Escape Into Terror

C-3PO and R2-D2 find themselves repairing the Sand Sloth ship, and during this process, Threepio voices his displeasure with space travel. Meanwhile, inside the cockpit, Kea Moll is bored as she waits for Thall Joben and Jord Dusat to finish fixing the console. Joben, in turn, complains about the two droids. C-3PO cautions R2-D2 to exercise care, but to his dismay, he accidentally allows the hyperdrive to drift away. Still connected by his tether, C-3PO desperately begs R2-D2 for rescue.

Demma expresses regret for tasking the two droids with the repair job. R2-D2 successfully uses the tether to pull Threepio back to safety. Threepio then instructs R2-D2 to maximize the gravity amplifier on a container, only to discover that he cannot stand while holding the container. Returning to the ship, C-3PO apologizes to Thall, Jord, and Kea for the loss of the hyperdrive. Kea extends an invitation to the boys and the droids to stay with her mother on Annoo while they search for a replacement hyperdrive.

Thall inquires about C-3PO's well-being. C-3PO attributes his discomfort to a faulty servo disc on his back, claiming it will self-correct, but instead, it causes his chair to wobble. R2-D2 then sets the ship's course for Annoo.

Sise Fromm is presiding over a banquet when his son, Tig Fromm, contacts him via holoscreen. Tig seeks to know if his father is still angry with him. Sise remains embittered by the fact that his son's Protector droids malfunctioned and handed him over to the authorities. Tig attempts to downplay the situation, but Sise reminds him that he rescued the wrong prisoner instead of him. Sise warns that Tig's incompetence risks exposing their secret base to other gangs, leading to their downfall. He vows to beat the other gangs to destroying his son.

Tig reminds his father that he is 900 years old and that it is not good for him. Sise informs his son that the two individuals who infiltrated their secret base are now on Annoo, accompanied by a girl and two droids. Tig promises to keep them confined to Annoo in order to safeguard the future of the Fromm Gang. Sise grumbles that he will have to deal with the intruders and warns Tig that Vlix Oncard will punish him for further slip ups. Sise vows find the two boys, the girl and the droids himself.

At Annoo's spaceport, an announcement instructs all visitors to register with the spaceport officials. Jord complains about the lengthy registration queue, while C-3PO laments the fact that droids have to wait in a separate line. R2-D2 gets into an argument with a Welding Beetle, which cuts in front of them in line. The impolite droid sprays Threepio with black oil. Later, Artoo notices two Annoo-dat Blue Fromm enforcers as they wait in line to register. The Fromms spot them.

In response, R2-D2 creates a diversion by feigning a breakdown and acting erratically. C-3PO joins in, causing droids and passengers to scatter. Thall, Jord, Kea, and the droids seize the opportunity to escape the Anno-dat Blue enforcers in the White Witch speeder.

Later, at Kea's mother's residence, Kea instructs a man named Gar to watch over the boys' speeder and tells the boys to get some rest. Thall tasks the droids with helping out with the chores. C-3PO and R2-D2 are assigned to feeding the sand sloths, a task that Threepio finds less appealing than feeding tauntauns on Hoth. C-3PO is struck by one of the creatures' tails. During this process, the two droids uncover a passage leading to a secret Rebel Alliance base and realize that Kea is a Rebel.

Sise Fromm dispatches a droid to assassinate Thall while he is asleep. The droid attempts to gas him, but C-3PO and R2-D2 intervene. After a brief struggle, Kea uses a laser device to disable the droid. She inquires about Thall and Jord's condition. Thall is unharmed, but Jord demands to know what is happening.

Later, Kea's mother, Demma Moll, explains that the Fromm Gang is constructing a weapons satellite called the Trigon One on Ingo. The Fromm Gang targeted Thall because he discovered the weapon's location, and they want to keep it a secret. When Thall asks how Kea knows about this, she explains that her mother sent her to rescue him because she was searching for the weapon's location in order to destroy it.

Sise Fromm sent the assassin droid to kill Thall in order to prevent him from interfering with the launch of their secret weapon. Demma says that their only hope is to destroy the Trigon One before it leaves for Sise Fromm's base. Kea says that it is up to them because everyone in the Annoo system is a possible victim and freedom is everyone's fight. Thall is sympathetic but Jord tells him that he needs to sleep off that gas. Jord has a plan to take out the satellite.

Later in the sand sloth manger, C-3PO demonstrates his knowledge of the ancient hand-to-hand combat art Gravik-nez to R2-D2, hoping to contribute to the fight for freedom. C-3PO gets R2-D2 to charge at him but panics when the astromech droid obliges. R2-D2 rams into the protocol droid, causing his legs to get entangled with his body. A sand sloth licks C-3PO, much to his embarrassment.

The next morning, Kea and Jord embark on the White Witch for the mission to destroy Trigon One. C-3PO explains that their plan is to sneak aboard Sise Fromm's ship for a free ride to the weapons satellite. Thall thinks they haven't got a chance and enlists the two droid. Later at a spaceport, Thall tells the droids that he has a plan to infiltrate Sise's ship. He tells C-3PO to search for Kea and Jord.

