CHAPTER 8:

HECTIC SHOPPING, HOT SPRINGS, AND HEAVY STRIFE

Anakin peered at the various items littering the apartment. They seemed to be collectables of some kind. Itami had once explained that he was what the Japanese called an otaku, a somewhat strong fan of certain anime series. His ex-wife seemed to be of a similar mindset, though apparently she was an artist for doujinshi manga. Specifically, something called yaoi. Anakin, when he opened up one of her books, learned exactly what that was, and decided it wasn't his cup of tea, though to his amusement, Pina and Bozes seemed rather smitten with it.

Anakin wondered what sort of reaction he'd get leaving such things in random Jedi quarters. It was amusing, thinking of some of their reactions. On a less risqué note, he wondered what reaction he'd get leaving what the Japanese called mahou shoujo or 'magical girl' manga around. An image of Aayla Secura in a frilly dress wielding an elaborate staff came to mind, and his evil laughter startled many of those present. He'd pay good credits to see that!

Early the next day, Anakin was up, seeing Rory praying near the window. "Praying to Emroy?" Anakin asked.

"I take my duties very seriously, Anakin Skywalker," Rory said. "I may seem frivolous at times, but I have my sacred duty to Emroy."

Anakin looked at the dark-haired demigoddess, before something occurred to him. "Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Becoming an Apostle. Seeing relatives and friends die, not getting to grow up…"

Rory smiled, not her usual feline smirk, but a gentle one, one that seemed to show every second of her lifespan. "I'm sure Yoda feels something similar, if his age is similar to mine as you say." She got off her knees, and turned to Anakin, her red eyes glimmering with something, not quite tears, but something not unlike them. "It's true, sometimes, in my darker moments, I do regret answering Emroy's call. Though in truth, I was spared the pain of seeing my parents wither away and die…because I suffered the pain of seeing them die at a young age. I grew up in the temple, much like I'm sure a number of your Jedi do. But I have seen many friends age and die. And one day, when I achieve apotheosis, mortal concerns will mean little to me."

"Apotheosis?" Anakin asked. He didn't know the word offhand.

"Apotheosis: the process of becoming a deity," Rory said gently. "Many of the deities of my world were once Apostles, humans or demi-humans. But…I remember my duty. I enjoy it a lot, to be sure, ridding the world of those whom the world would be better off without. Apostles are the gardeners of our world. And to tell the truth, immortality is not boring, not for me. Even when old friends die, there are new friends to make. The world, no, the galaxy is ever changing, Anakin. There's always something exciting happening!" Then, after a moment, she asked, "But this is about you, isn't it? You're having doubts about being a Jedi." Her red eyes peered into his own, he didn't dare to nod or acknowledge what she said, and she sighed. "I knew it. This was my fault."

"No, I…"

"Anakin, just be quiet a little." She looked at him, sadness in her crimson eyes. "The Jedi, I am sure, do great good in the galaxy. You could do great good with them, and you doubtless have done so already. When you speak of them, there is admiration in your tone, a desire to be seen as their peer. On the other hand…you are like a fire, a force of nature, hard to tame. The Jedi are like any organisation, especially one that's been around for a long time. It calcifies, becomes rigid and stuff, inflexible. Yoda has been in a position of authority for centuries, no doubt. How do they change and innovate? How do they adapt to their enemies, like the Sith? The Force itself may be forever in flux…but are the Jedi?"

"Then, what should I do?" Anakin asked.

"That's not up to me to decide. They call me an oracle because I am the herald, the mouthpiece, of Emroy. I can't see the future. No…the only one who can decide your future is you yourself. Not me, not the JSDF, not the Emperor, not the Jedi Order, and not the Senate of the Galactic Republic. But…this isn't a decision to take lightly. And don't let your doubts about your place amongst the Jedi affect the here and now, Anakin. Regardless of what you intend to do, remember that you are Anakin Skywalker. And if there is something within you that burns brighter than anything else, then it is a desire for justice, to be a hero. Someone who puts his life on the line for the sake of others."

"Like you?"

Rory laughed, the sound musical. "I'm no hero. For one thing, being immortal means that courage comes rather too easily. For another, I enjoy shedding blood too much. No, I am Rory Mercury, Apostle of Emroy. Many fear me. Others adore me. No, I'm more of a judge and executioner of the wicked. You may think, what is the difference? A hero would be considerably more selfless than I am. I lust for battle and bloodshed, Anakin. It comes with the territory of being Emroy's Apostle, true, but I enjoy it. I do things for selfless reasons, to be sure, in the service of Emroy and to assuage my conscience. I kill bandits and marauders who claim to murder in Emroy's name…but there is a darkness in me I embrace. Some may call me a hero, true, but I am a tool, an emissary of Emroy."

