King was one happy demon.
Everywhere he looked, he saw something new and exciting. He'd look to one side to see clones working on big flying metal birds that shoot laser blasts. To another, he saw soldiers doing inventory checks on supplies within a nearby cargo hold. Then when they walked into another area, he squeaked in giddy glee at the tall six-legged metal monsters.
"And those are the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer or AT-TEs as they are more commonly called. They were the Republic's main battle tank during the war," Luz explained to the excited King, who clung to her shoulder as they walked down the hanger of the Cosmic Wave. "They would be deployed to the battlefield and support the infantry in ground battles."
"They're huge! Can we bring one home and ride around in it?" He asked with childish glee. To his dismay, Luz shook her head no.
"Not these, little buddy. They are about to be deployed down to the base to help in its defense. But don't worry, with me around; you'll get your chance."
"Yay!" The little demon cheered. "Could we fly those flying ships again, like we did with Omega and Wrecker?"
"Absolutely! We still need to perform recon on the system, so when we start that, I'll see about having you buddy up with someone to start exploring."
A laugh drew their attention away toward an approaching clone.
"Careful, Commander. With how you look now, some might consider you were acting like a mother to that youngling."
"Oh please, Drake. I'm more of an older sister to this one. By the way, meet Captain Drake, leader of the 1st Squadron of the rifle regiment. Drake, meet King. He and his caretaker took me in when I needed it." Luz introduced the little demon to the clone.
King gave the soldier a strange look. "How can you tell all the clones apart?"
The question sent waves of amusement to everyone who heard the question. It was a common question asked around and more that had a thousand answers. It got easier to differentiate them as the war raged on as clones personalized their armor, hairstyles, or tattoos. It was a bit funny at times, and the clone troopers didn't get offended if someone got them confused when identifying one.
"It takes a bit of time to tell the difference, but the more time spent around them, you'll see the difference. Anyway, do you need something, Captain?" Luz addressed the question to the trooper.
"Latest report from the new base shows that the additional facilities will be completed within the coming week. We've had some injuries from the local flora but no fatalities," he reported.
"That's good. Guess my Beast Keeping class notes have been put to good use."
"Still finding it hard to believe you're attending a local school."
Luz shrugged at that. "Had to do something to occupy my time in hiding. Going back to school to hide was one idea. And hey, it's got me learning more about the planet we're on, so there's that."
"This leads to my next question. Are you going to stay there?"
"Pardon?" Luz said, confused.
"Well, you spent all this effort on freeing us from the Empire and brought all of us to a world through a means unlike anyone could think of. You're still our leader, and everyone here is wondering what's the plan going forward."
The question wasn't unreasonable, but it did leave Luz with some that she didn't think about before. She came to the Isles to hide from the Empire. She started to learn magic to understand this world better. She went to school to blend in. When she learned from Omega that removing the chips in the clone's heads would free them of their mind-controlled state, she set a plan in motion to do that. Now that she had rescued her unit and bought them here, she didn't know what to do next.
Why would she have a need for a fleet of warships and regiments of veteran troops in a peaceful world that hadn't developed space flight?
{Play Music: Escape (Beat Saber soundtrack trailer)}
The camera zooms in to see a dirty deadeye Luz walking in the rain, passing many dirt mounds with sticks planted in them with brown cloaks of Jedi robes wrapped around them or blaster rifles with clone trooper helmets hanging on them. The smoking aftermath of a battlefield in the background. Photos of Luz with several clones hanging out in a barracks. Luz on a ship's Bridge. The backsides of a younger Padawan Luz and a human male with short black hair in a Knights robe with thick sideburns and a confident smile. An armored Luz riding on her BARC speeder bike with her lightsaber out with several other clones on speeders following her into a battle.
Luz unknowingly walks through the portal door and falls on her knees. She looks up to see a hand in front of her to take. Looking at the hand's owner, Luz sees a smiling Eda with a happy King on her shoulder. Life is brought back in Luz's eyes, and she smiles back before taking the offered hand.
The door where Hooty was opened as Luz steps outside in her sleeveless yellow vest, with Luz twirling and posing with Eda's staff with one hand and her lightsaber in the other in a low guard. But then Eda took her staff back with an amused grin while Luz gave a sheepish smile. King popped in front with his own pose.
A Boiling Isle mural was seen as Gus, Willow, and Amity are seen briefly before it burns away to show King commanding an army of stuffed toys, which all fall on him. The scene burns away to reveal Luz in front of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, looking at it in sadness. The silhouettes of the Jedi Council, along with other Jedi, stood before disappearing, leaving only their burnt robes and lightsabers on the ground.
Emperor Belos raises his staff as he foreshadows behind his castle as red lighting thunder from the sky. His army of Coven guards, numbering by many at his call, standing ready for a fight.
Now Luz was on her BARC speeder, racing past across the landscape. She zooms down the Boiling Isles passing, Gus waves at her, Willow smiling, and Amity looking surprised before she smiles softly. Passing by several Coven guards as they try to chase her. Then Eda, with King on her shoulder, hops on behind the Jedi. Then they hang on for dear life as a massive, monstrous worm-like monster, mouth wide open, lunges at them. Everyone screamed in horror as Luz turns the throttle up and guns it.
Then the scene changes back to the Owl House, where it's nighttime with stars twinkle in the sky as the three are on the roof and looking up into the sky. Luz opens her hands to reveal a ball of magic light and let it float to the sky.
Several lights flashed of fire and ice before the title appeared.
Jedi of the Isles
Chapter 19: No Bark, All Bite
As they soared over the city on Eda's staff, Luz was being taken to school for another week of school. However, Eda sensed that something was troubling her young charge. It was a feeling that had arisen when she returned with King from the clone base on the other island. Seeing a school banner of "Let's go, Banshees!" and fireworks going off in the distance around the school.
"So, are you excited for Grugby season, Luz?" Eda started up, hoping to get out whatever funk her little Jedi found herself in.
"I was never much into sports, but the idea of magic sports would be interesting to witness," Luz responded.
"There was nothing like it, and you're going to love it!" Eda said as she brought them in for a landing. "Why some of my best memories are those in my gory days when I played."
Luz looks at her skeptically. "Don't you mean glory days?" She asked her teacher/guardian.
"Those too. I was the star player, with the best moves and cheats." Eda said with pride and a cunning smile.
"If cheating is all you did to win the game. How did you know you were any good? That doesn't paint you in a good light," Luz pointed out. Eda's response was blowing a quick raspberry.
"Oh, what do you know about sports? Sure, you know how to fight. I will never discredit you there. But how could I have not prospered to the point of me being the team's star player?" Eda roots around in her hair and brings out an old photo of herself in her Hexside days with a grugby ball and lettermen jacket.
"Alright, you've made your point. Can't reason with crazy..." Luz mutters that last part to herself. She then reaches into her hood, pulls out a sleepy King, and kisses him on the skull. "I'll see you later, King."
She hands him off to Eda and crawls into her hair. Not bothered by the demon's new sleeping spot, Luz marches off to school.
Eda watches the young teen go with a hint of concern building up in her. Since Luz brought all those soldiers and ships to the Demon Realm, she had been more ragged and working extra hard to ensure they were taken care of. It was a little weird for a teenager to take care of a bunch of grown men only to learn that they were all to be physically younger than Luz and were made expendable in the long run. Eda didn't know how to process all that.
"Ewe, Eda, when was the last time you cleaned up in here?"
Her other ward snapped her out of her thoughts. King had pulled out her emergency snack out of her hair and thrown it out. Eda rolled her eyes before pushing Owlbert off the ground and flying back to the Owl House.
Over in Hexside, Willow and Gus walked down its halls to their next destination while talking about some latest events. The most significant is the new staff Bump hired to guard the school.
"Willow, is it weird for me to still be in disbelief that Luz was a military Commander before we met her?" Gus asked as they soon came upon one clone trooper. Like many of them, they were tall, but unlike the other clones from Grom, this one's armor was painted in Hexside colors of yellow and blue instead of yellow and green. Luz said they were volunteers that Luz asked for to act as a backup should anything happen to the school.
