A behemoth Star Destroyer looms over the horizon, overseeing the final stages of the construction of the Empire's latest weapon. As a TIE fighter hurtles towards the seemingly endless expanse of stars, it becomes apparent that the ship is headed towards an Imperial Star Destroyer. Except there an even more colossal structure emerged from the darkness - the infamous Death Star. It was completed years in advance that it should have thanks to the work of Wanda Maximoff, also referred to as the Scarlet Witch amongst the Imperials.
On the bridge of the Star Destroyer, Imperial officers sit in command pits on both sides, their faces bathed in the eerie blue light cast by the control panels. Director Krennic, also known as the double agent Skrull called Talos, strides towards Grand Admiral Thrawn, who stands with his back to him, his gaze fixed upon the gargantuan Death Star taking shape before his eyes. As "Krennic" approaches, Thrawn turns to face him, his piercing blue eyes betraying nothing of his thoughts.
"The Emperor is waiting on my official report on the capability of this weapon of yours," Thrawn tells Krennic. "After so many years, and getting sped up on the operation thanks to our mutual friend, this security breach on Jedah has him concerned. Rumors are starting to spread that a cargo pilot has defected and is confessing to our weapon. If the Senate gets word of this weapon..."
"When we prove that this weapon works, the Senate will be of little concern," Talos tells him. "It is ready."
"Then I suppose we should put the Emperor at ease, and silence our little security breach," Thrawn tells Krennic. "Set course for Jedah. I will give my report to the Emperor when I see that his weapon is fully operational."
Talos had been serving in his current position for quite some time now, and he couldn't stress enough the gravity of his responsibility in the fight against the Empire. He knew that a careless move or even the slightest hint of his position could jeopardize everything that they had been working for.
Despite the constant uncertainty and danger that surrounded his mission, Talos remained determined and focused. He was well aware that the success of their cause relied heavily on his ability to take down the Empire's superweapon. He had been trying to gather as much information as possible and had heard rumors of a powerful ally who could help him achieve his goal. However, he had yet to identify this ally and was unsure if he could trust them. Talos knew that time was running out, and he needed to find this ally soon before it was too late.
"I will not fail," Talos tells Thrawn.
With his personal guard at his side, Talos set off on his mission to deal with the source of the leak, determined to succeed. As he marched forward, he repeated his promise to himself, vowing that he would not fail in his mission to bring down the Empire and protect the galaxy from their tyranny.
Jyn slowly opens her eyes, feeling disoriented and groggy. She realizes she's inside the U-Wing and blinks a few times to adjust to the dim lighting. As she looks around, she sees Cassian standing next to her, giving her a reassuring smile. Kate, the archer, is sitting a few feet away, working on her arrow tips. Jyn notices that Kate is adding some specialized arrow tips, probably for her trick arrows that she either made herself or received from the Rebellion or other members of the Avengers. Yelena, the Black Widow, is focused on fixing her Widow Bites on her wrist and checking her blaster in her holster.
Suddenly, Cassian speaks up, interrupting Jyn's observations. "We're coming into orbit," he tells K-2, the droid pilot.
Yelena, who had been sitting next to Jyn, noticed that Jyn was gazing out of the window. "We're approaching Jedha," she explained, "this is where we'll find Saw's rebels holding the Imperial defect, and hopefully where we can find the information where to find your father."
As the U-Wing descended, they were met with a breathtaking view of the Holy City of Jedha, with a massive Star Destroyer looming in the sky just above it. The ship was constantly launching smaller shuttles and TIE fighters that were making their way between the destroyer and the city. Once the rebels and the droid had disembarked, they gathered on the ground and took out their binoculars to get a closer look at the city and its surroundings.
"What's with the Destroyer?" Jyn asks
"It's because of your old friend, Saw Gerrera," Kate explains as she uses a setting on her bow to get a closer look. "He's been attacking the cargo shipments of Kyber Crystals from this world. Our sources say he isn't on the world, but his rebels are still doing his work for him."
"They're bringing in Kyber Crystals?" Jyn was surprised to hear.