Kea and Jord are being held at gunpoint by an Annoo-dat blue enforcer. C-3PO arrives and panics. This allows Thall to ambush the enforcer from behind. The enforcer shoots a bag above C-3PO, causing giant beans to rain down on him. R2-D2 traps the enforcer with a rope-making machine Thall tells Jord and Kea that he has a plan to infiltrate Fromm's ship by hiding in cargo containers. C-3PO convinces the humans to bring breather units aboard the containers. Before climbing into her container, Kea tells C-3PO to take a golden cylindrical device but not to shake it.

The droids and Jord stay behind, posing as cargo workers. One of the Annoo-dat Blue guards teases C-3PO about removing his bolts before letting C-3PO and R2-D2 take the cargo containers away. Jord stays behind to look after Kea's mother. Jord tells Threepio and Artoo to look after the cargo. While loading the cargo, they stand as Tig Fromm and Vlix walks past them. The criminal does not recognize the droids. Short later, Sise Fromm arrives riding on a power chair with two Annoo-dat Blue guards. Sise is displeased with his son and vows to capture the fugitives.

Tig reports that the Trigon One is almost ready. Sise says it better be due to the price. Tig says that he can't put a price on an entire star system and hopes that they will soon control the entire quadrant. C-3PO asks Kea and Thall if they have heard about the Fromm's plans. Thall says yes and asks C-3PO if they are aboard the ship. C-3PO complies and brings them aboard the ship. Jord hopes that his friend succeeds.

While in the cargo hold, C-3PO tells R2-D2 that they cannot lose track of the containers where Kea and Thall are hiding. C-3PO is upset about having to share the cargo hold with two aggressive-looking droids. The green humanoid droid boasts about dismantling the droids with one hand. C-3PO tries to ignore him but R2-D2 insults the green droid in binary, saying that his maker was a trash compactor. The green droid is about to confront them but Sise's ship runs into a meteor storm, which causes cargo to fall all over the place. The green droid is struck by unsecured cargo.

Following the storm, C-3PO and R2-D2 lose track of the containers where Kea and Thall are hiding. After landing on Ingo, the two droids attempt to find their human masters among the containers. When C-3PO tells a Snic 2-4-2 to be more careful, Vlix takes an interest in the cargo. C-3PO claims they top priority, prompting Vlix to order him to open it.

However, another droid accidentally drops a large piece of blue freight on the white box, crushing it. Despite his hatred of droids, Vlix is grateful towards C-3PO and asks if he has anymore top priority goods. R2-D2 whistles that he has found the cargo box carrying Kea and Thall. C-3PO claims that box is priority cargo and Vlix lets them do their job. C-3PO is relieved that his human masters are safe inside the white box. C-3PO tells them that he has arranged clearance to the hangar.

Meanwhile, various hover droids work on the Trigon One. Tig tries to impress his crime lord father by claiming that the weapon has the destructive power of anything a thousand times its size. Sise is pessimistic that smaller is better but Tig claims this is the new age and that it consists of advanced little compartments.

Elsewhere in the base, R2-D2 points out that the cylindrical device that Kea gave C-3PO is a thermal detonator. A couple of Annoo-dat blue swipe the thermal detonator Kea gave Threepio, but they give it back and let the droids go when Threepio mentions Vlix gave them security clearance. The guards let them enter the chamber containing the Trigon One. Threepio accidentally activates the detonator ten minutes prior to detonation.

From the command center, Tig asks Vlix what the droids are doing here. Vlix says that he gave them clearance to deliver cargo. C-3PO frees Thall and Kea from the cargo container. He passes the detonator to Kea. Trig orders the guards to stop the intruders from destroying the Trigon. Running out of time, Thall tells Kea to cover for him while he deals with the detonator. Kea shoots down two labor droids while R2-D2 sprays two security droids with foam. R2-D2 also locks two Anno-dat blue guards out, sealing them inside.

A labor droid attacks C-3PO but R2-D2 trips him over, prompting C-3PO to argue that he was going to stop them. The Anno-date blue guards force their way inside. Thall hurls the grenade at the cylindrical roof exit before boarding the Trigon One with Kea and the droids. The detonator explodes, opening a hole in the ceiling. The weapons satellite gets stuck on a crane. Trig deploys several droid fighters, believing the weapons systems are not activated. Sise points out otherwise.

The rebels use the Trigon One's firepower to destroy the crane and escape into space. Trig's droid fighters pursue the weapons satellite but R2-D2 uses the weapons satellite's laser cannon to destroy three fighters. Despite the loss of the Trigon One, Trig is optimistic that his weapon worked and suggests rebuilding it. Sise suggests doing it far away from the attention of the other gangs. He vows to do it alone.

Kea wants to use the Trigon One against the other gangs, but Thall argues that it's too powerful a weapon and must be destroyed completely. Kea and the droids agree, believing that Sise's gang is finished. C-3PO says freedom is everyone's fight before trying to practice martial arts with R2-D2. Following a failed attempt, he decides to leave "freedom fighting" to R2-D2.

C-3PO's mention of the "Rebel Alliance" upon discovering Kea Moll's hideout creates a contradiction with subsequent sources, which place the Alliance's formation in 2 BBY.

An ATL Interceptor, a compact vehicle from the Droids toy line, makes a brief appearance facing the Triggon One after it lifts off. This is the only vehicle without solar panels; the solar panels appear to be modified variants of the TIE/LN starfighter and also appear as the IG-1000 in the later episode The New King.