"You helped save the people of Italica," Anakin pointed out. "And it didn't just seem to be for your own gratification."

Rory looked slightly embarrassed. "Well…it was, partly. You see, when a soldier dies in battle, their soul passes through me. I'm a conduit, a psychopomp to Emroy. It has an…interesting effect on me, not unlike an aphrodisiac."

"…What."

"It's true," Itami said, walking into the room, rubbing the back of his head, yawning. "Just before we got your message over the radio, she started moaning like something out of a hentai. I'm glad we sent her to you when we did."

Anakin stared at Rory, before deciding that he needed to ignore that little tidbit entirely, for his sanity's sake if nothing else…

They went on a shopping trip, though Pina and Bozes asked to be brought to the library. Anakin actually stopped by a bookstore and picked up some books that he thought might be of use to the Jedi and himself, including a history book. In Basic, of course, or English. Itami also recommended an anime of something called Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. There was no English version here, but Itami called it an exercise in learning Japanese.

While Itami went to go and see someone, Anakin had lunch with the others. "Sooo, Youji told me you come from another world," Risa said, conspiratorially. "How come you look human, then?"

"Humans are prevalent throughout the galaxy, along with other species," Anakin said with a shrug. "I'm sure evolutionary biologists have a field day bickering about how humans spread across the galaxy."

Lelei paused while eating her own meal. "Lady Mercury, are there means other than the Gate to travel between worlds?"

"None that I have heard of, I mean aside from hyperspatial technology," Rory said. "I can't rule that out, though. This isn't the first time the Gate has opened in Falmart's history."

"Panspermia?" Risa asked. On the looks everyone gave her, she said, hurriedly, "It's not a dirty word, it's a theory about how the seeds of life were transferred from world to world. The main theory was to do with meteorites, but maybe something like the Gate helped things along."

Rory smirked. "Interesting. I can't rule it out…"

Soon after they were finished shopping, Itami returned, saying they needed to get back to the plan. They were to head to the onsen or hot springs resort at Mount Hakone. They would be guarded by the Special Forces.

As Itami tried to relax in the hot springs, he viewed Anakin, sizing the young man up as he tried to relax. He had short blonde hair framing handsome, but vaguely sullen and intense features. A little braid dangled from the right side of his head, a sign, Anakin had told him, of his being a Padawan.

His old friend, Taro Kano, now the Minister of Defence, had warned him about the unknown people targeting the group. However, he also warned him to be wary of both Rory Mercury and Anakin Skywalker. For all Lelei's power in magic, it was doubtful that she would be trouble, especially given her curiosity about Earth's science and culture. Ditto Tuka. Rory, however, was a superhuman entity, beholden only to a deity of war and destruction, and Anakin Skywalker's allegiances were to an interstellar organisation they had only just learned about.

Itami knew that Kano meant these in a precautionary manner. Indeed, Kano felt that having Rory and Anakin on their side was far better than them being on the side of the Empire. But they also had their own allegiances, more than the others.

"Itami," Anakin asked, "you seem on good terms with your former wife."

"Well, we parted more or less amicably," Itami said. "We met in high school, and were great friends, and eventually decided to marry. I joined the JSDF reserves to support us while she wrote her doujin. But, well…the truth is, she realised it before I did that I wasn't really in love with her, not the way she wanted me to be. So, shortly before we went through the Gate, we divorced. I agreed to still help her out whenever I could. Plus, I think she was worried I'd get bisected by an orc or eaten by a dragon or something."

"I envy you," Anakin said, a kind of sullen sadness coming over his features. "Jedi are discouraged from forming attachments. Because when those attachments are severed, or in danger of doing so, they say it can pull one to the Dark Side of the Force."

"So, you're forbidden from falling in love? Jeez, that bites," Itami said. "No marriage or sex for the Jedi?"

"Well, there are some Jedi who have children, and I know for a fact that Master Ki-Adi-Mundi is allowed to have children, though that is due to his species' low birth rate," Anakin said. "But they're exceptions rather than rules."

"Monks in a lot of ways, including celibacy," Tomita remarked, the tall Japanese soldier closing his eyes. "Still, it's not a bad thing to do one's duty…"

Tomita's words echoed within Anakin's mind as he stayed that night in one of the rooms. But as he sat up, he felt a disturbance near the resort. There was something approaching with malign intent…no, several somethings. The malignity seemed to have multiple shades, so to speak, as if multiple factions were converging. And given that they were guarded by the Special Forces, it meant something was wrong.

He heard muffled noises nearby, only to find Rory looking like she was trying to seduce Itami…which, given Rory's apparent age, was more than a little disturbing. Itami seemed to agree, given the expression on his face. "Anakin, why did you have to be such a gooseberry?" Rory complained as she looked up, clad in a rather loose robe.

