So, this third part of this idea has been banging around in my head for some time. If the idea were to actually come to fruition it would be near the end of the story considering how I'm looking at the current ending of this for now. In this chapter, our intrepid "pureblood" human pilot/Jedi John Kazden arrives right in the nick of time to help in the space battle's final push above Mars.
Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Star Wars belongs to Disney and Darling in the FRANXX to Studio Trigger. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.
XxXxXxX
Previously…
John sighed. "I've been meditating ever since I heard that those kids were attacking the stronghold above us and I came to a revelation. You and I share a common enemy, an enemy that destroyed our homes for its own benefit. You know of what I speak of."
She paused for a moment. "Indeed. And what can you bring that my people eons ago could not accomplish?"
"This." He pulled out a medallion-sized holoprojector and activated it. What appeared in the air was a sphere with four points in the center. In the middle was a platform with a single golden throne at the center. "The Eternal Throne. But I'm going to need your help in finding it."
XxXxXxX
"Cease your resistance," a booming, ethereal voice called out. "Is there any point at all to this warfare? All lifeforms will eventually merge with us. Surrender yourselves to the gentle, perpetual pleasure we offer. Our utopia is free from all hatred and discrimination between species. Klaxosaurs? Humanity? Such distinctions won't matter anymore. Equality for all! And beyond it all, we will attain an endless and peaceful slumber, and at the same time, endless and relentless evolution. Rejecting that to march forward to your destruction is far too foolish. Now, become one with us."
"To the adults, that may well have sounded like utopia," Hatchi commented as he and Nana looked out on the battle, their charges fighting for their lives for everyone's sake.
"Then you don't understand humanity's spirit," a voice that the two had only heard a few weeks prior come over the com system. It was followed up by an alert coming over everyone's radar.
"Incoming large yield warheads!" Ichigo called out. The two streaked out at a fast enough speed that they slammed into the VIRM manifestation before it could react. The blooms of high-powered energy create fireballs in space
"Kazden!" Hiro called out.
"'Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.' Us humans, and our predecessors before us, are tenacious fuckers who will fight to their dying breath for something we believe in."
"The adults who came before you joined," the VIRM hivemind countered.
"Well, they're dumbasses. What you're proposing is pure, personal apathy. And apathy is death," Kazden retorted. Without warning the twelve-kilometer-long Super Star Destroyer Lusankya appeared above them (relatively), the same one that the children of the Plantation had seen previously.
Immediately, lances of green light left the surface of the ship in the thousands as they targeted the smaller capital ships. From the ventral hold, fighters were launched. There had to be hundreds if not more of them. A few moments later a few other ships dropped into what Kazden had referred to as 'real space' of a much smaller size but still of 'capital' ship classification by most interstellar navies.
"All squadrons, this is Gold Leader," Kazden started, "updated IFF tags have been sent to all targeting computers. Former members of APE, prepare for incoming data packet containing IFF information."
"Rodger!" Hatchi replied as the console in the escape pod lit up allowing for limited command and control. "All pilots," he addressed the kids, "prepare for information transfer." He tapped a few holographic buttons and the information sent his way was forwarded.
"What's the current plan, other than shooting at them until they can't shoot back?" Kazden asked the only adult duo.
"The massive FRANXX Strelizia contains a Tier 1 asset and Hiro is en route to link up with it," Hatchi reported. "Highlighting which FRANXX he's in now."
"And when he links up with it?"
"There's something between Mars's moons that Strelizia is trying to make its way towards."
On Kazden's console, a single IFF was highlighted. "Copy." He then switched frequencies. "Gold squadron, make your way to the following IFF and provide as much covering fire as possible." A round of eleven acknowledgments came over the comms. He flipped frequencies again to the Lusankya. "Admiral, local forces have provided IFF with two Tier 1 assets. Provide as much covering fire from any ships that can be spared on capital-tonnage ships near them."
The admiral's response came back over the comms, "Rodger, Gold Leader."
John turned to his companion riding shotgun as copilot, "First time flying?" he asked.
