Chapter 20 Warped World


(Fanfir Note: I finally updated. Sorry for taking so long. I think this is one of the longest chapters that I've ever written so I hope it's worth the wait... hehehehehe... O.O... Oh, and also a thanks to GUEST for their kind words in the review for ch.16.)


LUKE POV

His speeder rocked as a deafening BOOM split the air.

Then another thundered. The small speeder jolted violently, yanking roughly at the seatbelt.

What in sith hell?

Another explosion shattered the darkening muggy sky around him, lighting it up in bursts of fire.

Through the glass windshield he glimpsed blast cannons peeking through openings in the structure.

"Stars, they're firing at me!"

Yanking on the controls he abruptly swerved out of the way, pulling the speeder into a steep nose dive, winding this way and that all the while avoiding the incoming fire pelting down on him from above.

There was no one to help him here. He was a while away from the main cities. As this place was supposedly abandoned.

"Huh, not so abandoned now," he strained out steering into a hard right.

A KABOOM thundered underneath him. Against the gale of the wind he maneuvered the speeder, accelerating and soaring high into the sky. Gaining speed the speeder shot onward, nearing the LiMerge building. The incoming fire grew more frequent and rapid. He was almost there. Then missiles were launched at his speeder.

Easily bypassing the dozen or so rockets coming his way, which just barely scraped the haul of the small fast ship, he propelled the speeder onward.

But it wasn't over yet.

Sparing a glance back he saw the dozen rockets make a loop de loop. White clouds spouting from behind each of them, creating thin white trails in the polluted cloudy darkening sky. They all headed straight at him.

Oh shite!

Those are radar coordinated missiles! Once locked on to an object they won't stop till the objective is destroyed.

Yanking the ship into a hard left it dove down into the industrial works, weaving through empty warehouses with the missiles hot on its tail. Flying though a hollow thin space the speeder ripped through loose hanging wires and dust coated caverns. Then something hit the wind shield hatch, though it was immediately swept off right away but it left a long thin crack on the glass.

Behind him the torpedoes didn't as easily evade scraps flying his way. The missiles impacted, detonating behind him with a roaring eruption of heat and fire.

The raging inferno barreled at him, nipping at the turquoise tail of the small speeder.

Spouting out of the tunnel warehouse fire spit after the craft.

Much to his disdain, out of the blaze five torpedoes still trailed close behind.

Shooting forward he careened around the hail of fire raining down from the hidden cannons now that his speeder was back in the open.

Then he got an idea.

Jerking the vehicle into a steep incline it barreled high into the sky. Higher and higher until the air got thinner and the speeder coughed up its last breath. The missiles streaked at him from behind, nipping at the protruding back fin.

Creating a high arc he plunged the speeder down. Diving straight at the LiMerge building structure with the missiles hot on his tail.

Turning the controls round and round he sent the speeder into a wild corkscrew. Spinning and spinning faster and faster until the poor thing couldn't take it anymore. Rapidly spiraling down toward the planet. The engine whined with the pressure. Behind him the missiles twisted and twirled. Eventually collided with their selves as they intertwined and interlaced paths, detonating in the air and casting new dust and debris into the blackening sky.

Weaving out the corkscrew he nosedived down. Zig zagging left to right. Withstanding the barrage of fire shot at his speeder. More explosions ripped into the sides of the haul. One actually skimming the top glass hatch making the glass melt and dent a little with the heat. Molten hot liquid poured down the window, obstructing his view. Smoke erupted from the speeder as the haul was ruptured. Underneath his own feet the vehicle vaulted violently, about to give out that very second.

He yelled out in surprise as a strong sudden jolt shook everything causing his brain to rattle and his wounds to bother. Then he was dropping. Airborne in what felt like a zero gravity environment. Roughly yanking on the controls he took hold of the dying speeder and curved the vehicle's path toward the LiMerge building as it careened like a plummeting projectile. The speeder half crashed half roughly glided into an open empty hanger bay. It skidded and screeched against the material of the flooring. Scraping up the nice floor. Sparks flew and his forehead nearly smacked against the dashboard with the force of the crash.

Eventually the beat up thing skidded to a halt.

He groaned rubbing his head. Popping the melted glass hatch of the speeder he scrambled out. Looking around wildly he saw the hanger bay was empty. Deserted. He squinted at an object embedded in the ceiling. His keen eyes noticed a black circular camera. Looking straight at it he saw himself reflected in its curvy surface.

Blue eyes narrowed. "Huh, not so deserted after all," he huffed to himself.

Then his body jerked in shock at an abrupt thumping noise. No, make that thumping noises.

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

The noise progressively got louder and louder.