"I'm pretty sure that feeling won't be going away anytime soon," Willow responded and waved at the trooper. "Hello, mister. How are you?"
The clone turned to them with a bored expression but lit up a bit at recognizing the pair. "Ms. Park, Mr. Porter. I'm doing alright if a little weirded out by the place. How are you?" He greeted back.
"We're fine."
"You know us by name?" Gus asked.
"Learned about you guys through my brothers and that you are some of the Commanders' friends and helped her in her time here"
"So, how are you doing, and what is your name?"
"I'm Poteel, and I'll admit. I didn't think this would be my life after the war. Being hired as security at a school, I mean."
"What did you do in the war, and what were you going to do after it?" Gus questioned, letting his inner investigator out. And he asked the question that many clone troopers had asked themselves at least once during the war.
"I was an infantryman with the 1st Squadron under Captain Drake but wasn't part of the attack force to go to Kashyyyk with Luz when 66 happened. I was injured in a previous engagement and was still in recovery. After the war, many of us would stay with the Republic because that's what we were bred for. Then Luz happened."
"What did she do?" Gaining the close interest of the two witches.
"She-"
"Hey, guys!"
Poteel was cut off when the girl in question showed up.
"What's happening? Morning, Poteel!"
"Morning, Commander."
Luz rolled her eyes at the clone. "You don't have to call me that here you know."
"I'll get on that... Commander."
Luz sighs in dismay before focusing on her witch friends. "Anyway, you guys ready for homeroom?"
"Yes, I am! That test I have in illusions is going down!" Gus put a thumbs down.
Willow laughs softly. "We might as well go; good day, Mr. Poteel," she says to the clone.
"Bye, dude!" Gus said before the three left the trooper, who waved back.
They casually chatted before entering homeroom together, where a copper-scaled snake version of a Trandoshan was their teacher giving a history lesson. The teacher as he went over how the current government rose to power in the last century. Something Luz was only half paying attention to as she focused more on her notebook and her friends.
1st Regiment: Captain Drake.
Companies Agura (IN), Braker (IN), Cook (IN), HHT(SP)
Total: 218 troopers
2nd Regiment: Captain Flash
Companies: Dragon(IN SP), Eagle(IN), Fixer(IN), Grim (IN)
Total: 627 Troopers
3rd Regiment: Captain Vultan
Companies: Hawk (IN), Ida(IN), Jet(IN,SP), Killer (IN Heavy)
Total:656 Troopers
4th Regiment: Captain Oak
Companies: Lander(TK), Mud(TK), Outlaw(EN), Predator(BT)
total: 1,050 Troopers
5th: Regiment: Lieutenant Rucker
Companies: Scalpel(MD), Packhound(TP), Blacksmith (SP)
Total: 540 Troopers
Brave Rifle Fleet: Captain Pitt
2 Star Venator class Star Destroyers, 4 acclamators, 27 Gozanti patrol cruisers, 4 consular cruisers, 2 Corellian fuel haulers, 8 Consular Class Cruiser, 6 GR75 medium transports, 6 CR70s, 6 Pelta class support frigates.
Fleet troop strength:5618
Clone count total between ground and fleet:8,719
IN: Infantry Unit
SP: Support Element
TK: Tank Unit
BT: Artillery Battery
EN: Engineer Unit
MD: Medic Unit
TP: Transport Unit
Gus and Willow could not help but imitate the looks of fish as Luz explained the army she had under her command.
"This is beyond nuts!" Gus whispered as he tried to grasp his head around the big numbers.
"Luz, was it such a good idea to bring an army to the demon realm?" Willow said in concern.
"Yeah, what if the Emperor's coven finds them."
Luz waved their concerns aside. "It's okay. The men are taking precautions of limited exposure to avoid any panic, and the ships are currently either landing at an improvised dock or parked in high orbit, trying to get a read of the system. You know, mapping out the area." She didn't say that the solar system they were in was trapped in a huge nebula that blocked all outbound and inbound signals.
The nebula comprised gasses and a unique charged-up matter that had obliterated the probes on contact. Any ship attempting to cross it would be destroyed without some significant defenses. Something that even their Venator deflectors would have a problem with, and Luz wasn't going to risk it. They also couldn't pinpoint their location in the galaxy with the way it blocks all stellar bodies. For now, there were a few other star systems within the nebula they could explore to ward off the clone's boredom and gather rare resources.
"I hope you're right, Luz," Willow said, not sounding convinced.
"The council headquarters was built and paid for by...? Anyone? Willow?"
Their attention was brought back to the lesson as everyone centered on the plant witch.
Willow stands up. "Uh, the Pixie Dust Taxes?"
The teacher nods his head in approval. "Correct, Miss Parks." The other students gave silent words of admiration to the girl.
"Why this is different but not an unwelcome change to things. What's going on?" Luz asked as she gauged everyone's moods and felt a lot of positive feelings.
"Ever since I patched things up with Amity, I've felt a lot more confident in myself." Gesturing to the flower-shaped hair clip she's wearing. "I guess it shows."
That clip then floated off her head and flew away. The trio was taken back and followed the hair clip to the awaiting Boscha's hand.
"Aw, Willow thinks she's popular now. How cute," the three-eyed bully mocked.
"Well, you are right about one thing. Willow is certainly cute, but you will be giving that back now." Luz said.
"It's weird that Amity hangs out with you now. Ever since Grom, no before that, she's gone soft. But don't worry." Boscha puts the clip in her hair. "I'm still here to show you who's boss."
Before she can react, Gus appears by her side, takes the clip back, and returns it to Willow.
"Oh-ho-ho! The friends wanna get in on this, too, huh? Well, how do you like this?" Boscha used her magic to lift Willow's backpack off the ground and dumped the contents over their heads.
"What the hell?!" Luz shouted before looking back at Boscha angrily. "Hey! Not cool!"
Boscha laughed as if Luz had just told a joke. "As if you know what being cool is."
"More than you."
"Is that laughter? Hey, hey! Learning's not supposed to be fun!" The teacher yells out at them.
"No fun over here, sir. Just Boscha being a brat."
One of Boscha's eyebrows twitched at the word "brat" but kept her cool and gave the teacher an innocent response. "My apologies, sir. I was practicing my aim for grudgby." She then throws an eraser that hits Willow on the head.
Luz scoffed. What sort of teacher would accept such a lame excuse?
"Boscha, how could you throw things at them..." The teacher draws a circle on his chest. "When you could throw things at me? Am I over here? Or am I over here? Anything for the Captain of the Banshees!"
Luz's jaw dropped at what she was seeing. Was this guy for real? If so, how the hell did he ever land a teaching job?
"Oh, thanks, but I already have the perfect targets." Boscha takes the wad of gum she has been chewing, then flicks at Willow. Before it could land on target, it stopped mid-air before flying back a potion triclops, nailing her square between her three eyes. "Ahh! What was that?!"
She looks to see the Human with two fingers raised up to her. "Seems to me your aim is right on the money."
Boscha's face turned red with anger. This was not going to fly.
.
.
Back at the Owl House, Eda was sitting with King in her old letterman jacket from her school days. Together they gathered around a scrapbook filled with pictures, and Eda was telling King about her grudgby days.
"This was where we beat Epiderm High in the semi-finals. That year we were unopposed for the championship." Eda pointed to one picture of her younger self posing in front of a golden trophy in her arms. "I was the youngest on the team, but I had what some call 'star power.'" The witch reached into her hair and pulled out a box that read "Eda's Rad Cheats" on the front. "AKA this!"
She sets it down for King to get a better look at it.
"This is my cheat box. I have all my best weapons are in here. Smoke bombs, sock worms, you name it. I've never lost a game with this thing."
Hootie's door suddenly opens up with the happy bird tube smiling. "Eda! Luz's friends have brought someone new to play with!"
