IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY…
"ARGHHH!" roared a young man while having both of his arms outstretched and absorbing the Force Lightning attack of Darth Sidious to buy some time for his comrades and precious people to escape. Once he heard the distinct sound of a ship lifting off and escaping, he moved towards his second part of his hastily thought out plan: He will surrender himself to the Force and hopefully the explosion of pure Force Energy will take out the Emperor and his former master Darth Vader as well. Preparing himself and sending through the Force a quick apology to the very woman he very much loved with all of his being, he slowly inched forward to the Emperor using all of his formidable will and opened himself up to the Force. The resulting explosion tore through the 'throne room' sending everyone flying back at great speeds.
When the smoke clears, an old man and a cyborg approach the centre of the room surveying the damage wrought by the explosion of pure energy. The throne room is completely destroyed with a few electrical wires dangling from the ceiling. The hole on the star ship was already covered by emergency hatches but still the damage has been done. All that is left is the body on the centre of the room lying prone and lifeless before the two most powerful men in the galaxy.
"He has become more powerful than either of us can imagine Lord Vader." rasped the old man, Darth Sidious, to his apprentice. An undercurrent of a hate and anger coats the words said by said man making the badly beaten-up cyborg mentally shudder at the consequences that will happen.
"I will hunt them down to the ends of the galaxy, my master." replied the hybrid, Darth Vader, to his 'master'. Said old man just sneered derisively at the beaten up cyborg and turned around. Making plans to have more discreet eyes shadowing his 'apprentice' for any signs of lack of total submission to his power.
"See that you do Lord Vader. I will not…" stated the Emperor before trailing off due the massive spike in Force Energy emitting from behind him. He whirled around and saw the body of the boy glowing white due to pure raw Force Energy flowing through the body. This sacred the Emperor since he felt that the boy has entered complete oneness with the Force and have enough power to wipe the station off the face of the galaxy if the body explodes once again. Making up his mind, he summoned all of his impressive power in the Dark Side in hopes to destroy the boy and his body, but it is all for naught as the boy broke down in particles of light before disappearing completely. He cursed again at how the child has now become much more powerful than both him and Lord Vader at their primes combined, but silently relieved at the rather anti-climactic exit the boy's body has made.
"Finish your task in great haste Lord Vader, the tides are turning against us and we must take control back once again." ordered Darth Sidious before leaving the room towards his meditation chamber to hopefully decipher on how this new development will affect his Empire. This will also help him plot how to control Darth Vader more and reinforce his hold on his apprentice's throat. He cackles maniacally at all of his plans that are slowly coming together.
Brown eyes snap open. He looked around and saw white everywhere; even the contours framing the room are white. He looked around and was surprised that he was at the cockpit of the Rogue Shadow.
"Greetings Galen Marek…" greeted a voice from behind him. Galen spun around and saw a man sitting on the pilot's chair, which he saw was empty earlier, smiling at him fondly.
"Who are you?" asked Galen, weary of the man before him. He can feel the man's presence in the Force overwhelming. This man before Galen makes Darth Sidious look like a particularly interesting bacteria under a microscope. But that thought felt right for some reason, he decided to ponder upon those thoughts later and focus on the man sitting quite calmly before him.
"I have many names you know: God, Yahweh, Kami, Allah, Chuck, One-Above-All, and Big Man Upstairs but you can call me the Creator." introduced the man before him whilst also smiling enigmatically at the dumbfounded man before him. The deity can sympathize with the man before him. Although he does not have any true physical form, he does exist and chose to appear before this man in this manner. Especially now that notion that there are no singular omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient deity that boy learned since his birth was just shattered.
"Do not fret young one, the mysteries of the entire universe cannot be solved or discovered regardless of how long one person or a group ponders upon said mysteries." assured the deity before him. Galen just nodded his head because really, the Force is shouting at him that the being before him is far more powerful than anything he can fathom and far more powerful than those the he cannot fathom. Deciding the being before him, he nodded his head and waited as the being before him gathered its thoughts.
"Galen Marek, I have not allowed your entry to the Netherworld of the Force, known to others as the Afterlife, since you still have a part to play in everything I have planned in another universe." stated the Creator solemnly to the suddenly nervous man before him. The Creator feeling the nervousness radiating off its chosen one, smiled warmly and encouragingly at Galen. That has the instant effect of calming the young adult before him.
"I cannot tell what role you will be playing, but you will find out about it soon. I am here to inform you that I will be teaching you everything about the Force and Lightsaber combat to help you defend yourself and your precious loved ones in this new universe." informed the Creator to the now speechless Galen Marek before him. Ignoring the slack-jawed look on the boy before him he continued, "Aside from learning everything to know regarding the manipulation of the Force, I will also remove the innate 'barriers' present in every living thing that regulate Force usage to help you channel the Force much more efficiently and lower the chances of you being tired when doing particularly complex Force techniques. I will also quintuple your current amount of midi-chlorians to boost your connection to the Force much faster and able to draw more power from it. Lastly, your body will be undergoing thorough extreme changes both to handle your power and make sure that your body can deliver and withstand immense amount of punishment. I may have made you a true immortal, but that does not mean you cannot be killed, injured, or maimed. You can die, but not stay dead and any mutilations accidental or otherwise will be reversed with proper amount of rest. Time and illnesses human or not will have no dominion over you as well, so only physical injuries leading to death will only hinder you depending on how severe the injuries are." explained the Creator before standing up and nodding his head towards the training room of the Rogue Shadow. Galen just nodded dumbly, but a question pops inside his head regarding the state of those he left behind in order for them to escape a start a rebellion to overthrow Palpatine.
