I do not own any of the Star Wars and DC characters and ideas represented in this work.
This story is a mixture of Legends and New Canon
The Dark Times are over. The GALACTIC EMPIRE and its evil despot, EMPEROR PALPATINE, has been defeated by the ALLIANCE TO RESTORE THE REPUBLIC, now the NEW REPUBLIC, and its heroes. IMPERIAL REMNANTS still linger and squabble for power across the Galaxy, but are being subdued by the fledgling NEW REPUBLIC.
One of these heroes, JEDI KNIGHT LUKE SKYWALKER, brought his father, ANAKIN SKYWALKER—THE CHOSEN ONE—back to the light after being in servitude of PALPATINE and the dark side of the force. Forgiven by his son, ANAKIN SKYWALKER at his last breath, destroyed himself and EMPEROR PALPATINE in order to restore balance to the Force and rid the Galaxy of the Sith forever!
Time has passed since then, The JEDI KNIGHT is now searching through the free galaxy to obtain secret Jedi lore and knowledge for the reborn Jedi Order…
9 Years After the Battle of Yavin
This is what it feels like to be Luke Skywalker. You are the son of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. You have never met them, but their legacies live through you, your sister, and her son.
You were raised in Tatooine, under the care of Owen and Beru Lars; they treated you almost like a son despite knowing what your father was. They have not revealed anything about the history of your father to you, for they dearly loved you and wanted nothing but your protection. You lived a hardy upbringing in that dusty world, and it made you the man that you are today.
You have a natural talent for piloting and an affinity for mechanics; because of that, you sought after a calling off that sandy place. You did, as destiny had called, but not in the way you thought or hoped.
Getting the droids; meeting Ben Kenobi; the death of Owen and Beru at the hands of the Empire; and joining the Rebellion set off a chain of events that spiraled your world into something new but unknown. You always thought you belonged somewhere, and you did; you belonged to a higher place in the universe thanks to the ever-changing currents of the force.
This was your destiny; it has always been; this was your family's destiny because your family was like no other, for it was strong in the force.
Ever since Ben Kenobi told you about your father in that hermit refuge of his, you were inspired to be just like Anakin Skywalker. You've heard the exploits and victories of your father during the Clone Wars and saw an example that needed to be remade in the terrible conflict you were in.
Anakin Skywalker was a shining star of light and hope.
Then there was Darth Vader, A Dark Lord of the Sith. You hated Vader. You hated this man for everything he did to the galaxy and you. He was an enforcer of Palapatine's machinations, crushed rebellions, and started genocides in the name of the Empire. He killed your father, killed Ben in front of you, tortured your friends, and cut off your hand. Since Ben told the story of Vader killing your father, you wanted vengeance on the Sith.
Darth Vader stood against everything that force was. He was a black hole of despair and only created suffering in its dark reach. He was the galaxy's greatest shadow.
You confronted Vader on Bespin when you thought you could defeat him there, but your masters said you couldn't. In some ways, you should've listened. That day was just as painful as seeing the burned bodies of Owen and Beru, which still gives you nightmares to this day, and as horrible as seeing Vader cut down Ben to robes.
Vader was your father. Vader was Anakin Skywalker.
Since that day, you have been mad, confused, and lost. You were angry at how Ben and Yoda lied about your father. You were confused about why this could happen to you. You were lost and imagined you wouldn't be able to find your way again. You once thought reality was only made up of light and dark, good and evil, the energies of a star, and the bellowing depths of dark matter.
But after your duel with your father, you realized that the universe wasn't truly made up of light and dark; instead, there was a gray cloud in between them that couldn't be dispelled by the other side.
When you grew strong in the force and thought you could be a Jedi Knight, your mentors amended that your true test to knighthood was to destroy your father, Vader.
You refused not to just fight your father, but you couldn't kill him. You didn't want to end Vader's life because deep down within your being, you believed Vader wasn't entirely the Dark Lord of the Sith that struck terror in the galaxy; he wasn't the total shadow or a man filled with great evil.
In that dark universe of Vader's self, where there was no sign of stars to make it up, was a speck of light deep within his well of blackness. In that tiny dot of light were the remnants of the man that truly represented your father. Anakin Skywalker was still alive, somewhere trapped in that shadow realm, despite what your mentors said about Anakin being dead. You believed he was alive, somewhere in that shroud—lost.
Once confronting your father again, you made many attempts to bring him back to the light, but the dark side and the Emperor held onto him too deeply. This imprisonment was so great that, admittedly, you thought your father was lost forever.
And when you were writhing in pain on the floor of the Emperor's throne room, being cooked by his electrical hate, amongst your pleading with your father, something happened. That spark of that dim light broke through Vader's universe, his chain broken. What caused it was your compassion and forgiveness to the dark lord.
In that moment, when you thought everything was lost, your father sacrificed himself to destroy the Sith forever. The chosen one—your father—finally completed what he was destined to do. You were there to steer him back to the light, to the path he was supposed to be on.
So when you stand on that forest moon, staring at the roaring pyre you made that engulfed the armor of Vader and the body of Anakin Skywalker in it, another realization hits you. You loved your father and hated Vader, but it daunted you that Anakin and Vader were the same person. Both of them walked into the same body. That body happened to be your father. So you loved your father and grew more compassionate toward Vader as more secrets of his pasts were uncovered through your searches.
