Kamala, Peter, BD, and Sabine were walking off the Ghost and approaching Hera as she was talking to some people. "Vaux, you're picking up our fighter parts in the market. The crates are labeled "Ronto Meat." And watch out for Imperial troops. They've increased patrols. Good luck."
"You said you had another mission," Peter said. "What do you want us to do?"
"There's a courier coming in who has secret information," Hera tells them. "I need you to pick him up and transport him to Havok outpost."
"Sounds easy enough." Sabine shrugged. "Why send all of us?"
"I figured it was an easy enough mission compared to your last one... and that the incident also caused enough chaos for the galaxy to start widening their search for us," Hera commented, her voice clearly filled with sarcasm. "Something about blowing up some facility?"
"In our defense, the battle destroyed most of the facility," Peter stated. "We just saved the hassle of cleaning it."
Hera didn't need to say anything, that look said everything.
"I am shutting up now," Peter said.
"This information is important. We have to get it through." Hera warned them. "Keep a low profile."
Sabine shrugged and placed her helmet on. "Don't worry. You can trust us."
"What's this courier look like?" Kamala wonders.
"I don't know, but they'll respond to this code phrase," Hera said, sending it to Sabine. "You two and BD will go as her backup. She is in charge, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," Peter said as they walked off. "Man, she really does feel like a mother."
BD chirped back.
"Oh, trust me, May would love her," Peter stated.
The three of them were making their way along a corridor that leads to the docking bay. As they were walking, Sabine stopped and looked over towards the wall where she saw a familiar spray paint on the wall. She approached it and caressed the artwork, feeling like she knew who was responsible for it. That was when she saw a few scratch marks on the walls, making her feel like she knew what happened...
"Uh, what is that?" Peter wonders.
Sabine shook herself free of the memory and looked back at him. "Nothing."
They began to make their way to the docking bay and watched as a shuttle was beginning to land.
"Garel Shuttle 3765 from Coruscant has arrived in Bay 22."
"So how do we find this courier person?" Kamala wonders.
"The code phrase is, "It's a long way to Alderaan"," Sabine informed them.
"Who do we think it is?" Peter wonders.
Kamala looked around and spotted one of the passengers. "Ooh, I think it's this guy." She then made her way over. "Excuse me. It's a long way to Alderaan."
"Okay." The passenger said before walking off.
They began to wonder as they then walked over to just about anyone exiting the shuttle. They kept saying the phrase over and over again, but they were left with the passengers just wandering off.
"Hangar 22 is now closed."
"Seriously?" Kamala asks.
"It's gonna be a long way back to the Ghost if we miss the courier," Peter said as he leaped over to sit on the cargo crates.
"We couldn't have," Sabine stated. "Hera had confirmation he boarded the shuttle. Are you sure you were saying the code phrase right?"
"Are you messing with me?" Peter sounded offended. "How can you screw up a simple phrase as "It's a long way to Alderaan"!?" That was when he heard something going on and he looked down to see a Gonk droid come to life and began to bounce around. "Whoa! What's the matter with this thing?"
Sabine seemed to get it as she saw how the droid reacted to the phrase. "Wait a minute. That is the courier."
"That?" Kamala asked as she and Sabine approached the Gonk. "Wow. Hiding information inside of a droid?"
"Talk about a low profile," Sabine said. "He came in with the cargo payload. He's unit EG-86."
"Nice to meet you, EG," Kamala said politely.
"I don't get why they'd even think to hide such important information in this binary box brain," Peter stated as he knocked the head of the droid.
"Well, would you suspect that thing of being a spy full of secrets?" Sabine asks.
"Mmm, no. I guess not." Peter shrugged.
"That's too bad..." A bounty hunter said from above, getting them to look up, and watched as she dropped down and landed aside the shuttle. "Because I would."
Kamala quickly removed her jacket to show she was wearing her superhero attire underneath and placed on her mask. Peter watched the suit morph around him as it prepared to defend its user.
