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Perception is Everything
“So we have an unknown creature that attacked your forces and a mysterious cloaked individual that called themselves ‘Tobi’,” Master Windu said with air quotes before continuing with a frown on his face, which was something that had become more common the longer this war went on, “Who held Jedi Knight Eve’s lightsaber and easily bested your Padawan while using the stun setting, and who pursued them without backup?”
Windu recounted the summary of events they had given him and the other members of this meeting while they were in hyperspace retreating from that embarrassing loss. Anakin wasn’t happy, annoyed and fuming at the one who attacked his padawan, and he believed the one responsible for turning that victory into a complete loss. Ahsoka herself winced when Windu spoke of her giving chase with no help during a retreat.
“Yes. As Ahsoka had explained, he was skilled. How skilled we don’t know, but he had to be good if he killed Eve and her squad. With reinforcements, we could retake the planet and find the guy responsible for what happened.” Anakin made his case, hoping he could wipe away this defeat and teach the guy who thought it was a good idea to attack his Padawan a lesson he would never forget.
“Master, we don't know if he is truly responsible for that. I had suggested that Eve should be given more than what she had to hold that path into the city.” Ahsoka said, trying to defend Tobi. “He saved me after all and could have killed me and the troopers, but he didn’t.”
The various Jedi remained silent at that point. That was until Anakin's former master, Obi-Wan, broke the silence. “Be that as it may, Ahsoka, Tobi, as he calls himself, if that even is his real name, may have had ulterior motives for why he saved you. He may not have gone out of his way to kill you and your men, but he had aided the Separatists in taking the planet.”
At Obi-Wan's counterpoint, Ahsoka winced, nearly withdrawing into herself under the combined might of several Jedi staring at her. “Furthermore, he had told you he killed Eve in self-defense. That could only have happened if he was the enemy in the first place, Ahsoka. It’s not the Jedi way to seek out a fight, and Eve most certainly would not have done that.”
Ahsoka bowed her head, acknowledging his points. “Yes, Master Kenobi, but it's just… He seemed bad at first glance, but why would he save me? Or not just kill me when he had the chance?”
Obi-Wan, unlike most of the other Jedi, didn't completely dismiss Ahsoka's question. Anakin himself was willing to hear Ahsoka out, always valuing how she had become more like him with that notorious independent streak he had developed since he was still under Obi-Wan.
“While I agree with you, Ahsoka, that it is odd, be wary of trusting in anything involving this man.”
“Right, Obi-Wan is. Look out for this man we must.” Yoda said, with a look of deep contemplation on his face. The Jedi Grandmaster had remained quiet when the topic of Tobi was discussed.
“All the more reason to go back and find this guy,” Anakin said, looking ready to turn the Venator back around himself.
“I think not, Skywalker.” Master Windu said with finality. “Despite the danger this man represents, you won’t be able to get any reinforcements for some time since any available ships are currently engaged with enemy forces.”
He frowned at that response but let it go, not liking the idea of letting someone that dangerous, who had cost them so much, go so easily. Windu continued, “Jedi Master Luminara Unduli is currently stationed to transport Nute Gunray, who had been recently captured, to Coruscant to face trial for his crimes. Your Padawan will be sent to assist her… once she has gotten another lightsaber.” Windu gave her a stern look, and Ahsoka turned away, hoping they couldn’t notice the faint blush creeping up on her cheeks. Master Yoda himself chuckled before shaking his head, which made the embarrassment Ahsoka felt not as bad.
Anakin nodded hesitantly before side-eyeing Ahsoka, taking amusement from her embarrassment, but she also knew he was still upset about what happened and concerned about her. Master Windu’s gaze passed over everyone in this meeting, ending on Obi-Wan, who had already left their ship, having been called with his own forces to repair what damages their ships had sustained and go help another system requesting assistance near the outer rim.
“Any reason why Obi-Wan and I are not being sent?” Anakin asked, trying to not give away that he didn't want Ahsoka too far from him after what happened.
Mace Windu crossed his arms. “Because your ships need repairs and resupply after that disaster of a battle. Where you two will be waiting for further orders since you both have proven yourselves capable despite recent circumstances.”
Master Windu meant no offense in word or intent, yet Anakin took it all the same. He clenched his hands tightly, almost enough for his flesh and blood one to pop its knuckles while the robotic limbs’ servos were being put to the test.
“We understand, Master Windu,” Obi-Wan said, looking at Anakin, giving him a knowing look.
Anakin nodded, giving a strained smile. “Yeah, we will be waiting for further orders, Master Windu.”
