So, lucky you guys, getting a second chapter of this. Don't worry, those of you wondering if Lelouch Liesmith will ever see the light of day, it's still being worked on. Hopefully, it will. But this story, I think, has more potential, and I've already done a Lelouch as a reincarnation story.
Also, a guest reviewer made a remark about my not doing stories that didn't have Harry Potter, Lelouch vi Britannia, or Loki as the main protagonists. I would like to point out that I have no less than 31 of my published stories, including oneshots, have other characters involved. Excluding oneshots or OCs (as the main viewpoint protagonist, anyway), there are 17 stories with varying protagonists ranging from Sakura from Naruto to Seymour from Final Fantasy X to Church from Red vs Blue. Writing Harry Potter as the protagonist is just easiest. Also, I had only done one published story apiece where Lelouch and Loki were primary protagonists, Plenipotent Player Prince (albeit where Lelouch is a reincarnated Momonga from Overlord) and Light the Blue Touch Paper and Run Like Hell respectively. So it is not a unicorn, as you would discover if you read my profile and look at the stories there, Guest. Feel free to read them, as you may enjoy them. I'm just banishing ignorance here, and letting you know where you can find other stories with characters other than Harry Potter in the key protagonist role.
GATE: THUS THE CHOSEN ONE FOUGHT THERE
CHAPTER 2:
THE FLAME DRAGON
Anakin was torn between laughter and embarrassment when Rory decided, at least initially, to sit in Itami's lap. She only bothered to put on an artifice of innocence that was easily seen through, even for someone without the command of the Force. Eventually, she sat between Itami and Kurata, her halberd in the back, while Anakin sat in the back with three others. The woman, some sort of medic, was Mari Kurokawa, while the older man was Souichirou Kuwahara.
The third occupant was currently unconscious. She wasn't human, though she wasn't far from it. She had fair skin, blonde hair, and a rather buxom figure (currently covered by a sheet), not to mention appearing to be in her late teens. But her ears were elongated, having her resemble a Sephi. Itami and the others called her a 'High Elf'.
The JSDF soldiers filled Anakin in on what had happened. They came not just from another world, but specifically the small country of Japan. Basic appeared to be the language spoken in many countries on Earth, specifically the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America. Most of the JSDF soldiers present could speak Basic, or English as they called it, due to the JSDF training frequently with soldiers from the USA.
About three months ago, a mysterious Gate opened up in Ginza, a district of the Japanese capital of Tokyo. A massive army out of what they believed to be fantasy fiction poured through, slaughtering or capturing any in their path. The police and the JSDF managed to beat them back, and the JSDF, after months of debate in the Japanese government and the international community, had been given the go-ahead to mount an expedition to this new world. Their mission was to find out who sent the army and hold them to account.
In the process of learning this, Anakin learned some more things. Apparently, technically, the JSDF wasn't actually meant to wage war. The best part of a century before, the Japanese were belligerents in a world-spanning war that only ended with the first ever use of primitive nuclear weapons. The Japanese had to agree to give up warfare, maintaining this Self-Defence Force purely as a defensive measure. To allow the JSDF to effectively invade this world required a lot of political negotiations.
In any case, Itami's team, the 3rd Reconnaissance Team, were basically investigating the surrounding areas, though after seeing a High Elf village get destroyed, and finding only one survivor (the girl, who had apparently taken refuge inside a well), it had changed to evacuation. A Flame Dragon had been the culprit, and according to the locals, once the Flame Dragon woke up, it wouldn't be sated until it had gorged itself on flesh and violence.
Anakin, admittedly, had to buy this information with discussions of the state of galactic politics, as well as the Jedi. Oddly enough, Itami kept on calling them 'espers' or something.
"So, can you read this girl's mind?" Kurokawa asked.
"Not exactly. It's not like a book," Anakin said. "But…I can get impressions."
"Well, if you can do it for this girl, I'd appreciate it. At the very least, I want to know who she is," the medic said.