"Wait." Peter suddenly looked over to Kamala, seeing her attire. "You were wearing that this whole time?"
"Yeah," Kamala confirmed. "Why?"
Sabine however wasn't paying attention when she was looking at the bounty hunter. "Ketsu Onyo."
Then out a know nowhere, another girl landed on the ground. She has white-platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. She possesses a very voluptuous figure accentuating her natural curves. Her outfit consists of a tight black suit with white accents and black goggles. The gloves of her costume form retractable claws at the fingertips.
"Well, well. Looks like the gangs all back together." She said as she looked at Sabine and back to the bounty hunter.
Sabine looked over at her and scoffed. "Felicia Hardy. I saw your marks, old friends."
"Friends?" Ketsu asks. "That's a generous term considering what happened."
Kamala looked at the three of them in confusion. "Uh, you three know each other?"
Sabine seemed to ignore the young girl's question. "Still bounty hunters I see."
Ketsu shrugged. "Tell me you don't miss it."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Peter said. "You were a bounty hunter?" He thought about the implications around that. "That explains a lot, actually."
"I don't think Ketsu and Felicia are here for a reunion," Sabine commented.
"You know me well. I'm just here for the droid." Ketsu stated.
"What a coincidence, so am I," Felicia said.
BD-22 bleeped in worry.
"Not you. Him," Peter said, gesturing towards the Power Droid. "So, Sabine, how do you know them?"
"She never told you guys how she and I broke out of the Imperial Academy?" Ketsu asks.
"Uh... she mentioned the Imperial Acadamy in passing, never the full story," Peter admitted.
Sabine seemed to wanna change the subject. "That was a long time ago. Before you and Cat got greedy and left me for dead."
Felicia chuckled. "You'd have been better off dead than joining this band of rebels," She said, looking at Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel, then she had her eyes on the web-slinger. "So, what's your name, handsome?"
Peter was confused as he looked behind himself then back to Felicia and pointed to himself. "Me? Well. I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
Ketsu then looked over to him and chuckled. "So, you're the Spider-Man that gives the Empire a hard time. To be honest, you're not what I expected."
"Same," Felicia said as she strutted over and caressed his shoulder. "I thought you'd be taller. But, you look handsome."
"Handsome? How can you tell? He's in a mask." Kamala commented.
"Call it a girl's intuition," Felicia said to the young girl, placing her palm against Kamala's face and shoving her away. "Now, shoo. So, Spider, let's say you and I ditch these losers, steal the droid, get the credits, and maybe you could take me on a date?"
"Thanks for the offer. But, no." Peter said, crossing his arms. "Besides, I'm seeing someone."
"Oh. And who would that be?" Felicia wonders.
Sabine snarled at her. "You're looking at her."
Ketsu and Felicia seemed surprised to hear that. "You?"
"Yeah," Sabine stated.
"Well, that works out," Ketsu said as she looked between the three. "There is a high bounty on the three of you."
"You gonna try and collect on it?" Sabine asked, aiming for her blaster.
"Haven't decided yet," Ketsu stated.
"If we do, don't worry, we won't turn you over," Felicia said to Peter, caressing the chest of the suit. "I might decide to keep you."
Kamala looked over and saw Sabine was ready to draw her blaster on everyone. "I dont know who is going to go first..."
"Cat, let the boy go," Ketsu said, getting Felicia to back off, trailing her hand across Peter's chest as she did so. "We work for the Black Sun now, and we have another job to finish before turning you in."
"We can't let you do that," Sabine stated, preparing to draw.
"Is there a way we could settle this without fighting?" Kamala wonders, trying to ease some of the tension. "I mean, we should hurry before-"
"You there!" A Stormtrooper called, getting them to look and see a patrol approaching. "Citizens, what's going on here? There's a curfew on this hanger. You need to leave immediately."
"Hey!" Felicia cried, drawing a smoke bomb. "It's rude to interrupt people!"
