Chapter 15:
– Silas –
I landed on my ass—hard. "Ouch…"
Beside me, Vista hit the ground just as gracelessly, letting out a startled squeak. Groaning, I glanced around, blinking in confusion as we found ourselves smack in the middle of some weird-ass looking city. The buildings were sleek and smooth, with high arches and shiny marble. Something about the architecture was really familiar, but I couldn't quite place it right away.
"What the hell just happened!?" Vista scrambled to her feet, eyes wide in total panic. "Did we seriously just get spirited away? I mean, I freaking love that movie, but I never actually wanted it to happen to me!"
She was fumbling to put her mask on, her hands shaking. Thankfully, she was already wearing the rest of her costume.
"Easy, Vista," I said, quickly climbing to my feet. "Take a breath, we'll figure this shit out."
Just to be safe, I mentally summoned my Nightingale armor. Instantly, it wrapped around me, snug and reassuringly solid. The Nightingale Blade settled comfortably into the sheath at my hip as well. I'd never actually used it up to this point. But I wasn't taking any chances—if this place was anything like Skyrim, it could get nasty fast. Hell, my system had warned about an invasion, so it might be even worse than last time.
Missy eyed the sword warily and gulped. "Do you really think you're gonna need that?"
"Hope not," I admitted grimly. "But better safe than sorry."
Then it finally clicked—we weren't alone. All around us, people were sprinting down the street, shouting and screaming in fear. Their clothing was weirdly formal, flowing robes and elaborate headdresses, unlike anything I'd seen back home.
A frantic-looking woman rushed past us, eyes wide in panic. "The Trade Federation are attacking!" she cried out.
Another guy stumbled past, shouting desperately, "Where is the Republic? Why aren't they helping us!?"
My stomach dropped. Oh shit. Suddenly everything snapped into place—the city, the clothing, the Trade Federation. I couldn't believe it.
"Holy fuck," I muttered under my cowl. "We're on Naboo. This is goddamn Star Wars." And yes, Earth Bet actually had those movies...
Vista whipped around to stare at me. "Eeeeeehhh!?" she practically shrieked. "Are you kidding me? Like, Jedi and lightsabers and stuff? Are you serious!?"
"Pretty damn sure, Vista," I confirmed, watching a group of terrified civilians race by us. "Looks like our 'evil invaders' are actual aliens that have an army of battle droids. And that means this shit's about to get very real..."
"Battle droids? Oh God!" Vista whimpered, glancing around anxiously. She was clearly uneasy, and I couldn't blame her. Hell, I was feeling pretty uneasy myself.
I reached over and gently patted the top of her head. "Relax, Missy. We're gonna get through this. I promise I'll keep you safe."
She looked up at me, startled, her cheeks immediately turning bright pink. Then she straightened her shoulders and stood taller—though she was obviously still way shorter than me. "Actually, I'm gonna be the one protecting you," she declared firmly, putting her hands on her hips. "I've been a cape longer than you have! In fact, I'm gonna protect everyone here. Who cares if we're stuck in some crazy space opera movie universe? I'm Vista, and Vista is a hero!"
I smirked beneath my cowl, impressed. Leave it to Missy—the twelve-year-old—to somehow be the most mature and brave member of the entire Wards team.
In my opinion at least.
But before I could dwell on that thought too long, the sharp, rhythmic sound of metal footsteps marching along the stone streets caught my attention. I snapped my head around, instantly alert.
Shit, here we go.
Battle droids rounded the corner in perfect, synchronized steps. Each one was holding a blaster rifle, and the civilians ran screaming in panic, desperate to escape them.
"Please do not flee," one droid ordered flatly. "Surrender yourselves."
Another droid stepped forward. "All citizens of Naboo are now property of the Trade Federation and shall immediately report to your detention centers for processing."
"Merchandise isn't supposed to run away!"
I growled in irritation. Fuck, this was worse than canon if the trade federation wanted the naboo people as slaves! But of course, this was reality…
I stepped forward and raised my left hand, feeling magicka spark in my fingertips. Blue-white electricity crackled loudly as it shot forward, immediately slamming into the nearest group of droids.