Captain Vultan walked in with a few of his men. Two of them dragged the unresponsive form of the head witch of the Emperor's coven. She was also known as Eda's sister.
"Ma'am. We found her and a few others in white camp masks trying to sneak up on the place and carrying an assortment of weapons." Another clone trooper dropped a few spears and swords on the floor. "You recognize them?"
"I do. She's my sister and part of the Emperor's Cronies. You didn't kill any of them by any chance?" Eda stashed away her cheat box.
"Also, what are you doing around here?" King asked.
"Wanted to ask the commander a few things on issues we'll be facing in the future, and they're just stunned. This one looked like the leader, so we kept her, and the rest we gave to, um, Hootie." Vultan explained.
Eda stood over her unmoving sister and contemplated on what to do next. "Can you wake her up?"
"Got any water?"
Eda responded by summoning up an orb of water and having it fall on her sister's head, shocking her awake.
"What the-?!" Lilith looked around and saw the men who ambushed her, standing with her sister. "Edalyn."
"Lilith."
"Hootie!"
"Not now, Hootie. Go play with those coven scouts the others brought you." Eda said with mild annoyance.
"Okay! Hello, new friends!" Hootie retreated into his door before closing it.
Lilith took in her surroundings and saw she was now inside her sister's home. Then she took an appraising look at the ones who ambushed her. They stood taller than her, held an aura of professionalism greater than most scouts, and were covered head to toe in green, yellow, and white painted armor. They carried pouches of equipment and arms that she could not recognize, and from how short the battle she faced, that quickly overwhelmed her and her troops. They were not to be taken likely.
"Edalyn, who are these men that attacked me?" Lilith demanded. Then she saw a better look at her sister and couldn't help but ask. "Also, why are you in your old uniform?"
Eda looked at herself and blushed, realizing she was still wearing it. "It's laundry day. And these guys are buddies of Luz. Now what are you doing here?"
Lilith gave them an eye full of suspicion before drawing a blue spell circle. Upon seeing the spell, all the clones trained their weapons on the dark-haired witch. This action so took Lilith back that she almost missed catching the long scroll she summoned that unfolded all the way to the floor.
"I'd watch what you do around them, Lily. Unlike those crony scouts, these boys know how to handle a fight."
Lilith decided not to comment and resumed what she was here for. Clearing her throat, she began, "Edalyn Clawthorn. You are hereby under arrest by the order of the boiling Isles..." Lilith suddenly yelps as the scroll quickly rolls itself up, with the end smacking her in the face before vanishing.
"You were saying?" Eda says smugly, with an amused King and Vultan by her side.
Lilith stomps her feet in frustration at Eda's childish antics and points an accusing finger at her. "Come on! I have to bring you in. It's time for you to join a coven. The Emperor has big plans for all the isles and can heal your curse."
Surprising Eda, Vultan stepped between them. "From where I'm standing, she doesn't have to join anyone if that's your approach to things. And for what I've been told and seen, she's better off on her own."
"This is none of your concern. I'm trying to help my sister!"
"And attacking her home is helping? Lady, you have a weird definition of helping."
"Makes me wonder where she gets it from," Eda muttered to herself. She grabs her photo album with a look of disinterest. "Yeah, what a fantastic opportunity for me."
"What are you even looking at?" Lilith grabs the album and finds herself taken back. "Grudgbe pictures? Feeling sentimental, are we?"
Eda scoffs at the accusation. "Me? Never. I was just telling King here how good I was before the boys dragged your but in." Eda levitated a grudgbe ball for show and tell. Lilith looked unimpressed.
"Oh, Edalyn. Not only has the curse affected your hair, but your memory as well." Lilith pulled the same photo Eda showed King but folded it outward, revealing a younger Lilith with the same outfit as her younger sister but with several metals hanging around her neck while leaning against a large trophy that reached above her head. The clones looked at the picture with a few questions popping up in their minds. On the other hand, Eda was trying not to grind her teeth in frustration before an idea set in.
"Tell you what. I'll go with you peacefully to the Emperors..."
"What?!" The clones said in unison.
"Really?" Lilith looked at her sister with hope that her sister had seen the light.
"Sure." Eda spun the ball before tossing it at her sister, which she caught. "If you beat me at a game of grudgby. Luz has been doing great at challenging others. Why not me?"
The clone looked at each other with unsure looks under their helmets. Lilith looked slightly surprised by the offer before gaining a competitive look and facing off against her sister just seemed way too tantalizing.
"Game on."
.
.
Falling from a great height a trash can fell from the sky, and its target was the sole human in the magic school. The impact would have been harmful if not for Luz sidestepping seconds before hitting the ground and littering trash. The sight made the teen sigh. Ever since the first period, Boscha had been following her all day with these random attacks and these sad acts of bullying. At first, the bully targeted her with Willow and Gus, but as the day went on, they solely focused on Luz. But the Jedi wasn't going to retaliate. Some would ask, why? Because that would be fair play for Boscha to use her status against her and give her leverage. So instead of fighting, Luz took note of a history lesson she had read in the Jedi Archives.
It was about a warlord that sided with the Republic in the old Sith Wars many years ago. The Sith destroyed his people, so he sided with the Republic for a chance at payback and became a war adviser to many Republic generals and Jedi seeking council. His lessons in war are not viewed positively by the Jedi. But some are worth listening to when faced with specific opponents.
"An enemy is still an enemy like any other. How you face them is always dependent on the battlefield you fight on. Charge and face them head-on when warriors, wait for them to come to you on your terms if faced with eager commanders, or apply cunning strategy to trick your overconfident opponents into something they regret. When facing a proud opponent, a simple insult is all it would take to bring them down. One insult you can give to any proud foe is to ignore them. Not to where you dismiss them outright but make it so that every effort they exert against you is visibly worthless. They will become angry, and an angry foe is a sloppy one."
And that was what Luz had been doing all day. Her concentrating on the Force to avoid the dangers Boscha had thrown at her. Sensing the teen jock had been easy enough as she radiated like a beacon of anger and frustration through the Force, and avoiding her attacks was child's play.
Looking up, Luz sees Boscha's less-than-pleased face from her failed attack. "I'll give you this. You're determined if nothing else."
"I don't need you to tell me what I already know!" Boscha jumps from the window and lands in front of Luz before going and confronting the Jedi. Their eyes locked on one another in a silent battle of wills. After a minute of silence, the bully started to talk again. "What are you?"
"Excuse you?" Luz didn't understand the question being asked.
"You can't be human. The way you move and fight even doesn't match anything a human can do!" Boscha pointed out.
"Do you? Well then, let me educate something I've learned about you,
Boscha," Luz challenged before getting up into triclops face.
"About me?"
"Yeah, you. From what I've seen and heard about you is a girl wanting to be on top of everything and doesn't care who, whether their friend or foe, gets in her way. You value social status above everything, and when someone doesn't meet up to whatever made-up standard you have is instantly put in the mud. You are a short-sighted jerk who can only see the potential value in someone if it involves sports. Which, I may be stepping over my boundaries with this. Do you even have any friends, or are those around you just a means to an end?" The accusation made Boscha grind her teeth like mad.
"You don't know what you are talking about, human. And at least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not!"
"The name is Luz. And I've never pretended to be anything in my life."
"Oh yeah? Then how about you put your money where your mouth is?" Boscha challenge.
Recognizing where this was going made Luz hold back any feelings of annoyance. 'Oh well. I'd need to let off some steam. I might as well nib this in the bud and get it over with.'
"A witches dual then. By right of the land, I accept the challenge, and being the one challenged, I will set the terms."
Boscha scuffs at the stupid rule. "Drag, here I thought you didn't know our laws. Very well, speak the terms?"
"One-on-one, no need for allies to get in the way. Whatever magic you have is available to you, and whatever melee weapons you desire. Meet at the school's grudgby field. Would that do for you?"
Boscha crossed her arms and nodded. "And what do I get when I win?"