"No, they're taking them out." Cassian corrected her. "All they can get. We wondered why they were stripping the temple, now we know it's the fuel for the weapon."
K-2SO said as he was coming out of the U-Wing. "The weapon your father's building."
Jyn eyed the droid and became a little worried. "Maybe we should leave target practice behind."
K-2SO seemed offended when he heard that. "Are you talking about me?
"She's right. We need to blend in. Stay with the ship." Cassian agreed with her.
K-2SO looked at himself and reminded them of the obvious. "I can blend in. I'm an Imperial droid. This city is under Imperial occupation."
"K, half the people down there want to reprogram you." Kate broke to him. "The other half wants to put a hole in your head."
"I'm surprised you're so concerned with my safety," K-2SO commented.
Jyn walks past him, slamming a bag into his hands as she walks by. "I'm not. I'm just worried they might miss you and hit me."
K-2SO drops the bag on the ground as they leave. "Doesn't sound so bad to me."
In the Holy City of Jedha, Kate, Yelena, Cassian, and Jyn walk through a crowd in a narrow street. Jyn accidentally bumps into Evazan and Ponda Baba, who turn to them, annoyed.
"Hey, you just watch yourself," Evazan tells her.
Yelena stepped between the two. "Why don't you keep walking?"
Kate realized the scene was going to escalate quite quickly as she jumped between her friends. "Okay, come on. Sorry, we don't want any trouble, sorry. Come on. Come on."
A squad of stormtroopers is seen distributing holopads with the face of Bodhi Rook on them and questioning citizens. "Citizens of Jedha, you must come forward with information on the location of this missing cargo pilot. A reward of 600 credits for the information shall be awarded."
"How are we gonna find Saw's rebels in all of this mess?" Kate asks the group.
"I had a contact, one of Saw's rebels, but he's just gone missing," Cassian explained to them. "His sister will be looking for him. The temple's been destroyed but she'll be there waiting. We'll give her your name and hope that gets us a meeting with whoever is holding the cargo pilot."
"Hope?" Jyn asks.
"Yeah," Cassian confirmed. "Rebellions are built on hope."
The squad of stormtroopers approaches a citizen and is about to search their house. The citizen protests inaudibly in an alien language. "Hands where I can see them. Get over there! Show me some identification. Check inside."
"Is this all because of your pilot?" Jyn asked as she tried to keep her head down.
"More or less," Yelena said when she looked around the crowd and noticed a hooded figure carrying a strange weapon with them. "Is that...?"
"Wait for me here," Cassian tells them as he walks off.
Cassian walks off, leaving Jyn standing there with Kate and Yelena. "So, what do we do?" Jyn asks them.
"Keep our heads down and try not to die," Kate replied as she tried to keep her quiver hidden in her poncho.
"Which would be a first for you, Kate Bishop," Yelena replied as she looked around and took notice of a few other strange people acting suspiciously. For others, it would be some normal behavior, but for a trained assassin such as herself, there was definitely something else going on. "We might be in a bit of trouble."
"What do you mean?" Kate asks.
Cassian returns and finds them looking around. "Guys. Come on, let's go."
Jyn seemed to take notice of his agitation. "You seem awfully tense all of a sudden."
"We have to hurry. This town, it's ready to blow." Cassian warned them.
The small group began to push quickly through the crowd when they noticed a heavily guarded Imperial transport move along the street. Jyn looks up to see armed people waiting on the roofs and several more hiding in the pathways next to the main street. She looks at the others nervously.
"Citizens of the Empire, Imperial forces..."
A partisan throws a thermal detonator underneath the tank accompanying the transport. The tank explodes and Partisans begin fighting the stormtroopers. Chaos begins as people run away and firing begins. Jyn and Cassian hide behind a wall, blasters ready.
"Looks like we found Saw's rebels," Kate said as she ran into the chaos.
