Previously on Legend of the Jedi Princess...

Stolen secrets. Notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane was hired by Darth Sidious to steal a Jedi holocron from the Jedi Temple, and now he has hunted and captured Jedi Master Bolla Ropal, who holds a crystal that holds the secrets of the Jedi Order. As the Separatists are helping Bane to deliver the holocron, Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano are racing to stop him.

At the moment, Anakin's crew had no way of knowing which ship Master Ropal was on, but someone else had an idea.

Back on Coruscant, young Gabriella Skywalker was with her guardian Carousella Mareheart. Her father had her stay behind in order to keep her safe, but she wanted to help rescue Master Ropal. She knew Carousella's horseshoes could transport her anywhere, but she had a question:

"Can your horseshoes take you to wherever a person you're looking for is?" Gabby asked.

"I've never tried doing that before," said Carousella. "It could be worth a shot, but we don't know if wherever he is happens to be dangerous."

"All the more reason to go after him," said Gabby. "He could be in real danger."

Master Ropal was dragged by two super droids to a cell, where he was restrained and tortured with a staff that electrocuted him.

"You will remain conscious, Master Jedi." said a battle droid, touching the Rodian's face. "The bounty hunter has some questions for you. Attach mind limiters, pain pulsers, and give him a full dose of X-C33."

"Right away, Sir." said another, scarier droid.

Bane sat in a chair, thinking to himself, when a battle droid approached him with some news.

"Uh, sir, that Republic ship has destroyed out escort and is blocking our escape." said the droid.

Bane looked outside a window and saw the Republic cruiser right there.

"Whoever's commanding that cruiser is a bold one." said Bane. "Move us out of the battle zone and prepare to jump to hyperspace. I have a small favor to ask our Jedi guest."

And so, the Separatist ship was made to flee the battlefield in order to get answers from Master Ropal.

"General Skywalker, a Separatist ship is fleeing the battle." Admiral Yularen alerted.

Anakin and Ahsoka both looked out the window to see the ship fleeing just like the admiral said.

"You think they have Master Ropal on board as a prisoner?" Ahsoka asked her master.

Anakin was sure Master Ropal was on board, so he ordered Admiral Yularen to intercept the Separatist ship before they could jump to hyperspace.

"I'll prepare the troops for boarding."

"Boarding?" said Yularen, looking at Anakin like he was crazy. "We have no boarding craft. We were prepared to land on the planet, not to board another ship. You can't be serious."

"I am, Admiral. Thank you for your opinion." said Anakin. "Now, target their hyperdrive. We do't want them getting away.

Anakin was not fazed by the Admiral's opinion. Being Anakin, he always had another trick up his sleeve. And he had a daughter who inherited that trait from him without a doubt.

The Republic cruiser began firing blaster bolts at the Separatist ship, hitting it almost effortlessly.

Meanwhile, a battle droid rushed over to Cad Bane with more news.

"They hit the power converters, so we can't go into hyperspace."

"Hmm, I wonder what the Jedi are planning," said Bane

Anakin and Ahsoka approached Captain Rex and some brigades of clones.

"I've rounded up three brigades, sir." said Rex. "Where are we headed?"

"We're going to board a Separatist frigate, rescue Master Ropal, and recover an archive holocron." Anakin explained.

"We have no assault craft, sir." Rex pointed out. "Only a couple of fighters and the Twilight."

Anakin gave a look that clearly said, "Listen up."

"Waiting for orders, sir."

"And the plan is?" Ahsoka looked at her master, having no idea what was going on in his head. Anakin seemed to glare at her, and she shrugged. "Just curious."

Just then, Admiral Yularen came in.

"I came down to see if I could be of any help." said the admiral. "General Skywalker."

"Actually, you can." smiled Anakin. He pointed to some walkers and ordered Admiral Yularen to activate them.

"You are not thinking of using those to transport the clones to that frigate." Yularen said, not liking Anakin's unspoken idea.

"Well, they are pressurized." said Ahsoka, stroking her chin.

"And they're equipped with magnetic feet." Rex added. "Hmm. Good call."

"Master, you're a genius."

"Those walkers are designed for terrain, not space." Yularen pointed out.

But, that didn't faze the Hero with No Fear.

"Rex, load them up." Anakin said, running toward the walkers. "Let's go, Snips."

"Execute battalion, take ATAT300!" Rex ordered. "Carnivore battalion, walker 773! Let's go!"

