Chapter 1
A/N: I own nothing but the name of my OC. All rights belong to Disney and Activision Respectively
Pain. That was the first thing he felt—a searing, all-consuming agony that burned through every nerve in his body. It was as if his very blood was on fire, his veins coursing with molten metal. He tried to scream, but his throat was raw, his voice strangled by the pain.
Suddenly, he was aware of his surroundings. His eyes snapped open, revealing a large reinforced steel room, bathed in harsh fluorescent light. He was strapped to a cold metal table, thick restraints binding his wrists, ankles, and chest. Panic surged through him, overriding the pain for a moment. He struggled against the bonds, muscles straining, but the restraints held firm.
Where the hell am I? he thought, mind racing. The last thing he remembered was… what? A normal day, a mundane life, and then… nothing. His memories were a blur, as though they had been torn apart and hastily reassembled.
His name. What was his name? He dug through the haze in his mind, searching for something to hold onto. James. No, not James… But that didn't feel right. He wasn't James Heller, was he? And yet, the name echoed in his thoughts, familiar and alien at the same time. Then he remembered; He was Reed Voss. A regular guy, who had just gone to sleep after another long day of work and playing through one of his personal favorite games- Prototype 2, and now here he is in what looked to be a very realistic version of the beginning of the game.
"W-what…?" He managed to mumble out as his senses became clearer and the room he was in looked more and more ominously familiar. Suddenly the table he was strapped to began to rise up and lean forward until he was upright. "Let's start with something simple. A mere survival stimulus," an elderly and eerily familiar voice suddenly crackled through the intercom as the latches holding him released, dropping him on shaky feet.
His eyes widened as he heard large doors begin to groan open. He looked up just in time to see the mutated and bloated forms of infected humans shrieking as they barreled towards him. Instincts not his own kicked in and he reared back a punch, and, with perfect timing and devastating force, put his fist through the mutants' chest in a shower of gore, before ripping it back out with a sickening squelch.
"Oh shit…" Reed stared at his hand for a moment in morbid fascination. That was a mistake as he suddenly howled in pain as, due to his distraction, another of the mutants' latched into his back and started biting and tearing into his back. With flexibility and strength he knew he never had before, he grabbed the mutant and hurled it into another group of mutants. Blowing through them in a shower of blood and gore. He then kicked another mutant so hard that the shockwave from the kick blasted another group away. "Let me outta here, you sons of bitches!" He roars, as more mutants converge on him.
"The raw data we're collecting from this test subject is astounding!"
Hearing that set something off inside Reed's mind and he roared out. "I'm gonna kill you fucks when I get outta here! YOU HEAR ME!?" His threats went on ignored.
This went on for a few minutes as Reed's mind was shunted to the back as the new fighter instincts took over and the world blurred as he fought. Until he heard a new angry voice followed by a panicked voice over the intercoms.
"That's enough! He's too dangerous. Burn him!"
"Rooks you can't, he's far too valuable!"
"You're out of order, Koenig. Lieutenant Riley. Hit the switch!"
"Yes, sir. Burn order given by Colonel Douglas Rooks, 0223 hours."
The next thing Reed knew, his world became a blur of white hot agony as the room erupted into flames, causing him to black out. He came to moments later in more pain than he had ever been in before as he tried in vain to raise a charred, black arm. "Get clean-up and retrieval in there. Make sure he's dead," Rooks grunted through the intercom. Koenig started shouting at Rooks, "Damn you, Colonel. This is no place for your brand of barbarism!"
"Don't get sanctimonious with me, you fucking ghoul. I've read your experiment reports." he snarled back. Moments later Reed felt the footsteps of 2 men near him.
The Blackwatch soldiers stood like looming shadows, their presence amplified by the dark, tactical armor that encased his entire body. The suit clung to them with a heavy, brutal efficiency, every piece designed for battle, intimidation, and survival in the most hostile environments. Broad shoulders were capped with rugged, scarred pauldrons, the edges still bearing the marks of past skirmishes, stained faintly with blood. Across their chests, thick belts and straps criss crossed, loaded with military pouches and gear, adding to the weight they carried with practiced ease.
