Chapter 77: Evil Plans
A failure in planning is a plan for failure.
Recap: Evil plans! With the Jedi Council focused on the war effort, criminal minds are left unchecked to spread fear and corruption. Galactic gangster Jabba the Hutt has sent bounty hunter Cad Bane on a nefarious mission which shall strike at the heart of the Republic. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting citizens of Coruscant go about their daily lives.
On the planet Coruscant, an apartment was shown. Inside, Padmé was directing traffic as many droids around her were setting things up. The Senator herself was stressing out, as could be shown by the expression on her face.
"Wait, no. The tendrils belong on the main table between Anakin and Senator Aang," said Padmé to one of the servant droids before turning around to respond to another droid.
The servant droid pulled up an image of Rarity's latest outfit she designed for the Senator to wear for the upcoming dinner.
"Mistress," said the droid, looking for her opinion to inform the fashionista.
"Not that one. The red one. Senator Aang's favorite color is red." said Padmé as she pointed at the image.
"Very well," said the droids as they left; Padmé let out a stressful sigh.
"You need to take a breath. This party will work out," said Anakin as he watched all the stress his wife was creating for herself.
"It has to. Senator Aang holds the deciding vote on the Military Oversight Committee. You know how particular the Roonan are. I need everything to be perfect." said Padmé to her husband.
"You have nothing to worry about," said Anakin as he brought his hand to graze Padmé's cheek.
Both soon heard a sound.
"Whoops," said one of the servant droids as they bumped into 3P0 and dropped some things.
"Perfect! For the most important state banquet of the season, they send us waiter droids with malfunctioning digits," said the droid.
"Where the hell is this shit supposed to go?" said Storm.
The boy was currently hanging upside from the ceiling while decorating for Padmé. While he got most of them, he didn't get what the small weird object was for, nor did it fit any of the instructions the Senator gave him. Meanwhile, Padmé shook her head as she started to stress out again.
"It will be okay," said Anakin to his wife.
"Those are much too large. Have you seen the size of Roonan teeth? Tiny. Tiny!" expressed 3P0 at a droid who brought him a plate of food to judge.
"Right away," said the droid as he left.
"Sir?" said another droid as he brought an ice sculpture.
"That won't do at all. This is a social gathering for the communal taking of sustenance. Your effort evokes the terror of younglings fleeing a flesh-eating monster." said the protocol droid.
"Okay, then," said the servant droid as he left to redo the sculpture.
"Oh, my! The garnish! R2." said 3P0 as he approached another droid as the blue astromech was nearby. "I ask you to oversee one thing, and you allow this?"
R2 responded with a beep.
"3P0, is there a problem?" asked Padmé as she already had enough on her plate.
"I am sorry, my lady, but it appears the dessert is missing its jogan fruit," said the yellow-colored droid to the Senator.
"So go get one," said Anakin to the droid he built.
"I could not possibly leave now."
"3P0..." said Padmé as she started to stress out.
"Fine, send R2, then," responded Anakin sternly.
"I'm afraid that may not be the most appropriate idea. It was R2-D2 who put us in this predicament, quite inadvertently, I'm sure," said 3P0, as he didn't like the idea of sending the blue astromech by himself.
"Gees, somebody make up their mind, already!" shouted Storm. "At this rate, why not send Sparky's droid? I didn't borrow the little thing for nothing!"
Twilight's droid was on the couch as it was turned off. The boy had asked the princess if he could borrow it to help set up for Padmé's party. Well, he moreso took it without her permission, but he left a sweet note saying that he put it back once he was done with it.
"Please handle this," Padmé to both Jedi Knights as she left to check up on other things for the party.
"Um... Okay. 3P0, look, I'm sending you on a mission," said Anakin as he put his hand on the droid's shoulder.
"A mission? Oh, my!" said the droid as he didn't expect this.
"Yes, and R2 is going along with you," said the Jedi Knight.
"Oh, my," said 3P0 as he was now worried.
"Don't worry, I'm sending Sparky's droid with you too," Storm said as he dropped from the ceiling. He approached the couch and turned on the robot.
"Systems online. What do you require, Master Twi-"
Twilight's droid blinked as it saw that she wasn't in the princess' room, nor was the person she saw, her creator. She knew who Storm was based on all the data it absorbed when it noticed the many interactions between the princess and Jedi Knight.