"In space and in combat, yes," the blue-skinned female replied.
"Well, your highness, there's a barf bag in front of you in case you lose your lunch," Kazden replied as he prepared to roll into a dive.
"Why must you insist on not suppressing the G-forces?"
"You'll die otherwise."
Without any further warning, John pulled the yoke and maneuvered the pedals to push roll-dive solar 'down' towards the capital ships attempting to assault some of the Parasite pilots. His fingers flipped through various buttons and switches and two of the PDCs targeted the nearest fighter analogs and opened fire with bursts of fire. The last of the Klaxosaurs watched in awe as the man she had known for a few months as she helped him with his search was in a borderline trance. The small bursts of hyper-accelerated kinetic rounds found weak spots in the VIRM fighters armor causing them to be disabled if not outright destroyed. As with all materials in life, anything hit enough times will break, and lucky shots in the right places would destroy it faster; but the uncanny ability of her pilot companion to hit every weak point that the VIRM machines had would have been the talk of an urban legend, but yet she was present and witnessed every kill.
'Is this the power of the Force as he called it?' she wondered.
The battle raged on as the VIRM started to turn their attention to the snubfighters now assaulting them with laser cannons and proton torpedoes which caused much more damage than the hivemind would have expected to happen. After all, the only weapons it knew that could hurt them were the Magma weapons as the FRANXX piloted by the Parasites were so eager to demonstrate on their forces.
John had killed more than several dozen fighter-craft with his weapons and enhanced senses to become an ace several times over. The Alliance ships somehow kept up with the VIRM vessels and fighters and thus far no ships or fighters had sustained damage that couldn't be repaired. The final act was in play as Strelizia approached the gap between the two moons of Mars. His sensors immediately lit up with alerts as power had been building up greatly in the cores of the two moons.
Twin lances of energy from each of the two moons raced toward each other and crashed together. The orb they formed started to grow until it reached the size needed to allow Strelizia to transit it. John focused on it, feeling a deep emptiness that took itself elsewhere.
"Is that-?" John asked.
"A wormhole, yes," the Klaxosaur queen confirmed.
John turned his comm to all allied frequencies, "All fighter craft, IFF tagged craft Strelizia is making its final push towards the wormhole, make sure it gets there." Confirmations came back from the leaders of the squadrons.
The lumbering, humanoid craft lumbered – in comparison to the fighters zipping around it like flies around livestock – along. As it did, fighters continued to engage fighters that were attempting to hinder the progress of the craft. Capital ships would continue to engage each other and deal crushing blows against the VIRM whose attention was clearly focused on Strelizia and not them. The humanoid ship finally reached the event horizon and crossed the threshold. The VIRM put up one final push to destroy the massive craft but failed due to the portal collapsing as soon as Strelizia passed through it. Failing in their task, the VIRM craft immediately self-destructed. The chain of explosions buffeted shields and armor alike.
"Strelizia is away," John reported.
"All hostiles are dead," one of the officers aboard the Lusankya reported.
"All fighter craft are to rendezvous Lusankya for debriefing," the captain ordered.
"That means you too, kids," John added as he changed course for the hangar bay. "Follow the traffic controllers' guidance."
A half-hour, and one small recovery mission later, John and the former Parasites along with Hatchi, Nana, and the Klaxosaur queen. To say that the air was a tiny bit tense would be an understatement. After all, a lifetime of war against one's enemies only to find out they were never the enemy, to begin with, would take some adjustment. On the bridge's CIC holotable, the former battlefield shows the debris field from both allied kills on top of the suicides from the VIRM were shown as well as the two moons. The pit crew went about their duties quietly with some idle, quiet chatter going on amongst them between conveying orders.
"Salvage crews are being sent to recover whatever technology that can be so it may be studied by Allied Intelligence," the captain said. "Due to their history with your people, the reports as well as raw data will be shared once compiled."
"And you need to know this-?" Nana asked.
"Because if these VIRM have been around as long as they have – regardless of this area being tiny and extremely out of the way – they are a threat to the galaxy as a whole."
