[Anakin's POV]
My diplomatic quarters were dark and silent. The only sound was the faint hum of the ventilation system, and a little moonlight from this planet filtered through the window.
I sat on the floor, legs crossed, facing the open window.
I closed my eyes and began to meditate, just as I had done countless times in the Jedi Temple, on missions, and now here, on this planet in a galaxy very far from my own.
The Force flowed. More strongly than ever.
I felt clarity. I wouldn't know how to explain it exactly. But after that dinner and after Steve Rogers' promise…
Something inside me had aligned.
A week ago, I didn't know any of them.
Today, a group of people known as the most powerful heroes on this planet had promised to save my mother.
And I could tell from Steve's tone and his eyes, he meant it. He owed me nothing, asked for nothing in return, and still made that promise.
They weren't Jedi.
They didn't follow ancient codes.
Yet the Force felt more alive than ever. Not unstable, not turbulent. Firm, steady, and stronger than before.
I suppose it must be because of that promise. It's the only explanation.
Because I felt gratitude.
And for the first time real hope.
For the first time, I imagined my mother free, not as a desperate fantasy, but as a real possibility.
I opened my eyes. The meditation was over.
I needed a way back to my galaxy.
Not for the Order. Not for the Jedi.
For my mother.
I stood up and walked to the table where I had been working these past few days. Star maps of this system. Earth-made components. Sketches of a ship.
I had to begin with the basics.
This planet has primitive space technology. They reached their moon, with difficulty. Their concept of traveling through the galaxy is still theoretical, slow, and clumsy.
I need a ship that can cross not only this solar system.
A ship capable of exploring this galaxy, the one Earthlings call the Milky Way.
And then a ship capable of traveling to another galaxy.
A nearly impossible task.
Even in my own galaxy, it is not common to speak of ships capable of intergalactic travel. It exists mostly in theory, in old myths. Nothing confirmed.
But I don't even know the coordinates of this galaxy.
Its location, its direction, its place in the vast fabric of the universe, it is completely unknown to me. I have no coordinates. No familiar star references.
I would have to guide myself through the Force.
Or…
Fix the holotransmitter.
My gaze drifted to the damaged device sitting in the corner of the desk. My only real chance of contact.
If I could reactivate it, I could send a signal to Obi-Wan. And if he responded we could triangulate my position. Locate my galaxy. Know where to build the path back.
But I had already tried. And failed.
The signal between galaxies is far too weak. Even a long-range Jedi transmitter was never designed to cross distances like this.
And even if, hypothetically, I managed to make it work, and he answered…
I would still have to create a ship capable of crossing an abyss that even my galaxy has never crossed.
The logical conclusion was simple:
99.9% impossible.
I rubbed my face with both hands, growling quietly in frustration.
"Damn it," I whispered into the empty room. "If I somehow got here… then there must be a way back. What, did I just fall here through some cosmic magic and that's it? Is that all it was?"
I stood up and began pacing in circles around the room like a madman trapped in a cell.
"What kind of logic is that? Did the Force drag me here? A black hole with a sense of humor? A glitch in reality from too many midichlorians?" I muttered.
I stopped abruptly.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to think calmly.
I'm not just a Padawan. I'm a mechanic. An engineer. A pilot. Since I was nine, I've taken apart and built things many Jedi Masters didn't even understand. I built my own droid. My own lightsaber. My own ship.
I can handle this.
Maybe…
And then I remembered. The public videos. The news broadcasts I had watched.
"New York, 2012…" I murmured, quickly sitting down in the chair in front of what they call a gaming computer.
I typed rapidly. The Earth search engine wasn't very different from the holographic interfaces I knew, just flat instead of three-dimensional.
The results appeared instantly.
Hundreds of videos.
Security cameras.
Mobile phone footage from civilians who risked their lives just to get a good shot.
Drones. Aerial recordings. Official reports.
And in all of them, there it was.
The portal.
A hole in the sky.
Ships pouring out in swarms. Non-human creatures. Gravitational weapons. Alien technology that, from what I could see, used antimatter reactors or some primitive form of unstable quantum energy.
I advanced frame by frame. Zoomed in. Analyzed a section of a hull. I could distinguish components.
Chitauri technology.
All of this had reached this planet.
And the Avengers defeated them.
Those remains must have been recovered. Stored somewhere. Perhaps in military bases. Secret laboratories. Or, with some luck in a forgotten warehouse somewhere under the control of Earth's governments.
If Earth's technology isn't enough, I could use technology from another species and combine it.
