I do not own any of the Star Wars and DC characters and ideas represented in this work.
R2-D2's scomp-link was hooked to a console in the Watchtower's control room. The center that was the heart of the League itself was currently buzzing alive with busy technicians, engineers, and other Watchtower volunteers dedicated to serving the League in smaller but critical roles. Radio chatter was in the artificially controlled air, with technicians running reports on any maintenance services done at the moment and volunteers scanning for threats or disasters happening on Earth or looking for any signals that they could receive from outer space.
It was a well-organized and developed system that heavily reminded R2 of his and Luke's time during the Rebellion. Of course, that was when the Rebellion and, to a lesser extent, the New Republic wanted to be organized.
While it might be the very first time here for the newly inducted heroes, for Luke and RD-D2, not so much.
Because of Luke's and R2's prestigious roles in the newly expanded Justice League, they were here just last week to prepare the league for its gathering today. That included prepping the Justice League's newly introduced fleet of Javelin-Wings, or J-Wings for short, and having Luke train a select number of Watchtower personnel to fly the ships.
Since R2 has a lot of technical expertise due to his programming as an astromech, he was granted the role of man technician at the Watchtower. To make it easier for him to troubleshoot and fix the inevitable problems for the space station, several computer interface ports were put in place around the watchtower's interior and service areas to make R2's mechanical life easier.
This was everything that R2 was made for. Ever since he got here, he's been doing multiple service jobs, maintenance work on a J-Wing, and other projects for the watchtower. Sure, he had done some things back on the island, like helping Luke with his training, which should be done soon. But he has done more things here in just an hour than in the few months he's been on the island combined. He has no problem with it.
Yes, for R2-D2, life is going particularly well... until his name is called on.
"R2! Please come over here; we might need your assistance." The deep voice that called to R2 in basic came from J'onn J'onzz, currently standing at the main station of the control center.
R2 disconnected his computer rod and rolled over to J'onn's position. Speaking and chirping in binary, he asked J'onn what the problem was. Of course, J'onn and more or less everyone in this universe couldn't understand a lick of Droidspeak if their lives depended on it. Because of that, Luke and R2 had helped the League download and translate Binary into the watchtower's mainframe. So if any League member or personnel needed a translation, they could quickly use any screen or tablet that has a binary translator to put R2's words into English.
Some did say that it might make it easier for R2 to have a vocabulary that could speak Basic or any organic language. But personally, he would much rather have his own way of speaking; he likes that some people can't understand him, which makes it easier for him to make fun of people right in their faces without them understanding it.
R2's words went into English on J'onn's screen. "We might need your technical skills at the moment," the Martian explained. "I recently sent a team over to Chong-Mai to investigate a radiation anomaly, but the last transmission I received from them was that they made contact with the local government and were told that they were no longer needed." He looked over to another screen that had a visual map of the region where the J-Wing landed. "I gave them orders to return to the tower, but scans are showing they haven't taken off yet." He gazed down at R2 with his red Martian eyes and curled his forehead as if he had hair to make an eyebrow. "What do you think?"
R2 bounced off his question into at least a hundred different electrical signals and calculations that he derived from his programming and experience in solving communications issues. He then responded a second later, saying that the radiation in the area might be causing the problem.
J'onn looked over the screen to see R2's words. "Is it possible that the radiation is strong enough to disrupt their flight capabilities?"
Needing more information, R2 went to a computer jack next to J'onn's station and looked over the scanners to see the situation. Using the watchtower's satellites and scanning equipment, he saw the radiation anomaly in that part of the Chong-Mai countryside.
It was definitely abnormal. The anomaly radiated enough energy to power an entire heavy cruiser. Instead of staying at one place and dissipating like other leaks of radiation from its source, the radiation anomaly kept wandering slowly around the Chong-Mai region and kept retaining its radioactive material. R2 deduced that it wasn't a stationary nuclear energy station but rather a possible vehicle that has a nuclear reactor with a leak.
R2's main processor came up with conclusions and answers that were dead ends. His answer to J'onn, though, was that the radiation leakage wouldn't be strong enough to disrupt the J-Wing's flight systems.
J'onn nodded after looking at the screen. "Then it seems that their problems are merely communications. If it's alright with you, I'll send you down there to run repairs on their J-Wing," he studies at the screen that is fixed to their coordinates. "It's possible they don't want to depart until their communications are back up."
R2 gave an acknowledgment.
"I'll send you the coordinates," J'onn said. "There shouldn't be any trouble with the Chong-Mai government since we've agreed to leave."
R2 sent a chirp that he'd just do that and went outside the control center and into the nearest turbolift. Pressing the lift's button with one of his arms, he sent the turbolift to turn the tower's hangar bay. The hum of the elevator sounded off in the cabin as he passed from level to level. Halfway down, the lift slowed its speed and stopped at a level to let new passengers come in.
The turbolift door slid open to expose R2 to the lift's newest riders. Across the durasteel-like threshold, there were two female human heroes in two distinct colors.
The female in green had a green top that exposed her tanned midriff and green pants; she had a long flow of light green hair with a green headband. R2's photoreceptors feed data into his memory banks, which search for this female's designation. Her name was Fire; she was a hero from Brazil who had the power of pyrokinesis.
