weapon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Transformers They are the properties of their respective owners.
Now please Read, Review and Enjoy.)
It was morning on Naboo, the sun had risen into the sky as Obi-wan and Anakin escorted Dr. Vindi into the Separatist shuttle that would've been used in his escape. Turning to his former master, Anakin stated, "That was close."
"Yes, it was." First-Aid agreed as he began to check his scanners.
"If that virus had escaped, everyone on Naboo would have been dead. And the Autobots might have been blamed." Anakin added. He knew that the Autobots were immune to the virus given their cybernetic origins.
"Oh well." Obi-wan stated, mocking disappointment, "Just another boring day saving the Galaxy."
Streetwise cracked a smile at the human's joke, "Nice one, Kenobi."
Hotspot looked over to First-Aid and approached his teammate, "What's up First-Aid. You seem… distracted."
"Huh?" The pacifist medic asked, looking up at his commander, "Sorry, Hotspot. I'm making sure that my scanner's not glitching on me."
Groove, who heard this, asked, "What makes you think anything of yours would glitch?"
"I keep getting a Cybertronian like signal down there in the bunker. But it's impossible because I'm sure that the Jedi took care of all of those Droid-icons." First-Aid told his teammates.
The others looked silent as they saw that a blip on the screen was indeed in Vindi's bunker. They looked as though they were lost in thought when Rook suggested, "You don't suppose that they missed one do you? From what I heard, the Jedi can sense our sparks, and those droids don't have sparks."
"Cool it, Rookie. We've known the Jedi longer than you and you were just brought out of stasis because your repairs were done." Blades snapped, not liking the attitude in the new guy's voice.
Hotspot, however, pondered on their newest member's words, "He could be right…"
Back in a room inside the bunker, one of the Clone bomb squad members noticed something wrong with the bomb nearby and brought it up to the Nabooian Ambassador's attention, "Senator, you should see this. It's one of the virus bombs."
Padme looked at it and said, "It looks like the chamber that holds the virus is missing."
"A droid must've taken it." The Clone concluded.
The alerted Senator ordered, "Sound the Alarm!"
The closest clone trooper went and pressed the button to activate the alarm while those in the room relayed the message that one of the virus vials were missing and looked for any surviving droid that might have it.
In a corridor leading to the bomb room were a pair of Clone Troopers. One asked his friend, "How could droids have gotten a hold of the virus containers?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to be around when they set it off." His friend replied. They walked passed the small LEP servant Droid-icon who pressed his tiny frame against the shadowed wall.
Looking at his friend, the first Clone asked, "Still how would they have taken it without us seeing? You don't suppose it's one of those new clankers do you?"
"A Decepticon? You're crazy, they're as tall as trees." The second Clone trooper said.
"No not them, the droids with those upgrades from the cons." The other Clone trooper corrected himself.
As they entered the room, the first clone trooper reminded, "We've already taken the virus containers out of these bombs."
"Well we're gonna have to check 'em again." The second clone trooper said, adamant on their mission.
They were, however, unaware of the small droid, or perhaps more accurately a Droid-icon better heading to one of the deactivated bombs.
Back at the surface, Anakin, Obi-wan, and Protectobots heard the alarm going off. This caused the psychotic doctor to chuckle, understanding the meaning behind the alarm.
"The virus has been liberated. You are doomed, young Jedi, along with the rest of this planet." The mad doctor told them. Hotspot glared, about to say something to the scientist.
The Droid-icon slipped the virus container into the bomb, alerting the two Clone Troopers in the room to its presence.
"Hey, you!" The First clone called.
The Droid-icon looked calmly at the two Clones pressed it's digit to the button to activate the bomb.
"Get away from that!" The second clone shouted, even as the two tried to rush at the droid and stop the bomb.
The small Droid-icon raised its arm servo in the air and proclaimed, "Decepticons Forever!"
The bomb exploded, releasing the Virus in the laboratory. The resulting explosion shook the lab and the swamp above. The new alarm that signaled the leakage of the virus went off.
Captain Rex looked at his group and said, "Virus leak. We need to get to the safe room, come on!"
They ran, hurrying to the safe room before the doors around them to closed, sealing the virus from contaminating the rooms.
"There's the safe room!" Rex called, seeing the large room they were looking for as the doors began to close.
"No chance!" A clone cried, afraid of being infected by the deadly disease.
Rex and two of the clones approached, trying to open the doors, "Hurry the doors are closing!"
Thinking quickly, Ahsoka used the Force to hold the doors open for Captain Rex and his men to get inside, "Don't worry!"
When they saw that the door had indeed stopped, Ahsoka ordered, "Get inside captain!"
Rex and his men got inside the safe room with Ahsoka being the last one to go in as he called, "Hurry!"
With the virus getting closer, Ahsoka let her hold on the doors go and used the Force to jump through the gap before it slammed shut preventing the virus from coming in.
Anakin, feeling the blast moved with Obi-wan to get the Dr. Vindi in the separatist shuttle, where the Jedi Master had the doctor sit down. The knight opened his comm. link and asked, "Ahsoka, what is going on down there?"
"The Droids released the virus, but we managed to seal the lab." Ahsoka reported back. Instinctively Hotspot motioned his team and the new recruit to secure the three exits of the lab with their remaining troops.
"And Padme?" Anakin asked, keeping his worry from being noticed.
"Haven't heard from her since the bomb." Ahsoka replied apologetically to her mentor. Anakin's eyes lowered, hoping she was okay.
"Anakin, can you hear me? Anakin?" Padme's voice came from his wrist comm.
"Padme, I'm here. Are you all right?" Anakin asked, keeping his voice even to hold back the relief he felt at hearing Padme's voice. The distant cries of Jar Jar screaming were heard. He seemed to be in a hurry to look for something as they spoke to each other.
"Yes, for the time being." She answered before explaining the situation, "Jar Jar and I were in a safety chamber when the alarm went off. We're wearing protective suits."