A black hood was drawn over their heads, blending with the darkness, casting their faces into deeper shadow. But it was the mask that truly unnerved—smooth, featureless, with reflective blue lenses over the eyes. They glowed faintly, like cold fire, scanning surroundings without a hint of humanity. The respirator built into the mask emitted a soft, mechanical hiss, each breath filtered and dehumanized.
Their arms were encased in reinforced plating, the dark metal layers smooth but battle-worn, and hands, clad in black gloves, flexed as if ready for violence at any moment. The lower body was similarly armored, with bulky knee pads stained from the dirt and blood of countless operations. The boots were heavy and durable, designed for long marches through hellish terrain, caked with grime from both urban streets and the battlefield.
On one's back, a large, kite-shaped shield hung at an angle, the surface scratched and dented from previous encounters. It was a wall of metal meant to absorb the worst the enemy could throw, but even it couldn't fully hide the splashes of blood—evidence of the horrors the soldier had faced and survived. His very silhouette was a symbol of Blackwatch's cold efficiency and merciless enforcement. Here was a soldier not meant to protect, but to dominate, to hunt, to execute without hesitation.
And execute they did. More pain followed three shots from the left soldier's carbine. Two in his chest, and one in his head. The world seemed to go almost black an white. There was ringing in Reed's ears as the voices seemed to be talking through a drum. But an unfamiliar thought started running through his head as he started to black out.
Consume
One of the blackwatch soldiers kicked him quickly to make sure he was dead, but that was the last thing that soldier ever did. Reed's eyes snapped open, and, with strength he did not know he had left. His arm shot up and latched onto the soldier as he quickly rose to his feet. Using him as leverage as he slammed the soldier down onto the ground hard enough to hear bones break and the metal floor sent, and started to land brutal punches into their face.
Within 4 blows, the soldier's head was a chunky paste. Reed then roared as tendrils burst from under his skin, piercing into the soldier's body. Their flesh dissolving into him along with everything they were wearing. The rush of power he felt as he consumed his first victim was both incredible and absolutely horrifying. He felt his endorphins shoot up in pleasure but at the same time it was incredibly painful. And once he finished consuming the Blackwatch grunt a good chunk of his wounds had healed.
"Holy shit… what the fuck is happening to me!?" Reed roared. He was beyond panic at this point. He was terrified. He had just eaten another human being! And the wounds that had previously been considered fatal had just healed to; 'you need a hospital now'.
But he instinctively knew that if he wanted to survive, he was going to need to do it more. He would have gone for the second Blackwatch operative, but he was currently getting ripped to shreds by a large amount of new mutants that had just entered the area. Well,with at least these guys, he felt less horrible about what he was going to do to them.
"Shit. Riley, keep burning him!" He heard Rooks bark. "Heller! Eat them! Eat them to survive!" Koenig shouted. As though he was on Reed's side.
"Shut the fuck up doc! All non-essential personnel evacuate. I need a perimeter lock on this building!"
"WAIT TILL I GET UP THERE YOU SONS OF BITCHES." Reed bellowed as he consumed another 3 mutants in brutal fashion. Healing himself to near perfect health. Only for another blast of flames to knock him back down.
Once again covered in burns that should have killed a normal man, Reed drags himself to his feet one last time. "Oh, you are going to pay for that…" he growled. His eyes searched through the burnt corpses and chunks of debris from the barrels of flammable material strewn across the room until his eyes landed on the largest and still most intact object in the room. The examination table he was strapped to when he woke up. He grinned savagely.
"Shit Shit! The burn controls are dead" Riley cursed. "You guard that control room, Lieutenant." Rooks barked at his subordinate. "Don't you worry, sir. He's not getting out this way."
"HEY, FUCKHEADS!" Reed bellowed. There was a shriek of metal tearing, as he ripped the table off of its foundation, holding the several hundred pound machine like a toy. Rooks', and Riley's eyes widened in alarm. "CATCH."
The next thing anyone in the control room knew, the examination table was blasting through the reinforced security glass, taking out a stray scientist and two grunts unlucky enough to be in the way of the appliance-turned projectile followed by a very bloody and angry looking test subject sailing through the hole and making a break for freedom.
