Sooo...this one is going to be a really strange one. It's a crossover that, while it has been done before, it hasn't really had that many fics for it. If my story gets published, it'll probably be the longest fic in the crossover category, and will mark my first foray into a certain franchise.
This fic, Spreading Wings, started when whitetigerwolf brought my attention to their latest challenge, 'Lordly Ashikabi', which was basically a crossover between Sekirei and Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. Basically, Minato and his Flock, along with some optional others, end up in Westeros. I didn't intend to answer that challenge strictly, but rather, have a story where the Sekirei ship ended up on Planetos, and the knock-on effect of that, starting from Robert's Rebellion. However, I grew dissatisfied with how the story was going, and reluctantly decided to put it on the backburner for now, having not written any actual chapters (though I did nut out potential pairings with whitetigerwolf).
That being said, I had one of those odd little epiphanies that seemingly come out of nowhere. I was considering another Sekirei story, but how would I do it? Well, I decided to try doing fanfic for a franchise I had never done fanfic for.
I decided on Star Wars.
Admittedly, beyond the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy, my knowledge of the franchise is admittedly limited, partly due to lack of interest. I know of the various TV series and books and comics and games, true, but I have never watched The Clone Wars or Rebels, and the books I have read are, beyond the novelisations (incidentally, the novelisation of Episode III is excellent, and I recommend it to anyone feeling disillusioned by the prequel trilogy), restricted to Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the first book of the Thrawn Trilogy, and Death Star, the latter of which is a particular favourite of mine. And yes, I'm aware of the whole 'Legends' thing that Disney did to consign the original EU to the dustbin of non-canonicity. *sigh*
Now, I know what you're thinking. Sekirei and Star Wars doesn't seem like that good of a mesh, and I admittedly have to BS my way through it to get it to work...but I think it's worth it, especially thematically. The Sekirei bonds are at their strongest with love, and yet the Jedi must deny all attachments. An interesting paradox I hope to explore in this story.
I had considered a number of ways this story could go, most of them set during the original trilogy, as I consider them to be the best overall. But then, given how much the prequel trilogy has room for improvement, I eventually realised, there was something to giving a young Anakin Skywalker (some months before the events of Episode II, so he's about 18, I think) a Flock (yes, he's not getting together with Padme...but that's a good thing, we have less of the childish infatuation that led to, well, Padme being all but choked to death, with childbirth finishing her off rather conveniently and Anakin becoming a amputated French Fry...and Padme will have someone better), as well as giving Obi-Wan something to think about. Not to mention Obi-Wan will get a Sekirei of his own. No, really. I think that, if I continue this story, many of you will be pleasantly surprised at who he Wings...and others will take umbrage. Then again, really, there is only one Sekirei he could Wing. Plus, I have an interesting backstory for the Sekirei that ties in to what little I know admittedly of the lore of the Expanded Universe.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this initial chapter. Hopefully, it'll become a fully-fledged fic. As you start reading, imagine that you can hear the 20th Century Fox fanfare, see the logo of Fox, followed by Lucasfilm...and then, hear THAT theme begin at the right moment...
SPREADING WINGS
CHAPTER 1:
ARRIVAL
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
Or perhaps not…
Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, the Chosen One Anakin Skywalker, have recently finished a mission for the Jedi Order. However, their enemies, filled with spite, had sabotaged their transports, hoping to destroy or cripple their spacecraft. In doing so, they hoped to deal a dreadful blow to the Jedi Order.
The sabotage damaged the hyperdrives of the Jedi Starfighters just as they were entering hyperspace. What should have been a standard hyperspace jump to Coruscant, capital of the galaxy and home of the Jedi Order, instead caused them to be flung into the depths of hyperspace. They could have been lost forever in nothingness, but for chance.
