Chapter X – The Interstellar Express: Another Ride / Scarif or bust

The group of Spider-Man Space Pirates was flabbergasted, so Lieutenant Strange repeated himself again: “You just came from the Space Piece, didn’t you know that?”

“You mean we were the Space Piece all along?” Peter gasped, “That’s weird… and strangely philosophical.”

“No, it’s just weird,” Luke said, “Where are we now then?”

“You’re still in the universe as it exists,” the lieutenant replied, “But you’re outside of something which we call The Singularity, or the AO3. Though not many know where that abbreviation stands for.”

“Do you?” Goku asked.

“No.”

“Look at the monitor,” Alpha Five said, punching in a few commands on his console, “I think I understand what he means.”

The screen which had previously displayed the planet Earth and the USS Gin now switched to what lay behind them: an enormous swirling mass of barely visible matter and energy, larger than the planet itself, perhaps even larger than the sun in the distance that barely illuminated this strange mass. “What is that?” Peter gasped.

“The AO3 Singularity,” Lieutenant Strange repeated, “A massive disruption in time, space and reality. It is often also referred to as “that piece of space” or The Space Piece.”

“The Space Piece is real,” Grimlock repeated his own words, “I never would have known…”

“What is it exactly?” Luke asked, “Is this the Multiverse that Doctor Strange spoke off?”

“I suppose you could describe it like that,” Lieutenant Strange said, “It is a realm where past, present, reality and fiction meet, where worlds cross over into each other and where stories come to life. It is something that should not exist and.. it is growing.”

“It’s encroaching on your universe?” Alpha Five concluded.

“It is,” Lieutenant Strange nodded, “It was discovered weeks ago and has grown exponentially since. We expect it will consume our solar system within a matter of weeks, the galaxy in years. We don’t know if the expansion will stop or if it will continue until it has consumed and corrupted everything.”

“That’s impossible,” Luke said, “Hondo Ohnaka must have gone here over a decade ago; yet this singularity of yours is only weeks old? Then where did he travel to?”

“Hondo Ohnaka appeared from the singularity a little over a week ago,” Lieutenant Strange said, “Time clearly flows differently within the Singularity so it might have been different for you guys. He caused quite a ruckus too, so Captain Reynolds was a little on edge when you mentioned him. I think he still is.”

“I don’t blame him,” Grimlock said, “We really shouldn’t be here. Just our presence outside of the Singularity could already further destabilize the space-time continuum, and cause the Singularity to grow even faster.”

“It’s probably already too late for that,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “The Singularity is already bleeding past its outer edges, and messing with our reality; Captain Reynolds isn’t supposed to exist, rather he should be an actor making heroes about funny characters and grumpy superheroes; yet few remember that expect of him, or regard it as a piece of fiction. And me, I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to exist here either, that Doctor Strange name you mentioned, it had a familiar ring to it; heck, I don’t even know if planet Earth is supposed to even have a space force.”

“It sounds like a very problematic event,” Peter said, “Do you have any idea how this can be reversed? Can it even be reversed?”

“We’re not sure,” Lieutenant Strange said, “We have been able to probe some of the singularity but most of it is unknown to us. It’s clearly bigger on the inside than the visible outside, the fact that you describe a galaxy within it confirms that; but we know precious little, except that whatever is driving the expansion exists within the Singularity itself.”

“You are certain of this?” Goku asked.

“Every reading we could confirm, does seem to indicate that,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “But we can’t find out the source, nor can we stop the process from the outside.”

“Have you tried entering the singularity?” Peter asked, “If we could get out of it, and Hondo returned as well, then it makes sense that it’s a two way system, right?”

“That’s what we figured as well,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “We sent someone in a few days ago, but he never returned, and we lost all contact. it has put the top brass quite on edge on any next steps.”

“So no new plans to enter the singularity?” Peter asked.

“Not officially,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “But I would volunteer with a heartbeat. If only to find out what happened to Commander Yang.”

“Wait,” Luke said, realizing the name sounded familiar, “Did you say Commander Yang? Welt Yang?”

