Episode: Mystery of a Thousand Moons
Previously, on Legend of the Jedi Princess...
An insidious Separatist plot to plant bombs loaded with the deadly blue shadow virus was thwarted thanks to the efforts of the Jedi and their clone troopers, and three young princesses and a guard equine who joined to help. Now, Dr. Nuvo Vindi, the psychotic scientist behind the scheme was in custody and being prepared to face Republic trial
"That was close," said Anakin. "If that virus had gotten out. Everyone on Naboo would be dead now."
"Just another boring day saving the universe," said Obi-Wan.
"You and I have very different definitions of boring," Gabby joked.
Anakin picked up his daughter and said, "All right. Let's take this sleemo back to Theed so we can help Padme and Ahsoka clean up down there." Anakin tapped his daughter playfully on the nose. "And keep you out of trouble."
But soon, a new alarm was set off.
"The virus is liberated," laughed Dr. Vindi. "You are doomed, young Jedi, along with your little princess and the rest of the planet."
And then there came an explosion that shook the ground beneath the Jedi's feet.
"What was that?" Carousella and Anakin said at the same time.
It turned out, one vial of the blue shadow virus had been contained, and now it was set off in the lab with Ahsoka, Padme, the clones, Wysteria and Roya inside.
Anakin called his wife to check on her. So far, she was okay.
"Jar Jar and I were in a safety chamber when the alarm went off." Padme explained. "We're wearing protective suits."
"The virus is loose," said Anakin. "But Ahsoka has sealed off the entire facility."
"Yes, but any remaining droids will try to break out. I'll do what I can to stop them. I cannot let that virus escape."
"Be careful, Mommy." Gabby said before Anakin hung up. "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"For now, we need to keep out from the facility if we don't want to get sick." Anakin said.
"I don't know about you, but catching a deadly virus was not on my activities list today," said Carousella. She pointed her horn at the doctor, and Anakin pointed his lightsaber at the doctor, demanding the antidote. But Vindi laughed at them.
"You mistake my role, Jedi. My job was to manufacture a plague, not to cure it."
"We're serious." Carousella snarled. "Either you tell us where the antidote, or you're gonna need a doctor."
"Patience, both of you." Obi-Wan said. "There's more than one way to skin a womprat."
But the doctor wouldn't let up. According to him, once the first droid left the facility, all of Naboo would be doomed.
"Anakin, the fastest way to save Senator Amidala, Ahsoka, and the princesses is to get Vindi back to the capital and find an actual antidote."
Gabby thought and said, "I think I might know something."
Gabby managed to get into contact with Roya and asked her if she knew of some magical potion or something that could cure deadly viruses. It turned out, Roya did know something; mermaid tears were said to hold magical healing properties. But, they didn't have any mermaids around Naboo. But, they knew where some mermaids did live.
"Carousella. Are your horseshoes charged up?" Gabby asked.
"Yeah, why?" Carousella asked.
"You need to go to Equinaro, find Fantasia and tell her you need to find Aqualia and get as many mermaid tears as you can." Gabby said. "I'll stay with the others and find another antidote in case it doesn't work."
So, while Carousella went off to get mermaid tears, Gabby went with Anakin and Obi-Wan to take Dr. Vindi to await trial.
"Dr. Vindi, you'll pay for your treachery," said Captain Typho. "Take him away."
"Now we'll need to find an antidote," said Obi-Wan.
"Carousella's gone to get mermaid tears, but we might need something else in case they don't work." Gabby added.
"I think I found an answer for you," said Typho.
Captain Typho took the Jedi to a briefing room and explained that he found a possible cure in a little-known extract made from reeksa root, a weed-like vine found only on Iego, the world of a thousand moons, deep in Separatist-controlled space.
"Well, we've already got someone who can grow it right here," said Anakin. But Gabby sadly shook her head.
"My power doesn't work like that, Daddy." Gabby said. "I can only grow plants I've seen before, and some of them depend on me being in a specific environment to grow them. I tried growing cacti on Orto Plutonia, and it didn't work. If I tried to grow reeksa root here without knowing what kind of environment it needs, it might not grow properly."