"Granted, I don't think anyone in the wider Alliance or former Empire will fall for their ploy considering any technology they would have to offer would be a small downgrade to current tech," John added. "Though pre-space-faring species… that's a different story."
"They'll likely invade as they did with my people," the Queen added on.
"Precisely," the captain added. "This information is vital to the Alliance."
"And what of Hiro and Zero Two?" Ichigo asks.
The Queen replied, "The warp gate will take them close to the VIRM homeworld. However-."
"However…?"
"Gravitational shift since the original coordinates were obtained may have thrown them off course."
"Meaning?"
"It could be several years at best speed before they reach their target," John answered.
"We have to help," Zerome yelled.
"How?" John countered. They were all completely silent. "Where is the VIRM homeworld?" John asked the Queen.
She pressed a few buttons on a console and a dwarf galaxy well outside the Unknown Regions was shown. "That doesn't seem that bad."
"That dwarf galaxy is outside of the Unknown Regions. The only access route is through the Unknown Regions."
"You got us to that Coruscant place easily enough," Miku countered.
"That's because after I navigated to an already mapped Hyperlane Route, I could let the computer take over. The Unknown Regions are completely different. Dangerous. Unpredictable. The only way to make it through is via specialized pilots that the Chiss Ascendancy calls 'Skywalkers.'" John saw the air of recognition in the captain's eyes. "I assure you, it's a coincidence." He turned back to the rest. "The only known expedition to even remotely leave the galaxy was the Outbound Flight initiative."
Hope began to appear once more. "So, does that mean-?" Ichigo asks.
"They failed."
"What?"
"They were destroyed by a joint task force of convenience between the Trade Federation and the Chiss Ascendancy."
"How do you know this?" the captain asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Master Skywalker told me this. A few years ago, he came across the wreckage of the Outbound Flight. It was then he discovered footage that proved that the Trade Federation and the Chiss via a rogue actor who we all know as one Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo were responsible for its disappearance."
"Thrawn?!" he asked in shock.
"The same." The name of Thrawn was not a name to be uttered lightly. After all, he had just been killed not too long ago and there were rumors floating around that he somehow survived or had clones. Rumors taken very seriously. "In the records recovered from the Trade Federation ships, it was due to them wanting to stop an unknown enemy only referenced by the Chiss as the 'Far Outsiders.' As for who they actually are is a complete unknown."
"Do you believe the VIRM are these Far Outsiders?"
John pondered this for a moment. "I do not believe so. These VIRM seem to run off a central hivemind intelligence whose MO appears to be subterfuge first, undermine a population, and bring it into the fold. If all else fails, invade with overwhelming numbers until submission is obtained. Considering the VIRM have been around for a long time, and assuming they've captured multiple worlds in the Unknown Regions, it is unlikely they have figured a route out yet. The Chiss still seem to think the Far Outsiders are still coming."
"So, there are two different species," the captain pondered.
"I'd be inclined to agree," the Queen added in her input. "The VIRM were in my time tens of thousands of years ago. If they were of the same species these Chiss probably would have noticed."
There was silence as the Parasites took this information in. Finally, that silence broke, "So, what's our plan, then?" Ichigo asks. "Just let Zero Two and Hiro battle the VIRM alone!?"
"Not exactly," John replied. He turned to address the captain. "How well do you know your ancient galactic history?"
The captain shrugged, "Just as well as any other student, I suppose."
"What do you know about the Eternal Empire?"
"Just that it was a faction during the era of the Old Republic several thousand years ago, not much else."
John typed in a few commands and a spherical device appeared. It was absolutely massive. "That is the Eternal Throne. The technological wonder weapon that allowed the Eternal Empire to steamroll the galaxy for almost ten years. And it turns out the old legends of a city called Atlantis were true, to an extent – despite being thousands of years off."
"What do you mean?" Nana asked. She had heard that name once or twice in some mythical storybooks.