Anakin sighed before explaining what was going on, "The virus is loose, but Ahsoka has sealed off the entire facility."
"Yes, but any remaining droids would try to break out." Padme reminded. Even though they got rid of the majority of the droid forces and the Decepticon guards around the base, some of the Droids could still be functional.
"I'll do what I can to stop them. I cannot let that virus escape." Padme told those listening.
"She has a spark of an Autobot." Hotspot commented, receiving nods from most of his team.
"Any others with you?" Hotspot asked, concerned for the safety of the clone troopers as well as the senators.
"I'm afraid not much… maybe a few." Padme answered.
Anakin felt relieved when he heard that, 'At least she has help until she finds Ahsoka.'
"Senator Amidala, it's First-Aid. By my scans, any threat you might face would only be droids, all of the Droid-icons inside have lost all function, but never the less, please be careful." The Autobot medic said, his head close to the hatch of the shuttle. His tone of worry and compassion reached her and the Jedi.
"We will, thank you, First-Aid." Padme said, and ended the communication and handed Jar Jar the helmet he was looking for to put on.
Anakin explained the situation to Obi-wan before the Jedi Knight used the Force to have his lightsaber fly into his awaiting hand, igniting it.
He pointed the tip of the blue blade close to Dr. Vindi's throat. This shocked the Protectobots as Anakin demanded, "Where's the antidote, Vindi."
The Doctor laughed before speaking, "You mistake my role, Jedi."
Looking up, Dr. Vindi said, "My job was to manufacture a plague, not to cure it."
Anger rose inside Anakin who growled, "We don't have time for games."
"Patience Anakin. There's more than one way to skin a womp rat." Obi-wan advised, looking back at the captive doctor.
Getting impatient, Anakin demanded, pointing the plasma blade closer to the mad doctor's face. Initially he looked shocked but that insane looking smile came to his face. He took the Jedi's bluff, "Yes. Kill me now and spare these old bones the Blue Shadow's dire embrace, because once the first droid breaks out of the laboratory, all Naboo is doomed."
"He's insane." Blades spat, disgusted at the mad Scientist.
Obi-wan turned his disgusted face away from the doctor's disregard for life as he looked at his former pupil, "Anakin, the fastest way to save senator Amidala and Ahsoka is to get Vindi back to the capitol and find an actual antidote."
"He's right skyguy." Streetwise added, "What's the point of baring your fangs like a Scraplet when we have little time before those cons break in and try and get a sample anyway."
Anakin had to admit they were right. He deactivated his lightsaber and looked to the Protectobots, "Are you coming with us?"
"No, we need to remain if the Decepticons do attempt to break into the lab to unleash the virus anyway." Hotspot said, speaking for his men who nodded in agreement with their leader.
Obi-wan looked up to the Autobots and wished, "May the Force be with you then, commander."
The bots accepted the prayer and got ready for an attack. The shuttle took off and headed for Theebs.
"Primus watch over you, Jedi." Hotspot stated before turning to his remaining troops to build defenses around the laboratory.
When the two Jedi arrived, they handed their captive to the Naboo security forces to stand for trial for his treacherous actions against the Republic and Naboo.
Another Autobot dropship came in and two of the Autobots, the scientist flyer, Jetfire, and the biological specialist, Bontanica, exited.
"So you think you found the cure?" Anakin asked, looking at the smaller holograms of the two Autobots.
"Possibly, a little known extract made from the Reeksa root."
"We found multiple reference to this weed-like vine during the final days of the Blue Shadow Virus." Jetfire said as the hologram showed a ginormous planet with a thousand moons around it.
"It is found on the Separatist controlled planet known as Iego, the world of a thousand moons." Botanica added looking at the two Jedi.
Anakin thrust his right fist into his left hand and said, "Lets go."
"General Skywalker, you need to be cautious in a…" Botanica warned but she was interrupted by Anakin, who spat, "There's no time for caution, my Padawan's down there and so is Padme."
Obi-wan, who held a hand up to stop his friend from walking away noticed his words and thought he felt something in those words through the Force.
The two Autobots looked at each other with the same curiosity as the Jedi Master. Anakin realized his mistake and corrected himself, "I mean Senator Amidala."
"I applaud your courage your courage, General Skywalker, but its suicide." Captain Typho said looking at the Jedi, "Once we contain the virus we can send troops."
"And risk losing the lives we are trying to save as well?" Jetfire asked the captain. Appalled by this decision.
"Jetfire's right, Obi-wan and I can handle it." Anakin said, heading back to the Royal Palace's hanager.
"I concur, Anakin." Obi-wan agreed, walking after his former Padawan. The two were unaware that Jetfire's basic hologram form disappeared; he was found standing in the hanger.
"Botanica offered to stay with the Captain to provide more data about the plant's root while I offered to assist in this mission." Jetfire stated. Going to the edge of the hanger, he transformed into a Nu-class attack shuttle with medium laser cannons on either side, close to the wings, and with two double light laser cannons on either side of the cockpit.
The boarding hatch opened up for the two Jedi to sit in the seats, with R2. Jetfire memorized everything that the Jedi did in order to get this vehicle into the air. He may have scanned the vehicle, but he wanted to be sure not yo get himself shot into the air or accidently fire the weapons.
At the seats, Obi-wan spoke to Anakin, attempting to ease the worry in his friend, "Padme and Ahsoka will be fine."
"They will be if we succeed." Anakin said. He punched in the coordinates to Iego. Just as he began entering Hyperspace, Jetfire let out a small cry of surprise at the sensation of entering Hyperspace.
Back at the swamp, The Protectobots and the remaining Autobot troopers and Clone troopers stood on guard. That was before the sound of something firing caught their attention as several Decepticon flyers flew down and began an attack with Decepticon drop ships landing to get more troops out.
"Defensive positions." Hotspot ordered, firing at the Decepticons. Groove and Streetwise took cover behind the swamp trees and fired back.
Blades used his onboard blades to deflect or block the blasts from the Vehicons.