Felicia tossed the smoke bomb, giving them a chance to fight back as Kamala created a fist with her powers and punched two troopers with one swing. Peter shot out a tendril that separated into several strands, grabbed the troops by the head,d and slammed them into the ground.
Ketsu and Sabine ran for cover as they opened fire, Sabine shooting s trooper behind a barrier. "Nice shot," Ketsu said. "Good thing you haven't lost your touch!"
Sabine watched Ketsu shoot a troop down. "You haven't either."
That was when dozens of more troops were approaching just as Peter leaped over and swiped his hand, a giant tendril knocking over all of them. Looking back to the droid and up to the shuttle, he decided to get them out. "BD, get Kamala and the living power box on the shuttle!"
BD chirped, feeling like he understood the plan, and raced over to Kamala. Kamala just punched another trooper when BD ran over and leaped onto her shoulder.
"Oh, hey," Kamala greeted him.
BD then chirped, though he realized that she didn't understand him and tried to figure out how to speak. He then gestured over towards the Gonk and over to the shuttle.
"Oh, I think I got it," Kamala said as she then used her powers to create a blockade. She then ran over to the Gonk droid and moved it along. "Come on! Move it!"
Peter then stopped as he watched Kamala begin to get the droid on the carrier. As he was watching, he was too distracted that he missed a trooper getting close. The trooper shot off, hitting Peter in the arm, causing him to wince. He looked down at the scorch mark and watched the suit heal the wound instantly.
"Okay, well, now you are pissing me off!" Peter snarled as he looked over towards the troopers.
"...Kill..."
Peter looked around, wondering where the voice suddenly came from. But he just decided to ignore it as he looked over to the troopers, the suit becoming more alien-like and less slick. "Sabine, get to the shuttle!" He then sent out a powerful tendil which struck a trooper and slammed him into the wall. "I'll handle them..."
Peter then leaped towards another one of the Stormtroopers, yanking them closer so Peter could slam him in the chest, sending him into the air, then Peter ended up slamming him into the ground. Another trooper approached and Peter leaped into the air, latching a tendril onto the man's head and spinning around before slamming him into the ground.
Then there were a few others where Peter latched onto the blaster, the arms and legs, and then yanked the trooper, and punched him out of the landing dock.
Ketsu and Felicia watched all of this and both knew that it was better to leave him to handle the troops and ran to escape. They leaped out of the platform where their ship was parked and flew off to chase Sabine, Kamala, and BD, as they were escaping with their objective.
Peter then slammed the last Trooper into the pavement, slamming his head into the ground and practically burying it in the process. "Hera, I'm gonna need a lift." He called into the comms. "The others have the carrier."
Sabine and Kamala were aboard the shuttle and were beginning to get the shuttle prepared for jumping into Hyperspace while BD was worrying for Peter's safety.
"I'm sure Peter's fine," Sabine told BD. "Now, program the hyperdrive. We need to get to those rendezvous coordinates."
"So... those two girls were your friends?" Kamala asks Sabine.
"A long time ago, Kamala," Sabine said with a sigh. "We got lucky to get away so easily."
BD then bleeped, alerting the two of them he was scanning a ship.
"Scanning a ship?" Sabine asked in shock. "Oh, no."
"I have a feeling that we didn't lose your friends?" Kamala guessed.
That was when a ship came out of their backside and watched the ship fly in front of their ship after shooting their ship several times.
"Yep, that's Ketsu, all right," Sabine said. "She knocked out our hyperdrive, which means I bet I know her next move."
"Which is...?" Kamala asks.
"Just brace yourselves!" Sabine cried.
That was when a blast came and shot the doorway of the shuttle, causing the air to be sucked out and for Kamala to scream, raising her hands and using her Hardlight powers to create a barrier between her and the door.
"Too late!" Sabine cried, grabbing onto the seat for support.
"BD! Gonky! Hang on!" Kamala told the two droids.
"Gonky?!" Sabine asks.