The woman next to her was just as colorful. With short white hair and fair skin, the female had a bodysuit that had colors of white and baby blue. This one's name was Ice, a hero from Norway with the power of cryokinesis.
From what he knew about them through the towers' data banks on hero records and history, these two have been friends for some time. Partners would be the term for it. It seems like the two females were busy talking to each other rather than noticing R2 as they walked into the lift while continuing their discussion before they entered the turbolift.
"So," Fire said teasingly with a noticeable Latin accent that R2's audio sensors picked up. "What do you think?"
They both stepped in and turned around, facing the doors, without acknowledging R2. "Well," Ice said, dragging out the word thoughtfully and saying it with a traceable Nordic voice. "The food court looks good so far, and the training area was definitely a sight to see. Oh! And our rooms look very... "
Fire cuts off her female friend with a shake of a head and says, "No, I didn't mean that!" She said, most offended, pressed a button for their destination and leaned in closer to Ice as if someone else were in the room with them. "What do you think about the men?"
Ice let out a light gasp. "Men? Beatriz, this will be a place of work, and the men here are our comrades; this isn't a place to have boarding school gossip!" Ice protested innocently.
Fire pulled up an eyebrow. "Really?" She put a hand over her hip. "So nobody here catches your fancy?"
"No," Ice strongly stated.
"Absolutely no one?"
"No one here, Beatriz," she said, folding her arms onto her chest.
"Didn't you used to have a crush on Superman?" The emerald-haired Brazilian said.
Color flushed into Ice's face, and she darted her eyes away from Fire. "That's not, that's isn't even—you can't," she stumbled onto her words. "That was a while ago, Beatriz!"
Fire looked at Ice amusingly and said, "I'm just kidding, Tora. I'm just saying that you can never say never." She shifted her eyes and said, "I definitely have some on my list. And I feel like you should too."
As though the Norwegian was charmed and convinced by her Latin friend, she eased up and got somewhat curious: "Not saying that I would, which I will never, who exactly?"
Fire tapped repeatedly on her chin and made a look that suggested she was in deep thought. "Let's see... maybe Vigilante? He's definitely, the country type."
Ice shifted her expression downward. "The cowboy? I don't want to sound offensive to Beatriz, but he seems too American for me."
Fire shrugged. "Fair enough, Hawk; he's got muscles that rival Superman even."
"Hmmmm," Ice let out a cautious hum, "I've heard from his brother that he has a temper problem."
"Okay… What about Green Arrow?"
"The man with the bow and arrow? I thought I heard him say that he was leaving the league or something."
Fire shook her head. "Who knew you were THAT picky, Tora? If I were you, I would just—" she stopped when she heard R2 slightly swivel his head a little.
Tora detects the sound too, and the both of them look behind them, then correct their views at the source downward to R2. Fire commented on their last minute observation, "Uh, how long have you been here?" She asked R2.
R2 beeped out that he's been here since the both of them got here.
Clearly, R2's droidspeak of chitters and chirps meant nothing but confusion beset on them.
"I, uh," Ice said with uncertainty, "I think he said no."
If R2 had the impossible chance of his eye-rolling through his one photoreceptor, he would in that instant.
"It seems that Skywalker's little robot friend was just scratching a ride with us," the white-haired Nordic remarked.
Then, it seemed like a lightbulb activated in the Brazilian's head as she snapped her fingers. "Oh! What about Skywalker?" She gave Ice a devious look: "He has a cute 'boy next door' look to him; definitely doable for you."
Ice went extremely flustered. "Yeah, but..."
"But what?"
"He just seems a little weird," Ice expressed openly. "I read his background, and he's some kind of space monk or something. I guess I can say he's cute, but I don't think he'll be my type."
Fire sighed theatrically, "I guess so... although the benefits of getting with a monk are that he might teach you the kamasutra with you."
Ice's color on her face went from pale to a red that looked similar to the red sun on Tatooine. "BEATRIZ! That's not funny! Don't tease me like that! You shouldn't say such things!"
"I'm just pointing out the benefits, Tora." Fire spoke as if she were innocent. "No need to get mad about it; I just thought he'd be good for you," she said, lifting her shoulders up. "But since you don't want him, then I guess I could take him."
The white haired woman protested, "But you can't do that, Beatriz! He's our teammate now."
Fire gave her a curious look. "Oh? I thought you weren't interested in him."
"I'm not!"
"Then why are you getting mad over me getting interested in him? Unless, of course, you want him for yourself."
R2 never thought a standard baseline human could get so red from emotion after Ice realized that she stepped into Fire's manipulation of words. "FIRE! YOU ARE JUST!-"
This continues for at least some time, a back and forth between Fire laughing while teasing Ice and Ice herself, getting a mixture of anger and embarrassment. According to his in-built chrono, this petty and teasing argument lasted for about twenty one seconds and forty-eight milliseconds. That was, at least, the argument in the turbolift as they reached their stop and continued their talk. They didn't even look at the turbolift level panel to see if they went to the desired level they wanted to go to; they just kept looking at each other and walked off to the hallway.