They emerge from hyperspace, a long way from home, above a planet in a galaxy far, far away. But even as they make a forced landing, they will soon find that something brought them here. Perhaps it was the will of the Force. Maybe it was coincidence. But it would bring them into contact with a secret from their galaxy's past, and perhaps a hope for their future…
Obi-Wan Kenobi huffed quietly to himself, trying to remain calm. A task that was admittedly a little more difficult than usual, considering the circumstances. He and his Padawan Anakin had been sent to deal with trouble stirred up on one of the Outer Rim worlds. Some small scraps of evidence pointed to the Separatists being behind it, but nothing substantial, unfortunately. And it very nearly became a moot point when they realised that the enemy had sabotaged their hyperdrives. It was sheer luck that they had avoided dying, or getting lost forever in hyperspace.
Even so, they had just landed rather roughly on a relatively primitive world. In the time it took for them to enter the planet's atmosphere, they found no comms signals barring simple EM transmissions, no sign of spaceflight and, judging by the smell in the air, they were still using fossil fuels as their primary means of transport. And a quick look in the skies showed that they weren't in any region of space he was familiar with. Admittedly, he hadn't travelled to every single sector of the galaxy and did any real stargazing, but he needed to know the basics for astronavigation. In fact, the astromech droids had confirmed that this planet was not on any known starcharts, and indeed was not within their galaxy, to their knowledge. Certainly out of range of comms.
Their hyperdrives were burnt out, and it would take time to repair them, time neither he nor his apprentice had. The authorities on this world would soon be coming to investigate the landing. As it was, the ships were capable of standard spaceflight, so they could be sent to the local moon temporarily. The droids could do the repairs there, away from any avaricious authorities of this world.
Still, there were a number of concerning factors, even as he gathered what supplies they could carry and gave the droids their orders. The first was that Anakin had gone off to scout, and his apprentice was more than a little impulsive, rather like saying the ocean was wet. The second was that he could feel a number of strong Force signatures, almost all of them concentrated in the city they had landed in. They were currently in a park of some sort, given all the trees and plants. The third was that he could hear distant sirens, and that meant local authorities if they were anything like the Republic.
On worlds that hadn't made contact with the Republic and whose spacefaring capabilities weren't up to going into FTL travel, well, protocol was tricky. In truth, Obi-Wan knew that more than a few worlds had attacked potential ambassadors and stolen the technology. Other first contact scenarios hadn't been so brutal, admittedly, but still, it paid to be prudent.
As he sent the starfighters off, he realised that Anakin was approaching one of the powerful Force signatures, one close by. One that seemed…crippled, somehow. Almost broken or scrapped. And oddly enough…it seemed to have a feeling of ice and snow to it, as if the Force in that area was a portal to a place like Hoth. And it felt dangerous.
Obi-Wan sighed quietly. "I have a bad feeling about this," he murmured as he picked up their supplies and left, hoping to find his wayward Padawan…
Anakin Skywalker. The Chosen One. Born to Shmi Skywalker. Father, unknown. Possessing a record number of midichlorians in his blood, giving him an unprecedented connection to the Force. And currently, feeling a mixture of annoyance, curiosity, and caution.
The former was a familiar feeling to Anakin. Annoyance and frustration were feelings he felt a lot lately, as he felt that the Jedi Order had failed to recognise his talents…or else feared them, and deliberately held him back. A more intellectual, objective part of him understood why: he had been accepted into the Jedi Order on sufferance at a much older age than the norm, and it meant more to learn in less time. He tended not to listen to that part of him, which frequently spoke with different voices. Sometimes, it was his mother. Sometimes, it spoke with Yoda's voice, even with that irritating syntax of his. And sometimes it was Obi-Wan's voice.
Curiosity was also familiar, albeit less so than annoyance of late. Of course, every time he went to another world, it was like a new experience for him. It was certainly novel, compared to the desert wasteland of his homeworld, Tatooine. He wanted to go back there, free the slaves, free his mother…but he wouldn't be able to even contemplate that before he finished his training. But this world…okay, they were in a city park, but it was better than that sprawling planet-wide metropolis that was Coruscant. This world hadn't yet been fully taken over by industry and construction. In the distance, he saw buildings with unfamiliar lettering on them, in what looked like multiple alphabets. One of them looked rather like Galactic Basic, and he was sure that some of the words he saw in that alphabet looked familiar. How that could be when they were nowhere near their own galaxy, according to their droids, he had no idea.