"Careful Boscha, overconfidence can lead to an early defeat. As for winning, bragging rights aside, how about the winner will owe something to the other? Whether that is helping bail them out of a bad situation, loaning an X amount of snails, or calling a favor. Is that reasonable to you? Maybe worth an everlasting oath?" Luz offered her hand.
A small yet visible sweat rolled down the jock's brow. Her family being part of the noble class of society, Boscha was made aware of the dangers others can bind people to. How this human knew about the everlasting oath would bug her at the end of the day. Her family had hammered it into her mind to avoid such deals. She had seen the human in action against Grom with those strange fighting skills but was also confident in her own. And it wasn't like this human would want anything from her in the first place.
Making a white spell circle over the offered appendage, Boscha shook on it.
"It is on!"
.
.
Set up in front of the Owl House was a homemade Grudgbe field. Within the area, Eda and Lilith did a couple of stretches to prepare for their match. Off to the side, the clones gathered a few boxes and chairs to sit on, with little King playing scorekeeper while wearing a cheerleading outfit. Further down was the group of coven scouts that had accompanied Lilith to take the Owl Lady in but had been beaten by Hootie and the clones. A few were in different states of agony after being subjugated to Hootie's tea party.
Finishing their stretching, the witches came forward to face one another. Lilith's side, she had brought two scouts in better condition than the others to be her two teammates. Over on Eda's team were Vultan and another clone acting as her team.
Hootie stretched out between them, wearing a blue and white striped ball cap and a whistle around his neck. "Are you guys ready to hoot? I want a clean game here. So no magic, spears, or blasters."
"Yes! Now I'll strike fear into my enemies with this armor of intimidation." King produced a pair of pompoms and started shaking them. While the troopers and scouts silently laughed at the little demons' adorableness.
Eda also snorts in good humor at King's outfit. "Yeah, intimidation armor. Pushing paper all day might make you a little rusty. I'll try to go easy on you."
Eda passed the ball over to Lilith, the head witch kicked and knees the ball up and did a few neat ball tricks. "Remember, dear sister, you may have been star player, but I was team captain for a reason." She spins the ball on a finger before tossing the ball back.
Eda grunts in frustration as she accepts the ball back.
The six players crouched and readied themselves.
Then Hootie blows his whistle.
.
.
Over at the school's grudgby field, word had spread like wildfire about the witches' duel, and many came out to see. Many of the faculty were sitting and debating the outcome of the upcoming fight. The students were split on who to cheer on as many witnessed the feats of both competitors.
"Have you gone crazy?!" Gus said as she confronted Luz.
He, along with Willow and Amity, had heard through the school gossip train about the duel and went to find their human friend. They had found her in the locker room wearing a set of Jedi robes she had stored in her school locker, drawing a bunch of glyphs in preparation against Boscha.
"I wouldn't have said like that, but what were you thinking in challenging Boscha?" Amity directed the question to her girlfriend.
"What? Compared to Grom, fighting Boscha should be a lot easier," Luz responded without care as she drew another ice glyph. "Besides, she was unrelenting in attacking us in class. Gum wads, trash cans, fireballs! All the teachers did nothing while this went on, while the three of us suffered." She stopped and pointed at herself, Willow, and Gus.
Willow sighed and nodded along. "It's because of her status as Grudgby captain. As long as she keeps winning games for the school, the teachers look the other way."
Amity couldn't disagree. "Yeah, Grudgby season Boscha gets especially unbearable. I do not doubt your fighting skills. I've been on the receiving end of them, but fighting her in a witch's duel is probably not the best way to face her."
"Trying to be diplomatic with Boscha won't work." Luz packed her pockets with her glyphs before pulling her lightsaber out to inspect it. "Words mean little to nothing for her without some action to back it up. Otherwise, nothing will change, and things could worsen as time progresses."
"So your tactful solution would be some aggressive negotiations?" Amity deadpans at her girlfriend.
The statement made Luz stop tinkering with her saber to think for a moment. "Huh, I feel like I've hear that before. Can't remember where though. Besides, not like I can call it off, right?"
Gus opened the door to look out. "Too late to go back with that crowd growing. You could ruin your reputation big if you back down, especially with how Boscha is looking. Plus, take a look at this."
The four gathered around the door and spotted Boscha on the field. She had changed out of her school uniform into something that provided more protection. A dark blue plate covered her chest with a set of shoulder pauldrons with orange accents. She also sported a set of gauntlets and leggings, both lined with dark fur, while a dark fur cloak draped over her shoulders. Hung around her waist was a belt full of pouches that held viles and potion bottles of unknown origin. Lastly, what Boscha held caught everyone's attention. In one hand was a bag possibly full of grudgby balls, while the other was a long gray polearm with a curved blade.
The sight of the school bully looking ready to storm a castle surprised the four.
"Whoa, Boscha is taking me more seriously than when we had our duel, Amity."
"Oh. My. Titan. Luz, do you know what Boscha is wearing?!" Amity said, her face going bug-eyed at what she was seeing.
"No. Should I?"
Amity opened her mouth to speak only to clamp it shut as she realized that Luz wouldn't know. "That's the Hieron family armor and weapon," she explained to the others. "I've seen them displayed in Boscha's house the few times I've visited. It's been in her family for generations. I've been told that the spear is made with a material unknown to the isles, able to withstand most attacks easily, and super sharp. And the armor has a bunch of protective enchantments to it. I'm told Boscha's mother had taken great care of the armor and had stayed on its display since before Belos became Emperor."
"Why is she wearing that if it's so important to her family? Does she see Luz as that big deal of a threat?" Gus asked. He found the armor intimidating.
"Luz must be if that is the case," Amity answered. "In all the time I've known her, Boscha's never this serious unless it involves grudgby. To see her ready for battle like this is concerning."
Luz gave her opponent one last look over from a distance before turning away and retrieving her notepad and storing her glyphs for the coming battle. The others saw this and were slightly concerned while the Jedi clipped her lightsaber to her belt.
"Then I better not keep her waiting." Luz walked past Willow and Gus for the door and gave a wink to Amity. "Wish me luck."
Amity blushed before giving her girlfriend a nod of encouragement. "Be safe."
Luz smiled and continued onto the field. Her sudden appearance drew in the crowd and got many whispers about the sudden duel. The Jedi ignored them and focused on her opponent. Boscha saw Luz, narrowed her three eyes, and mentally prepared for what was coming.
"So you didn't run. I figured you booked when I didn't see you here first. Afraid I might have scared you." Boscha insulted.
"I don't scare easily. And being afraid of you is laughable compared to some of the things in the galaxy."
"Pff, whatever." Boscha lifted up her spear and readied it in a thrusting position. "Ready to get your butt whooped, loser?"
Luz responded by igniting her lightsaber and readied herself in her signature stance. "Just don't be sore when I beat you."
Boscha wasted no time and went on the offensive, thrusting her ancestral weapon at the Jedi, intending to skewer her. Luz quickly bashed the polearm away and went for a slash at its shaft. When the beam of concentrated plasma connected but didn't slice through, it surprised the Jedi. Luz disengaged but kept her guard up.
"Not many things can stop a lightsaber. What's it made of?" Luz inquired.
"Like I tell you."
Boscha went in with a great under-swing that made Luz back up. She then attacked with a series of thrusts that Luz blocked or parried away. Her blade was ready to stab Boscha in the gut. The teen saw this and quickly threw a potion to the ground, shattering the bottle and releasing a blast of smoke. Not knowing what it could contain, Luz covered her mouth with her sleeve and rushed out of the smoke.
Boscha used magic on the field to launch her up before thrusting down, blade first to Luz. The Jedi brought her lightsaber up just in time to block the witch's attack but stumbled back from the power behind the attack. Seeing the stumble, Boscha made her move. Clutching her left hand, she threw a fist that clocked the Jedi across the jaw.
The audience was shocked by the savagery behind the attack, with the clone's troopers gripping their weapons. Luz's friends watched with worried looks while many teachers placed bets.
