Chapter 14: yield to my warning; thou brave yet foolish souls
Jedi Temple, Coruscant, Nighttime
Master Windu was not liking this day, not a single bit; First the crime lord Jabba the Hutt asked the republic to work for him in saving his son, then the Force was hit by that strange "Scream" that affected not only the Jedi but also the civilians. For a good portion of the evening they had been trying to help the younglings, padawans and knights back to their feet and appease the public that came to their doorstep begging for help to understand this supernatural phenomena.
But to add insult to injury, the Chancellor came by asking if Jedi knight Anakin was back at the temple or already on his way to the mission. Windu had no answer to the Chancellor, none other than "With the current situation of the public uproar in fear, we had to diverge our attention to calming the populace. When things become manageable again, we will contact him"
The Chancellor was, visibly, not happy with this but refrained from saying anything other than "I expect as much" before leaving
This whole exchange felt… odd, more so that the Chancellor's words felt hateful and discomforting, but since they were at war and with the stacks against the republic, having the hutt's hyperspace lanes was going to be the most important and essential as such having that reaction was somewhat plausible although odd in a general consensus.
"Master Windu!" Jedi Master Quinlan Voss shouted from afar, coming to greet the Jedi Master
"sir, we-" Voss looked around as if to confirm something "we have something huge- and I mean HUGE happening right now"
"Does it pertain to the strange phenomena of the Scream?" Mace asked
"No, but-" Before Voss could indulge further Windu interrupted him
"then it is not important, we need to focus back on the war and I expect you to find leads to what this Scream was and-"
"Master Windu". This IS important, maybe more than this supernatural phenomena" Quilan Vos interrupted, grabbing the arm of the Jedi Master since he was trying to move away from him.
Windu was perplexed but cooled his facial expression so as not to show to Vos "what is it?"
"Rather than TELL, I will SHOW you and the council, call them. This IS important and NEED to be seem" Vos said and left saying he was going to bring 'them' here
Whatever it was that Vos found that he deemed was necessary to call the council, it must truly be important. Quinlan Vos was a Jedi master with a rare gift to be able to see the memories of people and objects through the Force and this has helped the Jedi Order in the past through many other wielders of this ability. As such, Windu saw himself being obligated to call a council meeting despite been nighttime already
Meanwhile back at planet Christophsis
'Zero… was that… wait… no.. no, no-'
"Oh, no, no, no, no" CT-1029 said while getting up, shaking his head in denial "No!"
"CT-1029, what is wrong with you??" the first scout asked his brother with a confused expression behind his helmet
"This!" the clone answered while pointing at Zero "this- this… THING!! have a name!!" The clone yelled in exasperation
"Yeah, I heard it, but that doesn't mean you-"
"This clanker thinks it is a person! How's that not to freak out about??"
While both clones went on arguing with one another about Zero, the red warrior himself only listened, leaving his integrated universal translator work capturing and comparing this strange alien-like language with the only language that actually sounded like this one: English. While he did try speaking this strange language, it was really him just speaking English trying to copy the little amounts of words that these "alien-humans" spoke.
Despite listening to the two white armored men speaking, Zero kept his senses sharp, which allowed him to hear a strange sound, coming from the road below.
"..."
"Alright, STOP! this is stupid, it's just a machine, there's no reason for you to-" the first scout froze mid sentence
"what? there is no reason for what??" CT-1029 asked glaring through his helmet to the first scout
"its gone" the scout said
"wha- WHAT??" CT-1029 looked were the red droid was and truly it was gone "w-where-" the clone started panicking looking around trying to find where the droid went
"HAH!"
"Whoa! w-wait! hold up!"
both clones heard the droid, and he was down at the street and…
"General Skywalker needs backup! come on CT-5106" CT-1029 sprinted down the building with CT-5106
Down at the street
Anakin dodged another attack, lightsaber in hand, while thinking 'this was NOT how I expected this to go' the red droid glared at him, his green triangular blade in hand, ready to strike
"wait!" Anakin raised his free hand, without using the Force, "I mean you no harm. look" with his words spoken, the jedi knight deactivated his lightsaber and placed it back at his belt
the red droid kept his eyes at the lightsaber and the hands of the jedi knight, not lowering his guard
"Koko de nani o shite iru no?" (what are you doing here?)