When the doors sealed themselves and cut off the fire's laughter from R2's audio sensors, the lift continued down to the launching bay. Was it him, or do human females from Earth just talk more than any organic creature or human, for that matter, he's seen? Then again, he wasn't a protocol droid like Threepio; those matters of sentience and understanding were the golden droid's whole purpose.
Finally, the tubrolift descended to the level, and the lift's doors slid open to give an image of the reason why he was here.
The Watchtower's Hangar Bay.
The large room, circular in shape, had several launching bays inside the tall internal wall. In the middle of the circle was a tall tube where the turbolift stations led and stopped at the bay's main control area. Shell-like, the controls are hugged around the tube, halfway up between the bay's floor and upper ceiling. Spread evenly, starting from the control room to the outer edges of the bay staging areas, scaffolding allows personnel and heroes to go to their designated areas for their J-Wings. Huge flat-open elevators lift and lower J-Wings to individual launching bays, other special craft, equipment, and other required resources needed elsewhere.
Though on technicality, he didn't design the Watchtower, like the J-Wing and R2, and to a lesser extent, Luke in this case did help streamline some components, systems, and areas to make them as efficient as any other space station from their Galaxy. That fact about his involvement in this well-rounded system gave R2 a trickle of electrical pride through his processor.
R2 was moving out of the turbolift when a worker dressed in a purple utility suit made out of a highly-specialized flame retardant walked up to him with a data pad. R2's data banks recognized his name tape and uniform designation as the current traffic controller for this shift.
"R2, sir," said the traffic controller, "we have J-Wing eight already prepped and ready for you at bay two. Just like what Mr. J'onn specified."
It took a single second after the man's words were spoken that R2 paused, took a moment to process the necessary requirements for finishing the task at hand, and picked the right outcome. R2 beeps respectfully that he will not need a J-Wing for his mission and would like the current ground crew to quickly prep his own ship.
The controller looked down at his datapad, which automatically translated R2's droidspeak. The man looked momentarily surprised. "Oh, well, sir, are you sure about that?"
R2 chirped that there was no reason for him to take a J-Wing out when he didn't expect that he would need one. Though he suspects that the J-Wing in the Chong-Mai assignment might have some communication issues, knowing the J-Wing's diagrams and schematics would be a simple problem to fix.
The man nodded. "If you insist, sir, We'll try to get her ready for you then." He then pressed his ear comlink and started to issue commands and procedures for the ground crews at R2's request.
Rolling his way out of the busy buzzing control traffic tower and into a scaffolding that led down to his ship, R2 saw his and his master's pride and beauty.
Red-five
Staring alone in her own loading bay, she had some ground crew personnel give her the last ounces of fuel and final pre-flight procedures for her take-off. When done, a ground crewwoman gave R2 a silent thumbs up, and most of the crew went back to their stations. With the help of a crane, R2 locked himself into the X-Wing's astromech port and started to fire up the ship.
Engines roared in anticipation of the mission, and computers and control modules were routing power to several key systems. Getting the go-ahead from flight control through the watchtower's network, R2 thrust the X-wing through the flight tower that led out to the Earth-Moon system. The ray shield had already turned off when he flew out of the tower, and the blue and green orbs hit photoreceptors with the ship's navigation computer, plotting the best and most direct course to Chong Mai.
General Yeong Bae, commander of the central Chong-Mai air force command, a prominent senior officer in the Chong-Mai People's Liberation Air Force, a valued communist party member, and a hero from the revolution, was panicking. Panicked, though, was an understatement; he was terrified.
Yeong Bae was no coward; his flight time to combat missions with many air-air kills would warrant him as a modern-day ace, though those days were behind him, and definitely when he took on the responsibility as a general. He wasn't terrified about sending young men to those deaths when their country was to be invaded, nor was he burdened by being a general and leader. He was terrified of the situation he was in and, more importantly, of his country's safety at the moment.
Chong Mai was not a rich country, despite what the Ministry of the People's Truth might claim. Like its neighbor in the south, North Korea, ChongMai was rarely, if not never part of the wider world, at least after the revolution. With Chong-Mai society isolated, so was its military. Trying to rearm itself with late-Cold War weaponry and equipment that varied from the former Soviet Union to Vietnam, the military of Chong-Mai stays constantly vigilant to protect the country from threats beyond its borders.
But in this day and age, it wouldn't be enough.
From the economic powerhouse China was slowly becoming to Northern Korea, just as paranoid as Chong-Mai, the country at best could put up a stalemate with its Korean neighbors. China, Russia, the USA, and NATO would be less merciful. Though their Cold war was dead, the major powers only continue to advance military technologies. From accurate computer maps that rely on satellites to remote-controlled drones, the countries bring the future to the present while Chong Mai willfully stays in the past.
The worst of the threats was that Chong-Mai wasn't a particular nation that bordered it or a capitalist society waiting in the dark like a pack of wolves; it was a group called the Justice League. An organization of "heroes" dedicated to protecting the Earth from within and beyond the stars. And it so happened to be a happy coincidence that this league's roster is mostly filled with Americans; if not most, then the majority are from the Capitalist West.