First-Aid, however, stood behind, tending to any of the injured Autobot troopers before letting them return to action or to have them wait until they were well enough to fight again.
A Clone trooper noticed this and asked, shouting over the blaster fire "Hey! Why won't you fight?! You're an Autobot, right? Fight back!"
First-Aid remained silent but kept working. Rook glared as he snapped, "Back off, First-Aid's a medic, not a fighter."
"What?!" A trooper asked, shocked by this as the ground near him exploded, sending him flying.
First-Aid went to check on the Human but was snapped at by the weak trooper, "You… coward… You don't deserve to be… here…"
First-Aid transformed, opened the hatch and used his holo-form and the onboard systems to begin treating the soldier's wounds as he said, "I may not deserve to be seen as the others do, but I do deserve to be here when it comes to saving lives."
Rook changed into vehicle mode, and used himself as a shield to defend the Clone Troopers from the Energon blasts as they attempted to fire back. His durabyllium super-alloy armor made it easy for the Clone troopers to hide behind as they gave suppression fire.
His on-board weapons opened fire on the Decepticons, giving the Republic forces support and cover.
The Autobot assumed shuttle entered the system as they approached the planet.
"There it is, Iego." Obi-wan said, snapping Jetfire from his shock. He looked on with horror at the wreckage around the many moons.
"What do you make of this?" Anakin said, seeing the many destroyed starships and their deceased pilots or occupants.
"It looks like a graveyard of ships." Obi-wan observed, watching as the debris and corpses flew passed them.
Jetfire watched from the ship's sensors and muttered, "These poor beings… What could've caused this?"
"You're guess is good as mine, my friend." Obi-wan said as Anakin flew them past the debris of ships.
As they flew, Jetfire, through his sensors, detected something metal on one of the smaller asteroid like moons around the planet. He decided to examine it when they landed, because right now they needed to find the Reeksa root.
They approached a city that used the steep walls of the numerous mountains to keep from the planet's surface.
The two Jedi and R2-D2 exited from the shuttle, allowing Jetfire to transform without crushing his occupants inside.
What they saw made them question the Autobot scientist's reaction to an attack. Approaching them were many battle droids. But unlike the ones whom Jetfire saw from the records, these seemed to have been put together from different variants or parts from other droids, given their asymmetrical appearance. They all began to repeatedly greet the four of them, "Welcome to Iego."
Anakin activated his lightsaber, thinking it was an attack and charged despite the warning and protest from Obi-wan and Jetfire.
After cutting down what felt like enough droids, he noticed that the droids weren't fighting back, but he stopped, seeing what the Autobot saw, parts mismatched on their bodies, seemingly put together by someone just to make them useful. A few of the droid's heads were backwards with a speaker at the top of their backwards heads, some had different droid head all together on them.
"Congratulations, you mercilessly destroyed seventeen defenseless droids without suffering a scratch." Jetfire said, unimpressed by the Jedi's rash actions.
One of the droid's began to malfunction in its speaking before it fell, revealing its cut from Anakin's lightsaber.
"Eighteen, actually." Anakin corrected.
"The venerable Jaybo Hood requested an audience." A droid told them.
The three of them looked at each other, confused, and repeated the name, "Jaybo?"
"Hey! Do you have any idea how long it took me to repurpose those droids?" A young voice asked, the droids parted so that the voice's owner walked passed them. Jaybo was actually a young boy with brown hair fair skin, brown boots and cloth around his shirt. It was adorn by many tools. In his hand was a Droid captain's head.
"You're Jaybo?" Anakin asked, surprised.
"Well do you?" Jaybo asked, angrily, ignoring the Jedi's question.
"I apologize for our friend's rather rash behavior." Obi-wan told the boy, who walked away from the two Jedi.
"Nine months, man. It took me nine months. How'd you like it if I destroyed your giant droid over there?" Jaybo said walking to the two Vulture droids with a tarp tied between their legs.
Jetfire walked forward and said, "Actually, young man, I'm not a droid at all, I'm an advance Cybernetic being from the Planet known as Cybertron."
"Never heard of it." Jaybo shot back, laying on the tarp.
The two Jedi looked at each other, unsure of the boy. He clapped his hands for his droids to fan and sway his tarp. Another droid came with a plate of fruit for Jaybo to eat from.
One of droids with his head backwards turned a knob on his torso, playing a tropical tune for Jaybo's enjoyment.
The two Jedi shared another look as they approached the amassed droids.
"How'd a kid like you come by this many Battle droids, anyway?" Anakin asked, examining one of them upclose.
"Simple, when the Separatists took off, they left all this junk behind." Jaybo explained.
Jetfire stared, before asked, "Have you come across any… Cybertronian corpses?"
"You mean from what you are? No." Jaybo said looking at Jetfire, like a collector looking at a new prize, "I'd love to try and get transforming droids to work to serve me like the many other droids that I got in the warehouse over there."
Jetfire felt shivers down his, well… back when he heard that. The disrespectful attitude towards their ally made the Jedi narrow their eyes. The boy only saw mechanical beings like Jetfire and his kind as nothing but machines.
"So you programmed them to serve you." Obi-wan surmised, looking at them all and the boy.
Anakin however deduced, interested, "Looks like you used a… macro protocol to wipe them all simultaneously. Impressive."
"I see you know your droids." Jaybo observed. He saw the weapon hanging off the two human's belts and asked, "You're Jedi, aren't you? Want me to show you how I did it?"
"Perhaps another time. What we need now is reeksa root. Do you know where we can find some?" Obi-wan asked.
Jaybo gestured around him, "Here, there, everywhere."
He laid back on his tarp and let the Vulture droids swing him. Angry, Anakin demanded, "We don't have time for games, kid. Where's the root."
"What my friend means is that we are in a bit of hurry." Jetfire added.
"Hey, I'm not talking to you, droid. I'm talking to your masters. So just stand there and look intimidating like a good droid." Jaybo snapped at Jetfire. Clearly not caring or seeing the Autobot as anything but a lifeless machine.
