As the ship entered the town's airspace, both Marr and Spider-Woman looked on in horror at the sight down below them; the entire town of Vista Verde was in flames, under assault by a large invading force. The town's citizens were in a hysteria, desperately trying to get off the streets to avoid the numerous soldiers advancing onward into the town centre. Heavy armaments could be seen levelling buildings while armed drones occupied the surrounding airspace. At the centre of this chaos, hovering high above the town was some kind of circular warship, turbo lasers were positioned around its exterior hull and they were aiming down towards the population below.
"What are we looking at? Hydra? A.I.M?", Spider-Woman sharply asked the pilot. He informed her however that the invaders didn't match up with anything they had on records. Just then the pilot confirmed that the warship was broadcasting a message on a continuous loop. "Put it through.", Marr ordered.
"Citizens of Vista Verde. Rejoice as your meaningless and empty lives will soon serve a higher purpose. Your precious defenders pale in comparison to my overwhelming force. So says, the Leader."
Marr continued to listen to the voice as it repeatedly echoed around the cockpit, as Spider-Woman started to coordinate with her superiors over the comm. The Jedi's thoughts immediately dwelled back to the people of Vista Verde; Sarah, Julia, Herb. The people who displayed an overwhelming kindness to him in his time of need and it was only right that he returned their kindness.
"Are the Smashers handling this?", Spider-Woman inquired. "Hard to say." Director Brand responded, "They seem to be focused in the centre of town, the VVPD have been dispatched to assist civilians, but they are having mixed success. S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements are inbound but It's not our jurisdiction anyway, return to Peak station, that's an order." Just as the agent ended the transmission, she heard a commotion occurring back in the ship's hold. As she left to investigate, she entered back inside to see the rest of her agents knocked to the ground as both the fugitives had just opened the hull door, causing a back draft.
"And where do you think you're going?', Spider-Woman called over to them. "Those people are going to die if we don't help them." The Jedi answered back. "They've got this handled." She rebutted, "I'm taking you back to...", Marr quickly fired back at her, "I won't ask you to disobey your orders, agent. But there are people down there who need my help."
Spider-Woman moved closer towards him, but Marr held up his hand to stop her. "They helped me." She could hear the sincerity in his tone. "Once I know that they are safe, I will gladly hand myself over to your custody once more. Let me do this, please." The agent merely stared at the Jedi, trying to read him. But it didn't take her long to conclude that his intentions were indeed sincere. She then muttered to herself, "Carol isn't gonna be happy about this".
The S.W.O.R.D. dropship navigated its way over the town, lowering its altitude while avoiding fire from the surrounding drones. The moment the ship reached a suitable altitude, both Marr and Icon jumped out and their transport swiftly left the area. After descending several hundred feet from the air, Marr used the force to guide him safely to the ground and thanks to his quick reflexes, he held his arms up and used the force to catch Icon before he struck the ground.
"Was it necessary to push me, Master?" The droid asked irritability, "You were taking too long." Marr smirked. "I was merely calculating the best angle...", Marr quickly interrupted his companion, "Feel, don't think, you should trust your instincts." Icon stared blankly at Marr before responding, "Master, I'm a droid, I don't have instincts..." The Jedi held up his hand sharply, cutting the droid off as he reached out with the force to sense his surroundings, he could sense the anger, fear and anxiety of so many people as the fighting engulfed the town. Concentrating, he reached out further, hoping to find the ones he was looking for. Until suddenly...
"This way."
When the siege of Vista Verde by the Leader's forces had begun, the VVPD deployed officers around the town to evaluate the residents to safety. This worked at first, however, it did not take long for them to be overrun by the Leader's technologically superior Gamma soldiers. These towering, teal-skinned monstrosities decimated anything in their path with their gamma-powered strength and blaster rifles. The officers tried to fight back but were quickly pushed back, forcing many of them to take up defensive positions in nearby buildings while the aggressors took control of the streets.
One detachment of S.W.A.T. officers was forced to take refuge in Herbs Dinner. After barricading the front door, they hunkered down in the hopes of outlasting the battle. Unfortunately, their presence didn't go unnoticed for long and soon they were forced to engage the Leader's forces.