To this day, it still baffles Yeong Bae as to how the other counties just accept this. Was it out of fear? Appeasement? How could they allow a group of highly trained or super-powered individuals to come to their countries, enforcing laws of "higher morality," and be fine with it?
Do they not see the signs of the past? Do they not remember when the planet was almost taken over by a crazed Superman? Or when a virus almost consumed the majority of the planet's male population to near extermination by an Amazonian? Perhaps they could remember over time when a hero that was part of that team was an actual spy for an alien race to conquer them. It seems that every problem that this league solves, another comes from their own making, and the world pays for it. Notwithstanding that supposed new hero who apparently brought peace to Kaznia
But what can the world do? How could they fight against a group of beings who could lay waste to entire cities, destroy armies, and destroy nations? How could one go up against a few who many might consider gods?
Nations have and are no doubt now trying to fix the dilemma in their own ways.
For Chong-Mai, officially, nothing. Unofficially, there are rumors and whispers here and there, even in some parts of the officer class. Talks of a weapon capable of protecting the country from foreigners, capitalists, or heroes alike. A weapon powered by nuclear technology to defend against any threat. Some might obviously presume it to be a nuclear missile of some sort, but none of the rumors specified that. It was telling that the project was so secretive that none, even most of the general staff, knew about it, including him.
There were, of course, reports and sightings from civilians and some soldiers hearing large, booming noises in the mountains. Some might call it the concussive shockwaves of new ordnance being developed, or, as very few have described it, massive footsteps. Farmers swore that they could see something giant hiding in the shadows of valleys. Some called it a monster; most people with logic might say it might be a building project or a mega-vehicle being constructed.
After all those were just rumors, meaningless claims, and testaments from a few lower enlisted and some washed up farmers, the military shouldn't concern itself with such gossip.
That was what he thought until yesterday.
The first thing that happened was General Kwan, commander of a special weapons division in the Chong Mai military's scientific branch. He told Yeong Bae and other senior commanders of the military stationed in Central Chong-Mai that there was a "highly problematic incident in the region". Kwan stated that there was a high radiation leak when an underground nuclear facility under his science division malfunctioned, or so he claims. Because of this incident, he had put the entire province under evacuation orders, with the surrounding areas in the same manner of effect, all with the chairman's blessing, of course.
When asked about any more evidence or questions about whether he needs any help with the clean up, Kwan swerved around inquiries and said that he already had an entire brigade of troops taking care of it. Granted, the region has a sizable number of civilians, but an entire brigade filled with infantry and armored personnel to evacuate towns instead of military police? To Yeong Bae, nothing made sense.
But as a soldier first and an officer second, he had orders to fulfill. His specific orders were to have his air wings stand by while any anti-air batteries were ready for any foreign involvement.
Yeong Bae never really thought any foreigners could come into this situation. The Chinese and the Americans might ask questions, with North Korea staying silent in all ways. But are foreigners coming in to investigate? Bae thought that Kwan's fears were preposterous!
That was until a Justice League craft touched down in the middle of the evacuation zone several hours ago. No warning, no announcement—they practically landed in a sovereign state with no clear idea of consequences and acted like they owned the place. At first, Bae hastily notified Kwan and asked for permission to shoot down the craft. Yet Kwan denied the request and said that he'd "talk down the foreigners". This obviously led to a small skirmish, but apparently Kwan talked his way through the "heroes" into leaving. But from Bae's radar, the ship hasn't budged an inch. He tried to inform Kwan but hasn't received a word from him.
Currently, Bae was in his headquarters, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He was thankful that he was confined to his office; an officer of his status shouldn't look this nervous and broken to his men. He knows that the foreigners and Kwan are in the evacuation area but hasn't gotten word from the radio or any other communication. If Kwan was hiding something, has that made the heroes come here? If the rest of the world is okay with this League operating globally with impunity, then could that mean they might be spying on Chong-Mai? Is this "investigation" a Trojan horse for a reconnaissance mission for NATO or even the UN?
There were so many things ringing in his head that he almost missed his office's phone ringing. He brought it up to his mouth, hoping that it was good news of any sort. "General Bae is here."
"Sir, we have a problem."
Bae's stomach dropped with such sudden weight that it came out of nowhere. "What problem, Colonel?"
There was a long pause that Bae didn't like, "I think it's best if you come to the mission room, sir."
Bae put the phone down, sighed heavily, and took a swig of whisky from his personal storage before leaving his office for the mission room. Meeting his Colonel in the large room filled with radar machines, communications equipment, and other necessary items needed to operate and control his air command from that location.
"We have another one, sir," his colonel started with a hint of nervousness. Lord, even his men don't like it.
"Another bogey?"
The Colonel nods.
Bae takes off his service hat and strokes his white aged hair.
"Same location and trajectory," the Colonel explains. "Just entered our airspace two minutes ago. But this one's faster, and we don't have any records on what type of craft it is."
"Alright," Bae said, "let me see."
The Colonel showed General Bae a computer screen that showed an encoming bogey craft coming from a high vector that indicated its origin was from the higher atmosphere and heading towards the area where the Justice League craft landed.
"Justice League," Bae murmured and confirmed to himself.