"I named him!" Kamala defended, using her Hardlight powers to create a barrier to save the two droids as well as Sabine.
BD however slipped past the barrier and was sucked outward. "BD!" The girls cried, watching as the small droid got flung from the vacuum of space and panicked.
"I gotta seal the hatch!" Sabine cried.
"Hang on! I have an idea!" Kamala said, beginning to approach the doorway with her Hardlight barrier, which she then covered. "Go!"
Sabine ran over and activated the shield barrier, allowing Kamala to drop the Hardlight barrier she made with a slight sigh of relief. She then removed her helmet and marched over to the controls with a groan.
"Next time I steal a ship, it'll be one with guns," Sabine told Kamala.
Outside of the ship, BD was floating around, waving his legs around before seeing there was nothing else to do but try out Peter's improvements he made on the droid. A while back, he began improving the old droid, by giving him a small thruster in his underside which he could activate and he then used that thruster to fly off towards Ketsu and Felicia's ship.
"No hard feelings, Sabine," Ketsu said over a hologram. "It's not personal, just business."
"And speaking of business, here's the deal because we are such old friends," Felicia said. "Toss out the power droid, and we'll let you live."
"And if I refuse?" Sabine asks.
"We'll blow up the shuttle and scoop my bounty from the debris."
Kamala tapped Sabine's shoulder, gesturing towards their ship and she noticed BD flying over and using his magnetic locks to latch onto the ship and approach their guns, where he then began to use the torch to destroy their weapons.
"I don't believe it," Sabine said in shock.
"You better believe it," Ketsu stated. "I'll do whatever it takes to complete my mission."
"No, I- I don't believe you can do it," Sabine told them. "Felicia, you thrived on never harming people.
"Maybe that was true once, but I've changed more than you realize," Felicia told her. "I have new loyalties now."
"Right," Sabine said with a scoff. "Finally part of Black Sun. Just like we always dreamed."
"We've got the best weapons, best ship, and feared across the galaxy," Ketsu stated.
"Ugh," Sabine said with a groan. "I can't believe I wanted that."
"Who is the Black Sun?" Kamala asks Sabine.
"The Black Sun are slavers and assassins who don't care about anything but body counts and quotas." Sabine recapped to Kamala and then eyed the hologram again. "They'd kill you too, for a profit."
"Speaking of which, your time is up," Ketsu said, ignoring her words. "Now hand over the droid."
Sabine looked over and noticed BD was giving a pitter-patter dance to show he completed his task of destroying their weapons. "You can't do it."
"I really wish it hadn't come to this, old friend," Ketsu said, preparing to fire, only to get alerts over their screens.
"What?" Ketsu asked just as BD tapped on the window, getting them to look up and see him. "You!? What have you done?"
"So long, old friend," Sabine said as they flew away with BD using his own thruster to fly off as they flew off, and Ketsu and Felicia flew after them.
"I'll hold her steady," Sabine tells Kamala. "Just get him inside."
Kamala ran over to the hatch and watched as it opened and BD came flying over. Kamala reached her hand out, avoiding letting her hand slip into space as BD was closing in. But that was when Ketsu came in and activated their tractor beam. BD chirped crazy as he was being dragged off, dragged from the others and into their own ship.
"BD!" Kamala cried in terror.
BD chirped in panic as he turned and saw that the ship was hovering over him as he was dragged into the cargo hold.
"Where's BD?" Sabine asked as Kamala and Gonky were frantically talking. "Calm down. Both of you. "What are you saying? Kamala?"
"They took him," Kamala answered.
Sabine sighed and should have seen that coming. She then knew that they had no other choice as they turned the ship around to face their own.
"All right, girls," Sabine called out to them. "Let's make a trade."
"I'll extend the docking ramp and get your little friend ready," Ketsu said.
Felicia dropped downward to the small droid. BD bleeped and bounced around and was stopped by Felicia drawing her claws. "Don't test me, little guy. Your master might be cute, but I am not one to spare droids..."
