"Is something wrong, troopers?" I asked hesitantly, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. They both stepped forward suddenly and an alarm rang out in my head like a warning before they began shooting at us. Jumping up from our seats we had all reached for our sabers and worked to deflect as many shots as we could. I thought quickly and stood onto the table, flipping it over so that we could take cover from the attack. The two girls followed my lead and dove over the table. We each had our backs resting against the cool metal as I called out. "Troopers! Stand down!"

The two girls and I ignited our sabers just in time for Barriss to quickly jump up again and cut the blaster that Ox held above us. I punched him back in his moment of shock for his weapon not working then Ahsoka force pushed Edge right into Ox as they both crashed into the wall. We sighed while standing up further and exiting our cover of the table only for two more clones to arrive. The other Padawans quickly pointed their sabers accusingly at the men while I observed the situation carefully. The two troopers raised their hands in defence, confused as to our change in mood.

"What are you doing?" Trap questioned us with worry and confusion.

"Two clones just attacked us. What is going on?" Ahsoka demanded answers sternly, pushing her saber closer to the clones.

"Trap, do you know what happened to those troopers?" Barriss nodded to the two men behind us who were both laying unconscious.

"Couldn't tell you, Commander. I'm just as confused as-" he started to explain until Barriss sternly cut him off.

"You're in charge of those men! Did you order them to kill us?" She grew angry with every word.

"No, sir! I did not." He stated but I felt uneasy with the situation still.

"What's happening? Why would they do this?" Ahsoka further pushed.

"We don't know. We heard shots." The other trooper explained why they had arrived right after the fight took place.

"Why should we believe you?" I questioned calmly, face to face with both men.

"Look, no guns." Trap spoke as they both set their blasters to the ground slowly as if not to panic us.

"These men wouldn't just attack us without reason." Barriss spoke as we all lowered our sabers.

"My Master had a clone betray them once, a traitor who was paid off by Ventress."  Ahsoka mentioned the story of the battle of Cristophosis before we had arrived .

"It can't be that simple. At least, it didn't feel like that." I turned to face the two unconscious clones behind us.

"Excuse me, sir, we should make sure that we're still in control of the bridge." Trap offered his idea.

"Bridge, this is Barriss. Respond." She commed them. No response. "Bridge" she tried again sternly with impatience.

"We need to get up there. We need to find out what's going on." Ahsoka urged as we got no response again.

"But these two will be coming around any minute." Barriss refused to leave them alone.

"Havoc can watch them until we check on the bridge." Trap suggested.

"Okay. Let's go." I lead our small team out of the mess hall and into the corridors of the ship. Running through the halls we had reached the entrance to the bridge when suddenly a shield ray was put up, blocking our way.

"Someone doesn't want us going up there." Ahsoka noted as we all pulled to a stop in front of the red shield.

"I'll attempt to override the controls." I told them, kneeling next to the panel and pressing a button. I sensed something was off and quickly turned around to notice Trap had backed up from the two girls. Jumping into action I ignited a saber and deflected a blast from hitting either girl. Next I moved to cut his blaster but instead he decided to lunge at me. "He's infected!" I shouted out as a worm type creature escaped his nose and attempted to infect me. I used the force to retrieve one of my sabers that had been knocked from my hand during his attack and impaled the trooper to get him away from me. "Get this thing off me!" I ordered as the worm slithered around my face. I threw it off and Ahsoka sliced it in half before it hit the ground. With a sigh I placed my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

"What is that?" Ahsoka groaned in disgust at the two half's of a slimy worm on the ground.

"Looks like some type of parasite. It must be controlling their actions." Barriss noted as the pair watched it struggle until it died completely.

"Mind control. Well, that explains a lot." Ahsoka agreed with the theory. "Trap was my friend. He would never have tried to kill us." She continued. I sadly looked to the clone who I had killed and shook away the thought, knowing that I did what I had to do. "How did these things get on board in the first place?" Ahsoka picked up one half as Barriss grabbed the other.

"They must have infected the clones while they were on Geonosis." I sighed, holding my head.

"We'll have to quarantine the ship." Ahsoka reminded us of the next step in our plan based off regulations.

"We should also contact Master Fisto and let him know about the situation." Barriss told us.

"Let's go." We all ran off down the hall once more as our original path was cut off.

"That sound. It's..." Barriss started as we reached a doorway to hear a clicking language being spoken.

"Geonosian." I groaned. All three of us rested our backs against the wall in attempt to hide as we watched the sight before us. Two clone troopers held another as the rest watched. The trooper being held struggled against his will as the same worm creature was being taken towards him.

"We have to help him." Ahsoka told us urgently.

"It's too late." Barriss sighed as the parasite went into his nose and he groaned before his eyes rolled back and he calmed down. Another trooper snuck up from behind and began to shoot as we deflected the blasts but gained more attention.

Our trio backed into the cargo hold and locked the door but noticed the oncoming troopers with three more parasites. I used the force to pull the eggs from them and we each cut one to kill them. The blasters began to shoot again and we continued our fight. I helped the girls to cover behind a wall of boxes so that we could plan our next step.