Anakin was not willing to toy with his wife or anyone else's life by experimenting with his daughter's magic. So, he said, "Looks like we're going on a trip, then."
"You must move cautiously if you-" Captain Typho was interrupted.
"There's no time for caution," growled Anakin. "My Padawan is trapped down there, and so is my wife."
"I applaud your courage, General Skywalker." Typho said. "But it's suicide. Once we contain the virus, we can send troops."
"No, Obi-Wan, Gabby, and I can handle it." Anakin said, picking up his daughter and walking out.
"I concur, Anakin." Obi-Wan said, following his former Padawan and honorary niece.
The trio got into a ship and got ready to go. Obi-Wan reassured Anakin that his wife and Padawan would be fine.
"They will be, only if we save them in time." Anakin said. He wasn't just doing this for himself; he was doing this for his daughter. She needed her mother and her sisterly figure. Gabby might've understood death surprisingly well for a three-year-old, but that didn't make it any less tragic for her. He already knew Carousella had lost her mother not long after the war started, and he lost his own mother tragically. Neither victim of losing a mother handled it well. Anakin wasn't about to let his daughter be next.
Padme and Jar Jar ran through the halls to look for the others and see what they could do about the droids.
Meanwhile, a couple of clones were coughing up a storm as the virus was infecting them.
Luckily, Wysteria wasn't affected since she was in spirit form, and Roya didn't seem to be affected just yet. Roya also had some elixirs in her purse, which she had the clones take a sip of the stabilize them for as long as they could.
"Senator Amidala, where are you?" Ahsoka called over the wrist comm.
"We're right outside your safety room," said Padme.
"Can you get the door open?"
"Go ahead, Jar Jar."
The Gungan pressed a button and opened the door to the safety room allowing himself and Padme to get in and close the door behind them.
"I'm sorry, Ahsoka." Padme said.
"Don't worry about us, Senator." Ahsoka shook her head. "We still have a job to do."
"There aren't very many droids left. We saw some heading toward the south entrance."
"As long as we're able, we'll help you destroy those droids before they breach the compound."
Rex handed the senator a blaster.
"You take the north corridor, and we'll take the south." said Padme, taking the blaster.
Padme and a couple of clones walked through the south corridor on the lookout for the remaining battle droids.
"The droids are close." Padme said. "I can hear them cutting through the wall."
And sure enough, around the corner of the wall, there were battle droids cutting their way through the wall. On Padme's count, she and the clones immediately began blasting the droids with all they had. But, the droids fought back, and one droid climbed a ladder towards a hatch. Luckily, Ahsoka's team arrived at the scene as well.
"Stop!" Rex exclaimed, pointing his gun at the droid as it was about to open the hatch.
"Don't open that hatch." Padme told the droid.
"Ha! Too late." said the droid, only to start screaming as it was bombarded with constant blaster fire and fell back down to the floor.
Soon, the Jedi and the princess arrived at the world of a thousand moons, but there was a lot of space debris. Mostly of ships.
"What do you make of this?" Anakin asked his master.
"It looks like a graveyard... of ships." Obi-Wan said.
"It looks a lot like when we had to rescue Uncle Plo and his team from that ion cannon." Gabby said. "Remember, Daddy?"
"I do." said Anakin. "And it looks like there might be or might have been one around here too."
Anakin steered the ship to avoid the debris, and soon they landed, only to find battle droids. But, Anakin slaughtered them with his lightsaber, not hearing Obi-Wan telling him to wait.
To Anakin's surprise, the droids did nothing more than say, "Welcome to Iego."
"Impressive, Anakin." Obi-Wan said sarcastically. He walked up, holding Gabby. "You just destroyed 17 defenseless battle droids without suffering a scratch."
Then another droid fell.
"Eighteen, actually." Anakin said.
"The venerable Jaybo Hood requests an audience," said one droid.
"Jaybo?" The Jedi and child all said at once.
"Hey." a new voice said. "You guys have any idea how long it took me to repurpose those droids?"
And up to the Jedi walked a young boy about thirteen maybe.
"You're Jaybo?" Obi-Wan chuckled.