Carousella concentrated very hard; she had to focus on Master Ropal and him alone to get her horseshoes to work and get her and Gabby to him. Both she and Gabby also prepared to fight any Separatists them came across.

"Ready, Carousella?" Gabby asked.

"As we'll ever be," said Carousella.

Carousella stood on her hind legs with a whinny, then ran as fast as she could through one of the long hallways of the Jedi Temple, going as fast as she could, and her silver horseshoes started to glow. They glowed brighter and brighter until... flash! They disappeared from the Temple.

"Simply open this little box so I can get the information from this crystal," said Bane, holding the holocron and the crystal. "and your suffering will come to an end."

"You will never get me to unlock the holocron," said Ropal weakly.

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to discuss this with you." said Bane.

Bane then ordered his droids to hit him again, full power. But, just before they could, Gabby and Carousella appeared and immediately caused chaos.

Gabby hit Bane with a strong wind that threw him into the wall, knocking him into a daze, and trapped the droids with the strongest vines she could create, while Carousella blasted the controls with her horn, which freed Master Ropal from his restraints, but he was too weak to move on his own.

"Carousella, help me get him up!" Gabby exclaimed. She made a soft fluffy cloud to act as a stretcher for Ropal, and used some magical vines as reins for Carousella to pull them like a horse-drawn carriage.

"Careful now." Carousella said, grabbing the back of the Jedi's shirt with her mouth to get him onto the cloud while Gabby adjusted the cloud to get him on comfortably. Then, the princess made sure the vines were secure and tied them to Carousella's muzzle as a rein and climbed onto her back.

"All right. Let's find a safe place he can be healed. Giddyup!" And she snapped the vine reins, and Carousella got them out of there in a snap.

Bane picked himself up with a groan. He recognized that girl and her horse from the holonet and the temple.

"How did that little brat get on board?!" Bane said angrily, but realized the princess forgot to take the holocron and the crystal. "Hmm. No matter. Looks like we will have to find another Jedi to open this holocron."

Bane managed to grab his gun, then blasted his droids out from the vines and went to go look for the child and another Jedi to unlock the holocron. He knew that the child would be way too stubborn to open for him, and too difficult to keep still long enough to torture unless they restrained her really well or knocked her unconscious.

Carousella raced Gabby and Master Ropal all around the ship, looking for an empty space where Gabby would have time to heal Master Ropal and he could recover.

They managed to find one empty room. Carousella made her horn glow and used a spell she knew to stabilize the Jedi for a little longer, and Gabby gave Master Ropal a kiss to heal him. Master Ropal coughed as he was healed.

"Are you okay, Master Ropal?" Gabby asked.

Ropal took some slow breathes to recover.

"I... I think so." Ropal said. "Thank you, young one. You saved my life."

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Gabby. "We still have to get you out of here."

Outside, Anakin and his team arrived on walkers normally intended for terrain, and used their magnetic feet to stick to the ship.

Bane was called by Viceroy Nute Gunray with complaints about him losing the ships he loaned him by request of Darth Sidious.

"When Darth Sidious asked me to loan you the Federation fleet," said Gunray. "he didn't say you were going to war. Bane, you have already lost four of my ships. I hope you can pay for all of this."

"One authentic Jedi holocron and the memory crystal I was after," said Bane, holding up the blue cube and crystal. "When my benefactor gets this, he will compensate you for your puny fleet."

Suddenly, there was an explosive rumbling sound.

"Sounds like the Jedi want it back." said Bane.

Anakin, Ahsoka, and the clones tore the droids apart outside as they fought to get inside the ship.

"The Jedi are overwhelming our vulture droids." one droid reported. "Should we send out reinforcements?"

"No," said Bane.

"What are you doing?" Gunray asked in shock.

"Did you say 'no'?" the droid asked, equally surprised.

"Mh-hmm." Bane said.

"Roger, roger."

"The Jedi will board the ship and get the holocron back." Gunray pointed out. "Transmit the information, and close the deal immediately."

"i can't." said Bane. "Only a Jedi can access the device. Fortunately, there are two Jedi on their way to help me, one more than we need for our purposes."

"You'd better live through this. I want my money, Bane."

"You can count on it." the bounty hunter promised.

As the Jedi were boarding the ship, Bane ordered the droids to wipe the frigate's records clean, destroy all records of their mission, initiate the self-destruct sequence, and transfer all ship functions to his wrist comm. But, he also needed one more thing. Bane then escaped through a vent as the Jedi arrived at the bridge.

