Being a princess was not always easy. Neither was being a Jedi. But it was even harder being a princess who was half-Jedi.
Most would have expected a princess to live a fairytale life, living in a castle, having a beautiful carriage with white horses, and going to a ball to meet Prince Charming and live Happily Ever After. But, this princess didn't exactly live like that.
Gabriella Amidala-Skywalker, or Gabby, was not your typical princess or Jedi. She lived in two different homes, and neither was a castle. Although, the Jedi Temple did kind of resemble a castle from a certain point of view. But she felt like the Jedi lived under some pretty silly rules. According to the Jedi Code, Jedi were supposed to be compassionate, yet they weren't allowed to have families of their own.
Gabby asked her father about the attachment rule one day and asked him this, "Why didn't you just leave the order so you could stay with Mommy and me?"
"Believe me, I thought of it, Baby Girl." Anakin said. "But, your mother insisted I shouldn't have to give up on my dream of being a Jedi. So, I stayed to complete my training. And right now, with the war going on, we need every fighter we can get. And attachments and love... they're not the same thing."
"Why?" Gabby asked.
"Well, when you're attached to someone or something, you become possessive of it. Kind of like when someone has a toy and they don't like to share it with anyone else, and they treat it like it's more important than anything else." Anakin explained. "But, loving a person. That's something special. The people we love, unlike material objects, can never be replaced. Family is one of the most important things to appreciate in life, and that's why I'm fighting for them. When we love someone, we fight for them no matter what."
Gabby thought a lot about what her father said, and she decided she wanted to fight for her family too. But, the Jedi said she was too little to fight in the war, so they had her stay in the Temple. But, Gabby overheard where the ships were, and she had an idea.
Today's mission, launch an ambush against Separatist Forces in Planet Christophsis. Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were sent to aid this crucial star system, but were completely unaware that they had a little stowaway hiding somewhere.
"Anakin, how are you doing over there?" Obi-Wan asked over the comlink.
"We're set," said Anakin. "I've got some guys here that are anxious to get going."
"Glad to hear it."
Then Anakin hung up.
Meanwhile, Gabby was hiding behind some crates close by, watching her father and the clones as they were prepared to fight.
Outside, there was a battalion of droids headed right for the south tower where Obi-Wan and his men were, and the droids were splitting into multiple formations.
"Something's gone wrong." said Obi-Wan. "Prepare all troops for..."
Blast! There were droids entering Kenobi's post from the elevator, more of them coming in fast. Obi-Wan got out his lightsaber to deflect the droids' blaster bolts as the clones fired at the droids.
Slick backed up to another door and saw more droids coming.
"Our position's been compromised."
Anakin immediately saw what was happening from his spot.
"Obi-Wan, what's going on?" Anakin asked.
"We're cut off. The droids are onto us." Obi-Wan said.
"Uncle Obi-Wan!" Gabby exclaimed, running to the window and looking to see if she could spot him.
"Gabby?! What are you doing here?!" Anakin said.
"Um..." Gabby began.
"We'll worry about this later," said Anakin, and he called for help. "Gunship, come in. Hawk, we need an evac in the south tower."
"Roger that, sir. We're coming." said Hawk.
"South tower? We're in the north." Rex pointed out.
"Not for long," said Anakin, taking out his lightsaber, which he used to make an X on the window in front of him, then used the Force to blast the glass clean off. "Rex, fire your cables."
Three clones fired some cables across to the south tower. Anakin had Gabby piggyback on him as he and the clones swung across the cables and burst into the south tower, where Anakin met Obi-Wan and declared the path clear.
"How did you get over here? And how did she get here?" Obi-Wan asked, noticing the child on his former Padawan's back."
"I improvised, and apparently she stowed away." Anakin said.
The Jedi fought through the droids and then entered an elevator to get to the roof where they would meet their evac ship, but there was none at the moment.
"Now what?" Anakin said.
And that was when more battle droids came in, leading the clones and Jedi to fight again. Luckily, their evac ship soon arrived. The clones and the Jedi all rushed as quickly as they could to get to the evacuation ship and escape the droids, and they managed to take a tactical droid's head, which Rex believed might hold intel as to how the Separatists knew their plans.
Later, as Anakin and Gabby were alone somewhere, Gabby sat down and looked down shamefully.
"Gabriella Rosella Amidala-Skywalker..." Anakin started. Full name, Gabby knew could not be a good sign. "What in the galaxy were you thinking? Don't answer that, you weren't thinking. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in right now?"