"Where is Twilight?" asked the droid.
"Don't worry, you'll see soon. Right now, I got an errand for you," said Storm as he looked down at the droid.
"An errand?" responded TS-01.
"Yeah, go with them and make sure they don't run into trouble," said Storm as he pointed at 3P0 and R2.
"See, you got company," smiled Anakin as he pulled out some money. "This should be more than enough credits if you don't get swindled."
"Swindled? Me?" said 3P0 as he took offense to what Anakin said. The Jedi Knight tossed the credits to R2 as he knew he wasn't as gullible as the protocol droid.
"Yes, you. Go there, come back. Don't get lost, and don't get distracted." stated the Jedi Knight.
"Of course, Master Anakin. Come along, R2," said 3P0 as he and his buddy began to leave.
The droids approached TS-01 as she looked up.
"Hello. I don't believe we have been introduced," said 3P0 as he saw Twilight's droid.
"TS-01," said the droid as she put her arm up and shook the protocol droid's hand.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am C-3PO, Human-Cyborg Relations."
All three droids began to leave as they headed to the market.
In the market, tons of activity was happening. During the walk to the place, TS-01 told 3P0 about Twilight being a princess and how she was to be the next heir to the throne of her home planet. The yellow protocol droid also told tales of Padmé being a Senator and Rarity always being sucked into them. Soon the topic of what Anakin said was brought up.
"Lost! Distracted! I cannot imagine where Master Anakin gets these ideas. You are the one who gets distracted." said 3P0 to R2.
R2 gave an angry beep to his friend.
"You most certainly do. You wander off like a drunken nuna. I have half a mind to recalibrate your focusing capacitors." said 3P0 as R2 gave another beep to his buddy.
As the trio of droids walked, Twilight's droid was doing its programming and absorbing every bit of data and info on its screen. The small droid was recording them and saving them into her memory banks to analyze for later. Unbeknownst to the trio, they were being watched through a scope.
"There they are. The gold one is the target. Get down there and do your job." said the person tracking them.
"At your service, Mr. Bane," said a droid.
"Here we are. Now, listen and learn," said 3P0 to R2 as he was going to talk with the person selling fruits. "Excuse me, fine sir, but do you by any chance have jogan fruit?"
"Do I have jogan? Can a Jedi use the Force?" said the market person to the droids.
"We shall take that as a yes," said TS-01 as she detected the sarcasm in the person's voice.
"How much would four cost?" asked 3P0.
"How much you got, my friend?" said the marketplace.
R2 was about to pull out all their money when 3P0 stopped him.
"Artoo, make sure you watch our credits," said the protocol droid as he also knew what the market person was trying to do.
"My grandpa always told me, "Don't watch your credits; watch your health." So while I was watching my health, someone stole my credits. My grandpa!" said the seller as he laughed at the joke he made.
"Not very funny," said TS-01 to her pals with a cringed look.
"A cautionary tale, indeed. Might I please purchase four jogan?" asked 3P0.
"Your lucky day. Only ones left on the planet. Four credits." said the market person as they showed the fruit inside a container tube.
"Four, that seems fair," said 3P0.
"Each," stated the vendor.
R2 gave some beeps towards 3P0.
"I don't need you to tell me what galactic robbery is! But what choice do we have?" said 3P0 as they needed the fruit and had to get back in time for the party. "Very well, we will take them. Sixteen credits."
"I meant 32!" said the vendor.
"You said four each! Four times four is 16!" said TS-01 as she felt like pulling out her blaster's hand and threatening the swindler.
"Thirty-two's the best deal we got today. You know how it is. Hard times." said the vendor.
"Very well, 32, but not one credit more!" said 3P0 as he had R2 pulled out the credits as he gave the proper amount to the vendor.
"You drive a hard bargain," said the vendor as he took the credits and gave the fruit to the droids.
The trio began to walk as they were still being watched by Bane and his associates.
"They're leaving. Todo, move into position," said the bounty hunter.
"I have them marked," responded the small hovering droid.
R2 gave a beep to 3P0.
"As if you could have done any better. Anyway, we still have eight credits left," said the protocol droid.