The lieutenant’s gaze brightened up with hope: “You know Commander Yang?”

“The place where we met was a massive interplanetary transport system called the Interstellar Express. We also met some of its crew, including Welt Yang,” Luke explained.

“Incredible,” Lieutenant Strange gasped, “Did he say anything about the universe outside the Singularity?”

“Nothing,” Luke shook his head, “If anything, he had been a pivotal member of the Interstellar Express for many years.”

“That makes no sense with any calculations we’ve made,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “Even with the different way time flows inside the Singularity, no more than a few weeks should have passed. Time really does work differently inside the AO3.”

“According to Hondo Ohnaka’s final words, the one who found The Space Piece would inherit it, his greatest treasure,” Peter said, “Never would I expected it to be something like this.”

“Knowledge is a treasure on its own,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “And I can imagine it would upset quite a few people inside the Singularity if they found out the truth.”

“Why?” Goku asked, “Don’t they want to know the truth?”

“Only if it’s convenient,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “An uncomfortable truth would lead to discord and maybe even panic; those in power might lose their power, and would seek to avoid that.”

“What do we do now?” Luke asked, “This really changes everything.”

“I want to enter the Singularity,” Lieutenant Strange said, “It’s the only way to find out what happened to Commander Yang, and to find out the truth about the Singularity itself. But my superiors would never allow such a mission, especially not after you people emerged.”

“Then come with us,” Peter offered suddenly.

“Excuse me?” Luke asked.

“Wait what?” a flabbergasted Lieutenant Strange said. 

“We’re going back into the Singularity,” Peter Parker explained, “Now that we know what it is, I think the true quest lies within, and it’s probably also why Hondo Ohnaka went back. I want to get back there and you can come with us. Don’t ask for permission. Be a pirate.”

“Course is already laid in,” Alpha Five announced, “We can leave anytime we want to. But Captain Reynolds has also been hailing us again, he wants Lieutenant Strange to return to his ship and for us to power down our engines.”

“We just learned that Captain Reynolds isn’t real but is an actor affected by the Singularity,” Peter replied, “So by that knowledge, we don’t need to take orders from him. In fact, it would be wiser if we don’t do that, and do the exact opposite.”

“Activating engines,” Alpha Five replied, “Taking us back in.”

The Black Sun Pearl immediately jumped to live and moved forward a bit before gradually changing course and eventually turning 180 degrees. The USS Gin came to life shortly later as well in response and opened fire on the pirate ship, but the Black Sun Pearl was much faster and more agile and had a head start, so none of the shots fired hit the freighter.

“Hang on,” Alpha Five, “Impacting Singularity in three… two… one..!”

And then the universe around them disappeared again for a moment and they were surrounded by a pitch blackness. That is, until the stars returned and Alpha Five had to make an emergency course correction, to avoid slamming directly into what appeared to be the side of the Interstellar Express. 

“Was that the Interstellar Express?!” Luke shouted out, while Alpha Five was trying to keep control of the ship.

“We didn’t reappear at the moon of Thundera?!” Grimlock wondered.

“It would seem a lot about this Singularity is unstable and unpredictable,” Lieutenant Strange said, “Or maybe we just don’t understand it yet. And… was that a train in space?”

“The Interstellar Express,” Luke answered, “The vessel we told you about. And fortune is with it, because that’s where we’ll also find Welt Yang!”

“It looks like we’re somewhere in the vicinity of the Dantooine system,” Alpha Five reported, “That would make sense, as it is one of the destinations of the Interstellar Express.”

“But a good distance away from Thundera,” Luke said, “We’re not even in the unknown regions anymore.”

“Send a message to the Interstellar Express,” Peter told Alpha Five, “Tell them we want to meet up with Welt Yang after they have landed on the planet. Then take us down to the surface as well.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Alpha Five agreed.

After a message to the space train and a brief interaction Alpha Five plotted a course to the planet surface, landing the Black Sun Pearl in proximity of the Interstellar Express’ designated landing site. Not much later after they had exited the spaceship did they watch the massive space train as it descended from orbit, touching down on the planet surface.

