All I own is an overactive imagination
Do not expect this to be updated too often: it's taken me years to get this much down
Detached Duty
The sound of blaster fire filled the corridor as the Commando Droids advanced, cutting down Clone after Clone as they advanced. Ahsoka dodged and ducked, her emerald green lightsaber a blur of motion in the dark corridor as she did her best to cover the retreat of the survivors.
It was supposed to have been a simple mission: investigate a seemingly derelict ship of unknown origin that had been discovered drifting through space near a Republic station. The ship, or rather, what was left of it, had been massive, far bigger than anything the Republic or the Separatists fleets possessed. Its ornate hull had been dotted with massive weapons emplacements that looked like they had seen more than a few battles, evidently at least one of which it had not won.
Unfortunately, the Separatists had also learned of the hulk, and had dispatched a force to either capture it for themselves, or, at the very least, deny it to the Republic. As a result, the young Togruta Padawan had found herself in a running battle through unfamiliar passageways and chambers. One this that was abundantly clear was that, whoever had built the ship, they had been far bigger than what was considered normal for a humanoid.
Simple things like doorways, chairs and the non-functional controls, were all far larger than she was used to. That alone would have been enough to make her feel uneasy, if not for the repetitive skull motif that seemed to be everywhere. And, where there wasn't a skull, there was a double-headed bird of some kind. It made the ship look like something the Sith would build, but she couldn't sense any trace of the Dark Side. There was something, something powerful within the Force, but it was unlike anything she'd ever felt before...
Rex cried out in pain as one of the Commando Droids jabbed him with its electrostaff, sending a jolt of pure energy coursing through his armour. Ahsoka lashed out, cutting the weapon in two with her own, but that just left the droid with two weapons instead of one. The droid was designed and programmed specifically to fight Jedi, and despite all her training and experience, she still had a way to go before becoming a full Jedi Knight. The fight was quick and brutal, Ahsoka managing to cut one of the Droids arms off, but the need to protect the still prone Rex left a gap in her defence that it readily took advantage of.
It was Ahsoka's turn to scream as the remaining electrostaff was jammed into the small of her back, and every nerve ending in her body seemed to catch fire at once. She fell to the deck, landing limply across Rex, the last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her was the Droid standing over her, ready to deliver the killing blow...
Discontinuity.
Visions of the past, possible futures, voices she didn't recognise... and the image of a glowing blue blade slicing the Droids head from its shoulders.
Ahsoka sat bolt upright, an unfamiliar silver blanket slipping down to pool in her lap. Looking around, she saw she was still on the strange ship, with the same, grinning skulls and double-headed birds on the wall. But this room was different...if she didn't know better, she'd have called it a medical bay of some kind, all be it one she didn't recognise. The equipment certainly looked...well, like something out of a nightmare, truth be told. Some... thing, that looked like someone had taken the remains of a speeder crash victim and grafted them onto a robotic arm hung down from the ceiling, thankfully inert.
To her left, she could see Rex in the bed next to her, his armour stripped away and bandages applied to his arms and chest. Two more clones were across from her, likewise bandaged up.
A strange voice crackled off to one side, and Ahsoka peered into the darkness of the corner of the room, then recoiled in horror as a massive form, easily bigger than even a fully-grown Wookie, stepped forward. At first she thought it was a Droid of some kind, but then she realised that she could feel it in the Force, and, further more, that there was a living being inside the wall of black armour before her. It towered over her, a massive sword, easily as long as she was tall, hung from its side, while a gun she wasn't sure she'd be able to lift was held loosely, but very clearly, in its hand.
The voice crackled again, and Ahsoka picked up a curious tone to it.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you." She did her best to sound non-threatening.
The armoured stranger cocked their head to one side, then holstered the massive gun, which Ahsoka realised was only a side-arm, and pulled a strange looking device from it belt. It pressed a few of the controls, then looked at her.
"Can you understand me now?" a voice, deep and powerful, but not entirely devoid of compassion, came from the device.
"Yes!" Ahsoka nodded, "Can you understand me?"
"Yes." the armoured head nodded in response, "Are you the Jedi?"
"I'm a Jedi." The Padawan did her best to compose herself, "I am Commander Ahsoka Tano of the Grand Army of the Republic."
"Interesting..." the figure before her, which was feeling less and less imposing with every moment that it didn't crush the very life from her with its massive, gauntleted hands, cocked its head to one side, "I was told I would me a great warrior... that was to help them, no matter what they looked like..." there was a pause, "I apologise: it is not my place to question the wisdom and will of the Emperor. If he wills me to work with a Xenos... Only In Death Does Duty End."