The clones and the Jedi shot down all the battle droids within seconds.

"R2, see if you can find Master Ropal." Anakin said.

R2 logged into a system that showed Bane with the crystal and the holocron.

"Oh no, he has both pieces." Ahsoka said in dismay.

"Rex, send a squad." Anakin ordered. "Lock down the hangar bay and destroy all the escape pods. No one leaves this ship."

"Yes, sir." Rex saluted.

That was when there was an explosion, as one of the engines exploded. Admiral Yularen suggested immediate evacuation, but Anakin said...

"Not until we get what we came for."

And, that was when there was the loud sound of a girl screaming, which Anakin knew could only mean one thing. Either Bane or one of his droids screams like a little girl, or...

"Gabby?!" Anakin exclaimed. "What the hell is she doing here?!"

Gabby, Carousella, and Master Ropal found themselves surrounded by battle droids and Bane himself. The droids pointed their guns, preparing to attack, but their targets all got ready to defend themselves.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka, Anakin, and the clones were searching the cells for Master Ropal and/or Gabby. But, they didn't find anything... until they checked one cell where Ropal had been previously.

"Master, I think Gabby was here." Ahsoka said.

Anakin quickly came over and looked around. Sure enough, there were vines almost everywhere, and judging by the horseshoe-shaped dents in the control box, Carousella had been there too.

"Gabby and Carousella must've rescued Master Ropal before we got here." Anakin said. "Now the only question is where are they now?"

"Maybe they also have the holocron," said Ahsoka.

"We have to find them first to find out. Let's go." Anakin said.

That was when the lights went out. So, R2 provided a flashlight while the Jedi used their lightsabers.

"R2 says we're close," said Anakin.

Rex bumped his head on a pipe and then ordered the other clones to switch to night vision.

It was quiet. Too quiet. But that was when they saw an explosion of colorful pollen, and then three figures running off, and another following, covered in colorful pollen.

"There!" Exclaimed Anakin.

The rescue team followed the figures until they entered another room, where the lights were turned on.

"Welcome, Jedi. We've been expecting you." Bane said. Though, it was harder to take him seriously while he was covered in red and yellow pollen with some orange spots where the colors had mixed.

"Where are the princess and Master Ropal?" Anakin demanded, but Bane just ordered his droids to kill them. And another all-out battle ensued.

"Let's make this a bit more interesting," said Bane, and he turned off the gravity in the room, making everyone float all around.

That was when Carousella swooped in, being the only one with wings to help her steer. The clones, on the other hand, used magnetics to stick to various parts on the walls and blast the droids. The clones had to be careful though, as explosive shells were let loose. One shot, and it would be all over.

Gabby tried steering herself by swimming in the air, and Master Ropal managed to grab her to shield her from the battle, especially once the gravity was back on, and they fell to the ground. Luckily, Carousella quickly used her horn to slow down her friends' falling so they landed safely.

"Everyone okay?" Carousella asked.

"I think we're all good," said Anakin. But, his smile quickly disappeared when he saw Bane grab the holocron once more and run off with it.

Ahsoka ran off to go after Bane, but Anakin warned her that it was a trap. But it was too late.

Anakin started to go after his Padawan, but the door closed before he could catch up.

"Carousella, can you blast this thing open?" Anakin asked.

"Stand back," said Carousella. She positioned herself, aimed her horn, and concentrated.

A purplish glow appeared form Carousella's horn, and out came a powerful musical sound blast that burst the door right from its frame, allowing Anakin to run after his Padawan.

"Go get Ahsoka, Anakin." Carousella said. "I'll get Gabby and the others to the hangar! We'll wait as long for you as we can."

Ahsoka chased after Bane until they came to another door.

"You thought you could get away?" Ahsoka said.

"You're not much of a challenge, youngling." Bane said. "I got you right where I want you."

He shot a blast at Ahsoka, only for her to deflect it with her lightsaber into his wrist. Ahsoka started to fight him, but he kicked her lightsaber out of her hands, then she beat him to the ground before he could blast her again.

"I'm not impressed." Ahsoka smirked in her tone. She was about to Force-pull her lightsaber back to her hand, but Bane grabbed her by her ankle and shocked her into unconsciousness.

When Ahsoka didn't answer her comm, Anakin was worried. The ship was tearing itself apart, but he wasn't going to abandon his Padawan.