Caution was perhaps the least familiar emotion to Anakin, despite Obi-Wan trying to instil it in him. Still, an unfamiliar planet, with primitive technology, but a number of powerful Force signatures littered around the place, he couldn't help but be. Or at least prudent.
He was carefully approaching the closest Force signature, the one that felt like the inside of a freezer, or like an arctic world. He was nearing it now, and carefully peered through the nearby foliage, only to frown when he saw the person sitting on the bench. He had already spotted a few of the native inhabitants, who looked like humans or near-humans, but they didn't have much in the way of a Force signature. But the person, the woman, sitting there…she was like a blizzard…and yet, he could feel sorrow, cold sorrow, rolling off her in waves.
She looked to be perhaps in her twenties, though her age was difficult to tell, her long, lugubrious features framed by a short mop of light brown hair, so light it was almost blonde. He thought back to how, when he first met Padmé, he had called her an angel. But while he had met many beautiful women since, some of whom were actually in the Jedi Order, there were none he would have said surpassed Padmé…save for this woman.
He had to admit, though, he had never seen a woman with such sizeable breasts before. And there was the uncomfortable fact that she seemed to be dressed in little more than a bloodstained white coat. But that wasn't the thing that drew his attention most, not her beauty or her manner of dress. No, it was the tattoo on her forehead.
It was elaborate, showing a stylised bird in flight, above a strange circular symbol that seemed divided into two segments, one dark, the other light, with dots of opposing colours in each segment. He noticed it partly because it was somewhat conspicuous, but also because he felt it in the Force. It was like a crudely-made dam, holding back the woman's massive power. It was like a seal on the Force. Barbaric, he thought.
And more than that. It had the air to him of a slave brand. His mother and himself had never been branded by Watto, thankfully: those microbombs were more effective as a deterrent. But a few slaves weren't so lucky, and Anakin felt a familiar rage boiling over. Stifling it with an effort, he decided to approach the woman. He hoped his unfamiliar clothes would not be startling to her. He halted at a polite distance, and said, "Good evening, miss. Do you speak Galactic Basic?"
She didn't look up, though her brow creased slightly. "…Galactic Basic?" she asked, in an accented voice that nonetheless seemed devoid of emotion. "English?"
Anakin frowned. "…So you speak it? I am Anakin Skywalker. What is your name?"
"…Akitsu."
That sounded like a sneeze. "…You shouldn't be out here at night, Akitsu. Haven't you got a home to go to?"
"…No. I am broken. Nobody wants me."
Well, that answered one question, but left many others. Galactic Basic was, somehow, spoken here. Despite them not being in the same galaxy. And Akitsu thought herself 'broken'. Then again, given that seal on her ability to use the Force…
Suddenly, Anakin realised two Force signatures were approaching. One had the feel of his master, no doubt intending to lecture him about wandering off. The other felt a little like the woman, but with no dam, and more of a feel of earth, and…sharpness, if he had to put a name to the sensation he felt. Like a sword stuck in the ground. Very powerful, too.
Anakin pursed his lips. While he was a prodigy in manipulating the Force, he was no healer. But that was precisely what this woman Akitsu needed.
The sheer sadness within her called to him. And he decided to do something that Obi-Wan would doubtlessly lecture him for kriffing hours on end. But he was used to that by now, and he refused to stand by and let her be chained.
He gently placed his hand on his forehead, and instinctively reached out with the Force. He felt the dam resisting his efforts, but he pushed, and pushed, and pushed…until suddenly, he felt it break.
Akitsu gasped, spasming briefly, before subsiding. His Force sensitivity was currently overwhelmed, like being dazzled by bright light. Obi-Wan chose that moment to approach them. "Anakin? What did you do? I felt a disturbance and…who is this?"
"Akitsu," Anakin said. "Master…they had a block on her ability to use the Force…like a slave-branding on her forehead. I had to remove that, I…"
Obi-Wan hushed him with a gesture, and frowned. Anakin knew what he was looking at, the fading tattoo, which even now was almost gone. "A risky venture, my young apprentice…you don't know what could have happened. Still…who could have done that to her?"