The next ten minutes of Reed's new life was a blur of yelling, getting shot at and punching anyone that was in his way. He skidded around a corner and charged at the last door between him and freedom. With a bang, the door burst off its hinges as Reen darted through alleyways as he ran off into the night. He managed to jump to the top of a small building and, after making sure he wasn't spotted, leaned on his knees in a mixture of fear, relief and exhaustion. "What the fuck…" he whispered. He figured this was New York. He had been there enough times to know a few of the landmarks, but- this definitely wasn't his New York. it looked as though the Boro was turned into a modern day internment camp. What used to be a mediocre section of the city was littered with shanty town ghettos and military checkpoints. The people looked downtrodden and filled with fear and resentment just bubbling under the surface.
"What happened to me?" he whispered again as he looked at himself and then at the depressed looking version of New York. "I did!" a voice called out from everywhere and nowhere. Reed froze as the world seemed to suddenly just stop.
Before he could take another step, the air around him seemed to warp and shimmer. He froze, every instinct screaming at him that something was wrong. Then, a figure appeared before him, materializing out of thin air-a man, or at least something that looked like a man. He was dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, his features sharp and unsettlingly perfect, though carved from marble. Though He could not make out their face. Almost as if something was stopping the universe itself from showing the beings facial features besides an almost too wide smile.
"Impressive, isn't it?" the being said, its voice was smooth, but also condescending as if they were discussing the weather and not standing atop a building in the middle of a modern day shanty town/military occupation-scape. "The power, the raw potential. You're quite the specimen, my friend."
"Who the hell are you?" he growled, his voice rough and unfamiliar to his own ears as he now heard both his and the new voice. He raised his fists, ready for another fight.. "Oh, I wouldn't try that if I were you," the man said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm far beyond your reach, even with all that lovely new power you've just been gifted. Let's just say I'm someone with an interest in seeing how things play out here." The figure then gives a flourishing bow. "But, if you need a title for me, well, I am just a Random Omnipotent Being– but you may call me Rob.
The man took a step closer, unbothered by him. "You see, I was getting rather bored, and I thought, 'Why not mix things up a bit?' So I plucked you out of your cozy little world and dropped you into this one. Gave you a new body, a new purpose. James Heller's a fine vessel, don't you think?" A chill ran down his spine as the man's words sank in. The figure snapped their fingers and a mirror suddenly appeared next to him.
Whe Reed looked at his reflection, he saw the figure of James Heller, and a ghost-like image of his own body overlapped with Hellers. His pale skin and shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, a stark contrast to the dark skinned and bald anti-hero. This can't be real, he thought, but every instinct told him it was. "What the hell do you want from me?" he demanded, the rage inside him simmering just below the surface. "Oh, nothing too complicated," the man said, smiling. "Just a bit of entertainment. You'll run around, tear some things up, have some fun. And when your story here is done, we'll talk again. I'm curious to see how you'll handle it all, given the circumstances."
"And if I refuse?" Rob's smile widened. "You won't. You can't. This is your life now, and there's no going back. But don't worry you've got all the tools you need to survive. Maybe even thrive. So go on, make the most of it. I'll be watching." Before he could say anything more, the man vanished, leaving him alone on the rooftop. "I will see you when your time here is finished. Also, I recommend you duck. Ta-ta for now!~"
He blinked. "Duck?" the world unfroze and suddenly Reed had a body suddenly hurled at his head, knocking him into a pile of tangled limbs. Soon followed by a heavy crunching thud. When Reed looked up after throwing off the now identified Blackwatch soldier, he was face to face with the one and only, Alex Mercer. It seemed that his new journey had just gotten started.
Line break/time skip
Reed kneeled on the ground, hugging Amaya Heller as he comforted her. James Heller's parental instincts were very strong and he couldn't just leave her to Mercer's tender mercies. Next to him, Dana Mercer stood next to him. Staring into the now cleansed New York City as the morning sun peeked over the horizon of the city..