Though I doubt such dangerous technology would be available for sale.
And that's when the first real obstacle appeared:
I have no money.
Not Earth currency. Not currency from my galaxy.
Jedi don't accumulate wealth or own valuable possessions. The closest thing I have to something expensive is my lightsaber.
And there's no way I'm giving that up.
I have nothing this planet would value as a form of exchange.
And even if I did…
How much would it cost just to build an engine capable of leaving the solar system?
Long-range propulsion. Materials capable of withstanding heat, radiation, and the vacuum of space. Life-support systems.
And that's just to explore this star system.
I'm not even talking about crossing a galaxy.
I considered replicating something basic from scrap. But I had to be realistic: not even I could build a functional spacecraft capable of leaving the solar system using Earth junk.
No matter how much knowledge or experience I have, I can't perform miracles.
And if we're talking about intergalactic travel that's another scale entirely. A completely different level of difficulty.
I'm stranded. Literally and astronomically.
As for Chitauri technology, which almost certainly left remnants behind, it's safe to assume it isn't publicly available for obvious reasons.
The most likely scenario is that it's circulating in some dangerous black market.
But even then, I still have no money to buy it.
"Though I could steal it…" I murmured, resting a hand on my chin.
Not a very Jedi thought.
But it would be stealing from criminals, smugglers profiting from technology they don't even understand, and using it for something that harms no one.
To go home and save my mother.
That's not theft.
It's redistribution with purpose.
That sounds better.
On the other hand, the American government and its political leaders see me as a tolerated anomaly, for now. A strange figure under observation, largely accepted because I'm with the Avengers and haven't committed any crimes. They also don't fully understand the Force, either my personal power or what might stand behind it.
But if they find out I'm building a ship capable of traveling between galaxies…
They'll panic.
I can already imagine the speech from some idiot politician:
"What if this boy with powers and a plasma sword builds a gateway for an invading galactic species?"
They won't trust me, and they won't offer any help. In fact, it could make the relationship tense, or even break it entirely.
The invasion of 2012, from what I've researched, left more than 7,000 confirmed dead. Nearly 20,000 injured. Hundreds missing. Buildings destroyed. Streets collapsed.
An entire city turned into a war zone for hours.
I leaned back and sighed.
They weren't stupid. They were invaded by an alien species that descended from the sky through a hole in space and began destroying everything.
It's logical that they're paranoid.
Shortly afterward, another extraterrestrial appears, me, with powers they don't understand, a plasma sword, and the ability to crush a local mutant monster simply by extending my hand.
It's understandable.
But still irritating.
They also saw the videos. They know I saved civilians in that McDonald's. That I didn't kill the Lizard when I could have. That I lowered the police officers' weapons with precision, without hurting anyone.
Building a ship without the government knowing would be difficult.
At least while staying here.
Even though I trust Steve and the others, I know they're not completely off the radar.
The Avengers can operate with a certain degree of autonomy, but they're not invisible to the government. Their movements have to be reported.
Monitored.
How long would it take before someone discovered that I'm building a galactic ship here, in the backyard of their base?
And even if they managed to protect me diplomatically, I still don't have what I need.
I don't have resources.
No personal laboratory.
No rare materials.
I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
Continuing to insist on repairing the holotransmitter doesn't seem viable either.
The signal between galaxies is so weak that even a long-range Jedi transmitter barely manages to activate.
And even if it does…
The transmission would be so unstable that sending coordinates, or receiving help, would be nearly impossible.
In fact, it might be even harder than building a functional intergalactic ship from scratch.
I stayed silent for a few seconds.
Until an idea began to take shape in my mind.
Maybe I should proceed in stages.
Not start with an intergalactic ship.
But with a ship capable of traveling across this galaxy. To explore it. To see what lies beyond Earth's solar system. To find useful technology, like the Chitauri's, or that of another species more advanced in this field that could help me.
Another option, perhaps the most logical one according to my master:
Dealing with the government as a diplomat. Formally requesting permission to build an advanced spacecraft. Not intergalactic, but capable of exploring this galaxy.
But just thinking about it exhausts me.
An endless meeting. Paranoid politicians. Hours of absurd protocols. Carefully measured phrases…
All to end up saying:
"Please, may I build a spaceship without you shooting me?"
I sighed.
There were several options.
None of them urgent for now.
I turned my head toward the bed and dropped onto it face down, my face buried in the comfortable pillow.
Tomorrow…
Let the Force decide.
For now, rest.
...
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