"Well, do you?" The boy, apparently Jaybo, said.
"I apologize for my friend's rather rash behavior."
"Nine months, man. It took me nine months."
"Daddy didn't know they weren't dangerous," said Gabby. "I'm sure he's sorry he broke them."
Jaybo lied down on a hammock as some repurposed battle droids fanned him and played some relaxing music.
"How'd a kid like you come by this many battle droids, anyway?" Anakin asked.
"Simple, when the Separatists took off, they left all this junk behind." Jaybo explained. "I got a whole warehouse full of 'em right over there."
"So you programmed them to serve you," said Obi-Wan.
"No reason to let a good droid rust, right?"
Anakin had to admit, he was impressed. The boy's skills reminded Anakin of himself when he was a child.
"Looks like you used a macro protocol to wipe them all simultaneously. Impressive."
"I see you know your droids," said Jaybo.
"He used to build them all the time when he was a kid." Gabby said.
"You're Jedi, aren't you? You want me to show you how I did it?"
"Perhaps another time," said Obi-Wan. "What we need now is reeksa root. Do you know where we can find some?"
"Here or there, you can find it everywhere." Jaybo said, but the Jedi were not amused.
"I like Dr. Suess rhymes as much as the next kid, but we aren't here to play around." Gabby said, sounding serious.
"She's right. We don't have time for games, kid. Where's the root?" Anakin asked.
"What my friends are trying to say is we're in a bit of a hurry." Obi-Wan said.
"Not anymore you're not." Jaybo said.
Gabby jumped onto the hammock, grabbed Jaybo by the front of his shirt, and demanded to know what he meant.
"Tell me now!" Gabby said, looking surprisingly terrifying.
"This system is haunted, cursed, something." Jaybo said, a little scared by the toddler's surprisingly terrifying approach. "And you're awfully scary for a toddler."
"Gabby, let him go." Obi-Wan said, and Gabby let go, dropping Jaybo on the ground, leaving herself sitting in the hammock.
Jaybo picked himself up and dusted himself off saying, "Anyway, Jedi or not, no one gets off this rock alive, not past Drol."
The word 'Drol' terrified the droids.
"Drol?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yeah, Drol." Jaybo said. "The phantom ruler of Iego. He destroys anything that leaves the planet. Fifty of the best star pilots in the galaxy have tried. Fifty tried. Fifty died."
Gabby, in a panic, spun the hammock around as she tried to get down, only to plop to the ground with a thud.
"Ouch!" Gabby grunted, then got up. "You mean we're stuck here forever?!"
"I suppose that explains the ruined ships in the moon belt." Obi-Wan said.
"First things first," said Anakin. "We'll have to deal with this Drol later."
Meanwhile, Padme and Ahsoka were facing what still remained of the droids in the laboratory.
Ahsoka managed to destroy one of the shield droids by jumping on it and activating her lightsaber from the top. But there were still more to deal with.
"This-a help." Jar Jar said, pointing a gun at the droids, until Padme stopped him.
"Jar Jar, no!" Padme exclaimed, but Jar Jar accidentally misfired.
Padme tackled the Gungan to the ground, and Ahsoka jumped down from the droid, having taken down the other shield droids.
"Senator!" Ahsoka exclaimed.
To everyone's horror, one of the tubes on Padme's protective suit was broken off during the battle, exposing her to the virus.
"Senator, your suit's been compromised." said a clone trooper.
"I'm so sorry." Ahsoka said.
Since there was no use for the protective suit, Padme took of her helmet and told Ahsoka, "Don't blame yourself. These things tend to happen in a war zone.
Regardless of the alleged threat of Drol killing anyone who tried to leave Iego, Obi-Wan and Anakin began climbing down a cliff to find reeksa root. Jaybo stayed above and watched as they began climbing.
"Are you coming?" Obi-Wan asked the boy.
"You've got to be kidding." said Jaybo. "No way I'm going down there."
"Scaredy-cat." Gabby teased, hanging onto a backpack her father wore.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a three-year-old girl down there?" Jaybo pointed out.
"You trying to tell us something?" Anakin asked Jaybo.