"How about those that I left behind, what will happen to them?" asked the anxious Galen Marek at the person in front of him, said man just stopped walking and seems to be pondering on how he will answer Galen. But before he can fidget due to the uncomfortable silence, the Creator spoke again,
"They will be fine, they all will. You just have to have faith in them and in the Force." said the Creator before continuing on with his stride towards the training area of the Rogue Shadow. Galen just stood still for a bit before following the man towards the training area. He arrived at the training area and saw that said area is far bigger than what he remembered from the Rogue Shadow. He decided to ignore it and focus his eyes on his new Master in the ways of the Force.
"What I am about to offer you are masters who will teach you everything that your universe has learned in terms of manipulating the Force and the different martial arts from hand-to-hand combat to Lightsaber forms: Both Sith and Jedi interpretations as well. They will be training you for at least 1000 or more years in all of these arts, including science, mathematics, and languages. My only job is to orient and brief you on your new home. The only thing I will teach you however is control over your emotions as well as how to effectively use your powers without tiring you out. Do you understand everything Padawan Marek?" asked the Creator. Said man just nodded his head and immersed himself further in the Force. His temporary master sported a small smile and decided to start training the kid in control of emotions and power. It will only take a decade or two for the Creator to ensure that his chosen one will have full and absolute control over his emotions and his powers.
And so began Galen Marek's millennia of training in the intricacies of the Force, Sciences, and Marital Arts under the tutelage of some of the greatest Masters of the Force from Master Yoda, Master Windu, Darth Plagueis, Revan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Bane and others. He could not have asked for better masters that the Creator summoned for him. For years upon years, he learned and mastered techniques that aid a user in and out of a battle. During this time honing and actualizing his potential to the max, the Creator trained him heavily on how to control and calm his darker instincts and emotions when it comes to using abilities commonly identified as a Dark Side power. One of his abilities that he mastered to an extremely high degree during the millennia of training is Force Lightning, he now surpassed his Darth Sidious or any Sith Lords in this regard since a single blast of his lightning at full power not only hurls back his opponent while undergoing vaporization, the arcs emitted by the main lightning bolt has enough power to supercharge anything it hits turning them to veritable Lightning Bombs ready to detonate at Galen's mental signal regardless if they are organic or not. A continuous blast of Force Lightning however has a different effect, the main blast still disintegrates and hurls his opponent back, the forks however are different. Instead of turning anything the lightning arcs touches to lightning bombs, it will vaporize anything organic or not upon contact the time of how long the vaporization depends on how dense the material they are made off. The arcs might not be powerful enough to hurl those hit by it like those hit by the main lightning blast, but it does the job quite nicely of scorching and destroying his enemies. On the other end of the spectrum, one of his mastered Light Side power is Alter Environment. He honed his skill in this ability that he can create massive earthquakes to storms of hurricane proportions. His immense knowledge of the natural sciences, thanks to some of his masters which were scientific geniuses, also helped fine-tuning his control and power of this skill making altering the environment where he is in easier and does not drain him much of his strength.
In martial arts, he mastered every lightsaber forms as well as every hand-to-hand combat forms to better defend himself in his soon to be new home. Even though he mastered all lightsaber forms, he was encouraged by his master to create his own during his free time. He took up the challenge and spent decades formulating his own style to use against his enemies, should he be forced to go into melee combat. After 6 decades of research and trial and error, he finally created his own form that combines the patience and defence of Soresu, passion and unpredictability of Juyo, aggression and power of Vaapad, footwork and finesse of Makashi, and the use of Force Powers used by users of Niman. During this time he created his own lightsaber that emits a blade of pure plasma that has a black core wrapped in a silver-white outline in colour and has a slight curve at the bottom of the hilt that is decorative in nature. However, this lightsaber he created is unique in the sense that he was able to house three crystals inside the casing: A flawless Black lightsaber crystal, the Heart of the Guardian, and the Mantle of the Force. These three crystals were given to him by the Creator when he left after training Galen with his control. The result is a black lightsaber that empowers and improves his Force abilities due to the Mantle of the Force and an improved cutting power due to the Heart of the Guardian. (AN: Check Profile for Image of Galen's Lightsaber)
His masters, Darth Bane in particular, have trained him ruthlessly in hand-to-hand combat so that he did not have to rely solely on a lightsaber when fighting opponents in close quarters. The result of his torturous physical regimen led him to developing a figure perfect for strength and speed whilst also retaining mobility and agility. Finally, all of his masters taught him mechanics, physics, biology, and chemistry so that he can augment some of his Force powers with knowledge gain from studying the universe in a scientific manner. The result of this academic training is his increased proficiency in mechanics and engineering. Another benefit is his increased skill, power, and control in the use of some Force powers that manipulate energy in its base form or the changing of physical states around him (i.e. Alter Environment, Force Lightning, Pyrokinesis, etc.). It also helped kick-start his hobby of modifying anything to improve it, add functions to it, or simply tinker with it for his own amusement.
Right now however, he was standing before the Creator, ready to enter the new world. It is kind of disconcerting really to have semi-lived for a millennia. But that is the past, now it is time to meet his future. He was wearing his Eradicator Armour given to him by his masters after his thousand-year training. His new armour was modified to able to withstand tremendous amount of damage and kinetic energy without denting or tearing, empower his attacks both lightsaber and force powers, as well as being flexible enough to withstand the extreme acrobatic movements of Form IV: Ataru. (AN: Check Profile for Images of Galen's Armour)
Satisfied with everything he will take for the journey secured safely inside his backpack made of Krayt Dragon hide, spare lightsaber parts, lightsaber crystals, repair kit for his armour, and some mods, he left his still pristine white room and approached the Creator. Calming his anxiety by releasing it to the Force, he approached his former Master who seems to be lost in thought.