Kate quickly sprang into action and reached for her quiver to pull out an arrow. She aimed it at a group of Stormtroopers and fired it off with great precision, causing the arrow to split in mid-air and transform into three arrows. Each of the arrows found their mark, hitting three different troopers at once. Meanwhile, Yelena, a highly trained assassin, used her Widow Bites - a lethal weapon that she wore on her wrist - and shot another trooper. However, amidst the chaos, she noticed a little girl who was screaming and seemed to be in danger. Without hesitation, Yelena tried to run towards the girl to save her but was blocked by a sudden blaster fire that almost took her out. She quickly took cover again and returned fire, determined not to let the trooper harm the little girl.
Just then, Jyn entered the scene and saw the little girl in danger. She immediately ran towards her and covered the little girl with her body, shielding her from harm. The two fell to the ground, taking cover behind a nearby barricade. Meanwhile, a partisan, positioned on top of a nearby tower, aimed at the group of Stormtroopers and fired a shot that hit its target with deadly accuracy. The remaining troopers were taken out, and the heroes breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they had survived another intense battle against the forces of the Empire.
The child's mother quickly arrives and takes her daughter. "Thank you."
"Hit the tower!" A stormtrooper cried just when Yelena shot him in the back.
While Yelena wasn't looking, a stormtrooper aims a rocket at the tower and fires. Jyn barely makes it out and runs to cover. Next to the ruins of the tank, partisans gather to take out something from the transport. It was the containers that were filled with Kyber Crystal from the temple.
"This way!" Cassian cried to the group as they ran into an alley.
Yelena and Kate found themselves in the middle of a chaotic situation caused by the rebels led by Saw. They were fighting for their lives and desperately trying to find a way to escape. Cassian tried to shoot where he was taking cover from, but he was in a barrier and couldn't shoot without getting shot. As Yelena skidded along the ground, she quickly ducked to avoid gunfire from one of the Troopers who appeared from an alleyway. She quickly fired back, taking the Trooper down with a precise shot.
Meanwhile, Kate had her trusty bow and arrows and was using them to great effect. She shot one of her arrows with the Pym logo on the tip directly at an AT-ST, causing it to shrink rapidly and then collapse to the ground with a small thud.
However, the two friends were caught off guard when they suddenly came face to face with an Imperial droid that looked exactly like K-2SO. Jyn reacted quickly and shot the droid, which fell to the ground. As K-2SO walked out from behind it, he seemed startled to see the downed droid that looked exactly like him.
"Did you know that wasn't me?" K-2SO asks.
Jyn sheepishly smiled. "Of course!"
"I thought I told you to stay on the ship." Cassian reminded him.
K-2SO started to walk around as one of the troopers Kate shot started to reach for his belt. " You did, but I thought it was boring, and you were in trouble. There are a lot of explosions for two people blending in."
A grenade sails toward K-2SO, but he catches it without looking and throws it backward toward a group of stormtroopers. The grenade explodes, killing the entire squad of stormtroopers. Jyn and Cassian exchange looks.
"You're right, I should just wait on the ship," K-2SO replied sarcastically.
"Remind me when we get back to shoot you again, maybe that'll improve your attitude," Kate replied sarcastically.
Deciding to just leave it be, they started to make their way out of the alley when they ended up walking into a clearing with multiple stormtroopers. They froze and realized this was exactly what they wanted to avoid as they turned around and began walking away not wanting to get into another confrontation out in the open with no cover. But before they could get too far, they were stopped by the troopers.
"Halt! Stop right there!" One of the troopers cried, causing the group to freeze and slowly turn back around. "Where are you taking these prisoners?"
They realized that he was talking to K-2SO, who seemed to be taking a minute to realize that. "These are prisoners?"
"Yes. Where are you taking them?" The trooper asks him.
K-2SO decided to try and play along to get them out without a confrontation. "I am taking them... to imprison them. In prison."
Cassian tried to help the lie. "He's taking us to..."
K-2SO slaps Cassian. "Quiet!" Cassian immediately silenced after that as he was currently in disbelief at what the droid had just done. "And there's a fresh one if you mouth off again!"
'We'll take them from here." The trooper said as a squad approached and handcuffed the four of them.
"That's okay." K-2SO tried to stop this situation. "If you could just point me in the right direction, I can take them, I'm sure. I've taken them this far…" he watched as they were being taken away. "Wait!"