"Error! Error!" they shouted, jerking violently as sparks erupted across their metal bodies. "Waaaahhhh!"
A second later, they were smoking piles of scrap metal, collapsing uselessly onto the street. I smirked beneath my mask. Yep, shitty, cheaply made droids and lightning clearly didn't mix well.
"Jedi! Jedi!" another droid shouted, pointing its rifle in my direction. "Blast him! Blast him!"
My eyes widened as about twenty battle droids raised their weapons simultaneously.
Crap. Was my Nightingale armor even blaster-proof? Honestly, I wasn't sure, and I didn't exactly want to find out the hard way.
But just as they fired, space itself seemed to warp right in front of them. Instead of shooting straight toward me, the blaster bolts bent, twisting in mid-air and crashing spectacularly into each other in a fiery explosion!
I turned my head toward Vista. She was grinning widely, clearly proud of herself. "Guess what? They're all robots!" she shouted excitedly. "That means I don't have to hold back my powers at all! Let's kick their asses, Silas—I mean, Dragonborn!"
Damn right. I felt my own grin widening beneath my mask.
"Let's do this!" I called back.
Some of the fleeing civilians slowed down, turning to stare at us in disbelief as Vista and I took off running straight toward the advancing army of battle droids instead of away from them.
—
I swung my Nightingale Blade in a sharp, downward arc, effortlessly slicing the head off a B1 battle droid. The severed head bounced to the stone street with a clatter, and the droid's body crumpled lifelessly. Normally the blade would leech health and stamina from whoever it cut, but unfortunately, these metal assholes didn't exactly count as "living." On the bright side, the blade was basically a borderline Daedric weapon, so even after repeatedly hacking through solid metal bodies, there wasn't a scratch or chip on the surface.
That was a good thing too, because my magicka was currently drained, and right now I needed brute force more than finesse.
"Surround the Jedi and kill him!" another droid barked mechanically, pointing in my direction as more metallic idiots shuffled forward in formation.
Not a chance!
With a quick grunt, I pushed off the ground, easily leaping high over the heads of the clustered droids. I landed smoothly behind them, spinning around in one quick movement and slicing through their thin metal necks. Their heads went flying, tumbling through the air and scattering across the street. I grinned beneath my mask in satisfaction.
As good as that felt, though, I knew I wasn't the real star of this show—Vista was.
If I could handle groups of three or four at a time, she was absolutely wrecking squads of ten, twenty, even thirty droids simultaneously. She twisted space effortlessly, redirecting blaster bolts back at their shooters and making entire formations of droids crash spectacularly into one another.
"Shaker 9 indeed…" I muttered quietly, genuinely impressed with what she was pulling off.
"This is actually super fun!" Vista cheered, her voice bright and excited despite the chaos around us.
I could see sweat running down her forehead, though. Even as skilled as she was, she'd been using her powers continuously for almost half an hour straight. She'd been a hero for years and had plenty of experience stretching her limits, but even her stamina couldn't last forever. And she was also 12 which meant she had less than an adult parahuman to start with.
I glanced around quickly, taking stock of our surroundings. For the past thirty minutes, Vista and I had basically cleared the immediate streets of Theed, Naboo's capital city, holding back wave after wave of these dumb droids. But I knew it couldn't last. Up above in orbit, there were massive Federation drop ships—probably carrying hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions more droids. We were only facing their scouting parties and early patrol groups right now, and sooner or later, those bigger numbers would start pouring in.
Honestly, the thought made me pretty damn nervous.
And of course, there were plenty of idiots sticking around to watch the fight. Some people stood on the sidewalks or leaned out of windows, cheering loudly for me and Vista! The smarter civilians had already evacuated, running away the moment they saw trouble.
But the bravest among the Naboo citizens had picked up discarded blasters from fallen droids and started firing back, joining us in our little street war. They clearly weren't willing to become slaves to the Trade Federation without putting up a fight first, and I respected the hell out of that.