Instead of taking the advance, Boscha stood back triumphant. "Had enough, human?"
Luz rubbed her sleeve across her face. A small smile showed the witch her answer. "Why, we've hardly started."
With a flick of her wrist, a plant glyph appeared from the Jedi sleeve before slapping it into the ground. A bunch of thorn vines sprung up and attacked Boscha. The witch pulled back her blade and unleashed a furry of slashes. She was cutting all that came close to harming her.
"Don't get cocky, human!" Boscha summons the bag of sports balls over to her side. Using levitation magic, seven grudgby balls flew out and orbited around her. Luz backs off and readies herself for what Boscha would throw at her next. Boscha did another spell that set all the sports balls on fire before bringing her weapon up and batting them at Luz.
Coming at her quickly, Luz performed a remarkable feat of acrobatics by somersaulting back several times while slashing and chopping at the grudgby fireballs. When Boscha sent the last one for her, Luz pulled out an ice glyph, and a pillar of ice snagged the ball. The ice extinguished the fire as the ball melted out of the ice and into Luz's hand.
"Creative, but you'll have to try harder than that. What's this?" Luz sees a burnt pattern on the grudgby ball. It was a large circle at the bottom of the spell circle with a dot in the center and a curved triangle on top of it with a smaller circle and curved triangle on top and touching the top of the spell circle. Seeing it gave her a new wave of excitement, and she put a blank sheet of paper over it. Tapping the new glyph caused the ball to burst into flames again. A big smile adorns her face as she tosses the ball back at Boscha, who ducks under the surprise attack.
"Fire magic, baby! That's four spells now!" Luz pulls out a pencil and paper and draws her new glyph for all to see. "Staying at school was a good idea. Now, let's see what else I can learn today."
.
.
The game was intense, and the troopers and scouts gave it their all. The players shouted aloud, "Passback! Passback!" and "Watch the left!" to coordinate their moves. Despite the chaos, they managed to keep their spirits high, and one of the players got a chance to score.
"You got this, captain!" the others shouted, cheering him on. It was a fun match, and everyone was enjoying themselves, even Hooty, who was being an irritating obstacle. But overall, it was a fair and safe game, thanks to the players' good sportsmanship.
The troopers and scouts cheered on for their comrades. Eda and Lilith were going at it like two panthers over the ball. The clones and scouts supporting them were doing their best to keep up with the women, but the two were focused on one-upping each other rather than teamwork. All the while, Hooty acted as an indifferent obstacle for everyone on the field. He was popping up from the ground, making pitfall traps with his mouth, and just being a nuisance for everyone.
"Hooty! You're supposed to be on my side!" Eda yelled at the door demon when he intercepted her shot.
"I'm an unbiased participant. Hoot!"
A clone trooper intercepted the ball and made a rush for the goalpost. A scout jumped in front of him, and the clone shoulder-bashed him aside but failed to notice Hooty opening his mouth wide across the ground behind the scout and sending both down his throat with an ironic scream.
"Welham/Steve!" Several of the troopers and scouts shouted with worry.
Lilith stole the ball and made a goal. Tieing the game at five points.
King marked the board, showing that each team had five points. "point goes to Lilith. We have a tie here, folks."
Eda was huffing at the physical stress she was being put on. It had been a while since she moved this much in one sitting. Spearing a glance at her sister showed Lilith wasn't fairing better. Guess the coven life didn't do her any favors.
"Time for one more game, Hoot," Hooty said before he came up and coughed up a big owl pellet. The pellet split open, revealing Welham and Steve clutching together in comfort.
"...I hate sports."
"... Dude, I'm with you there."
The two were dragged off the field and attended by the medics. Leaving Eda and Vultan on one side and Lilith and one scout on the other. Eda waved the Captain over to her and pulled out her cheat box.
"Alright, Vult, time for a little trick, and we'll have this game in the bag." Eda opened it and saw that it had been cleaned out. It had a note written by Luz.
"Found your old lunch box all dirty and cleaned it up for you. Love Luz!" The note said with a tiny Jedi drawing next to it.
"Dang, that kid is getting in my head." Eda puts the box back in her hair, much to her disappointment. "Going to have to do this the old fashion way."
The clone veteran shook his head in amusement at the Witch. "The Commander will do that. As for the plan ..."
"You got one, V?" Eda asked.
"If you can keep your sister off my back, I'll win us the game."'
"That shouldn't be too hard."
Lilith stood ready for the next play as the two approached. "Taking your time. Nervous?" She mocked.
Eda crouched in anticipation. "Not today, sister."
Hooty stretched out between them and blew his whistle.
The ball was quickly reset, with Vultan going for the ball and rushing to the enemy's team goal. The other scout along with Lilith's went for a tackle, but having years of experience from avoiding blaster bolts, came into play and sidestepped away from their attack. Lilith tried to double back to catch the clone but was healed back when her sister grabbed her and put her in an arm lock. Hooty then tried to intervene by aching as a trip line. The clone had only a moment, but it was enough for him to vault over the bird before launching himself into a dunk on the goal and scoring.
"Game point! Team Owl House rules supreme!" King announced.
The clones to the side cheered while the scouts booed the trooper.
"Nice one," Eda walked up to the Captain and shared a high five.
"No! No! No! I was so close..." Lilith pouted as she drove her fist into the ground. "I can't go back to the emperor empty-handed."
Eda looked at her sister in pity. Thinking it over, she sighs in frustration at her sister. Lilith did see her younger sister approach with the gold ring Eda wore offered to her. Looking up, she saw her sister looking down at her.
Looking up, she saw Eda's irritated face. "Tell him I put up a heck of a struggle."
Lilith accepted the ring before getting up and looking Eda in the eye. "I will be back for you, and next time-"
"We'll be here."
Lilith turned to see the strange soldiers gearing back up with their weapons at the ready
.
"Attacking her will be an unwise course of action, ma'am," Vultan warned.
"This has nothing to do with you!"
"It does when your government is attacking a... foreign citizen," Vultan said.
"What?!" Lilith, Eda, and the scouts said at the same time.
The clone trooper sweated a bit under his helmet. He was sure the Commander would get on his case when she hears about this. "Miss Clawthorn here has applied for citizenship to our island not so long ago and is part of a program to house exchange students with this island. Attacking Miss Clawthorn extends to an attack by a foreign nation. Further acts of aggression will result in severe charges, inciting war being one of them."
The mention of war hit the members of the Emperors coven in a particular way. The concept had been in their history but hasn't been seen in their generation, only in stories from the savage ages, which are rare and speculated. With the Titan inhabitants under one rule, the thought of it happening in their lifetime was as appealing as scary.
"So continue this path, and you will find it will not favor you." Vultan put a hand on his holstered blaster.
Lilith eyed the clone's dark visor. Feeling nothing, Lilith takes her men and leaves the Owl House property. When they were out of sight, Eda confronted the clone, and she did not look happy. "What in Titan's name was that!?"
"Probably started an international incident. I didn't think this through, did I?"
The Owl Lady's hand met her head. "Oh boy. Luz isn't going to like this."
.
.
At the school Grudgby field, the students in the stands could only watch in awe as the witches' duel seemed to pull toward a fight to the death. They didn't know who to route for as both seemed to fight hard against one another. Some wanted to cheer for the human but held back in fear at suffering Boscha's wrath. The school's new security didn't fear such a thing as they cheered her on with fist bashing their chests and shouting words the other faculty had no idea what they could mean.
"OYA! OYA! OYA!"
They chanted in excitement. It was also infectious as several students from the beast keeping track started copying the clones and showing their support for their fellow beast keeper. Luz's friends and girlfriend watched the fight and cheered the Jedi on.
"Was this what it was like from watching my duel?" Amity asked the two.
"More or less," Gus answered as he waved his flags around. "Go Luz!"
"Your fight ended quickly compared to this. It's almost as if Luz is trying to draw this fight out. It's a bit strange," Willow explained. Gus stopped his flag waving.
