Act 2, Chapter 16 - Raid on Skull Island (Part 1)
Entering terminal velocity, Articho uses his armor's built-in jump jets to slow his free fall and lands hard with his right fist pounded to the ground before standing up straight to look at the overview of Skull Island's jungle and mountainous landscape from a cliff he landed on.
Skull Island, Pacific Ocean
August 12, 2026
3:30 A.M. (Pacific Standard Time)
'MECH has control of the research facility, which likely means they have control of its defense systems.' The Pathfinder thought. 'If I wanna get inside unnoticed, it's time that I construct a new lightsaber hilt for myself with Ainu's yellow Kyber crystal. And given that I also have Eli's Inquisitor hilt with me, I can use its rotating mechanism to put the finishing touches on another project of mine that'll help me cross over the island's ravines. As of now, flying or using Instant Transmission is a no-go as that would only tip Silas off.'
Before he could plan his next move, someone grabbed him in a chokehold from behind. The Pathfinder had lowered his guard for a single moment, only to get jumped without him even noticing, as he struggled to break free from the attacker's arms wrapped around his neck while beginning to lose consciousness. Needing to turn this around quickly, Articho uses his jump jets to lift himself up and judo throws the attacker off the cliff as he briefly hovers in the air. However, a whip surprisingly made of purple electricity caught him by his left ankle and was then pulled down below - deep into the jungle. He crashes hard on his back, grunting in pain.
"Okay, that hurt." He coughs violently from the earlier chokehold.
"Don't move." A feminine voice softly spoke.
It sounded young. And somewhat familiar to the boy as he looks up. The one who jumped him with a sneak attack was a teenage girl. She has long platinum purple hair that is tied into twintails with buns shaped in a way that are almost cat-like, with an ornate golden hairpin near her left bun. Her amethyst eyes shine in an almost diamond-like fashion. She wears a light purple top with detached sleeves held together by a dark violet overcoat. Dark brown leggings with a unique pattern on her left thigh and purple heels round out her outfit, along with a pair of matching-colored gloves covering both of her hands.
"Keqing?" Articho mutters under his breath, slowly recognizing her.
"And Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing." She adds. "Not a surprise that you know who I am, given my reputation."
What mostly surprises him, however, is the dialect she's speaking in. Last time he saw her, she spoke in one of the many languages of her world that differs from Earth's. He once had a translation program to understand what she was saying in those days.
Now, she's speaking fluent American English. Seriously, why American? It's always American. N-Not that he's racist or anything. It just sounds really cliché, in his opinion.
"Now then, who are you?" She questions the unrecognizable boy in armor and helmet.
"Much as I want to catch up and play 20 Questions with you, I'm kinda in a hurry." The Pathfinder says, reaching for the electricity whip still wrapped around his ankle. "So if you don't mind..."
The blade of a double-edged sword stops him in his tracks as its tip is aimed directly close to his throat.
"Fucking crap baskets." He sighs, shaking his head at the fact he should've expected this. "Look... you probably don't remember me, but we've been friends for a brief time in Liyue. You always keep going on about wanting to choose your own path with your own power, and not having the gods of your universe determine your fate. Particularly that one god with a thing for contracts. What was his name again? Morax? You and your people worship him under a more widely known name as Rex Lapis."
Memories flooded the Yuheng's head, as she tries to recall ever befriending this guy at some point. But who? Then, it hit her. The way he talks, his own body language. And the raw arrogance he gives off. Oh, that still pissed her off. Even after they said their farewells to each other. Only one specific person would ever speak to her that way.
"Articho…" She lowers her sword with a shocked expression and tone. "It… It's you, isn't it?"
"No, it's Santa Claus." He sarcastically remarks. "OF COURSE IT'S ME!"
'Yep.' Keqing thought, blankly gazing at him. 'Definitely him alright.'
"Never mind the reunion." He shakes his head again before using his Omni-blade to sever the whip around his ankle, causing to dissipate. "I need to get going."
"W-Wait!" She stopped him as he got up and was about to leave. "Would you mind telling me where exactly are we? One minute I was sleeping in my bed back in Liyue, and the next thing I woke up to find myself in the middle of a lush jungle."