It was a brutal 4 week slog as Reed learned the ins and outs of using Blacklight to adapt, survive and evolve. He learned pretty quickly that he had to be brutal at points to make sure he made it out alive. Even if it meant consuming civilians. But yet here he stood. He had killed Alex Mercer, and, with the incredible increase in biomass, and knowledge of Viral manipulation gained from Mercer, was able to completely eradicate the virus from New York.
Dana turned to Reed. A look of both relief, and worry in her eyes. "What do we do now?" He stood up, gently pushing Amaya Heller away so he could walk towards her and respond only for the world to once again just completely stop. Dana and Amaya froze completely still.
"Why, you get ready for the next chapter, my friend!"
Directly in front of him, the air warped and shimmered in an ominously familiar fashion. Reed's heart sank.
"No. No, not again…"
The air shimmered, and out of nothingness appeared the being he dreaded most—R.O.B., the self-proclaimed "Random Omnipotent Being." It was neither man nor machine, but something in between, a figure beyond comprehension that had plucked Reed from his own world and thrust him into this chaos. Still wearing the impeccably tailored black and red suit that Reed met him when he first arrived here.
R.O.B. floated lazily this time above the frozen world, a smile tugging at the corners of its featureless face. Its voice was grating in Reed's head, smooth yet mocking.
"Well, Reed," R.O.B. drawled, "I must say, you've exceeded my expectations. Defeating Mercer, wiping out the Blacklight virus… Not bad for someone who was never a fighter to begin with."
Reed's blood boiled. He clenched his fists, glaring up at the being. "You… You threw me into this hellhole! Made me fight just to survive. What, now you're here to tell me it's all over? I don't need your goddamn congratulations."
R.O.B. tilted its head, clearly amused. "Oh no, my boy. This was merely the prologue to your story."
Reed froze. His heart raced. "What?"
R.O.B. gestured around, as if the city, the chaos, the destruction meant nothing. "All this? A mere warm-up. A prelude. You were never meant to stay here, Reed. This world belongs to James Heller, after all. You were just… borrowing his role for a time."
Reed's breath caught in his throat. His mind raced. "What are you talking about?"
With a casual flick of its wrist, R.O.B. made reality bend to his whim once more. Reed felt a strange sensation as if the very essence of his being was being tugged at, pulled apart, though his body remained still. He looked down and saw, to his horror, that his form was beginning to separate from Heller's—like a veil of his identity being peeled away. Heller stood there, frozen, completely unaware of what was happening as he was now next to Reed.
"You didn't realize it, did you?" R.O.B. said, with mock-pity. "You've been living through Heller this whole time. But you were never truly him. I simply merged you two so that you could experience this world's story from his perspective. However, now that your part here is done, it's time to let James stay and fulfill his role. After all, he belongs here. You don't."
The realization hit Reed like a freight train. All this time, he thought he had become James Heller, the man who had sought revenge against Mercer. But in reality, Reed was just a passenger in Heller's story, a temporary protagonist.
"I… I was just a placeholder?" Reed's voice wavered with frustration and confusion.
"Precisely," R.O.B. confirmed, its tone never losing its condescending lilt. "James Heller has his own destiny to fulfill here, according to the Ancient Laws of the Multiverse. These laws govern balance and purpose across all realities. But you, Reed, you're different. You aren't bound by those rules. You're a wildcard. And that means I can send you anywhere I please."
Reed's heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to scream, to fight, but something in the way R.O.B. spoke chilled him to his core. "No… no, no, no. I'm done! You've had your fun. I'm not going anywhere. I don't care about your stupid rules or laws! I survived this nightmare, now I want out!"
R.O.B. chuckled softly, the sound echoing eerily. "Oh, Reed. I'm afraid that's not how this works. You see, I enjoy watching you struggle. It's entertaining. And besides, this world was just the opening act. The real story is about to begin."
Reed stepped forward, fury and desperation boiling over. "You can't keep doing this! I'm not some puppet for your amusement! Send me back to my world, you bastard!"
R.O.B. looked almost bored now, as if Reed's protests were beneath it. Then the smile grew impossibly wider. "I could… but where's the fun in that?"
Before Reed could utter another curse, R.O.B. raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Reality itself seemed to ripple as a bright light consumed Reed's vision. His protests died in his throat as the world around him dissolved, and his body was torn from the frozen city.