Love brought your father back, and forgiveness put Vader finally to rest like a vengeful wraith getting eternal sleep.
Anakin Skywalker was a man who walked on both sides of the force—light and dark. You cannot say whether this was destined—that Anakin was to be a Jedi and a Sith in his life. But you take comfort in the fact that he is finally at eternal peace in the force.
This is what it feels like to be Luke Skywalker: a hero of the Rebellion, a great pilot, a good friend, and a brother. You are a Jedi; you will always be one because your father was.
***
The moon of Jedha in the Terrabe sector was once a place where many religions, beliefs, and cultures converged in uncounted millennia. A rocky landscape with jagged deserts that are more often cold as they are desolate, Jedha is a celestial body that has a powerful connection to force; the result of that would birth many kyber crystal deposits formed under its surface.
Another consequence of its connection to the force was the attention it got from many groups who worshiped or held deep traditions in the force. From the Disciples of the Whills to the Church of the Force and many more, various and diverse religions made pilgrimages and ceremonial visits to Jedha for the longest time. In addition to its heavy significance in culture to force-attuned groups, it is said that Jedha holds a special position in the history of the Jedi Order, much like Tython and Ossus do.
Sadly, the holy moon was the target of the first Death Star during its final stages of development. The battle station's superlaser targeted Jedha city— the largest and most sacred settlement on the moon—and in apocalyptic fashion, the city was obliterated as well as most of the moon. Jedha now has a gaping maw in its body, where even the moon's inner core can be seen from space.
It was nothing more but a mocking and grim reflection of its past beauty.
Its environment was beyond repair, which can be said the same with its force attunement. Not long after the devastation of the moon, while it could still be inhabited, and some still choosing to stay, many of the force-worshiping groups that once flocked the moon lost interest or fled the rock. Not seeing it as the sacred ground it once held for many generations and seeing more of being tainted by the malevolent indirect influence of the dark side.
But with all of the events that transpired on the moon, there are still beings and smaller groups who are undeterred by the hostile events of the past and continue to live, make pilgrimages, and worship to and on the moon.
One of these beings is not like any other.
A T-65B X-Wing starfighter exited Jedha's weak gravity well and plotted a course to enter hyperspace. The starfighter that glided through the empty vacuum was piloted by none other than Luke Skywalker and co-piloted by R2-D2. The Jedi Knight had been in Jedha for a week, searching and finding any available Jedi artifacts, in addition to any force-oriented knowledge and texts. The expedition was fruitful for the most part, finding some Jedi texts and kyber crystals; texts from the Matukai, Fallanassi, Aing-Tii, Baran Do sages, and a few other force adept groups were recovered.
To help him search for artifacts and temples lost to time or forgotten, he had brought the holocrons of his mentors so their guardians could help his expedition. Qui-Gon Jinn's holocron, which was taken by Ben in the Jedi Temple during the Jedi purge. Ben's own holocron, when he lived on Tatooine and created it. Then Master Yoda's own holocron was also part of Luke's collection and was there with him to help the Knight discover any lore.
Unfortunately, he expected to find many ancient items, but he found little that went against his expectations. It was not totally surprising; years under the Empire and roving treasure hunters pillaging ancient ruins and archives nearly robbed the holy moon of its original contents. Still, he was emboldened by the fact that he found any regardless and that these relics of the past could help further his own journey towards mastery of the force.
R2-D2 chittered and chattered, openly expressing his exasperation with a colorful array of words in droidspeak about the whole expedition to Jedha.
Luke couldn't help but lift a smile at his astromech friend. "What were you expecting, a vacation?"
R2 commented again.
Luke playfully rolled his eyes. "If you call almost being blasted by a bunch of luddites that YOU provoked 'exciting', I wanna know what you call boring."
R2 chittered, trying to defend himself.
Luke chuckled with a shake of his head. "Alright, whatever you say." He put his attention to the controls and started prepping the X-Wing for hyperspace. "Start the jump checks, Artoo."
R2-D2 did as instructed, going through the necessary jump checks for hyperspace travel. A short time passed when coordinates were established, and the X-Wing was ready to go. Luke pushed the hyperspace jump lever in a controlled manner, and the stars around X-Wing, at first, started to morph into lines, then the familiar blue extra-dimensional tunnel enveloped the X-Wing.
Once the ship was in the shimmering blue hyperspace, Luke relaxed in his seat. It will be some time before the next jump will have to be made in order to get back to Ossus. Until then, he might as well enter a meditation trance to cut the time.
"Let me know if something happens, Artoo." He said, eyes closed.
R2 replied in a woo.
With that done, his breathing was becoming slow, and his mind wandered to a higher plane of existence that was the force. His body went still as he entered his ritualistic meditation as the otherworldly dimension waved around him.
***
Luke felt a pulse from the force that jolted him from his trance like a slap to the back of his head. Then, something physical actually jolted him up to really get him out of his sleep. He registered that the second disturbance was almost strong enough to make him bump into the cockpit window. When fully conscious, he saw the X-Wing was shaking under extreme turbulence; alarms and ringing buttons were screaming in the console; R2 was in a similar manner, exclaiming that there were indeed problems.