"Keqing..." Articho sighs before turning around to face her. "It's been two years since we last saw each other. I'm... not the same boy I used to be. Well, not completely."
"I don't understand." Keqing says, confused.
"Come on." He gestures to her in staying close. "I'll explain everything on the way. Right now, I've got a lock on Kazari's location and she needs my help."
"Who's Kazari?" She asks. "Friend of yours?"
"She's my wife." He answers. "One of them, at least."
"H-Huh?!" She exclaims in surprise.
One explanation later... again.
"That's some story." Keqing admits, walking beside him through the jungle.
"You don't even know the half of it." Articho remarked. "The multiverse is still a concept that a lot of people know very little about."
"Other worlds, I can get by." She understands. "But ones that are alternate to mine, and beyond the range of anything that the gods are capable of? That's a lot to take in."
"How are things back home, anyway?" He asks. "As Yuheng, you must've been very busy."
"I used to, but not anymore." She says.
"Hold on, I thought you said that you're the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing when you jumped me out of nowhere." He says in confusion.
"I stepped down from that position a few weeks ago back in my universe." She reveals.
"You... resigned?" The Pathfinder questions in disbelief. "Why do that? That's unlike you."
"A lot's happened while you were gone." The former Yuheng explains. "Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't resign due to public backlash."
"Then why?" He questions again. "It's your life's work and your grandfather's legacy!"
"You think I don't know that?" She raises her voice. "You were gone, Articho. How could I have accepted it?"
"You've been looking for me?" He asks, surprised. "That's quite flattering, to be honest."
"And then I find out that you're married." She adds. "You lied to me."
"I know." He nods, aware that he has hurt her emotionally. "But you have to understand that I didn't tell you for the right reasons. Plus, I had a book to find and prevent someone really rotten from using it to destroy all of existence as we know it."
"Articho, I-"
"I couldn't be selfish, Keqing." He continues to point out his justification. "And… I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye."
The platinum purple-haired girl was surprised to hear that from him.
"Your voice sounds different." She tries to remove the awkward tension between the two. "What'd you call it during your time in my universe? Ventriloquism?"
"Lost my original vocal cords in a battle I took part in another universe months ago." He answers. "New pair makes me sound a little more... mature, if you would."
"Creepy." She jokingly shudders.
"You're one to talk." He rolls his eyes. "When you tried to choke me death."
"I was trying to incapacitate you!" The platinum purple-haired girl argues. "How the hell was I supposed to know that it was you underneath the armor and helmet?"
"Touché." He shrugs.
Just then, Articho hears commotion through the bushes.
"What is it?" Keqing asks, noticing that her friend must've heard something.
He didn't say a word, and used military hand signals to move in quietly as he crouched down and went through the bushes to see what was happening on the other side. Of course, coming from an alternate universe where guns and advanced military tactics aren't a thing yet, the former Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing didn't quite understand him at first.
"What are you doing?" She whispered in confusion.
"Get down!" He whispers back.
"Why?" She asks, keeping her voice low.
Articho points his finger at five MECH field operatives, where they have just caught up with Kazari and are holding her captive as she is bounded by energy cuffs behind her back.
"Is that your wife?" She asked.
"It is." He deadpans, as they start eavesdropping on them.
"Sir, we have her back in possession." The leading operative reports on his comms. "Making our way back to you shortly."
"Roger." Silas answers on his end. "I'm not receiving any word from Baba or any of the men I've sent with him to Academy City. He's gone dark on me and I don't like it."
"Understood." He nods in response. "Over and out."
"So what happens if we don't hear back from Baba or the others?" Another operative asks as his squad leader ended the call.
"Then it's Plan B." He answers. "If we don't hear them within the hour, that is."
"So, what is Plan B?" His squadmate asks further.
"Didn't you listen to the briefing the other day?" Another operative scoffs in disbelief. "Silas has this planned out for months. Don't forget that we have another hacker in case Baba and the boys have been offed."
"Another hacker?" The rookie operative tilts his head in confusion.
"You're looking at her." He says, gesturing his head towards the flower-headed girl on her knees and cuffed. "And if getting her to cooperate doesn't work, well..."