"Ah Galen, I was expecting you a bit later. Nonetheless, are you ready for your 'Next Great Adventure'?" asked the Creator chucking at what he said like it was some sort of personal joke that only he could understand. Galen just tilted his head in confusion, but did not ask about the topic further, he just waited for the being before him to finish. "I apologize my boy, but if you are as old as me, you tend to develop eccentric tendencies." continued the being with a mild look of being sheepish before continuing on, donning the appearance of a supreme being.
"Right, Galen Marek, the world I will send you to has the designation of Earth-199999. Your Galactic Basic is the same with this world's English, but its writing system is different from what you grew up with. But with your skills in Force you can easily comprehend and adapt to the written language of this world." started the Creator before seemingly stopping his briefing. It seems that the deity before Galen is considering something, but he was not able to ask since the Creator focused on him again, "A word of warning or advice, take your pick, always trust the Force, your heart, and your mind to lead you through all obstacles. That is all." finished the Creator.
"Very well my Lord, I am ready." replied Galen calmly. The deity sported an enigmatic smile and clapped the back of his shoulder.
"Good! Now I'm going to teleport you to your new home. Remember this world is not as technologically advanced as yours overall, but there are civilizations outside of this planet that completely trumps the tech of your old universe in some areas. So keep an open mind." informed the Creator before opening a portal towards his new home. Galen just took a deep breath and dispersed his anxiety through the Force before walking forward to enter the portal. But before he can step one foot through the portal, the Creator thought it prudent to play a prank on him.
"Oh before I forget, someone you hold dear will be waiting for you on the other side. I'm sure you will enjoy his company, for I have made improvements and you just have to blast him with a small discharge of Force Lightning to power him for at least a week. So have fun!" declared the Creator before shoving Galen through the portal, cackling like a teenager after a prank has gone according to plan. However, he did have two last surprises in store for Galen that he is content to let Galen solve it for himself. He disappeared from the Star Wars universe and appeared at his office. Once he saw his table, he cried at how stupid he was to create paperwork in the first place. Still crying at his mistake, the Creator sat behind his work table and started doing the paperwork that is content on simply mocking him silently.
Galen stumbled out of the portal, in a manner unbefitting his status as a Master of the Force, mumbling about childlike eccentric deities seeking entertainment by pranking those who are below him. But he cast off those thoughts when he finally took a look of his surroundings. What he saw appalled him since even though there is a lack of people nearby, the trace of despair and poverty still lingers in the air as well as the structure itself. But before he can have the chance to closely inspect the surroundings using the Force, he saw a shift of motion in his periphery before the sound of metal joints moving, commonly seen in droids, reached his ears. He was understandably shocked when he saw his old friend looking at him with what he can guess as shock on its metal features.
"PROXY? By the Force you look brand new. How are you doing?" asked the still shocked Galen Marek to his first very true friend.
"Master, I knew you were alive! I'm fine and thank you by the compliment. Where are we master? The last event recorded in my memory banks is that a technician from the Rebel Alliance, congratulations on making it possible by the way, shut me down for some scheduled maintenance." narrated PROXY to his master. Galen had a sneaking suspicion that the Creator was responsible of personally bringing PROXY to this world before he left, if the clues he now recalled were any indication. So instead of replying to the question of where they are, Galen just narrated in a heavily abridged version of what happened after his desperate battle against Darth Sidious. How he met the Creator, trained under the tutelage of the greatest Sith Lords and Jedi Masters, and was given a second shot in life. PROXY listened to his master attentively but also interrupting the retelling by asking questions of a clarifying nature.
"What are we supposed to do now master?" asked the unsure PROXY. Galen just made a faint noise at the back of his throat as he ponders upon the position they are in right now. He has paper money that totals to $5000; however that amount is not very conducive regarding living for long periods of time. He needs to earn money before he can decide what to do next, so he formulated a plan as well as keeping on high alert of any people that might snoop inside this hovel where he and PROXY were deposited.
'The money I have will not last a week to a month depending on the prices here. I have to think of something to earn money and continue from there. I also have the problem of not having clothes that will help me blend with the others of the populace. PROXY does not need one since he can change shape… Wait that is it; perhaps I'll request PROXY to blend with the crowd and use some of the money to look for investing opportunities in a honest and fair small businesses to insure continuous income. But I will have to request him to go to the nearby market to but something edible to eat and a few clothes that will help me blend in with the crowd in some manner, as well as buying something that can carry my armour and paraphernalia after changing to casual clothes to blend in properly. I'll have to ask PROXY if he has any improvements aside from the combat module he has. Hopefully the Creator saw fit to add some powerful hacking capabilities on PROXY.' mentally thought Galen before approaching the wandering droid to tell him of his plans to adapt to this new world. PROXY agreed and decided to start working according to his master's wishes. Galen was just happy that the Creator indeed turned PROXY into one extremely sophisticated droid if the additions stated to him by said droid are all fully functional. Since he has nothing to do but wait, he decided to meditate and consult the Force for the next best course of action. It did not take long for him to receive images of him walking through a street whose glaring landmark is a rather large desert outside of this small town. He also saw he was wearing what he could consider this world's casual clothes looking for some part-time job to supplement his small but steady income, the written language is easy to decipher thanks to his skills in Force Comprehension, and it all boils down to the matter of learning this world's grammar that is holding him back from acquiring full mastery over this world's written and spoken communication. The next vision involves him and PROXY moving inside a room, possibly rented, to settle down. Then the images fades away snapping him out of his vision. Filing those images away for consideration later, he continued his meditative trance to conserve his energy. His time adapting will be tricky and he has to be crafty to surpass the obstacles placed before him.