For a brief moment, Reed felt nothing but weightlessness, floating through a void of endless possibilities. His mind raced with a thousand emotions—fear, anger, confusion—but before he could make sense of it, the sensation of falling hit him like a freight train.
He plummeted into a new world.
Deep in the bowels of Coruscant, at one of the lowest and most dangerous levels, where no light shone, zombie-like creatures known only to a few as cthon scurried through the darkness. Other, larger creatures not seen in tens of thousands of years also lurked in this abyss. Forgotten by the galaxy and the planet as it continues to rise up. The lowest level of Coruscant, often referred to as the "Undercity" is a dark, oppressive, and almost forgotten part of the planet-wide city. It lies so deep beneath the surface that natural sunlight never reaches it, leaving it in a state of perpetual darkness, illuminated only by the dim, flickering lights of ancient, decaying infrastructure.
The architecture is a stark contrast to the gleaming spires of the upper levels, with crumbling duracrete walls, rusting metal beams, and exposed pipes that leak unknown fluids. The air is thick with pollution and the stench of decay, a mixture of industrial waste, and the remnants of countless generations who have lived and died in these depths. The air was thick, heavy with moisture and the stench of decay, mingled with the metallic tang of rust and things far more ancient. Within the bowels of this near forgotten level was an old abandoned alleyway
The alleyway reeked of decay and despair, the stench clinging to the air like a toxic vapor. Narrow and shadowed, the passage was wedged between towering, dilapidated structures that stretched far above, their corroded metal facades barely holding against the weight of time. Flickering lights from sparking electric connections, cast a brief, sickly, uneven glow, the only source of light penetrating the endless night that swallowed Level 1 of Coruscant.
Puddles of rancid liquid pooled along the uneven ground, their oily surfaces reflecting distorted glimpses of the city's underbelly. Trash was strewn everywhere—crates, scraps of rusted machinery, and shredded bits of plastoid littered the alley, the remnants of long-forgotten dealings. Walls, once smooth and sleek, were now coated in grime, graffiti scrawled haphazardly in countless languages, some fading, others fresh with hostile warnings. The air buzzed with the occasional crackle of exposed wiring, and somewhere in the distance, the hiss of steam escaped from a broken vent.
Rats, and other small vermin scurried between piles of refuse, their beady eyes gleaming in the faint light as they sifted through the detritus. Shadows lurked in every corner, and the alley's uneven walls seemed to close in, a suffocating reminder of how deep into the planet's depths one had fallen. Above, the distant hum of the upper levels was barely audible, a reminder of the thriving world far removed from this forgotten pit.
Here, on Level 5, life was beyond cheap, and the alleyway was a graveyard of secrets, waiting to swallow anyone unlucky enough to wander into its depths. But this time, something potentially much worse had arrived.
In a small section of the alley mostly clear of refuse, there was a ripple in the air and a flash of light, Reed suddenly appeared swaying dazedly as he began to choke on the heavily polluted air. The virus in his body immediately began to adapt to the new environment. Reed was wearing the same outfit as James Heller. The same symbol on his back indicating his connection to Heller.
Tendrils rippled around his lower jaw and neck as an air filtration mask forms over his face as he breathes in clean filtered air through the new appendage. His eyes flickered around the area. Darkness pervaded to the point he couldn't see anything. He stumbled slightly, feeling vertigo for the first time since he became what he was.
He shook his head and firmly planted himself as his eyes flashed red. Reed didn't just see with normal eyes now. His vision was something else. He didn't just see, he sensed. The world around him came alive in the dark, a shifting tapestry of vibrations, scents, and sounds. His entire body was a conduit for information, with every slight ripple in the air, every faint heartbeat, registering in his mind as he gained his bearings. To Reed, the darkness wasn't an obstacle—it was an advantage. He could feel the presence of living things as they moved, their footsteps reverberating through the ground like a sonar map drawn directly into his consciousness. The chemical makeup of the air changed with every breath, alerting him to nearby threats or environmental shifts, while even the faintest sounds painted a detailed image of his surroundings.