Gabby said nothing. Tears just came to her eyes. She'd never seen her father this mad at her before, not even when she accidentally spilled juice on his tablet.
"You could've gotten yourself killed out there! There's a reason little girls don't fight in battle."
"I just wanted to fight for the people I love like you told me." Gabby said, trying to hold back her sobs. "I wanted to prove I'm not too little to fight for our home."
Anakin thought back and realized what his daughter meant. He sighed and knelt down to his daughter.
"Gabby, fighting for the people we love is different from being reckless and putting ourselves in danger." Anakin said. "And it's true, you're not big and can't even use the Force yet. But you can do things to help the Republic. Just, not fighting in battle. Once it's safe, we're gonna put you on a ship to get you back home, okay?"
Gabby sighed and said, "Okay, Daddy."
Anakin wiped Gabby's tears away and picked her up in a hug.
"I love you, Princess. I don't wanna lose you." Anakin said. "You'll become a strong fighter someday. Just not today."
Clone Captains Cody and Rex plugged the severed tactical droid's head into the briefing table and found that it did know their intel, but it shorted out before it could tell them anything else.
"Blast!" Cody cursed.
"Well, at least we're not the only ones having a bad day." Anakin said quietly, but loudly enough for the clones to hear him.
"Generals. Why are we whispering?" Cody asked.
Anakin motioned to a certain princess who was sleeping in his arms.
"I just got her to sleep, and she gets really cranky if you wake her up," said Anakin.
"Okay... anyway, they had all our intel." said Cody.
"That would explain the ambush." Anakin said. "How could we have left ourselves so vulnerable to a security breach?"
"I don't think we did." Obi-Wan said.
"You think someone infiltrated our defenses?"
"Possibly.
"It'd have to be someone cunning and resourceful enough to gain access to all our plans."
"But that's still wouldn't explain how they got our intel."
"No. You're right. They wouldn't act alone. They'd have someone working with them."
"A spy, sir?" Cody said, sounding worried. "But who would want to betray our troops to the Seppies?"
"Excellent question, Commander." Obi-Wan said. "Perhaps it's time we made a visit behind enemy lines. I think we'll find our answers there."
"We'll get right on it. No, Captain. I need you here to find the security breach."
"You can count on us, sir."
"One more thing: this mission is extremely confidential. The spy could be anyone. Let no one know of our mission."
Anakin looked at Gabby, then at the clones and said, "Think you can handle looking after Gabby too?"
"Sir, babysitting wasn't exactly in our training." Rex said.
"Well, we can't exactly bring a two-year-old behind enemy lines." Anakin said. "So, now might be a good time to learn."
Anakin carefully passed the toddler into Rex's arms.
"Just make sure she's with someone at all times and doesn't leave the base." Anakin says.
As soon as the Jedi left, Cody heard a slow-paced beeping sound, and found a comlink that was left on. That could only mean one thing. Someone had been listening in and knew everything.
Rex looked out into the hall and saw a clone running off. He ordered them to stop and began running after them.
Cody and Rex ran after the clone, but whoever it was, he was a pretty fast runner.
"I'll follow him." said Cody. "You take the west corridor."
Rex and Cody split up. However, for Rex, it was a little harder for him to handle his gun while holding a toddler in his arm. And the only clone he ran into was Cody. They both stopped by the mess hall, and when they checked inside, the only people in there were... brothers.
"We've got a big problem," said Cody.
Gabby started to stir and fuss as all the commotion woke her up. Rex quickly started shushing her, trying to calm her down.
"Don't cry, Princess. It's okay." Rex begged.
"Give her to me," said Cody, taking the girl and trying gently bouncing her like he'd seen Obi-Wan do once when he held her. "Settle down, Princess."
Gabby was awake now, but at least she'd calmed down. When she learned that one of the clones was a traitor, she was scared.
"One of us?" Rex questioned. "Great. But which one?"
"We'll have to wait for his next move." Cody said.
"That might be hard," said Gabby. "A lot of clones look pretty much the same."
"We all have to keep this to ourselves."
"Better contact the Jedi." Rex said.
"I'm on it." said Cody.
Unfortunately, he couldn't get a signal through, no doubt because whoever the traitor was saw to it that communications were jammed.
"We're gonna have to find this guy ourselves."