He quickly took hold of the yoke and tried to mitigate the issue by steering the ship back to a stable vector and pressing whatever buttons and switches might help. The ship was fighting against him like an angry Bantha Bull at an Anchorhead rodeo, and none of his or R2 efforts were showing any results.
"Artoo!" Luke reached at his companion with a yell, struggling to control the X-Wing before something terrible happened. "Disengage the jump!" R2-D2 did retort on the desperate plea, but Luke continued, "Just do it, Artoo!"
A few seconds later, the X-Wing re-entered real space; it boomed out of the blue esoteric tunnel and started to spin. Luke's vision was nothing but a spiral blur as he and R2 still fought against the unruly turbulence. The X-wing started to spin less, then finally returned to a stable straight vector. The vertigo-inducing spiral ceased and concluded the near-death event.
Luke's breathing was hard, a mixture of adrenaline-pumping tension and laboring himself to calm his nerves. The alarms of the starfighters disappeared after R2 fixed the cause of their yelling or silenced them. Small dots glittered the void around the X-Wing. Several moments passed of the ambient, docile humming of the ship's engines, the internal sensors and readouts of the cockpit, and Luke's breathing slowly relaxing till he fully composed himself.
He let go of the steering yoke to recline himself further into his seat. The part of the joystick his cybernetic hand held on for steering was slightly bent, his prosthetic fingers making somewhat of an impression on it. If he didn't have total control over his durasteel fingers and electro-drivers, then the yoke would have cracked into pieces.
That was too close, he thought.
He studied the X-Wing's readout and said to R2, "Anything damaged, Artoo?"
R2 responded with concern edged into his electronic speech.
Liked huffed forcefully, "I thought so," he replied. The X-Wing was still able to use its sublight engines and was still capable of flying in all. But using hyperspace was out of the question. Hyperspace turbulence wasn't unheard of in the cases where it did happen. However, it could be extremely dangerous. The hyperdrive would need to be looked at by a docking station of some sort.
He cycles through the Navi-computer system to determine their current position and to see if they can find any nearby space stations or star ports they can go and dock for repairs. Minutes of him searching found nothing. Apparently, the Navi-computer was not able to triangulate their coordinates.
Puzzlement edged into the contours of his face as he asked R2, "Artoo, see if you can find where we're at."
R2 beeped, taking a moment to do so then chirping a brief moment later, finding the same problem as well. Luke breathed in needed artificial air and started to shift his gaze through the transparisteel material that made up his cockpit window and looked for any recognizable star clusters and constellations. Minutes elapsed as him trying to find anything noteworthy or easily identified. He found nothing. It was all alien to him.
A foreboding unease crept into his chest as his eyes zigzagged at the foreign stars. "Artoo…" he asked, confused. "Do you see anything identifiable?
Luke heard the whirl of R2's swivel servos motion; his domed head moved around, and he made an electronic whine. The droid looked around, too, but found nothing. That unease was starting to grow and become almost unbearable to endure.
This was getting worse and worse.
Even if he returned to real space out in the Unknown Regions, he still should have found any star constellation that would have been distinguishable, yet everything was strange. The force, too, was not the same. It felt foreign, new—like stepping into a completely alien ecosystem. It was calm, but it wasn't in the same sense of serenity he was used to feeling before he jumped out of the Jedha system.
They were lost, that was for sure.
That possibly made his stomach feel light and his heart run fast, but he arrested his own insecurity—his fear—and closed off the world with his shut eyes, citing a mantra that soothed his unsteady nerves.
"The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force. The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force. The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force…The Force is with me.." He repeated one last time, confident and reassured, "and I am one with the Force."
His eyes parted ways to show the same troubled situation he was in when he closed them. Unknown space, not being able to jump into light speed—alone. The difference between then and now is that the Jedi Knight is currently anchored in the present instead of worrying about the future. It was the 'here and the now' that was important, not the 'what if's' or possibly that did not come into fruition.
And well…he wasn't alone, he had his trusted astromech droid by his side.
His focus reconstituted, and Luke engaged back to the situation. If the computers can't find them a place to dock, then they'll have to search for one by themselves. He went through the controls of the X-Wing and started its scanners to comb the surrounding space for any sign of civilization or even a worthy celestial body to land.
Time passed when they picked up the nearest star system. Scanners indicated a system with several planets, an asteroid field nearly in the middle of it, a habitable third world from that star, and a space station of some sort in its orbit.
Weighing the options and rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced back at R2. "What do you think, buddy?"
R2 beeped and chittered in an unsure noise.
Luke shrugged, "It's really the only good one at the moment." R2 concurred at a smart aleck way, Luke did smile though slightly from his friends attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, we'll just have to take a look at this place."
Luke fired up the sublight engines carefully, then pulled the X-Wing towards the unknown star system.
It took some time for Luke and R2 to reach the third planet. Once in view, he saw the blue and green orb suspended against the void. It was clear that the planet had an abundance of life. The planet had vast oceans, continents filled with greenery, and sandy colors that indicated arid and desert regions with swirling clouds in its high atmosphere. On the other side of the planet, where the system's primary has not cast its glow, lights from the cities dotted portions of the landscape. Its only satellite was a dull, gray moon that was at a docile speed.