"Back about ten or so thousand years ago, the timing gets weird with hyperspace travel, a black hole or two, and the like, our small little Earth used to be the seat of the Eternal Empire: Zakuul." The image of the Earth appeared.
"I'm confused," the captain said. "From what I remember, the Zakuul from history was an ecumenopolis like Coruscant."
"It was, until Valkorian detonated his petty weapon and basically destroyed everything. The only humans that remained were in cave systems where the legend of the City of Atlantis would eventually come from. The location of which happens to be right about here." He pressed a button and a waypoint appeared in what the Earthlings recognized as the Pacific Ocean.
"And what about the Eternal Fleet? Wasn't it all destroyed?"
"It was, but it can be rebuilt." He pressed more buttons and a planet appeared before zooming out to show where it was on the galaxy map. "Iokath. The origins of the Eternal Fleet. We go there, we get the foundries spinning up again, then we send an entire fleet or two at the VIRM."
XxXxXxX
Over two years. It took two years to do it.
Two years to pull the Eternal Throne out from the ruins of the ancient city under the sea. Two years to get it set back up, powered, and ready to be operational. Two years to gain access to Iokath and its facilities. Two years to gain a fleet of terrifying strength with the speed only machines were capable of. Two years to gather it all at Mars to make its first and only journey.
John stared at the imposing technical terror that was the Eternal Throne. It was the embodiment of unlimited power. He knew the risks, after all, the Outsider had perished when they used it, completely unable to withstand its power.
"You do not have to do this," the Klaxosaur queen said beside him.
"Yeah, I kind of do," John rebutted. The pair had bonded over the years becoming friends; he suspected that he was her first friend since the extinction of her race. "After all," he said as he started walking up the stairs, "how is the last true Son of Terra supposed to get his revenge, hmm?" he joked remembering the prophecy that had been told to him what felt like a lifetime ago by Master Skywalker. He sat down in the very uncomfortable chair. "I'm ready."
With a nod from the queen, she flicked a switch initiating the portal between the two Martian moons. John immersed himself in the Force, and his body felt nothing but pain as he took control of the fleet.
XxXxXxX
Hiro couldn't tell how long it had been. All he knew was that it was long enough for his own messed-up genetics to grow a pair of Oni horns, just like Zero Two. She was both there and not there at the same time. She was a ghost in the machine, him being the only true occupant in Strelizia. Sure, he could speak with Zero Two as her consciousness embodied Strelizia and he could see her through video call, but he was the only one truly there. From what he understood, Zero Two's body back on Earth disintegrated when he became one with her inside Strelizia. There were times when he'd fall asleep and dream of his friends back on Earth who they were fighting for. Dreams of them having good lives. Lives free from the Klaxosaur War. Free from APE and from the VIRM's machinations. It was nice. Maybe Zero Two and he would be able to experience such a life when this was all over.
"Darling," Zero Two said as he was roused from his slumber.
He looked around and found himself still hooked up to life support to Streliza's systems. Hooked into Zero Two who was keeping his now frail body alive. Still in the cockpit endlessly traveling through the starry void of space. "Sorry, looks like I fell asleep," Hiro apologized.
"That's unusual," she observed. "You seem to be really weak." Her voice was filled with concern. "Don't push yourself."
"Thanks, but I'll be fine," Hiro tried to reassure her. He looked up at the panel where he had hung a picture of his friends from the Plantation. "Zero Two, I had a dream."
"A dream?"
"A dream about the gang. They were all living good lives," he replied as he watched the stars pass by.
"Yeah?" She pondered upon this, wondering what Hiro saw. It must have been a good dream to share it like this. "Darling, we are approaching the enemy's home planet now."
Hiro tensed up as he prepared himself for battle. Potentially the final battle. He knew the payload they were carrying. This would likely be a one-way trip. They entered the cloud that jetted out from the planet. Almost on cue from some unseen director, the hivemind of the VIRM appeared.
"You feeble lifeform, bound to your flesh..." it started, "heed my voice." It started to multiply like stars in the sky, all defaced by a two-faced mask.