Windu nodded, looking pleased. “Word will be passed onto the Jedi temple to look into this man’s strange power he used. I don’t think I have ever heard of a force power like what you described, Padawan. With how devastating it is and its description, it sounds to me like Dooku has been up to something. May the force be with you all.” He nodded towards them solemnly before his form faded away along with the others.
…
The mop sloshed in the bucket as I was doing what could be argued to be the dumbest and most boring job in the galaxy. Pulling the accursed stick out of the bucket and mopping the metal floors, trying to figure out why they need me to mop the floors. On a ship with mostly droids on it.
I shouldn't complain. Could have been sent to another battlefield and forced into a life or death situation… mopping sounds a lot better now that I think about it. It just made no sense. Putting a bit more force into a particular stain on the floor that just wouldn’t go away before giving up and saying screw it.
A pair of droids walked by while I continued to clean this giant ship. The funny thing is this ship wasn’t even a ship for battle, it was a supply ship that also acted as a relay point should any battles or operations need reinforcements. So much for getting some tickets from fighting in a war, I idly think to myself while putting my upgraded body through its cleaning limits. Boredom reached critical mass as it went on and on before a door slid open to my side.
Head swiveling towards it, then glancing around, seeing no one was around before getting curious and looking inside. It was a supply ship, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have some guns on it. Inside was a small control room filled with blinking lights, holographic readouts, and most importantly, a chair that screamed, "Do not touch."
“Oh?” I asked aloud, straightening. “What's this?” Without hesitation I walked inside, reading a panel. “Auxiliary weapons control… port side turrets… limited access.” A brief pause as I digested that. “I have limited access to future laser guns in a spaceship.”
Letting the door shut behind me as I took a seat, setting the mop and bucket off to the side, figuring a little fun wouldn’t kill me. Anything to alleviate the boredom. As The Shining taught me, all work and no play leads to a very dull boy.
Taking the seat, the holographic display flared to life, showing a wide arc of space and several turret indicators. “Oh no…” I whispered aloud in my Obito voice when he first unveiled that godly, intimidating voice of his.
My hands grabbed the controls. “Pew pew pew!” I said, rocking in the chair slightly. “A pirate ambush!” Grabbing another control, a turret rotated somewhere on the hull shown on the display screen.
“Ha! You flew right into my trap!” Pretending to press some buttons, making the controls shake and click. “Missile thingy away!” I was fully committed to the fake imaginary battle, leaning left and right like the ship was rocking from enemy attacks.
I even went so far as to use the tried and tested against-time-itself method of making explosion sounds with my voice, turning back to the normal nasally droid one. “Warning! Warning! Enemy ace pilot detected!” I said, not noticing the door behind me slide open. “Oh no, he is taking evasive maneuvers.” A series of explosions in my droid voice that would make Michael Bay proud.
Only to then stop when a voice that wasn’t mine interrupted my fun. “That looks fun.” Looking over, I see two battle droids staring at me from the open doorway.
“…” I didn’t know whether I should respond to that and play it off, hoping they didn’t notice any of it, or just bury my head in the bucket and hope it could drown me despite being a droid.
To make matters even worse, a third droid popped in. “What are you doing?”
“…War,” I said with the utmost seriousness that comes from being caught doing something embarrassing. “I am winning.” I tacked it on like it made it any better.
The third droid stared at one of the screens as another turret moved before looking at the other two and then back at me. “Can I be one of the bad guys?”
“Absolutely not,” I snapped out. “You can be my wingman.”
“Roger roger!” Suddenly three more droids were crammed into the room. What followed can only be described as a chaotic game of fighting an imaginary army of pirates, clones, and Jedi.
The droids were surprisingly fun, with the room having a bunch of voices imitating machines turning and whirring or explosions with pew pews intermixed into the chaos that was whatever we were doing. I was Captain, with one behind my chair acting as the announcer and the other two as my crew manning the guns.
After killing off the bulk of the enemy forces with many turrets sacrificed facing random directions, to the regret of my OCD, one of the other droids gets a good idea.
For it. It was a bad idea to me.
“Captain, we have enemy Jedi making a rush for us. What does this button do?” It looked at a red button near me, moving to push it.
“Do not-”
Too late. A loud thoom rocked the ship as a missile was launched into deep space. All the droids froze, followed by a long awkward silence. Until it was broken.
“I think I got them…” The button droid said.
I slowly raised my hands to get their attention. “Okay, new rule. No touching the shiny red buttons or any button unless you know what it does and it won’t get us in trouble.”
A series of roger rogers from the droids put me at ease. Until the intercom crackled to life, making the droids snap to attention.