"Hey, droid. You can't take them away! You stay here. We need to check your diagnostics." Another trooper tells K-2SO who immediately seems offended.
"Diagnostics?" I'm capable of running my own diagnostics, thank you very much.
An old-looking man emerges from a doorway, drawing the attention of stormtroopers, and walks towards them, tapping his staff on the ground. "Let them pass in peace! Let them pass in peace." They all felt there was something off about this guy as he walked into the middle of the area with troopers everywhere.
"Hey! Stop right there!" One of the troopers demanded him.
"He's blind." One trooper noticed.
"Is he deaf?" Another asks.
"I said: Stop right there!" The trooper said as he tried to grab him, and the man turned into green smoke. "What the hell?"
"Hello!" Loki cried, causing everyone to look towards him as he stood in the clearing between the troopers and the rebels. He was wearing a new outfit that was mostly made out of green cloth, seeming to be his way of blending in. Of course that was ruined when he was wearing a modified version of his crown that barely left the tip of his head. "I do not believe we have been properly introduced. I am Loki, of Asgard. And I have been burdened with-"
"Freeze!" One of the troops cried as they aimed their weapons at him. "Hands in the air!"
Loki seemed surprised that they actually interrupted him. "Uh, excuse me, but I was in the middle of saying something!"
"Get on the ground or we will open fire!" He demanded Loki.
"Okay, well, if we are going to do this...can you at least aim them at the right person?" Loki asks, pointing in another direction.
The troops seemed confused as one of them seemed to follow his gaze and was shocked when they saw Loki standing there. "Boo," Loki whispered.
"Hey!" The trooper screamed as he tried to shoot Loki, only to be stabbed in the neck with a dagger. "Gah!"
The group of troopers stood there, frozen in shock, as Loki suddenly appeared behind them. His illusion disappeared with a wave of his hand, leaving him standing before them with a sly grin on his face. The troopers quickly raised their blasters and aimed directly at him, ready to fire at the slightest provocation.
Loki, however, was not intimidated at all. He had faced far greater threats in his time as a god and was ready for whatever challenge lay ahead. With a hint of fake sorrow in his voice, he spoke up and said, "It's just not a fair fight..."
With a flick of his wrist, Loki sent a bolt of green energy flying toward the troopers on his left. They tried to dodge it, but it was too fast. One of the troopers was struck by the energy, sending him flying backward and crashing into a nearby wall, causing it to crumble.
The other troopers aimed and opened fire, but Loki was already on the move, dodging and weaving through the barrage of blaster fire with ease. He spun around, his hands moving in a blur as he summoned a burst of flame from thin air. The troopers tried to dodge, but the flames engulfed them, leaving their armor and flesh burning.
Loki chuckled to himself, enjoying the chaos he was causing. He snapped his fingers, and the troopers suddenly found themselves suspended in mid-air, their bodies frozen by the power of his magic.
But the troopers were not so easily defeated. They struggled against the invisible force holding them, trying to break free. One of them managed to break loose, lunging towards Loki with his blaster raised.
Loki was ready for him. He summoned a bolt of lightning and sent it crackling towards the trooper. The man screamed as the electricity surged through his body, and he fell to the ground, twitching and smoking.
The other troopers continued to struggle, but Loki was too powerful for them. He summoned a whirlwind of ice and snow, sending it barreling towards them. The troopers were caught in the freezing storm, their bodies battered by hail and snow.
In just a matter of moments, it was all over. The troopers lay on the ground, battered and broken by Loki's magic. Loki stood over them, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He had won this battle and knew that he would always be victorious as long as he had his magic at his command.
As he looked around at all the chaos he had caused, Loki let out a sigh, "Sad, really. I was hoping for more of a fight from an Empire."
One of the troopers tried to get back up, but an icicle was lodged between his armor. Loki signed and conjured up a dagger, flinging it towards the trooper. Then he noticed that the entire area had been cleared out, but suddenly many more troopers appeared and began to surround him.
Just then, a flying hammer came hurtling towards Loki, almost hitting him as he dodged it. The weapon split off from itself and killed all of the remaining troopers. The hammer then rebuilt itself as it flung back past Loki and towards its owner. It was Jane Foster, who had also appeared on the scene and caught the hammer on its return.