TIMESKIP: 4 MONTHS
Four months, it has been four months since he has been deposited in this world, and Galen Marek has settled quite nicely in the small town of Puente Antiguo in New Mexico as its resident mechanic. He arrived in the small town about a month ago after making sure that he has everything stable from the current steady supply of income to some of the stores that PROXY invested in, to learning the grammar of the world; including different languages of this world old and new, to studying political climate of the world, and studying the very varied cultures of each nation. So even it has been four months already, he still continues to study everyday so that he cannot be caught unaware of anything that may happen. Right now everything is normal since he is living a quiet life, but the Force is warning him to always be alert since something big is coming and that he will be dragged towards it since the Force has been giving him snippets of the future that are all vague and cryptic in nature. So if time permits it, he and PROXY spar to keep his skills sharp by going outside the town in the cover of night to practice his lightsaber, Force, and hand-to-hand techniques.
The sound of lightsaber crackling as it clash with another lightsaber is distinctly heard in the New Mexican desert. Although it is indeed distinct, they are far enough away from any spies or even civilization for it to matter. Galen Marek and his black lightsaber against PROXY's crimson lightsaber, both combatants are going against each other in a furious yet crisp lightsaber duel. One benefit of the reprogramming of PROXY is the addition of the Darth Sidious combat protocol for use in training. So far, Galen is enjoying the battle since he has managed to 'kill' Darth Sidious for many times already, with said Dark Lord of the Sith has only managed to kill him a couple of times. It shows that Galen still has much to polish in his created style if 'Sidious', an imitated one therefore not that powerful, can still manage to 'kill' him in a spar. But he is learning and the amount of deaths he has received in sparring against Sidious has been reduced. He was about to continue sparring with PROXY when he felt a massive disturbance in the Force. Quickly deactivating his lightsaber, he left for a run fuelled by the Force towards where he felt the disturbance originate from.
What he saw was a phenomenon similar to a hyperspace wormhole; he can feel a single life force mingling with the wormhole and three more on a van he recalls being owned by Jane Foster for her internship under Doctor Selvig. But he cannot see where these four people are clearly in the maelstrom of colours and energy. He did not have to wait long for the wormhole disappeared instantly leaving an engraving on the ground as well as depositing the man smack to the side of the van that looked like it went through a blender. He then trained his Force enhanced senses of the group and snorted in laughter when a woman, Darcy Lewis, Tasers the blonde man lying on the ground. He focused more on the downed man and memorized his face as well as his muted Force signature. Baffled at why the man's Force signature is muted to the point of being considered a civilian with just enough connection to the Force to survive, he probed deeper and found that this person's Force power was locked in by an impenetrable barrier far more advanced than what he learned when mastering Sever Force. Instead of creating a wall of pure energy that interrupts or downright blocks a person's connection to the Force yet still gives the victim the ability to use the Force in an extremely weak manner, what he saw was a solid barrier that makes any feats using the Force downright impossible. There also seems to be a lock holding the entire barrier together and needs a specific key to break the blockade. Shocked as well as curious in this discovery, he watched them trek back to their rented RV and base of operations before sprinting himself back to his apartment to adapt this new method of severing connection through the Force or recreate the technique if the first one is impossible to adapt.
TIMESKIP: MORNING AFTER
It has been a day since a wormhole opened and talks about a satellite falling from the sky have already making its round across the small town in the early morning. Galen asked around town earlier in the morning, those that returned and collected some various objects needed for a barbecue, and was surprised that said 'satellite' was shaped as a war hammer. Of course after a few hours the government intervened before it became an international sensation because wormholes opening up and depositing a weapon and a man is beyond the capabilities of the people in this world despite the number of geniuses living in said world. But he was not alone in his surprise since the man that has the barrier blocking his Force powers enters said diner and ate with the two ladies and the elder scientist who witnessed his arrival here on the planet Earth. He discretely listened to the conversations amongst the four of them and also did the same regarding his sight to observe and to get more information about the situation.
"Now tell us exactly what happened to you last night." the blonde woman asked the man eating ravenously from a huge mound of steak and eggs. That is not including the amount of pancakes and gravy right in front of the ravenously hungry man. Said man just stopped eating before looking at the woman asking the question. Galen can feel through the Force the small spark of having a crush coming from the woman. He grinned to himself slightly because he can understand the woman, he himself having developed feelings for Juno as well.
"Maybe start with how you got inside that cloud." the flustered woman rephrases the question. But the blonde man still seems to ignore the woman as he is still busy demolishing his food. But before the blonde woman is able to request that he answers the question, the brunette of the group asked a different question far beyond what the blonde-haired woman asked earlier.
"And how you could eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and still be this hungry." asked the brunette to the man before her, ignoring the withering look sent to her by her colleague while the oldest of the four in terms of physical appearance just looked in morbid fascination as their 'guest' devoured food and never once choking on it due to the rate of intake.
"This drink, I like it!" exclaimed the blonde, tactlessly ignoring the questions fielded to him by the woman and smirking happily at what he is drinking.
"Yeah, it's great, isn't it? Isabella makes the best coffee in town." stated the brunette. She was to say more but the unexpected thing happened; the towering guy threw the mug to the floor shattering the mug. Galen just snorted at the action, whilst the rest of the townsfolk inside the diner stared at the man before him like he is some sort of a crazy guy.
"Another!" bellowed the same man, acting like a prince ordering a servant another mug of the drink, which he can now smell as coffee. Izzy, the proprietor glares at the blonde man from behind the counter for doing that and destroying one of her mugs. The blonde woman just looked apologetic at the proprietor.
"Sorry Izzy, little accident." states the sheepish and apologetic woman to the proprietor, before continuing in Spanish, "Yo voy a pagar la taza." Izzy just huffed and turned to a waitress to vent out her frustration in Spanish.