Just on the reach of the planet's gravity well was a space station with a cylinder-like design that had two thicker and shorter segments at its bottom. In addition, there were three smaller cylinders that protruded from the hull and pointed downward to the planet, probably gravity generators, Luke thought.
When approaching the slender station, he saw a fast moving object heading towards the station. He narrowed his eyes to get a better picture and his eyes flared up at the absurdity of it.
Is that a guy on a swoop bike in the void of space with no environmental suit? R2 shared Luke's astonishment with a confusing chitter. "Yeah I see it too, Artoo, I see it." Luke responded, eyes tracing on the white humanoid on the swoop bike who, just at that second, crashed into a tranpatisteel frame in one of the station's windows.
"Okay," Luke forfeited to the situation. "I wasn't exactly expecting that." R2 sent a beep that meant he agreed.
In honesty, Luke shouldn't be too stunned, there are sentient beings that are capable of surviving the harsh conditions of space—members of the Kel Dor race being one of them. Still, it wasn't a sight that anyone would just happen upon. That, and how the guy literally plunged his bike into a window was concerning. Accidentally or not, there would be no doubt that there will be people in that station that might need help.
"Artoo," he said, dealing with the controls, "See if you can patch us through a connection to them."
***
In all of the things that could've happened, an intergalactic bounty hunter bursting through the Watchtower's window just right after Shayera and the team were discussing finding a replacement for the late Superman was not one of the things she was expecting. She especially didn't really expect it when they got back from the funeral and was not in a particular mood for villain tomfoolery.
Lobo—the intergalactic bounty hunter in question—somehow heard the news of Superman's death from the hands of Toyman and thought he could fill in the role of being a man of steel. When she and the Leaguers kindly told him to buzz off, he decided to have a temper tantrum and fight the league out of pettiness.
This is where she, J'onn J'onzz, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman found themselves: fighting against a grizzly, hairy, foul-mouthed merc who couldn't take no for an answer. Batman was out of the equation; he wasn't really present for the funeral and the procession at Metropolis. Diana said Batman doesn't take losses that well, which was understandable.
The bounty hunter threw Watchtower equipment, ripping machinery and computers from their built-in placements, to hurl at the League. The control center was a mess after a time of fighting the guy, debris and scrap littered the floor from the fight, it was a miracle that the whole Watchtower wasn't destroyed yet. Flash would speed into a blur to overwhelm the alien; Diana and J'onn using their strength to exchange blows with the white-skinned merc; John using his ring to send green energy; and Shayera used her good and reliable nth metal mace to beat the ever-living crap out of the bounty hunter.
Some of those attempts worked with very promising and satisfying results, others not so much.
Just when Shayera was flying towards the white-colored brute who threw aside Wonder Woman with a support beam, he swung around with a maniacal laugh and batted away Hawkgirl before she could put her nth mace onto his thick head. She cried out in pain and crashed onto the door's of the turbolift to the control center.
Though she crumbled to the floor, she still had a death grip on her mace to the point where her knuckles were turning pale; Thanagarian instincts aren't going to fail her now. She got up to her feet despite the pain and saw Flash zipping around Lobo. The bounty hunter, tried to get the speedster but failed at each swing or grab, he yelled out all assortments of obscenities that would have made a sailor blushed. Lobo managed to get a lucky hit, and Flash was sent backward, coincidentally crashing into Shayera.
Their bodies went into a heap after the impact made a hard 'thud' sound. Both of them groaned while Green Lantern and J'onn were pressing attacks against Lobo. Flash made one of his smart-ass remarks, "Geez, I thought Granny Flash had a dirty mouth."
Hawkgirl was about to tell him to 'shut up and fight' but when she tried to kneel upward, she winced from the pain stinging in her left wing. It wasn't broken, but it definitely got most of the trauma. "Flash," she said through a mixture of gritted teeth and a reprimanding voice, "Just shut up and—" the alarm in the control console next to them shrieked out within the battle, just loud enough for the both of them to hear.
From the rhythm of the alarm, she registered it as the proximity alarm for a breach in Earth's space—meaning that they were getting another visitor. At first, she was worried or even scared that it could have been Hro Talak and her people bringing a Thanagarian task force to help Earth's defenses and ending the five-year-long mission she's been on. But looking at the screen from her downed point of view, it was just a lone starcraft smaller than the Javelin.
Small or not, now was not the time for visitors of any kind.
"Go," she told Flash, "I'll deal with it, just help them out."
He made a two finger salute when fully up, "Okie dokie." And he sped towards the fight where Lobo was being entangled by a green construct of barbed wire from John's ring.
She went to the panel with the yelling alarm and saw the readout screen—a starfighter with one pilot coming into a non-aggressive vector toward the Watchtower. In any circumstance, the league would take the time to investigate the new rival, but seeing how they're busy trying to fight Lobo, this guy will have to leave them alone.
She noticed the starship was trying to contact them so she entered through the frequency and pressed a speaker, "Unknown craft, this is Hawkgirl of the Watchtower, you're entering Earth Space, identify yourself."
Through the console, a static voice replied, "This is Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker of Red-Five, my hyperdrive is shot and I'm requesting to dock at your station for repairs."