Information showed that none of its size or design was recognized, just like how the League craft caught them off guard for a moment.
"Your orders?" The colonel asked.
General Kwan left orders to inform him of any foreign investigations in the area, and only him. Bae had a sick feeling that the situation would escalate further if the chairman got involved. Either he does nothing and the League does what it pleases, or he thinks that it might have something to do with NATO, which might instigate him into attacking the nearest NATO installation. Bae obviously didn't like NATO as much as the next Chong-Mai patriot, but he knew that the League wasn't that involved, well, at least not entirely at any rate. Containment within his and Kwan's command, like the true meaning of the evacuation, will keep the public from going into a panic and agitating the military into action.
He made up an answer to his Colonel: "I want all air wings prepared to take off, have two of our craft for interception, and order the craft to leave our air space. If they don't comply, they have orders to destroy the craft."
R2 glided the X-Wing over the hills of Chong-Mai when his scanners detected two craft approaching him in an interception vector. The X-Wing's scanned showed that they were indeed atmospheric craft based on Earth, military based. This gives R2 the option of simply going into orbit if things get a little messy. The sensors also told him that the two aircraft's weapons were unlocked and ready, but they had no target lock-ons on him. Which suggested they were not really that friendly but willing to talk.
These factors indicated to R2 that these two aircraft belonged to the Chong-Mai's military. Turning his domed head, he zoomed in with his lone photoreceptor and spotted the two aircraft behind the X-Wing coming into view. Searching through his memory banks on Earth's various aircraft designs, the shape of the two craft he eventually recognized as designs and models resembling the Mikoyan-Gurevich series of the MiG-23 model in the Chong-Mai's Air Force colors.
Definitely Chong-Mai.
His threat recognition kicked in when he searched through Chong-Mai's history and culture, which he downloaded through Earth's network. It would appear that these people don't take kindly to strangers, and he heavily doubts that they'll be welcoming droids anytime soon. The fact that the two aircraft hadn't fired on him yet or that any anti-aircraft batteries targeted him was perplexing and conflicted with Chong-Mai's usual procedures for encountering outsiders.
Maybe because the X-Wing was a new craft they hadn't seen before, and that made them reluctant to perform their usual tactics of making outsiders go away by force in fear of being attacked by something they didn't understand. Or maybe they know R2 is part of the Justice League and don't want to bring the wrath of superpowered beings upon them. The reasons for them not attacking were murky at best, but he was thankful.
Now he wasn't scared of being destroyed; on the contrary, he was very confident in outmaneuvering a pair of atmospheric aircraft with his galaxy's finest starship. What was actually the problem was engaging with them all at. The founding members clearly want all of the members of the league to follow the rules of every nation on earth, and beyond, of course, and respect every government and culture. That included avoiding conflict with every nation and/or government that any member may come across with the best of their abilities. And R2 is not a translation droid, unlike Threepio.
At that moment, with two fighters trailing him, R2 could do one of two things. The first decision that had a predictable outcome involved him disengaging the mission at this time, fleeing back to the Watchtower, informing J'onn of the current situation, and having him make any decisions on the situation from there.
The second decision he could make, based on his own freedom of thought, is to engage the two aircraft before they could mount a decent response, quickly reach the J-Wing, fix it, and leave Chong-Mai with the response team, hoping those actions don't lead to an international incident.
Obviously, the latter he would rather do and get it over with, but the League, and more importantly, Luke, will not like it one bit. The former would be the safest, preferred by the League and Luke, and the not-so-easy choice for R2.
The X-Wing's sensors picked up a radio frequency that originated from one of the two aircraft. Patching it through, the voice was obviously one of the pilots behind him that didn't sound too happy. That was what R2 mostly guessed, as the pilot obviously didn't speak basic, or in this case, any English.
In a show of passive intentions, R2 lowered the throttle of the X-Wing faster, reducing the speed of the ship so the two aircraft could come closer. They went from being barely seen to being behind R2 by a kilometer.
The radio from the aircraft repeated the same message, sounding a bit more angry through his voice. The two aircraft then went to the X-wing, one on both of his sides. Eye level now, both Chong-Mai pilots looked into the X-Wings cockpit to find no one there. He could tell that they were, more or less, confused and maybe somewhat frightened. Whether by the X-Wing's whole design or how it somewhat looked like an Earth based aircraft but had no seeable pilot, it was unknown to him.
Going into the radio frequency, R2 did his best to sound like he meant no harm in droidspeak, chirping politely the best he could. Both pilots looked at each other. One of them looked like he talked into another voice channel and waited for a few moments. He nodded when it seemed he got a response from whoever he was talking to and informed his comrade on the other side of the X-Wing of something. He nodded as well, and both went off the radio channel.
For one second, R2 perceived that his peaceful negotiation was actually successful, but that was until both fighters slowed their speed where they were behind him again and engaged their targeting systems.
So much for talking.
Before any of the MiGs dedicated their attacks, R2 quickly cut off the X-Wing's engines for a second, where it almost completely stopped mid-air, which was followed by him turning the ship vertically to bypass the two fighters behind him without crashing into them.
