Brain Invaders

## Premise

"When Weevils brain worms take control of their supply ship, Esther and Fenghuang must battle to stop the vessel from unleashing the deadly plague upon the kung fu panda wall"

## Synopsis

The Kung fu students Esther and Fenghuang are selected to transport medical supplies to Thundering Rhino in Dantooine from a station near Ord Cestus, while Daniel, Tai Lung, Sonic, Elida, and Shifu prepare to deliver Poggle the Lesser to Coruscant. At the same time, a group of Clone troopers are resting outside the Progate Temple, where a brain worm hatches from its egg and enters into the nose of one of the troopers, Scythe. Moments later, the company is awakened and informed of their new errand mission to Ord Cestus. They follow the students aboard the medical frigate TB-73, with Scythe at the rear carrying more brain worm eggs in his backpack.

After the frigate jump into hyperspace, Esther and Fenghuang lie in their beds, but Esther can't sleep. She thus suggests to Fenghuang that they should go eat, and they head off to the mess hall. Meanwhile, Scythe enters the troopers' sleeping quarters and releases some of the yellow eggs; the worms hatch and find their way into the noses of the sleeping clones. While the students are eating, Scythe leads two infected clones to kill the ship's pilots, taking control of the bridge. Two other possessed clones, Ox and Edge, enter the mess hall and attack the students, who eventually manage to knock the troopers unconscious. An instant later, two more clones, Trap and Havoc, come through the door. The warriors question them with element weapons drawn, but the troopers say they don't know what is going on, and put their guns on the floor. The students then calms down their element powers, and the four of them decide to check if they are still in control of the bridge. After Fenghuang fails to contact the bridge via comlink, the two students and Trap set off to go there, while Havoc stays to watch the unconscious clones.

In a different place in hyperspace, kung fu Masters Elida and Shifu inform Tai Lung, Sonic and Daniel that the medical frigate did not check in on time. Tai Lung starts to worry for Esther, but Shifu suggests they should focus on interrogating the so far uncooperative Poggle.

Concurrently, the infected clones aboard the medical frigate engage the autopilot and security shields, blocking the way for Esther, Fenghuang and Trap. Fenghuang tries to override the shield controls, but Trap then fires his blaster at her. She manages to deflect it and disarm him, noticing that he too is infected by a brain worm. He throws himself at her, and she ultimately has to kill him in self-defense. Esther manages to kill the brain worm which has emerged to take possession of Fenghuang.

The students decide to contact Master Croc and quarantine the ship, but on their way they come across the cargo hold, where the infected troopers are releasing a brain worm into another trooper. They are spotted and realize they are outnumbered, so they escape through the ventilation system. From there, Fenghuang goes to disable the thrusters, and Esther heads to the communication room to send a warning to Croc. Esther tells Croc about the worms, but he insists that the frigate dock anyway in order for a sanitation team to take out the worms. Esther also contacts Tai Lung, updating him on the situation.

On her way to the reactor, Fenghuang gets temporarily incapacitated by an electric trap and is exposed to a newly hatched brain worm by the troopers. After finishing her transmission, Esther is surprised to see Fenghuang standing beside her. The possessed Fenghuang attacks her, and after a brief fight, Esther manages to escape into the ventilation system.

In the meantime, Tai Lung angrily goes to interrogate Poggle, using his element to try to make him talk, but this doesn't work; he thus hits Poggle and proceeds to Nerve attack choke him. After getting the information he needs, Tai Lung informs the other masters about the brain worms, contacts Esther on her comlink and tells her that the worms are affected by cold temperature, and that she should rupture the coolant system. She does this, releasing freezing air into the ship, just as it comes out of hyperspace. While the clones get weakened by the cold, Fenghuang finds Esther's trail again and confronts her inside the bridge. They fight, but Fenghuang and her worm are eventually taken out by the cold. Regaining her own will for a moment, Fenghuang begs Esther to kill her, but Esther can't bring herself to do so. Fenghuang attacks again, but Esther manages to kill the worm as it protrudes from Fenghuang's beak.

The frigate docks at the station, and Croc boards it with two clone troopers. They find the two frozen students lying on the ground, still breathing, and bring them to the infirmary. When Esther wakes up, Tai Lung is waiting at the end of her bed, and assures her that everything is all right, and that Fenghuang and the troopers were saved. Croc explains the parasite's origins, and he and Tai Lung theorize this was likely how the Arkeyan recaptured their city: Tai Lung remarks the troops of  lost city of arkus will have to be warned, so such an incident doesn't recur.

Once Croc has left, Esther tells Tai Lung about Fenghuang begging for death under the worm's influence, and wonders if she should have killed Fenghuang, since had they failed, her refusal could have resulted in the entire medical station being infected. Tai Lung consoles her with the knowledge Fenghuang only thought her death was necessary to stop the worms, and that she did the right thing in sparing her friend, since it is a kung fu master's responsibility to save as many people and animals as they can.