Hello everyone!
I just want to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays depending on your beliefs. Please enjoy this little present from me.
As always, I hope you enjoy and please R&R.
-Spearhead
Forever, that's how long they had been walking, or at least that's what it felt like. Her legs were burning and her lungs were on fire. Even though she had recently been exercising to increase her cardio, it hadn't prepared her for climbing stairs. A single flight wouldn't have been a challenge, but the thirty or so she had climbed were proving to be a bit tough.
Luckily, it appeared as though they had gone as high as they could in this tower. Reaching the top of the stair well to find an open door that led to another long corridor for a small bridge that linked it to the next building.
"Do we even know if we're going in the right direction?" Erica asked sceptically during her heavy breaths.
"Have faith, Padawan." Revan stated as he entered the corridor, long glass windows allowing for beautiful panoramic views of the city around them.
The midday sun continued to cause the silver towers to glisten, the ocean lapping against the artificial shore below.
Erica couldn't help but stop and stare in admiration at her first real alien planet. It reminded her somewhat of of Alderaan, of home. While she hadn't grown up there, Master Raan had taken her several times on training exercises. It was on their fourth such outing that the father figure in her life informed her of the fact that the planet was her place of birth. It was a test, to gage her emotional response and her training, however she had sensed as much.
After being able to suppress her emotions, shielding herself with the force, Master Raan had announced her ascension to the role of his Padawan. It was only after they returned to Tython, did Erica allow herself to research her worlds history, grieving the damage done to her home during the most recent Sith invasion.
"Padawan!" Revan shouted from the other end of the bridge, snapping the young woman from her thoughts.
Erica panicked and ran to catch up to her new instructor and HK-47, the maroon coloured droid turning back to face her, seemingly watching her advance.
Revan rubbed his hand against a doors control panel and watched it open to reveal a large room. The room was filled with benches, no doubt meant for people to sit on and enjoy the view of offered.
Both of the humans had put their weapons away over an hour ago, mainly using them as light sources in the lower levels that had been damaged, but HK-47 still had his blaster rifle drawn.
"You would think a city this large would have a turbo lift system, or maybe a tram." Erica sighed, her breath slightly laboured from the brief jog to catch up.
"I'm sure it does. However, we haven't come across anything that like yet, have we?" Revan asked, a smile on his face as he crossed the room, swiping his hand to open another door on their journey.
She didn't reply, knowing he wasn't wrong, looking past her master to see a small room. There wasn't anything special about it, except for when a console appeared on the wall as two segments retracted.
"Well, what about that?" Erica countered, pointing at the screen that appeared to show a diagram of the city with dots all over it.
"Statement: That looks promising." HK-47 admitted, holstering his blaster as he approached.
"It could be the city's version of a Rakatan transport pad." Revan said as he approached the console and examined it. Erica joined him inside the booth, waiting for him to say something.
"Might as well give it a try." Erica shrugged as she pressed the middle of the diagram, before Revan could object, her finger made contact.
The doors closed behind them, leaving HK in the corridor, and when they opened again, they were greeted by a completely different hallway. The pair stepped out and looked around at the seemingly empty corridor. Well, empty of life, the hallway was in fact full of crates.
They both became occupied with slowly looking around that neither of them noticed as the transporter doors closed and reopened to disgorge HK-47.
"Statement: It would appear the young meatbag was correct, they were indeed transport pads." The droid informed as if amused by the fact.
"Don't call me that." Erica said as she peaked around a corner to see more stacked containers. But as she turned back to check on her companions, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Freeze!" A deep, booming voice roared from behind her as a strange clicking sounded.
Erica drew her lightsaber and activated the blade as she span to her left, her back towards the transporter booth she had emerged from a minute previous. While the man stood before her appeared fearful of seeing her green blade, he still stood strong with a unfamiliar weapon pointed at her. He was young, but older than her easily. Erica glanced behind the soldier and couldn't see her master or his droid, unable to refrain from sighing in frustration.
Erica took a firmer grip of her blade and slowly backed away from the man, bringing her blade closer to her body in a defensive manner.
"Major Sheppard?" The man asked after tapping a device in his ear.
"What is is, Lieutenant?" A voice replied through his earpiece, loud enough for Erica to hear, which she found slightly amusing.
"We have an intruder two levels below the control room. She's definitely not Athosian, Sir. She's armed." The man informed after tapping the device again.
