G'day Casters! I'm back with another short, and that's because I decided to introduce at least one more character from the New Virtcast. Sonia is the eldest, and this girl is the second eldest, only 2 years younger. I don't want to spoil the ending I've planned for SH6 so I'll try to keep this short, but we'll see.
This story has been gone over and fixed, for continuity issues later on, and just fixing silly little mistakes. (Plus added Paragraphs)
Story V: An Interstellar Shooter
It's 2 years after the second Death Star was destroyed, and Sonia Borne is already well on her way to being a warrior. But now the rest of the New Virtcast are beginning to come out to play. An interesting surprise awaits the Virtcast at the newest kid to become of age…
One-Shot: An Interstellar Shooter
Vestara Khai's POV:
6 ABY; 2043 Earth Time
Wake
It had been a quiet few weeks recently in the Dream Realm for us, though perhaps not so much for the New Republic.
Earth had been the first to join the New Republic, of course. Well, maybe not all of Earth. Some Imperial settlements still existed. But we were pleased with the way things were going.
A few days ago, our daughter's seventh birthday had taken place, and it was a pleasant change of pace for us. Though I was both curious, and worried.
Flashback
4 ABY; 2041 Earth Time
Sleep
"So, you think the age to enter the Dream Realm might be seven?" I asked. Rivatha nodded. "It's the age both me and Sonia have appeared here. I recall Chris being seven when he appeared, same with Josh," she said. "But we were between 16-20 when we came in," I said. "Not exactly. That's when you gained control. I had seen you girls around Qeios a couple of days before you arrived in Arendelle. And Kairi had actually been a citizen of Qeios. I remember her causing a small bit of trouble in her younger days, almost rivalled you in causing issues for Qeios," she laughed quietly. "I bet. But you had control as soon as you got here, didn't you? And so did Sonia," I said. "You only gain control when you're strong enough. Josh's death in the real world strengthened you all, bringing you here. However, that's only the first generation. I came here as soon as I appeared, as my father had also come here, and had gained control. I never knew how though, unless his mother had come here before him. Because boys don't seem to gain control," she said. "So that means, all our kids will come in at the age of seven, just like you and Sonia," I figured. Rivatha nodded. "That means two years until Stella comes in, three or four for most of the others," she said.
End of Flashback
6 ABY; 2043 Earth Time
Wake
Stella hadn't appeared yet, but I knew it had taken up to a month for Sonia to get in after turning seven.
Looking at the bright side of this year though, and Cierra had just had a child too. The girl was of Skywalker blood, because of The Sky Walker injecting Skywalker blood into Cierra, but we weren't worried.
All Skywalkers fall, but all Skywalkers are brought back to the light.
Even Vader and Caedus, who were redeemed right before they died.
!=-{+}-=!
At the moment, I was racing both Chris, and our daughter, Stella, through an obstacle course.
Both me and Chris still had the Force in the Wake, Chris from our fight with Elaine, and me as a side effect of combining my light and dark again. But, much to our surprise, Stella showed signs of the Force too.
I guess I was Sensitive when I was pregnant with her.
We came to a wall that normal people would have to climb, but I just Force leaped to the top. I stopped for a second to see where Stella and Chris were. Chris was already in the air and landed next to me.
"Let's see if she's learned to control her powers," he said. She had certainly been using the Force to increase her speed, which meant we both had too as well, otherwise she was too fast for us.
As Stella reached the wall, I caught a glimpse of the concentration on her face, and she Force leaped.
She didn't even land on the wall, she jumped straight over it.
"Gotta keep up!" she yelled back, laughing. "Not bad," I said, before Force dashing off the side of the wall, rolling on the ground, and sprinting after her. Chris was right behind me.
We caught up just as Stella reached the end.
"Not bad Stell," said Chris. "I see you're learning to control and use your powers," I said. "All thanks to the constant training," she sighed.
I felt a bit of guilt for putting her through that, but it was needed.
"I'm sorry, but the training is needed. You know what our job is, and that it's up to you to help out when you're older," I said calmly. "I know, and I really don't mind it. I want to help you all, but I also just want to live as normal a life as I can with being the daughter of two of the Virtcast's most powerful members," she said. "I know. We try to keep your life as normal as we can despite the training and I'd say you know that. I kinda know how you feel," said Chris. "Yeah so do I. My dad was a bit strict," I said. "Don't remind me," he replied.
I just laughed at the memory of Chris and my dad meeting.
"Well, you two aren't exactly strict, so there is that," said Stella. "Indeed we aren't," I smiled.
"Come on, it's getting late. We should head home," said Chris. Sure enough, the sun was nearing the horizon.
"You got it."
!=-{+}-=!
After arriving home, we had dinner and prepared for bed.
"Hey, Stella?" I called, knocking on her bedroom door. "Come on in," she said.