"What was that?" hissed the blonde woman to her fellow blonde. Exasperation is clearly coating the words coming out of her mouth. The blonde guy just looked at her and cocked his head slightly to his side as if he did not understood what she said.
"It was delicious. I want another!" boomed the guy in a deep voice. Galen really just snickered quietly when he felt through the Force that the blonde guy thought what he did was completely normal.
"Then you should just say so!" hissed the woman as a retort. Galen can feel the confusion rolling off the man now and he just continued listening to the now interesting discussion.
"I just did." replied the man to the obviously increasing frustrated woman. Galen just felt incredulous at the proceeding events. Did the guy really don't know that one does not destroy their mug just to get another serving of the drink.
"I mean ask for it. Nicely." replied the woman, whilst sighing in defeat at the man's attitude. The man's confusion just spiked, Galen can take a shot in the dark and guess that the man's throwing of the mug is a nice way of asking for more of the drink.
"I meant no disrespect." said the man sincerely despite the fact the confusion radiating off of him.
"All right then. No more smashing of cups or mugs deal?" asked, demanded, the blonde woman to their 'guest'. Galen saw the man just nodded seriously at the request of the woman before him.
"You have my word." came the simply reply from the man before her. Galen just tuned them out since he did not glean any useful information aside from the lack of understanding of Earth's culture by the man. Oh he knows that the man is not of this planet since no one can survive a transition from one place to another using a wormhole without some advanced tech to facilitate so he will just have to look for more information elsewhere. He finished his meal and stood up to return to his apartment, giving a thanks to Izzy and greeting some of the townies that returned from the crater 12 miles east, and continue trying to recreate the barrier technique that was placed on the blonde man in the diner. So deep his thoughts on how to recreate the technique that he did not felt through the Force the questioning and curious stare of four people still inside the diner
Thor was watching the man exit the diner. Even though the All-Father stripped him of his powers, he has been alive long enough to see that the person that just exited the fine establishment is a warrior of great power. How powerful the man is, he does not know, but he can tell from the stance and the grace of how the man carries himself belies his projected front of being a civilian. He turned around to his companions and decided to ask them a question on who the man is.
"That man walking outside, the one with brown hair and fair complexion, who is he Lady Jane?" asked Thor to the woman eating her ordered plate of the pancakes. He saw her look past his shoulders and onto the man he has been talking about. He saw her eyes light in recognition and returned her face to make eye contact with him.
"That is Galen Marek. Weird name but he is a good man with good humour and great person to talk to if a bit sarcastic. He is the town's local mechanic, a great one at that; he is also a retired Special Forces officer according to him." asked the nonplussed lady before him.
Ah that is why he has such a grace of a battled-hardened warrior. He has seen life changing battles and still emerged as a good man, changed sure, but a good man nonetheless if what his interactions with the townsfolk are any indication. He merely nodded his head and continued eating the food these Midgardians have created after his last visit here on Midgard. Inwardly however, he was thinking of how to talk to the man since he has this itch that says the man knows more than he lets on and that despite being unskilled compared to his brother in sensing energy signatures, he cannot mistake the immense amount of power rolling of the man, Galen, earlier. He is unsure however if Galen Marek was holding back and that what he felt was that man's entire power or just small drop in a vast ocean of power. Deciding to ponder upon those thoughts later, he continued eating the exquisite Midgardian feast before him.
"PROXY, I want you to infiltrate this government agency that the townsfolk have been talking about." stated Galen Marek as he enters his workshop.
"Why master? Has this agency been getting too close for comfort about your secrets?" asked the bewildered PROXY. PROXY knew that his additional upgrades thanks to the Creator, or so his master says, he is more capable of going through infiltration missions since he has now a stealth capability and an extremely powerful hacking algorithm to use. The problem is that this actually the first time he will undertake this type of mission, the first mission really where he will do anything at all, should his master push through with what he is planning.
"Not at all PROXY, but it is kind of shocking to see how fast this organisation was able to track the location and enforce a lockdown of the event from last night and on the war hammer embedded on a rock twelve miles east of here. I merely want to know how they are able to do so and if they have been able to detect our arrival here four months ago and check if they have been tracking us ever since." stated Galen. Although he knows for a fact that he is not being observed at all since the Force is not telling him he is being watched or hunted so he knows his third reasoning is a very large moot point.
"Very well master, any parameters I should follow during this mission?" asked PROXY.
"Yes, I want you to use your stealth capabilities to the max, I rather not have any form of collateral damage whether objects or lives so be discrete. Also hack every bit of information you can find in their local servers, do not try to access their mainframe which I doubt is located here in this area." listed down Galen Marek to the droid in front of him. Deciding to give PROXY an extra boost on this mission to increase chances of success, he charged PROXY with a non-lethal barrage of Force Lightning to ensure that all of the systems PROXY will be using for the mission will not short out the droid. He mentally thanked the Creator for making PROXY immune to any damages caused by Force Lightning.
"Oh before I forget, you shadow one of their agents because that will lead you to their outpost here in this region. That will be all PROXY and thanks for doing this." stated Galen gratefully. PROXY just nodded at him before turning invisible and start doing his mission. Galen took a deep breath to calm his thoughts. The Force is telling him that something very big is going to happen and he will be smack right in the middle of it. Although the Sith side of him is vibrating in excitement since there will be battle to enjoy, the Jedi part of him advises him to calm and look to the Force for some answers to allay his concerns. He has long since mastered all of his emotions to absolute control, but there are times that indulging in some of them helps him remind himself that he is still a human prone to errors despite his power. Banishing the figments of his imagination, he reopened his workshop since his lunch break is finally over. He did not have to wait long for another client to enter his shop and presents a broken plasma TV to repair. The client left and Galen placed the TV with the rest of the things he needed to finish by the end of the day and started working on the first one in the queue. To an observer, he seems to be doing things magnificently and efficiently with no errors whatsoever. To a trained Force user however, he is submerging himself to the depths of the Force to guide his actions in repairing and improving the things he is working on.