The sound of iron footsteps marching his way came from the two adjoining corridors set in the walls of brown hues. Through the doorway were long shadows cast of black bulky droids who were clearly armed. He unconsciously backed up at the sight and frantically glanced around.

Twisting his body the other way he dashed past his speeder to the open hanger bay in which he had entered. Coming to the very edge in which the wild wind whipped against him he glanced down for a ledge of any sorts. But there was none. It was just smooth wall for a ways down dotted with the occasional tinted window. Wind ruffled his blond sandy hair. The dark blood red blackening sky was turning hues of purple as the sun slowly sunk over the twisted horizon.

What to do, what to do. Where to go?

The clanging footsteps made him jolt as it got ever louder. As the proximity between them grew smaller and smaller.

Turning to face his enemy he finally withdrew his lightsaber.

Sidious's lightsaber.

He exhaled deeply to calm his rattled nerves and thought of how much time he had before they arrived. He ignited the red blade, glancing at it ruefully. It contrast as a different hue against the sky that was just as blood red as the blade.

One

He waited.

Two

The shadows cast upon the walls of the hallways that belonged to the droids grew taller and closer.

Three

His breath came in short pants.

Four

Adrenaline rushed in his body.

Five

He crouched down slightly to his knees.

Six

Then he waited.

Seven

Blue azure eyes ablaze with a red contrasting flame.

Eight

Crackling in his ears the lightsaber shone red with impatience.

Nine

Ready to dig its blade into the flesh of its enemies.

Ten

They were almost upon him.

Eleven

They were here.

A crowd of b2 super battle droids came pouring in, arms extended. When seeing him immediately shooting red lasers out of their forearms. Others bore weapons of rapid fire similar to those of machine guns that were also attached to their forearms; they too started to fire in union at their target.

He easily deflected most of the shots but they kept coming and coming. It soon became a tedious chore, especially with injuries that limited his movements.

They kept on advancing, driving him past his broken blue speeder and to the edge of the docking bay. Arm muscles ached as he swung his lightsaber to and fro deflecting the red shots with the blood red blade. He didn't dare run up and try to cut down all those big bulky droids because then he'd be trapped in the heavy fire raining down upon him.

He instead chose to deflect as many shots back as he possibly could at them but that didn't seem to do any good. They kept on coming and coming and coming. Endlessly pouring from the two adjoining hallways and flooding into the hanger bay while the cameras on the walls watched the scene soundlessly.

The busted speeder offered little cover but it was enough at the moment.

He leaned against the heated metal of the speeder that deflected red shots out onto the walls creating scorch marks that redecorated the room.

Hastily he shoved his lightsaber back in his pocket.

Because I won't need it for this!

Abruptly standing he twisted and threw out his hands in the direction of the droids, eyes squeezed shut.

With a loud clang they all abruptly smashed back into the metal brown walls. Others skid across the metal floor and back toward the way they came bustling in a clumsy pile of mechanical limbs.

Fiery blue eyes shot opened a second later to take in the damage he inflicted.

But it wasn't enough.

All the droids began to get up and attack him with vigor.

Growling softly under his breath he whirled around and ran with force enhanced speed toward the entrance of the hanger bay from which he had entered where the sky grew darker with each minute and the wind began to whistle wildly and brush against his clothes and hair gently.

He leapt out.

Lightsaber gripped tightly in hand.

Cartwheeling he spun head over heels. Plummeting to the industrial works below.

Spinning for several seconds he whirled and faced the building in which he was falling down vertical to.

The tall building.

The very tall building.

The LiMerge building.

And just barely in the surface of the building as he suddenly passed floor by floor he could see the crimson golden orange reflection of himself on the reflective tiles of the structure hurtling down as well.

Sailing down.

Free falling down.

Tattered clothes and all trailing behind him like a big black cape.

Clenching the lightsaber he ignited it in one swing. The crimson blade contrasted greatly against the red blackening sky that sent burning colors searing across the sinking horizon. There were ugly colors on this sky but underneath the layers were also lovely colors of gold. One would just have to see beyond what was possible.

Accidently looking down he squirmed, letting out a little yelp of surprise.

Then leaning forward, still falling, he plunged his lightsaber into the side of the building.

His body jerked up abruptly with the force of it. He wasn't weightless anymore.

To his surprise he kept sliding down the building.

Red blade cut through metal eventually slicing it like butter as it broke through the layer of metallic material and began to slice with ease.

Bracing his feet on the building, spreading apart his legs, he gripped the lightsaber for dear life. Clutching the object so hard it began to bite into the skin and metal of his hands.

Eventually his momentum slowed down and he came to a stop. Red blade half sunken into the wall and feet grappling against the smooth surface trying to find purchase where there was none.

Sith spit! he cursed to himself.