I entered the room, and saw her lazily lying in bed with an old Nintendo 3DS.
"I see you found Chris's old 3DS," I laughed. "Yep," she said. I noticed the cartridge and laughed. "You sure do take after him," I said.
The game she was playing was The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D.
"What? Zelda's a fun game!" she said. "Yeah I never said it wasn't," I said, trying to defend myself. I knew better than anyone to not get between a gamer and their games.
"Anyway, what's up mum?" she asked. "Well, I was thinking about something Rivatha said. You'll probably end up in the Sleep within the next month, so I just wanted to make sure you knew that and were ready," I said.
She closed the 3DS and put it on the table beside the bed.
"I think you know the answer to that. Of course I'm ready, I already know how to use the Force, and I have basic sword skills. Also, blaster training," she said.
It was true, she had opted to do the blaster training herself, and was quite good at it. She had also taught herself how to use a sword, much like Chris had done around his early teens. She had eagerly learned the Force from both of us too, though I had to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't become lazy with it. She knew that too, so she was trying to secretly teach herself how to just hide her presence in the Force. She had no idea that I knew about her secret training, but I didn't stop her because that Fore ability had come in useful for all of us on many occasions. And the fact that she was teaching herself was good.
"I know, and you are pretty bloody good with a blaster. But you should also know that going to the Dream Realm is tiring, so you can't go during school weeks," I said. "Good thing the last day of school was yesterday and it doesn't start up until next month," she said.
"Well, I look forward to seeing any new powers and skills you gain in the Sleep," I said.
I was also curious as to how much her looks would change. Most of us looked similar, but had some differences. Rivatha looked quite different, as I had met her and Sonia in the Wake after the assault on the Death Star. She had long hair instead of short hair and it was just black, without the red streak through it. Sonia had adopted the short hair with the red streak, and had also decided short hair was more comfortable in the Wake, but in the Wake, she had it soft yet slightly messy, while in the Sleep it was a little more emo-like.
In the Wake, Stella was slim but the muscles from her training were very slightly visible, though more-so on her arms than her abs. Her abs weren't really that visible. Her eyes were a deep and very prominent blue, and her black hair was long and straight, though a little messy as she refused to brush it often.
My younger self from the beginning of this whole mess would certainly agree that she was cute.
"Sleep well my little star," I said, kissing her on the forehead. "Night mum," she giggled cutely.
I turned the light off and quietly shut the door, before heading to our bedroom.
"I sense something…" said Chris. "The beginning of something new," I said, knowing what he was sensing. Stella was about ready to enter the Dream Realm, and would join Sonia in assembling the New Virtcast. Next year, the year after, and the year after that, and in another seven years, the members of the New Virtcast would begin their journey in the Sleep.
"See you in the Sleep," he said, smiling. I kissed him and turned my light off.
We both drifted off to sleep.
Sleep
I woke up in the Night Fury.
Chris and I were alone on a scouting mission to an outer-rim planet called Cadinth. We thought a Republic task force that was supposed to be returning from the galactic frontier may have come under attack while taking on supplies. We were sent first, with Ahsoka and the Resolute II, now under New Republic control instead of Republic Remnant control, coming soon after with some various other New Republic Star Destroyers.
"Final jump and then we may be fighting," I said, preparing the Night Fury to jump to hyperspace.
I caught a glimpse of something pale out of the corner of my eye, which then went back into the shadows in the dimly lit cockpit. I looked over to where I had seen it.
"Make the jump, I want to check something," I said. I had my hand on one of my red lightsabres as I cautiously approached the shadows.
I caught another glimpse of white, but it vanished too. I looked into the darkness, trying to use the Force to enhance my vision.
The Force illuminated two deep blue eyes in the dark, staring back at me. I recognised them instantly and smirked.
In the blink of an eye I used the Force to grab a blaster pistol, making sure it was on stun, and shot straight at the eyes.
Even with barely a second to react, the person in the darkness jumped away from the stun blast.
Before I could shoot again, the blaster was kicked out of my hand and I was thrown back into my chair by the Force.
Chris just looked on, an amused look on his face. He knew as well as I did who was on the ship. And sure enough, a young girl emerged from the shadows.
Her skin was ghostly white, and her blue eyes were mesmerising. Her long black hair flowing down her back. She had a dark grey singlet top on, and black combat pants which had a small white star on them, with black light combat shoes.
"That was one of the quickest reactions I've ever seen," I said, genuinely impressed. "Doesn't surprise me with who it's coming from," said Chris, still looking amused at how easily I had just gotten beaten by our daughter.
A small smirk could be seen on Stella's face.
She seemed a bit skinnier than in the Wake, and of course her skin was, as said before, ghostly white, instead of the normal slightly tanned skin she has in the Wake. The muscles she had developed weren't visible, but I could tell she was much stronger and much more agile here.