"You arrogant little..." Anakin began, but was stopped by Obi-wan, "Please don't insult our large friend. He doesn't like being called a droid."
"Ha, like droids have feelings." Jaybo said feeling like this conversation had no meaning.
"I'm not a droid. I'm a Cybertronian." Jetfire shot back, before walking away from the group.
Artoo followed behind to talk to him. The Jedi decided to continue the conversation, "So about the root?"
"You're not in a hurry anymore, you're not." Jaybo said, resting.
"Look you little.." Anakin started, only for Obi-wan to stop him.
Jaybo glanced back at them as he said, "This system is haunted, cursed, whatever."
"Anyway, Jedi or not, you're not getting off this rock alive." Jaybo explained, sitting up, "Not past Drol."
This spooked the droids as one asked, frightened, "Drol?!"
"Drol?" Obi-wan asked, for clarification.
"Yeah, Drol. The phantom ruler of Iego. He destroys anything that leaves the planet." Jaybo explained further. He took a fruit from the plate and said, chewing it, "Fifty of the best star pilots of the Galaxy had tried. Fifty tried, fifty died."
The Jedi looked to each other with a similar look, Obi-wan said, "I suppose that explains the ruined ships around the moon belt."
They heard footsteps coming as Jetfire came over and suggested, "We should worry about that problem later. Lives depend on our mission."
Jaybo looked surprised, not by how more alive that the Autobot sounded compared to the droids around him. More by how his words sounded with the need to save lives.
"Sure follow me." Jaybo said, leading the three of them away from the sky-dock. Obi-wan lagged behind, having felt a change inside the boy; he wondered if there was hope for the young Jaybo yet.
Back on Naboo, more Decepticon soldiers, land-based troops, arrived firing at the clones and Autobots.
Seeing more of their allies falling to the large numbers of Decepticons, Hotspot knew they had only one option to survive.
"Protectobots, Combine into Defensor!" Hotspot ordered.
Streetwise and Groove turned into their respective vehicle modes, a security vehicle and a large swoop bike and drove themselves to the Decepticons. Hotspot followed behind in his vehicle mode, an air vehicle that was used to put out fires when the Decepticons had attacked Coruscant. The medic on the team became a hover medical transport. And Blades became the Red Nabooian Starfighter. While Hotspot became the torso and the head, both Streetwise and Groove became legs that made contact with the main body the moment before hitting the ground, almost as though he was taking steps to steady himself after jumping a great distance. First-Aid and Blades formed the arms that made a circular motion to go along with their combining sequence as the Autobot Gestalt's eyes flared to life.
"We are Defensor!" The Autobot gestalt declared. He raised his right arm, which became a cannon and fired on the Decepticon forces trying to open up the sealed off laboratory.
"Whoa…" A younger Clone trooper said, never having seen anything like it before. Defensor kicked one of the charging Vehicons away before using his Blades arm to fire lasers at more of the Decepticons.
He was, however, brought out of his awe-inspired stare when another shook him, "Get out of the clouds, shiny. We got a battle to fight."
"Yes sir, sorry sir!" The clone said as he re-focused on the battle at hand.
When it looked like the Decepticons were about to hit the Clone troops, Defensor used himself as a shield and said, "Stay close to us, we shall protect you all."
Defensor then turned, placing his arms together over his chest and with a mighty yell spread them wide to form a powerful force field 50 feet from him. Its strength made the laser bolts from the Decepticon forces impossible to break through.
The Autobot forces got ready. Seeing this, Defensor asked, "Are you ready? We are dropping the shield soon."
"Yes, sir." The Rook replied as he and his remaining forces prepared with the Clone troopers.
As soon as the firing from the Decepticons stopped, Defensor deactivated his shield and let the troopers below fire on the unsuspecting Vehicons.
The arm that was First-Aid's body shifted again into the powerful looking cannon and aimed it again at the enemy forces, "Decepticons!"
He boomed, pulling the trigger, "Be gone!"
And fired, causing the Decepticons to meet their end at the hands of the otherwise gentle giant. The clones and Autobots began cheering at the defeat of their enemies, even as one of the cons flew away with what was left of their dropships.
Defensor disengaged, separating into the five bots that made his body and mind. The Autobot soldiers went and provided aid for some of the more drained commanders.
"What wrong with them?" A clone trooper asked his commanding officer.
Looking down at them from the con he was holding down, Rook explained, "Defensor's force field, though powerful, has been known to be very consumptive of their reserves… they won't be able to combine anytime soon until they rest and fuel up on more Energon."
This surprised the two troopers. If using a force field like this took away most of their strength, then what would happen if more cons arrive?
Jetfire stood with Jaybo and watched the two Jedi climb down with packs for getting the reeksa root sample. Obi-wan looked up and asked, "Are you coming?"
"You gotta be kidding." Was Jaybo's only reply. He and Jetfire watched as the Jedi climbed down the rock wall.
"Are you trying to tell us something?" Anakin asked, looking up as he carefully climbs down.
"Don't worry, it's simple." Jaybe told them, "Follow the vines to the bottom, dig up the roots, but don't touch the vines."
Looking down at the human boy, Jetfire asked, "Aside from the obvious, why not?"
"Because the plants don't like it, and they have big, sharp teeth." Jaybo replied, loud enough for the Jedi to hear the farther they climbed from them. This surprised Jetfire as he never seen a fauna species that showed sentience or appendages such as teeth. Perhaps he could retrieve a sample for Botanica.
"Teeth? This is getting better by the minute." Anakin commented as he kept climbing.
"And watch out for the flying Xandu." Jaybo added.
Anakin looked to Obi-wan, who landed on a ledge, and asked, "What's a Xandu?"
"I'm not sure." Obi-wan replied, never having heard of such a creature before.
The wall that Anakin was climbing began rumbling before some kind of humanoid/bat creature flew out.
'This must be a Xandu.' Obi-wan thought as he observed the creature.
