Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, Star Wars, or any of their original characters. Nor do I have any type of claim to those characters. However, the characters of my creation belong to me, and cannot be used without my permission.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to a special
friend and fellow fan of Star Wars and X-Men: Evolution, and without her help
and support this would not have been possible.
Tina, my friend, this one’s for you.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away there was peace between both
humans and mutants. The time of harmony rang true for members of both species.
However, like all things, the time of peace came to an end.
A bold new force made itself known to the universe, attempting to
eradicate any and all evidence of the Human-Mutant Confederation. Now, there
only exists a handful of Rebels that stand against this new Empire.
The Sapien Empire is now pursuing a ship that
contains a stolen copy of the plans for the Empire’s newest weapon, Asteroid M,
which will possess the power to destroy any mutant colony. Princess Wanda is
aboard the ship, attempting to get the plans of Asteroid M back to her allies
in the Mutant Rebel Force.
The large ship soared through the darkness of space pursuing the smaller convoy. Green blasts of lasers arched across the path of the convoy as it tried its best to elude the massive ship. Suddenly, it seemed that the convoy’s luck had run out as one of the laser blasts found their mark by hitting one of the main engines. The convoy began to slow and was soon about to be overtaken by the Empire’s star cruiser.
Aboard the convoy, the members of the crew scrambled about the decks rushing to their posts. Amidst the chaos, two figures stood out. One of them was Diplomatic-Relations officer Roberto DaCosta. The other was Rictor-Level 2 Assistant Lance Alvers. The two watched as the members of the crew scrambled around them, answering the calls of the ship’s klaxon.
"My word, Lance," began Roberto, "it seems that things are really bad. What are we going to do? If the Empire takes this ship, we’ll be prisoners. If we’re lucky, we’ll just be reassigned to posts within the empire."
Lance frowned at hearing Roberto’s voice. "Will you knock it off?! I can’t stand to hear you keep crying about it like a pansy! Soak it up will ya!" Lance tapped the side of his helmet as a single light flashed on the corner of his screen. He immediately began to ignore Roberto’s whining and focused on the light flashing on his screen. He turned off the main corridor leaving Roberto there alone.
"Lance! Wait! Don’t leave me here!" Roberto turned to follow Lance. "I can’t believe I’m following this guy. I mean, he’s walking around with a fishbowl over his head while the Empire is trying to overtake this ship." Roberto continued through the hallway, which he had seen Lance step through. "Lance! Lance! Where are you?"
Most of the members of the ship’s security had gathered up their blasters and positioned themselves at the airlock entrance. It would only be a matter of time before the Imperial troopers tried to storm their ship, and they planned to be ready. The kneeled into position and took aim at the door. They were determined not to let anyone get by them. Suddenly, it happened, and the door was ripped from view.
The convoy’s security officers began firing their weapons at the new opening. Within seconds, blaster fire was returned as Imperial storm troopers exploded into view from the opening. Men fell on both sides as they continued to fire at each other. However, the tide soon changed. The guns belonging to the convoy’s security forces were immediately removed from their hands without explanation. The men watched in awe as their own weapons hovered high above their heads. It wasn’t long before the Imperial storm troopers took advantage of the situation.
The storm troopers fired their weapons at the unarmed men. In less than a minute the resistance was over, and the convoy’s security officers were all dead. The storm troopers stepped further onto the convoy ship. One of the officers up ahead turned around to his commanding officer. "All clear, sir," he said.
Then, from the doorway, stepped another figure out of the shadow. He was tall and wrapped within a dark purple cape. He had a red helmet, which trimmed all but a small portion of his face. He stepped onto the convoy, and the troopers immediately came to attention. The commanding trooper stepped into view. "Lord Magneto, the plans for Asteroid M have not been downloaded into the ship’s computer," he reported.
"They have not had the opportunity to transmit the data," said Lord Magneto. "Their frequencies were jammed. Find all the passengers aboard the ship and bring them to me alive. One of them must have the plans." The storm trooper nodded and began issuing orders to his troops to continue searching the ship.
Roberto finally caught up with Lance. He found him at the end of the hallway speaking to a girl in a white dress. She pressed a button on the side of Lance’s helmet, and instructed him to leave. She looked towards Roberto once, and then fled from sight. Roberto walked towards Lance.
"And where have you been?" asked Roberto. "This isn’t the time to be getting phone numbers! The ship has to be crawling with Imperial troops by now!"
Lance scowled at Roberto. "Do you ever shut-up?" he asked. "Come on!"