"Someone's approaching this place," Anakin said. He looked out of the door at the garden, before he said, "I'm going to stop them."

He went out into the garden, lightsaber in hand…and soon found himself surrounded by three teams of men. All with guns. Now, this was going to be tricky. Blaster bolts could be reflected by a lightsaber, but bullets could not. He needed to use the Force to shield himself. "Gentlemen," he said. "You will go no further."

"He's one of the ones from the Special Region," one of the soldiers confronting him said. "Look, kid, surrender now. We're just taking you somewhere to meet someone important."

"This someone would have to come to me. I have an allergy to abduction," Anakin snarked.

"Damned Americans," said the leader of another squad of men, though his accent was different, thicker and huskier. "Boy, you are outnumbered."

"Indeed." Anakin ignited his lightsaber. "I like these odds. So…are you willing to die to capture me? Or will you surrender here and now?"

He threw up the Force shielding in time to prevent the bullets from hitting him. He heard the panicking voice of one commander shouting at the subordinate to, presumably, stop firing in their native language. Then, a gun battle promptly erupted, and Anakin used a Force Jump to leap to a nearby rock, out of the line of fire, allowing the soldiers to kill each other. It seems that negotiations have failed, he thought rather dryly.

"Cease fire, you idiots!" yelled the man who had spoken before. He'd noticed where Anakin had leapt to. "Are you going to come quietly?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, but I know the answer."

The three teams of soldiers, the survivors, anyway, began firing at Anakin, who blocked the bullets once more with the Force. When the rain of bullets ceased, Anakin sighed as he let them drop to the ground. "Isn't insanity repeating something and expecting a different result? Now…my turn."

"Aww, starting the party without me, Anakin?" cooed Rory as she came out, her halberd in tow. "I need to work off some of that tension, considering you interrupted me. And these guys stink to high heaven. They will make wonderful sacrifices to Emroy."

"Leave one from each group alive," Anakin said grimly. "A Jedi Mind Trick may be able to get them to confess…"

It wasn't so much a battle as it was a massacre, more so than at Italica, if only because of the numbers involved. Anakin, admittedly, had to use his defences more than he would have liked to, to defend from the gunfire, while Rory, with her immortality, didn't need to bother.

One last soldier had tried to impale her with a bayonet, sinking the blade between her rather small breasts, only for Rory to look at him in irritation. "Sorry, but no sticking pointy things into me without taking me on a date first!" she snapped, before batting him away. Anakin severed the man's head. "Dammit, Anakin, that was killstealing!"

"I'm not keeping score," Anakin said grimly, looking at the survivors. One he had literally disarmed, another Rory had done the same to, and the other had been knocked out. One from each apparent faction. "Now…let's find out who's after us…"

A few minutes later, Anakin had his answers. Three different superpowers, China, Russia, and the United States of America (the latter of which was meant to be Japan's ally) had sent these special forces units separately to abduct the people from the Special Region, to use as leverage against Japan so that they could exploit resources from that world. The American soldier had also divulged that the President of the US, Dirrell, was blackmailing the current Prime Minister of Japan to allow his soldiers to have access. Apparently that little idea was Dirrell's little notion: his people had argued against it vociferously. Even the operatives sent here thought this whole thing was a really bad idea, but Dirrell had overruled all objections.

Politics, Anakin thought bitterly. He'd gotten caught up in the political machinations of this primitive world. And he had to wonder whether bringing them into the Republic was at all a good idea.

Still, they needed to leave and soon, just in case their enemies made another attempt at abducting them…

They had commandeered a van that had been left behind by the Russians and headed back to Tokyo, everyone in tow. In order to deter any further kidnappings, Risa posted about the Special Region people coming to the memorial set up for victims of the Ginza attack. The crowds would make it difficult for any would-be abductors to make their move without blowing their cover.

And it seemed to work. Kuribayashi also managed to rope in her younger sister, who happened to be there, acting as a reporter. They made it through the checkpoint safely, and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. He enjoyed going to Japan, but it had been marred by what had happened. Maybe something on the other side of the Gate would turn up to distract him…

CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:

Ah, Anakin, if only you knew. Next chapter, Yao! And then, soon after that, we finally learn who Anakin is paired with.

I added that bit about Dirrell being an idiot compared to those he commanded because some readers pointed out the stupidity of the whole thing. So the anti-American attitude at least becomes focused on Dirrell being an idiot.

Review-answering time! Yorae Rasante: Yes, this is like Darths & Droids, where Star Wars didn't get made, and only exists in the mind of a small circle of tabletop RPG players.

Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: She won't…but she'll be wary of him on general principle. Given how well Palpatine was able to shield himself from the Jedi, he'd be able to shield himself from Rory.

No numbered annotations this time.