BD immediately cut it out and stayed still as he quaked a little. Flying over towards the ship, they docked their ships together.
"Try anything, and I'll disintegrate you," Ketsu tells BD. She then opened the doorway and pointed to Felicia. "Stay with him."
Sabine opened the doorway on her side and pointed to Kamala and to Gonky. "Stay here with him."
"Got it," Kamala said.
Ketsu then approached while Felicia stood in the doorway to keep BD from running off. She then marched over towards the center of the pathway as they stood against one another.
"Well, well." Ketsu scoffed. "While I've changed, it seems you haven't changed at all." She then noticed Kamala was guarding the droid. "You're not giving up the courier, are you?"
"Nope," Sabine stated. "You're gonna have to take him."
"And this Explorer droid," Ketsu said, gesturing to Felicia and BD. "Not very smart, sticking your neck out for it."
"BD's more than a droid," Sabine stated. "He's a rebel and a friend."
"Oh, Sabine," Ketsu said with a sigh as she removed her mask. "We were once friends. Tell you what. Give me the power droid, and we'll share our cut with you three ways like we used to."
"I don't do things just for money anymore," Sabine stated.
"That's right." Ketsu scoffed. "Now there's "the cause." Do you really think your little rebel group can overthrow the Empire? Grow up, little sister. You can't be that foolish."
"Once we were like sisters," Sabine said with a sigh, looking between the two thieves she used to see as her family. "But... We only cared about ourselves."
"It's called survival." Felicia shrugged. "You, of all people, should know you can't trust anyone."
Sabine looked at Felicia and noticed how she rarely looked her in the eye. "I forgive you."
"For what?" Felicia asks.
"For leaving me for dead," Sabine stated. "And I still trust you."
"And you're wrong."
"I met people who gave me a second chance in life, and that's what I'm giving you two," Sabine said, watching their faces as they seemed to consider it.
"Imperial cruiser to Garel shuttle 63725." A voice came through the comms. "Your craft has been identified as stolen. Prepare to be boarded."
"Uh, should we look into that?" Kamala asks, gesturing to a giant shuttle out the window.
Sabine looked towards the others and saw they all had the same idea. "Looks like we're friends again."
"Don't have much of a choice." Ketsu scoffed as they all ran into the other ship.
"Hold position for docking. Attempt to flee, and you will be fired upon."
"Thanks to your little rust bucket, I've got no firepower," Ketsu tells Sabine.
"And as long as we're docked to this shuttle, we can't use the Shadow Caster's hyperdrive to escape," Felicia added.
"BD, overload the hyperdrive on the shuttle," Sabine tells the droid who got to work.
"What are you doing?" Felicia asks.
"Buying us time," Sabine stated as she contacted the ship. "Attention, Imperial vessel. Please be aware, our ships have suffered extensive damage And are in danger of self-destruction."
Seems they bought the lie. "Shuttlecraft, you have two minutes to stabilize. Then we will be coming aboard."
"What can you do in two minutes?" Kamala wonders.
"Watch," Sabine stated as she walked over to the pathway. "BD, purge the reactor, then get over to the Shadow Caster and prepare to disengage the docking tube on my signal."
"You're going to blow up the shuttle?" Felicia asks before getting the idea. "Which will get us the time we need to make our escape... clever girl."
"I should have known." Ketsu laughed. "You always liked to make things go boom."
"Something I learned from you," Sabine stated. "Still got the armory of explosives you used to carry?"
"On my ship," Ketsu said as she led them over to the box and showed the detonators. "Only friends I've ever needed."
"Until today," Sabine stated. "I'll plant them on the shuttle to give the reactor an extra kick."
"That's the Sabine I remember," Felicia told her.
"Now you get sentimental." Sabine scoffed as she raced across the carrier. "Just get the Shadow Caster ready to fly."
"Imperial cruiser to shuttle." They called in again. "We are reading a power surge on your vessel. Your reactor core is unstable. Contain the problem immediately."
