Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues
When the blinding light finally faded, Tails found himself in the middle of some kind of town. He didn't have time to process much more than this as he was suddenly struck in the back by something fast and heavy.
The next thing he knew, he was lying in a soft bed. Tails cracked opened his eyes to see a robot with a head shaped vaguely like a skull staring down at him.
Tails's response to this was to scream and kick it in the face. The robot fell backward and crashed against the floor.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Tails's attention snapped over to a human standing off to the side. The human held up his hands placatingly. "It's okay, it's okay. You're fine. That's just a medical droid."
"Wha-what happened?" Tails stuttered, not quite ready to relax yet.
The human looked sheepish. "Well… I kind of ran you over with my land speeder. Sorry."
The medical droid got up again and resumed its examination. Tails allowed it to do so but kept a critical eye on the robot.
"Why does your medical droid look so creepy?"
The human shrugged.
As he continued looking at the robot, Tails's expression changed from wary to fascinated.
"You have sustained some bruising on your upper back and head. I have not detected any broken bones or other injuries. But perhaps you would like something to calm your nerves?" The droid suggested.
"No thanks. But would you mind telling me where I am?" Tails asked.
"You are in the queen's personal medical facility."
"Um, which queen?"
The human looked shocked. "Do you… not know which planet you're on?"
"I don't actually." Tails admitted.
"You're on the planet Naboo. Specifically, the city of Theed. How did you get here?"
"Well you see, I'm from another dimension and I got here by traveling through a portal powered by the seven Chaos Emeralds."
The human looked at the droid. "Are you sure he doesn't have any brain damage?"
"I assure you that his brain is fine." The droid replied.
"Look, it's a long story and I don't have time to explain all of it. But do you know where I can find the Jedi?"
The human crossed his arms and pouted. "I wish. I've wanted to join the Jedi for years, but my dad won't let me."
"Why's that?"
"I don't know, he never wants to talk about it. I tried asking my mom, but she just says to leave it alone."
"Huh." Tails started to think and then paused. "By the way what's your name? Thinking of you as 'the human' is starting to feel speciest."
"Oh, right. I'm Luke. Luke Skywalker."
"Skywalker…" Tails remembered Rouge saying that name at some point during her story but couldn't quite remember who he was. The name Luke definitely hadn't come up.
"Luke!" The door slid open and another, older human wearing worker's overalls entered. One of his hands was mechanical. "Luke are you-" He cut himself off, staring at Tails. "Who's this?"
"My name's Miles Prower, but I go by Tails."
"Okay, but what are you doing in the palace?"
"I kind of accidently ran him over with my landspeeder." Luke confessed.
"Luke, we've been over this. Number one rule of operating a speeder: Always pay attention."
"I know, I know! But he just came out of nowhere! One second the road was clear, the next he was there!"
Tails spoke up in Luke's defense. "Yeah, I kind of just appeared there. But don't worry, your creepy-looking robot says I'm fine."
The man sighed. "Well anyway, I need your help in the hanger. One of the starfigher's engines exploded for some reason and we need to move the wreckage."
"Exploded?" Luke gasped.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to look at it to find out why."
"Maybe I could help. I'm good at fixing stuff." Tails offered.
"You just got run over by a speeder. You should go home and rest."
"Yeah… that's not really an option right now. I'm kind of stranded here." Tails explained sheepishly. "So how about I help you and maybe you help me find the Jedi?"
"I'm afraid I'm not gonna be much help in that regard."
"Well, if you could at least get me some form of transportation?" Tails suggested hopefully.
"Alright, come on."
The three of them walked down several long hallways until they eventually reached the large hanger. The hanger was filled with dozens of small ships held in place by futuristic-looking clamps. One of the ships was on the ground with flames spewing out of what had to be its engine. A few robots were trying to put the fire out.
They approached the pilot, who was sitting on a crate and examining the holes burnt into his flight jacket.
"So tell me again how this happened?" The older human asked.
"Well I was taking the ship out for practice maneuvers and everything was going just fine, and then all of a sudden the engine goes 'bang!' and all the systems shut off and then well… that happened." The pilot pointed at the flaming scrap heap. "If I weren't about to land anyway, I'd be dead."
"I'll take a look at the engine as soon as the fire is put out."
Luke held out his hand and a fire extinguisher floated from its place on the wall to Luke's grasp.
Tails stared, bug-eyed. "I thought you said you weren't a Jedi!"
The older man directed a stern glare at Luke. "He's not."
Luke groaned and busied himself helping put out the fire.
"What was that about?" Tails asked.
"That is none of your business."
"But doesn't he have that Force thing the Jedi use?" Tails persisted.
"Having the Force does not make you a Jedi."
"Why wouldn't you let him be a Jedi?"
Tails found the glare directed at himself. "That does not concern you."
"Well, okay. But it concerns him doesn't it?" Tails gestured at Luke. "If you don't want him to be a Jedi, you could at least tell him why."
The man looked at Luke and his expression softened. "I wish it were that simple. My history with the Jedi has been… complicated."
"So, you do know the Jedi!"
"I used to. I don't know where they are now."
"Surely you could make a guess?" Tails pressed.
"I suppose. But let's save that for after we fix the ship."
By now the fire was out, so they began working on the ship. The man immediately checked on the engine, which was totaled. Various pieces of it were scattered all over the interior.
"Yeesh, what did this?" Luke asked.
"Could be a terrorist attack or sabotage." The man mused. "We should lock down all the other ships until we find out what's going on."
"Terrorists? Is that something that happens often?" Tails questioned.
"Not usually, but there has been a lot of uneasy tension in the galaxy for quite a while."
"Master Anakin! Master Anakin!" A golden robot was moving towards them at a rapid shuffle.
The man gave a long-suffering sigh. "What is it, 3PO?"
"The queen instructed me to inform you that dinner is served."
"Well tell her I'm gonna be late. I'm kinda in the middle of something."
"Of course, Master Anakin."
Tails gasped and pointed. "You're Anakin!" Now he knew why that name was familiar. Anakin Skywalker.
"Yeah, I'm Anakin." Under his breath he muttered, damn it 3PO! "So what?"
"So what!? You're one of the Jedi I came here looking for!" Tails put a hand to his chin. "Though you're a lot older than I expected."
Luke looked confused. "A Jedi? My dad's not a Jedi."
"I'm not a Jedi anymore. I'm retired."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't need to know."
"All I've wanted is to be a Jedi and you've been one this entire time!?" Luke shouted, feeling a bit betrayed.
"No! I told you, I'm retired!"
"Why?"
"I wanted a different kind of life."
"The Jedi are the greatest legends in the whole galaxy!"
"Guys!" Tails interrupted. "Whether you're retired or not, I need your help!"
"Well you can get help from the actual Jedi."
"But-"
"That part of my life is over! And now I'm just a mechanic who has a lot of work to do." Anakin turned back to the exploded engine and went back to shifting through the debris.
As he moved a big piece out of the way, he saw something shining. He moved more debris aside so he could get a better look at it.
Anakin uncovered a yellow fist-sized gem sitting among the scrap. He studied the gem. He hadn't seen anything like this since…
Anakin turned to face Tails again. "Where are you from?"