Kazari snorts, getting their attention.
"Oh, you think that's funny, huh?" The lead operative raised his eyebrow. "Guys, she thinks it's funny."
He then throws a right hook across her face, earning a painful yelp in response.
"You really made a huge mistake trying to raid from Monarch." Kazari spoke before spitting blood from her mouth to the side on the ground. "Only a matter of time before Silas' luck runs out."
"No one's coming to save the day, sweetheart." He shot back. "You're still alive because Silas needs you to break into one of the RD floors that's been sealed off. Sounds like your people have been experimenting on Energon."
"And you want the Energon that's inside." She guesses. "For what, exactly?"
"Look, I only get paid in doing the job that Silas and the rest of us have been hired for." He retorts. "Just shut up and use your imagination, okay?"
"Ya know, she does have a point." The rookie operative spoke up. "Why go through all the trouble just to raid one of the most heavily fortified locations on the planet for some Energon? From what I heard on the internet, Monarch only studies Titans and Kaiju."
"Cybertronians are aliens, too." Another operative points out.
"Yeah, but-" He starts to argue.
"Enough." Their squad leader orders. "It doesn't matter what we do or don't do, so long as we get paid."
"Whatever you say, man." The rookie operative shakes his head. "Still can't believe our clients are the Sith of all people."
"Relax, will ya?" He assures. "It's gonna be fine. Trust me. Now get her on her feet. Let's not keep the boss man waiting."
In the blink of an eye, something blitzed through all five MECH operatives simultaneously and they remained still as Articho stands in front of them with his Omni-blade out. And then, all of their throats burst out blood before dropping to the muddy ground and drowning in their own blood.
"Academy City is love, assholes." Articho quips a one-liner towards the now dead hostiles, sheathing the blade from his Omni-tool and uses telekinesis to undo the energy binds around her wrists.
"I always knew you'd come." Kazari smiles, rubbing her wrists from the tightness of those cuffs she had on.
"You okay?" He asks, pointing out the bruise on her face she received.
"Been through worse." She answers. "Like the time Kakine stomped on my collarbone."
"Nevermind that." He shakes his head. "Where's Ame and Hayley? They were sent here in response to the communication blackout."
"I'm not sure." His wife apologizes. "We were separated when MECH invaded."
"We'll find them, Kazari." He assures her.
"Articho, it's the Sith. They-" She warns him of their return.
"I know." He cuts her off mid-sentence. "Had a run-in with one of their Inquisitors. But now's not the time. I need to get you out of harm's way before I go after our friends."
"Honestly, we could've taken them together." Keqing comments, emerging out of the bushes and interrupting the couple's conversation.
"Who're you?" Kazari questions, squinting her eyes. "For some reason, you look familiar."
"It's Keqing." Articho whispers into his wife's ear. "You know, from Genshin Impact?"
This causes her to gasp in disbelief and surprise. And once again, excitement took over her.
"Are you serious right now?!" The flower-headed hacker grins excitedly. "Omg, YOU'RE Keqing? As in, the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing?"
"Yes." Keqing admits. "Or I used to be. I take it that your husband has told you about me?"
The Pathfinder froze, realizing he made a miscalculation.
'Ah, shit!' He curses in his head. 'I never told anyone about being friends with Keqing!'
"Articho…" Kazari questions, her eyes being shadowed by her hair, as she gripped her husband's shoulder. "How is it that you're friends with this girl, who happens to be a popular video game character?"
"Motherfu-" He curses at himself for being careless.
"YOU DUMMY!" She throws a punch at him, but misses due to her aim being off slightly and trips back on the ground.
"Missed it by that much." He mockingly yawns over his visored helmet, while mentally sighing in relief at the same time. 'Too close.'
"I'm weak." The black-haired girl complains.
"Can we move on?" Her husband asks. "Hmm?"
"Right." She nods. "What we need to do is get back inside the facility that's ten miles from here."
"That won't be necessary." He says. "There's a cave system not too far from here. You can use its computer to yourself set up."
"A hidden base of operations on Skull Island?" Kazari questions in disbelief.