"It is looking pretty bad over here," Sabine said as she dropped the bombs on the controls. "I'd keep my distance if I were you."
"Whichever one of you thieves is in charge, identify yourself."
"You should probably talk to the captain," Sabine said as she began to wake up the droid captain. "Hey, Captain." She then smacked him to wake him up. "Wake up!"
"Not take no for an answer!" The droid said, finally waking up.
"Your ship is under attack," Sabine said to him. "You need to exercise emergency protocol."
"Under attack?"
"See that Imperial cruiser out there? It's getting ready to destroy your shuttle for being stolen." Sabine said, gesturing to the vessel outside.
"Destroy my ship?" He asked.
"Time to go!" Kamala said as she raced across the carrier, seeing that the Imperial cruiser would destroy them.
Kamala began to run down the corridor just as they were beginning to be fired upon, only for the Imperial vessel to begin firing as Kamala was shaken and fell and knocked out on the second vessel while on the cruiser Sabine fell backward due to the shockwave and was knocked unconscious.
"I think they're onto us," Felicia said from the pilot seat.
"Droid, release the docking tube, or we're all gonna die," Ketsu demanded, sliding down to talk to BD.
BD bleeped, warning that he wouldn't leave without Sabine on board. Ketsu then looked off towards the other shuttle and saw that they weren't going to leave her. Ketsu groaned and knew that this was the right thing and ran across the ship to grab Sabine.
"We have sustained severe damage. Engaging emergency protocols. Full power to the thrusters! Warning! I have engaged emergency protocols."
"Good for you!" Ketsu said as she woke Sabine up and they ran down the docking tube.
"Detecting a reactor malfunction. How did that happen? Where am I?"
"Happy now, droid?" Ketsu asks BD. "Get us outta here!"
Just before they could escape, their ship was caught in a tractor beam and they were being dragged off towards the Imperial shuttle.
"It's too late," Ketsu said. "They've got us."
"Not for long," Sabine said.
"Are those explosives?" The captain asked just as they went off, causing an explosion near the Imperial ship.
The tractor beam stopped and Felicia dropped them into Hyperspace, blasting off as fast as they could.
Flying to the rendevous point, they flew and landed on the platform where they saw R2. Kamala was eager to see the droid again as she giggled and ran over to the droid.
"Hey there, R2!" Kamala greeted him in joy.
R2 bleeped in seeing his friend and shook in joy.
"Missed you, too!" Kamala said with a laugh.
Sabine then approached with Gonky at her side. "You can report to Senator Organa that his intel has arrived safe and sound."
R2 then bleeped at BD who bleeped and talked back at him as they then left BD with the others and made their way off.
"Let's get you home," Ketsu tells the two rebels.
Flying back to the docking bay they escaped from, Peter watched as the ship came in for a landing with a confused look.
"So this is really happening?" Peter asked in surprise. "Last I saw these girls, they were gonna shoot each other."
"If I'm not mistaken, when we first met you, we thought you were nuts," Hera replied.
Peter scoffed when he remembered when they first met one another. BD then exited the ship and ran over to Peter, and used his rocket to fly upward and land on Peter's shoulder.
"Looks like you got pretty banged up," Peter said, noticing the scratches and bruises on his droid. He then noticed Sabine approaching with Kamala. "That's the last time I lent you my droid."
"Hey, you know I can fix the paint job easily," Sabine told him.
Peter chuckled. "I want him as good as new."
"No promises," Sabine said as she removed her helmet.
"Congratulations on a successful mission," Hera told them. "Thank you for helping our cause." She told Ketsu and Felicia.
"Well, it was mostly an accident," Ketsu admitted.
"We're not sure we're ready for a full-on fight with the Empire just yet," Felicia replied.
"No one ever is," Hera said.
"I'm Peter by the way," Peter said. "We never got to really introduce earlier."
"Oh, we know," Ketsu said.
"Sabine told us all about you," Felicia said with a coy smile.
