I know I already revealed that Sephiroth is Quill's dad back in Connected Worlds, but I figured some readers might have needed a refresher to remind them.
Chapter 5: One Winged Angel:
Maveth – Angel's Fortress:
Peter Quill, known throughout the galaxy as the legendary rogue Star Lord (although that had more to do with his actions in saving Turo from Ronan than his status as a semi-reformed thief), was not an easily surprised man. With how crazy his life was compared to his early childhood on Earth in the early 1980s, he had pretty much seen it all. The idea of his long lost father as a planet hopping assassin for hire shouldn't have surprised him. But when combined with the fact that his dad had been dead for years and he had three half-brothers who had the chance to know their father growing up, it rocked him to his core.
They had arrived on Maveth fully intent on confronting the silver-haired trio over their role in this "Hellfire Club's" attack on Asgard last month. Sora wanted to stop them before their actions hurt anyone else, while Star Lord was curious to find out if they really were related. They were greeted at the door by a grouchy looking man named Hojo, who introduced himself as the butler of the small castle where the three warriors lived. Hojo was apparently the father of some guy in the Coalition Army that a mercenary named Sephiroth was cloned from. Hojo had been taken from his home planet of Radiant Garden after its near-destruction, an event that Sora and the cataclysm's survivors referred to as The Fall.
Sora had explained to Quill the gist of where he had come from and the whole Keyblade mythos, but it was a lot to take in at once. Anyway, once inside, they were escorted to the dining room, where the three silver-haired mercenaries insisted that the outlaw, the dragon, and the Keyblade Master join them for dinner. The Avengers and Quill's fellow "Guardians" had been asked to wait outside, while Jake had been asked to come along because dragons (and Quill was amazed to learn that dragons and other supernatural creatures were real) were often asked to be neutral mediators.
Before anyone was willing to eat, Quill insisted on asking what they had meant when the silver-haired trio referred to him as their brother. Kadaj had obliged by telling him the story of their father, Sephiroth. As proof, they produced the communications records of the infamous "One-Winged Angel" contacting Yondu and offering him 40,000 Units to pick the young Peter Quill up and deliver him here to Maveth. With that shred of proof, the pieces began to fall into place, and Peter broke down in tears, demanding to know where their father was now.
"Ask him," Kadaj replied angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the brunette Keyblade Wielder sitting next to him. Confused, Quill turned to Sora with a look of hopeful expectation on his face.
"Sephiroth's last job was to capture two friends of mine," Sora answered. "He hunted them across half a dozen different worlds until they finally managed to drive him off. He showed up again in the middle of a huge battle between the Coalition, the Hellfire Club, and Organization XIII. A bunch of us ended up having to fight him when he came after us in the middle of the battle. He died in that fight." For a few moments, Quill could only gape at the younger man in shock as the fact that the father he never knew was dead hit him with the force of a jackhammer. After taking a few minutes to process this, he studied Sora with a look of hardened anger on his face.
"Did you strike the final blow?" he demanded. He liked the kid, but he was torn on how to react to the news of his father's death. On the one hand, from the way Sora and Yondu had both described him, Sephiroth was a ruthless mercenary who killed for profit and whose favorite pastime was tormenting the guy he was cloned from. But on the other, from his half-siblings' stories, he genuinely cared about his children and the women who gave birth to them. Sora returned his glare with a look of sympathetic honesty that said he knew how the older man was feeling.
"No," Sora responded. "Cloud, the guy your dad was cloned from, was the one who did that." Quill nodded in tearful understanding. It made sense that the guy his dad had tormented for over a decade would want to kill the person who'd been killing the people closest to him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive "Uncle Cloud" as Kadaj called him, for depriving him a chance to know his father, but he at least understood why his father had died. Kadaj walked over from across the table to place a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.
"If you ever want to talk to us about him," the youngest of Sephiroth's children said. "We'll be right here."
"Thanks," Peter replied. "But right now, I just need some time to be alone." With that, Quill got up and strode out of the castle back to the Milano. He still intended to talk to his brothers and get to know them, but now he just wanted to process the info dump he'd just been given in solitude. While Jake eyed the outlaw's silver-haired brothers warily, Sora just stood up and looked at them.
"Coalition Intelligene figured out why you've been working for Maleficent," the Keyblade Master explained. "I get that you're trying to bring you dad back from the dead. I understand why you're doing it. If it was my dad, I'd be trying to do the same thing. But as much as I can sympathize with what you're doing, your dad still killed a lot of people. And it's my duty as a Keyblade Master to make sure that he doesn't kill anyone else. I just want you to know that even though I still have to stop you, I get it." And with that, he and Jake stood up and followed Star Lord back outside to the spaceship. He wasn't worried about being making sure they didn't get away. If they turned up in Coalition Space, Mickey, Aqua, and the others would take care of them, and if they ended up on Earth, Vanitas' team would make sure they didn't hurt themselves or others.
Deep Space – U.W.S. Anguis:
At last, thought the man known to his associates as Stone as he looked out the windows of the warship's bridge at the Lorwardian and Dark Elf spaceships tearing through the spaceships and gunnery stations in orbit of the Galactic Federation capital. The Hellfire Club can be culled from the universe, and the Unchained Legion can finally take possession of the Infinity Stones. As a Praetor of the Legion's High Council, Jasson Sobolov and the troops under his command were charged with protecting Earth from the darkness of the Fallen Ones. While the power of the Princesses of Heart combined with the X – Blade itself kept them at bay, a group of the dark entities' followers called The Hand had been working to kill the seven and destroy the X – Blade in order to allow the Fallen Ones to return to Earth. But that war was a costly one.