"I built it shortly after the fight against Ghidorah in Boston." He explains. "It's best to plan ahead for situations like this."
"How'd you manage to keep THIS a secret?" She raises an eyebrow.
"It's me, remember?" He rhetorically questions.
"And is that an Inquisitor's lightsaber on your back?" She further questions.
"That's not important." He dodges the question. "The Sith have hired MECH to steal the Energon Monarch's been studying these past few months, and that's oddly suspicious. Let's head to Dead Man's Point. From there, I can work on building a new hilt to replace the one I recovered beneath Mount Fuji."
"So what's the deal with Dead Man's Point?" Kazari asks, as she, Articho, and Keqing walk through the jungle. "It's been a favorite suicide location on Skull Island for thousands of years."
"Yeah, I know." Articho acknowledged its existence while taking point. "I once saved an unfortunate Monarch scientist from leaping off into a deep ravine below. I found a cave entrance and for the past two years have moved a number of supplies here. It's a regular home away from home."
"Who else knows?"
"Only me." He answers. "No one else."
"I believe you." She understands.
"If you don't mind me asking, what are the Sith?" Keqing curiously asks.
"They're bad news for one." The flower-headed girl explains. "And secondly, they're a religious cult-turned galactic empire."
"Galactic empire?" The former Yuheng raised an eyebrow, confused. "And how exactly are they a cult?"
"Oh right, I haven't even introduced myself." She realizes. "Kazari Uiharu. Never thought I'd get to meet you in person."
"The honor's mine, Kazari." The platinum purple-haired girl with long twintails smiles.
"We're here." Articho informs as they arrive at an old locked door.
He then opens it and walks inside a tunnel leading to Dead Man's Point.
"Coming, ladies?" He asks.
"We're coming." Both of them spoke at the same time.
Moments later, the trio arrived at the end of the tunnel leading outside, only to reach a steep cliff that serves as a dead end.
"So where is this hidden safehouse you were talking about earlier?" Keqing asks, looking at her surroundings. "There's nothing here."
Articho turns his head, smirking beneath his helmet and then looks down with his arms spread out before jumping off of Dead Man's Point.
"Articho!" Keqing calls out with a somewhat scared expression on her face.
Articho divebombs down below the steep ravine before pulling out his pistol and fires its grapple claw attachment onto a tall rock pillar before swinging around and back, where a waterfall is on the left of where Dead Man's Point is located at. He then retracts his grapple line and holsters his sidearm before slingshotting himself through the waterfall and lands in front of a hidden cave entrance, using friction to slide to a full stop across the rocky ground beneath his feet.
"Not to self: Get myself a cape with a built-in glider." Articho notes aloud before Keqing teleports with Kazari by her side, using her own electro magic to follow the latter boy. "I figured you would've done something like that."
"What can I say?" The former Yuheng rhetorically questions. "I'm one of a kind."
Articho walks up to a wall of rock formation and then uses his Omni-tool as a security sensor scans it.
"Identity confirmed." A synthetic voice spoke, as the starts opening up. "Disabling countermeasures. Security deactivated."
With the cave entrance revealing itself, the Pathfinder walks inside with Kazari and Keqing following close. Once the door behind them closed and reactivated its security measures, the trio found themselves in the dark.
"On." Articho says aloud, automatically triggering lights in each part of the safehouse to turn on.
The safehouse was simply small in scale with a few stalagmites sticking out of the ground.
"Whoa." Kazari awes, her eyes sparkling at the tech around her. "This is amazing, Articho."
"We came here for a reason, Kaz." He reminds his excited wife. "You and the others will have plenty of time to look around later."
"Or I can keep this place's existence for myself." She slyly smirks before looking at the former Yuheng. "No offense, Keqing."
"None taken." Keqing shrugs. "Though I'll admit, all this stuff is rather... foreign and advanced to me."
"Well, Teyvat is centuries more advanced than the rest of your world." Articho bluntly points out before walking towards a metal stairway. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."
"Where's he going?" The platinum purple-haired girl asks the other girl.
"Looks to be where Articho builds his stuff." Kazari guesses. "Best we let him be. The kind of work he'll be doing now takes a lot of concentration."