"Sorry Skywalker, but we're kinda a little busy here," she made a quick glance off to the side and saw her team fighting Lobo. "You're just gonna have to go somewhere else."
"Is there a problem? I think I'm hearing strange noises coming your way."
"No, we are just fine; there's just a hustle, that's all."
"Do you need help? It's not exactly a hustle from what I'm hearing on my end."
Hawkgirl snapped, "No! We don't want your help, and even so, I don't think you could even if you tried, so why don't you—" she was interrupted when Flash was sent crashing onto a console board next to her. He was thrown hard, breaking some controls, and falling to the floor with a painful groan.
Hawkgirl returned her attention towards the comms board and had the words in her head for Skywalker that he'll need to stay far from here or else he'll probably get involved in the butt whooping that's been occurring. "Look, Skywalker, I appreciate the concern," she said distractedly, "But we can handle ourselves, so turn that…" she stopped herself short when detecting the board's inactivity. Pressing some buttons, she discovered that the console was broken, likely an innocent casualty from short-circuiting by Flash's landing into the console.
She seethed and held back the overwhelming urge to put her mace right into the control panel. Her head swung to the board that pertained to the controls of the hangar bay. Realization set on her when the very controls she was going to use to make sure this Skywalker didn't come in were crushed, useless thanks to Lobo throwing Flash onto it. This day keeps getting better and better.
She looked up at the observation view window, she saw a Starcraft that must've been Skywalker's and watched it enter the prematurely opened Hangar bay. She was going to head over there and teach Skywalker the meaning of no with her mace, but more important matters have to be tended to. Matters that involve a Bounty hunter that's been spewing out vulgar language like there's no tomorrow.
John, who was projecting a green energy shield from Lobo's punches, then encased the bounty hunter in a green sphere construct to capture him.
"Come on, Green Long Johns! " an infuriated Lobo said while throwing punches to break free. "Let me out of here so I can go upside your head!" A few more pointless punches were thrown at the wall of energy, and then Lobo abruptly stopped, put both of his pinkies into the corners of his mouth, and made a loud whistle.
The hoverbike Lobo used to crash his way through the Watchtower turned on. Its very decorative skull on the front glowed a menacing crimson, and the engine roared to life. The tailpipe blasted a raging fire, and the bike went into motion. It turned and made a straight B-line towards John. The Green Lantern barely had time to react to the gas-guzzling blur and was whacked to the side as the bike collided with him.
John was flown back to a nearby control desk and fell to his knees. The construct immediately disappeared after John was hit by the bike. Lobo, now ever so confident, gestured with his thumb towards himself and mockingly said, "Remember to look both ways before crossing me!"
When Lobo was reeling back his arm to send a fist to John, Hawkgirl, Flash, and Wonder Woman were already behind him and piled on the bounty hunter. They used all of their strength not only to stop Lobo from hitting John but also to try to contain the wild alien biker. But Lobo pried Flash off his arm, grabbed the Speedster, and used his body as a makeshift club to beat Wonder Woman with a single wack. Both of them were sent across the control center.
Hawkgirl still held onto the brute and would've clobbered his face with her mace that she held on her free arm, the bounty hunter caught her arm before she could bring her mace to bear and he threw her at in upward arc then down at the floor, hard. She smashed into the floor, the impact rousing her to cry in pain.
On the floor, she noticed, through her affliction, that Lobo loomed over her and raised a foot for intentions that heavily implied he was going to curb-stomp her. "Sorry, good looking," he said, "Don't really dig the chicken wings."
Suddenly, some invisible force took hold of her body and pulled her away from Lobo and far from his foot. It was almost like she flew without her wings; well, being thrown was a more accurate description. She landed, not hard, though not softly. Hawkgirl saw that she went by the side of a man standing, a guy she had no idea who he was.
Human, or at least looked like one; blonde wavy hair, average height and average build, in an orange pilot's flight suit; a black glove on his right hand with a silver cylinder in its grasp.
He looked down at her, "Hawkgirl, right?"
"Uh yeah," she rubbed her aching head, "Wait, you're Skywalker?"
"I am." Skywalker said. Lobo reacted to his target leaving the trajectory of his boot and twisted his head to where Skywalker and Hawkgirl were at. Diana, Flash, John, J'onn also perceived the newcomer's arrival.
"I thought I told you this isn't your problem," Hawkgirl said tightly through her pain.
Skywalker eyed Lobo as the alien bounty was sizing the man up. "Don't worry," Skywalker said with focus, "This won't be a problem in a moment."
Lobo jabbed a finger at Skywalker, "I don't know who you are, chump, but you'll get a can of whoop ass just like the rest here if you don't pack up and leave."
Skywalker didn't falter from the threat. "My name is Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm not certain what exactly is happening here, but whatever it is, it will stop."
"Oh yeah?" Lobo asked, he pursed his lips and whistled for his bike to attack Skywalker from behind.
Like a charging bull, the bike roared from around the corner, blasting its way towards the back of Skywalker. Before Shayera or any other of the League could get the guy from being splattered, Skywalker activated his silver hilt, making a beam of green energy hiss out of it, and with one clean and blinding arc, he chopped the bike into two pieces.