"I could answer that for you," Rory said, looking back at them. "The High Elves generally don't enjoy my presence, if only because they find Emroy distasteful, but they never refuse hospitality to an Apostle. A few years ago, I visited their village. I believe that girl's name is Tuka Luna Marceau. Her father was Hodor Ray Marceau."
"I sense fear and sorrow within her," Anakin said solemnly as he looked down at Tuka. "She saw her people get killed by that beast, perhaps even her own father." He gently reached out with the Force, and sent a calming influence into her mind. Her expression relaxed ever so slightly.
"Handy," Kurokawa remarked.
"There are varieties of magic, particularly spiritual magic, that has a similar effect," Rory said.
Suddenly, Tuka's eyes flickered open, and she sat up, causing the blanket covering her body to fall off, revealing breasts a Twilek would envy. Realising what she had done, she grabbed at the blanket and looked around in an understandable panic, speaking in another language. Rory spoke back to her calmingly. Tuka seemed to relax a little when she saw Rory, before she asked a question. Rory answered, but Tuka seemed to snap an angry denial, which was refuted by the Apostle. A brief argument ensued, before Tuka began babbling something, before she broke down, weeping, and Rory clambered into the back, and held the High Elf gently, murmuring an apology in a soothing voice.
"What's wrong?" Itami asked.
"Tuka was thrown into the well you found her in by her father, who was trying to protect her from the Flame Dragon," Rory said quietly. "She was in denial about his death. If he isn't dead, then he either wandered off in an amnesic daze, or else was found and taken away by someone else who didn't find her. I had to snap her out of it, get her to accept that, in all likelihood, her father is dead. If that turns out to not be the case…well, they can have a reunion if we do find him. But…I think it would have eaten at her, her father's fate and her denial of that. And it may not have ended well…"
Later that day, as they drove through an arid area, Anakin felt a disturbance in the Force, a massive wave of malevolence and killing intent, animalistic and primal. He instantly looked to the rear of the convoy, towards the sun in the sky. Somehow, he knew what this was. "Flame Dragon," he snarled, before he clambered for the rear door, and opened it, diving out, despite the shouts of the JSDF soldiers, using the Force to propel him to the ground and cushion his landing by the side of the road towards the rear of the convoy. He noticed briefly a wagon passing with a grizzled, bearded old man wearing a pointy hat, and a teenaged girl with silvery blue hair peering at him curiously…and he felt the Force around them. Not as great as they could have been as Jedi, but still, something to note when the threat was dealt with.
With a roar, the Flame Dragon dived out of the air, flames blasting out of its mouth, intending to wipe out much of the rear of the refugee convoy. Acting on instinct, Anakin reached into the Force, and channelled as much as he dared. And then, he thrust out a hand with a roar of anger. This beast had tried to murder the people under his protection.
The flames from the Flame Dragon parted metres away, dissipating, like a torrent of water meeting an immovable barrier and dissolving into spray. It took Anakin every effort to keep the flames from reaching him, or anyone else. As the flames cleared, Anakin got his first good look at the creature. It was like a massive Krayt Dragon from his homeworld, only with wings, and a hide the colour of blood. A golden eye peered at him balefully, the other eye grey and with an arrow sticking out of it.
Anakin knew that this beast was intelligent. And it had marked him. He could sense its anger at being thwarted. It landed in front of him, and swiped at him with a clawed hand. He ignited his lightsaber and leapt over the hand, hitting it with the blade…but all it did was burn a deep gouge.
Anakin scowled as he landed, his body virtually on autopilot, guided by the Force as he began leaping around the beast, slashing at it. This kriffing monster had a hide like the Beskar they used in damned Mandalorian armour! What he wouldn't give for a squadron of starfighters right now! All he could do, for now, was buy time for the convoy to get out of the way, and for the JSDF to get over their shock and start using their weapons.
And right on cue, the chatter of their weapons started up, as the vehicles came his way. Those projectile weapons they used probably wouldn't be able to scratch them, but they also had a form of rocket launcher, for use against tanks. That might do the trick, if it was designed to penetrate armour.