It had a large head with fanged mouth, six eyes, and large protruding ears that could pick up signals of prey from a distance. Its body appeared somewhat humanoid in that it had a torso, with two thin arm and leg appendages. From the back of the arms were two wings which provided it with the ability to fly. There were two more wing-like formations protruding from each leg. These "wings" did not appear to be critical to the Xandu's ability to fly. They would probably be used for snatching prey in their talons, and dash it against rocks.
Anakin, thinking quickly, grabbed onto one of the Xandu's legs as it made the creature fly uncoordinatedly.
Looking over to his friend, Anakin cried, "Master, hop on."
Obi-wan took two steps back before jumping up and grabbing the Xandu's other leg. Their combined weight made the Xandu have no choice, but to fly lower.
"This isn't going to work." Obi-wan cried as the combined weight did make the Xandu lower, flying closer to the surface.
It took a little while but the Xandu did indeed fly closer to the planet's surface. Looking from his position, Obi-wan nodded below them, "There, those are the roots we're looking for."
Anakin looked and muttered, seeing how the vines covered the ground above the roots, "Oh poodoo."
The two let go of the Xandu and rolled. The creature flew away as the ground began shaking the moment that they touched the vines.
I have a bad feeling about this…" Obi-wan said. He saw a large plant stem shaking free from the rock that previously held it underground. Anakin pulled out a spade from his pack and looked for a good place to extract the root.
"Don't take long with that." Obi-wan warned, activating his lightsaber.
"Im going as fast as I can." Anakin shot back. He began to thrust at the barren rock ground until he felt it loose enough for him to pull the rook free to see the root.
From above, Jetfire used his optics to zoom in. He witnessed what was going on and said, "They need my help."
"How are you gonna help them?" Jaybo asked, turning to see Jetfire transform into the shuttle that the boy saw approaching the city from space.
Jetfire flew himself down and brought his weapons online in case the Jedi needed his help. Jaybo apparently forgot that Jetfire could do that.
From the ground shot the multiple headed carnivorous plant species of Reeksa, resembling a multi-headed Venus fly trap. The heads looked blindly around as if searching for the ones that touched their vines.
"Anakin. Hurry." Obi-wan said. However, his voice made the Reeksa locate the Jedi and prepare to attack.
"Anakin, now!" Obi-wan said, not liking this, looking back to see the Jedi Knight cutting at the root.
"Okay, okay. Got it." Anakin told him, pulling the root out, causing the plants to send two of the heads at the Jedi.
"Hold still." Anakin told his mentor, placing the root in his pack.
"We got to get out of here." Obi-wan hurried, noticing the heads coming.
Before the plants reached them, two laser bolts hit the heads dead on, causing the two to drop. The Jedi turned and saw the Nu-Class attack Cruiser that was Jetfire hovering low enough. he asked, "This good enough mate?"
"Impeccable timing, Jetfire." Obi-wan said as the two used the Force to jump onto the Autobot, landing on the top of his hull.
More of the Reeksa plant attacked, forcing the Jedi to use their lightsabers to decapitate more of their heads.
One of the heads looked like it was about to fall when Jetfire cried, "Kenobi, please don't lose that piece of the creature, we might learn a lot from it."
Obi-wan, though cautious, used the Force to pull the severed plant's head to him as both held onto the Autobot who rose into the air, higher and away from the Reeksa plant.
When he got high enough the Jedi walked off him and to Jaybo who waited for them, saying relieved, "You made it. I knew you would."
"Oh, did you?" Obi-wan asked, sarcastically.
Jetfire rose higher into the air before changing back into his bipedal form. He went down and asked, "Do you have it?"
"Here it is, as requested." Obi-wan said, holding up the dead plant's head. Jetfire delicately picked the plant's bud like head up and placed it in a tube before placing it into a spare storage chamber in his body.
"What does a Cybertronian want with a killer plant in the first place?" Anakin asked, curiously.
"As you know, we do not have much organic life-forms on Cybertron though I am curious about the structure and the properties of this plant species. I want to find out how different we are from organics with our reasoning and other basic necessities. Botanica would benefit the most from this study." Jetfire explained looking down at the three humans, clarifying, "She is our biological study specialist after all."
Back on Naboo, the Protectobots mounted the best resistance posts for what was left of their squad. The Clones were surprised at how energetic the Protectobot leader was, even after being drained from using Defensor's force field. They also remembered how he was in the thick of battle the last two times with his teammates instead of taking too long planning up a strategy. A Clone Trooper's communicator began beeping.
He activated it and a hologram of Captain Rex appeared, his physical appearance looked worse than usual.
"Captain Rex, sir."
"Sergeant, patch me through to General Skywalker and Kenobi." Rex ordered, his voice sounding weak.
First-Aid approached and breathed, horrified by what he saw, "By Primus and the Thirteen… You've been infected by the virus!"
"We just weren't quick enough. We were all able to destroy the battle droids so there's no risk of Naboo being in danger." Rex reported. He looked as though he was about to collapse but Ahsoka and Padme caught him.
To the Bots' horror, they showed signs of infection as well, "Please… help us get our message to Master Skywalker."
The bots nodded as the leader of the Protectobots used his comlink, "Hotspot to any available units on Naboo, please respond."
He was met with static. Clenching his dentures, Hotspot ordered, loudly, "Respond!"
"I read you Hotspot." Botanica's voice greeted the bot, making him sigh in relief.
"We have word from the survivors inside the lab. Relay the following transmission from here to Kenobi and Skywalker." Hotspot ordered, his voice loud, but with worry as he looked back to the hologram of the people who were infected by the Blue Shadow Virus.
"Jaybo…what happened to this city?" Jetfire asked as the four of them walked back to where they had left Artoo with Jaybo's droids.
"Don't know much, but the place dried up once the spice convoy stopped running. Out here, we're just one of the millions of little backwaters that no one cares about. Those of us who are left can't leave because of the curse." Jaybo explained as they took turns across a bridge.