The Chong-Mai pilots' reaction was still organic but fast enough to know that their target, out of nowhere, stopped instantly and was heading towards them. This made them swerve out of the way and disengage their lock-ons. When R2 was at a good distance behind them, he put the X-Wing into full throttle and went further down to the hillish countryside in an attempt to lose the fighters and meet the
Cutting through valleys just above the forest's canopy, he stayed low to make it harder for his pursuers to target him. While making the X-Wing go into a blur, there were a few instances where he accidentally brushed up against the top of a tree, making the trees and plants that were near the X-Wing trail wave and bob.
He followed the valley's meandering path that led closest to the J-Wing's beacon when the X-Wing scanned and picked up that the MiGs had managed to regroup and began trailing behind him. Then the threat display screamed when a target lock-on was detected, which dangerously went into two missiles coming very close to him.
Faster than the MiGs, the missles, which R2 assumes to be heat-seekers, followed the X-Wing every move as he swerved side to side, up and down, to get them off his back. Like predators, they swiftly followed every direction he made and ignored any attempt at his desperate movements.
It was a significant problem that seemed to have no solution until he remembered an exact situation through his memory banks. A situation that brought him back almost two decades ago, when he was still the Naboo astromech droid for Anakin Skywalker and their daring rescue of the Chancellor during the Battle of Coruscant.
Just as the two missiles were coming in closer to his comfort zone, R2 reversed the X-Wing thrusters and made the X-Wing spin as if it were out of control. It spun and spun like a tornado, and the two missiles must've recognized the sudden movement as well because they both spun, twisting around one another while still coming close. Both missiles spiraled off to one another like twisted threads until they met a conflicting vector that finished in a hot ball of flames.
That stunt seemingly spooked the two pilots as they turned away from the X-wing in another direction. At this point, the reasoning behind why things happen around him wasn't becoming less important during this mission.
The J-Wing beacon was coming up close as R2 led the X-Wing out of the valley. Focusing his photoreceptor onto the J-Wings coordinates he got from the X-Wing's scanners, he saw the J-Wing was parked onto a clearing on a hill just shy of a tree line. Noticeably, he picked up only one life signature on the ship itself. From his droid eye and the ship's scanners, the J-Wing was in no conceivable shape of damage or danger.
And even more noticeably, just at the bottom of the hill where the J-Wing was, lay a village that was nothing but the rubble of what used to be houses and farms. Smoke plumed where villagers presumably lived, just as R2 detected a good amount of radiation around the area. It was possible that it could have been released by a weapon of sorts; it would have been small, however, as it only destroyed most of the village and the entire surrounding forest.
Though there was a path of destruction in the country, on the other side of the destroyed village was a huge path that ran through the forest and the countryside. It was roughly 50 meters wide, and its length was unknown at best. This wasn't just some long straight road or a recent excavation; this was like if a straight line of fire burned a path in that part of the forest. Ash stained the ground; trees and various plants were reduced to nothing or charred to be completely black. Whatever caused this devastation showed as much mercy as it did to the village. It also had the same amount of radioactivity as the village.
Investigating, he deduced that whatever destruction the village must've done to the forest as well, he made the X-Wing glide over the trail of ash in a safe distance. A minute or so passed through the landscape when sensors picked up a highly intense radiation signature with a bright light coming up and illuminating across a mountain. Zooming in further, he saw what caused the destruction in this part of the country and what was emitting all of this radiation, and it was very surprising.
It was bipedal. It had no hands to speak of, instead having two ports where the hands should be, which looked like the muzzle of a giant cannon. Encased in a crimson shell of metal, the forearm to the shoulder of the arms and ankle to the thighs of the legs were made up of segmented armor in a darker shade of red. The midsection of the torso was also in the segmented armor.
With a bulky torso frame, it reminded R2 of the almost headless droid that was the B2-series super battle droid in the Clone Wars. Its torso was almost designed to be in a hunchback position. However, rather ridiculously, it did in fact have a head but was manufactured in the shape of a human skull, or at least a humanoid.
The most ridiculous part was that the head was surrounded by a blaze of fire that was emitted where the neck should be, where there was no visible neck. Fires were also vented from where the shoulders are to where the knees are, even though there were no knee joints to begin with. The size and its sheer height were nothing to scoff at, standing at a near total of two stacked Octuptarra Magna Tri-Droids.
In the way it presented itself, it walked, and in the way it was designed, it showed R2 that this was in fact a droid, a battle droid from its presentation.
To some eyes, and when he meant eyes, he specifically meant organic, it might seem freighting and menacing—a machine created for the sole purpose of striking abject terror into its masters' enemies. To droid eyes, it seemed clumsy and ridiculous—a color scheme that looked more like a carnival clown than a war droid.
Despite its appearance of absurdity, it was considered a threat that couldn't be ignored. It is clear now that this droid was the one that destroyed the village, rampaged through the countryside, and was emitting a sizable amount of radiation. Whether the latter was a current malfunction or was part of the design was above R2's own thinking process.