"That was a bit overkill, don't you think, Loki?" Jane asks him.
Without warning, another Loki approached behind her, causing her to jump in fright. It was then revealed that the Loki who had been fighting the Stormtroopers was merely an illusion. "I thought it was spot on," he remarked smugly.
Just as Jane was trying to process this, Kate, Yelena, Cassian, Jyn, and K-2SO emerged from their hiding spot. "Clear of hostiles!" K-2SO announced, his metallic voice ringing out across the empty street. However, their relief was short-lived, as Jane raised her hammer and prepared to fight while Loki raised his hand, magic illuminating from his palm. The tension in the air was palpable as they all noticed the Imperial droid, who seemed to be raising his hands as well. "Two hostiles!" K-2SO warned, his sensors detecting danger.
Jyn suddenly appears in front of K-2SO, her arms raised in the air to signal that the droid with her is not a threat. "He's with us."
Jane and Loki observe the scene and quickly deduce that Jyn and her companion are either prisoners or on a mission and start to lower their weapons. K-2SO starts to unlock their handcuffs, but his movements are slow and hesitant. Not wanting to waste any more time, Loki uses his magical powers to break the cuffs and free them from their restraints.
K-2SO looked to Cassian. "Cassian, I'm sorry about the slap."
"Go back to the ship. Wait for my call." Cassian tells him.
K-2SO leaves obediently. Kate took notice of the two of them and began to realize exactly who one of them was. "Aren't you Loki?"
"Yes." Loki nodded. "I am Loki of Asgard."
"Good to know," Kate said as she walked up and sucker-punched Loki in the face. "That was for my father."
Loki groaned as he rubbed where he was punched. "I guess I deserved that."
"Don't worry, he's getting used to that greeting," Jane assured Kate. "We were in the neighborhood looking for someone. Decided to help out when we saw you guys."
Sif then dropped down from whatever advantage point she was looking up from. "I can't find him. He doesn't seem to be here."
"Well, he must have left something behind." Loki sighed. "He did so on the other places we found him, and he said Jeadh."
"Can you get us to Saw Gerrera's men?" Jyn asks the group of Asgardians.
"Who?" The three of them asked.
As the group of heroes was caught off guard, a swarm of rebels suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They were shouting in different languages, making it difficult for some of the heroes to grasp what was happening. The rebels, led by Saw, quickly encircled the group and disarmed them. The heroes were then handcuffed once again, unable to defend themselves. The Asgardians, who were among the group, chose not to resist as they didn't want to reveal their secrets just yet. One of the rebels attempted to grab Jane's hammer, but she swiftly warned them not to try.
"I wouldn't do that," Jane warned. However, the rebels were not worthy to hold the hammer, and as soon as they touched it, they were pulled down to the ground. "I warned you," Jane remarked with a smirk.
"Can't you see we are not allies to the Empire?" Yelena asks the rebels.
"Tell that to the one who killed our men." One of them stated, eyeing Cassian.
"That was all him." Kate threw him under the bus. "We had nothing to do with it."
"Anyone who kills me or my friends will answer to Saw Gerrera." Jyn dared them.
"And why is that?" He asked.
"Because I am the daughter of Galen Erso," Jyn replied with a grin.
The rebels seemed surprised to hear that. "Take them!"
Sacks are put over everyone's heads and they are surrounded by darkness.
"You wanna tell them we can easily break out of these?" Jane asks Loki.
Loki seemed to consider the idea himself. "Meh, I wanna see where they take us. We can break out later."
(A/N) No offense to Churret or Baze, but they aren't needed for this story, and I wanted to give the other Avengers time to shine in these situations. Besides, with everything happening five years earlier, who knows what they were up to?
And before I get asked, if you recall, Monica killed Moff Tarkin when they rescued the team from the Mustafar System. So, I needed another official of the Empire, and since Thrawn actually does become part of the story later (and likely thanks to Ahsoka's show), I figured to introduce him here. Don't expect much of him yet, this is likely gonna be the only part of the Rogue One arc he is gonna be in.