The group of Spider-Man pirates waited until the passengers with Dantooine as their destination had left the train, then approached it, finding Pom Pom and their team already waiting for them. Most of them were in a calm mood, but Pom  Pom was literally fuming and stomping their little feet. Something had clearly upset him. “I wonder what they are so mad about,” Goku wondered.

“You brutes almost crashed into my beautiful Interstellar Express!” Pom Pom fumed when they got close enough, “How can you be so reckless?!”

“Aye yi yi! What an anxious little thing!” Alpha Five exclaimed.

“We’re sorry, Pom Pom,” Luke said, apologizing while kneeling down, “We really didn’t have any control of our vessel for a moment, it was never our intention to cause a panic.”

“Hmpf, as long as you watch yourselves from now on,” Pom Pom replied, angrily folding their arms and looking away, offended. 

“Perhaps you would care to elaborate a little more about that,” Tony Stark suggested, “We didn’t see anything dropping out of Hyperspace. It’s as if you simply suddenly were there all of a sudden, right in our path.”

“In a way, I think we were,” Peter replied, “It’s a complicated story.”

“I would love to hear it,” Tony Stark replied with a smug grin.

“Commander Yang!” Lieutenant Strange suddenly blurted out when he spotted Welt Yang, “It really is you!”

“Lieutenant Strange?” Welt Yang replied, visibly surprised, “Is that really you? You look like you haven’t aged a day.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “But much less time has passed for me when compared to you. For me, you were only gone for a few weeks.”

“Inconceivable,” Welt Yang murmured, rubbing his chin, “It has been nearly twenty years for me. I even witnessed the life of Hondo Ohnaka on the galactic news here. I have been flung back in time. Or perhaps something different happened, that we can’t explain.”

“Would still love to hear an attempt though,” Tony tried to interrupt, overcome with curiosity.

“You two know each other?” Ben Solo asked, “Isn’t that a great thing?”

“We did, a long time ago, in a life I had almost forgotten,” Welt Yang replied, “And I never believed I would have a chance to return to it someday.”

“We’re not sure if we can or should,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “The situation outside the Anomaly is a stalemate. If we’re going to change something, it needs to happen here.”

“Still confused,” Tony Stark reminded them.

“I was afraid of that,” Welt Yang continued their conversation, “In that case we need to act fast. I think I know where we need to go, but before that there is someone we must recruit first.”

“Who is that?” Peter asked.

“The greatest Jedi Knight who ever lived, even greater than the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Welt Yang replied, “We need to find Anakin Skywalker.”

“My father,” Luke gasped.

“Your father?” Welt Yang repeated, “That will make things a lot easier, hopefully. Can you tell us where he is?”

“Of course I can,” Luke said, slightly annoyed, “I would know where my own father is, of course. In fact, I was on my way to meet him, before I joined Spider-Man here on his adventure as a space pirate.”

“That’s great,” Welt Yang smiled, “We had best leave right away then. Since we don’t know the way time works, it’s best not to take any chances and hurry when we can.”

“Pom Pom doesn’t like speeding though,” Pom Pom protested.

“Of course,” Welt Yang smiled, “You, Tony and Ben keep an eye on the Express for me, will you? I need to join these fine… pirates. There is something I must do.”

“After all these years building a reputation aboard the Interstellar Express you’re going to join a band of space pirates now?” Tony Stark asked, “Wow. Not the career move I expected.”

“I’m sure the Express will be fine with all of you,” Welt Yang smiled, “But sometimes destiny catches up with you. Thank you all for having me, my friends.”

“Just make sure you stay safe,” Pom Pom huffed.

“I will,” Welt smiled.

“Make sure you make some headlines,” Tony grinned.

“I won’t let you down,” Welt grinned back.

The group left with Welt Yang as their latest team member, even though he technically hadn’t joined the Spider-Man pirates… yet. Behind them, the Interstellar Express was already making preparations for departure again. Welt wondered if he would ever see that magnificent train again. 

“Where to then?” Alpha Five asked, “Where do we find your father, Luke?”