Galen was working on the last item on his work bench for today when he felt the signature of the blonde stranger from the diner just outside his workshop. He can feel the hesitation and curiosity rolling of the blonde's massive frame. Applying the last of the finishing solders on the item on his work bench, he cleaned up his work station and himself for a bit before walking to the front of the store and see the man standing outside his shop looking at him with curiosity. Knowing that no more customers are coming since he already closed, he unlocked the door of the shop using the Force and signalling the man to come inside. Said man does so with a grin on his face that Galen can't help but roll his eyes at. He did not have to wait long or give any prompting for the man started talking to him with what he can see as hope that he could not place.
"I am Thor Odinson, son of Odin All-Father and prince of Asgard. May I know your name sorcerer?" asked the now named man, Thor, to the impassive shopkeeper. Galen just ticked a single eyebrow as a response to the query, he can sense through the Force that Thor is indeed telling the truth as well as lying on the part of not knowing him. Although he mastered Sith Alchemy and Sith Sorcery, he never practiced any of the theories he has learned since it requires complete and utter devotion to the Dark Side of the Force. He did however use some of the more borderline 'grey' abilities in those two branches like increasing his armour's durability and his lightsaber's cutting and deflecting power since the use of the Dark Side in those abilities can be safely done by substituting the Dark Side power, originally used for binding the enchantments on the items, with an immense amount of raw undiluted Force Power. Doing so makes it more tiring than using the Dark Side since it takes hours upon hours of meditation and channelling Force Power to make the enchantments permanent, since the Dark Side is far too easy to draw power from, like a forbidden apple that cannot be resisted by those of a weak will. However, he gets the feeling that Thor is not talking about his mastery over said dark arts. Rather he felt that Thor, regardless if his powers were muted, was able to sense a bit of his connection to the Force during his sojourn in the diner earlier.
"I am Galen Marek, I would say 'nice to meet you' but my curiosity needs to be sated. Why don't we get settled first at my apartment? I am sure it is quite a tale and I rather hear that tale in a more comfortable setting." stated Galen before motioning Thor to follow him to the apartment he has rented in the town. He ignored the relief flashing through the eyes of the man since he already has an idea on why he was hesitant to come here earlier, this just confirms it. Thor seems to be leaving Jane Foster and was now essentially homeless in this world. Since Galen is the closest he has to a slice of home, Thor decided to take a gamble and risk asking for shelter at him. He mentally snorted at Thor's unsubtle attempts, but appreciated it since Thor is the closest to a Force-adept in this world he has encountered and it is good to at least befriend the stranded God of Thunder.
Their trek towards Galen's rented apartment did not take long. They were now seated inside the dining room eating dinner that Galen prepared, well Galen is eating with dignity befitting his station and Thor is just wolfing down his food to Galen's amusement. He waited for the former God of Thunder to finish dinner before inviting him to the living room to talk about why he was here. Upon settling inside the living room, Thor started recanting his tale about his coronation and how it was disrupted by Frost Giants infiltrating his father's Vault Room and trying to steal a device known only as the 'Casket of Ancient Winters' and how they were disintegrated by the Destroyer and how him, the Warriors Three, Sif, and his brother Loki stormed Jotunheim and demanded compensation as well as interrogating the Frost Giants leader, Laufey. Then Thor told about in a childlike glee how the glorious battle between their group and the Jotuns commenced. However, Thor does admit that slowly they are being overwhelmed by growing numbers of the Jotuns and how they were rescued by his father, Odin, but not without injuries among the Warriors Three. He then talks about his banishment and stripping of his powers until he can locate Mjölnir and take his rightful place as Asgard's Crown Prince and future King.
Galen, for his part, is listening intently as Thor tells his tale of how he came to Earth or Midgard. He placed the abilities of the Destroyer and the Casket of Ancient Winters at the back of his mind for later perusal. He continued listening and hid a snort at how Thor is very reckless to be lured by a taunt made by a Frost Giant. He actually agreed with Loki that retreat is the better part of valour but it seems Thor has too much of a big ego to accept the fact that he was being insulted to become unhinged. He has also subtly launched a mind probe, with Thor's permission earlier, to learn and understand Thor's native tongue so that he will not get lost should the man suddenly starts talking in a different language during his story telling or any spoken and written conversation from here on out. He approved of Thor's punishment but Odin has failed to see that he has put in motion things that will change the very course of direction Midgard or Earth will take. Galen can see through the Force that with the arrival of Thor, humans will use this as unequivocal truth that they are not alone in the universe and it may possibly bring forth a new wave of distrust and discrimination from people who are in power. Galen had hoped that humans will be able to advance to the point wherein they will treat off-world people similar to how they treat their friends or acquaintances, but it seems that Odin has other plans instead. It also did not help that the man before Galen is a loud boisterous man that is in need of a good lesson about humility and patience if what he told Galen earlier is any indication. Deciding to banish those thoughts for now and contemplate about it later during meditation, Galen broached the topic about why Thor went all the trouble to give him a history lesson as well as approaching him in the first place.
"So what do you want me to do about it Thor?" asked the Galen to the now sheepish Thor. Galen just rolled his eyes at the man before him. Let it be put in record that Thor lacks subtlety and he is too easy to predict and easy to rile up if what he infers from the storytelling session is right. But he takes solace at the fact that this universe he was deposited at has a familiarity to it, the extra-terrestrial in front is proof enough, that it curbs any lingering thoughts about his home universe.