"Don't worry. It's simple. Follow the vines to the bottom, dig up the roots, but don't touch the vine."
"Aside from the obvious, why not?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Because the plants don't like it, and they have big, sharp teeth."
"So, they're basically really big venus flytraps?"
"Ones that eat little girls instead of bugs."
Gabby rolled her eyes, figuring Jaybo was probably just trying to scare her.
"I've got botanical magic," said Gabby. "I can handle a few plants."
"In that case, watch out for the flying xandu." Jaybo said.
"What's a xandu?" Anakin and Gabby asked together.
"I'm not sure," said Obi-Wan. Then Gabby looked somewhere and screamed.
That was when some creature that looked like a bat crossed over with a pterodactyl flew in, and Anakin grabbed one of its legs.
"I think that's a xandu. And I don't like it!" Gabby cried out.
"Hang on tight, little one!" Anakin exclaimed, having an idea. He managed to steer the xandu closer to Obi-Wan. "Master, hop on!"
Quickly, Obi-Wan hopped on, grabbing the creature's other leg.
The combined weight seemed to pull the creature closer and closer to the ground.
"This isn't going to work!" said Obi-Wan.
"Would you rather fall?" Gabby asked, struggling to keep holding onto her father.
Riding on the flying xandu, the three Jedi soon came across the roots they were looking for.
"There! Those are the root we're looking for." Obi-Wan said.
"Good, 'cause I'm starting to slip!" Gabby said, losing her grip.
Anakin saw that the creature was about to drop all of them onto the very vines they were warned not to touch.
"Oh, poodoo." said Anakin.
And the xandu dropped them, and the two men tumbled onto the ground, Gabby tumbling off Anakin's back. And out from the ground popped a large vine.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan said.
While Anakin got out a shovel to dig up the root, Obi-Wan and Gabby went to fight the giant plant.
"Don't take too long with that." Said Obi-Wan, igniting his lightsaber.
"I'll go as fast as I can." Anakin said, starting to dig.
Gabby started using her botanical magic to make a connection with the plant and calm it down while her father dug up the root. She recalled Wysteria saying how she sang to her garden to make her plants happy, so Gabby started to sing a sweet little song to the giant plant.
"Gabby, is this really the time for a sing-along?" Anakin said.
"Let her concentrate, Anakin." Obi-Wan smiled, seeing as Gabby's song seemed to be calming the plant down, seemingly making it fall asleep.
Seeing as the plant was distracted, and they had the root, the Jedi quickly and quietly made their way out of the crevasse before the plant woke up. Gabby grew a tall evergreen tree underneath them to lift them up faster and safely.
"You made it." Jaybo said, helping Anakin up. "I knew you would."
"Oh, did you?" Obi-Wan said.
Jaybo led the Jedi to another part of the area.
"The place dried up once the spice convoy stopped running," said Jaybo "Out here, we're just one of the millions of little backwaters no one cares about. Those of us who are left can't leave because of the curse."
"Something tells me this isn't the kind of curse that can be broken with true love's kiss." Gabby said.
"Curse, we are." said an old Quarren nearby. "The planet is cursed."
"Cursed by whom, my twitchy friend?" Obi-Wan asked.
"The ghost of Drol, that's who." said the Quarren.
"A ghost?" Anakin said in disbelief.
"The spirit of the thousand moons, Our protector and destroyer."
"If you ask me, it sounds like a load of-" Anakin began.
"Superstition?" Obi-Wan finished.
"That's one word for it," said Anakin.
"What did Mommy say about using bad words, Daddy?" Gabby scolded. "Especially with children present."
"Superstition, you say." said the Quarren. He placed a device down on a crate, and it showed a hologram of a Rodian pilot named Taquito, who was a friend of Jaybo's.
"Try to leave this planet," said the Quarren. "And your fate will be the same."
But, Anakin didn't believe it. So, he and Obi-Wan decided to try getting off-world.
They didn't want to chance bringing Gabby, but she insisted she could create a protective energy bubble if anything happened.
"You don't have magic to protect you," she pointed out. "And you don't wanna leave me behind with a bunch of strangers, do you?"