"We could have had more if you had allowed me to reason with him," said TS-01 as she showed her hand and changed it into a small blaster.
"Oh, good heavens! The princess gave you that!" said 3P0 as all the stuff the droid told him; he didn't expect Twilight to make her robot so violent.
"I'm not just designed to be a droid; I can also fight," replied TS-01 to her new companions. "Anyways, we still have some money."
"Which is all you need to revitalize the you inside," said Todo as he appeared behind the trio and hovered in front of them.
"Excuse me, but were you speaking to us?" said 3P0.
"No, I'm talking to the you you used to be, that droid fresh off the assembly line. Once so nimble before joints squeaked and wiring frayed. You remember that sparkling fellow?" said Todo trying to sway 3P0.
"I am afraid that was a long time ago, and my friend and I..."
"Could use a makeover, could you? Well..." said Todo as he interrupted the protocol droid.
"Well. No. No, our master was most insistent that we shouldn't deviate from our task, so this is no time for self-indulgence. Come along, R2." said the yellow-colored droid as R2 gave a beep.
"Really?" said TS-01 to her friend as she knew what he said.
"I said, come along, R2!" stated 3P0 as R2 gave another beep.
"He's right. You should hear me out," replied Todo.
"We have no time for this, R2," said TS-01.
"But a trip to a maintenance bar would take no time at all," said Todo.
"A maintenance bar for droids?" said 3P0 as he was stunned to hear that.
"After all, why should organics be the only ones who get pampered? They should not. That is why right across the street, there is an oasis of pleasure designed to put you back in touch with the original assembly line you." said Todo as he pointed to a building with a glowing picture of a droid.
R2 gave some beeps as he quickly rolled ahead.
"R2-D2, where are you going? We must get back to the banquet preparation," said 3P0 as TS-01 started to go after the blue astromech.
"As head of protocol, it is vital..."
Once R2 and TS-01 were far away, Todo made his move. A cruiser landed behind 3P0 as he shoved the protocol droid. 3P0 fell backward as he landed in the passenger seat headfirst. The cruiser then zoomed off as the container holding the jogan fruit dropped to the floor as R2 and TS-01 entered the place.
Inside were tons of robots as it was indeed a spa for droids. R2 rolled up to the front as he was excited about the relaxation.
"Hello and welcome to Droid Spa," said the droid at the desk as she pushed a button. "No need for an appointment. Right this way."
"R2?" said TS-01 as she saw her friend head for the door.
"Please, come inside. Enjoy yourself," said the droid reception as the blue astromech went off to get some relaxation.
"How about you?" said the receptionist to Twilight's droid.
"No, thank you. I'll just wait for my friend," said the droid as she made her way to the waiting area and hopped onto a chair. She then noticed some magazines on a nearby table and began to read.
Meanwhile, Cad Bane was waiting on the roof of a building. Soon the cruiser that was carrying 3P0 and his accomplices arrived. They stood up as they grabbed ahold of 3P0's shoulders and had him in front of Bane.
"Oh... The indignity! Pardon me, sir, but there appears to have been a terrible mistake," said 3P0.
"I don't think so," said Bane as he shoved the droid once more as a different cruiser came just as he fell into the backseats.
"Oh, no, I'm quite right," said 3P0 before being shocked and knocked out.
The speeder then zoomed ahead. All the while, TS-01 was still in the lobby, reading the magazines and inputting the information she read into her memory banks. As for R2, the droid entered the main spa room and was immediately relieved. He soon rolled himself on the assembly line as he began to enjoy the wonders of pleasure.
Bane had managed to bring 3P0 to his hideout. It was one of the industrial areas on Coruscant as the protocol droid was hooked up to machines. The bounty hunter then placed a device on 3P0's head.
"Why are you putting that there?" asked 3P0.
"To find out what's inside," replied the bounty hunter.
"Inside? Just the usual capacitors, nothing special," answered 3P0 honestly.
Meanwhile...
"It doesn't get more soothing than that, does it?" said one of the spa droids as they massaged R2's outer surface before the droid was moved to the next part of the spa.
With 3P0, the droid was shocked by the arms that suspended it as the info inside was put on the screen for all to see.