Ahsoka looked at the stranger who had evidently not only saved her life, but the lives of Rex and the other surviving Clones, and tried to work out just what the Force was going on.
"Forgive my manors." the stranger clipped the device it had been holding to its belt, then, with a click and the sound of equalising pressure, removed its helmet.
He, and it was clearly a he, was human, but far taller and more heavily built than any human Ahsoka had ever seen. His face was rugged and scared, two metal studs over his left eye only adding to his imposing form. He had the eyes of an experienced warrior, but, through the Force, Ahsoka could feel, while there was discomfort there, he felt her no true ill-will.
"My name is Titus, formerly Captain of the Second Company, Ultramarines Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes." the stranger spoke, the device on his belt translating his words into Basic, "I have been sent to help."
Anakin sat, looking across the table at the... man, who had saved Ahsoka, Rex and several other clones from a Droid ambush on the derelict ship they'd been investigating. The young Jedi Knight couldn't help but wonder exactly where they'd found a chair big enough for the stranger, before he realised that they'd simply given him an empty shipping container to sit on.
It was obviously going to be one of those days, as his Master would say.
"We should probably start at the beginning." he glanced at the small communications device on the table that was apparently translating everything he said into the giants native language, "My name is Anakin Skywalker. I am a Jedi Knight, currently serving as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic."
"I am Titus." The other man nodded, his tone of voice speaking of years of experience, even if Anakin couldn't understand any of it until the machine translated, "I no longer hold any formal rank, but I was once Captain of the Second Company of the Ultramarines."
"You told my Padawan that you had been sent to help the Jedi?"
"Yes. I... I do not understand exactly how: such things are beyond my knowing, but the Emperor sent me to this place, to aid the Jedi... no matter who they were or what form they took. I will do my duty."
"Aid us how, exactly?" Anakin asked.
"I am a Space Marine: I will kill those who dare stand against you."
Anakin lent back in his chair; the giant of a man, taller even than a Wookie, certainly looked more than capable of crushing a Battle Droid in his bare hands. Even without his weapons, stripped of his impressive armour, something that had taken some time, and dressed in what was little more than a jerkin, held closed by a crude belt, he seemed completely calm and sure that, if pushed, he could survive anything that was thrown at him. There was also something else, something Ahsoka, in her dazed state, had missed.
The Force rippled around Titus, but not the same way it did a Jedi or a Sith. Instead, it seemed to almost be forming a wall around him, and Anakin couldn't help but try and see what was on the other side...
It hit him with a near physical force, throwing him from his chair to the deck. It was the Force... but, at the same time it wasn't. No, this was something... no, new wasn't the right word, because there was the unmistakable sense of something truly ancient. Not even Grand Master Yoda felt as old as the... the.. presence, behind Titus.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER, JEDI KNIGHT
The words appeared in his head without bothering with his ears.
RISE
He felt himself getting to his feet without consciously making the decision. Looking at Titus, he was suddenly aware that the man had sunk to his knees, his held bowed in reverence to the... essence of something, someone, immensely powerful. Thay weren't physically in the room, or even on the ship, but they had somehow projected themselves across unfathomable distance through sheer force of will. Anakin didn't have the words to describe the feeling, beyond the memory of the first time he had experienced a thunderstorm after leaving Tatooine. That feeling, of being alone before an untamable force of nature, unable to do anything before it's awesome, overwhelming power...
I AM THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND, RULER OF THE IMPERIUM OF MAN
While he understood the words, he had no concept of what they were describing.
NO UNDERSTANDING NECESSARY, ONLY ACCEPTANCE. I HAVE SENT MY SERVANT, TITUS, TO AID YOU IN YOUR WAR
"Thank...thank you." Anakin managed to stutter, "But... why?"
IF I TELL YOU NOW, IT WILL NOT COME TO PASS
There was a pause, and Anakin couldn't shake the feeling that there was another conversation taking place, elsewhere, that he was only vaguely aware of.
TITUS CAN NOT FIGHT YOUR WAR FOR YOU, BUT HE CAN LEND YOU HIS STRENGTH WHEN NEEDED...NO! PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE...
There was a sensation like someone had taken the entire and stretched it out to breaking point, then let go, and Anakin once again found himself thrown to the floor.
"As the Emperor commands, I serve." Titus stood, solemnly, his words no longer needing a machine to be understood, and offered his hand to the confused Jedi, "What would you have me do first?"
The End?