They are at the location where the supposed 'satellite' crashed. Galen knows for a fact that a satellite it is not and Thor is of the same mind as him. He is using the Force to feel for the amount of people inside the camp. He can also feel the excitement rolling off Thor and rolled his eyes at the deity's childish behaviour. He intends to perform a complicated technique known as Force Immersion to hide him from detection organic or otherwise. It is like an extremely mastered version of hiding at plain sight compounded with mastery of the White Current of the Force. Although very strong-willed or perceptive people can pierce the illusion but mastery over it can trump the perception of such observers. Galen is indeed a master of that level and has informed Thor that he will be with him during his attempt at collecting his hammer but to not contact him whatsoever, Galen will be the one who will contact him. He also advised Thor to use Old Norse to communicate with him since even though Galen knows the language practice tends to perfect his skills on it.
"Alright, Thor I have done the necessary preparations. Should you ever be compromised, I will break you out. But at least try not to get caught." stated Galen in Old Norse to the blonde Thunder God beside him. Said god looked at him at surprise at how fluent he is regardless of how off the accent is. Thor's grin even got larger that someone can speak to him in his native tongue.
"Of course sorcerer, a glorious battle awaits and I will soon regain my power as God of Thunder and I will finally be able to depart from this realm. Whenever you are ready." affirmed Thor with a manic grin. Galen suddenly got the feeling that he will receive a massive headache during this mission. He thanked the Force for deciding to don his armour for this. If he is going to reveal himself, at least his identity will be safe and that it will be far more difficult to track him if they do not have anything to track him with.
"Let's move out." replied Galen before they are moving towards the big SHIELD research base. He sensed a perimeter alert going off and cursed himself for forgetting to disable such devices earlier. He decided to ignore it and approach the fence. He placed a hand on Thor's shoulder and aid to him,
"Allow me to open the fence." stated Galen cheekily before using the force to twist and turn the metal until a wide hole is opened up. He sensed two approaching life forms and before he can use the mind trick to divert them away from them or at least radio in a false report. Thor, headstrong man he is now slowly becoming annoyingly fond of, started assaulting the agents tasked to apprehend him in hopes for them to keep the base silent of any news about his mission; Galen chocked back a snort at the irony of Thor being subtle. He is familiar of Thor, any pantheons really, since he studied everything from culture to history of the. He did not left any stone unturned in his quest to better acclimatise himself on this planet, he still has a long way to go, but he is getting there. He banished those thoughts when he felt more agents converging on Thor's location. He did not bother helping the blonde since he can definitely see that the man is extremely well trained to go toe-to-toe with agents of a black-ops organization, he just satisfied himself by approaching the agents and pilfering the knowledge about why they are here and the conclusions they have drawn from studying the war hammer. Galen also did not fail to notice the amount of thunderstorm forming around the base, specifically at the crater where Mjölnir is anchored upon. He quickened his pace until he reached the centre wherein the hammer rests. He jumped down and landed silently, grimacing a bit at the mud clinging on his outfit before observing the hammer of the Thunder God before the Force granted him a vision of how this hammer came to be in this world.
FORCE VISION
Galen saw that his consciousness is inside a large circular dome with two exits directly opposite each other. One is a crystalized bridge, colours rampant inside the crystalline structure, and the other is an opening like a tunnel. Galen could not help but think that this is what his visitor used to transport himself worlds apart. He also notices a tri-pronged spear stabbed at the platform of a raised dais beside the man standing on said dais. He then focuses on the three persons inside said room, their features cloudy from his sight except Thor. He can see them arguing, but no sound is reaching his hearing. But as if the Force is aware that Galen is done with his appraisal of where his consciousness is, the Force filtered out the sound to let him listen on the argument as the one standing on the dais seemed to have formulated a retort.
"Thor Odinson… You have disobeyed the express command of your King, through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful Realms and innocent lives to the horrors of war…" stated by an ancient, yet wise and tired voice to his visitor. After saying his piece, said man on the dais hefted up his spear before plunging it on a hole on the dead centre of the dais. Doing so seemed to have powered a large device since Galen can tell even in this vision that it is gulping immense amounts of energy per second. It also has an effect of activating the tunnel he observed earlier and was surprised at how it looks like a hyperspace wormhole.
"You are unworthy of this Realm…" stated by the same man again as he approached the shocked Thor, before ripping of a disc on Thor's armour. "…Unworthy of your title…" said the man again before ripping off the heavy red cloak off of Thor before facing Thor angrily again, "…You're unworthy, of the loved ones you have betrayed…" finished the man sadly, looking at Thor's eyes directly. Galen however can feel that the last statement made by the man, Odin if he guessed right, was not directed at himself but at the third man who have kept silent since the argument began. He banished those thoughts when Odin turned back and approached the topmost platform of the dais before facing Thor again, not as a father, but a King looking at his subject.