The front half of the bike crashed on the floor and slid in front of Lobo's feet. The other half that had the rocket engine spiraled into a chaotic frenzy of twists and turns, which reminded Shayera of the rocket-bike version of a chicken losing its head. It met a timely end in a corner of the control center, with its fuel probably emptying and collapsing onto the floor with a loud bang.
Lobo picked up what was left of his bike and gave a mournful look at it, almost like someone was holding the body of a longtime friend. His face contented into anger, red plastering on his wan face, and he glared at the Jedi Knight, who kept a calm stance and his energy sword humming in his gloved hand. Lobo then blew up with a bombardment of curse words, extreme expletives, and foul language that pulled all of his previous swearing to shame. Luke Skywalker didn't bat an eye or shed a tear; Hawkgirl and the others got up from their downed positions.
"Ohhh you son of a bitch!" Lobo's swearing went at Skywalker, "Do you know how much this cost?!" He pointed at the destroyed bike in his hand. "Romona worthed a lot more than his entire damn star system, and you just put her into two?!"
Skywalker blankly replied, "If you want your bike to be the only thing you lose, I suggest you calm yourself."
Lobo tossed aside the broken remains of his bike and puffed up his chest. "Yeah, I'll calm myself after kicking your little ass!" He charged.
Hawkgirl quickly got up and readied herself to throw hands at Lobo again, but Skywalker made a simple hand gesture while still facing Lobo, and that same unseen force pushed her away from Skywalker and the advancing Lobo. She flew to the floor, but not in a painful way.
When the fuming Lobo made the first move with a punch, Skywalker artfully dodged the attack. This didn't stop Bounty Hunter brute, and he kept swinging his arms, trying to land a punch on the blonde but found empty air to meet his fists as the Jedi Knight dodged every single shot and jab. Skywalker sidestepped and, with one swing of his green energy sword, cut off Lobo's right hand by the forearm. The dismembered limb fell to the floor, emitting a trail of smoke and the scent of burned meat into the air.
All of the Leaguers stared at the sizzling arm in somewhat disbelief. Lobo blinked a couple of times, looked at his cauterized arm, gazed at Skywalker, then back at his arm with a sudden awareness of what had happened. "What the?!" He said in shock, "Hey, that was my favorite jerking arm! You ain't—" Whatever words Lobo wanted to make to the blonde man were cut prematurely when Skywalker extended his hand, and the bounty was flown straight backward as though he was hit by a car. He crashed against the bulkhead.
Skywalker quickly went up to the brute and pointed his green blade of plasma so close to Lobo's face that Shayera saw one of the hairs of his handlebar mustache burn. "This is your final warning." The Jedi Knight warned, "Stay down and contain yourself, or your hand won't be the only thing you'll be losing."
Lobo groaned through his teeth from his flight to the bulkhead but froze under Skywalker's blade. He used his only usable hand to make a placating gesture. "Yeah, sure, whatever, man, I'll let these guys not have the main man as their leader."
All of the leaguers got up from their defeated positions and converged behind the blonde man who dealt Lobo for them. Skywalker studied Lobo for a brief period then deactivated his energy sword. He turned around to see the League and gave them puzzled looks over their uniforms. "Um…I'm assuming you all are this Justice League Miss Hawkgirl talked about."
The Leaguers looked at Hawkgirl, who was still irritated that a civilian hadn't listened to her. "We are," J'onn said, stepping towards the blonde pilot. "And I believe we are all thankful for your help apprehending this bounty hunter."
"There's no need for thanks," Skywalker told them, "That's what I do."
Diana curiously asked, "So you're a hero?"
Skywalker regarded her, "Well, that's not the term I would really use…"
"What's not to use?" Flash said with a genuine question. "You fought a bad guy, used ninja moves, kicked ass, and looked cool while doing it. That's a hero in a page of my book."
"Still," J'onn budded in and somewhat looking past Flash's unneeded flattery, "It would be best for you and us to explain who you are and why you've decided to come here."
Luke Skywalker made a nod of acceptance and replied, "My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm a Jedi Knight, and well to be frank, my hyperdrive is down and I was requesting this station to dock so I could do repairs, but Hawkgirl kept saying no."
"I kept saying no," Shayera spoke up, "Because we were busy trying to stop this moron," she put a finger on Lobo, the bounty hunter in question was rubbing his mutilated arm while mumbling some curse words under his breath. "From wrecking the station," she gestured all around, giving the point that the control center was a tangled mess of broken machinery and wrecked bulkheads. "And I definitely didn't know you were able to defend yourself. Also, do that telekinetic crap on me again and I'll promise to shove this where you wouldn't like it." She motioned towards the mace.
"I'll take that into consideration." He said dryly.
"So you're just here to fix your ship?" Green Lantern pressed.
"Yes, if you have any equipment to do it," Skywalker said. "And if it isn't troublesome to ask, I don't know where this star system is in the galaxy, so if you could show my friend and me where we are, that would be appreciated."
Diana asked, "Friend?"
The moment that word left her mouth, the turbo-lift doors opened, and the team swung in the direction to see this friend. To their surprise, it was not a person but what could be a robot. Blue and white with a silver dome for a head and one black eyepiece, to Shayera, it resembled a portable trash can with more bells and whistles.
