From high above the battlefield, a figure watched with cold satisfaction. The chaos below unfolded exactly as he'd orchestrated—Republic forces scrambling against overwhelming odds, their neat formations dissolving into desperate survival.
Ultron's optical sensors easily tracked the colorful forms of the Avengers cutting through his droid army. There—the red and blue blur of Spider-Man swinging between his aerial units. The distinctive shield arcs of Captain America rallying clone squads. Even those peculiar size-shifting starfighters that the Republic had clearly acquired from the insect heroes, Ant-Man and Wasp.
Interesting. A new variable to test his calculations against.
Perfect. Destroying the galaxy would be meaningless if it proved too easy. Let them make this... entertaining.
After several minutes of observing the slaughter, the architect of this conflict decided to make his presence known.
Ultron descended like a falling star, his imposing form casting a shadow across the battlefield. Clone troopers and loyalist forces alike froze momentarily at the sight of him—this sleek, towering machine of destruction that moved with predatory grace.
He didn't waste time with speeches.
Energy erupted from his palms in concentrated bursts, each blast precisely targeted. Republic soldiers crumpled where they stood, their armor useless against his refined weaponry.
A clone trooper caught in his gravitational field was yanked forward like a rag doll. Ultron's fingers found the thermal detonator on the soldier's belt, armed it with a casual flick, then hurled the clone back toward his squadmates with contemptuous ease.
"No, no, no!" The clone frantically clawed at the device, his brothers diving for cover. "Get back! Everyone get—"
BOOM.
The explosion painted the battlefield in fire and smoke. When it cleared, nothing remained but scorched earth and scattered armor pieces.
Ultron's internal sensors chimed a proximity warning. He ducked fluidly as an azure lightsaber blade swept through the space his head had occupied.
Turning, he found himself facing a middle-aged Jedi Master with shoulder-length dark hair. The man held his weapon in a classical ready stance, brown robes billowing in the smoke-filled air.
"Really?" Ultron's voice carried mechanical disdain. "The elegant weapon for a more civilized age? How quaint."
He fired another energy beam. The Jedi deflected it with practiced ease, but the follow-up barrage forced him to give ground. Ultron's gravitational manipulators activated, yanking the Master forward into his waiting grasp.
The Jedi tried to bring his lightsaber around for a desperate strike. Ultron caught his wrist effortlessly.
"Fascinating craftsmanship," he mused, studying the elegant hilt. "I should examine this more closely."
With surgical precision, Ultron severed the Jedi's arm at the elbow. The Master's scream cut through the battlefield's din as his lightsaber tumbled away. Ultron caught it before it hit the ground.
"The crystal, the energy modulation systems..." Ultron's sensors dissected the weapon's construction in milliseconds. "Yes, this could enhance future chassis designs considerably."
He crushed the lightsaber's hilt like an empty can. Blue light flickered and died as he extracted the kyber crystal from the wreckage, its glow pulsing like a tiny star in his palm.
A passing drone received the crystal with mechanical efficiency. "Catalog this," Ultron commanded. "And collect similar specimens from other fallen Jedi. For analysis."
The wounded Master lay gasping at Ultron's feet, somehow managing to speak through his agony. "You'll... never succeed. The Force will—"
"Stop you? Yes, I've heard that before."
Nearby Padawan witnessed Ultron quickly kill Master Seiro and then discard his body like garbage. Fay let out a battle cry and rushed towards her master's killer.
"Master!"
A young Padawan rushed toward them, her face twisted with grief and rage. Fay raised her lightsaber high, channeling her anguish into a berserker's charge.
Ultron barely glanced in her direction. A repulsor blast from one of his drones sent her flying backward to crash among the rubble.
"Oh, you thought raw emotion would accomplish something?" Ultron's laugh was like grinding gears. "How disappointingly predictable."
Another Padawan helped Fay to her feet—Mak Lotor, if Ultron's intelligence files were correct. The boy's face was pale but determined.
"Ah, young Jedi," Ultron called, spreading his arms wide as four Padawans formed a defensive line before him. "Walking contradictions, every one of you."