"Cursed we are! The planet is cursed!" An old aquatic like voice proclaimed, catching the attention of the four walking by. Coming out of the alley like a section of a platform was an old Quarren male who seemed to have lost his species usual realistic ideals while being on Iego.
"Cursed by whom, my twitchy friend?" Obi-wan asked, politely.
"The Ghost of Drol, that's who." The Quarren answered.
Anakin with a look of skepticism, asked, "A ghost?"
Jetfire and Obi-wan shared another kind of look. Holding onto the crates the Quarren elaborated his claim, "The spirit of the thousand moons. Our protector and our destroyer."
"If you ask me, that sounds like a load of…"
"Superstition?" Obi-wan finished.
Looking at him, Anakin said, "That's one word for it."
"Superstition, you say?" The Quarren asked, pulling out an Imagecaster and putting it on the crate as it replayed a message of a Rodian in a pilot's chair.
"Can't hold on much… someone help me!" The Rodian cried, before explosions went off and the image faded.
Jaybo walked forward and said, in remorse, "That was Taquito. He was a friend of mine…"
The Jedi looked at the boy in sympathy with their Autobot ally. The Quarren held onto the crate before him and warned, "Try to leave this planet, and your fate will be the same."
When they returned to where they left R2, Jetfire, assumed his vehicle form of the shuttle and waited for the Jedi and the droid to get themselves secured before he rose into the air and prepared to leave the planet.
While making sure the root was still in his pack, leaving Anakin to fly, Obi-wan told them, "The Ghost of Drol may be a local superstition, but something real blew up those ships."
"Real we can handle." Anakin said as he piloted their vessel higher into the sky, speaking into the ship's comm, "Thanks for your help, kid. Couldn't have done it without you."
"Have you run into Drol yet?" Jaybo asked.
"Not to worry, Jaybo." Obi-wan assured the boy as they flew past the same miniature moons.
Suddenly R2 and Jetfire began to get a reading, causing the droid to beep nervously.
"Yes I've detected the same thing, R2." Jetfire said to the droid.
Anakin looked at the two and asked, "What's the matter Artoo. Don't tell me that you and Jetfire are afraid of ghosts?"
"Drol's a superstition…" Anakin began before seeing what appeared to be lasers forming a grid from the many asteroids that became the moons for the planet.
Alarmed, Obi-wan turned and said, "There's our ghost!"
"Lasers!" Anakin exclaimed as he flew the ship to avoid being hit by the power beams.
"We've triggered an energy net!" Jetfire exclaimed. He left the flying to Anakin, because of his abilities with the Force.
Seeing that it was only to get worse, Obi-wan ordered, "Turn the ship around! We're never going to get through!"
"He's correct Skywalker, it's getting too dangerous." Jetfire added when he felt Anakin not redirecting them back to Iego.
Anakin had no choice but to agree and direct the ship fly back to the planet they had just left.
Observing the energy field deactivating the farther they got away from the moon belt, Obi-wan theorized, "The Separatists must have installed those lasers to prevent people from leaving the planet."
"That would explain the residual trails of thermal energy when we went through that graveyard of ships when we arrived…" Jetfire concurred, going through what had transpired on the main screen in front of the two Jedi.
The moment they touched down, Jetfire suddenly said, "We got a call from Naboo… there's interference from the field, leaving the signal weak."
"Patch it through." Obi-wan requested, setting the shuttle to be on stand-by mode.
The hologram projector activated and to the horror of the Jedi Knight. Padme, without her bio-isolation suit, and Asoka were seen looking to them. And they were holding each other, to keep from collapsing. Seeing the transmission working, Asoka asked, weakly, "Master, can you hear me?"
Turning to the Astromech, Anakin ordered, "Artoo. Amplify the signal."
R2-D2 complied and injected a port into the computer to divert power into the signal's array, allowing the communications between them and Naboo to become clearer and stronger.
"We've destroyed all the battle droids in the compound, master… Hotspot and his men kept the Decepticons from opening the bunker from the outside… And we made sure no more of the Droid-icons were here…" Asoka reported, before feeling light headed as she stated, "Naboo is safe from further contamination. I repeat, Naboo is safe."
Hearing those words didn't make Anakin or anyone else listening to this feel any better. Asoka began coughing for a bit. Once she was done, Padme looked to them, "Promise me that no one will ever open this bunker."
Anakin looked like his world was about to collapse around him when he heard Padme say, "Goodbye, Anakin. I…"
"No!" However, they lost the signal. Shaking his head, Anakin got up and immediately hurried out to the ramp of the shuttle, Obi-wan hot on his trail.
As it lowered, Anakin went down the ramp, expressing a new idea, "We'll borrow a power converter from Jaybo, and reprogram it to feed Jetfire's-"
"Slow down, Anakin." Obi-wan said, trying to reach for Anakin.
"Slow down? Slow down?" Anakin asked, causing his voice to become louder. He turned back to his master, "You saw them, Master. They're dying."
Walking down, Obi-wan recited some words of wisdom, "A great leap forward often requires first taking two steps back to look at everything."
Anakin, glaring, countered, "And sometimes, all it requires is the will to jump."
"At least hear me out on this." Obi-wan said to his fearful friend.
They saw a light shining behind them as a human in republic scientist uniform, with Autobot symbols on the shoulder, about as tall and old as Obi-wan, appeared. His electric blue eyes glowing softly as he said, in a familiar voice, "He's right, mate. We need to be sure that we're thinking clearly otherwise we'll be scraped before we can get that cure to anybody."
Anakin looked down, knowing that this, holo-form of Jetfire was right as the three of them walked to the awaiting crowd.
After having the people brought together in the old Separatist meeting room, Obi-wan stood up, "Citizens of Iego! Drol is not a ghost."
"Rather it's a Separatist security system designed to activate and terminate anyone attempting to leave the planet on a ship." Jetfire finished.