Idly he noticed how cramped the area he was in was. He also noticed that his sudden appearance in the area had not gone unnoticed. Scratching of claws, hissing, and chittering echoed faintly beyond the alleyway. His muscles tensed, dark tendrils of biomass subtly rippling beneath his skin, primed for battle as he stalked slowly out into the decrepit depths of this new world.
The noises grew louder as he slowly looked around. Reed starts walking in a random direction until he feels the first disturbances in the air as a humanoid creature jumps down on him from a hidden alcove above, screeching. In an instant, Reed's arm snapped up and plucked the creature out of the air by the throat. He would come to later know the creature was called a cthon.
It was an ugly looking thing, Reed idly observed as the creature fruitlessly tried to claw its way free from his iron grip. It looked like a corpse in decay. Loose flaps of flesh hang across its body with patches of dirty, stringy hair in random spots. Its head was grotesque, with a lipless mouth filled with jagged and sharp teeth and, where its eyes were supposed to be, egg-like organs where the eyes could be seen moving restlessly while sealed within their sockets. Long spindly fingers that ended in jagged claw-like nails desperately clawed at his arm in an attempt to hurt him and free itself. He cocked his head to the side and clenched his fist. Crushing the creature's neck as tendrils burst from Reed's flesh and began to break down the creature as it gurgled weakly. Within seconds, the creature was gone and Reed winced as the flash of jumbled memories flooded his mind. Not that there was much. Reed could tell that whatever the creature was used to be a true sentient being, but something happened to make it little more than a rabid animal.
He sighed in annoyance. There was still enough sentience left in the thing for Reed to learn one thing: This creature wasn't alone.
He sighed, "Dammit."
The hissing from before turned to shrieks and screeching as dozens of the abominations came crawling out of all of the cracks and crevices like cockroaches and charged him. Some welding crude, filthy bladed weapons while others carried a net with large metal blocks along the edges.
He rolled his neck as he watched the zombie-like creatures make their way closer to him. He cracked his knuckles and readied himself. "Let's fucking go…" tendrils writhed down his arms, turning them into huge blade like claws.
He needed an outlet for his pent up aggression right now. And they all volunteered. He pounced towards the first of many victims of this dark underworld.
Though Reed was unaware of the attention he had already drawn. The Force itself had taken note of him, a being unlike anything the galaxy had ever seen. He was not Jedi, nor Sith, yet his potential to bring change was vast—perhaps more so than any who had come before him.
He was raw power. Possibility incarnate. And the universe was not prepared for what he could do…
High above, on the top most levels of Coruscant, in a meditation chamber in the Jedi Temple sat a wizened green little goblin like being known as Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi order. Sitting atop a meditation cushion, his ever present gimmer stick resting across his lap as he meditated. His wrinkled green face a mask of serene calm as he communed with The Force when suddenly, the Force shuddered.
It began as a faint ripple, a disturbance barely noticeable among the ever-present tension of the Clone Wars. But in an instant, it deepened, reverberating through the Force with such intensity that it reached every corner of the galaxy. It was not the call of a new battle, nor the familiar presence of a powerful Jedi or Sith. This was something new—something that carried the weight of untapped potential, and with it, the promise of either salvation or destruction.
Yoda's eyes snapped open wide with surprise and concern. "Hrm… strong, this presence is." he murmured. "More fluid, the Force has become…"
Even now, Yoda could sense as every single Force sensitive in the Temple reacted to this disturbance. He leaned over and pressed a button on the side of his chair. "Assemble, the council must. Discuss the new Disturbance, we will."
Yoda closed his eyes in contemplation as he tried to discern what this meant for the Jedi Order and the Galaxy. The wizened grand master of the order hopped off his meditation cushion and began making his way towards the council chambers. They had much to discuss.
Darth Sidious, still cloaked in his public guise as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, stood alone in his private chambers, his mind deep in meditation. The Clone Wars were progressing as he had foreseen, the Republic crumbling from within while the Jedi clung to their faltering ideals. But then, without warning, a shift.
It began as a whisper—an unfamiliar presence in the Force, subtle and fleeting. It wasn't the call of a Jedi, nor the pull of the Dark Side. It was something from... beyond.