“In his last message he told me the Emperor had sent him to the imperial world of Scarif. He didn’t give much details, so it would have been a mission with classified information.”

“He probably won’t like us dropping in on him then,” Welt surmised, “We might be walking into something, by the sound of it.”

“I’m sure we’ll be alright,” Luke smiled, “He’s been on special missions before. And it usually didn’t bother him if I visited then.”

“Very well then,” Alpha Five concluded and seated himself behind the navigational controls, “Plotting a course for Scarif.”

“What can you tell me about Scarif?” Lieutenant Strange asked as the freighter began to take off, “What kind of world is it?”

“It’s a tropical planet,” Peter replied, “And the Empire has some sort of presence there, something secret; there isn’t a lot known about it in normal media, or on the holo web.” 

“It’s a knowledge center,” Luke replied, “My dad sometimes talked about it; the whole planet is a massive collection of data, an archive of all sorts of information relevant to the Empire. Sensitive information as well, so access to the planet is classified and very limited. It won’t be easy to get in.” 

“It can’t be that hard, right?”  Peter guessed, “We can just get a fake ID to make us look like a normal freighter, or mask ourselves to their sensors, right? Those are some of the oldest pirate tricks out there.” 

“Scarif is different,” Luke protested, “The entire planet has been sealed off by a massive energy shield. Even the Empire’s strongest firepower can’t breach that easily. We need to get past that shield somehow. But there is only one entrance, and it is heavily guarded by some wily people.” 

“That’s some pretty advanced security,” Lieutenant Strange said, rubbing his goatee, “The Empire really must want to keep people out of there.”

“Mostly they want to keep data in,”  Welt Yang replied, “Data can be dangerous. It could be used to blackmail people, and there could be schematics to some powerful weaponry there. You wouldn’t want that kind of knowledge getting out. It’s a clever solution to console your knowledge like that, albeit a bit risky, and a bit extreme.”

“A tad much extreme,” Goku said “So what do we do now? Wear disguises?”

“The shield entrance still seems to be the weak point in this defense,” Welt Yang surmised, “I’ll come up with a plan as we travel there; I will need access to the holo web though.” 

“That’s no problem,”  Alpha Five said, “The Black Sun Pearl has access, and several advanced encryption devices to prevent us from being tracked. You can use the system here.”

“Excellent,” Welt Yang, “I’ll get busy then. The rest of you, take some time to prepare. Even when we get past the energy shield, I doubt this is going to be an easy voyage.”

“Aye sir,” Alpha Five replied and entered the final coordinates of their destination. Once again the familiar distortion of Hyperspace surrounded them as the Black Sun Pearl shot off towards this destination, and the first brush against the Galactic Empire for the Spider-Man Pirates. 

Several hours had gone by on the pirates’ Hyperspace journey. Finally Welt called the group together, as he had come up with an idea, and had worked out the details and necessities as well. “What did you get?” Grimlock asked.

“I’ve created a fake ID for myself and Peter,” Welt said, “I will be an Imperial auditor come to inspect the shield system, and Peter will be my assistant. Luke Skywalker will accompany us as well as himself, to throw some weight around and add credibility. We will tour the facility and act like real auditors.”

“And what about the rest of us?” Grimlock asked, “Do we wait until you sabotage the system from within?”

“There will be no sabotage,” Welt shook his head, “That would alert security and send the whole planet after us; we might be able to avoid a confrontation for a short while, but we’d never last. And we would never be able to reach Anakin Skywalker that way.”

“Then what is the plan?” Goku asked.

“During our inspection, you will fake an interstellar message from Coruscant,” Welt replied, “You, Goku, will pretend to be the Emperor himself, with a special mission.”

“That will be credible,” Luke said sarcastically.

“It will work,” Welt assured, “Even if Goku’s performance isn’t all that good, the Emperor is beloved and respected across the galaxy. No one will even consider that someone would imitate him for personal gain, nor will they doubt his genuinity.” 

“That’s a big gamble,” Peter said.