"For show?"
"That does seem to fit Luz, but why?"
From a spectator's point of view, Luz and Boscha were in a deadlock, neither gaining nor losing ground. Blocking, stabbing, slashing, and dodging. The two dance around each other in a life and death that a few spectators become memorized by it. In reality, this was false. The Jedi of the two had more dueling expertise and a war veteran. In comparison, the Witch held back due to her sports background. Luz could have ended the fight early but didn't, to hold back and draw out this fight. It wasn't the Force telling her something but something else.
Luz dodged another thrust by Boscha by jumping over her and batting the weapon away when met with its spear's palmer. Luz counted by going in with a classic sarlacc swipe for disarmament. Boscha blocked this and held her weapon or risked losing it. The Witch drew a spell circle and launched a continued stream of flames that made Luz duck low to the ground as it passed over her head.
Some almost nicked her, which made Luz shy away more. There was also something else. Something was familiar about those flames. Something that just scrambles the memory.
When the flames stopped, Boscha created some distance between them and threw several of her potion bottles at Luz. The bottles hit the ground and exploded with a fiery color of orange and red. The blast knocks the Jedi off balance and lights Luz's arm on fire. Luz slips her arm free of her sleeve and tosses the top of her robe away, revealing only a tank top behind to cover her modesty.
Boscha blinked in surprise and couldn't help but blush a little at the human's athletic physique and the assortment of scars she showed. And she wasn't the only one either, as up in the stands, Amity blushed bright red at seeing Luz's athletic build and muscled abs. Next to her, Willow was using her hands to cover Gus's eyes.
"Hey, what's going on?" The young Witch asked.
"I'll tell you later," the plant user responded.
"You've given me a good fight, but I think now we should end this game," Luz declared. Her words snapped Boscha out of her stare, and she readied herself.
"I guess that will be the one thing we can agree on."
Luz slowly crouched and got in her center-of-balance stance, legs bent at shoulder length, the saber's blade leveled horizontally to her right. Boscha responded by bringing her weapon up above her head, one arm holding it at the base while the other slid down to the shaft. She got in a low stance, her three eyes locked on the Jedi like a panther ready to pounce. Luz saw this and shifted her form stance, leaning more on her back leg and bringing her lightsaber down to her back leg. The three-eyed teen narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the change but didn't respond other than tightening her weapon grip. The audience held their breath, with no noise coming from their surroundings, as the two combatants now stood in a battle of wills of who will blink first.
The winner turned to Luz as Boscha charged with a Yell to strike down with all her strength. A flash of yellow shifted past her, and a burning pain like lava crossed her chest. Looking down at herself, she saw a freshly fading burn mark across her chest from her sternum up to her right shoulder. The weapon that had been with her family for two hundred years suddenly felt too heavy to wield and fell out of her hands to the ground. Boscha soon followed as she was brought to her knees before she met with the ground, a pair of arms fell under her to hold her up. Thinking that she had died and was being carried by the Titan, Boshca looked up to see the human she had been fighting holding her from falling. She couldn't speak as she had problems breathing. All of a sudden, those strange men in armor appeared over them. One produced a needle and poked her in the chest, and everything darkened to blissful black.
The next thing Boscha felt was a cold liquid embrace. Her whole body felt like it was floating in cold water. It hurt to breathe, and her wounds flared and itched. She wanted nothing more than to scratch it but couldn't. A stray thought entered her: that she was dead, and this was the Titan's will of her punishment for her misdeeds. If so, then she probably deserved it. Looking back at all her transgressions, the bullying, the fights, the destruction, they all seemed to pile up, and she felt… horrible.
Maybe she did deserve it.
Before she knew it, she felt another needle pierced her, and her body went limp. Then the water slowly disappeared as if she was being lifted out of it. The bliss of sleep overwhelmed her, and the darkness greeted her once more.
Her mind came to it again. The cold water was gone. Now in its stead was soft, clean fabric against her skin. Not like the rough wool bed she slept in to toughen her body to the rabid changing climate of the isles. Her strength seemed to return enough that she could open her eyes again. She was lying in a bed that covered her in white sheets covering her body. The room was strange to her as everything around her was illuminated in white that showed lighter gray walls with even stranger equipment. Some would be fitting in some potion master's lab or Healing Coven backroom.
"Where am I?" Boscha said in confusion.
"Not dead, if that's what you mean." Boscha's ghost nearly hopped out of her body at the sudden voice. She turned a little too quickly to face who was talking as her chest and shoulder flared up in pain. She felt a hand touch her undamaged shoulder and gently push her back to bed. "Easy! You just got patched up. I don't want to dunk you back into the bacta tank so soon."
Boscha recognized the voice and saw who was with her. "Luz?"
"I'm here. How are you feeling?" Luz asked.
"Confused..." Boscha answered hesitantly. "My chest hurts like a finger dragon breathed fire on it." Luz knowingly nodded along.
"Yeah, getting slashed with a lightsaber would do that to you. Had we been a little slower, you would not be here talking. Instead, you would be delivered to your parents in a box with your remains."
Boscha looked down at herself and saw the bandages over her chest. "You spared me even after all the attempts to kill you in school?"
"Honestly, I've had worse than what you've dished out." Luz shrugged her off.
Boscha gave a small laugh but regretted it when the pain flared a little. "Ow... don't make me laugh. Well, human, I guess I've gotten you all wrong. I thought of you as a weakling, only to find you have sharp teeth. No wonder Amity follows you around." Luz raised a questioning eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Ever since you came to this school, Amity always hangs out with you. Never wants to hang out with me and the girls. After being in the same group for so long and seeing her go is strange to me."
"Amity is her own person, just like you or me. You had to see it coming that one of these days, she was going to move on. Do her own thing."
"I guess..."
Luz got a little curious. "You like her, don't you?"
That made all three of her eyes bulge out in shock, and her cheeks gained a healthy red color. "Who told you that! Ugh, oh, whatever. Not like it matters anyway. I did for a time, and I still am, in a way. But I figured out over time that Amity seemed uninterested in relationships if they didn't involve schooling or keeping up with the Blight's tradition. So, I gave up on that..."
Luz crossed her arms and shook her head in disappointment. "Does that not include setting fire to the memories of any new friend she meets?"
Boscha didn't answer. She chewed her lip and looked away.
"So, it was you." Luz got up and stood at the front of her bed with a leveled glare at the occupant. "I will not lie to you. There are some things I want to say and do to you for that stunt. You caused me and a few others a lot of trouble. Had to resort to some crazy magic to fix what was broken in my head before it could cause permanent damage. That, combined with what happened today with the duel and wasting valuable resources to save your life, you owe me big now, Boscha, and you can be sure I will collect on it."
"I would too if our places were reversed...where's my stuff?" Boscha asked.
Luz pointed to a wall locker near the door. "Your gear is in that wall locker. Interesting stuff you have there. Especially that weapon. How long have you had it?"
"My momma told me it's been in our family long before Belos' rule and into the savage ages. I knew how important it was to my mother, but I never cared much about things like that. What I know is that the symbols on the side inspired our family crest and is made of some metal that no one else has on the Titan. Why take an interest in it?"
Luz went to the wall locker and pulled it for her. She wiped away some dirt from the blade and bounced the bottom against the ground. It made a sound that riveted the air like a bell being rung. Looking at where the edge near made contact with the hilt were three red, faded, jagged lines.
"There aren't many metals that can withstand a lightsaber. Some are so rare that people forget about them completely, while others are well-known but are regulated heavily. This is one of them." She presented it to Boscha and laid it by her bed. "Mandalorian Iron or Beskar as it is more commonly known."
Boscha slowly reached out and took the weapon from her, letting it rest on her chest. Her mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts. Questions popped up that made the teen interested. "It's from the human world?"
The question made the Jedi roll her eyes. It was the same with Eda and King when she first met them. "Look, I'm not sure how much news spills over to this world, but the galaxy is a lot bigger place than you realized. Do you know where your family got this from?"