"Barriss! Lyra! Let's go for the vent!" Ahsoka suggested proudly. I looked up to the ceiling vents and nodded, signalling them to each scale the boxes and get to the vents. I followed close behind and used the force to pull the cover off the vent so that we could each dive inside.

"I'll go to the reactor room and disable the thrusters. You two head for the aft comm center and send a warning to Master Fisto. We have to stop the ship from reaching the medical station." Barriss gave out orders to us both once we reached the safety of the vents.

"I don't know, Barriss. I think we should stay together." Ahsoka worried, coming to a halt in her crawling.

"As do I. Unfortunately, that's not a luxury we have right now. One of us must succeed, Ahsoka. If you need to, you'll do what must be done. I know it." Barriss said.

"Yes. Of course. Then I'll see you soon." Ahsoka told her as we went separate ways.

"Here we are!" I told Ahsoka after a few minutes of crawling through the vents. I pulled back the cover and dropped down to the empty communications room, looking around carefully to make sure it was clear before signalling the younger girl. She dropped down next to me and we began to set up the comm to send a message to Master Fisto.

"As long as these things are on board, we dare not dock with the medical station." I explained to Master Fisto with Ahsoka over comm.

"You must bring the ship in. The only way we can stop these parasites is to analyze them." Fisto argued with our decision.

"You don't understand how terrible these things are. What if they get loose?" Ahsoka continued to protest.

"We will take precautions." He countered.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master Fisto, but we will follow your instructions." I told him with a nod. With that the call was ended and the device crackled out. I moved to set up our next communication when a feedback was sent to us.

"Lyra!" Ahsoka urged me to work faster as she kept watch.

"They are jamming our transmission" I stated with frustration as I continued to fiddle with the device.

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm working on it" I told her with another groan as I pulled off the wire cover and started to reset the device manually. "Almost got it." I groaned after resetting the controls and beginning to set up the next transmission.

"Cargo ship TB-73, this is Clone Captain Rex. Please respond." Rex appeared on the screen. Ahsoka and I smiled proudly that we could get in touch with someone else. My face lit up as I stood from the mess of wires and moved beside Ahsoka to see a familiar face on the screen.

"Rex, this is Ahsoka. Boy, am I glad to hear your voice." Ahsoka jumped in to talk with him eagerly.

"Likewise, sir. I've got someone here who wants to speak with you." Rex stepped back and Anakin jumped in with worry for his Padawan.

"Ahsoka, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Well, not exactly." She tried to explain.

"Our ship has been taken over by some sort of parasite from Geonosis" I continued for her.

"Make sure you have a wrist com. Keep it on. I'm going to interrogate Poggle. He might have some answers. Find Barriss and wait for my signal." With that the call ended and we moved off again to follow our orders.

"Barriss, you're back. Were you successful?" Ahsoka took notice of the green padawan standing in the doorway behind us.

"Barriss? What's wrong?" I asked darkly, knowing something happened as she stood sternly. She stuck her hand out and broke the glass wall between us. "Barriss, no!" I shouted as we each shielded our face from the spray of glass, me covering Ahsokas back to protect the young one.

"I'm your friend! Barriss, snap out of it!" Ahsoka urged. She ignited her saber and we followed as she jumped at us viciously. I fought back with Ahsoka against a fellow learner, lightsabers clashing against each other. "Barriss, it's not you, it's the creatures! Fight them!" Ahsoka tried to reason with her friend as we continued to fight with our sabers I pushed the girl back and we both took our escape by running into the hall once again today.

Sliding, we turned down another corridor and continued to escape the infected Padawan. Barriss was hot on our tracks before she threw us each into the wall with the force. I sat up with a groan, shifting in my spot to assess the situation when I watched Barriss lunge at Ahsoka with her saber. Thinking quickly Ahsoka blocked the strike and I helped by kicking Barriss back, giving us all a chance to run again. I silently nodded to Ahsoka as a signal to enter the vents again while Barriss was still recovering from the last attack. I watched as the Togruta jumped up then I followed her through the vents. Barriss ran underneath us and we stayed quiet so that she wouldn't find us hiding.

"This is Ahsoka. Come in." She clicked her comm in the vents.

"Ahsoka, listen to me. The worms are affected by the cold!" Anakin told us after Barriss had walked off to find us.

"Cold? That's how we stop them?" I asked with confusion. A trooper passing underneath heard us and looked up to the vents were we retreated back in hopes of not being spotted.

"Rupture the coolant system. Did you hear me? Rupture the coolant system!" Anakin shouted after the clone walked off.

"The coolant system. Got it." Ahsoka told her Master, reporting back that we had heard his orders. Checking if the hallway was cleared I had removed the vent cover and jumped down before Ahsoka landed bathing me. Sneaking through the halls of the ship I had found the system panels. "Do you know what you're doing?" Ahsoka asked me with worry as I started pressing buttons and she covered me.

"Of course I know what I'm doing" I reminded to ease her worry. "It's about to get chilly" I warned her before pulling the switch and letting cool air flow through the ship. Both of us shivered at the cool air touching us before moving through the halls again. The icy air filled the ship and Barriss suddenly slid in behind us.

"There you are. You can't hide from me."

.....................................

Question of the day: What are your thoughts on Barriss Offee?