“It’s not that bad,” Welt replied, “There have been instances like this in the past, but they were either covered up or they simply worked. We’ll be fine, I have no doubt about this.”

“So what’s the message the Emperor will relay?” Alpha Five asked.

“The Emperor will say that he has a special assignment for Anakin Skywalker,” Welt explained, “And that he will send the information to Luke Skywalker, due to the classified nature of it all. Then he will order Luke to go down to the planet to talk to his father and inform him of this… mission.”

“It’s not entirely untrue either, since that’s what we’re seeking him out for,” Luke shrugged.

“Best case, the commander on site will allow us to go with him; worst case, Anakin has some alone time with his father, and can still convince him to help us.”

“It will be difficult to convince him without telling him what is going on,” Luke replied, “Even when he’s son is asking for it.” 

“We need him to accompany us to Coruscant,” Welt replied, “He’s the fastest and most reliable way to get an audience with the Emperor.”

“I wonder if I’ll be able to convince him of that,” Luke said, “But I’ll give it a shot.”

“Very well then, we have our plan,” Welt replied, “How long until we arrive at Scarif?”

“Just thirty more minutes,” Alpha Five reported, “You’d best get that imperial uniform on, if you want to make a convincing impression.”

“All right then,” Peter grinned, “Into the fold we go.”

Scarif

Not much later the freighter shipped drop out of Hyperspace and Alpha Five sent a course towards the jungle planet, guiding the Black Sun Pearl towards the entrance of the massive planet encompassing energy shield. Not much later were they picked up by the planet’s security forces and they received an incoming message: “Attention unknown vessel, identify yourself and state your business. This is a restricted area.”

“This is the imperial freighter Savage Opress,” Alpha Five replied, “I have aboard the Imperial Auditor Wilhuff Tarkin who has come to inspect your shield system.”

“Your arrival is not  in our flight plan,” the person on the other side announced, “And Auditor Tarkin’s visit is most unexpected.”

“That is the general purpose of an unexpected audit,” Alpha Five replied, “I am sending you our travel log and mission statement, you will find everything to be in order.”

Alpha Five cut the transmission and sent the falsified information to the planet. There was a few minutes of silence as the falsified data was being processed. The crew was nervous, hoping the Imperial forces would fall for their trick, but Welt Yang seemed confident enough that their plan would work.

Then, minutes later the transmission was restored and the planetary commander replied: “Everything checks out, Savage Opress. You may continue and dock with the shield station. Someone will be there to pick you up.” – and the transmission was cut off.

“Looks like it worked,” Grimlock said, “Easier than expected.”

“Or they know what’s up and there will be a whole platoon of Stormtroopers waiting for us when we dock,” Luke said.

“Only one way to find out,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “Take us in, Alpha Five.”

The shuttle approached the main entrance to the Scarif energy shield, which was surrounded by a massive orbital base. The Black Sun Pearl landed, and just as planned Welt Yang, Peter Parker and Luke Skywalker left the ship and met up with the local commander who was already waiting for them, accompanied by a pair of Stormtroopers acting as guard; no massive platoon of soldiers waiting for them, fortunately!

“Lord Tarkin,” the commander greeted them, “Welcome to Scarif. Your visit is most unexpected.”

“The Emperor wished it that way,” Welt Yang replied, “Don’t worry, we only wish to tour this facility, make sure the administration is in order. It won’t be a full audit.”

“That pleases me,” the commander replied, “We are quite busy, as you might have heard we recently received a large shipment of archival material from Coruscant. We’re still processing that.”

“Very well,” Welt replied, “Show me the administration on that then.”

“One moment,” the commander replied, as one of his assistants began accessing a console, “It’ll take a few moments to access it and deactivate the encryption.”

“Commander,” the assistant replied, “We have an incoming transmission from Coruscant. It’s Emperor Palpatine in person!”

“What?!” the commander said, taken by surprise, “What would the Emperor want with us, especially now? Put it through, lieutenant!”

The assistant nodded and moments later a holographic image of Emperor Palpatine appeared, though it was in fact Son Goku in disguise, which you could barely make out if you paid close enough attention to the details. “My Lord,” the commander greeted his emperor. 