"Well then, welcome, Stella," I said, regaining some composure and looking back at the hyperspace tunnel we were in.
"This is a lot different actually being here rather than just hearing about it and seeing it in pictures and videos," said Stella. Her voice seemed to be quieter, slightly colder, and almost completely emotionless.
It actually gave me shivers.
Though I knew this was the same girl who had accidently ended up in a rather amusing tangle with Sonia a year ago in the Wake. The same girl that we had spent the last seven years caring for.
"So, where are we going?" she asked. "To Cadinth, we think a Republic strike team there might be under attack," said Chris. "Well, it would help if I had a weapon," she said. "Oh no, sorry Stella, but you're not going down there if there is a battle," he said.
Before Stella could argue, I spoke up. "Tell you what, how about you two stay in the Night Fury. Cover the battle from the sky. I'll go down and fight on the ground. That way Stella can learn more about how to pilot the Night Fury too, and work its weapons," I said. "Not a bad idea, it'll be her ship soon anyway," said Chris.
I looked to Stella. "Yeah sure, it's better than not doing anything at all," she said. We nodded.
"Well, in-case there is a battle there, let me show you how to use the guns," I said. She nodded.
!=-{+}-=!
I taught her the basics of the turbolasers the Night Fury was equipped with, before we came out of hyperspace to see a couple of Republic cruisers.
And Imperial Star Destroyers.
"Looks like there is a battle alright," I said.
We went down to where the strike team were. Sure enough, there was a large Imperial force bearing down on the small strike team and outpost.
The Night Fury hovered above the ground and I jumped out, using the Force to soften the fall. I landed gracefully and ignited dual red lightsabres, immediately entering the battle.
Stella Khai's POV:
As mum jumped out and ignited her dual red sabres, charging into the fight, we took off again.
"Aim true," said dad. I nodded and armed the guns.
I started blasting away at the enemy Imperial droids.
"Not bad Stell, your aim is just as good as Sonia's," he said. I knew her aim in her first battle had been great, but she didn't have the Force.
I concentrated harder, managing to destroy the Imperial droids at an extreme pace. I focussed on some of the Sniper airspeeders, and took them out with ease.
"Ah great, AT-ATs inbound," warned dad. I looked up and saw some AT-ATs. "How powerful is this thing?" I asked. "It can fight the Enterprise," he replied. "Then it should be able to take out an AT-AT," I said. "Oh, that's no problem. But until we do take them out, they're going to be a pain for the guys on the ground," he said. I knew that included mum, so I focussed fire on an AT-AT.
It went down, but before I could fire on the next, the ship rocked.
"We're hit. Damage is pretty bad," dad said. "What could do so much damage to the Night Fury?" I asked. "A Federation ship. We have the Enterprise, but the Empire does have some of the other ships," he said.
I looked up and sure enough, the U.S.S. Kelvin was above us, dwarfing the Night Fury.
"We need to get out of here," said dad, pulling away from the battle and into space. "No, we can't leave them," I said. "Stella, they'll be fine. We need to distract that cruiser, but hopefully not get hit by it," he said. "Well you probably just cursed it," I said.
And as if to confirm my words, the ship rocked again. The controls sparked as we lost power.
"Okay, new plan. We're crashing," he said. "That's not a very good plan," I pointed out. "Well too bad," he said as he pointed the nose of the shuttle down.
We plummeted straight to the ground, but he pulled up, letting us glide.
"And that is why it's good to have wings, and also emergency manual flaps attached to said wings," he said.
But we were still falling a bit fast. I felt him concentrate in the Force, to try to slow the ship down. I did the same.
We hit the ground, but the ship was mostly in-tact.
"This shit is getting tiring," I heard dad mumble.
I guess the Night Fury crashed a lot.
"Come on, grab a blaster," he said.
I picked up the DD6 blaster pistol that mum had used to try to stun me.
We exited the Night Fury.
A group of Imperial Stormtroopers were coming towards us.
"This just gets better and better," I said.
They started blasting us, but dad ignited two lightsabres and deflected most of the shots. I blasted some of the Stormtroopers, my aim nearly perfect.
Soon, they were dead. But a cloaked figure came into view.
"Stay back, I can feel the Dark Side coming from him. He might be a Sith grunt," said dad. "Good luck," I said, before retreating into the Night Fury.
I knew not to argue. This wasn't a practice match, and I wasn't fully trained.
The Sith removed his cloak, and ignited a red lightsabre. Dad's purple and red sabres spun around.
He charged at the Sith.
The Sith blocked the sabres, and fought back. I thought dad was winning, until his purple sabre was kicked out of his hand. The Sith somehow got the upper hand and smacked dad across the face, making him fall to the ground and lose his other sabre.