"I don't. I'll have to ask my mom, who will likely ground me for taking this without asking."
Luz gave a small smile at the thought of Boscha's predicament.
"Someone will come to check up on you shortly. If you're ready, you'll be transported back home shortly. I'd imagine your folks are worried about you." Luz told her before leaving Med Bay of the Pelta-class frigate. Outside she saw a squad of clone troopers. "Have the medics review her again to see if she's ready for transport. If so, get her home. We don't need local authorities getting on us for kidnapping charges."
"What about the baskar weapon? Are we just going to let her keep it or forget that she was the one that burned your memories?" The trooper asks.
"Forgive but do not forget. I'll remember what Boscha has done, and she will work off the trouble she's caused for everyone. She won't be getting away from her punishment."
"Understood, commander."
.
.
"Eda, I'm home!" Luz announced as she entered the Owl House. She saw Eda, King, and Vultan drinking in the living room. "Hey, guys. Busy day?"
Eda snorted. "I should say the same. You're back later than you usually are. I'd be worried if it wasn't V-man telling me you went to one of your ships."
"What happened out there, Commander? All I got from the ship's Captain was that you ordered a medivac for an injured student," Vultan explained.
"Got in another witch's duel. Put up a good fight too, when she somehow pulled out a weapon made of Beskar to stop my lightsaber." Luz told them before flopping on the chair and shocking the clone.
"Really?! How did she pull that off?" He asked.
"Said it was a family heirloom. We'll investigate where she got it at a later time. Now, my turn with the question. What's with the homemade grudgby field out front?" Luz thumped out the window to said field.
Eda explained that her sister came by to capture her again, only to get ambushed by Vultan and his troops were coming to discuss some things. Lilith was trying hard to get Eda to join a coven but had refused again and made a bet that if she could beat her in a game of Grudgby, she'll come quietly.
"With you still here, I'm guessing you won."
"You bet your silly robes we did. Made me feel twenty years younger." Eda sighed in nostalgia before sitting up straight and being serious. "But there's something we need to talk about. Concerning what the Captain here has done."
"Vultan... What did you do?" Luz eyed the clone. The clone avoided eye contact for a moment before answering.
"It actually pertains to why I'm here," he stated. "It started yesterday afternoon after you left. Scouts reported a small sailboat filled with civilians. We interrogated a few of them to find they were refugees from here." This news surprised the others.
"If they are from here, why would they be seeking refuge?" Luz asked. To which Eda beat the clone to the punch.
"They're covenless, aren't they?" Vultan nodded. "Figures."
"And that's not all. This morning, a second boat was found on the same course as the first and with the same story. Covenless, homeless, and dead set to get out to gain freedom away from the Emperors' coven."
"What has become of them?" Luz asked.
"We have them hold up in one of our camps. They feared us and that we may be some special force under the Emperor's rule, but they quickly changed when we told them otherwise."
That was a shocker to the young Jedi and the Witch. "What about their original destination?"
"They had none. They were going to drop themselves off at any island they could live on that wasn't in the Emperor's control." Vultan shook his head. "Pretty gutsy."
"They would survive too. Without their magic restricting them by the coven marks, they would have gotten along just fine with limited resources."
"So, what's the problem?" Luz inquired.
"Well...they won't leave."
"What?" Luz/Eda said at the same time.
"I should say this differently. The witches don't want to leave. Some were asking, almost begging us to take them in. Offering their experiences and trade to support. It got me thinking and I brought it up with the others. What if we take these guys in and start our own little town to help us with supply problems?"
"Supply problems? Are you guys running out of food? Can't you guys grow more? you got the people." Eda asked in slight concern. Luz shook her head.
"They're soldiers, Eda, not farmers. Food is fine now, but we will be looking at a food shortage in a year due to our current numbers. But that idea of starting a town does have its promises. Especially if it starts up our food production. Plus, it would also gain us a permanent foothold in this sector. So why is this related to Eda's sister?" Luz asked.
"Umm. I may or may not have given Eda citizenship and threatened war on the Emperors coven if she's attacked again by them."
". . ."
". . ."
". . .'
Luz's head falls into her hands and rubs her temple sides. "...I think I'm going to need a drink after today."
Eda pulls a bottle of apple blood from her hair's acceptable pocket dimension. "Got you covered, Luz!"
Omake:A Space Odyssey
Hidden behind the Owl house sat a single LAAT dropship. Walking towards it were Luz and her friends and girlfriend. The young human had called them here for a special treat that few from the isles had been given.
"So, are you going to tell us this big surprise you have for us, or will I have to keep guessing?" Amity said to her girlfriend. Luz responded with a knowing smirk.
"And why did you want us coming in the outfits we went to that other world?" Willow chipped in. "Not that I'm against wearing them."
"Let's just say it is out of this world," She responded cryptically.
As they made their way behind the house, the group came across a dropship which surprised the three natives. Willow and Amity immediately recognized it from Luz's memories, while Gus wondered what it could be. Meanwhile, Luz walks up to the dropship and enters its open troop bay. The other three followed and took spots on the transport. Luz adjusted the safety railing down for easier reach of Gus.
"Wait!" The group looks in the house's direction to see King scurrying out the back door and hopping into Luz's awaiting arms. "Your not flying anywhere without me!"
The teens had a good laugh at the King's child-like complex and allowed him to sit on Luz's shoulder.
"Alright, hold on to your teeth, people!" The dropship's engines spun up and lifted off the ground. The teens watched as they went up before they flew over the boiling sea. The teens were amazed that they were flying without magic and wondered what else they could do.
"Luz! This is amazing! Are you sure there's no magic involved in flying this thing?" Gus questioned. Luz found his child-like wonder humerus.
"Positive. None of the companies that made the Republic's equipment made anything with magic. But if you think this is awesome. Take a gander at what we're heading towards." Luz pointed outside ahead of them.
The five looked out towards the clouds ahead. They saw nothing briefly until they broke through the cloud layer. What they saw made three witches' jaws drop and the young demon squealed out in happiness. It was Luz's fleet, bigger than anything they could think of and more powerful than anything they'd seen before.
Gozonti cruisers formed up in patrol picket group. Accumulators spearheading at the front with the Stonewall backing them. Flights of starfighters and transports coming to and from the many ships.
Rather than watch the fleet, Luz was enjoying her friend's reactions. "Ha, you should see your faces."
"Luz… do all these ships belong to you?" Amity couldn't keep the awe out of her voice.
"I lead these ships. And there's our destination." Luz draws their attention to the biggest in the fleet, and their eyes couldn't get any wider at the sight of the Cosmic Wave.
They soon landed in the pot hangar and disembarked. Luz leads them through the main hallways towards the Bridge. As they went down the corridors, the Jedi pointed out everything as they went by. Amity and Gus were enchanted by everything they saw and asked many questions that Luz did her best to answer. King, having been on it earlier, waved to the soldiers as they passed by. Willow felt a bit intimidated by being in a place with so much metal and so little plant life. It was only a short time until they reached the Bridge and met with Pit and Flash.
"Commander, we're ready for launch," Pit announced.
"Bringing some civies for a tour, ma'am?" Flash asked.
"Thought I show them around as thanks for helping me when I needed it." Her answer made the Witches smile. "If nothing else. Let us be on our way. Send the order."
The clones nodded and gave out commands to the others. Clones went to their stations, and the ship began to shift. Everyone not working looked at windows and saw the fleet rising higher into the sky. The ship's engines illuminated their backside as their jet streams became more visible as they pushed them to break out to space.
Luz smiled at seeing the stars and strange nebula in the distance. She turned to King, Amity, Willow, and Gus's stunned faces.
"Welcome to space!"
Suprise! A new chapter has arrived. This one is more of a filler chapter but has some important parts to it. We see new things that are changing up the cannon line and new challenges that are coming. The next chapter is one we all know, and it will leave many of you awesome readers wondering what will happen if Belos threatened a Jedi with an army at her back.