"We're running out of ammo!" one officer yelled, "Keep firing!" another shouted back as they continued to open fire from the Dinner windows. Wounded officers were taking cover behind the front counter while receiving medical attention, meanwhile, their sergeant was preoccupied with his radio. "We're pinned down and need immediate extraction … No, we don't have 20 minutes." He was forced to end his communication to provide support to his fellow officers at the front of the Dinner.
"Where's our extraction?" one asked, "20 minutes inbound" the sergeant responded, "Are you shitting..." Suddenly the barricade exploded and shattered into pieces as debris was flung around the Dinner, knocking several of the officers to the ground. Dazed, the sergeant looked up towards the now-exposed front door as a giant Gamma soldier made its way inside. After taking a few strides towards one of the downed officers, it grabbed him by the leg with a single hand and smashed him against the wall, killing him before throwing his limp body across the Dinner. As the sergeant attempted to crawl away, another Gamma soldier entered and fired several blaster rounds into another officer. After drawing his sidearm, the sergeant turned on his back and open-fired on the nearest brute. Unfortunately, this only seemed to annoy the creature, causing it to turn its attention towards him.
But before it could get any closer, Marr impaled his lightsaber through the back of the teal-skinned creature, its orange blade illuminating the darkness around them as it protruded from the creature's chest. The Gamma soldier dropped to its knees and Marr extracted his blade just in time to block the remaining ones' blaster fire. With his free hand, the Jedi called on the power of the Force to slam the creature into the wall nearest to it. After getting to its feet the teal giant ripped up one of the tables and threw it at Marr, who managed to use the Force to stop it in mid-air before pushing it back towards his opponent. The Gamma soldier smashed the table out of the way, only to find that Marr quickly closed the distance between them and used his lightsaber to slice off its outreached arm. The creature cried out in pain before dropping to its knees while clutching his freshly acquired stump only to be quickly followed by Marr decapitating it.
The sergeant looked in awe at what he just witnessed. This stranger just came out of nowhere and took down these monsters within seconds. Marr walks over to the sergeant and helps him to his feet. "Can you stand?" Marr asked, "Yeah, I think so." the sergeant responded while wincing through the pain. "Sgt. Palmer." He began to introduce, "This is my S.W.A.T. Team, or what's left of us." Marr glanced around the Dinner to see the unfortunate state his team was in, the ones who weren't dead were severely injured. It seems like this Sgt. Palmer is the only one left fit for combat. "Thanks for the assist, a second longer… well I don't want to think about what would happen."
"That would be for the best, sergeant," Marr reassured him. "Where are the proprietors of this establishment; Herb and Sarah?" Sgt. Palmer gestured over his shoulder. "Bunkered up in the back." The Jedi headed off towards one of the back rooms, where he was reunited with the pair. Sarah flung her arms around Marr's neck, nearly choking him as she hugged him tightly and Herb was more than relieved to see Marr again. As the three of them re-enter the dining area, Sgt. Palmer was tending to his injured men. What medical supplies they had left, weren't enough to help everyone. So Marr took over from the sergeant and attended to his men's wounds. With the power of the Force, the Jedi was able to treat the survivors fairly quickly. Everyone looked in amazement as Marr, who was seemingly after only touching the wounds gently, healed them instantly. Next thing they knew, what remained of the S.W.A.T. Team was now back on their feet and ready for combat.
"I don't know what you just did pal," Sgt. Palmer said, patting Marr on the back. "I'm just glad you walked into this Dinner." Marr smiled at the sergeant, just as Icon entered through the remains of the front enterence. "Master, I did some recon like you asked and it looks like more enemy troops are advancing in this direction." Sgt. Palmer goaned at this news. "Then theres no way evac is getting here in time, looks like we'll be making the trip back to the command post on foot."
"Sergeant, allow me to assist you. You and your men can lead the way while my associate and I will handle anymore of these creatures." The sergeant looked at him, "Hell yeah, I was just about to deputise you if you hadn't offered. You and that glow stick of yours are gonna be very handy." On that note, Marr ignighted his lightsaber and the group left the delapacated Dinner and headed off into the war torn town.