"Well, that was awfully rude," replied Roberto as he followed Lance. "If we get out of this, I’ll be sure to report you so to your superior. You really need some anger management classes or something." Roberto continued down the hallway after Lance. However, he stopped in his tracks as Lance began entering a code on a panel. After he had finished, a door swished open, and there was an escape pod with two seats.
"You coming?" asked Lance.
"Are you crazy?! If we’re caught in that thing, we’ll be destroyed!" protested Roberto.
"Then I suggest you burn off some of that solar radiation of yours to distort their sensor readings," said Lance as he took his seat inside the escape pod.
"There’s no way that I’m getting into that thing," said Roberto.
Lance simply shrugged. "Okay," he said. "Suit yourself."
Suddenly, the two teens heard a pair of footsteps heading in their direction. Lance looked back up at Roberto, with a smile. Roberto sighed, and instantly, his skin turned black and small bits of flames stood on top of his skin. "Slide over," said Roberto as he climbed into the escape pod. With both of them now inside, the door slid shut, and the escape pod fired off to safety.
Princess Wanda slid along the wall with her back against it, and a blaster of her own in her hand. She looked around the corner. The coast was clear. Just as she was about to leap out of side, a pair of storm troopers saw her. "There’s one," said one of the troopers. He raised his blaster to fire at her. Wanda raised her hand, and her very own green hex energy began to glow around her hand. As the man fired his blaster, it exploded in his hand, sending him crashing against the wall. Wanda fired a few blasts at the other trooper, and then turned to run. The second trooper raised his blaster and fired a stun pulse. The pulse hit Princess Wanda, and she fell to the ground unconscious.
Aboard the Imperial Star Cruiser, one of the technicians at his post cried out to his commanding officer. "Admiral Darkholme! Admiral Darkholme!" A woman with white flesh and a brown hair turned her attention to the technician. She walked over to his station. "Admiral, we’ve detected an escape pod being jettisoned from the convoy. We aren’t reading any life signs though. Should we destroy it?"
"No," she said. "If there are no life signs, then it is a waste of time!"
"But Admiral," began the technician.
Admiral Darkholme reached down and pulled the young man out of his seat. "I gave you a direct order, Lieutenant! Do not make me repeat myself!"
"Yes, ma’am," said the technician. Admiral Darkholme released her grip on the young man, and he quickly slumped back into his seat.
Admiral Darkholme sighed as she turned around to face her first officer. "Captain Daniels, accompany me to the convoy." Admiral Darkholme turned to the technician she had grabbed earlier. "Keep me informed of any changes," she said. Captain Evan Daniels nodded in acknowledgement as Admiral Darkholme turned on her heel, and together, they headed for the door leading to the ship’s elevator.
The pair of storm troopers headed back towards the entrance escorting a young woman wearing a white dress with long dark hair. Lord Magneto turned to see the prisoner that they were escorting. The young woman wasted no time to make her feelings known to her captors.
"Well, Lord Magneto," she began, "I should have known that you were behind this. I demand to know what the meaning of this is. This convoy was on a mission of peace!"
"You are lying, Princess Wanda," hissed Magneto. "We intercepted the transmission between this ship and a group of rebel spies. We know that you are apart of the rebellion. There is no use in denying it. Now, where are the stolen plans?"
"I have no idea, what you’re talking about," replied Wanda.
"We will see," said Lord Magneto. "Take her to a holding cell." The troopers nodded as they began to escort Wanda aboard the ship. As they entered, they walked past Admiral Darkholme and Captain Daniels.
"You realize it’s dangerous to keep her," said Admiral Darkholme.
"There is no need to fear her," said Magneto. "Her powers have been neutralized by a stun pulse. She is no threat any longer. We will keep her powers suppressed while she is being held. Report."
"Nothing has been found, sir," said Captain Daniels. "In fact, the only thing that was remotely out of the ordinary was a jettisoned escape pod. However, there were no life signs aboard."
Lord Magneto turned to face the young officer. "Begin tracking the pod’s trajectory. It is possible that the life signs aboard the pod were masked. In the meantime, tear this ship apart and begin interrogation. I want those plans found!" Lord Magneto turned and headed back towards the ship. Captain Daniels brought his hand up to his forehead and saluted Lord Magneto as he returned to the star cruiser. Once he passed, Captain Daniels dropped his salute, and turned to Admiral Darkholme.
"You can oversee things from here," she said. "Once your search is complete, return to the ship, and report directly to me. At that point, we will destroy this… vessel. We have no further use for it." Captain Daniels nodded and saluted Admiral Darkholme as she too turned and headed back towards the Imperial star cruiser.