A bit of the cold wind that had once felt caressing battered against his hanging body ripping a whimper from his lips as the airy tendrils tried to snatch him away. The wind whipped at his clothes. Clawed at the fabric and seeped into his very bones in attempt to tug off the weakening hold he had on the lightsaber. It seemed as if it was trying to pull him down to his death as the tempest dragged at his body, his clothes waved wildly in the weather.

Panting heavily he couldn't catch his breath.

Hanging here made it hard to breathe.

His body felt so heavy just hanging there.

And his leg hurt some.

Looking to the side he spotted a window, but it was too far away to be reachable.

Sparing a sparse glance down at the dizzyingly high height he could still fall down he spotted another window.

Hope soared in his chest. And he rejoiced, profusely thanking the force for not letting him perish in such a way.

I won't become a pancake on the pavement! He could've screamed out had he been able to.

The rectangular tinted window below him was just within reach of his legs.

Clutching the lightsaber he forced his body to relax and fall limp for a second. Then gripping the lightsaber he abruptly swung his abdomen and legs back, pushing hard off the surface of the structure and then sweeping forward. The tips of his feet reached and hit the glass panel below him with a solid thud, but nothing happened.

Groaning he tried again and again.

But that stubborn piece of glass didn't break nor budge.

Oh, stars that hurt!

He winced as his wounded leg was slammed repeatedly against the unrelenting ruthless surface.

Again and again and again he tried.

His heart was racing in his chest as the wind still clawed unmercifully at his body.

Attempting to take a deep breath he tried to calm down and think. Letting the light of the force soothe and guide him he closed his eyes, relaxing his muscles he hung there.

Suddenly his blue eyes shot open, looking much deeper and darker than they truly were in the warped lighting of this warped world.

He let his mind wander and grabbed hold of the powerhouse of the force he had at his disposal. He connected with it. Let his mind bathe in that feeling of lightness. Then channeling the unblemished power of the light side into the muscles in his legs to enhance his strength to that of exceeding energy and potency he wouldn't normally possess he pushed off the wall, swung his lower body, and with one go kicked the glass hard.

It shattered under the pressure

Exploding inwardly in a pressurized blast of glass shards.

He chewed at his bottom lip when he noticed blood start to seep out of the bandage around his lower leg and ankle.

He swallowed thickly and ignored it and the familiar throb that accompanied.

Now to get inside there.

He slightly pushed off the wall with one leg, still clinging hold to his lightsaber, then swung forward and pushed off the wall again to gain some momentum. He pushed back off the wall one final time and swung forward.

He let go.

While deactivated his lightsaber.

Most of his body made it halfway inside the broken window frame. Then he started to fall back.

Arms wheeling wildly he squeaked in panic as his body tilted back out of the window frame in which he had found purchase and stability. His body precariously tilted back, then he lunged himself forward clutching sidious's lightsaber and clawing at the air around him. Arms still spinning wildly he tipped himself forward. Stumbling around on the window frame and eventually regaining his balance.

He let loose a big sigh of relief and edged away from the window and rough wind that blew at him in large gusts.

He force jumped over the mess of shards littering the floor and half landed half stumbled next to a round table in the middle of a dim vacant empty room of brown tones with computer software along the edges of the room. Around the round table were five chairs and a round hollow projector ingrained in the middle of the table.

A camera positioned on the brown wall curiously followed his movements.

He glared at the thing.

After taking in the room he spotted gray double doors at the opposite side of the room from whence he came in, opposite of the long rectangular window he had just shattered.

He crept cautiously up to the doors, stepping lightly on his feet.

And opened them.

He was immediately greeted with a blast of light that stung his retinas and caused him to shield his eyes against the harsh glare.

Actually it wasn't even that light in the hallway he stepped into but it just seemed so light compared to the darkness that had taken over the other room.

He looked back and forth.

There was a hallway to his right that eventually curved around a corner.

There was a hallway to his left that eventually curved around a corner.

And a hallway in front of him.

And springing out of those hallways were other hallways and other doors.

He sweat dropped.

Where in the world? How does anybody get around this place! he pouted in thought.

Then the familiar resounding sound of metal footsteps of droids echoed in the vicinity, breaking the silence.

"Uhh,umm." He looked left to right. Right to left. Straight to left and then straight to right and all around again.

Eventually he just thought, Kriff this! And took off down the middle hallway.

He ran and ran and stumbled and ran.

The cameras tauntingly following his every move as if amused by the display. The droid's unrelenting resounding steps followed him wherever he went, getting closer and closer by the second.

I am so lost, he realized.

He was now in a four way intersection among the tall hallways of brown hues.

He twirled and glanced briefly every which way and still there was no sign as to where he should go.

Then he feels it.

Is it the force?