"What about us in the meantime?" She asks.
"In the meantime, we'll be using that supercomputer over there." The hacker directs her head towards the large workstation in a different section of the safehouse. "No doubt my husband has secretly installed surveillance cameras that MECH isn't aware of, considering they disabled the place's own cameras to cover their tracks when they showed up on the island a few hours ago. Smart thinking on Articho's part. Something I would've done, too, if I was still in Judgement for a little longer before it got dismantled."
The Pathfinder unholsters both Ainu's yellow-bladed lightsaber hilt and Eli's double red-bladed spinning lightsaber hilt, and places them on the workbench. He then walks up to a large 3D printer, turning it on as different holographic images of various blueprints of weapons and gadgets alike appear. Articho pulls out his Omni-tool to pair with the 3D printer before selecting 'Earth-77'. Then, he selects 'lightsabers' where six different eras appear on his screen: Old Republic, High Republic, Clone Wars, Imperial, New Republic, and Legacy.
"Let's see what I have to work with." He mutters to himself.
Articho uploads data of Ainu's hilt from earlier for any potential match of the hilts that were used in the High Republic era. Not to be confused with the galactic power of the same name, mind you. He then receives 'no match' on the 3D printer's holographic projector.
'Hmm.' The Pathfinder thinks. 'Looks to be an original design compared to the other hilts that were already established in Canon and Legends.'
After exiting out 'High Republic', he selects 'Clone Wars'.
He'll admit, his favorite belt clip is the Covertec wheel from the Prequels. Those outdated d-rings from the Imperial and New Republic eras, however, tend to have a high risk of falling off from their own belt clips when the user decides to either run or pull off acrobatic jumps. And much as he enjoys the Clone Wars, especially if those hilts belong to the most iconic characters of that era, he decided against picking either one of them as it wouldn't fit his own hybrid lightsaber form that well. So he goes on over to the 'Old Republic' category instead for a better variety. His Omni-tool then showed him many, MANY designs for all the Old Republic era hilts as well as the pieces for each one when contsructing a lightsaber.
A task that's not easy for anyone that's Force-sensitive. Even a non-Force user like Articho, while capable of mimicking most Force abilities with his ki, had been struggling to build his own hilt. One wrong misstep nearly vaporized Ryouko in one of the Pathfinder's labs aboard the Absolution, and she DID NOT appreciate it.
Anyways, Articho continues scrolling through the list on his Omni-tool's holographic screen until he came across one very specific design. It is based on the hilt that was constructed and wielded by the late Jedi Master Ven Zallow, but was more or less the standard single-bladed hilt for most Jedi of its time throughout the Old Republic.
Like other lightsaber hilts, it's cylindrical and straight with a blade emitter shroud. Its most notable markings are the three black circles at base of the hilt over a golden layer of metal. The hilt, however, can be forged from any kind of alloy, so the Pathfinder decided to use the Beskar that Cassus had given him as a gift. Although, he'd be really pissed at him for using the Mandalorian iron that way as it's meant to be used to forge armor, not weapons. Nevertheless, not the Pathfinder's problem as he can do whatever the hell he wants with the Beskar batch he was gifted in the first place.
Articho then selects the design, and incorporates the Covertec wheel at its lower grip - like most lightsaber hilts have - before using the 3D printer to digitize the Ven Zallow hilt as it slowly takes physical shape from the machine.
23 minutes later...
Pieces of Eli's Inquisitor lightsaber hilt and Ainu's are scattered over the workbench, including both the yellow and red Kyber crystals, as Articho installs the intact power cells for the interior workings of his own lightsaber hilt. Now comes the tricky and extremely difficult part: putting all the pieces together by connecting with Ainu's yellow Kyber.
While it's true that the Pathfinder has zero connection to the Force, meaning no midichlorians, he has discovered a loophole in this final and most crucial step in lightsaber building. Due to his mastery in ki control, he can use telepathy to form a telepathic link with the crystal itself. The catch, however, is that it takes a lot of concentration. Therefore, he needs to meditate like any Jedi, Sith, or any other Force user that comes to mind.