This filler chapter was supposed to be an easy one to make but life throws a curve ball at us, and we endure.
Also, to give special thanks to Ghost-G339 and Wesley9516 for cleanup and editing.
And now a special Episode curtesy of Ghost-G339
Note: Not cannon to the main story.
Jedi of the Isles:
Special Episode;
By Ghost-339
"Wow… Grugby sounds like fun! Do you think I could visit your world and see a game?!" Omega asked in astonishment.
Eda had dropped into Cid's bar again, this time loaded with a crate full of Apple Blood to strike up a new source of income in the currency of Luz's dimension. Cid immediately took to the idea, seeing an opportunity to test it on her usual patrons at the bar, then if that worked she had a few black market contacts that would pay handsomely for this new foreign swill.
Soon Eda settled into a glass of something called Nabooian wine when Omega and Echo turned up, the small talk that followed quickly turned into Omega asking her about growing up in the Demon Realm which also included going to Hexside.
Eda smirked, "Sure kid, if Robot boy here and the rest of your clone brothers are okay with it, the new season will be kicking off soon with Hexside hosting."
"Uhh… I don't know, we clones are more about fighting than sports." Echo shrugged, unsure of himself.
"Come on, Echo! Pleeeaase…!" Omega pouted, "We could do with some R and R."
Echo chuckled, "Okay, little Vod, I'll talk to Hunter about it." He ruffled her hair while she grinned.
"What does Vod mean?" Eda asked curiously.
"It's Mandalorian for little sibling." Echo replied.
Eda raised an eyebrow, "And the Mandalorians are…?"
"Ancient warrior culture that-" footfall from the stairs entering into the bar could be heard. A red hooded figure with an attached cloak descending down to her shins is seen. The hooded one scanned the room, pausing a bit after laying eyes on Eda, she herself could sense danger coming off the figure's presence. Some laughter drew all those aware to a Human at a booth nuzzling up to a Twi'lek "escort" while drinking his worries away.
The red hood was pulled down to reveal a shiny metal helmet with a feminine T-shape visor.
"That's a Mandalorian…" Echo whispered to Eda, "Don't try to fight her… You'll lose, even with your magic." Eda frowned at the discouragement.
The Mandalorian marched over to the Human, interrupting his fun, causing him to look up and sneered.
"What do we have here…? Aren't you a little short to be a Mandalorian?" She said nothing, continuing to stare through her helmet. "Well come on then! What the Kriff do you want, Mando?"
Again, keeping silent, she reached for her belt under her cloak to place an object on the table with fingerless gloves… A bounty puck.
The man's eyes dilated as he stared at a holo of his bust with a wanted title over it in galactic standard. The Twi'lek prostitute looked between her client, the puck, the Mandalorian, and then back to her client. She tried to get up to leave but was grabbed by the wrist and yanked back into her seat with a shriek.
"Not so fast, I paid good credits for your fine tail-headed ass, and I haven't even gotten to the main course of the night. So Mando, how about this, I pay you double what my head's worth, and you walk away… keep playing Bounty Hunter if you want, like a good little shortstack." He placed a stack of shiny new Imperial credits on the table.
She didn't say anything, continuing her eerie and unnerving silence until-
"I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold…" she finally speaks, with a young sweet voice but with a deadly cold edge sharper than any blade, adding a show of force by opening her cloak and slowly putting a hand to her holstered Republic DC-17 pistol.
The human bounty sighed and snapped his fingers. Two Pantorans in tactical gear got up from a nearby booth, obviously hired Mercs, and readied their weapons to take on the bounty hunter.
"Hey!" Shouted Cid, "Don't be causing trouble in my place!" This fell on deaf ears, while Echo, Omega, and Eda watched with bated breath.
"It's unfortunate we couldn't do business, Mando… Instead, I'll be richer when I take that Beskar from your corpse! Kill he-" Before he could finish the Mandalorian's cloak exploded open, falling to the ground, revealing shiny pure beskar armor over a combat suit with accompanying jetpack. The cuirass' only color to it was a red burning rose signet on the upper right breastplate.
She twirled around at impossible speeds, planting her left fist into the gut of the closest Pantoran Merc and from her vambrace fired a repulsion cannon, sending him flying into the bar and stools. Pivoting, she elbowed the other in the jaw, as he stumbled she made a jetpack assisted jump, throwing an overhead punch decking him to the floor.
Seeing his protection fail, the wanted human decided to make tracks and leave. Dashing for the exit, he was almost free when something wrapped around his legs, causing him to lose balance and smash his face on the first step. Through the pain of a bleeding, broken nose, he quickly rolled onto his back to see his legs tied up by the Mandalorian's whipcord thrower on her right vambrace, as she started to pull him towards her with unusual strength for her size. Quickly drawing a blaster, he fired two bolts, and as expected they reflected off her beskar armor with not even a scorch mark to identify.
In response, she draws one of her dual DC-17s and fires a stun blast from the left hip, rendering him harmless. The first Pantoran recovered himself from the bar, drawing a combat knife he charges the Mandalorian, she reacted by releasing a long blade over her wrist from the right vambrace. Igniting her jetpack again, she lunges at him with greater speed and mass, the blade piercing his throat before he could blink. Retracting the blade and driving it back in twice more to make sure in the time of mere seconds.
"Cousin!"
The second Pantoran mercenary tried to fight through the haze while leaning on a support beam and raising a carbine blaster with a shaky hand. He fires but the shot went wide, hitting a bottle of top shelf liquor, the second just harmlessly ricochets off her pauldron. Quick on the draw, the Mandalorian fires both pistols with two rounds each.
With the bounty in custody and threats neutralized, the Mandalorian audibly sighed, slotting her blasters back into their holsters. The mysterious bounty hunter moved to retrieve her cloak. Picking it up, she gave it a once over for any damages before throwing it over her shoulders and reattaching it to herself. Turning around, the Mandalorian approached the bar, reaching in one of her many pouches she placed a stack of Calamari Flan on the counter.
"For the trouble, Cid. Thanks for tipping me he was here."
Cid gave a dry chuckle, "Hmph, if I'd known I was bringing a Mandalorian into my bar… anyway what gives kiddo? Last we talked, you mentioned nothing about joining the Mandalorians and running around in Beskar…!"
The so far nameless girl shrugged, "Turned out I had family in Mandalorian space I didn't know about… so I'm in a clan now, and after taking the Mandalorian creed my, ahem, clan elders decided to help me forge this armor."
A scaled eyebrow rose, "You ain't with those Death Watch guys, I hope?" The Mandalorian chuckled.
"Oh no my clan isn't under house Vizla. But we still follow the old ways that say we need to always wear at least one piece of beskar "
"Well then we gotta celebrate that! Slip off that helmet and let's drink!"
Her hand gently went up to her helmet to just barely grace it, "Sorry… I… I can't… the creed of my clan says no outsiders can see my face, so…"
Cid just shrugged, replacing the bottle she grabbed back under the counter, "Your identity is private now, got it."
"Thank you." She nodded, then suddenly turned to Eda, "Now, before I move on… seems like there's another wanted person in this bar…"
The four present stiffened, "Why?" Eda asked, "Here to challenge me and bring me in too? Just a warning, but it'll be a fight you might not like, kid."
She waved it off, "Nope… my paycheck is tied up back there. As for you, somehow you're connected to a… mutual friend of ours… so to you, I give this to pass on to her." She hands over a handheld hologram device Eda had seen Luz use before, eyeing it for a moment before pocketing it in her hair.
The red cloaked Mandalorian moved over to the foot of the entrance and her tied up bounty. Kicking away the blaster he used, she pulls out a pair of cuffs and restrains him from behind, then with a surprising amount of strength, throws him on her shoulder.
Without even looking, she spoke to those behind her as she mounted the stairs, "Tell Noceda that Ruby Rose says 'Hi'."
And she left.
End of part I