"On my way." Major Sheppard said rapidly.
Erica didn't move, she simply kept her weapon raised while the man continued to aim at her. The humming of her blade being the only sound that filled the air between them, it was a calming sound, one that had been used to sing her to sleep as a child.
The corridor was soon filled with the sound of stomping boots and behind the soldier aiming at her, a group of five more men appeared. All of the new arrivals snapped their weapons up into an aimed position, their obvious military training making them focused.
"Padawan! Lower your lightsaber!" Revan shouted from the far end of the corridor, from behind the men, causing three of them to spin around and take aim at her Master.
Much to Erica's confusion, Revan hadn't drawn his lightsaber and HK's blaster rifle was holstered.
"Admission: If these meatbags harm Padawan Erica, I will enjoy killing them." The machine said loudly, not calming anyone's nerves.
"Padawan, you will deactivate your saber, now." Revan barked sternly enough for Erica to flinch slightly before she did as she was instructed.
All she could do was grit her teeth as one of the men moved forward and snatched her hilt from her grasp while Revan and HK stood idle.
"You will all surrender your weapons and be taken to a secure location. I promise you won't be harmed." The man with short jet black hair informed loudly.
"Agreed." Revan nodded, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt and lowering it onto the floor, HK-47 doing the same with his blaster rifle.
When the men had collected Revan's lightsaber and HK's blaster, the trio were escorted to a large open area. In this large space, a smaller version of the device that had bought them to this galaxy stood. Crates, machinery, and personnel were chaotically littered everywhere.
Above the device was what appeared to be a control centre, staff looking onwards as the group passed. The room opposite the city's nerve centre was the one they were taken into, a large conference room with several tables and seating for a dozen people. the withered plants a clear indication that the humans here had only recently arrived themselves. The man that had first encountered Erica and the man with short black hair left the room, with the other four as guards.
"Master, we could have easily disarmed them." Erica whispered as she stood next to Revan.
"We're here to help them, Padawan. If we did as you suggest, I don't think it would be a good first step to gaining their trust. Do you?" The Jedi Master asked, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned back against the wall while HK just stood nearby, observing the soldiers guarding them.
"No, Master." Erica sighed, knowing he was right.
"Patience, young one." Revan reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her through the force.
Erica took a deep breath and nodded, letting her anxiety and worry melt away.
After a few minutes, the two men returned, following a woman with pale skin and shoulder length dark hair.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Elizabeth Weir, leader of the Atlantis Expedition. This is Major John Sheppard and Lieutenant Aiden Ford." The woman informed, clasping her hands in front of her.
"Doctor Weir, a pleasure to meet you. I am Revan, Jedi Master. This is my Padawan learner, Erica Pravin and my loyal droid, HK-47." Revan said, pointing to them.
"That confirms it, they aren't Athosians." Major Sheppard nodded, looking at the trio.
"I've never seen a robot before." Ford smiled, amused by the sight of the machine.
"Correction: Droid." HK stated, looking at the young man. No doubt if the droid could scowl, it would have.
"I'm sorry, Jedi Master? Padawan learner?" Weir questioned, confused by the terms.
"The Jedi Order are the guardians of peace. We study and utilise the force in order to help and protect those in need." Erica answered proudly, a smile on her lips, but Revan seemed annoyed by her answer.
"I see, and a Padawan?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A Padawan is a Jedi in training. Selected and taught by a Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master." Revan answered bluntly.
"So she's a student and you're her teacher?" Lieutenant Ford asked, trying his best to suppress a smirk.
"That is an accurate assessment, yes." Revan nodded in agreement.
"Not to be too blunt, but why are you here? And how did you get here? You didn't use the stargate." Sheppard asked, his brow warping in impatience.
"We arrived here on a ship. Our shuttle is on one of the piers while our cruiser is in orbit." Erica answered quickly, naively.
"A cruiser?" One of the other soldiers in the room asked, his voice filled with panic.
"Yes, but don't worry, we aren't a threat to you. Let me explain why we're here and you'll understand." Revan said, stepping forward. The soldiers in the room raised their weapons in alarm, warning the Jedi off.
"It's alright." Weir said, stepping forward to meet Revan in the room, a bravery climbing from within her.
The guards lowered their weapons slowly, ready to raise them again in an instant it necessary.
"I can show you through the force, it won't hurt, but it will be uncomfortable for a few seconds." Revan said, reassuringly.