“Commander, what’s up?” the Emperor greeted them, which led to some confusion, “I mean, what is the status of your station?”

“All operation at optimum efficiency,” the commander reassured, “We’re almost done processing Coruscant’s data; I was just showing your auditor this.” 

“Ah yes, Auditor Tarkin,” the Emperor replied, “That brings us to my reason for contacting you.”

“We are at your service, My Emperor,” the commander replied.

“I have an important message for Anakin Skywalker, who is on the surface of Scarif,” the Emperor replied, “The blonde haired boy in front of you is his son; you will allow him passage to the surface so he can deliver my message and will.”

“It shall be done, my lord,”  the commander replied.

“Secondly, Auditor Tarkin’s crew is to be rewarded. Have some of your finest food brought to the shuttle so they may enjoy the Empire’s hospitality,” the Emperor ordered.

“Goku…”  Luke groaned. 

“It… it shall be done, my lord,” the commander assured after a moment of hesitation. The order had sounded unusual.

“Excellent,” the Emperor replied, “You shall be rewarded for your service, commander. I look forward to hearing good news in the near future.”

Then the transmission ended and they were alone again. “Prepare a shuttlecraft for the young Skywalker,”  the commander ordered, “Meanwhile, we will continue with the audit.”

The shuttlecraft left, carrying Luke and a small escort down to the surface, while Welt Yang and Peter kept up the facade of an audit. Little time had passed when a holographic viewing displaying international news caught their attention. There was the usual news about high interest rates imposed by the Trade Federation and political friction, but what caught their attention was a news message. “A shocking development in the galactic center today,” the news reader announced, “As an armada of heavily armed ships has made its way to the galaxy’s center, headed for Coruscant. This mysterious fleet, calling itself The Frieza Force, has made only a single demand: the unconditional surrender of Coruscant and of Emperor Palpatine.”

“The Frieza Force,” Welt mumbled, “That’s the group you mentioned in your recollection of past events, is it not?”

“Grimlock’s group,” Peter whispered, “We’ll have to do something about that somewhere in the future.”

“Right,” Welt agreed, “But it’s out of our hands for now; let’s focus on the fake audit for now, and confront Grimlock with this development after we’ve left Scarif.”

“Agreed,” Peter said.

Several hours passed after that. The fake audit went off without any difficulties and afterwards the group remained on the Black Sun Pearl, waiting for any news from the surface of Luke Skywalker or his father. Finally a message came from the base staff that a shuttle was returning from the surface, so they went outside to welcome it.
The shuttle opened up after landing safely in the docking bay and Luke emerged from it, along with the two guards who had accompanied him down to the surface. “No luck?” Peter asked.

“Yes, but my father needs a moment to put his formal outfit on; he insisted on it,” Luke replied.

Just then another figure emerged from the shuttle, and the whole docking area fell silent. The Jedi Knight they had wanted to meet was dressed imposingly in black armor, sporting a dark cape behind him, and a black mask that obscured his face. The figure advanced slowly, in an almost menacing way and made his way towards Luke and the other Spider-Man pirates. Then he stopped, unclasping his helmet and removing it, revealing a man in his fourtees with short dark brown hair: “Luke’s companions?” he asked.

“An honor to meet you, Master Skywalker,” Welt Yang greeted him.

“The honor is mine altogether, sir… Tarkin, was it?”

“Perhaps we should continue our conversation later,” Anakin Skywalker proposed.

“A good idea,” Welt agreed.

“Master Skywalker, do you require any further assistance?” the commander of the Scarif orbital station asked, “We’ll be happy to oblige.”

“Thank you commander, but that won’t be necessary,” Anakin replied with a warm smile, “My mission on Scarif has been postponed; I’ll be joining the crew of this ship for something of far greater importance.”

“Yes, sir!”

The group of Spider-Man pirates boarded the Black Sun Pearl again and this time Anakin Skywalker joined them. The ship had already been cleared for take off, so Alpha Five could immediately take off, bringing the freighter in orbit around Scarif, but not quite into deep space yet. 