"Ooh. We get to be detectives." Gabby smiled. "Like Nancy Drew, a detective Mommy read to me about."
"This isn't a game, little one." Rex said. "This is a matter of life and death. R2, come over here and plug in."
R2 beeped and plugged himself in.
"What are you doing?" Cody asked.
"The guard got his messages out there somehow." Rex said. "We just gotta find them."
"What do you think? He just sat down and wrote a note?"
"You have to start somewhere."
Gabby slipped away from her babysitters to look around and see if she could spot any clues as to who might have been the traitor. She knew for a fact this wasn't gonna be easy. It wasn't like the clues in this scenario would come in the form of blue pawprints. But if there was anything she learned from all the detective stories her mother read to her, it was that clues could be found in the most unlikely of places, and younger detectives were always underestimated by the enemy. So, Gabby's age and size gave her a bit of an advantage.
She walked through the halls and saw different clones doing different things. One was cleaning his blaster, some were in the mess hall having a meal, and another was just getting out from the infirmary. Of course, Gabby gave him a kiss to heal his wound. She made sure she looked at each clone very carefully to notice any details that would help her remember which ones she had seen later. Any detail from hairstyle to markings on their skin or armor.
Of course, she didn't notice anything that could've pointed anyone to the crime. But then she thought, maybe Rex and Cody found something she didn't. So, she ran back to the command center to find them.
"There you are, Princess." Cody said. "Where'd you scamper off to?"
"Just walking around the base." Gabby said.
"Well, be careful." Rex said, picking up the child. "With a traitor here, there's no knowing if he might go after you."
Gabby was filled in on how the clone captains suspected one of Slick's men was the traitor. Of course, Slick was in denial.
"No way they're capable of something like this." said Slick.
"Something like what?" asked a clone named Chopper.
"You called them here?" Slick asked, surprised.
"Of course we did." Rex said. "We're getting to the bottom of this. Now."
"Look, let me have a few minutes with them first." Slick practically begged. "It's gonna hit them hard. They trust each other, and if one of our own betrayed us..."
"I don't think that's necessary." Cody interrupted, walking toward the five clones who stood in a line. "Your men are tough, right? Take a seat, gentlemen."
And the clones obeyed, taking a seat on a crate or cot.
"We have a turncoat in our midst, and we think it's one of you."
"Don't be afraid," said Gabby. "We just wanna talk to you all. No one will be hurt."
"What are you doing?" Cody asked.
"Being the good cop?" Gabby said. "Would you prefer I be the bad cop who yells a lot?"
"No, that won't be necessary, Princess."
A clone named Jester was the first to be questioned.
"I don't know, I was doing the things I always do after a mission." Jester said.
"Things like what?" Cody asked.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm just a little nervous. You're my C.O."
"The way I figure it, you tell the truth," said Rex. "you got nothing to be nervous about."
"Jester is telling the truth." said a clone named Gus. "He cleans his weapon after every mission. He's kind of obsessed that way."
"He's telling the truth." Gabby said. "I saw him cleaning it when I was roaming through the halls."
"Is that right? You were cleaning your weapon?" Cody asked
"Yes, sir." Jester replied.
"Go on the computer while you were in here?"
"No, sir. I didn't Even power it up. You can check."
"Show me your weapon." Cody ordered. Jester handed over his weapon. It was freshly scrubbed.
"The rag's over there in the corner." Jester said.
Rex and Cody questioned the other clones who each gave an alibi. Gus and Sketch were in the mess hall together at the same time, eating and sitting together. A clone named Punch told them he was in the infirmary, and Gabby confirmed every single alibi, as she had seen each of them while she was walking through the halls.
"Doc's got all the records there, if you wanna check." Punch said.
The last clone questioned was named Chopper. When Rex asked for his alibi, Chopper said he was in the mess hall.
"No you weren't." Sketch and Gabby said in unison.
"I mean, you..." Sketch said.
"If you know something, kid, you should speak up." Cody said.
"Chopper came in a lot later," said Sketch. "after everyone else, and after the princess left."
"Which is why I didn't see him." Gabby said.
Slick approached the young clone.
"Where were you before you went to the mess, Chopper?" Rex asked.
"Nowhere." Chopper said. "Walking around."
"Son, you know we'll need a better answer than that." Cody said.
"I was hiding at the south exit. I didn't want anyone to see me string these together." Chopper pulled out what looked like a bracelet with...