“Why are we firing missiles?”
Standing up and saluting the empty air, unsure if I should or not, but doing so to be cautious despite how dumb and absurd I looked. I spoke with the utmost confidence I could drum up despite how bad this looked.
“It’s… a training exercise!” Coming up with that incredibly bad excuse made me want to curl in on myself out of embarrassment.
A beat of silence. “… Roger roger?”
It sounded unsure but seemingly accepted it, to my relief. The intercom clicked off, followed by all of us looking at each other. Seeing I had gained something from what I could only assume was pulling off that terrible lie that almost made me want to bang my head against a wall just because of how I managed to weasel my way out of that.
A second later I mentally feel my reward.
Intermediate Mechanics (2.2 Rarity, 0.95% odds)
-Uncommon Skill-
You are a decent mechanic, you can fix most mundane appliances when given the right tools and have a good knowledge base of how most machines work and how to build basic machines.
This I could use. Nothing too grand, but it’s not bad either. With it, I could somewhat understand what Pitou had done to my body. The simpler stuff, like my joints being augmented to allow more flexibility and withstand a little more strain, I could understand, but the more complex things, like how she augmented my chassis and my increased reflexes beyond simple hardware upgrades, were currently beyond me.
Looking around, seeing the droids and how I could upgrade each of them, albeit in minor ways. Nothing that would make them be on equal terms with a standard clone trooper but at least be a bit more effective than what they were currently capable of.
Seeing the droids now realizing they might have to go back to whatever boring thing they had them doing before. Just as I was about to ask them if they were ready for round two, a ship appeared out of hyperspace.
Right next to where the missile that was fired was heading.
…
The ship shuddered as it tore free from hyperspace. Warning lights strobed across the cockpit, crimson reflections dancing across Neferpitou’s wide, luminous eyes. Her tail flicked once in irritation as she reached up and casually silenced the alarm with a clawed tap. She’d learned the controls faster than most would ever expect someone who had just been introduced to this technology.
Too fast even for the crew that had tried to stop her. Their bodies were cooling somewhere behind the sealed bulkheads.
She grinned. “Ships are fun,” Pitou hummed to herself, voice light and musical. “Not as fun as humans. But still fun.” Behind her, something breathed. It was heavy, wet, and patient.
Leaving behind the controls as the autopilot took over, she moved further into the ship to find Nemesis standing with his restraints torn apart and dangling uselessly from his frame. Tubes still trailed from his flesh like dead vines. But his attention was fixed solely on Pitou.
It was fixated on her presence. On the pressure she radiated without even trying. Nen. It clawed at his instincts like a siren. Pitou turned, padding towards him with a bounce in her step, hands clasped behind her back as if she were visiting a curious pet.
“Alright,” She chirped, “Time to begin your lessons.”
Nemesis growled low in his chest. Not in defiance but in recognition. She looked into his warped face, eyes with no fear stared back into his. “You feel it, don’t you? That itch? Like your blood wants to move?”
Nemesis straightened. His massive frame creaked. Aura that was raw and unfocused leaked from him in thick, suffocating waves, cracking the deck plating beneath his boots. Pitou’s smile widened. She was happy to see that their master's other servant had such potential once she awakened his Nen.
“Oooooh. You’ve got so much,” She laughed softly. “Master will be pleased.” She raised one finger and let her Nen bloom. The air collapsed from that simple gesture and flex of her Nen.
Nemesis staggered back a step as Pitou’s Ren slammed into him. Not out of hostility, but just simply overwhelming him. Like standing beneath a waterfall made of intent. His muscles screamed, and his instincts howled.
“Don’t fight it,” Pitou said lightly. “This is Ten. Keep it on your skin.” He watched her aura draw back and remain stable around her body.
Nemesis snarled and clenched his fists. The leaking aura snapped inward, crawling over his body like a second skin. The pressure stabilized, and soon the deck stopped screaming.
Pitou clapped. “Good! Very good!” She circled him, eyes darting across his form as if dissecting him without opening a wound. “Your body already understands enhancement. Of course it does. You’re built for it.”
She tapped his chest hard enough to make him stumble. “Now let it out.”
Nemesis roared, shaking the room as his aura exploded outward, violent and uncontrolled, ripping cargo containers free and slamming them into the far wall. The ship lurched under the assault, inertial dampeners whining in protest.
Pitou laughed, tail lashing with delight. “Too much, too fast! You’re not trying to kill the ship… save that for later.” She stepped directly into the storm of his aura, completely unharmed, and placed her palm against his sternum.
“That,” Pitou said while tapping his sternum, “Was Ren. You overflowed, like a reactor without a regulator.”