“All right, now that we’re away from prying eyes, why don’t you tell me what’s going on here,” Anakin demanded, “The only reason I’m here is because my son insisted and claimed it was a matter of great importance for the safety of the galaxy. Make it a good story, or I’m out of here, maybe even with taking you in; don’t think I haven’t realized that you lot are pirates.”

“Nothing gets past a Jedi Knight,” Welt grinned, folding his hands across his chest. 

“Very well then,” Lieutenant Strange said, “Listen well, Master Skywalker, for it’s a long story, and a complex one too, but I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible.”

Lieutenant Strange and Welt Yang proceeded to explain the whole situation to Anakin Skywalker, leaving no details out. Peter and Luke added details where needed about the part where the two veterans hadn’t been present, making sure Anakin got the complete picture of it all. Finally they were done and there was a silence as the Jedi Knight processed the information. 

“Did you understand everything, Master Skywalker?” Welt asked, “Do I need to explain part of it again?”

“Oh, I understood it all right,” Anakin replied, “It’s just… a lot to take in. Quite an incredible story.”

“I’m afraid it’s more than just a story, master warrior,” Lieutenant Strange replied, “The Space Piece is real, or the Anomaly as we call it, and it is threatening to devour our world.”

“Yes, I understood that much,” Anakin said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms, “But what I fail to see is how this is my problem.”

“Excuse me?” Welt asked.

“Father, what are you saying?” Luke asked, and couldn’t believe his ears.

“This Anomaly of yours, it’s changing the world you live in, right?” Anakin repeated.

“Correct,” Lieutenant Strange confirmed with a nod.

“But if we dissolve it, it will cease to exist; this galaxy will cease to exist. I will cease to exist,” Anakin went on, “Why would I want that?”

“You won’t cease to exist,” Lieutenant Strange corrected, “This galaxy… this world, it’s not the true order of things. People, worlds, things, they have been taken from their true story and mixed together into something new, something… unnatural.”

“So what?” Anakin protested, “I just happen to like who I am, a Jedi Knight, with a family. And the world is at peace as well. Everything is perfect.”

“But it’s still a lie,” Welt interjected, “And given the nature of the anomaly, it may become something different just like that.”

“I am not convinced yet, but I will fulfill your request and accompany you to Coruscant,” Anakin said, “But not because of this tale of because you want to save your world; you’ve seen the news; Coruscant is under attack by the Frieza Force. It’s my duty as a Jedi Knight to defend it. To protect the Emperor.”

“The Frieza Force?” Grimlock repeated, “Are you certain?”

“He is correct,” Peter replied, “We heard it on the news as well; it was something we had to discuss at some point.”

“I can’t believe it,” Grimlock replied, “I know we’re a band of mercenaries, but to attack the imperial capitol. It sounds like suicide.”

“It is,” Anakin replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already wiped out by the time we arrive. If not, I’ll make sure to finish the job.”

“Some of those people are my friends,” Grimlock protested.

“Then they picked the wrong side,” Anakin spat back.

“Enough,” Peter interrupted, “Let’s get to Coruscant, top speed; we’ll assess the situation, see if we can intervene and stop the fighting. Sound good?”

“Acceptable,” Anakin answered.

Grimlock said nothing.

“Inputting course to Coruscant,” Alpha Five reported, “We should be arriving in one day, six hours, so I suggest you all get some rest.”

“He’s right,” Welt agreed, “No way to know what we’re getting into, so we need to be at our best. Get your rest, everyone.”

“Dad…” Luke began. 

“Don’t worry about it, Luke,” Anakin replied, “I’m sure we’ll get everything sorted out once we arrive at Coruscant. And if not, we’ll put an end to the fighting.”

Luke said nothing after that. He had actually wanted to address his father’s opinion on the Singularity and the lies of the Space Piece. But he knew his father was a stubborn one, who wouldn’t change his mind easily once he’d set himself to something. And so he dropped the subject. Maybe Anakin was right; maybe it would all work out somehow. If only he could believe his own thoughts…