Sidious opened his eyes, frowning. He extended his senses, pushing deeper into the Force, searching for the source of this anomaly. But there was nothing. No location. No clear presence. Just a sensation—unbound potential.
"Curious," Sidious muttered, pacing slowly around the chamber. He reached for a nearby holoprojector, summoning the image of Count Dooku.
"My lord," Dooku's hologram said, bowing slightly. "I sense a disturbance. It is... elusive."
"Indeed," Sidious replied, his voice calm but edged with intrigue. "A great power has entered the galaxy, but I cannot locate it. The Force refuses to reveal its source."
"Could it be a Jedi?" Dooku asked, his expression darkening.
"No," Sidious said, his tone absolute. "This is not their doing. It is something else entirely."
The Sith Lord paused, his mind calculating. He could feel the potential in this new presence. It was like a roaring fire, neither Light nor Dark, but capable of becoming either. Or both. If harnessed, it could tip the scales of power in his favor. If left unchecked, it could disrupt everything.
"You will send our agents," Sidious commanded. "Scour the galaxy. This power must be found, and swiftly. But be wary. It is cloaked from us for now, and that makes it all the more dangerous."
Dooku bowed once more, the holoprojector flickering off, leaving Sidious alone with his thoughts.
As Yoda made his way to the Council chambers, deep below the shining surface of the ecumenopolis a slaughter had just concluded. As the final Cthon was consumed, Reed stood still in the eerie silence of the aftermath. The floor was littered with what little remained of the horde, as
Panting slightly, Reed glanced at the tunnel ahead. He could feel the faint pulse of life above him—as he looked behind him, he noticed a dim light that he only detected because of his currently enhanced senses which he deduced to be some kind of ventilation shaft. But he was still far and below, in the forgotten depths of the ecumenopolis. The Cthon's fragmented memories told him little about how to get out, but he knew one thing: staying down here wasn't an option. He needed to go up.
He turned in its direction, and with a great gust of displaced air, shot forward. Sprinting at speeds no normal being could ever reach without the assistance of a machine. His boots leaving spiderweb cracks in the duracrete as he tore his way towards what he hoped to be a way out. Unaware that his mere presence would have on the galaxy.
The Jedi Council Chamber was filled with the usual hum of quiet conversation and the distant sounds of Coruscant's endless skyline. Mace Windu, seated at the center of the circle, was unusually tense. The war had strained the Jedi to their limits, but today it wasn't the Separatists or the Sith that concerned them—it was something else, something the Force had whispered to them but refused to reveal fully.
"We have all felt it," Windu began, his deep voice resonating in the chamber. "A disturbance in the Force, unlike anything we've encountered before."
The Jedi Masters exchanged uneasy glances. The Clone Wars had already stretched them thin, and the last thing they needed was another unknown variable tipping the delicate balance.
Master Yoda, eyes half-closed in deep thought, finally spoke. "Yes. A disturbance, strong and elusive. Clouded, the Force is. What it hides, unclear."
Master Plo Koon, his deep voice steady, nodded. "I sense it too. But this is no ordinary ripple in the Force. It's as if something—or someone—has appeared, yet remains hidden from our sight. Its presence ripples across the galaxy, but its origin is beyond our reach."
"This... presence," Shaak Ti said, her tone measured and calm, "feels different from anything we've felt before. It doesn't seem to align with the Dark Side or the Light. But the potential behind it... it's immense."
Mace Windu's brow furrowed. "And that's what concerns me. Whoever or whatever this presence is, they could tip the scales of this war. They could bring about peace—or utter devastation. And yet, the Force is not guiding us toward them. It's as if we're being deliberately kept in the dark."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi leaned forward slightly, his hand stroking his beard in thought. "Could it be another player in the war? A new force—one that neither the Republic nor the Separatists are aware of?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi, ever cautious, added, "It's possible. But this disturbance doesn't feel like a military power or a new fleet arriving. It's... singular. One person, perhaps. Someone with incredible potential."
"That's what troubles me," Windu replied. "We've never felt anything like this before. The Force is alerting us to something that could change the entire course of the galaxy, and we can't even locate its source."