Luke gazed at the robot with a disappointed face. "Artoo," he said with disapproval, much like someone would say to a disobedient dog, "I thought I told you to stay at the ship?"
The robot rolled over towards Luke, beeping and booping chirps that sounded like the electronic version of bird chirps. "I know that," Luke replied, which was a little confusing because he could understand the robot's speech, but it was just a bunch of noises to them. "But we got the situation under control."
The robot moved his domed head as it stopped and went up right next to Skywalker. It sent another set of chirps, the blonde rolled his eyes, "There's no need for that language Artoo." He gestured to the robot, "This is my friend, R2-D2, Artoo this is um…the Justice League." He told his robotic companion with a hint of unsureness.
"Flash," the speedster introduced himself and gestured to the rest of the League and said their names in respected order. "Missed Tall is Wonder Woman, guy with the fancy power ring is Green Lantern, green bean is J'onn Jonzz, and madame bludgeoning mace is Hawkgirl." Shayera spun her head to Flash, eyes that meant that the time for shenanigans was not now and he responded by a recoil.
After Flash's unofficial introduction of the Justice League, Luke Skywalker looked in between the members, "Those are very colorful names…and costumes."
"Mere symbolism," J'onn explained, "We are Earth's protectors, we keep the mantle by inspiring others through deeds and how we are perceived."
Skywalker seemed to understand, "I think I get what you mean."
"Regardless," J'onn continued, "We'll help you fix your ship and find your way back to wherever you need to be."
Skywalker pleasantly smiled, "Thank you."
"You said you're lost?" John said.
"We are," Luke Skywalker answered. We jumped out of the Jedha system and had the coordinates to Empress Teta. Along the way, we had some turbulence and had to disengage. Our Navi-computer isn't working for some reason, so we were hoping you all might tell us exactly where we are."
All of the leaguers automatically shifted their attention to Green Lantern, which was fair considering how he was the only League that would know Galactic geography better than them. Shayera was a Thanagarian, of course, and knew partial details of the Milky Way, but part of her cover story implied that she had no idea where she was or how far Thanagar was. Despite John being a Green Lantern, he only really stuck to his sector and never really ventured out of his assigned region. So her story of being lost from Thanagar was safe, for he did not know where it was.
John Stewart thought about the blonde's predicament. "Uhh, never heard of Jedha or Empress Teta. Would know if they were in my sector."
"And what sector are we in?" Luke asked.
"Sector 2814." John supplied the location of Earth.
Luke Skywalker's face was befuddled while his friend made an electrical whine of worry. "I..." he said, trailing off, "I don't know where that is…well, maybe if we show you our map, you could just point out the sector."
"Works for me," John said evenly.
"Artoo…" The Jedi Knight turned his head to the robot. A moving servo on the robot's domed face fountained out a blue, scanline aura that was a simulacrum of a galaxy out in between Luke and the League. Not the Milky Way. Even Shayera recognized this difference.
John studied the 3-D simulation for some collected moments. "That's not the Milky Way." He pointed out.
Luke inched his head toward the Green Lantern, "What?"
"That's not this Galaxy, at least. Look." He extended his arm out, and his own simulacrum exited from his ring. Emerald-colored, the construct was a replica of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Luke Skywalker looked in between the two simulations, his face going into alarm, even when he took a turn looking into the holograms. A sense of loss got to him. "I don't…I don't understand."
"Maybe you got the wrong map or something," Flash suggested.
Luke Skywalker gravely and mournfully shook his head, his eyes not removing from the green construct of the Milky Way then put this attention to the other galaxy. "No…this is the map of THE Galaxy."
John Stewart arched an eyebrow, "You know there's multiple, right?" Luke didn't respond. "Alright here," John continued, "Let my ring analyze your map." The green construct faded away and he pointed his ringed hand to the blue hologram. A thin fan of green energy scanned the map and retreated back to the ring for analysis.
Out from the ring, an emotionless and indifferent voice came out. "Analysis complete, error, could not find analyzed Galaxy. Galaxy is unidentified and Unknown to Oa archives."
John had a look of oddity to the ring and shrugged, "Weird," he looked up to Skywalker, who just stared into the blue hologram of the unknown galaxy. "Maybe your map is out of date. Are you sure you got the right one?" Said John.
Luke Skywalker, shocked and lost, didn't immediately respond. "No…that was updated not long ago." He looked over to RD-D2, "Turn it off, Artoo." he said slowly. The robot sends a saddened chirp and shuts down the hologram. Luke Skywalker faces the League with melancholy pain. "I…I think I'm not my Galaxy anymore."
The league traded gazes. "Are you certain about that?" Diana said with reason. "Maybe both maps are wrong in some way."
"No," Luke said, "It's starting to make sense now. I sensed that I wasn't in my galaxy after the accident."
"When you mean sensed," J'onn questioned, "I'm assuming that can be attributed to your powers."
"Yeah…let's go with that." Luke placed his gloved hand onto R2-D2's domed head. "Excuse us, I think we need some time to think this through."
"Of course," Diana said sympathetically, "This is probably a hard situation for you."
Luke only said 'thank you' through his eyes. He and R2-D2 walked to the side and gazed out the Watchtower's observation window, which wrapped around the control center. Luke leaned toward the window with two hands as if a massive weight was put on him. He and his robotic friends stayed silent for a long while.