"Don't even bother," Zero Two spat. "Darling won't listen to y-." She was rudely cut off by what appeared to be a space-faring spear to the face. Luckily, it was only a glancing blow. "What?" Out of the purple mist appeared a fleet of ships that ranged from small fighters to as large as her. Among them were many of the objects that Father and APE, controlled by the VIRM wanted to keep out of the hands of the Klaxosaur Queen. "Is that... Hringhorni?"
But it wasn't just one of the massive craft, but thousands of them. If there were above a planet, they'd blot out the sun. Maybe that had been the whole point of these ships. Collect the genetic information for an entire planet and then use it somehow back at their homeworld. For what reason and what true benefit the VIRM got from this, Hiro couldn't tell.
"This is our territory," the VIRM bragged. "Feeble one, let me deliver you from your suffering."
Zero Two was disgusted. "Let's do this, darling," she said, but there was no response from Hiro. "Darling?" He didn't respond once more. "Darling!?"
And then, they started their assault. Like a swarm of ants on a picnic, they streamed at them. It was a combination of weapons fire as well as suicidal runs made by the ships.
"Darling? Hang in there!" she cried out.
The VIRM did not yield in their assault. Ship after ship wasted on her. Whoever had been aboard had been just pawns, discardable to the VIRM.
"Why can't I hear his voice, when he's right here?" She glared as best she could under the onslaught at the large form of the VIRM as it stood in its horde of pawns. "What did you do to my darling?" she demanded.
"Gently caressed the surface of his consciousness, that's all," it nonchalantly stated. "Every physical body has its limits and he is but a frail human. You two may have a shallow connection, but as a pure klaxosaur crystallization, you are not a good match for him."
The bomb that lay beneath her separated and started to float away and was attacked by the VIRM, now finding a new target.
She could feel him starting to disappear. "Darling's… My darling's mind is fading!" The assault kept up, finally, one of the Hringhorni speared toward her, digging deep into her armored body's plating. She cried out in pain as the sensations that shouldn't have belonged to a machine ran through her.
"Please, I beg you… Guys… Please save my darling!"
She could hear them, all her friends back on Earth praying for their success. Then, there was a transmission.
"You going to let these fuckers stop you now?"
One ship, followed by one after another appeared behind her. They all appeared to have broad faces and slim bodies. There were dozens if not hundreds of hard points for weapons on them. As a direct opposition to the VIRM they too dotted the space between them in a borderline circuitboard-like pattern in terms of formation.
"Kazden!" she said in shock. How did he follow them? He didn't have an entire fleet at his disposal. She could feel Hiro coming back to her.
"Zero Two, I'm ready," Hiro said.
The ships surrounded them and started to move. "I'll clear a corridor and keep them off you as long as I can," John said as the ships started to open fire on the VIRM while they returned the favor. "You just deliver that payload."
The VIRM ships exploded as the bolts of superheated plasma slammed against their hulls. Missiles and torpedoes joined in the fray detonating against VIRM vessels. More of the human's vessels came into view in front of her using their cannons to purge the VIRM scourge before her which slowly formed a tunnel. Her attention was turned elsewhere to her darling. She could feel him coming back, her friends back on Earth had been successful.
"Zero Two?" Hiro asked as he came back from whatever slumber that the VIRM had forced upon him.
"Yes, Darling!" Zero Two said happily.
"Bomb. You. Deploy," Kazden stated, breaking whatever train of thought she had. "I can buy you time, but there are more of them than there are of my ships. Get a move on!"
"Right!" She faced the hole in the horde. "Let's do this!"
Zero Two charged up Streliza's engines until they reached critical mass and shot forward into the tunnel where Kazden's ships had picked off the enemies trying to destroy the Klaxosaurs' final weapon. The massive humanoid craft shot forward and grabbed it like a handball and flew straight into the planet itself. The cracked crust emitted the same purple-hued mist that surrounded the VIRM.
John remembered a poem that he had once had to read in English class as he watched them charge.
"Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred."
