The air in the cavernous facility thrummed with the low hum of unseen machinery, heavy with the scent of ozone and something disturbingly organic, like wet scales and bile.
Jedi Master Shaak Ti's lekku twitched as she scanned the vast, shadowed expanse, her senses prickling. "There's a thick presence here." she murmured, her voice barely disturbing the oppressive silence. "Focus your minds." Ahead, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, the sudden blue glare illuminating rows of towering, dormant machinery and casting long, dancing shadows.
An army of clones followed behind them. They had fought against an army of droids and defenc to reach the lowest level of the facility on Myrkr.
Obi-Wan moved beside him, his own blade a steady emerald beacon, eyes narrowed on the distant, brightly lit platform where a lone figure stood hunched over a console.
The figure, Dr. Zell, whipped around, his Geonosian wings fluttering in agitation. "Too late, Jedi!" he screeched, his voice being translated by a collar device he wore.
His spindly fingers danced over the console, triggering a deep, resonant thrum that vibrated through the durasteel floor.
Across the cavernous chamber, immense floodlights snapped on, blindingly illuminating the centerpiece: a colossal, scaled form suspended in a towering transparisteel tube filled with viscous amber fluid. Project Chimera.
It dwarfed the AT-TE schematics they'd studied – a nightmare of metalic scales fused with durasteel plating, vast leathery wings folded tight against its back, and a thick tail ending in a cluster of razor-sharp spikes. Its elongated snout hinted at rows of teeth.
"Don't touch that console!" Obi-Wan commanded, his voice sharp but controlled, lightsaber held ready. He took a measured step forward. "Dr. Zell, this path leads only to destruction. Surrender. Help us contain this horror."
Zell's antennae quivered violently, his hand hovering over a large red button on the console. "Contain? You understand nothing!" he hissed, the translator collar buzzing with static. "This is evolution! A weapon beyond your primitive blasters and glow-sticks. The Republic's tyranny ends with one breath!" His compound eyes darted between the Jedi and the massive, twitching form in the tube. The Chimera's clawed fingers spasmed, scraping against the transparisteel with a screech that set teeth on edge.
Shaak Ti stepped forward, her voice calm yet resonant in the cavernous space, cutting through the hum. "Hear reason, Dr. Zell. Lay down your arms, and no harm will come to you. Violence begets only more suffering." Zell let out a high-pitched chitter, a sound of pure derision. "Suffering? My *people* suffered! Slaving for your precious Republic, treated like vermin! And when we found dignity with the Separatists, you invaded Geonosis. Bombs fell. My Queen… her chamber collapsed. Crushed." His voice cracked. "You speak of suffering while standing in the ashes of my hive!"
Rex and Cody locked eyes, a silent conversation flashing between them in the span of a heartbeat. Rex's hand tightened almost imperceptibly on his blaster pistol. Cody gave the faintest nod, his fingers hovering near the trigger of his grapple attachment. They edged sideways, boots silent on the grimy floor, flanking the platform while Zell was consumed by his tirade. The Jedi shifted subtly, keeping Zell's focus divided.
"Your Republic speaks of peace while crushing dissent!" Zell shrieked, spittle flying. "My Queen was the heart of our hive! Her chamber collapsed under *your* bombardment! Crushed like an insect!" His compound eyes, wide with grief and rage, darted wildly between Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti. "You offer surrender? After that? You offer chains! I offer *cleansing*!" His spindly arm jerked towards the console, fingers curling like claws around the large, ominous red button. "For Geonosis!"
Rex didn't hesitate. His DC-17 blaster pistol snapped up, the sharp *crack* echoing through the cavern. The crimson bolt slammed into Zell's upper thorax, staggering the Geonosian scientist with a spray of dark ichor. Simultaneously, Cody triggered his grapple line. The weighted hook shot out, sinking into Zell's armored shoulder plate with a metallic *thunk*. Cody hauled back hard, yanking the mortally wounded doctor away from the console. Zell's body arced backwards, limp and heavy.
But momentum is a cruel master. As Zell was jerked sideways, one of his fractured, translucent wings – twitching in a final, spastic reflex – whipped downward. The chitinous tip grazed the edge of the large red button. It wasn't a press; it was a brush. Yet the contact was enough. A single, soft *click* resonated, horribly distinct against the background hum. Then, silence. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The floodlights remained blindingly bright on the massive tube. The Chimera within seemed utterly still.
Then, the entire chamber plunged into pulsing, blood-red emergency lighting. A calm, synthesized female voice echoed unnervingly from hidden speakers:
[Warning. Specimen 115 awakening sequence initiated. All personnel vacate the area immediately. Repeat: Vacate the area]
Beneath their boots, the floor vibrated violently. With a series of sharp, pressurized *hisses*, sections of the durasteel plating around the central tube slid open. Dozens of thick, multi-jointed mechanical arms snaked upwards like skeletal serpents, their pincer-like manipulators clamping onto the complex array of fluid injectors embedded in the tube's base. With swift, clinical precision, they began detaching the thick, pulsating tubes carrying the amber sedative fluid.
Inside the massive transparisteel cylinder, the viscous amber liquid began draining rapidly with a loud, sucking gurgle. The Chimera's massive form slumped slightly as the supporting fluid vanished. Then, a single, huge eyelid twitched violently. It snapped open, revealing a slit-pupiled eye of molten gold.