"I don't want this gibberish! I want the plans for the Senate building!" said Bane.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said 3P0 as they stopped the shock extraction.
"You're Senator Amidala's personal droid," replied Bane.
"I am a protocol droid. Human-cyborg relations. I can translate and instruct on appropriate etiquette, which in your case, sir, if you don't mind me saying, is sorely lacking," said 3P0 calmly to the bounty hunter.
Bane nodded to the device's droid as another shock was delivered to 3P0.
"That is exactly the sort of behavior I am talking about," said the protocol droid.
"According to the analyzer, he is not lying. His head's totally empty of any information useful to us." said the droid to the bounty hunter.
"Empty? I protest. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication. I have extensive programming in the correct..." rambled 3P0.
"Ain't that great! A brainless droid. Worthless." said Bane as he began to walk off.
"My lack of knowledge is not an impediment at all. Floor plans and blueprints are not in my programming. That was always R2's specialty." said 3P0.
"R2?" said Bane as he stopped to think. "The astromech. Go fetch me his little pal." ordered the bounty hunter to his accomplices.
"Oh, no! What have I done?" said 3P0 as he realized what he had said.
"Finally done," said TS-01 as R2 rolled up to her.
R2 gave a beep as he showed off his new and clean coat.
"Nice, now let's go," said Twilight's droid as she put the magazine down and hopped off.
The pair exited the place expecting to find 3P0 outside, but to their surprise, he wasn't there. The only thing was the container holding the jogan fruit. TS-01 picked it up and looked around with the blue astromech but didn't see any signs of their friend. R2 then noticed a nearby droid vendor as he rolled toward him with TS-01 opening her midsection and putting the container inside. The pair approached the window as R2 spoke.
"I do not know where your buddy is. How about taking a look at these items?" said the droid vendor.
"We're not interested," said TS-01.
"Top-drawer titanium, guaranteed to last longer than your circuit boards. Hey, if price is the issue, then I'll knock six credits off." said the vendor as he tried to sell the pair some stuff, but they walked away.
They took a few steps forward when a speeder landed in front of them. Inside were Bane's accomplices.
"You're coming with us," said the droid to the pair.
R2 quickly acted as he fired his suction cable to a nearby stand.
"Hey! Hey, what are you doing? Hey, what's with the suction thing on the cart? Hey, now. No!"
R2 pulled, as did TS-01, and pulled down the stand. It blocked the pathway of the droids but sent them crashing into bystanders as TS-01's midsection opened up and out dropped the container.
"Stop him!" said Todo to the assassin droid.
Both R2 and TS-01 booked it as they ran. They soon turned the corner as they entered an alleyway and split off in separate directions. The speeder chasing them landed at the alley as they got out and began to walk down it.
Todo and the assassin were looking around with their flashlights. The pair soon turned the direction in which R2 fled down as he was their priority. The blue astromech was shown hiding as he was scared and nervous. The droids heard the scrambles of the astromech as they rushed forward. They turned the corner and shot the astromech, who fell to the ground.
"That's the wrong droid!" said Todo as the assassin shot a different astromech.
They continued to walk as R2 was shown hiding as he was scared.
"Might I remind you, sir, I was once a protocol droid to the chief negotiator for the entire Manakron system. Wait a minute, you're not Master Ani," said 3P0 as he received another shock.
"No. I'm your worst nightmare, pal," replied Bane.
"You certainly are. It's all coming back to me now," said the protocol droid.
"Thanks to you, the only thing coming back is your little friend. Oh, no! This is a nightmare!" said 3P0 as he was shocked again.
Back with Bane's accomplices, they were still searching for R2.
"He is not here," said Todo.
"Bane will not be pleased if we come back empty-handed," replied the assassin as they finished searching the area.
"If the gold one cannot provide the information in his current state, then I shall personally dismantle every circuit in his plated little body to get those answers!" said Todo as they began to leave.
"That will destroy him," replied the assassin.
R2 overheard this as he began to think of 3P0. The droid thought of his buddy as despite them always getting on each other's nerves, he couldn't risk 3P0 suffering when he was the one they wanted. The blue astromech approached a container as he gave some beeps. R2 tipped the container over as it produced a sound.
