While the Padawans and Peter dealt with their latest crisis, the older Jedi and Avengers remained unaware of the trouble their young allies were now facing.
"Any word from Peter and the girls yet?" Steve asked with growing concern.
"Nothing," Luminara replied with a deepening frown. "They should have reached Ord Cestus by now."
"That's not like the Padawans or young Parker," Obi-Wan observed, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "They wouldn't miss a scheduled check-in without good reason."
"Do you think something's gone wrong?" Sam asked.
"I'm not certain," Luminara admitted.
"For all we know, they could be in serious trouble right now," Anakin said bluntly.
"Anakin, have faith in your Padawan," Obi-Wan said firmly. "After all, she's not alone. She has your training, and you know she's very much like you."
"Reckless, impulsive, and stubborn?" Rhodes said with knowing sarcasm.
Anakin's eye twitched, but he felt Steve's reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Anakin. If anything happens, we'll know immediately," Steve said confidently. "Rex, keep monitoring all frequencies. Any transmissions from the kids, you report to us right away."
"Yes, sir," Rex promised, giving Steve an appreciative nod.
...
Making their way through one of the ship's corridors, the trio suddenly found their path blocked as security blast doors activated.
"Someone definitely doesn't want us reaching the upper levels," Ahsoka said grimly.
Barriss and Peter crouched low and attempted to find a way around the security barrier. Before either could take a step forward, their combat instincts screamed warnings of imminent danger. Peter was the first to react, tackling Barriss aside just as blaster fire erupted from behind them. Ahsoka spun around to see Trap firing his weapon at them with mechanical precision. Using a Force push, Skywalker's Padawan sent the clone trooper flying several meters down the corridor. The clone hit the wall hard but immediately scrambled to his feet, rushing forward to attack Peter, who was closest to him.
That's when the teenagers witnessed something truly disturbing.
"AHHHH!" Peter yelled as the clone trooper's eyes rolled back and he began regurgitating a yellowish parasite from his mouth. "Oh gross, no, don't you dare!"
Reacting with lightning reflexes, Peter's hand shot forward and caught the writhing creature. The brain worm's ear-piercing shriek made all three teens flinch at the horrifying sound.
The New York native gritted his teeth and yanked the parasite completely out of the clone's mouth. Trap convulsed violently for several moments before collapsing to the deck, completely motionless.
Ahsoka and Barriss immediately rushed to check on Trap while Peter held the brain worm as far away from his face as possible.
The Mirialan Jedi knelt beside the trooper and checked his pulse, feeling relieved when she detected a steady heartbeat.
She looked up at Peter, who was still gripping the writhing parasite with obvious revulsion.
Barriss quickly ignited her lightsaber and bisected the creature with surgical precision. Peter jumped at the sudden movement and immediately dropped the dead parasite to the deck.
"What the hell just happened?" Ahsoka demanded loudly. "What was that thing?"
Barriss knelt down to examine the bisected worm, carefully picking up both pieces for closer inspection.
Peter grimaced with disgust. "That's some serious 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' nightmare fuel right there."
"Master Luminara told me about the Queen of Geonosis," Barriss explained. "The creature that captured her had developed a method of controlling dead Geonosians and potentially other species using parasitic organisms called brain worms."
Peter's face went pale with realization.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no! It's actually the body snatchers! I didn't know body snatchers were real! This is like every horror movie nightmare come to life! And it's happening on a spaceship in—"
Suddenly, Ahsoka smacked him upside the head, cutting off his panic-induced rambling.
"Thanks, I needed that."
"Anytime." Ahsoka looked back at the dead parasite on the floor. "That would certainly explain why those clones attacked us without provocation, and why Trap suddenly turned hostile."
"The real question is, how did these things get aboard our ship in the first place?"
Barriss offered her theory. "Some of the troopers must have been infected before we departed Geonosis."
"We need to quarantine this entire vessel immediately."
"We should also contact Master Luminara and the others to inform them of the situation."
Having secured their immediate area, the trio began making their way through the corridors, searching for a way to establish communication with anyone outside the ship. As they approached the main hangar bay, they heard distinctly alien sounds echoing from within.
"Doesn't that remind you of something, ladies?" Peter asked, cautiously moving toward the source of the noise.
"Peter, please. Not now," Ahsoka said with exasperation, shaking her head.
"I'm not talking about movie references—I mean the actual sounds."
Both girls paused, uncertain what he was referring to.
"Wait..." Barriss tilted her head, listening more carefully.
There was a series of unusual clicking and chittering noises emanating from a nearby storage room.
"That language is..."
Ahsoka recognized it immediately. More specifically, she knew exactly what language it was.
"Geonosian."
The teenagers peered into the room and witnessed several clones restraining another trooper who was desperately struggling against his possessed brothers. One of the infected clones held what appeared to be a brain worm egg, and an all-too-familiar parasite was beginning to emerge from it.
"We have to help him," Ahsoka whispered urgently.
Barriss grimly shook her head as the brain worm shot forward, quickly burrowing into the clone's nostril. "It's too late."
Peter nodded with a pale expression. "Okay, so apparently we're living in 'Alien' meets 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers.'"
Ahsoka winced. "I hate that you're absolutely right."
"We have to do something," Peter declared, mostly because he really didn't want to fall into a horror movie cliché. His spider-sense suddenly flared and he fired a web line purely on instinct, hitting one of the possessed clones just as a blaster bolt missed its intended target. The infected trooper tried to fire again but received a punch to the face that rendered him unconscious.
This commotion did not go unnoticed by the other possessed clones in the room. All heads turned to search for the three teenagers, and they immediately began shrieking in what sounded like Geonosian—a high-pitched, alien wail.
"Yeah, definitely body snatchers," Peter muttered.
"Not yet," Ahsoka said determinedly, deflecting blaster fire from the approaching possessed clones. She spotted one of them retrieving two additional eggs, and the Jedi immediately used the Force to tear them apart, destroying the parasites within.
The clones' angry screams intensified as their rate of fire increased dramatically.
Ahsoka used a Force push to send one clone flying, while Barriss disarmed another before immediately shoving him away with her own Force technique.
Peter webbed a clone to the bulkhead, and all three teenagers quickly took cover behind a stack of supply crates.