No.

This is different.

This feeling.

It touches his heart,

And then guides him along through hallways and through paths he had never noticed nor thought of going down.

This feeling,

No, this presence.

It originated from deep down. Down deep in this LiMerge building. This building along in the Works.

Somewhere of a red apple eyed creature.

Then it slowly fades away into nothing but by now he has a good sense of where to go.

Of where this feeling was trying to lead him.

And for some reason he knew it meant no harm.

With this guidance he avoids the droids.

Well, mostly.

"Hey, look an intruder."

"What should we do?"

"We should arrest him for breaking in."

"Roger, roger."

All he could do was stare.

These droids were different. Unlike anything he had ever seen. With these squeaky annoying voices that just grated on his very soul and gave him the unrelenting urge to just dismember them all in one go.

And then he knew: whoever invented these things was an idiot! That he was sure of.

He attempted to slip past the two dozen or so nettlesome droids.

But then,

"Hey stop."

"Intruder, you are under arrest."

"Roger, roger."

Oh sith hell, those voices! his brain moaned to him. His patience was quickly wearing thin.

So he made a run for it and sprinted away with the pesky little droids trailing after him.

"Hey come back. We need to arrest you for, uh, some unauthorized admission."

"Come back,"

"You shall be taken into custody."

"Roger, roger," all the droids agreed in union and rushed after him in a mob.

He ran down the hallway stumbling occasionally here and there.

There was an elevator at the end of the hallway!

Salvation!

Footsteps of the obnoxious droids echoed after him.

Then he bumped into a trio of battle droids that came out of a side room, and they did not look happy.

He ducked low avoiding the laser shots fired his way. In a spinning leap he kicked one in the chest, which was a huge mistake as he had to bite down a cry of pain, and spun slicing the head off another. One fired at him. He deflected the shot back at it, damaging the thing but not fully destroying it. He then plunged the red blade into the droid he kicked that was still lying on the floor, attempting to get its bulky body up.

"There he is!"

"You are under arrest!"

"Roger, roger."

Just great.

A heap of beige colored droids surrounded him.

He swung with the saber, slicing easily through two unsuspecting victims.

All of this commotion just attracted more enemies.

Two droidekas aka destroyers rolled up, purple force fields activating around themselves, and started to fire upon him.

Vaulting away he deflected the blast back at his enemies and at those annoyingly skinny droids that always said the phrase "roger, roger."

The super battle droid behind him viciously attacked.

In the midst of flailing arms and limbs he sprang up away from them all to get some reprieve.

He plunged his blade deep in the thick head of the battle droid that was caught off guard. It fell limp. Picking it up, with the aide of the force, he sent the corpse skidding at the others.

He leapt up, red blade crackling through he air, about to dismember another droid when the battle was interrupted by a presence that made his eyes widen considerably. A strong presence in the force that must have previously been hiding itself. When he feels it, everything pauses. The fight seems to pause. Time moves at a drunken pace. Being the only force sensitive here he is the only one who could sense it. It seemed to erupt from all and everywhere, barraging his senses. And he knew just who it belonged to.

Dooku.

It was intimidating.

It was a warning.

It was unlike any other force sensitive's he knew.

Yoda's presence was calming and in control, Darth Vader's had been oppressive and reeked of raw power, leia's was comforting, familiar, and still, like water, but when she got worked up it could become a storm, sidious's was… well, sidious's was just revolting. It made him want to hurl.

But this, this was different.

It was clearly sith but that didn't matter.

It was powerful and majestic and flows like liquid silver through the force with grace and ease.

It was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

But once he felt it, and barely got a good grasp of what he had experienced, it was gone. Just like that. It disappeared in as second. For in reality even though it may have seemed longer it had only been a second.

As it abruptly vanishes alarm clouds his senses.

And he just knows, oh, shite! He's coming to get me!

Time was running out.

It's time to end this.

He threw out his hand, curling it slowly into a fist. Around him the droids started to twist and turn unnaturally and curl in on themselves. The screeching and scraping of metal reaching his ears as they combusted.

He moved his hand in the direction of the droidekas.

With the aid of the force he crushed against the spheres of purple protecting the droidekas. It wavered but didn't fall. They twittered in alarm as around them the other droids crumpled. Body shaking from the strain he suddenly swept his arm out, sending a wave of power crashing down. Force shoving them all down the hallways. They battered against the walls with a crunch of metal. The sound of footsteps rang in his ears as backup was arriving.

Panting, shaking, and sweating hard he turned tail and stumbled toward the elevator, getting in.

But safety was not to last.

An explosion sounded off, so near and close that he went deaf for a second; the elevator rocked and jolted throwing him off his feet and to the hard floor.

Then the elevator fell.