Unchained were reincarnated when they died as long as they weren't killed by the X – Blade. But it took twenty-one years for their memories to return so that the sudden rush of recollection won't drive them insane. And the battles against The Hand ended up with a high level of casualties on both sides. To keep the ranks filled while reincarnating Unchained matured, Praetor Gao's research and development branch created a series of multi-colored pills which boosted the subject's strengths to superhuman levels for a few hours, just long enough to battle agents of the Hand in an incursion.
But then one day, a suicidally stupid and self-centered soldier they'd recruited through a front organization by the name of Bill Simpson, idiotically assumed that taking more of the red pills which boosted strength would increase it further. The massacre in Damascus resulted in Simpson's suspension from the program and strict regulation of the pills' dosage. And then while dealing with that pathetic little mind controller Kevin Thompson, Simpson overdosed again, and the Chaste had snatched him up themselves. As punishment, Simpson was reduced to serving as Gao's lab rat as she tried to figure out how to make the strength enhancements last longer, just like he wanted.
Irony could be a wonderful thing sometimes, but a few years back, the Hand broke into the facility where the pills were produced, destroying everything and wiping away the notes. With the mortal agents taken out of the picture, the ranks of the Chaste Battalion were dwindling rapidly. And now Gao's laboratories were being discovered and destroyed. Sobolov was not blind. He knew an attempt to reduce Gao's power base when he saw it. He'd orchestrated more than a few himself over the last eight thousand years. And while he bristled at the losses the Chaste were suffering as a consequence, he was glad to finally have someone knock Gao down a few pegs. Her little project for the Endgame was a bit disturbing in his opinion.
"Speak of the devil," he murmured aloud as he glanced down at the console in front of him. He tore himself away from the glorious symphony of combat going on outside the ship to see a light blinking to indicate an incoming transmission from Gao's last remaining laboratory on the abandoned world of Morag. Sighing, he pressed a button, and a semi-translucent video screen appeared in midair above the console. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Praetor Gao?" he asked, with enough false enthusiasm for anyone but an Unchained to mistake for genuine curiosity.
"Spare me the theatrics, Stone," Gao retorted, and the man blinked. It was unlike Gao to ever be this worked up. She usually dealt with every setback with the same serene calm that she always did. Perhaps she's figured out that her power base is being targeted by one of the other High Councilors, he mused to himself. She wouldn't be so revealing if she suspected me, though, which narrows it down to everyone but the Imperator.
"Well then what do you want?" he replied, annoyed at the interruption since he was needed to coordinate the battle. With High Praetor Gonzales busy trying to build his own power base on Earth, Stone was looking to increase his own influence by taking the man's place as head of the war fleet, and had already managed to earn himself this small battle group in time for the Hellfire Club to attack Turo. Knowing they were going after the Infinity Stone and eager to earn himself more purchase in Robert's sphere of influence, he'd taken thirteen ships and rushed off to the galactic capital to quell the Club's latest campaign. But Gao was so worked up that she didn't even bother trying to play word games with him.
"That boy and the off-world Avengers have found our facility on Morag," she replied. "They're cutting through the defenses like butter and they're heading for the lab. I need reinforcements." Stone froze, realizing the opportunity this presented for him. He could send a few dropships full of Unchained back to Morag to pull Gao out of the fire, or her could leave her there to burn. Even if she survived, her powerbase would be non-existent, and he could easily have her replaced on the High Council with someone who would be loyal only to him. And once he toppled Gonzales, he could promote Stick to head of the Chaste to fill his original seat as Praetor. Looking at the potential rewards, there was only one choice Jasson could make.
"I'm sorry, Gao," he answered. "But all of my ships are busy exterminating the Hellfire Club. Without Robert, most of the Unchained fleet will be tied up chasing down the villains' bases. I'm afraid that you're on your own." He sneered as he cut off the communications link over Gao's uncharacteristically frantic protests. She built her funeral pyre, he thought to himself as he looked up at the kaleidoscopic explosions of light and color as Hellfire and Unchained ships took shots at each other. Let her burn in it.
More of the Unchained Legion backstabbing each other from within. The full extent of the plotting and double crossing will be revealed over time, and the source of the information leaks will be revealed at the end of the story. I wanted to give Stone a real name since like Stick, it's an alias, so I decided to mash up the names of the two actors who play him in the series, Jasson Finney, who actually plays him physically, and David Sobolov, who provides his voice for his one line of dialogue in the first season. And yes, I've just tied the backstories for the Hand from Daredevil, as well as Bill Simpson from Jessica Jones into the overall mythos of this universe.
That's right Final Fantasy VII fans. I've finally brought in Hojo. I was trying to think of a way to incorporate him into the story in a way that didn't involve adding more complexity to the Fall of Radiant Garden, and as I was writing this chapter, I had the sudden inspiration of having Hojo be the butler/caretaker for Sephiroth's little retreat on Maveth. So yeah, Hojo is Sephiroth's butler in this universe. You all know from The Xehanort War that Sephiroth is basically Cloud's Vanitas (so yeah, Hojo is Cloud's dad instead of Sephiroth's in this universe), but the Guardians of the Galaxy can't really wrap their heads around that so they just interpret it as basically being a clone.
Sora and the Avengers going after the Unchained base on Morag (which is the planet where Peter Quill snagged the Orb at the start of Guardians of the Galaxy by the way) will happen next chapter. The confrontation on Maveth happens the day before the Hellfire Club attacks Turo. As you can all pretty much tell, the Invasion of Turo is going to fulfill the same role in KH5 that the Battle of Knowhere filled in KH4.