I looked over at Vista, watching her neatly dodge another volley of shots by twisting space around herself. The girl flashed me a triumphant grin, despite her obvious exhaustion.
"You good?" I called out.
"I'm good!" she shouted back, taking a breath. "But I don't know how long we can keep this up!"
I nodded grimly, tightening my grip on the Nightingale Blade and turning to face the next wave of approaching droids. We just had to keep going for now.
—
…About twenty minutes later, I glanced over at Vista and immediately saw how tired she was. She was breathing hard, her shoulders sagging slightly with exhaustion. The regular people who'd joined us were looking just as worn down. Some were even leaning against walls, desperately trying to catch their breath.
I turned my attention down the street, noticing another wave of battle droids slowly marching our way.
Crap. Reinforcements were already coming.
Before I could think of a plan, a frantic-looking guy dressed in the uniform of the local Naboo security force rushed over to us, his eyes wide with panic. He skidded to a stop, breathless and clearly desperate for answers.
"What should we do, Master Jedi!?" he asked urgently.
"We're not Jedi," Vista immediately huffed, wiping sweat from her forehead. She sounded irritated, probably because she'd had to correct this misunderstanding at least ten times by now with the others.
The officer blinked at us in shock. "You're…you're not Jedi? Then what exactly are you!? I've never seen powers like yours except in legends about the Jedi."
"We're superheroes!" I declared proudly, placing a hand confidently on my hip. "Couldn't you tell from our costumes?"
The guy just stared at us, mouth open. A few nearby civilians also turned their heads in our direction, equally dumbstruck.
"Superheroes are a thing now?"
"They're more effective than any Jedi I've ever heard of so I'm not complaining!"
"What are your hero names!?"
"I'm Dragonborn and this is Vista!" I declared. Mostly everyone was too tired to cheer so we just got a few polite claps.
After a few awkward seconds, the officer shook his head quickly, snapping himself out of it. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Jedi, superheroes, whatever—right now, you're our only hope. You've already taken out at least a thousand droids, but all our communications are jammed. I can't reach any of the higher-ups, so I'm deferring entirely to your judgment."
I sighed, seeing the heavy weight of responsibility was making him way too nervous. He clearly didn't know what to do.
"We need to pull back," I said decisively, looking around at the weary group. "We should find a place we can bunker down and wait for reinforcements of our own—somewhere that's hard for the droids to follow us into."
The officer quickly nodded, seeming relieved to have a clear direction. "Outside the capital city—Theed—there are swamps and wetlands. The droids will have trouble moving through that kind of terrain. I can start evacuating the people there immediately, spread the word to anyone still in the city."
"Good," I said, nodding in approval.
Then I felt a rumbling under my feet and looked down sharply. Beside me, Vista gasped. Three massive droid tanks hovered steadily down the main street toward us, their bulky forms looming menacingly. Their cannons swiveled slowly, locking into firing position.
"I—I can take care of them," Vista stammered, stepping forward shakily. Her voice was brave, but I could clearly see she was at her absolute limit. No way in hell was I going to let her push herself until she passed out—or worse.
"No," I said, stepping directly in front of her protectively. "I've got this one. Save your energy."
"Sir, we need to run!" the officer and several other civilians shouted desperately behind me. "Don't sacrifice yourself for us! You're too important!"
I sweatdropped at that, turning to them quickly. "Relax. I've got zero intention of sacrificing myself…"
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I walked out alone into the middle of the street, directly facing the incoming tanks. All three stopped instantly when they saw me, their turrets pivoting to aim their huge cannons right at my chest.
"There's one of the Jedi!" a droid in the closest tank's turret shouted robotically.
"Surrender, Jedi, or be destroyed," another droid emoted loudly.
I swallowed hard, suddenly very nervous. This was gonna hurt my throat like hell.
Taking one final deep breath, I steadied my stance, channeling every ounce of strength I had into my voice.
"FUS—"
"ROH—"
"DAAAAAAAH!"