Before Anakin could formulate a response, they heard the voice of a boy say something in another language. The language was clipped, with staccato syllables. The speaker was a boy in his mid-teens, wearing a ruffled shirt that looked expensive, with a rather condescending expression on his face. Anakin noted, however, that the boy wasn't alone, accompanied by an older man, albeit perhaps in his twenties, with greyish hair framing androgynous features, dressed in a black coat with a yellow scarf, and carrying what had to be a sheathed sword.
"We do not speak that language," Anakin said.
"Oh, English?" the boy said. "Are you two Americans in cosplay or something? Well then, I asked you two to step away from the…what's English for Sekirei, Mutsu?"
"Wagtail," the man said. "But Minaka said that 'Sekirei' should be used internationally."
"Very well. Step away from the Sekirei. She's mine."
Obi-Wan peered at the boy. "I'm sorry, but for what reason do you claim this young lady as your own? And for that matter, what is your name?"
"Hmm? You sound British, not American. Anyway, I am Hayato Mikogami. I heard that a Scrapped Number was here in the park. And what do I find but a pair of poachers?"
"You're a little short to be a kidnapper," Anakin remarked snidely. "What if Akitsu doesn't want to go with you?"
"She's a Scrapped Number, she's been discarded like trash by MBI," Mutsu said. "Akitsu will be safe with my Ashikabi, my master. He is one of the strongest Ashikabi in the Sekirei Game…" Mutsu frowned. "Hmm? What are your numbers? I am Number 05, Mutsu."
"Numbers?" Obi-Wan asked.
"You two are Sekirei? I can sense your presence, and your clothes are rather outlandish for Shinto Teito, though all Sekirei are supposed to be educated in the three main languages of the region, Japanese, English, and Chinese. So…"
"…Mutsu," Mikogami said, his voice almost containing awe. "You think these two are Sekirei?"
"We're not," Obi-Wan said. "This has been something of a misunderstanding." Then, he waved his hand. "You don't want Akitsu."
"I don't want Akitsu," Mikogami intoned.
"You want to go home, as it's rather late for a boy your age."
"I want to go home, as…" Mutsu shook the boy's shoulder and barked at him in the language the boy had used earlier, and brought him out of the trance inflicted by the Jedi Mind Trick. "What the…?"
Anakin was enjoying watching his master use the old Jedi Mind Trick, he barely noticed Akitsu's cheeks flushing, and her breathing becoming more heavy. Mutsu, however, did, and he said, "Wait, she's reacting…"
Suddenly, Akitsu grabbed Anakin, and spun him around. "Ashikabi-sama," she murmured in that language Mikogami and Mutsu had used earlier, before pressing her lips to his own.
He felt the Force flowing into her body through her lips, and saw, to his astonishment, wings of ethereal energy, as if crafted from ghostly icicles, sprout from her back. She emitted a sound that sounded disturbingly pleasured. Then, as she broke off the kiss, in Basic, she murmured, "Number 07, Akitsu, is yours, forever and ever, my Ashikabi."
"…Did he just wing the Scrapped Number?" Mikogami hissed in surprise.
Mutsu barked something desperate in…Japanese, Anakin guessed, and Mikogami argued with the older man, presumably acting as some sort of bodyguard, before Mikogami sulkily conceded the argument to Mutsu. "We'll meet again!" Mikogami snapped, before he retreated with Mutsu.
"…Did he actually say that?" Obi-Wan asked, voicing his thoughts out loud. He usually didn't make such comment, but he was understandably shaken by what just happened. Anakin knew he certainly was. He then turned to Anakin, and the woman all but clinging to him. "Anakin, what have you done?"
Anakin didn't have an answer. Not even a snarky comeback. All he knew was, things had become a LOT more complicated…
CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:
Sooo…Obi-Wan and Anakin have just been drawn into the Sekirei Plan…a plan involving bonds of love…and therefore, attachments…oh dear.
Okay, it's a bit of a stretch to equate English with Galactic Basic, but hey, this is fanfic, and I'm going to do a handwave of it later.
No numbered annotations this time.