Regardless of the intended purpose, whether it was of Chong-Mai origin or another Earth country's machinations, the droid was a threat to this country's safety. Speaking of safety, the droid in question was firing a hot beam of energy straight at the ground. Definitely firing on someone. In the X-Wing's sensors, R2 picked two nearby sentient lifeforms, one in the mountainside and the other in the forest, the same forest the gargantuan droid was stomping and firing upon.
If they were a Justice League member, either comlinks weren't working or they just dropped it back in the J-Wing. R2 has no information to make a call on whether it was a League member or not. But it wasn't for sure. It was possible that the droid did, in fact, kill and disintegrate the other League members. This possibility drives home R2's duty to stop this goliath.
Going into a nosedive, R2 warmed up the proton torpedoes while engaging the X-Wing's targeting system to directly hit the war droid's chest. To get rid of the battle droid's attention from whatever it was firing on, R2 unlocked the S-Foils and sent out a barrage of red bolts from the ship's quadruple cannons. The hail of fire fractured through the night's air and landed hard on the giant droid's metallic carapace.
Clouds of fire erupted where the bolts landed, surprising the battle droid but nothing more. Immediately after it was hit, the battle droid stopped its stream of fire on whatever it was and reared its skeleton head toward the incoming X-Wing. The gargantuan droid's threat detection algorithms must've kicked in as it lost interest in the poor soul that survived its fiery attack and aimed at R2 with its cannon arm. The red droid probably calculated and realized that the X-Wing was a proper military target that could jeopardize its own survival and acted on its self-preservation protocols.
The X-Wing threat detection system alarmed R2 that he was being targeted just as the cannon of the battle droid glowed a yellow light out of the muzzle. R2 lost the target lock-on as he evaded a long particle stream that erupted from the cannon arm. Despite the battle droid's rotund and heavy-set appearance, its own targeting was surprisingly fast as its cannon arm chased the X-Wing, trying its best to aim at the X-Wing and turn it into a ball of fire.
R2 guided the X-Wing at the edge of a mountain's curves with a particle beam at his tail. The beam blasted the side of the mountain with storms of fire, smoke, dust, and vegetation. The ground shook as a chunk of the mountain was blown apart, and the whole foundation collapsed within itself, spewing out a thick cloud of gray dust through the forest's ground.
Perhaps it would be better if R2 stuck to the sky, where nothing would get hurt.
He shifted the ship up, and the particle beam followed behind. A continuous beam of light pursued the X-wing in the night sky. The ship made loops, twirls, spins, and zigzagged around to see if the battle droid would at least reposition itself for a better firing position. Thankfully, it looked like the cannon arm needed to be recharged when the beam of deadly light abruptly ended.
R2 was relieved, but that, too, ended abruptly when the gargantuan droid's other unfired and charged-up arm moved up to the sky and reaffirmed a target lock. When a light had barely come out of the cannon, a thin rod of an unknown metal collided and bounced off the giant's chest. Both droids, R2 swiveling his head and the battle droid lowering its flaming head to the source of the attack.
The astromech's photoreceptor zoomed in on the lone assailant, who had a bold but pointless shot at the giant. Standing on the top of an escarpment and next to a tree stood a human male in a rather silly green costume with a green hat and a domino mask with a bow. R2's memory banks searched through any individuals in the League or associated with them to see the identity of the person, and information about Green Arrow came up. Green Arrow's notoriety in R2's case was that the green archer had an invitation to join but didn't reply; his status as a member was unclear, but R2 still has files of the man through the Watchtower's memory banks.
If a droid could express emotion through its features without being an HRD, it would be the red giant when it showed an expression of shock as its skull animated emotion. For some reason, without any information on R2's part, the war droid focused all of its attention on the green man and away from the flying X-Wing. It trained both arms at the smaller target, and the green archer began to flee.
Now was R2's chance.
He had no real explanation why the giant droid focused on the smaller and objectively unimportant target, but R2 was not in the mood to calculate reasoning and factored when the mother of all targets laid free to him. Not bothering to get a lock-on, he fired the proton torpedoes at the battle droid. Pink balls of flame screamed in the air and rushed at the gargantuan droid.
The target saw this and tried to move, but it was too late. Both torpedoes made their mark and smashed into an explosion that brewed at the giant's chest. The war droid collapsed backward and fell onto the forest, trees, and vegetation, doing a noticeably bad job of breaking its fall and being crushed by the metal giant's weight. Dirt made into dust plumed all over the crash site.
An eerie calm pierced the night as the X-Wing circled around the sky. The man on the ground was probably the happiest man to be alive since, well, he is still alive, until the battle droid slowly got back up. Electrical sparks and mechanical parts fell out of two holes created by the impacts, one on the top left of the chest and one on the lower abdomen. It seemed to damage some major components as the droid moved its body at a slower rate but was strong enough to continue to fight.
And it was mad.
Both cannon arms were still operational, one on the green man who resumed fleeing and one on R2. A shower of lights went forward. One in the sky and one to the ground. R2 piloted the X-Wing to dance away from the lights, and the man disappeared amongst the flames, which started to engulf and surround the droid titan.