The devastation that followed my shout was honestly pretty glorious. Sure, my throat felt like I'd just swallowed burning coals, but seeing three massive droid tanks—and the hundred or so battle droids surrounding them—get lifted right off the ground and thrown violently all the way to the end of the street made it completely worth it. They slammed down into the pavement and exploded spectacularly, erupting in flames and smoke. It was freaking awesome.
All around me, the people who'd been fighting and hiding broke into loud cheers, pumping fists in the air. A chant quickly rose through the street.
"Dragonborn! Dragonborn! Dragonborn!"
I grinned beneath my mask. Damn right.
Vista stood a few feet away, breathing hard, hands on her hips. She shot me a playful glare and stuck out her lower lip in a mock pout.
"Showoff," she said, trying to sound annoyed but clearly impressed.
"You're just jealous," I teased back, reaching out and gently grabbing her hand. This time she didn't even blush—she must've been way too exhausted. I carefully started pulling her along, moving with the crowd of civilians as they rushed toward the edge of the city.
We hadn't gotten far when suddenly, my system screen popped up directly in front of my face, startling me badly enough that I nearly tripped over my own feet.
[Emergency Secondary Mission: Save the Queen! The Queen of Naboo is about to be overrun and killed! Save her or the planet is guaranteed to fall!]
"Shit!" I hissed out loud, stopping abruptly. Vista stumbled slightly beside me, eyes widening in shock as she read the same message.
"Wait, we're not done yet?" Vista asked breathlessly, looking even more exhausted just thinking about it.
"Apparently not," I muttered.
I quickly turned, searching for the officer we'd spoken to before. Spotting him nearby, I called out, "Hey! Officer!"
The man immediately ran toward us, eyes wide and concerned. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?"
"Change of plans," I said firmly. "We can't follow you guys. Vista and I need to get to the palace right now—the Queen is in danger. If we don't save her, this planet is screwed."
The officer grimaced deeply, looking torn. "We can't just leave you two to do this alone!"
"Yes, you can," I told him bluntly. "Listen to me. You need to get your people safely out of here. Go to the swamps like you planned. We'll handle this. If the Queen dies, the Republic won't have a clue what's happening until it's way too late. Saving her has to be our priority."
He hesitated for a second, then finally nodded, reluctantly accepting it. "Understood. We'll follow your instructions. Please—both of you, be careful."
I nodded back, then waved my hand in front of me, mentally summoning my Ghost Bike. Instantly, the sleek black motorcycle appeared out of nowhere, materializing directly onto the street right in front of us.
"Whoa, so cool," Vista whispered in awe.
I hopped onto the seat, glancing back at her. "Come on, let's move."
Vista quickly climbed onto the bike behind me, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist to steady herself. As soon as she was secure, I revved the engine hard, tires spinning and squealing as we sped forward, racing toward the palace looming deeper inside the city.
– Palpetine –
Sheev Palpatine—also known to a select few in the galaxy as Darth Sidious—sat comfortably in his ornate senator's office, gazing calmly out at the sprawling skyline of Coruscant.
He loved when a plan came together.
As a true Sith Lord, Palpatine had no qualms about sacrificing the lives of Naboo's citizens—the people of his very homeworld—in order to advance his and his master's dark agenda. Soon enough, the Queen of Naboo would be dead, her people enslaved, and the entire galaxy outraged at the tragedy. Palpatine would capitalize on that anger and grief, positioning himself as a hero and quickly seizing the position of Supreme Chancellor. Nothing stood in his way now.
The soft, insistent beep from his desk interrupted his thoughts. A holocall. Palpatine released a quiet sigh, already knowing who was likely contacting him at this inconvenient hour.
Nute Gunray, that idiotic Neimoidian leader of the Trade Federation. Honestly, the fool couldn't even tie his own shoes without explicit guidance. Already feeling the beginnings of a headache, Palpatine pulled the dark hood of his cloak forward and activated the holographic projector. As the shimmering blue image of Gunray appeared, Palpatine's voice became low and sinister—fully embracing his hidden identity as Darth Sidious.