"The ghost of Drol may be a local superstition," said Obi-Wan. "But something real blew up those ships."
"Real, we can handle." Anakin said.
"Too bad, I really liked those guys. And the girl too," said Jaybo in his communicator.
"Thanks a lot kid," said Anakin. "Couldn't have done it without you."
"Have you run into Drol yet?"
"Not to worry, Jaybo." Obi-Wan said.
The Jedi flew by some of Iego's moons. Then, something started happening out there, which R2 detected.
"What is it R2?" Anakin asked. "Afraid of a ghost? Drol is just a superstition..."
There was a web of orange and yellow lasers forming outside the ship.
"There's our ghost." said Obi-Wan.
"Lasers." said Anakin and Gabby in unison.
"We've triggered an energy field." Obi-Wan said.
"Now would be a good time for a defense bubble," said Anakin.
Gabby complied, quickly summoning a large energy bubble to protect the ship if they hit any lasers.
"Turn the ship around," ordered Obi-Wan. "We'll never make it through."
That was one order Anakin did not want to disobey. So, he turned the ship around.
"The Separatists must have installed those lasers to prevent people from leaving the planet." Obi-Wan said.
And soon they landed safely back on Iego. That was when they got a transmission from Ahsoka and Padme.
Anakin ordered R2 to amplify the signal.
"Destroyed all the battle droids inside the compound, Master." Ahsoka said. She sounded very weak. "Naboo is safe from further contamination. I repeat, Naboo is safe."
"Promise me that no one will ever open this bunker," said Padme.
"Mommy, no." Gabby said, looking like she would start crying.
"Goodbye, Anakin. Goodbye, Gabby." Said Padme. Even though her daughter was crying, and her husband looked despaired, she wanted their faces to be the last things she would see. "I love you."
"No!" Anakin exclaimed as the transmission ended. And Gabby started crying.
Anakin and Obi-Wan exited the ship. Anakin held Gabby tightly as she cried into his shoulder.
"We'll borrow a power converter from Jaybo and reprogram to feed it to our-" Anakin was interrupted by Obi-Wan.
"Slow down, Anakin."
"Slow down?! You saw them, Master. They're dying." Anakin said.
Even Gabby couldn't find a way to sugar-coat this scenario. She wondered if Carousella ever made it to Equinaro or got to Aqualia and the other mermaids. Unless they got off Iego, she would never know if her friends were okay.
"A great leap forward often requires first taking two steps back," said Obi-Wan.
"And sometimes, all it requires is the will to jump." Anakin said.
The arguing only seemed to make Gabby cry louder, leading Anakin to comfort her.
"At least here me out on this." said Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan and Anakin gathered the citizens of Iego at what must have been the town hall, and they told them the truth about "Drol"
"Citizens of Iego, Drol is not a ghost," said Obi-Wan. "Rather, it is a Separatist security system."
"Nonsense," said a Quarren. "You were lucky to escape alive. Simple as that."
"And who says we didn't make our own luck?" Anakin said.
"The ghost of Drol does, that's who."
Clouds formed inside, and snow fell as Gabby was upset.
"Gabby, please control your weather patterns," said Obi-Wan calmly.
"I'm trying," said Gabby. "You're lucky it's not a tornado!"
Obi-Wan turned back to the others.
"Did anyone inhabit Iego's moons before the Separatists arrived?" He asked.
"The angels of course." the Quarren said.
"Angels?" Obi-Wan asked.
And that was when a beautiful humanoid creature entered the room. Gabby remembered her father telling her that when he and Padme first met, he called her an angel because they were the most beautiful creatures in the galaxy, and they lived on the moons of Iego. Sure enough, this angel was indeed beautiful. And it seemed to calm Gabby down a little bit.
"Wow, a real angel." Gabby gasped.
"We were a peaceful people," said the angel. "Before the Separatists drove us from our homes and stole our moon."
"And which moon was that?" Obi-Wan asked.
The angel showed a hologram of the moon Millius Prime.
"The p-p-primary node, it must be near M-M-Millius Prime." Anakin said, his teeth chattering and he was shivering from the snow Gabby was making.
Gabby started to shoo her clouds away.