"I… can't understand you"
"..."
"General!" the clones scouts called from the entryway of the building, ready to assist their general despite their precarious situation
"Stop!" Anakin warned them with a stretched out hand "we want him to listen to us" this left the clones confused, but they obliged
"Now… please, I mean you no harm, just wait. please" Skywalker said looking at the red droid while slowly moving back to his speeder bike and opening up a rather large container that was attached via magnetic lock
opening the container, Anakin activated something inside it and a few instants later, a protocol droid emerged from the container
"Greetings general Skywalker, how may I assist you?" the protocol droid asked
"I need your help with a diplomatic talk with a… rather unique droid. Can you do it?" Anakin asked, he knew the droid would oblige but just for the nature of it
"of course sir, now I might need help getting out of this, please"
After getting the protocol droid out of the container, Anakin explained how the conversation would go and what the droid was supposed to do, with thisAnakin took a deep breath before putting his plan in action: a peace talk
( A/N: Anakin is doing WHAT?????? CALL THE POLICE!!!! THEY REPLACED SKYWALKER WITH A DOUBLE!!)
"I am Anakin Skywalker, knight of the Jedi order and general of the Grand Army of the Republic. I do not intend to harm you and your companions and… regarding our initial contact, I... I am sorry about the abruptness and harshness of my soldiers and my own."
as the protocol droid translated his words into binary for the red droid to understand, the young knight hoped that this was a wise decision and that Obi-wan would not be mad at him for this disobedience
Back at Coruscant at the Jedi Temple, nighttime, a Heavy rain is hitting the capital with rage
'Rain…this heavy… a good sign… this is not' Grand Master Yoda thought as he walked towards the elevator to the council chamber.
The news from master Windu was preoccupying: the chaos in the middle sector of Coruscant was an urgent matter as far as the information from master Windu went, so to call a council meeting so late at night, this truly is a disaccording. As the elevator doors opened, the grand master of the jedi order could see many of his fellow masters already seated, some present and some... not really here, as they were half asleep from the sudden call disrupting their rest. aside from them, there were the master already on the frontlines unable to answer the call, be it because of battle, diplomatic meetings or even battle planning, which made the number of masters seem lesser than it actually was
as the elderly master approached the masters, at least those who were awaken, greeted him "Master Yoda, I'm glad you could join us"
Yoda answered them all before going to the matter at hand "yes glad, to be able to answer your call, master Windu" now all eyes were upon the brown jedi, even those previously asleep were now awakening to hear what the council master had to say
"As you all know, there have been reports about chaos in the middle sector of Coruscant, all of this happened exactly after this strange 'Scream' phenomena happened impacting all, force-sensitive and non force-sensitive. When the police contacted us and the clones, master Quilan Vos was sent there to apprehend whoever have caused the ruckus"
"And where IS Master Vos?" Master Ki-adi Mundi asked, intrigued by the absence of said individual
Windu sighed silently at the question, as he was asking himself the same thing "Master Vos said that whoever or whatever he found at the middle sector is as important, if not, MORE important than the 'Scream' phenomena" this send most member of the council in a hushed whispering talk amongst them
"But where is he?" Master Luminara asked, trying to maintain her calm and collected persona despite her distress; the phenomena affected all the Jedi, perhaps more so those who were the more centered and in control of their emotions, making them all release small but very noticeable amount of emotion on they voices
"He affirmed that it would be more suitable to have us SEE what he found, rather than hearing about it" Mace explained
"then we should be informed when he has arrived and not before" master Eeth Koth said, sleepiness still evident in his voice
"I would agreed, but he said that he was bringing them already, so whatever happened in between that moment and now shouldn't-"
before Mace could continue, the door to the council chamber opened, revealing Master Quinlan Vos with two strangers in follow; one man probably in his mid thirties donned in a green get-up and a strange orange visor in front of his eyes and a young man, a teenager, probably in his fifteen of sixteen, with a strange blue trenchcoat and a blue, thin armor that adorned his body. the council master looked puzzled at this, but decided to keep it to himself and move along this meeting
"Master Vos, I'm glad you finally arrived"
"Sorry for the wait, our… guests needed some… assistance before we could get here" Quinlan said rubbing the back of his head, taking a few glances at the newcomers as he spoke this
this intrigued Mace "what do you mean with 'assistance'?"