As Zero Two attempted to activate the device, but her mechanical arm was destroyed by one of the Hringhorni which acted like a spear once more. She shed her outer shell revealing the much smaller craft. It flew right into the blue glowing center of the device despite thousands of smaller craft swarming to destroy them. John knew what was coming next, he could feel it in the Force. And so, another verse of that same poem came back to him.
"When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!"
And at that thought, the bomb exploded. The Force radiated in the number of souls that were released from this prison of a planet and scattered themselves to the solar winds. Probably to seed new worlds for life once more. John was able to watch this at the edge of the system in the single ship set aside to monitor this battle. A ship that had its own special payload.
"All of you so-called souls… are you going to be caged back in your bodies?" one half of the VIRM hivemind asked.
"You willingly choose to be shackled by pain and sorrow?" the second head asks.
"VIRM will not die," the first states again as John feels the souls of the two kids shoot back toward the Sol system. It'll take time, but they'll get there eventually.
"I'm sure we'll face off once again at the apex of evolution."
In unison they intoned, "So long as the universe contains a flicker of life."
John prepared the final weapon. The last bit of rage of a dead people. He pointed his craft towards the avatar of the VIRM. "Sure, you might still be around. But I can buy them as much time as needed to defeat you," John spits.
"What?" it asked, only to be slammed into by a craft that wouldn't allow it to disappear, John held it in the Force and activated the hyperdrive, aiming for a specific system in this dwarf galaxy. "You dare defy us!?"
"Oh, I dare, alright," John said through the connection as he strained under the stress of both the Eternal Throne and projecting the grip he had in the Force across dark space. "I dare to dream of a better future that we are supposed to leave behind. You fear death so much as to live in perpetuity in apathy. But death is a natural part of life. All living things must die. And you? Well, I think you've got a date with the ol' Grim Reaper."
"What!?" John felt the sickly empty, blackness in front of him. All he had to do was maintain control for a few moments longer. He had deactivated the safety mechanisms that would have pulled him out of hyperspace the moment he crossed a Mass Shadow. But he was weaving like the Skywalkers of the Chiss between them until he reached his goal. It looked behind it, only to see as they were forcefully pulled out of hyperspace mere seconds from the event horizon of a black hole. "No!" it cried out.
"Fuck you," were John's last words to it as he disconnected from the ship. He immediately fell to the ground, his consciousness fading. "It's… done," he gasped out.
"He's flatlining! Get him to the medical center!" a voice called out. It wasn't the kids, it was one of the medics left behind by the Alliance for this very moment.
"Don't die," the queen demanded of him.
"Oh, hey," John said weakly. "We got 'em. They'll be gone for a long, long time." He started to pass out.
"Get a crash cart in here now!"
"I can save him," the queen said. Before her appeared a spherical device that she summoned from the biomass of her people. "It will heal him."
The medic contemplated this before nodding and putting him inside. John looked at the people there before stating, "Wake me, when you need me." The device was activated and he disappeared from view.
"What is that?" the medic asks as they take off their gloves.
The queen replies, "A stasis healing pod. When he's fully healed, he'll emerge."
"And when will that be?"
"I do not know."
XxXxXxX
Many, many decades later…
Inside a museum, children and adults alike went about the exhibits. One of the most popular ones was that of the hero John Kazden. The last true human on Earth. The exhibit had his possessions like a jacket, weapons, and even his ship. The only thing that no one knew why was there was a black orb that had power lines running to the ship.
His droid would wander the exhibit, keeping everything in check. Repairing the ship, and the lines, and keeping the vacuum seal on his possessions.
"Everyone, keep close," the curator of the exhibit said to keep everyone who was on the tour on track. She stopped before the giant spaceship. "This is the Milano, a ship that Kazden used as a home as much as a formidable fighting vessel," she said to capture the attention and imaginations of her audience. "Can anyone tell me which battle he's known for helping with?"
"Mars!" several children shouted out at the same time.