"Hope this works." He takes a deep breath before closing his eyes.
Articho has now entered into a deep meditative state, as the parts he forged began floating in the air. The yellow Kyber glowed, and one by one, each hilt piece assembles over it. At a snail's pace, no doubt. Then, the construction process started to pick up speed.
Opening his eyes, the Pathfinder looks down at the workbench to find that his first own lightsaber is finally completed after multiple failed attempts in the last two years. He picks up his hilt, gets out of his chair, and turns around to press the rectangular activation button on the upper base of his hilt's Beskar alloy. A yellow plasma blade ignites in front of the boy's eyes while giving off a humming sound.
'Remarkable.' Articho thought, awing at his craftsmanship.
He extinguishes the blade and holsters the hilt on the back of his waist horizontally. Turning back to the workbench, he can now focus on the gadget he's recreating with the missing components he gained from the Inquisitor lightsaber he dismantled.
Kazari had just finished setting up at the supercomputer, sitting in a spinning leather chair as she types. Keqing was standing next to her, curious as to what the hacker's doing.
"What've you got?" Articho asks, walking down the steps before approaching his wife sitting in front of the supercomputer.
"Ohh! I was able to secretly hack my way back into the security system of the facility, without MECH knowing." Kazari answers to her husband.
"Good." He nods. "Now we can see everything from here."
"If we really wanna take back the island, we'll first need to find Ame and Hayley." She adds. "Not to mention restoring outside communication."
"Also true." He agrees. "What of the Monarch scientists?"
"Most of them were taken hostage when MECH showed up." She explains. "Especially Doctor Graham and her protegé."
"Graham has a protegé?" He was surprised. "That's a new one."
"Oh, she's really beautiful." She begins describing. "Naturally a redhead, purple eyes, serious personality. Gets results. Quite popular, too, considering Monarch's a branch of Capsule Corp. I've done a background check on her and this is what I've found."
After pressing a few buttons on the keyboard, the Saiyan hacker showed the profile of the redhead.
"Maki Nishikino." He reads aloud. "So this is where she ended up working."
"You know her?"
"Of her." He answers. He answers. "She was a member of µ's back then."
"Really?!" His wife exclaimed. "Is there more about school idols I should know that you have knowledge of?"
"Maybe another time." He says. "Right now, let's focus and find our friends. Try any hiding places or secret passageways MECH are still unaware of."
"You have secret passageways installed?" Kazari questions again before doing a double-take. "Who am I kidding? Of course it's you."
"No one, not even the scientists know about them that run beneath the island." He adds. "They're specifically built for me, and only me. And only I know how to find the hidden entrances."
"Score another for the World's Greatest Detective, I guess." She mutters.
"That title's reserved specifically for him, not me." He shakes his head. "Even though I'm smarter than him."
"So, you want me to show you the passageways then?" She asks.
"No, I'll find them myself." He declines before walking towards a different door than the one the three teens came in. "I'll contact you once I've reached the surface."
"You're forgetting someone." Keqing spoke.
"Keqing, it's better that you stay here." He says before smirking. "That's an order."
"Who are you giving me orders?" The former Yuheng questions with hands beside her hips. "I'm the Yuheng."
"Was." The Pathfinder remarks in past tense. "That's what you told me, right?"
"I-I…" She stutters as a red blush forms across her face before silently cursing at herself.
When she looked back at him, he was already gone. Thus, falling victim to the boy's disappearing act.
"He does that." Kazari points out, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Jeez, thanks for the heads up." Keqing sarcastically grumbles. "And I really wanna help him out."
"You still can." The hacker says otherwise. "Articho can't be in two places at once. I mean, he can. It's just that everyone's power levels on the island are too low to lock on with Instant Transmission."
"Instant what now?"
"Not important." She shakes her head. "There's a communications outpost that MECH has control over, and they're jamming any contact with the outside world. I need you to go to these coordinates and disable that jamming signal."
"I don't understand."
"All you need to know is that it's important." She tries to be more specific as best as possible. "If we don't restore communications from and to the island, like right now, Articho can't call the Absolution for backup so that we can turn the tables in our favor."