Ahsoka was trapped in binders specially made for Jedi. The more she struggled, the more they tightened. Bane even ripped Ahsoka's Padawan beads right from her head.

"Enjoy this while you can, sleemo." Ahsoka smirked. "This burning boat is about to finish us both off."

But Bane was unfazed.

"We have time," he said. "The bond between a Jedi teacher and his apprentice is strong."

"Which means my master will be coming for me any minute."

Bane put Ahsoka's braid on his belt and said, "Let's see if we can get him here any faster." And he shocked Ahsoka again, knowing Anakin would sense her in distress.

As expected, Anakin was not happy about his Padawan being held captive, and he took out all three battle droids outside the door.

Bane kept Ahsoka trapped in a ray shielded area, where he intended to hold her hostage.

Anakin soon entered the room.

"You have nowhere left to run, bounty hunter." Anakin said.

"Let me worry about that, Jedi." Bane said. He pressed a button on his wrist comm and explained to Anakin that he would open the airlock, sucking Ahsoka into oblivion. "Do you think you can kill me and save her before she's pulled out into space? It's a horrible way to die. Besides, isn't negotiation the Jedi way?"

Anakin couldn't risk letting his Padawan die. He asked Bane what he wanted, and Bane explained that he wanted him to open the holocron.

"The last Jedi who had it wouldn't open it, and was rescued by your princess, who judging by her lack of powers like yours, cannot open it even if she wanted to." Bane said. "Now that both of them are out of the way, I hope you won't make the same mistake."

Now this was a rare time Anakin wished Gabby had followed him somewhere dangerous. Ahsoka begged her master not to agree to the deal, but Anakin's heart was too big to let an innocent teenager die, and he put his lightsaber down, promising they would deal with the holocron later.

"How touching," said Bane, unfazed by the Jedi's obvious love for his Padawan.

Anakin reluctantly began concentrating on the holocron. Once it was open, Bane combined it with the memory crystal he obtained from Master Ropal.

"My employers will be most pleased," said Bane as the deed was done.

Anakin quickly snatched back his and Ahsoka's lightsabers and raced to rescue Ahsoka as Bane opened the airlock. Anakin held on tight to the wall and grabbed Ahsoka before she got sucked out, then pressed the button to close the airlock just in time, saving both of them. Then, Anakin freed his Padawan from her binders.

Anakin wanted to go after Bane, but Ahsoka reminded him that they needed patience. The ship was about to blow up, and they had to evacuate immediately. So, Anakin listened to his Padawan and rushed to the ship with his crew, the rescued Jedi, and the princess and her horse. Bane turned out to be there too, knocked out by a clone. Unfortunately, no one managed to grab the holocron, and there was no time to grab it now.

The group managed to get off the ship just as it officially blew up.

"Well, it looks like the holocron was destroyed," said Ahsoka. "But at least the Separatists didn't get it."

"And we rescued Master Ropal." Gabby added.

That was when Anakin felt something.

"Huh. Bane's dead, but I can still feel him." He said.

"It's probably just jitters caused by all the adrenaline," said Carousella. "My dad always gets them after a battle."

The rescue team managed to get to safety on board the Jedi cruiser.

"Master, I'm sorry I let that mercenary get the upper hand." Ahsoka said.

"It wasn't your fault, Ahsoka." Anakin said. "It was mine, start to finish."

"You've raised a very resourceful child, Skywalker." Master Ropal said. "Gabriella is a very brave girl."

"I know you said to stay at the Temple, Daddy. And I disobeyed that order, obviously." Gabby said, sounding guilty for disobeying her father, but willing to take responsibility. "Ground me if you want, but I couldn't just sit and do nothing knowing someone was in danger. Someone very smart once told me if you can do something to help, take action."

Anakin smiled and ruffled his daughter's head and fixed her bow. He was the smart someone who told Gabby those very words. At least she listened to the words of wisdom he offered sometimes.

"That was a dangerous risk you took, but I won't punish you for it." said Anakin. "You did save a life, after all, and you at least had your guardian beside you."

Anakin then went to speak with the admiral.

"So, did you managed to recover the holocron or capture the bounty hunter?" Admiral Yularen asked.

"Um, no and no." Anakin said.

"I see. So the mission was your usual version of success, then?"

"If by success, you mean I won, then, yes."

Admiral Yularen just sighed, then walked away.

But, even with Master Ropal safe and alive, this race to recover the holocron from an exploding ship was not the end...

To Be Continued...