The Quarren from before shouted, "Nonsense! You were lucky to escape alive, simple as that. I bet it was all thanks to that giant droid of yours!"
Jetfire felt insulted at being called that. But he kept himself calm, reminding himself that they needed to help these people, not antagonize them.
Anakin however said, "And who said we didn't make our own luck with our friend?"
"The Ghost of Drol does, that's who! Having come here with a giant droid has caused Drol to become angrier more than usual!" The Quarren snapped back, clearly still holding on to the superstition. His accusation caused a murmuring to begin with the beings at the table.
Sighing to himself, Obi-wan asked, "Did anyone inhabit Iego's moons before the Separatist arrived?"
The Quarren looked at the other Jedi and said, calmer, "The Angels of course."
"Angels?" Jetfire asked, never hearing the term before. The door opened as a gentle luminescent being in a brown cloak walked forward. From its back they could see blade like wings protruding outwards. That instant, all eyes were captivated by the beauty of this being. From what Jetfire could tell, this being was actually made from pure energy, causing his optics to widen in surprise. The only one who was like this to any transformer was their creator Primus, causing Jetfire to pray, "By Primus…"
Anakin looked and stared, his hastiness and worries forgotten by seeing the very being he had compared Padme to when he first met her as a boy on Tatooine. He didn't think he'd actually see one in his life time, then remembered that they came from one of the moons of this very planet.
The Angel looked and said in a feminine voice, "We were a peaceful people before the Separatist arrived and drove us from our homes and stole our moon. With them were large metallic beings bearing a crest of evil on their metal shells."
Looking over at Jetfire, it stated, "Similar to the one you have in your company, but not as noble of a soul."
Jetfire looked surprised by the fact that the Angel knew that he wasn't human by looking at him. Obi-wan, deciding to keep Jetfire from being targeted, asked, "And which moon was that?"
The angel opened its arms to reveal a holodisk, showing a miniature hologram of the very planet and moons, one of them lighting up red as the Angel answered, "Millius Prime."
"The primary node, it must be on Millius Prime."
"But how will we reach it?" Jetfire asked, causing everyone to begin thinking.
Looking out the door that the Angel had come through he saw the very same droids that were previously used as Jaybo's swaying hammock holders, "Hmm… Vulture droids."
Turning to the boy, Obi-wan asked, "Jaybo, can you reactivate those Vulture droids?"
"Sure." Jaybo said, smiling, "I can even fly them by remote control.
"Good. We can have Artoo fly the droids as decoys into the laser field." Obi-wan said, explaining the plan.
"And since we know what we're up against this time, we can destroy the laser emitter." Anakin caught on, meaning the emitters on the smaller moons.
"And cut a path right to Millius Prime." Jetfire finished, smiling and having faith that this would work.
Back on Naboo, Blades began pacing, he didn't like being of no assistance to anyone while lives were in danger; it was beginning to drive him crazy, shouting, "That's it!"
He pulled out one of his blades and went over to their prisoner and held it at the con's neck. Scared, the Vehicon shouted, "AHHH! What're you doing?! I surrendered!"
"That's the problem!" Blades shouted as he brought his weapon closer, "A lot of lives are in danger because of yer boss and you think that surrendering to us would make everything better?!"
Crawling away in fear, the Decepticon said, "It's better than going back to Oil Slick. The bot's crazy! The last guy who failed him became the next test subject of those Cosmic Rust experiments of his."
"You think that makes you different? Billions of bots died because of Oil Slick and cons like you during the war. You really think that anything you can do now will save the lives of our friends down there?" Blades asked getting angrier. His sword closer to the Decepticon's neck.
He was however pulled away from the prisoner by two of his teammates. Blades held back and was about to walk away when he heard the prisoner ask, "What's the problem with you anyway? They're just organics."
With an outrageous roar Blades charged and began beating the Decepticon prisoner. All the anger and fear of not being able to do anything was causing him to take his frustration out on the con. And to add insult to injury, the prisoner had to gall to say something diminishing as if their allies were no better than the mindless creatures that the Quentessions based for their slaves. He would've extinguished the prisoner's spark had it not been for Rook grabbing his arm.
Breathing heavily, the con said, fortunate to be alive, "What're you crazy?!"
"Stand down Blades." The rookie ordered against the struggling red flyer.
Looking back with a hatred in his optics, Blades began, "But he-"
"Stand down, or you'd be no better than the way you see him." Hotspot reminded, causing Blades to breathe more until he calmed down. He looked back to his allies and comrades before glancing at the lab's hatch and back to the prisoner.
"H-Hotspot… I…" Blades began again.
His commander nodded, "I know. I hate not being able to do anything while lives are at stake, but we need to have faith."
Hotspot then went to check on the injured. Blades looked at his sword, then at the prisoner before spatting, "If they die… you'll join them, burning in the pit."
He sheathed his blade and walked away, leaving the Decepticon soldier alone, and afraid for his spark.
Back on Iego, the Jedi were on board Jetfire's vehicle mode. On the landing plate form, stood Jaybo with a walkie-talkie device in hand, "Ready, General Kenobi."
"Jaybo, activate the droids." Anakin ordered from the other end of the device.
The boy did so and the droids came online.
After seeing them activated Anakin said, "Transfer controls to Artoo."
In a moment the optic colors of the Vulture droids changed from red to green. As soon as the shuttle that was Jetfire took off, the Vulture droids went into their star fighter conversion and flew after him in formation.
Jaybo and the gathering crowd watched while they flew higher away.
When they entered space, Obi-wan ordered, "Artoo, intercept the lasers."
Artoo did, having the droids fly ahead of them. He then ordered, "Send the Vulture droids directly into the laser generator."
One by one the droids were hit by the laser streams, providing excellent cover for the Jedi and Autobot to get near the generator of the laser grid. Taking aim, Obi-wan said, "Now Jetfire!"
"Fire in the hole!" The Autobot announced, firing his lasers at the dish. It began exploding, which triggered a chain reaction, causing many of the small asteroid like moons to explode from the feedback.