Mak and Cass stood with lightsabers ignited, while Ahsoka looked exhausted from the day's fighting. Fay forced herself upright, weapon trembling in her remaining hand.
"I can see your anger," Ultron observed with mock sympathy. "Despite how desperately your code pretends otherwise. All that barely contained fury, just waiting to break free."
The Padawans held formation, methodically cutting down possessed battle droids while maintaining their defensive stance. Textbook Jedi tactics.
Cass broke first. She lunged forward with her lightsaber raised high, a perfect Makashi strike.
Ultron sidestepped with casual grace and drove his knee into her stomach. The Zabrak flew backward, her weapon extinguished as she hit the ground hard.
He felt the familiar pressure of Force telekinesis pushing against him. Ultron stabilized himself mid-air, optical sensors tracking to the human Padawan who'd attempted the maneuver.
Another attacker circled to his flank—a female Falleen with a cybernetic arm that caught Ultron's attention immediately.
"How interesting," he purred, activating his energy shield as her lightsaber descended. The blade sparked harmlessly against the barrier. "Cybernetic enhancement. Let me see your work."
He grabbed her artificial limb and twisted viciously. Synthetic joints screamed and snapped as he tore the entire arm free at the shoulder. The Falleen's agonized shriek echoed across the battlefield.
"Unfortunately," Ultron said, examining the severed limb with professional interest, "the craftsmanship is rather crude." He tossed it aside dismissively.
An electrified blade shot from his wrist housing, punching through the Padawan's chest with surgical precision. She gasped once and went still.
"Zule!" Cass screamed, tears streaming down her face as she crawled toward her friend's body.
Ultron retrieved the dead girl's lightsaber and tossed it to another waiting drone. "They started a war," he said conversationally, "and sent children to fight it. How tragically wasteful."
Something slammed into his back with tremendous force, sending him stumbling forward. Ultron spun to see Spiderman in his red and blue suit, fists crackling with residual kinetic energy.
"Finally," Ultron breathed. "A worthy opponent."
Peter launched himself forward on twin web-lines, delivering a devastating combination of punches that actually left visible dents in Ultron's chassis. The robot's head snapped back from a perfectly placed uppercut.
Ultron snarled and fired multiple energy beams in rapid succession. Peter twisted through the barrage like liquid, each blast missing by centimeters.
A burning sensation across his back sensors made Ultron whip around. Barriss Offee stood behind him, her green lightsaber still smoking from where it had carved across his armor plating.
The young Mirialan stepped back toward her fellow Padawans, weapon held ready.
Ultron's optical sensors flared bright red. "You want to play with fire, little Jedi?"
He saw Peter winding up for another attack and made his choice. Ultron's arms transformed into missile launchers, targeting arrays locking onto all four remaining Padawans.
"No!" Peter shouted.
The Padawans raised their hands instinctively, calling on the Force to deflect the incoming barrage.
Ultron smiled and triggered his newest weapon—a sonic disruptor that sent visible waves of concentrated sound directly at the young Jedi.
The sonic attack shattered their concentration immediately. All four Padawans collapsed, clutching their ears as the frequency overloaded their senses and left them helpless on the ground.
"Primitive nervous systems," Ultron observed with satisfaction as his missiles streaked toward the disabled targets. "So easy to exploit."
A red and blue blur shot past him at impossible speed.
Spider man moved like lightning given form, catching missile after missile mid-flight. He spun them around like batons, using their own momentum to redirect them into each other. Explosions bloomed across the sky as the redirected projectiles detonated harmlessly.
But physics demanded its price. The final blast wave caught Peter full-force, hurling him toward the ground where the Padawans lay stunned and vulnerable.
Without hesitation, Peter spread his arms wide and absorbed the impact meant for them.
Ultron descended slowly as the smoke cleared, surveying his handiwork. The Padawans were barely conscious, their ears still ringing. Peter lay motionless nearby, his suit torn and smoking.
"Look at yourselves," Ultron said softly. "Every one of you, dancing on strings. And do you know who holds them?"
His optical sensors gleamed with malevolent satisfaction.
"I do."