Elizabeth just nodded before taking a deep breath, ready for whatever the man was supposedly going to do.
Revan closed his eyes and just like when he had shared the vision with Erica, his hand began to glow. The images played in Weir's mind. The great ships, the angry creatures, a massive stargate, the city they were now stood in being attacked from above and humans being drained of life. The strain of sharing the vision weakened Revan, not as severely as before, but he had to close his eyes. It was an attempt to try and force the stabbing pain to stop, which after a few seconds it did.
But Elizabeth nearly toppled over. Revan caught her with a hand, once again causing the soldiers to raise their weapons.
"Doctor Weir, you alright?" Sheppard asked, stepping forwards, obviously concerned.
"I'm fine. Just give me a second." She nodded, rubbing the bridge of her nose as her brow twisted in pain.
"Stand down." John ordered, the guards obeying immediately.
"They're here to help, Major. I believe them." Weir said as she stood up and regained her composure.
"I'm going to need a little more than that." Sheppard admitted sceptically, his voice somewhat sarcastic.
"I'll show you too." Revan offered, staying where he was.
"Sure, what the hell. Magic glowing hand in the morning, better than breakfast." John nodded, walking forward.
As Revan's hand began to glow again, Sheppard's mind became flooded with the same images as Elizabeth's.
The Major didn't topple over, but he did have to hold the bridge of his nose for several seconds as pain shot through his forehead.
"Stand down. All of you can leave, except you Ford." John ordered, immediately receiving salutes from the guards. Even though Revan could sense their uncertainty, the soldiers didn't hesitate to leave the conference room.
"So you had this vision and you decided to come help us?" Weir queried, having to sit on the table.
The force is a gateway to many abilities, abilities some deem unnatural. But this vision was given to me. I was directed here. I was sent to help end this and other threats that will rise against life." Revan answered honestly.
"What kind of abilities?" Ford asked, unconvinced.
Revan didn't say anything, he simply raised a hand and made the tables and chairs lift off of the floor. Elizabeth jumped off of the desk as it slowly flew into the air. After a few seconds, they found their way back onto the floor and Revan lowered his hand.
"That's not even a taste." Erica smiled as she reached out with her own hand. Immediately her lightsaber hilt leapt from the table beside Sheppard and landed in her hand, allowing her to clip it back onto her belt.
"I can see that." Ford nodded, looking at the young woman.
"So, where do we go from here?" Weir asked, looking between Revan, Erica and HK.
"I'm here to assist you and your personnel, as well as preserving life where I can." Revan replied honestly.
"Where 'we' can." Erica added, stepping forward confidently.
"In that case, I might need your help. Some of our people were taken and I'm going to get them back." Sheppard said, confidently.
"I will accompany you. HK and Erica will remain here to begin unloading the supplies we bought with us." Revan nodded.
"Admission: I would thoroughly enjoy killing some meatbags." HK-47 informed, looking at him.
"Next time, HK." Revan smirked to his droid.
"You might need my help, Master. Two Jedi are better than one." Erica admitted confidently, a smile on her face as she folded her arms across her chest.
"You're not ready, your training hasn't prepared you. You will remain here and assist HK." Revan informed, shaking his head, his words cutting into her like a knife.
"Yes, Master." Erica grunted, making no effort to hide her annoyance.
"I will assist you Major, in an attempt to build trust between us. My ship, my resources and experience are at your disposal." Revan stated boldly.
"Good to have you onboard." Sheppard smiled, looking at Weir who nodded in approval. While she had her hesitations regarding the Athosians the Major had bought to the city, Revan was a different matter.
"So, what's the plan?" Revan asked, stepping forward, strength and authority oozing from him.
There it is, I hope you all found the read entertaining. I know it seems somewhat anti-climactic, I originally had it going in a completely different direction. But when I re-watched Atlantis and saw how quick to accept the Athosian the Expedition were, I decided to basically add them to the number of Athosians. Also with his display of the force, they would gladly add Revan to their ranks to face the Wraith.
Please feel free to disagree and review or PM me. I still have the original version, SOOOO you never know, in the future I COULD release a "Mirror universe" edition of this story, depending on how it goes.
Thank you all for the support and the patience with this, there probably won't be a new chapter until either end of Jan or beginning of Feb, the beginning of 2023 is going to be very busy for me. I just want to give you all a heads up so you don't panic that I've gone AFK again.
See you all soon,
-Spearhead