"Battle droid fingers." Rex said.
"I just... I just wanted something back. I guess I felt like they owed me."
"I always knew there was something deficient about you." Punch said.
"This isn't good, Chopper." Slick said. "Lying about where you were, taking forbidden items from a battlefield. I know. I put up with the attitude 'cause you have skill. But if you could break these rules, your whole character's in question here."
"Wait, no! Hang on. I'm no spy!" Chopper defended.
Gabby looked between the two. She wasn't sure who to believe, but she had a feeling that they were very close to finding the traitor, and it had to be either Chopper or Slick.
"Chopper, we're all brothers." Slick said. "But how can we trust anything you say now?"
"No, sir, I'm telling you, I did not..." Chopper began, but Slick put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay. We'll get you a proper investigation. You don't have to say anything till the Jedi come back and talk to you."
The Chopper stood up to Slick, and got more and more into his face as he interrogated him.
"Maybe you should talk, sir. Tell them where you went. I was at the south exit, remember? I saw you go in go in, sir. I saw you. Chopper, I have been patient. Everyone else turned right toward the barracks and the mess. You turned left, toward the command center. Where were you going, sir?"
"Obviously, the kid feels cornered." Slick said.
"Sergeant, what did you mean, "Till the Jedi come back"?" Cody asked.
"Why else would the princess be here unless you were babysitting?" Slick said, trying to cover himself.
"How do you know I didn't just slip away from the Jedi?" Gabby pointed out.
"Now I really wish you two hadn't noticed that." Slick said, then he punched Cody and Chopper and leaped before running out of the room.
"It's Slick? Slick's the traitor?" Rex said in disbelief.
Gabby tried to run with the clones, but Gus quickly grabbed her.
"No, no, no. Stay here, where it's safe, Princess." Gus said.
Gabby heard a loud explosion outside that turned out the be the weapons depot being blown up. She couldn't just sit and watch, so she decided to look for Slick herself. If there was one other thing she learned from crime stories, it was that criminals always returned to the scene of a crime. And she soon did find him with Rex and Cody, attacking them. So, she did the first thing that came to mind.
Suddenly, some green vines popped out from the floor and wrapped around Slick and tightened when he struggled. Then some roses grew, wrapping their thorny vines around him, the thorns poking him as he struggled.
"I bet you sold out your brothers for some real shiny coin." Rex said.
"Yes, she offered me money. But she offered me something more important. Something you wouldn't understand. Freedom!"
"I think freedom's gonna have to wait, kid."
Anakin and Obi-Wan soon arrived back, Gabby running straight to into her father's arms
"Slick? It was you?" Obi-Wan said with disbelief.
"He gave us a bit of a chase, sir." Rex said. "But the princess aided in his capture.
"You couldn't be a greater disappointment, Slick." said Anakin. "How could you do this to your brothers?"
"Only a Jedi would ask that." Slick scoffed. It's the Jedi who keep my brothers enslaved. We do your bidding. We serve at your whim. I just wanted something more."
"Don't you dare talk about slavery in front of Anakin Skywalker!" Gabby said angrily.
Gabby knew her father's story all too well. He might've been not much older than Gabby when he was sold as a slave with his mother, but he remembered the trauma clear as day. It still haunted him now, and Gabby knew now it was why he was so protective of her and was so determined to give her a happy life and why he gave her as much freedom as possible.
"And all you had to do to get it was put the rest of us all at risk." Rex said.
"I love my brothers. You're too blind to see it, but I was striking the blow for all clones." Slick said.
"I've learned a lot about love." Gabby said. "It makes people do crazy things, but this is not the kind of crazy it's supposed to make you do!"
"If you loved your brothers, you wouldn't have put them at risk." Cody said.
"You betrayed every one of us." Rex added.
"Take him to lockup."
And Slick was taken away to be locked up.
"Were you able to salvage anything from the weapons depot?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Slick pretty much scorched the whole thing." Rex said. "That seemed to be what he was going for all along."
"We managed to save the heavy cannons, though." Cody said.
"That's good, 'cause there are about 1,000 battle droids on their way here." said Obi-Wan.
"Unfortunately, with our ships blown up, we can't send the princess back." Anakin said. "So, it looks like you're gonna get your chance to prove yourself, after all. The fight goes on, gentlemen."
Gabby was very eager to prove her worth and fight beside her father and honorary uncle Obi-Wan. But, it wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.