"Why have you disturbed me?" Sidious growled.
Gunray was visibly panicked, fidgeting anxiously. "My lord Sidious! What is going on down there!? Two more Jedi have suddenly appeared right in the middle of Naboo, and they're incredibly powerful! They have already destroyed thousands of our droids and multiple armored tanks! You promised the Jedi would be handled by your apprentice!" Gunray practically shouted, his voice shrill with accusation.
Sidious froze, narrowing his eyes sharply beneath his hood.
Two more Jedi on Naboo? Impossible. He had personally ensured that only Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Kenobi, would be there. And soon enough, they would be dead, as planned.
"Show me proof of this," Sidious demanded sharply, barely containing his irritation.
"Of course, my lord! Immediately!" Gunray hastily tapped at a control panel. The holo-projection shifted instantly, displaying a live security feed from Naboo.
What Sidious saw on that flickering hologram shocked him to the core.
A figure wearing sleek black armor—a design that vaguely reminded Sidious of ancient Sith legends—was cleaving effortlessly through entire platoons of battle droids with a simple steel blade. He moved with unnatural speed and agility, deflecting blaster fire while throwing arcs of crackling lightning from his fingertips, destroying clusters of droids in bursts of sparks and smoke.
Behind the armored figure stood a younger female apprentice, wearing green, who was demonstrating an unprecedented mastery of the Force. Sidious watched, utterly captivated, as she manipulated space itself, warping reality to effortlessly redirect a hail of blaster bolts back at entire squads of droids. Her abilities were unlike anything he'd witnessed in his extensive studies of the Force.
But the true shock came moments later. The armored warrior suddenly stepped forward into a street filled with approaching tanks. Palpatine leaned closer, intrigued, as he heard the masked man shout out three distinct words in a language unknown to him.
"FUS—ROH—DAH!"
A surge of raw power erupted from the man's voice. Three massive tanks—and over a hundred droids—were violently lifted from the ground and thrown back down the street, exploding spectacularly in flames.
Sidious felt his pulse quicken with excitement, his interest now thoroughly piqued.
How very interesting!
He had to learn these abilities. Such power would undoubtedly serve him well in his grand ambitions. And that young girl... Her astonishing control and strength with the Force was beyond anything he'd seen in generations. He'd believed he would never again encounter such a promising apprentice. Until now.
Oh yes. He would have them both.
Sidious calmly leaned back, his earlier irritation replaced by eager anticipation. His dark lips twisted into a thin, sinister smile beneath the shadow of his hood.
He ended the call with the annoying alien, and immediately sent a message to his apprentice to make sure to capture both of these new targets alive–for study! He obviously left out the part that he was planning on making the girl his next apprentice since she was far more talented than Maul could ever hope to be…
– Silas –
I gripped the handlebars tightly, the Ghost Bike rumbling silently beneath me as it soared smoothly above the streets of Theed. Vista's arms were wrapped securely around my waist, clutching me for dear life as we rocketed towards the royal palace.
Even from up here, I could see the palace grounds crawling with Trade Federation battle droids—hundreds of the metallic bastards swarming everywhere.
My stomach sank at the sight. Shit, that wasn't good. Vista was already exhausted from the earlier fight, and I wasn't confident I could handle hundreds of droids alone, at least not with my current set of abilities. We'd need a miracle to get through this mess and save the young queen!
As if on cue, my system screen suddenly popped up in front of my face, nearly making me swerve into a building in surprise.
[Congratulations heroes! Holding back the first wave of the Trade Federation has resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives saved! The host and his partner will be rewarded!]
Damn, talk about good timing!
Before I could even wonder what reward I was getting, another message appeared:
[The host Silas has been granted the ability ELECTROMASTER: TOARU MAJUTSU NO INDEX.]
My eyes went wide, and my jaw dropped under my mask.
"Holy shit! Fuck yes!" I shouted excitedly, nearly making Vista jump behind me.
