Star Wars The Clone Wars: M.I.A. On a Lost Planet#Wattys2016

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While the three clones were trooping about in the forest searching for their friend and Crash's kidnapper, a group of commando droids had been specially deployed to search for the three of them. Silently taking cover in the treetops as Vire had when she was tracking the clones, they searched. A brand new project, the commando droids were supposed to be superior, and ultimately they were to be faster, agiler, smarter, as well as a better match for clones and Jedi. Baktoid was well known for their skills in making single-minded hordes of cheap droids to overwhelm and overrun the enemy. Now the Separatists were asking them to make something intelligent and skilled. One could say the Federation was taking things to a limit Baktoid wasn't comfortable with. However, uncomfortable or not, they had produced the commando series battle droid, and now General Grievous was testing them. Whether the commandos worked efficiently or not would decide their fate. Perching on a high branch, the first commando droid designated A-5 scanned the area using a heat-signature filter. The other two commandos, A-10, and A-3 were also busy scanning for bio-signs. After five minutes, all scans came up negative. The droids recorded this in their internal data cores which would later connect with Grievous's ship logs, so he could view the whole thing. Looking up at the other two commandos, A-5 spoke in a gravelly voice.

"We must move to sector 61104-Q now," he ordered. Without so much as a word, the other two commandos acknowledged this and followed him. Swinging from branch to branch and leaping across gaps they encountered in the tree cover, they covered the distance quickly. Stopping only mere feet from their previous location, all three tuned their scanners once more continuing the search for their enemy.

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While this action had been going on, Vire had slept peacefully through it all, and she was now up. Stalking through the trees, she was followed a vornskr to its den. One pistol raised, she silently took a cautious step forward unaware she wasn't the only one hunting. The vornskr stopped and Vire abruptly came to a halt. She watched it carefully sniff the air as though it scented trouble. Sliding behind a tree and hoping it wouldn't smell her, she heard a light footstep. Vire stepped away from the tree to see where the vornskr was heading now. To her surprise, it hadn't moved. Confused and startled she began to move away, and in that very instant she tripped backward falling over a branch of sorts. Vire's helmet came flying off and tumbled under some brush. Looking up she felt fear wash over her, but she saw no one. As if out of nowhere a gloved reptilian hand clamped over her open mouth. She felt the person behind her get a firm hold around her arms before dragging her to her feet. The moment Vire was upright, she felt dizzy, and the trees around her swirled into a spiral of blue and brown before slowly fading to black.

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Mastro caught the woman as she fainted and collapsed. She was heavier than he had thought, yet he managed to drag her into a clump of brush that shielded them from sight. Tapping his portable comlink, Mastro contacted Count Dooku.

"Count, tell Fett that I found a woman here. She's a bounty hunter and, from the looks, has been here for some time. I'm gonna take her back to the General's camp and ask her some questions; he okay with that?" Mastro said in a questioning tone as he kept one eye on Vire, just in case.

"Yes, he is fine with that. He says to report back when you have learned all you can," Dooku answered.

"Got it."

Mastro shut off the comlink and glanced at Vire. She was still unconscious. After taking a good look at her, he realized she was missing her helmet. Standing, he scanned the ground for it but found no trace. Figuring it wouldn't be a problem, Mastro looked back at Vire. Groaning inside, he tied her hands then grabbed her under the arms before dragging his captive back to the Separatist camp.