"I now take from you your power…" stated Odin with his arms outstretched. The war hammer that hung by Thor's hip flew to Odin's direction. "…In the name of my father…" continued Odin before pointing the hammer at Thor's right arm. Galen can see the armour melting off Thor's frame and leave Thor in his overalls. "…and his father before…" continued Odin again, but pointing at the opposite arm, "…I Odin All-Father, CAST YOU OUT!" finished Odin before thrusting the hammer at Thor's direction. The hammer unleashed a bolt of pure Force energy meant to sever one's connection to it. The force of the bolt was strong enough to flung Thor towards the opened portal and disappear from the room altogether. He cast his sight back at Odin and saw him whispering something at the hammer before throwing it also towards the portal…
FORCE VISION END
Galen snaps out of his Force Vision when two large men beating the hell out of each other stumbles upon the carter where he is now standing. He can see Thor being battered and bruised, a side effect of being stripped of his power but he can see that he is more resilient than the man battling him despite the fact he went through dozens of agents already. After making sure that the man brawling with him is down for the count. Thor approached his hammer, giving Galen a nod whilst doing so, and placed his hand on the handle of the weapon. Galen can feel the joy rolling off the hammer in waves of being reunited with its master, but Galen can also feel something holding back the power to unlock Thor's power, overwhelming the weapon's desire to be with his master once again. Thor must have also realized it since he is getting more and more desperate as he tries to lift the hammer up and it all fails. Finally giving up and looking lost for what seems to be the first time of his life, Thor drops to his knees looking at the hammer with a deep longing and sadness. Galen can sympathize with his visitor, but if what he saw earlier is true, then Thor did something that forced his father to strip him of his powers and banish him on Midgard. He drowns those thoughts away when more than the single presence he felt earlier during Thor's scuttle arrive and pointed their weapons on the almost catatonic man. They hauled him up and clamped some heavy duty restraints on the still lost man before walking him out of the crater and transferring him somewhere else in the facility or outside of it.
Galen decided to linger for bit and approached the stuck hammer. Galen, using the Force to enhance his senses beyond superhuman, observes the details of the hammer before him. He can tell it is of superior quality. The hammer his made of a metal alloy he is sure is able to resist a lightsaber and not get a scratch. He also notices runes adorning the entire hammer, enchantments Galen muses, but the most prominent is on what is the centre of the hammer: A runic array that is written in Old Norse runes that Galen can read and comprehend thanks to Thor's allowance of his mind probe to understand his native tongue earlier before they went here and started their infiltration and retrieval mission.
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." muttered Galen under his breath. It finally clicked the reason why Thor was unable to wield his hammer once more. This enchantment, recently added if Galen is right in observing the age of the runes is correct, prevents anyone 'unworthy' from possessing the hammer. Seeing that he cannot be hurt if he tries, he placed his hand on the hammer, feeling a surge of power running though his body, and pulls it up. He was surprised at the weight of the hammer, but it is overshadowed by the fact that he is worthy enough to wield the hammer and its powers. He decided to place the hammer back on its stone pedestal, rolling his eyes on the feeling of a whine coming from the hammer, before silently making his way towards his car using Force enhanced speed where he immediately went to his apartment for a change of clothes, hastily thrown plan with PROXY's input, and driving to the place where he felt Thor is being held.
Numb, a feeling as the Norse God of Thunder sat on a metal chair in what supposed to be an interrogation room for these Midgardians. The lost feeling gnawing at his mind and heart is almost overwhelming if not for the understanding look the sorcerer, Galen, sent him earlier. He does not want pity; he wants someone who can understand what is happening with him right now. Right now however, he is tied to a chair and waiting for someone to talk to him. He and Galen have agreed earlier that should the event that he gets captured, he will stall and wait for Galen to bail him out of said situation. He did not have to wait long before a Midgardian entered the room with Thor and observed him with a genial smile on his face.
"It's not easy to do what you did. You made us all look like a bunch of mall cops. That's hurtful." said the man while wearing an emotionless visage, genial smile gone. Thor just stares blankly at the man before him and did not respond. He rather wants to take a long deep sleep, possible talk to Galen all night, or drink tankards upon tankards of ale and think of his problem. He was broken from those thoughts when he saw that the man did not react outwardly at his nonchalance and silence, but decided to continue with his interrogation of Thor.
"The men you so easily subdued are highly-trained professionals, and in my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Would you like to tell me where you received your training?" the unknown man asked him with calm tone and façade. He just decided to ignore the man again and continue sulking about his loss of his powers, divinity, and existence.
"Pakistan? Chechnya? Afghanistan? Then again, you strike me more as the soldier of fortune type. What was it, South Africa?" continued the man, breaking Thor again from his sullen mood. He still ignores the man questioning him and focused his thoughts on how long will it take for his friend, Galen, to break him out of here. He knows Galen is beyond powerful, but he is yet to see his skills at all. All he has ever seen or experienced from the sorcerer was when he asked his permission to launch a mind probe to learn his native language and writing. But that was enough to let Thor know that his host is powerful and skilled. When he saw the man lean close to him, he fixed a blank stare at the man trying to intimidate him. He mentally scoffed at the thought since far scarier beings have stared him down before and this man is nothing compared to all he have faced in his long life.
"Certain groups pay well for a good mercenary, especially HYDRA." continued the man. Thor is starting to get annoyed at the incessantly talking man, but he kept his silence. He was inordinately pleased when a flash of annoyance appeared at the eyes of his 'interrogator' before it was efficiently squashed down.
"Who are you?" asked the man directly at him. Thor decided to annoy the man further by making his responses vague and misleading.
"Just a man." replied Thor glibly with a poker face. He chuckled mentally when annoyance flashed through the agent's eyes and stayed for a little while longer before squashing it again and smiling genially at him again.
"One way or another, we find out what we want to know. We're good at that." promised the agent to him with a genial smile before leaving the room to go to parts unknown to him; he was not focusing on his surroundings at all after feeling the implications of his power being stripped from him. He lowers his head and decided to wait for Galen's intervention before he does it himself.
"Hello brother…" said a voice he has not heard since his banishment. He snapped his head up and smiled slightly at the sight of his beloved brother Loki.
"Hello my name is Samuel Witwer. I believe you have my friend currently in your custody." introduced a fair-skinned man with brown hair, handsome face, powerful yet lithe body build, and of tall stature to the agent before him with a charming smile.
CHAPTER END