Todo and the assassin heard it as they raced to where it came from. They saw R2 as the droid approached them and gave some beeps as he willingly surrendered.
"Noble, yes. Wise? I think not," snickered Todo.
They took the astromech to the industrial hideout as R2 was hooked up. Many scanners began to touch the droid as he beeped frantically.
"Talk to me," said Bane.
"Connections complete. Ready for download," said the droid operating the machine.
"Your friend Goldenrod turned out to be a huge waste of my time. Something my clients don't have a lot of. You know what's good for you; you'll give me what I want." said Bane to R2 as he approached the screen.
"I can't bear to watch," said 3P0 as he turned when the machines began to electrocute R2, extracting the info he carried.
The info came on the screen as Bane smiled. The computer identified something as two circles were drawn on it.
"Download that data onto the memory drive. I will deliver it immediately. And prepare my ship." instructed Bane.
"What should we do with these two?" asked the assassin droid.
"Wipe their memory and dump them back in the street. They'll find their way back home. We can't have anything looking out of place, can we?" said Bane as he was handed a tablet and left.
In Padmé's apartment, the party was going off. The Senator that Padmé was trying to please appeared.
"It's so good to see you, Senator Aang."
"How good it is to see you, Senator Amidala."
They broke their handshake as he left.
"Where can 3P0 be?" whispered Padmé to Storm and Anakin.
"I have no idea," said Anakin.
Speaking of the droids, they arrived at where it all started and were tossed out.
"Thanks for the memories," said Todo as he took off the small devices on them to get them to be awakened. They took off just as the pair were coming to.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you. I'm certain we're late. We'll be deactivated for sure." said 3P0 as he saw R2.
"You're both safe?" said TS-01 as she approached the pair.
"What do you mean, of course, we're safe!" said the protocol droid.
"Then where did you run off too?" asked TS-01.
"I... have no idea," said 3P0. "But that does not matter. The party has already started. And we don't have the jogan fruit."
"You mean this?" asked Twilight's droid as she opened her midsection and showed it off.
"Oh, thank heavens. Now let's hurry!" instructed 3P0 as he began to walk away.
R2 rolled by as he gave some beeps to the princess' droid.
"If you say so," responded TS-01 as she began to follow her companions back to Padme's apartment.
On Tatooine, Bane was shown in Jabba's throne room. He walked in as the Hutt saw him.
"Sa da so?" said Jabba.
"As you requested, the floor plans of the Senate. I'll be needing my full payment now," stated Bane as he handed the device to the protocol droid.
A case full of credits was brought as it opened. Bane saw the money as he closed it and took the case. At that moment, Jabba began to laugh.
"Something funny?" asked Bane.
"Ta wamma nibobo fa," said Jabba.
"The almighty Jabba requires further assistance," translated the protocol droid.
"You saying there's still more moves to this dance?" said Bane with a smile.
"Chuba noleeya?" said Jabba.
"Name your price," translated the droid.
"Oh, I suppose I could rearrange my busy schedule. But I'll need details. And an advance on my services while we negotiate new terms." said Bane nonchalantly.
Jabba merely laughed as the price was not an issue.
"Du bargain. Du bargain." spoke Jabba.
"And the advance?" asked Bane to the Hutt.
"Oto settah lordo Hutt," spoke Jabba to the bounty hunter.
"First, the great Jabba must receive the Council's approval," translated the protocol droid.
"The new assignment must be serious," responded the bounty hunter.
"Chuba lioya, ichag soyari," declared the Hutt.
"Jabba wants everyone out except you, Cad Bane," translated the protocol droid to all the other patrons in the throne room. They all began to file out as only the bounty hunter remained.
Once everyone was gone, the protocol droid activated a transmitter. Soon four images came on one by one. The images were other Hutts as soon the bounty hunter was in a meeting with some of the greatest crime lords.
"Well, well. If it isn't the heads of the five Hutt families. Droid, my ancient Huttese is a little rusty. Tell me what they say." said Bane.
"Ziro captura to publiko. Wanto me che?" said one of the Hutts to Jabba.
"Ma hodrada do hodrado," replied Jabba.
"Jabba and Arok are debating how important Ziro's release is," stated the droid.
"Ziro jeeska nobata," said Jabba as the image of Ziro was brought up.