"She did?" Peter asked, looking towards Sabine. "Well, uh, what, what'd she say? I mean, it was all good, right?"
"Peter, mind if we talked?" Sabine asks.
"Oh, sure," Peter said, pushing Kamala. "Come on, kid."
"Oh! Uh, you mean, you two, need a moment, right." Kamala understood as she followed.
"You could've left me on that shuttle, taken the droids, and made a good profit." Sabine reminded her.
"It's only money." Ketsu shrugged.
"We'll make more somewhere," Felicia shrugged.
"Thank you," Sabine said.
"It must be nice to have people backing you up," Ketsu said. "I had that once when we were all friends. Haven't had that since."
"Look, if you think you'd want to help us out and make a difference, just let us know," Sabine told them.
"I'll think about it," Ketsu said.
"That's a start," Sabine said as they headed off to their ship and left.
"Think that's the last we've seen them?" Kamala asks.
"No, and I'm glad," Sabine said with a smile.
Hera then became worried about something as Peter left. "Sabine?" She called out. "Can I have a word?"
Sabine then shrugged and followed after Hera. "What's wrong?"
"When we arrived here... after you left... we found bodies," Hera said in concern. "Chopper pulled the footage. Most of them... were from Peter."
Sabine was shocked to hear Peter was responsible upfront for the deaths of the troopers. "What?"
"It was... ugly," Hera said. "He used the suit. I am beginning to question what that thing is doing to him."
"The science experiment?" Sabine asks. "Gwen said it was body armor Serena was working on, isn't it?"
"Far as she is concerned," Hera said, doubting that Gwen would lie about something like this. "I think that suit is doing something. Just... keep an eye on him."
"And let's hope that Pym and the others can fix his old suit," Sabine said in worry. "Maybe he'll get rid of it when it's fixed."
That night, Peter lay tangled in his sheets, tossing and turning in a fitful state of torment. His dreams had warped into a nightmarish landscape, seemingly invaded by an ominous force... or perhaps, something darker. The Symbiote, tightened its grip on Peter, melding with him deeper with each fleeting moment they were intertwined. He found himself surrounded by his friends, their faces twisted in anguish, while shadows cloaked the galaxy in a suffocating darkness.
But then, through the haze of despair, a glimmer of hope pierced the gloom. He glimpsed an alternate reality—a path illuminated by the prospect of victory where he and his comrades flourished, rising against the oppressive Empire to triumph once and for all.
"We have the power to alter the fate of this war," the Symbiote whispered seductively, filling Peter's mind with vivid images of colossal Star Destroyers reduced to smoldering wrecks wrapped in the Symbiote tendrils. "You can bring the Emperor to his knees." He then looked on as hundreds of Stormtroopers were rising from the floor while covered in Symbiote tendrils as if they were zombies and kneeled before Peter. "We can save the galaxy. Embrace us... surrender to our strength, and we will achieve what others deem impossible. Save everyone."
Peter looked around, disoriented, as he became aware of his surroundings as the Star Destroyer vanished and smoke covered everything. He now stood amidst the remains of shattered shuttles, littering the barren ground, and in the distance loomed a foreboding throne crafted from obsidian, overshadowed by a temple that pulsated with unease.
The architecture, though majestic, emanated a chilling aura that weighed heavily on his chest. He had not visited many temples in the galaxy, but something about this dreary place felt inherently wrong—as if it were a maw of darkness, eager to consume him.
"We will save everyone. Together..." the Symbiote urged, its voice smooth and insistent, wrapping around his thoughts like a thick fog.
An instinctive shiver coursed through Peter's spine. This felt like a treacherous bargain, a sinister ploy cloaked in the guise of salvation. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, he jolted awake, his heart racing in his chest. Sweat dripped from his brow, and his trembling hands clutched the bedspread tightly. It was just a dream, he reassured himself, desperately clinging to the hope that it was merely a twisted figment of his imagination. At least, he fervently hoped...