With the beam of energy tailing him, R2 isn't able to orient the X-Wing to fire its cannon, less so the torpedoes. Calculating any possible weaknesses, R2 rewinds back to his recently developed memory files for anything that could help him. Gaining attention to a small detail, a small exhaust port like hole in the upper torso. Running through the variables, he hypothesized that the port was an entry port for the droid's thermal nuclear reactor. Doing a quick scan, it showed that radiation was spewing from that point at dangerous levels. Also coming back to his memories, he noticed the small rod that the archer tried to fire at.
Then it hit him. It was possible that it was, in fact, a control rod, an object made out of material that can control the neutrons in a reactor. The archer, or even the team before, was trying to fire the rod into the port in order to shut down the reactor and, therefore, the droid. It is a better idea than trying to blow up the droid by conventional means. But obviously, R2 doesn't have anything on the X-wing that could be material for handling a nuclear reactor.
Swerving away from the particle beam, R2 did a quick scan of the surrounding areas, which at the moment were more orange and red than forestry green. The scans show the green arrow was indeed alive and maybe well, but was behind a rock formation, taking cover from the storm of fire.
With the heavy amount of flame alive around the war droid, it seemed satisfied with the wilderness's destruction and concluded that the archer perished in the extreme heat. It whirled its damaged body slowly at the X-wing and fired both cannon arms. R2 maneuvered the X-Wing to the extreme, breaking and swirling to get away from the two beams. With one plan that could work, R2 turned to the battle droid's direction to fire another silo of torpedoes.
This time it was sloppy, and the war droid caught on in the nick of time. It followed the balls of pink with its energy rays, and the torpedoes were exposed prematurely, not that they were supposed to hit another anyway. In that moment of distraction, R2 drove the X-Wing straight high and above the war droid. When the war droid centered its attention back on the ship, its body got riddled with red bolt fire. The giant droid twitched but stood its ground and raised its arms above, aiming at the closing X-Wing with its cannons coming to light up even though the behemoth was being bombarded by starfighter fire.
This would be a really good time for that archer to fire that rod, if he has one, seeing how the droid is wide and open.
And that prayer came into existence. The archer went out of his hiding, took a few seconds to aim, and fired a control rod straight through the opening port. The rod whistled through the air and into the port; the penetration emitted a powerful white light out of the port just immediately after the rod disappeared. Just as fast as the cannon arms began to light up, they quickly faded away, as did the droid's mechanical life.
The giant, crimson-armored droid began to power down. Its arms fall from their original position and slowly go down. The flames that emitted from its mentioned points, including the head, went out, followed by a heavy amount of steam. The skull surrounded by an emission of flame was now replaced by a gray metallic skull that served as the droid's head. The droid is now fully down and defenseless.
Now it was R2's turn to fire.
He quickly launched the torpedoes and pulled up the X-wing to avoid the ensuing explosion. Both torpedoes bullseyed into the giant's skull, which went deeper into the chest cavity. That droid's brain case shattered into pieces of metal and was chased by flame. Then the explosion continued with a cook-off where the neck used to be, probably one of the torpedoes striking at the main reactor and starting a chain reaction. Cooking off, a beam of flame and light was emitted, which violently shook the body until half of what remained of the droid burst into an explosion, sending heaps of scrap across the Chong-Mai countryside.
Well, that was very climactic.
Looking at the emerald archer while circling the X-Wing, he saw the blonde human on his knees, exhausted but attempting to wave over the ship. It didn't take long for him to drop the rest of his weight onto the rocky formation. Knowing full well that the human probably took on an unhealthy amount of radiation and was most likely fighting for his life, R2 rushed the X-Wing over to the cliff and landed, in an attempt to bring the archer back to the Watchtower's medical bay.
One thought came to R2's droid brain when he did: how is he supposed to bring him to the X-Wing when he doesn't even have arms?
Notes
Sorry for the unusually long update, was stuck in Iowa for two weeks. It's a simple chapter, a little R2 adventure, and nothing more.
(B1ack0ut) Thank you for the comment! Yeah I get really tired when seeing all of these star wars crossovers and none of them focus on Luke, not even a little. I try by best to make the characters feel right but im not the best though. Yeah i kinda what the timeline to change, some of these JLU fics just stay the same without anything really changing, Agent G's Jlu Spiderman fic changes things here and there but I definitely don't want to keep the same vanilla story here, we'll mostly see how drastic the timeline changes with Luke around, some things will look similar, but other things will look completely different. I try my best to make new stories in between but dont think im good at it. I liked introducing characters for a certain amount of time too.
(Perseus12) Thanks!
(Guest) yeah, Cassandra as a Jed is completely different than Cass being Batgirl/Oprhan. Not to devaule her batgirl time but she can just punch and mostly follow orders , being a Jed is much more than that, you're more or less required to be social to life. Obviously Cass is and doesnt want that and Luke knows that so the only way he could exploit that weakness is make her be social and reward her with Jedi martial arts and stuff. Not a normal solution, but Cass isnt normal either. Don't worry, after the next Chapter, we will see Shayera meet with Luke and discuss about what happend the last time they saw each other.
Also, comm an artist to draw Cassandra's outift, go check it out in the link!
/sketchatrondraw/status/1811182780367171885?s=46&t=c860Qc6FRBuJEiwNOweuRQ