"Huh? What just happened!?" she called out, leaning forward anxiously to peer over my shoulder.
Before I could answer, the screen popped up another notification, this one for her:
[The host's partner Vista has been granted FORCE SENSITIVITY.]
Vista read the prompt over my shoulder, her grip on me tightening even further in surprise.
"EHHHHH!?" she shrieked, completely losing her composure. "Silas! Does this mean what I think it means? I can be a freaking Jedi!?"
– Miss Militia –
"Motherfucking shitballs!" Miss Militia cursed under her breath, pressing a hand tightly against her forehead.
Silas and Missy had literally just vanished right off the Rig—one second they'd been chatting calmly in the console room, the next they'd disappeared in a flash of light. It was exactly the same thing that happened when Silas first triggered at the hospital, back when he'd disappeared with Panacea!
That weird "system" power of his had to be behind this, dragging another Ward along for whatever crazy ride he'd been pulled into this time.
Was this seriously going to be a recurring problem with him?
Miss Militia hurried down the hall toward Armsmaster's lab, frustration making her footsteps heavier than usual. As soon as the door hissed open, she heard Armsmaster's voice, animated and excited as he spoke to a glowing monitor displaying Dragon's real face.
"It's unfortunate the motorcycle just vanished," he was saying enthusiastically, "but we gathered such extraordinary data from it, Dragon. The energy readings alone broke half the laws of physics we've established!"
"Oh, hello, Miss Militia," Dragon called out, spotting her approaching the screen and offering a friendly wave.
Armsmaster turned around, acknowledging her with a small nod.
"Hello, Dragon," Miss Militia replied, sighing and returning her wave tiredly. "Collin. I hate to interrupt, but we have another problem."
"What is it?" Armsmaster asked immediately.
She sighed again, exhaustion creeping into her voice. "Silas just vanished again. And this time he took Vista with him!"
Armsmaster stiffened slightly but didn't respond right away. His face stayed neutral, practically unreadable behind his visor. Miss Militia felt her jaw tighten in frustration. As the new leader of the Wards, she was upset with herself for not having anticipated something like this. She should have seen it coming. She was also the one who sent Silas down to console duty with Vista, thinking it would help him reflect on his actions. If she'd just asked him to serve out his punishment alongside her instead, maybe she would've been pulled along on whatever mission he'd been yanked into, rather than Missy. At least then she could have protected the younger Ward and seen firsthand what they were dealing with.
"Hm," Armsmaster finally said after a long pause, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That's disappointing. Theresa and I were just analyzing Silas's 'ghost bike' when it vanished right in front of us. Fascinating technology, shame it couldn't remain longer."
Miss Militia stared at him blankly, waiting for him to express at least some concern about the two missing Wards, but he didn't say anything else. Typical Collin, always more concerned with Tinker-tech data than actual people.
This was exactly why he was no longer the leader of the Wards here.
Thankfully, Dragon seemed to understand the gravity of the situation immediately, her expression instantly becoming worried. "Is there anything I can do to help, Hannah?" she asked earnestly.
Miss Militia managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Dragon. I appreciate it. But unless you happen to have a way to travel to completely different planets—or universes—then there's probably nothing any of us can do right now. We'll just have to hope Silas and Vista come back safely..."
Dragon frowned deeply, nodding slowly in reluctant acceptance. "Alright. Keep me updated if you need anything. Seriously, anything at all."
"I will," Miss Militia promised. Her shoulders slumped as she considered everything else that now needed to be done. "Meanwhile, I've got a lot of calls to make. Director Piggot's going to want a full report. Then there's notifying Missy's parents—God, that's going to be fun—and both of the schools that our missing Wards attend. It's going to be a long night."
Armsmaster barely glanced up, already busy tapping keys and bringing up data streams on his screens again. "Good luck," he muttered absently.
Miss Militia sighed again, turning away sharply and heading toward the door. Sometimes she really missed when she was just another cape, instead of being the leader responsible for everyone else's messes.
Tonight was definitely one of those nights…
XXX