"Well-"
"He meant we didn't fully understood the local language" the boy spoke, with authority and finality in his voice, making seem like he was actual more older than his appearance suggested "Thanks to mister Vos, we were able to learn the local language to allow this meeting to less awkward between both parties"
this seemed to stun Vos for a moment before he composed himself "Yeah. that"
"How come you didn't know of Galactic Basic before?" Master Aayla Secura asked, through her hologram
"My friend and I hail from a far away planet, one that I am most certain you will never find in any of your maps. As such, our native language is. completely different from what you would expect to hear" the boy spoke, certainty and caution making clear that he was speaking the truth although withholding something
"May we know your names?" Master Kit Fisto asked in a friendly tone "I'll start, my name is Kit Fisto"
with a short bow, the boy answered "It's a pleasure meeting you, sir. My name is X"
"X?" mace raised an eyebrow at that, this boy's name is a single letter?
"yes. that is my name" without allowing time to dwell on his name, the boy turned to his companion and nodded with a kind smile. The older man took a step forward and presented himself
"I'm called Cerveau, I'm- I'm an engineer" the now identified Cerveau stammered a bit as he stated his occupation
"hmm… lost you seem to be" Master Yoda pointed as he observed the man rubbing his hands in what could be described as nervousness "afraid you are. but fear not, for in this place you are safe"
"I'm grateful for the kind words, mister, but my friend and I are concerned about our friends whereabouts"
"your… friends?" Windu asked stealing a side glance at Vos, he did not speak of any of this before bringing these two in here
"Yes. you see. Before arriving here, on this planet, my people and I were under heavy attack from an enemy that managed to separate us. we need to find them, fast, or all could be lost. not just for us but for your people as well"
well… this was…something; some masters were curious about this, others were down right distrustful of X's words
"of great peril, you speak of. but know this, young man, the jedi have protected the galaxy for many centuries. defeat great evils we had. your friends we will find, if trust you have on us"
"Mister. I- *sigh*... you don't understand. the evil I speak of is too strong"
that did made the master more and more concerned
"I don't doubt your ability to protect this galaxy from the threats within it, but you're are not ready to fight the devil" X explained himself before the masters could misinterpret his words
"the.. 'devil'?" Master Kit Fisto asked confused
"a horrifying monster" X started, clenching his fist in rage
Meanwhile, in a distant planet of the outer rim (play MMZ3 OST Forbidden Ark)
a clone battalion was walking across a dark, eerie catacomb, with some of the clones using a scanner to inspect the area
"this is not right" the clone taps the screen of his device "General, these scanners must be broken, they keep saying there's something with a huge energy spike in here. but this is just a old tomb"
the Jedi general looked over the scanner "hmm… perhaps, Lainne, it is working correctly, but it's just hard for our eyes to see" turning back to one of the clones that was carrying a large floating device "active the long range lights"
With his orders the device, a long range scanner with in-built lights for long range, came to life, making it easier to see the many ornamented walls from the tomb, as well as the huge hole that was made on one of them.
"hmm… seems like that the scanner is pointing at that destroyed wall" the jedi pointed out placing a hand on Lainne's shoulder, giving him a encouraging shake "let's see what this signal is, shall we?"
with their general on the front, the clones followed suit, guns ready and flashlights activated.