"Apparently, Ziro holds in his possession some dangerous information. Dangerous to the Hutt Council." translated the protocol droid.
"Ziro vo aga?" asked one of the other Hutts as he took a smoke from his pipe.
"Ne rika kong. Nix takia ziro noleeya kapa," answered Jabba.
"Haku chuba tinka, Jabba?" asked another Hutt.
"Oruba feels the Council will be safer with Ziro under their protection," translated the droid.
"Kickee tapu?" asked Jabba.
"Haa oto isti chari?" said another Hutt.
"They want to know who shall take on this very dangerous task," said the droid.
"That would be me," said the bounty hunter as he made his presence known. "Cad Bane, at your service. I'll take on any job for the right price."
Back on Coruscant, the party was still going. Padmé was doing her best to distract Senator Aang as she got him to mingle with the other Senators. All the while, Anakin and Storm were standing by the door.
"What are we going to do? R2, TS-01, and C-3PO have not returned with the jogan fruit for the cake," said the kitchen droid to both Jedi Knights.
"I knew this was going to happen. That's why I sent Artoo," sighed Anakin.
"Oh, Twilight gonna kill me if she finds out that I lost her droid," said Storm as he was now worried about what the princess might do. The thought of execution came to his mind.
"To the signing of the treaty. And to my favorite dessert, jogan fruitcake. Yes." said Senator Aang as he lifted his cup for a toast.
The other Senators did the same as Padmé looked at her friends.
"Oh, no," said Anakin as he and Storm overheard and saw the look Padmé was giving them. "I'm never going to hear the end of this one."
"Twilight, please don't be mad with me," muttered Storm as he didn't like that he was gonna have to tell his partner what happened to her robot.
Just then, walking in through the entrance, was the three droids.
"3P0, where were you? You almost missed the whole party!" stated Anakin as he crossed his arms.
"We encountered some complications, sir," replied the droid.
"What kind of complications?" asked Storm as Anakin took the container of jogan fruit to give to the chef droid.
"Actually, I have no recollection of my day. I cannot really explain where I have been," answered 3P0.
"Long as you came back, that means my ass is safe from Twilight," said Storm to TS-01. "Sparky was gonna kill me if anything happened to you."
"Why would Twilight kill you?" asked the droid to the boy. "She would not harm someone who she cares about."
"You don't get it, droid," said Storm to the princess' robot.
Twilight's droid took in the information said by the boy as she ran it through her databases. She coupled that with the info she knew about Twilight regarding Storm. The droid concluded as she stored the answer in her memory banks.
"Thank you," said one of the waiter droids as they took the container from the chef droid and began to put the fruit on top of the cake.
"You're going to have to do better than that, 3P0, because if Padmé's dinner is a disaster, then you're not the only one she's going to be mad at!" stated Anakin.
"Oh, Anakin, stop worrying," said Padmé as she came to her friends and put her hands on her husband's crossed arm. "The cake is right here. You should really lighten up on these two."
R2 gave a beep as he agreed with the Senator.
"3P0, you've done a magnificent job," said Padmé.
"Oh, my. A magnificent job? A magnificent job! A magnificent job. A magnificent job. A magnificent job." repeated 3P0 as he was soaking in the praise he got from his lady.
"Well, we're gonna hear about this one for a while, buddy," said Anakin to his astromech.
"A magnificent job! A magnificent job. A magnificent job! A magnificent job." said 3P0 as he continued to ramble.
"Well, I think it's time I return Twilight's droid before she finds out. Enjoy the party, Anakin. And tell Padmé I'm sorry I couldn't stay for dinner." said Storm.
"No worries, bud," said Anakin as Storm instructed the droid to follow him.
TS-01 looked at Anakin walking with R2 toward the guests as she did a quick scan of the Jedi Knight. She walked as the info she absorbed began to decode. She ran it by the data she scanned of Padmé when they returned. Storm had gotten in a small speeder as the droid hopped into the passenger seat.
"Um, Storm?"
"What is it?" said the boy as he flew them to the Temple.
"I ran diagnostics on your friends. Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala."
"You scanned them?!" shouted the boy.
He knew Twilight had programmed her droid to absorb everything it saw as a way to fill its empty memory banks. But usually did that with the princess to know what information she could scan and what to get rid of. Now he was worried that the droid might have downloaded or found out about something secret.