"Shoo! Shoo! Get out of here before you make Daddy catch a cold!" Gabby said, blowing her clouds away wind a little wind.
Obi-Wan saw some vulture droids in the next room and asked Jaybo if he could reactivate them.
"Sure," said Jaybo. "I can even fly them by remote control."
"Good. We can have R2 fly the vulture droids as a decoy into the laser field."
"And since we know what we're up against this time, we can destroy the laser emitter." Anakin continued.
"And cut a path right to Millius Prime." Obi-Wan finished.
"Where we can BAM! blast that thing at the source and free this planet!" Gabby said, standing on the table, and a rainbow of flowers popped up all around as she was excited.
"Settle down, little one." Anakin chuckled, getting his daughter down.
Meanwhile, the people still in the bunker were still barely alive. Even Roya had finally started to feel weak. Ahsoka and Padme treated the clones the best they could, while Wysteria distributed the last bottle she had of healing elixir to stabilize everyone.
"What a waste," said Padme.
"With all due respect, Senator." Rex coughed. "It's what these men were born to do."
Rex pulled a blanket over yet another dead clone. Cause of death: Blue Shadow Virus.
"I hope their sacrifice brings us closer to peace," said Padme.
Ahsoka started coughing again. "It will, Padme. You must, believe that..." She said weakly before collapsing into Rex's arms.
The Jedi were once again on their ship, ready to destroy Drol.
"Ready, General Kenobi." said Jaybo.
"Jaybo, activate the droids." Anakin ordered. And he instructed Jaybo to transfer control to R2.
Anakin flew the ship into space while R2 directed the droids right to the laser generator, which blew up the entire security system.
"I'm afraid you'll need some new droids to boss around, Jaybo." Anakin said. "The ones you lent us are pretty much toast."
The people of Iego cheered when they heard that Drol was no more.
"But the good news is that you're now free to leave Iego whenever you choose." Obi-Wan said.
The people of Iego were very happy and grateful that they were now free. And Anakin was even happier that they now had a fighting chance to save his wife and their friends.
"R2, set a course for Naboo."
On Naboo, Carousella and her friend Fantasia arrived with a blue haired girl named Aqualia, mermaid princess of Pearlaqua, and her burnt orange pegasus Summer Skies. They all wore protective suits as they brought mermaid tears in to help. Unfortunately, they only managed to get twelve small tears, when mixed with pure water would help stabilize their patients for some time, but they didn't know for how long.
Thankfully, that was also when the Jedi arrived with the reeksa root.
Anakin saw medical droids carrying Padme on a stretcher.
"Padme. I spoke with the medical droid." Anakin said. "He expects you to make a full recovery."
"Feel better, Mommy." Gabby said, giving Padme a Naboo native plant called a millaflower that she grew.
"Thank you, Gabby. I never lost faith in any of you. None of us did." Padme said.
"Oh, that's good to hear, 'cause there were a few moments where we weren't always so sure of ourselves." Anakin smiled.
"Well, you did make it." Padme said as she was brought to a ship. "By the way. Your Padawan was brilliant. I trust I'll see you soon, General Skywalker?"
Anakin held his wife's hand. "Of course, my love." He said. "If you weren't still recovering, I'd kiss you right now."
"You'll be better soon, Mommy." Gabby said.
"You did a fantastic job today, Snips." Anakin said. looking at his Padawan on her stretcher.
"All thanks to your training, Master." Ahsoka said.
"Yeah, you're right. I probably do deserve most of the credit." Anakin said, amid Ahsoka rolling her eyes. "But not all of it."
"Good thing I know you don't mean everything you say." Ahsoka said.
"Pilot, get these two out of here." Anakin said.
"Thank you, Master." Ahsoka said.
And so, the survivors of the blue shadow virus were taken to receive further treatment. Anakin and Gabby were most relieved of all; they nearly lost a key member of their family, and neither of sure how they would ever get along without a wife/mother in the family. Anakin didn't think he could raise his daughter alone, much less survive without the woman he loved, and Gabby couldn't imagine living without either of her parents. Now they only hoped this would be the last time they came across such a deadly virus.