As the beast flinched as some bullets got close to its eye, one of the JSDF soldiers in an armoured vehicle got out a rocket launcher, hesitated briefly, and fired…just as the vehicle went over a hump. The rocket was about to go wide…until Anakin happened.
He only had just enough time to divert the rocket a little with the Force. Just enough so that, instead of missing, it ploughed right into the left shoulder of the beast. An explosion rocked the area, and flame and smoke enveloped the Flame Dragon temporarily, though the scream of agony from it was telling. It flew out of the cloud of smoke and flew off into the distance, leaving a trail of blood from the severed arm.
However, Anakin felt angry and disappointed, even as he deactivated his lightsabre. This beast had tried to kill people that were under his protection. And while he and Obi-Wan, not to mention many amongst the Jedi, had their disagreements, one thing he shared with the Jedi was a desire to protect the innocent. And this damned beast had tried to kill innocent people, and for what purpose? It was certainly more than just an animal: he felt intelligence and malevolence.
He didn't notice Rory strutting up to him, something that was becoming a bad habit, not until she spoke. "…You feel angry that you couldn't kill it. I understand. I don't like leaving a job half-done either. But…you made it feel pain. I doubt that Flame Dragon has felt that often. Even I would be hard-pressed to beat it. And you protected a lot of people. Had you not been there, a lot of them would have died. As it is, you saved them, Anakin."
Anakin nodded, Rory's gentle words getting through to him better than anything Obi-Wan would have said. Rory felt more genuine than one of his master's truisms or lectures. "I know, but…if I had been faster in reacting to that rocket, I could have killed the damned thing."
"You helped drive it away. Few beings on this world can claim to do so," Rory said, though she frowned. "That being said, the Flame Dragon has awoken way too early. I wonder…has someone woken it up before its time?"
Shortly afterwards, most of the refugees parted ways with the JSDF convoy. However, a few remained. Tuka and Rory opted to stay with them, as did the old man and the teenaged girl with blue hair. Rory named them as Cato El Athelstan and Lelei La Lalena, mages, and both, especially the girl, were curious about Anakin's abilities and his lightsaber. They asked many questions that Anakin tried to field as best as he could, wishing that Obi-Wan or Yoda or someone with more knowledge could answer them.
The journey didn't take much longer, now that most of the refugees had left. They soon arrived at a location that Rory called Alnus Hill. Anakin noted the military base. While relatively primitive by the standards of the galaxy he was used to, it was certainly centuries in advance of everything he had seen so far in this world. The signs and scars of battle littered the surrounding countryside, craters from explosives, barbed wire, and corpses of massive beasts.
Rory chortled softly to herself. "Ah, that arrogant little pup Molt has most definitely poked his finger into a hornets' nest," she remarked as she peered out of the window.
Anakin nodded. Still, as the base approached, he had to wonder, has his master made it back to Coruscant intact? Would Anakin be declared lost, MIA? Or would they mount a search for him? Would they even bother? Anakin was not blind, he knew he was very much a divisive issue within the Jedi Order, yet another thing about them that rankled at him. Many lauded him as the Chosen One, thanks to Qui-Gon Jinn…and others thought him an arrogant upstart who was brought in too late to be taught Jedi ways properly. Someone with too quick a temper, too hungry a thirst for power and knowledge, and too strong an ambition to be a proper Jedi.
Still…he knew that despite their frequent disagreements, he knew his master would never stop looking. He had faith in that much at least. And at the end of the day…the Jedi looked after their own. No…he would just have to concentrate on seeing if he could repair the comms system and send a message to them…
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, Anakin's joined forces with the JSDF. BTW, the scene where Anakin uses the Force to block the dragonfire was inspired by a similar scene, involving his son, in MMiFFwI's Universal Impossibility.
Incidentally, for the Flame Dragon sequence in general, I actually recommend Galactic Empire's metal remix of, what else, Duel of the Fates.
No numbered annotations this time.