"That's right!" she clapped happily. "He arrived with a massive ship and fighter allies to help our own heroes win the battle." She walked alongside the port side of the ship where cables led to the spherical ball of mystery. "Can anyone else tell me what he's known for?"
There was a bit of silence before a boy spoke up, "The Eternal Throne. He's known for using the artifact only known as the Eternal Throne."
"Correct! If it wasn't for his sacrifice, the Streliza would have had a much tougher time reaching the VIRM homeworld and defeating them." She looked at the boy before stating praise, "That's not something everyone your age knows right away. What's your name?"
"Hiro," he replied softly.
"Oh, like the Hero of Humanity," she said.
"He was a friend of my ancestors, or so my parents say."
She hummed in approval. Hiro was a common name among humanity. After all, many wanted to honor the hero that saved them from the VIRM. Also, John and many others from Squad 13. The sphere started to beep before anyone could say anything more.
"Oh, no. It's not supposed to do that," the curator observed.
Before she could do anything, the sphere opened up and a man lay on the ground after impacting it with a dull thud.
He breathed slowly as he sat up and looked at the ship. "Kept you waiting, huh?" he asked as his droid landed on his shoulder. "Hey, buddy." He outstretched his hand and his lightsaber flew into his hand from one of the exhibits and clipped it onto his belt. "Wonder what the Queen's up to?"
The end.
XxXxXxX
And with that, this chapter, many years in the waiting, is finally complete. If you'll remember, I released this roughly at the time I released the first dozen chapters of this repository. This has been an earworm, digging at the back of my mind for years. But now, finally, it's done (but with a cliffhanger for a potential sequel of which I have no plans for right now). Getting this done is a major weight off of my chest. A lot of things kept this from getting done. The first was other story ideas, an obvious one. After all, there are well over a hundred entries before this one. The second, after the last chapter went up, was that I got ill on top of got some dental work done resulting in a nasty toothache that has persisted for over a week since the procedure (yes, I'm going to talk with my dentist the next time I go in this week). Crowns suck. If you can avoid them, avoid them. It also doesn't help that I got new neighbors and they're trashy as hell (loud music, loud kids at all hours of the night, etc.).
On to a note or two from this chapter I did want to make known since it's outside of the Star Wars canon. So, the sphere that Kazden was in was inspired from another series, a book series called "Thunder and Lightning," a trilogy of books (technically quadrilogy by now but when I read it, it was a trilogy) by the titles of "Red Thunder," "Red Lightning," and "Rolling Thunder." The super short synopsis of them are:
Book 1: friends go to Mars with an autistic man's brother's inventions that revolutionizes space travel to beat the Chinese to Mars (new space race).
Book 2: friends that went to Mars now live on Mars and deal with Earth and political drama because of it.
Book 3: Grandchildren of friends that went to Mars now live on the Jovian moons and there are aliens now. Also suspended animation is a thing.
Book 4: I have no idea what happens in this one, only know that it happens after the events of book 3.
Now, in that tl;dr of book 3, I mention suspended animation is a thing. This is what the machine that the queen summons is inspired by. Just thought a piece of my childhood science fiction collection should be mentioned and honored. If you like science fiction, specifically space operas, I recommend checking out at least the original trilogy. They're all on Amazon for purchase for Kindle, paperback, or Audible if you like audiobooks. No, I don't have a sponsorship or referral code.
What's next, now that this trilogy is done? Well, I originally stated that this would become its own fic. Yeah… I don't think that's going to happen considering how long it took to get this one done (years). So, with that being said, I think I'm happy leaving this as a completed threeshot. What about my other stuff? Well, I got some new ideas in the works as well as some new entries that will eventually come out for the Happy/Bad endings anthology. I'm still contemplating if I should make a new FFN story to log all of those instead of having them here. Still working on those though.
On to real life stuff. You sort of already know what's going on. The only thing I'll add is that one of the friends I lost contact with before the coof finally responded and we're talking again, so I'm happy to have them back again.
But that's all I have this time around. As said before, I'm really happy to have this finally done. See you in whatever I decide to put out next.