I thought quickly.
The Sith was going to kill him.
I used the Force and grabbed dad's purple lightsabre, igniting it.
The Sith looked at me, and so did dad.
"Stella's he's too strong," dad said. "Listen to your master, girl. You won't last against me," said the Sith. "You want a bet?" I replied. I was lucky that I had come here with a singlet and combat pants with light combat boots, because it allowed me to move much more freely.
I charged at the Sith, locking blades with him. I slashed at him mercilessly, and dashed around him, trying to confuse him. One of my swings missed his blade and I felt the heat of his sabre on my bare arm. I jumped over his head and locked blades with him again. The Sith tried to push the blades into me, but I summoned unknown amounts of strength and pushed him back. I felt shock from him when he focused on me again. I saw a reflection of myself, and realised why.
My left eye was on fire, the blue flame dancing angrily.
He charged at me again, trying to slice me in half, but I blocked it. Unfortunately for me, it seems this was a trick. I felt a cold blade of some sort cut the side of my stomach, then again on the other side just under my chest. I let out a raged scream as I turned and flipped and jumped my way around the Sith, finally managing to confuse him before my blade cut cleanly through his torso. Both halves of him fell to the ground.
During the fight, the Sith had nicked my cheek with his sabre, but when I felt my cheek, I felt the cut had already healed. I guessed I had really quick healing abilities.
Then why were the two other cuts still there?
I looked down at my body, expecting my dark grey singlet to be soaked in blood. To my surprise, while the cuts had not healed, there was no blood.
I looked to dad. "Impressive kiddo," he said, straining to get up. "Don't push yourself," I said. "I'm fine. I've taken worse hits," he said.
Once he was on his feet he did seem okay, so I didn't push it.
"It seems, even if you were without the Force, you have superhuman strength, speed, agility, and even rapid healing. That blue eye flame is an interesting touch to your power too," he said. "Then what about these two cuts?" I asked, pointing to my midriff. "He tried to use that shikkar on me too. I smelt some kind of poison, so maybe it would have killed me or paralysed me. It seems all it did to you is stop those two cuts from healing. But it also brings up another curious question. Where's the blood? Perhaps you don't bleed like normal humans," he said. "Maybe I don't. The cut on my cheek didn't bleed, but then again the lightsabre probably fried the blood there," I said. "Either way, you're impressive, Stella. I think you'll be a great member of the New Virtcast," he said. "I hope so," I replied.
We heard a sound and looked up to see the Resolute II and some other Republic cruisers entering the atmosphere.
I smiled at what I had achieved.
Sonia covered the Starfighters that destroyed the Death Star on her first day here. I went into hand-to-hand combat with a Sith and won. I think I know which one is more impressive.
!=-{+}-=!
We reunited with mum, and told her what had happened.
After that, we went back to Arendelle, where I met Sonia. She was surprised to see me, to say the least.
That was obvious when I hugged her and she took a second of hesitation before hugging me back.
She was certainly proud of me when I told her how the fight had gone. Sonia really was one of my best friends.
Nine years later
15 ABY; 2052 Earth Time
Inlia; Arendelle
I looked in the mirror as I did the final changes to my outfit. I smirked at the all new sixteen-year-old Stella Khai.
My long black hair was done in twin-tails, the right one being shorter than the left. I had a long black jacket that reached half-way down my shins, and had a hood that could cover my twin-tails. There were white stripes running down both sleeves, and a white star located on the front right, and centre back of the jacket. Under that, I just wore a black string bikini top, with some black tight-fitting and very short shorts, black gloves, and black knee-high boots.
My blue lightsabre was clipped onto one side of my belt, with the red sabre hidden on the back of my belt. On the other side of my belt was a custom-built blaster. My Rock Blaster. Powerful, and very handy.
"Stella, it's time to go. The others are already waiting on the Furious Destroyer. You know I don't have the knowledge to prepare the Night Fury by myself yet," came the voice of my co-pilot, Matt. "I'm coming," I said.
I laughed to myself, a quiet but scarily sinister laugh. My left eye flame ignited in an angry blue flame.
"Bring it on."
And that is the end! I hope you liked that little introduction of Stella! In-case you didn't figure it out, she is kinda very largely based on Black Rock Shooter. You also got a pointer to one of the other New Virtcast members, Matt. So, I hope this was good! SH6 may take a while, unfortunately I don't seem to be following the pattern I've kept until SH5. SH6 should be almost finished, but I've barely started lol. Anyway, see you next time!
-Virtcast Chris
Virtcast Productions 2016
Edited in 2017
-Night Fury Warrior
(DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars, Black Rock Shooter, or Rivatha, Qeios, and Cierra Skywalker. They belong to LucasFilm, Huke, and VenturianTale in that order. The Star Trek used belongs to J. J. Abrams.)