Master Kit Fisto, typically optimistic, was uncharacteristically serious. "What if this individual doesn't even realize the power they hold? If they're unaware of their own potential, they could be dangerous without even knowing it."
Luminara Unduli, always calm and reflective, spoke next. "Or worse, what if they're discovered by the wrong people? The Sith may have felt this presence as well. And if they manage to sway this individual to their side..."
The thought hung heavily in the chamber. The Sith. The war had already dragged on longer than anyone had anticipated, and the elusive figure behind the Separatists—Dooku's master, the Sith Lord—remained a mystery. If the Sith had any involvement with this disturbance...
Master Yoda broke the silence, his eyes now open and sharp. "The Sith, yes. Aware of this, they will be. Already watching, they may be."
Obi-Wan shifted in his seat. "Then we must act quickly. If the Sith are involved, they will attempt to use this individual, manipulate them for their own ends."
Windu nodded. "That's exactly why we need to tread carefully. We don't know where this presence is, and we don't know what their intentions are. The last thing we want is to drive them toward the Dark Side by acting too soon."
Master Plo Koon agreed. "But if we don't act, and the Sith find them first..."
"Unpredictable, the future is," Yoda said, his voice somber. "But patient, we must be. Watch, we will. Subtle, our approach must be."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi raised an eyebrow. "How do we watch something we cannot see?"
Yoda's gaze softened. "The Force, it guides us. In time, the path will be clear."
Obi-Wan folded his arms, his face contemplative. "This individual... they could be a victim of circumstance, or they could be a threat. Either way, the galaxy cannot afford another wildcard. We need to investigate carefully. Perhaps we send someone to look for them."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke up, his voice calm but thoughtful. "What about Quinlan Vos? He's the best tracker we have. If anyone can find this presence, it's him."
Windu frowned, shaking his head. "Quinlan Vos is currently on a vital covert mission. He's deep undercover, embedded in Separatist territory. We can't afford to pull him away. Not now."
There was a moment of silence as the Council weighed their options.
"We cannot ignore this disturbance," Shaak Ti said. "If Quinlan is unavailable, then we must make sure that every Jedi in the field is aware of the danger. We may not know the location, but this presence will reveal itself eventually."
Yoda nodded slowly. "Yes. Warn all Jedi Knights and Masters, we must. Alert they must be, to this presence. In the war, they fight, but mindful of the Force they must remain."
Obi-Wan folded his arms, his tone cautious but resolute. "This individual... they could be a victim of circumstance, or they could be a threat. Either way, the galaxy cannot afford another wildcard. We need to investigate carefully."
Mace Windu agreed. "The last thing we want is for the Sith to find this presence before we do. But we also don't want to push this individual toward the Dark Side by acting too aggressively. We'll need to tread carefully."
Plo Koon nodded. "Every Jedi must be on the lookout for any unusual movements in the Force. This presence is hidden for now, but if it makes itself known, we must be prepared."
Master Luminara added, "And we must trust the Force. When the time is right, this presence will reveal itself. We just need to be ready."
Yoda's voice was calm but carried the weight of his many centuries of wisdom. "Patience, we must have. The Force will guide us. Warn the Jedi, we will. But careful we must be, not to force the hand of fate."
As the Council slowly came to an agreement, the tension in the room lessened, but the sense of unease remained. They had been through wars and faced the Sith, but this disturbance was unlike anything they had ever felt. It was both a promise and a threat—capable of bringing balance or chaos, depending on who reached it first.
As the session ended and the Jedi Masters filed out of the chamber, Yoda remained behind, lost in thought. The future was clouded, as it had been since the war began, but this disturbance was something new. A ripple in the Force, powerful and full of possibility, but its outcome remained uncertain.
Yoda's ears twitched slightly as he whispered to himself, "Much rests on this. A force, unseen but felt. Careful we must be, for the balance of the galaxy may rest in its hands."
A/N: well, I guess I'm back! It's only been over a decade but here we are. Life has been insane these years. I gained the love of my life, lost a father and have jumped at last 4 jobs in the span of 5 years. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but Life has been one Hell of aroad so far. I hope you enjoy this story. Please like, follow and comment.