"It seems that both Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala are close. In fact, it is similar to how you and Twilight are," said the droid as the boy was sweating a bit. "However, I do not know what it means or comprehend. Perhaps you can tell me?"
"Don't worry about it!" said Storm as he had an opening. "Just know that Anakin and Padmé have known each other for a long time. What they have is a special friendship. A bond. One that you share with people who matter and hold a special place in your heart."
"So... does that mean, Twilight holds a special place in your heart?" asked the droid as she tried to use what the boy said to draw a conclusion on her questions.
"Um, well, that's... difficult for me to say," said the boy as the droid unintentionally used his own words against him. "Hey, we're here."
Their speeder landed in front of the Temple as Storm got out.
"Just in time, too; if I know Twilight, she should be wrapping up her studies with Celestia. Which means I have time to sneak in and leave you inside as if nothing happened." said the boy.
"Why would you need to be sneaky?" asked the droid.
"Just work with me here, alright! Also, not a word of what happened today! Don't ever speak of what went down today."
"So, you want me to forget everything that happened?" asked the droid.
"Yes."
"Okay," said the droid as she got rid of the data that had her and R2 escaping danger.
"Good, now let's hurry up!" said Storm as he grabbed the droid in his hands and rushed in.
The boy hurried as he ran along the Temple and made it to where Twilight's quarters were.
"Looks like we're home fr-"
"Storm!" shouted Twilight as the princess stood in her room with her arms crossed.
"Sparky, heh, you're... done early," chuckled the boy nervously.
"You took my droid!" shouted the princess as she snatched TS-01 from his hands and walked to her desk.
"So, you read my note, huh?" said the boy.
"I'm gonna have you executed!" said Twilight as she didn't like that her partner took her robot without her consent.
"Twily, look, I just burrowed your robot to help Padmé set up for her party that she's hosting right now," said the boy.
"Likely story!" said the princess.
"It's true," said TS-01. "I helped Senator Amidala with the dinner she had to prepare. I went with R2 and 3P0 to the market to get some jogan fruit for the cake."
"See, now you know it's the truth if your droid is saying it," said Storm, hoping the princess would believe him.
"Is that what really happened?" asked Twilight to her robot.
"It is the truth, Twilight," said TS-01.
"So, princess?" said Storm, still fearful of his life.
"I guess... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lashing out and not believing you," said Twilight as she turned to her partner.
"You are? Thanks," said Storm as he wiped his forehead. "And... I'm sorry for taking your droid without your permission. I just wanted to help Padmé, is all."
"I guess helping a friend is a reasonable cause," said Twilight as she approached Storm and hugged him.
The princess wrapped her arms around him as Storm did the same. She buried her head into his chest as she sighed. TS-01 saw the pair and scanned them. It was taking that piece of info into its data banks as it had new pieces to work with.
"So, you still going to buy me dinner?" asked the girl as she removed her head to address her partner.
"I guess I have to," answered Storm.
The teens then left as Twilight grabbed Storm's hand and went to eat. TS-01 was left in the princess' room as she sat on the desk with her feet dangling. She then began to run the data she absorbed and looked at her hands.
"Just know that Anakin and Padmé have known each other for a long time. What they have is a special friendship. A bond. One that you share with people who matter and hold a special place in your heart." echoed Storm's voice.
TS-01 then put its fingers together as they made a heart shape.
"Storm... Twilight... special bond... heart..." said the droid as she was rambling off pieces of data. Trying to understand it all.
She then shut down as Twilight placed her into rest mode. The pieces of data were still formulating inside the droid as it was trying to figure out what all these emotions meant for the humans.
Author's Note: It seems things are about to happen. And it involves a certain Hutt once more. And speaking of the Hutts, each of the five great Hutt Lords' designs were inspired by mob bosses from classic cinema. So if you watch the episode, you can see what each of them is referencing. Just a small behind the scene piece of info I looked up. And let's not forget the last part of the chapter, where Twilight's droid is trying to understand human emotions as being a robot, all it knows is numbers and code, it's not organic so it can't feel or know what emotions are. As always, leave a review expressing your comment and thoughts.