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During the Clone Wars, a secret Separatist laboratory on Naboo was raided by Galactic Republic forces. The laboratory, built over a decade prior during the Trade Federation's invasion, had been given over to Doctor Nuvo Vindi so he could experiment with reviving the infamous Blue Shadow Virus for the Separatists to use as a bio-weapon. Vindi not only succeeded, he made the virus even more dangerous by concocting an airborne strain, building bombs to infect planets with the disease. After the Royal Naboo Security Forces shot down a tactical droid traveling to the lab, Senator Padmé Amidala returned home and, investigating accompanied only by Representative Jar Jar Binks, was captured by Vindi's battle droids. Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, along with Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano, followed and stormed the facility with their clone troopers, rescuing Amidala and Binks and arresting Vindi, with the bombs defused before they could go off.
However, during the cleanup, Vindi's LEP-series service droid stole a vial of the virus and set off one of the bombs, trapping Amidala, Tano, Binks, Clone Captain Rex and a squad of clone troopers inside the lab with some remaining battle droids who were attempting to get out. While Amidala and Binks had hazmat suits that protected them from the virus, Amidala's was damaged during a firefight with some of the droids, rendering it useless. With little time remaining, Skywalker and Kenobi undertook an emergency mission to the remote planet Iego to recover reeksa root, the only known cure for the disease, returning to Naboo in enough time to save those still alive inside the bunker, including Amidala, Tano, and Rex.
Prelude[]
- "I need you to convince the Senate, or the Jedi Council, or whoever is in charge of this terrible war that we are threatened."
- ―Queen Neeyutnee, to Padmé Amidala
During Naboo's occupation by the Trade Federation,[4] a secret lab was built in the eastern swamps.[5] The lab was well-hidden enough that over the decade following, it was not discovered by either the Naboo or the Gungans.[3]
Just over a decade after the invasion, during the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Separatists, counting the Trade Federation among their members, decided to put the laboratory to use, despite Naboo being a Republic-aligned planet. Doctor Nuvo Vindi, a scientist who had served as the chief medic of the Perma families until his disappearance a decade prior, was hired to create biological weapons,[3] particularly ones intended to be used against the Jedi.[6] Vindi successfully revived the infamous Blue Shadow Virus, a disease that had been eradicated many years before due to its wide-ranging ability to infect many different sentient species. He also made it more dangerous by engineering an airborne strain, as opposed to the virus's previous iteration being strictly waterborne. However, the Separatist presence on Naboo was exposed when members of the Royal Naboo Security Forces discovered and shot down a tactical droid, with a battle droid escort, traveling through the grasslands.[3]
Queen Neeyutnee, worried about the threat, recalled Senator Padmé Amidala and Representative Jar Jar Binks from Coruscant, asking them to persuade the Galactic Senate that the threat to Naboo was real. Amidala, Neeyutnee and Captain Gregar Typho had protocol droid C-3PO attempt to interrogate the captured tactical droid, whose visual circuits had been deactivated so it would not know where it was. C-3PO managed to get the tactical droid to admit that some of the virus had leaked out before the droid realized it was not onboard a Separatist starship. The droid was then destroyed by shelves knocked over by Binks, who had gotten his tongue stuck in an astromech dome while chasing a slug-beetle that had crawled out of the torso of one of the battle droids. The insect proved to be an important clue to the location of the mysterious Separatist lab, due to its habitat under the perlote tree, which was found only in the eastern swamps. Amidala suggested they send for Jedi assistance, recommending Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, old friends of hers.[3]
Amidala and Binks then set out in search of the lab. While this was going on, Gungan shaak herder Peppi Bow lost a large amount of her animals when she took them to drink from a river that had been contaminated by the leak. Bow managed to avoid drinking herself just in time. Flying overhead, Amidala and Binks saw the dead animals and landed to investigate, but were attacked by a suspicious Bow. After Amidala got her to stand down, Bow assured her that the disease was not airborne, so they did not need to wear full hazmat suits. With the location of the lab further narrowed down, Amidala and Binks set out again, the Senator promising Bow that some security personnel would arrive to take her to Theed.[3]
While searching in the swamps, Amidala and Binks located the lab after Binks slipped and fell, knocking away enough mud to expose a metal hatch in the ground. Amidala contacted Typho to request a geo-scan of the area. However, their presence was noted by security cameras, and Vindi sent out droids to capture Amidala and Binks. Subsequently, Vindi showed off the virus to his prisoners, who were not impressed, particularly as the virus had already leaked out once and contaminated part of Naboo. Amidala and Binks' disgust turned to horror when Vindi revealed that his recreated Blue Shadow Virus was in fact airborne.[3]
By the time Kenobi and Skywalker, along with Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano, arrived at Theed Royal Palace, it was after nightfall and Amidala and Binks' disappearance had been noted. Typho, reporting this, introduced Bow to the Jedi, and Skywalker sent Tano with the shaak herder to track down the missing politicians. Skywalker, alarmed over Amidala's disappearance[3] as he was secretly married to the Senator,[7] attempted to tell Typho off for letting her go alone, but the captain explained that new information discovered had led him to decide to wait for the Jedi's arrival. Taking Kenobi and Skywalker to a control room, Typho showed them a holorecording of Vindi extracted from one of the battle droids, in which he mentioned virus bombs. Typho also showed the Jedi the results of Amidala's requested geo-scan: the layout of the laboratory, including an area where the bombs were suspected of being assembled.[3]
The raid[]
Blasting a way in[]
In the swamps, Tano and Bow discovered Amidala and Binks' ship. Searching the area, Bow happened to be standing on one of the security cameras when it popped out of the ground, and Tano tackled her behind a bush so they remained unseen. Tano contacted Kenobi and Skywalker with news of the discovery, and Kenobi ordered her to set off a thermal detonator at the southern end of the facility. Skywalker assured her that she would be accompanied by clone troopers including Clone Captain Rex. The two older Jedi set out with their own forces in LAAT gunships.[3]
Tano used telekinesis to float the explosive across the ground monitored by the security cameras, maneuvering it carefully to ensure it was not detected before she had reached the requested point of entry. After the explosion went off, Tano asked Bow to stay outside the facility and ensure no one escaped, before running over to the hole and leaping in, following a clone squad that had rappelled in from a gunship that had arrived above.[3]
Appearances[]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Blue Shadow Virus" (First appearance)- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
Sources[]
- "Blue Shadow Virus" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link)
- "Mystery of a Thousand Moons" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 54 (Weapons & Uniforms: The Naboo) (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 58 (Databank A-Z: Tusken Raiders–Captain Typho) (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles (Picture only)
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 67 (Databank A-Z: Vibroblades–Cikatro Vizago)
- Rise of the Separatists
- Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition (Indirect mention only)
- "The Noble and the Wild" — Star Wars - Das offizielle Magazin 96
- "Anakin Skywalker" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Timelines
- Blue Shadow Virus in the Databank (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Star Wars: Timelines
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.46 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Blue Shadow Virus"
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- ↑ "Blue Shadow Virus" Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: On the Front Lines
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones