"General." the droid standing in front of Grievous alerting him. "Asajj has brought her transport through the portal. There is just one problem. She seems to have brought two other unknown life forms onto the ship."
Grevious then remembered what she had said in their last interaction. "All will be revealed to you when I meet you soon."
"Watch over the bridge. I shall meet her in the hangar bay." he said getting up from his chair.
"Roger Roger."
(X)
Anakin along with R2 almost broke down the door when the pair entered the support class. The frightened students looked at him with glimmer as an adult was finally there to hopefully direct them to safety.
"Mr. Skywalker! Were so glad you're here!" Mei yelled in excitement as she finally saw her new favorite teacher again.
Power Loader came through the door a few seconds later. "Okay everyone! Were exiting out of the back of the school! Now move!"
The students sprinted for the doors meeting others from different classes who were told the same. But not Mei Hatsume. She ran up toward Anakin. "That's it! Come on, isn't there something we can do to help? I have so many babies that could scrap a few of those bots!"
Skywalker rolled his eyes at her weird term for inventions. "Now is not a good time Mei! Let's just get moving. Your principal will have enough fire power to get rid of the droid problem when we get out of range."
"Fine! But I'm still going to grab a few of my things." Mei said running over to a pile of inventions. Quickly she grabbed as many as she and her backpack could carry and ran out the door."
(X)
Through the back of the building hundreds of students fled the classrooms trying to get to Battle Center A as instructed. At the doorway to the outside Padme shouted kindly at the students.
"Please everyone we need to move faster before they get here! Run down the paved road until you get to the rally point!"
In the middle of the groups of students was Ahsoka, still not in a good state of mind. As she ran the thoughts of what was to come next loomed. How were they suppose to fight the Separatists now at such a disadvantage? Even if they were able to hold back the ground forces right now what was stopping them from sending more through? Did the Republic know what was happening? How helpful will the natives of Earth be with their quirks? But not everyone is a pro hero there still citizens that are terrified by conflict. Is there enough manpower to-
"Tano." Someone was touching her shoulder. Turning her head Kirishima popped into view. "I know this isn't a good time to have a full on conversation but-"
"Kirishima! Just stop! We really can't have a full on conversation right now! There are bigger problems!"
"Tano. I don't fully understand what's going on right now but I know you're not a bad person. I still trust you."
Ahsoka faced her friend. Out of the twenty other classmates Kirishima was definitely one of her favorites. He had been one of the nicest people she talked to through the short time she attended UA with strong moral support. From helping kill the nomu, eating sandwiches with her, and being one of the only people to still openly say they trust her after what she did to Bakugo is a definition of a great friend. But to Ahsoka, the mindset he had was wrong for his own safety.
"You shouldn't trust me Eijiro when I don't even trust myself. But don't worry because you and everyone else here what have to deal with me in a little bit." And with that, Ahsoka turned around and ran off leaving Kirishima to wonder what she meant by that message. Where was she going to go?
(X)
Obi-Wan forced pulled a B1 droid directly into his blade as he dove around the corner. Bad news. The new hallway he was in filled with commando droids that immediately burst through the windows and began charging at the jedi.
Obi-Wan deflected blaster fire back at them and began going to work slicing and dicing their mechanical bodies in half. With only three left standing Kenobi felt a tingle run down his spine.
As he turned around two droidekas rolled at him from the opposite end of the hall. With the main force from intersecting hallway the jedi could see the odds were slowing starting to stack aging him. Maybe he could pull an Anakin and fight against the treacherous odds but if Principal Nezu's plan was suppose to happen in a few minutes he needed to move quickly.
The jedi master ran back where the halls intersected and using the force collapsed the roof above him as he ran by. Bricks and metal fell down on the floor and a few unlucky droids that were leading the charge were squished by it. The dust and ruble gave Kenobi enough time to make his escape and contact Captain Rex.
"Captain what is your status?" he asked.
Earlier the jedi had split from the clones so they could separate the Separatist forces down multiple passage ways. The clones would take one side while the jedi took the other.
Laser fire and Hardcase's laughter could be heard on the other side. "No casualties sir but we just threw our last detonator! They just keep coming! No signs of stopping!"
"Thats fine Captain! Call a full retreat and get out of the building! I'll meet you by the entrance!"
"Yes sir!"
(X)
The ship landed in the hangar as the robotic generals feet stepped towards it. Grevious was not exactly happy about anything ever. So hearing that Ventress had brought back locals from the planet he was invading onto his ship, it really pissed him off. Nonetheless, he would listen to whatever bullshit her reasoning was for making friends. Escorting him on his trip down were two magnaguards he was admittedly going to use for intimidation. Their purple ended electrostaffs buzzed to life as the ships door swung open and out marched Ventress.
"Assassin." the general said before coughing. "I see your still in one piece. Now let's get to the point. Who did you bring back?"
Asajj waved her hands at the ship signaling whoever was on to come down. A second later the villians Shigaraki and Kurogiri emerged from the ship with B1 droids escorting them.
"Hey Kurogiri. I don't know what's cooler right now. Since passing the portal we could speak english now or the fact we are going to speak with a real life cyborg?!"
"Shigaraki. Please stay focused. Remember if we cut this deal world domination is ours!"
"Alright alright." he said back annoyed.
The two now stood face to chest with General Grevious. The cyborg looked down at them with slight interest because of their unusual forms. Even in a galaxy with millions of planets people made of gas and hands attached to their face were still considered weird.
"You must be the famous General Grevious your friend has told us about on the way here." Shigaraki said with a bow. "I am Tomura Shigaraki and this is my subordinate Oboro Kurogiri. It is an honor to meet you." Tomura finished his introduction feeling as if he knocked this ass kissing introduction out of the park.
The General was of course unphased by it. He continued to stair at the men without a sign of amusement. Shigaraki looked up at him. The general's yellow eyes shot daggers into his soul with angry emotions. It was incredible how Grevious could convey such disgust without any eyebrows. The pair of magnaguards looked at each other and beeped their creepy language which made the two villians a little more anxious.
"May… maybe we should continue this in a more private area." Kurogiri said nudging the idea the dathomirian's way. Ventress rolled her eyes. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation on the bridge." she said.
This seemed to satisfy Grevious for the time being as he and his magna guards turned around and walked back from where they came. The group that had just come off the ship soon followed at a distance.
"He's not much of a conversationalist is he?" Shigaraki said.
"Your lucky I have an interest in you helping us. If it was up to him you all would be labeled a target just like the rest of them down there. Just make sure to impress him because there is no way I'm sticking my neck out to save you both."
Tomura squeezed his fist at the thought. All he would need is one touch and that metal bastard would be history. But still, he needed to swallow his ego and play the long game. The LOV needed allies and this was one of the greatest he could possibly ask for.
(X)
"Well Mei I hope it was worth it grabbing your babies!" Anakin said as he deflected blaster fire from behind his back. The jedi, Mei, and R2 took too long leaving the class and now were being trailed by the horde of droids.
"Yes it was worth it because now I can do this!" Hatsume pulled a crossbow from her backpack and aimed it at the droids while running backwards. She fired an arrow and struck a super battle droid from forty feet away. The bolt hit it square in the chest barely puncturing the thick metal layer "Haha!" the droid laughed. "Your primitive weapons are no match against my metalic… BOOM! The super battledroid disassembled from the blast along with it's friends around them. The ones who weren't caught up in the initial shockwave were thrown against walls, lockers, and other school related objects. The blast from the arrow continued traveling down the hallway and around corners to the droids who had yet to catch up to the action. Though at that point the affects were weaker down there only making the droids off balance and fall onto the floor. Overall almost every clanker in the school felt Mei's invention in one way or another.
Anakin was glad that the invention gave them plenty of time to leave through the exits with the droids attempting to collect themselves, but red flags were going off in his head.
"Mei. What exactly did you shoot at those droids?" The jedi asked.
The girl smiled happily knowing someone she had been looking up to lately was impressed by one of her cool babies. "That was my riot control arrow. The force of the blast is suppose to leave people disoriented. But when you set it to maximum power, you get a much deadlier effect. I was planning on getting rid of a setting like that by decreasing the maximum output of energy but... I'm kind of glad I didn't now."
Skywalker grinned as they were now able to see the exit. "I will admit. When we survive all of this, I'm going to make sure to tell a lot of important people. I'm really proud of you!"
"Oh really sensei! I'm so glad to hear that! That means a lot to know that people appreciate my babies!"
Truthfully Anakin was proud of her inventions. The work she put in before and after school could mistake someone for thinking she lived in the support classroom. Her interest in building machines reminded him of his younger years on Tatooine trying to find joy in his life of slavery.
He was telling her a lie though. In a little bit she was probably never going to see the young student again. He wasn't going to tell her that of course. Hopefully she wouldn't feel to sad about it. Him and his friends were almost fully responsible for what was happening.
The pair finally ran out of the building and into the outside air. Enormous clouds of smoke could be seen shooting up into the shy around the city showing that those areas had been hit hard by the invasion. Outside the clones, Obi-Wan, Padme, a handful of faculty heroes, and the principal were there to greet them.
"Was there anyone else in there or were we the last ones to get out?" Anakin asked while catching his breath.
"If I counted correctly all six hundred and sixty of my students from all classes should have left the building to get to the evacuation point. So yes we were waiting for you two. So now I get to do this." Nezu said pulling a remote from his sleeve.
The black remote had a case with a big red button underneath it. Written on top of it was "In case of worst possible scenario use me." The tiny principal flipped the casing open before looking up at his place of work for one last time. "I may not show it well but this is going to hurt me." He pushed the button.
In no time at all the ground began to rumble like an earthquake. Some of the people there lost balance and fell to the ground from all the shaking. Soon more smoke and fire started shooting out from windows and doors in the school as the shaking kept up. Suddenly the building became shorter as the foundation gave out and UA began falling. The faculty members present looked on with gloom knowing their classrooms were being filled with ash and dust.
After what was probably ten seconds, the shaking stopped. The main school building had been leveled to the ground in a controlled explosion and anything that had happened to be inside was now buried under a great deal of weight.
For a few seconds there was a sigh of relief. I tiny victory. Perhaps this was the first of many others that were to come to push back the invading force. Of course this was only for a few seconds before they snapped back to reality.
The sounds of machines grew closer before showing themselves. The Separatist tanks had finally destroyed other parts of the impenetrable wall surrounding the school and were now rolling through the courtyard. The group of heroes formed a circle as they had found themselves almost surrounded by the tanks.
"Well crap Principal Nezu. I hope you have one more ace up your sleeve." Snipe said as he checked the chambers in his revolver to make sure they were at full capacity.
Luckily their rodent leader gave a grin then opened his mouth to answer the question. "My quirk revolves around being intelligent and planning ahead so I can stay a few steps ahead of the enemy. I hope after all this time knowing me Snipe that you're not doubting me." Charging in from the woodlines and other UA buildings robots came crashing in.
"I think our distraction just arrived. But they're outmatched by fire power. Let's not waist their sacrifice and get moving to the rendezvous point."
The group took off toward Battle Center A while their mechanical allies from the entrance exams and other hero class exercises rushed passed throwing themselves at a seemingly unstoppable army. Jesse looked over his shoulder while they ran and watched them get torn apart by the tanks and droids blaster fire. "Poor bastards" he said kind of feeling bad. "Then again, at least it's not us."
(X)
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" All Might heaved the ruble from the building and out on to the worn torn street so it could double as cover for people.
All Might had finally made it down to the police station where he walked into another warzone. Officers were pulling rocks off of crushed coworkers which were mostly showing to be dead. They were being shoved in now cramped ambulances with overworked EMT's who were trying to keep as many people alive with whole blood, AED machines, and prayers. Smoke billowed overhead draping the surrounding area in a grey cloud. Down the street SAT vehicles were holding off advancing droids. Like every other force in the Tokyo prefecture, they were being overwhelmed.
The number one hero had went to work lifting ruble while others along with Naomasa dragged out anyone who could be found. While this occurred, Toshinori could hear the screams of the SAT members down the street dying.
"All Might!" Naomasa screamed getting his attention. "Go take care of that problem! That's more important right now!"
There was clearly more to save. Hundreds of people had occupied that building when it went down and they had only pulled out maybe fifty from what he was tracking. His job was incomplete. But there was more important matters to attend to. He needed to save the lives of people he at least knew were still breathing. In one step he flung himself down the block and over the heads of the police force that was making a stand. While in the air and staring down around three hundred B1s in neat columns he pulled back his fist and shot it forward in a rotating motion.
"NEBRASKA SMASH!!!!" he yelled with extreme anger
A tornado formed from his fist and shot out toward his foes. Anything and everything that was tossed through the air and smashed back into the ground. The scraping metal clanking onto the cement could be heard over most of the chaos around them. In just one move, the company of droids were all reduced to extra car parts.
"Thank you All Might! You just saved our skins just now!" one of the SAT operators praised.
The hero hesitated. He stared down the leftover droid parts he dismantled. If there were thousands of these in the Tokyo area how long was he going to last?
"All Might!" said a voice.
Turning around Naomasa skidded to a stop in front of him and tried catching his breath. "Your... your needed... in other parts of the city! I've been getting calls like crazy in the last hour!"
"I was needing to talk with you anyway my friend." All Might said. He swiftly grabbed the detective onto his shoulder and ran down the street of view blocks and into an alley. Out of sight by anyone and especially out of mind for what he was about to do.
Toshinori powered down and collapse fatigued in front of his best friend. Blood leaked from his lips as Naomasa picked him up and leaned the exhausted hero against the alley wall. Toshinori gagged, chocked, and coughed like he just got done smoking a pack from the corner store.
The detective looked on unsure what to the. He didn't have any sort of medical supplies on him and but he wanted to help. "Toshinori! You can't strain yourself like this!"
The hero stopped making coughing noises and looked up at his friend. He looked into his friends black eyes. They stared back with concern and fear for what might happen to him if he pushed himself passed his already handicapped limits. This made part of Toshinori gleeful that he had a best friend that would put his life on the line to protect him. But the other part of himself knew that he couldn't simply just stop.
"Tsukauchi, you of all people should no I can't just do that." the hero wiped his mouth using his scrawny left arm to wipe the leftover blood still coagulating in his mouth. It left disgusting red marks up and down the wiping arm which only helped in making Naomasa more fearful of his friend's situation. "Now, where else was I needed?"
"Toshinori. I get it. This is by far the biggest threat we have probably ever seen other than... but if you run around somewhere out there and get yourself killed, what happens for these people?"
All Might looked up at him ready to easily answer the question.
"Don't fucking say it!" The detective said with anger in his throat. "That boy is not even close to being ready to take up the mantle!"
"You saw him at the sports festival earlier today on television. He learned how to control the quirk without breaking. That was the hard part of learning to use it for me and my master!"
"It doesn't matter! If you die out there we might not be able to defeat this threat if more ships come."
It was starting to get late. The sun in the now orange sky would soon impact with the horizon marking the end to a no good very bad day.
"You know Naomasa, I could have sworn you called me to the station, not the other way around." He said as he got up from the alley wall and began walking back into the hazardous city streets.
"That was before I knew you were this messed up!" he said scowling at the hero's back. "But fine, you win...literally. I can't stop you from going back out there and jumping around town tonight destroying those droids, but I also hope you stay safe my friend."
The hero changed back looking over his shoulder back at Tsukauchi. "I promise you I'll be alive still by sunrise. I have to do this. Not for pride, not for money, not for pain, but so the people of not just Japan but the world can sleep easy tonight knowing we are doing all we can to stop this threat."
The detective shook his head. "You are always so corny with your speeches. Then again, that's probably why people like you. Anyway, Edgeshot is requesting assistance at the capital building. I'll contact the our alien friends and tell them what you're doing. Good luck All Might.
The muscle-bound hero made a peace sign and smiled at him. "PLUS ULTRA!" he said before shooting off to his next objective.
(X)
They had made it to Battle Center A unscathed. The clones and jedi looked around wondering where they were suppose to go. Those robots that were programmed to sacrifice themselves for them weren't going to last forever. Soon more Separatist would arrive and wander into this area of the school looking for survivors.
"Everyone follow me!" Principal Nezu said running down the empty mainstreet in the fake city. Of course the rest of the group followed fully trusting the animal to lead them to safety.
Every few blocks Nezu would turn a left or right making the others who were unfamiliar with the layout feel lost.
"Dang!" Tup said. "I couldn't tell you where the entrance is now. It feels like a maze."
"Think about it this way." Echo said. "If were having a hard time knowing where we are then those clankers have no chance of finding this secret hideout."
"Alright everyone were here!" Nezu said heading up a flight of stairs and into an office building.
The lobby of the building was an open room with chairs lining the walls on all sides. An elevator was on the far right wall while a female and male bathroom was on the left one. Towards the center back wall was a wooden desk with a computer on top of it. A full bookshelf sat behind it which Nezu immediately ran up to.
"Let me guess, one the books will open up a secret passage way." Obi-Wan said.
"Not quite." Nezu said. "All of the books are fake and don't actually come out from the wall." He showed this by pulling on a few of them and proving they only pulled out a little before refusing to go farther. "It's the one you pick and using the correct activation that will open the pathway. Rex can you call the elevator please?"
Rex looked at the rodent perplexed but did so anyway. Right before he pushed the button Nezu pulled on a green book towards the bottom right of the shelf. When Rex pushed elevator button the lobby rumbled. Suddenly the floor behind the desk created an opening which revealed circular stairs that led far down into the Earth. Lamps began to light up so everyone could see walking down.
The group shuffled down into the hole in the ground. Right as the last person did the floor above them closed off reseting the lobby to what it looked like before. R2D2, not wanting to deal with the trouble of stairs decided to jump off the ledge and jetpack to the bottom.
"Don't worry Skywalker." The principal assured the worried jedi. "It's not that deep."
The group walked down the many steps which allowed Nezu to explain what this all was.
"In case of any large scale villian attacks my number one priority was to make sure all of my students would be safe somewhere. So when this battle center was being built I directed the construction workers to make this. A panic room where all students and faculty could hide in. I'll admit though I never thought we would actually have to use it.
At the bottom of the stairs R2 could be seen waiting patiently next to some sort of floor hatch with a valve on it.
"Damn! This an adventure and a half." Jesse said to himself.
Nezu twisted the valve to the left and the hatch began to open. Inside the opening was a ladder that led down to a big open room. The noises of conversation could be heard confirming that the students and teachers had made it there safely.
As the group made the final climb down the ladder they were greeted to a large room with hundreds of people inside. Hundreds of lights lit the room showing from floor to ceiling it was around fourteen feet in height. Other than a few doors that led to food storage rooms it was empty besides the people that occupied it. Many of the students inside were huddled together trying to reassure each other that everything was going to be okay.
"This panic room has an area a little bit bigger than a football field and has enough packaged food to last everyone a month." The principal said. "As long as they don't find the secret passage way we'll be okay down here."
"Thank you Nezu." Obi-Wan said. "Were glad that there is a place for all these students to be safe."
The jedi master's thoughts suddenly drifted to something completely different. What now?
They fought long enough and escaped into the underground but what was their next move? The droid army was going to take over this planet and likely turn it into a slave colony but how were the jedi and clones going to stop this? They were outgunned but these heroes were going to back them up. That would even the odds. But those Separatist ships would likely keep coming out of that portal eventually. Would they be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers?
"General Kenobi."
Obi-Wan snapped away from his thoughts when Captain Rex called his name.
"I suggest we should start making a plan sir."
Kenobi squeezed his forehead with his left hand trying to make the headache he was feeling go away. "You're completely right captain. We have no time to be standing around feeling bad for ourselves. We need to plan our next move as a team. Anakin, find Ahsoka, we're going to need her here too."
The jedi knight had been looking for Ahsoka Tano ever since they had crawled down to the enormous panic room. Anakin scanned the room looking out for orange skin to single out and call over. Even though she was technically still in trouble from her fight, a lot was still needing to be excused until they could afford that luxury.
Skywalker eventually spotted her. She was alone, back to the wall, and head tucked into her knees. It was a pose he would have expected to find the spunky proud girl in, but considering what had happened in the last few hours, attitudes were bound to change. The only reason he was able to spot the girl was because he recognized the white and blue lekkus on her head. Standing at a distance, pro hero Vlad King watched her sulk almost expecting her to do something impulsive like before. Anakin couldn't blame him.
"I'll be back in a minute master." Skywalker said walking over to his clearly messed up padawan. What was he even going to say to her?
As he trekked over, he viewed something in the corner of his eye. Class 1-A were all sitting together on the floor about a hundred or so yards away from the jedi padawan. Some students sat in silence, some made quick glances at their banished classmate, but the rest were in heated discussion. The class had been split into two groups. People that wanted to trust Ahsoka and people who didn't. And from the looks of everyone ganging up on Kirishima and Mina, most of the class didn't trust her.
"What are you doing?!" Vlad King said blocking the rest of the way to Ahsoka from Anakin.
"I'm collecting my student Vlad King. Please don't stop me."
"And why should I let you? Now I'll admit I don't feel like I one hundred percent know everything about this attack even after your master's earlier presentation but all of this seems to have started because of you guys. And to be quite frank I don't think you guys have done enough to gain our trust. Everything you and your friends had said until this afternoon was a lie for weeks so why should-"
"Kan let him through." Midnight said. She had camly walked into the conversation when she noticed that her colleague was understandably starting a ruckus with the jedi knight.
"Why should I Kayama? They-"
"I'm not saying you don't have good reasons to distrust them. I'm just saying we don't have the luxury. Take a look around at our situation, we need all the hands we can get." Midnight pointed her finger around the enormous room making Vlad really look at the misery and sadness these kids were in.
Kan looked back at Skywalker and glared with anger. "Fine. I won't stop you from seeing her." he stepped aside.
Skywalker took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way to her now knowing what to say.
"Snips."
It surprised Ahsoka to hear the playful nickname, especially at a time like this. She removed her eyes from her knees and looked up at Anakin standing over her. It was obvious she had been crying but her master ignored that. Instead he stuck out his metal hand so Tano could grab it. "If you want to start making things right, then start here right now with us."
She couldn't agree more for one reason only. The others wouldn't have to see her again.
(X)
It's been a long time. Almost a full year. A lot has happened in my life where do I even start. After I quite my part time restaurant job I hoped on a plane to Oklahoma and went through army basic training. Almost froze to death that winter. Afterwards I went to San Antonio for medical training. That was a hot summer. Then finally in September I got sent to my first army duty station... Okinawa, Japan! Really lucked out and now I'm living a great life here in the far east for the next 3 years!
As for the story I'm going to continue this. I'll be honest I have an outline for what I want to happen in the just can't tell how much longer it's gonna be. Most likely in the 175k-200k word range if I don't make any major changes. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with me and read this story up to this point. I've had fun reading the comments whether they are praising me or are good points of constructive criticism. Hopefully I can update with another chapter soon and continue writing this fun story I thought up almost 3 years ago.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone! See y'all again soon :)