Back at Coruscant
"Why do you think this 'devil' would be an adversary to us?" Master Ki-adi Mundi asked, his tone underlining mock and disapproval
"You simply don't understand" X said before leveling all the Jedi present (and those in hologram) with a severe, serious glare "the devil had single handedly CLEAVED through the guardians of my homeworld when the Elf wars began 200 hundred years ago"
This revelation was concerning, but some masters still had doubts about this… monster
"How many of those guardians were there in your world?" Master Eeth Koth asked in seriousness
"Before the elf wars, their numbers were among the thousands across the planet" X said, omitting his part on being one of them "but-"
Back at the tomb site with the republic soldiers
The clones had already went a few meters inside the hole, which revealed a huge dark hallway of the tomb
"When the devil had awakened… he … there was nothing we could do at the time…
the clones passed through the hallway until one of the clones stopped at a rather strange statue; it was a tall, huge warrior with large claws like hands floating by two black and green spikes where the elbows should be, wearing a gray trenchcoat, a helmet equipped with a dark visor over the eyes, a really long purple feather and a huge stone sword on his back. This impressed the clone, as far as he knew, there was no such warrior in the databases of the planet's history and this statue just didn't bode well with him, it was almost like it was… alive
"Wait" Lainne told the company to stop marching
"What happened, Lainne?" The Jedi general asked
"The signal…" Lainne kept his eyes on the scanner and moved along it's indication "it's right…" he stopped by the side of the clone observing the strange statue "here…"
As Lainne looked up, he saw the statue-
And the statue looked right back at him
"The devil slaughtered them all, by the hundreds" X's words were echoed by the thunder outside the temple
The council simply listened, as a myriad of emotions passed through their minds
"... I was there" X murmured before taking a (most figuratively) deep breath "I was there 200 years ago, when the elf wars started"
Mace raised an eyebrow at that, confused and intrigued by the boy clad in blue "the Elf wars?"
"Yes" X said with barely contained sorrow and anger as the memories resurfaced, memories he kept buried, now came back with a vengeance "the most bloody, devastating and … horrifying wars that my planet had to endure. Not even 40 years prior to that, we were still caught in the middle of the Endless Maverick Wars- wars that had lasted for a hundred years and were leveling the society that lived there… we thought… that with the extinction of the Maverick Virus- the sickness that infected half of my kin and turned them into bloody murderers and war criminals- was finally destroyed…" X's voice started to waver and his tears already were falling, as he could remember his friends from that era- and how they all died
'Compose yourself X!' Wiping away the tears, X didn't noticed how the Jedi that brought him here was shocked at his display of emotions and capability to cry
"We thought peace had finally come… only for the devil to appear with his master, a Madman and both of them declared war on all of the world and they took the Mother Elf, thus beginning the Elf Wars"
"Boy… perhaps you should take your time to think, as we barely know anything related to this events you're speaking about" Master Plo-koon said through his hologram-projection
"No, I'm- I'm fine… I just needed to breathe a little" X deflected the kindness as he knew there was no time for comfort and pleasantries "the Mother Elf was … a miracle… her creation was what brought hope for my kin and for the Humans, for finally the accursed Maverick Virus could be destroyed and peace could be brought back, only for her to be taken from us by the devil and his master" X said these last words with bitterness
Back with the clones
"Watch out!" Lainne said as he pushed his brother out of the way from the huge fist falling right were they were
"RAWR!!!!!"
"what the- IT'S ALIVE!!" One of the clones yelled and started blasting the 'statue' with his rifle
"my world guardians, the Maverick Hunters, tried to stop the devil from kidnapping the Mother Elf, although he's armor proved to be much more resistant than expected and far stronger than anticipated
the clones' blaster fire hit the giant from his left to his right, yet no part of its armor fell nor did it seem to be affected by the clones weapons
"with his huge sword, he CLEAVED through hundreds of hunters like they were made of paper"
the giant took hold of his massive stone sword, breaking the scabbard to reveal a giant purple lightsaber with a cross head at the tip
"RAWR!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Does this 'devil' have a name?" Windu asked curiously
the giant swung his huge lightsaber hitting any that were close enough to be hit
"yes, he goes by many titles; The destroyer"
taking a step forward, the giant punched a clone, sending him toward the ceiling and ending his life
"the Grim Reaper"
One clone loaded a Rocket launcher and shot the giant right at the head. hitting a bullseye, the giant seemingly stopped moving
"but the name most knew him for during the Elf Wars was…"
but in the middle of the smoke cloud a gleaming red light ignited anf the giant moved his hand up grunting before moving his hands down, roaring
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"The God of Destruction"
the clones and their Jedi General fought bravely against this mysterious enemy
"a god? now that's just superstition" Ki-adi Mundi said with a mock
"I can assure you, sir, this was not given to him for naught. his strength and bloodlust were akin to that of a god of ancient legends and epics of old myths. he truly lives up to the title"
"Rawr!!" but in the end.. none survived the onslaught