Back on the planet's surface, Jaybo, seeing the fireworks, was in awe. Finally he asked, "Whoa! You guys okay?"
Getting only static, Jaybo called loudly, "Guys?!"
Everything seemed to have been lost. Suddenly he heard Anakin telling the boy through the radio, "We're fine, kid."
"I'm afraid that you'll need some new droids to boss around, mate. The ones you lent us were destroyed." Jetfire said. A look of relief spread across Jaybo's face when he realized that all of them had made it.
When the others heard that, they began cheering in joy, especially hearing Obi-wan telling them, "But the good news is that you're now free to leave Iego whenever you choose."
Everyone continued to cheer as they watched the sky lighting up from exploding laser defenses left behind by the Separatists. Jaybo looked up at the sky with a new found hope and satisfaction, thankful for the Jedi and their droi-… their Autobot ally for freeing them from this prison.
Looking at his astromech friend, Anakin said, "Artoo, set a course for Naboo."
Turning to the consul, he added, "Jetfire get ready for Hyperspace."
It took a while, but they were finally able to return to Naboo to create an antidote for the Blue Shadow Virus and their victims.
Once they arrived on Naboo, the antidote was made and administered to disinfect the lab and to cure the surviving people down below. The survivors of the virus were on stretchers, hovering over the ground, being led to the gunships by medical droids.
Seeing them close enough, Anakin rushed to his wife saying, "Padme."
Her eyes fluttered open as Anakin continued, "I spoke with the medical droid. He expects you to make a full recovery."
Smiling she told him, "I never lost faith in you. None of us did."
"Well, that's good to hear, 'cause there were a few moments that we weren't so sure of ourselves." Anakin quipped, trying to help her feel better.
Playing along, Padme pointed out, "Well, you did make it."
They remained silent before the stretcher rotated in a perpendicular direction as Padme told the Jedi, "By the way, your Padawan was brilliant."
Looking back, Anakin was smiling at the accomplishments of his Padawan during the crisis.
Looking into each others' eyes, Padme asked, "I trust I'll see you soon, General Skywalker?"
With no one looking, she and Anakin held each other's hands affectionately. Anakin answered calmly, "Of course, my lady."
She was sent into the gunship as Anakin watched.
Obi-wan, while checking one of the troopers, noticed Jar Jar Binks having trouble with getting his suit's helmet off, causing the Gungan to fall to the ground. Kneeling next to the representative, Obi-wan said, "I heard you were quite brave fending off the battle droids, Jar Jar."
When the Jedi removed his helmet, Jar Jar asked, "Really?"
Getting back on his feet, the Jedi master then said, helping the Gungan up, "Senator Amidala, suggested that we offer you training to help hone your skills with a blaster."
After standing, Jar Jar asked, "Really?"
Obi-wan calmly brushed some dust off the helmet and said, handing it back to his clumsy friend, "Really."
Excitedly, Jar Jar exclaimed, "Oh boy! Ima gonna be trained."
Captain Rex looked up from his stretcher and groaned, "I'm am not training him."
The medical droid pushed him along, away from the smiling Jedi and the waving Gungan.
Back in the gunship, Anakin stood over his Padawan with admiration, "You did a fantastic job today, Snips."
Smiling weakly, Ahsoka said, "All thanks to your training, Master."
Reverting back to his usual self, Anakin then said, "Yeah, you're right, I probably do deserve most of the credit."
Smiling, Ahsoka rolled her eyes at her master's apparent "ego". In a more serious voice, Anakin added, "But not all of it."
"Good thing. I know you don't mean everything you say." Ahsoka told her master, smirking back.
Looking towards to the trooper at the controls, Anakin ordered, "Pilot. Get these two out of here."
"Thank you, Master." Ahsoka said, leaning her head back to rest and let the antidote do its work.
The blast doors of the Gunship closed and it carefully rose into the air and flew back to the capital of Naboo.
Some feet away, Hotspot approached Rook with his team, while several of the Autobot troopers escorted the surrendered Vehicon into a Dropship for interrogation back on the Ark. Hearing their approach, Rook stood at attention, before being told by his superior to be at ease. He said, "You truly showed your colors while the Decepticons came to unleash the virus on Naboo, Rook."
"Thank you, sir. I was merely doing my duty." Rook said, being modest.
"You showed true compassion for our injured allies when the Decepticons tried to harm them, but unlike others you used yourself as a shield to provide protection instead of charging in, preventing more lives from being sacrificed." First-Aid remarked, smiling at the new guy.
"And what's better, you even stopped me from making a stupid mistake when I almost lost my cool. That proves you have the right stuff in your spark." Blades added, patting Rook on his back.
"I may be a soldier but even I know that all life is precious… I will not let others be lost just to stop the enemy. It was more strategically sound to keep them safe while using my durabyllium super-alloy armor to take the hits while First-Aid evacuated them from the immediate danger zone before he was called away to combine." Rook told them.
All five members of the Protectobots looked and nodded at each other while Hotspot said, "I'm recommending to commander Kup that you to join my team effective immediately."
Rook stared, then nodded, accepting the bot's hand and shaking it, something that he wasn't able to do before the virus was released. Smiling Hotspot said, "Welcome to the Protectobots."
Rook smiled as he was being congratulated by his new teammates in their own way. Anakin and Obi-wan felt glad for Rook's compassion and courage; it would serve him well as a member of the Protectobots. They then went to convey their own thanks, before boarding into a gunship to take them to Theebes.
(There were a few moments where I felt like my heart was going to stop by how close the Decepticons were to unleashing the virus. Especially how hard it was for Anakin and Obi-wan to get the root for the antidote. And what's better Rook was able to join the ranks of the Protectobots for doing what was right. What do you all think of the combined efforts of the Autobots, Jedi, and Clone troopers against the Decepticons?
What will happen next in the next chapter? Find out later. Please let me know what you all thought because I would like to know in your reviews and not summaries.
Until next time everyone.)