In the meantime, Diana used her Lasso to hogtie Lobo. The bounty hunter was saying something profane about Diana's looks while she finished binding him up, and he got a well-deserved kick in his groin region by her red boot. When Diana went to the League, all members huddled around a circle to discuss the newcomers' problems.
"I could send out a message to Oa," John Stewart told his teammates. "See if they have any missing information on the guy's Galaxy." He did a confessional shrug. "Even if the Guardians' reach in the universe is limited, the ring should've at least detected where he's from. If my ring doesn't know, then there might be a chance the Guardians don't either."
"Surely there's something we can do." Diana issued; she sympatrically gazed over to the Jedi Knight who still was keeping himself silent.
"If the Guardians are unable to provide guidance," J'onn said, "Then there might not be very much we can help."
Shayera turned her head to Luke Skywalker as well. She felt his pain—his position. Being dropped into a foreign place far from home was something she could naturally understand. Well, she was sent here rather than dropped and still has some contact with Thangar, though their secretive transmissions were short and few. Straight to the point, he was a stranger in a strange place, and she could feel his sorrow all the way from here.
Their discussion was pierced by a sudden news alert through the League's monitor screen, which was conveniently the only few monitors that weren't wrecked. The screen showed a male reporter from a Metropolis news channel. The scene behind him was a total disaster: buildings in total disarray and broken, cars and other debris piled and scattered around the street, and pillars of smoke crawled up to the dusk sky as fires burned around the area.
"Metropolis is under siege!" The reporter said, his eyes looking straight to the camera. "Following a mass Jailbreak, dozens of Supervillians are running amuck downtown. Apparently in celebration of the recent loss of Superman—" the reporter's briefing of the situation stopped when an explosion at the edge of the street erupted and the news crew panicked as they saw Kalibak throwing cars out of his heart content and Star Sapphire blasting building after building with pompous joy.
"Why is it always something?" Flash huffed out as the news crew ran for their lives, and the footage ended.
"Without Superman," J'onn said, "Metropolis is wholly defenseless, and no one would be able to respond." He was right and just like the group that was with Toymaker, there might be more than one supervillain.
"Right," John raised his ringed fist and the power ring simmered with a glow. "Then we show them what for."
"Don't want to burst the bubble," Flash interjected. "But what about mister chaps over there?" He back-pointed at Lobo, still reeling from the crotch kick he got from Wonder Woman and mumbling not-so-mannerly words. "We're not just gonna leave him up here, are we?"
The group traded expressions of concern and thought. Leaving Lobo here was a no go, that was clear, bringing him along would be worse too. Having multiple super-powered criminals is bad enough as it is, adding another would just fuel the fire.
"One of us could stay here," Hawkgirl suggested.
John sighed exhaustively, "Sure, I'll stay and babysit, But we'll need to call in Batman since I'm out."
"We will," Diana said, "But, what about Luke?" They looked over to the Jedi Knight, still haggard to the window with R2-D2, stuck in complete thought as they stared into space that made up a galaxy that wasn't there own.
"Well…," Flash shrugged, "We could just ask him if he wanna come with us or not." He advised.
"No," J'onn responded firmly, "Skywalker is in a fragile state; it would be selfish of us to ask him to help."
"Hey, I'm just saying, you saw all of those moves, oh! And that fancy laser sword he has, that was pretty sick."
Diana agreed, "He does seem to be a good warrior."
Flash and Warrior had a point. At first, Shayera originally thought Skywalker was just a run-of-the-mill character who probably would've been squashed if he involved himself into the situation. But Shayera was proven wrong, with Skywalker making short work of Lobo.
"I'll help." The voice of Skywalker said, bringing the League's attention to the blonde pilot. Luke faced the League, his initial shock from being stranded in a different galaxy seemed to leave him and he grew determined. He walked over to the League with R2-D2 rolling next to him. "I heard what that channel was talking about. I'll help you with whatever's happening down on your planet."
The League looked to each other from the unexpected revelation. "I appreciate your commitment to helping our efforts," J'onn said and was quick to counter, "But what you are asking to be involved in is extraordinarily dangerous and we won't allow you to come with us if we know you'll get hurt or worse."
"I'm glad you're concerned about my health," a humbled Luke said. "But I'm not going to sit here while people are getting hurt on your world. I can take care of myself. It doesn't matter whether you like it or not; I'm helping."
There was a brief moment of silence between them. Shayera liked the man's commitment to help others regardless of the situation he was in. Reminding her a certain Kryptonian…She was the first one to speak up, "I see no reason to go against it."
Flash was second to voice his opinion, "More the merrier."
Diana said to J'onn, "We do need all of the help we can get."
John shrugged as he constructed a green sphere to surround Lobo to place him in the Watchtower's holding cells. "Reinforcements couldn't hurt."
J'onn nodded to all of them and looked at Skywalker. "Your spirit is admirable, and you're clearly capable of defending yourself with your powers. It would be a mistake not to have you." He extended his hand to Skywalker.
The blonde pilot took in the handshake. All of the leaguers smiled. Although temporarily, they can hope the Skywalker guy can fill in some big super shoes.
***
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