She backed away before disappearing and reappearing on top of a storage crate that let her be at eye level with Nemesis. Her tail swished playfully. “Nen is life energy shaped by will. Humans learn it like a language.” Her grin widened. “But you? You’ll learn it through recoil like a weapon.”
Pitou wasted no time as she raised a single claw. “First principle: Ten.” Just as it did when she had shown him her aura shifted, not expanding, instead settling like skin drawn tight over her body.
“Ten is containment,” She explained. “You’re not firing the weapon. You’re keeping the pressure inside the barrel.” Pitou used weapons as an analogy for Nemesis since the creature was rather simple when it came down to how it thinks. It viewed itself as a weapon, and Pitou fully agreed with that mentality. He was a tool for their master, just as she was.
What better tool than a weapon to be aimed at any enemies that would need to be dealt with? She giggled at the thought of the fun times to come for both of them. She appeared in front of Nemesis again, tapping his chest. “Do that again.”
Nemesis did as ordered, and unlike his first attempt, while impressive, it would not hold up against Pitou if she attacked him. His advantage was the aura he had at his disposal, the vast quantity and quality of it were good, but worthless if he lacked the skill necessary to properly use Ten.
His aura had been contained by a hair's breadth before and instead became more compressed, learning from his mistakes prior when he first performed it. The wild aura pulling at the air snapped inward.
Pitou’s ears twitched. “Good boy.” She circled his massive frame again, faster this time. “Ten keeps you from leaking. From being worn down. From being dismantled before you reach the target.” Her voice dropped, delighted.
Nemesis' shadow seemed to grow as his body seemed to thicken. Like muscle fibers becoming layered instead of bloated. Nemesis had begun to understand. Her tail flicked back and forth as she had grown to enjoy this.
“Next is Ren. Do it again, but control the surge.” She showed him again by releasing her aura. It surged outward, predatory and sharp, flooding the bay like it was alive. Even restrained and under orders, Nemesis' body reacted. Muscles braced, hands clenched so hard steel would be ground to dust, targeting subroutines screaming in the bioweapon's mind.
“That pressure?” Pitou said calmly. “That’s intentional. Ren is output, controlled aggression. It’s the opposite of Ten, with Ren you can do far more damage.” She snapped her fingers, and Nemesis complied. His aura flared, and it was too much. Before the deck had groaned and screamed in protest, now it was cratering under the intensity of it all.
She pointed at her own chest, unperturbed by the destructive maelstrom on display. “Do it like this.” Her aura unfurled, becoming denser, murderous, and surgical. Nemesis watched how her aura was restrained and controlled despite the power behind it eclipsing his own.
Nemesis began to adjust it, and as he did so, the storm began to collapse. His aura had condensed, becoming heavier yet not as destructive, a crushing wave instead of an all-encompassing explosion. The ship creaked instead of groaning. The pressure that was exerted on it slowly lifted.
“You still have much to learn, but you should know this about Nen.” She paced back and forth, tail moving like a dancing snake. “Nen loves rules. With those rules, you can create something special and unique to you.”
Nemesis perked up at the notion, being the only form of emotion she had seen from the creature besides his rage and desire to slaughter. It was born of curiosity. “Primary Target.” It growled out, sounding like a pair of cinder blocks grinding against one another. It was also the first time she had heard it say anything beyond the word stars.
Pitou smiled at it like she was looking at a talented yet mentally slow child. “When Master gives you a target, your Nen will grow teeth. Until you are ready, you will train.”
Her ears perked up at the pilot's cabin when an automated voice spoke. “Arriving at the destination in five minutes.”
Her smile grew considerably. She looked back at Nemesis and gestured to the far end of the bay. “Ten at all times, until you can do it as easily as you breathe. Ren only when I say. No killing the ship.”
Nemesis growled before moving deeper into the cargo bay, while Pitou had already begun the process of creating a new Hatsu that would fit the criteria of what Master needed her to do. Already visualizing what it would be as she lazily took the pilot's seat, not bothered by the blood that had hardened into a thin crust on the controls.
This galaxy was looking to be a fun place for her as she looked at all the blood and viscera, reminding her of the numerous bodies she could examine to get a better understanding of this galaxy per her orders. She hoped the one she was here for had more to offer. Pitou was thankful for such a master who understood what she enjoyed and indulged her.
Soon her eyes were looking out at their destination-- a planet with two stars around it shining in the dark abyss that was space, gleaming like shining jewels. This was just the beginning, as she understood her master's plan, already seeing such an advantage it would give them if they took control.
Despite the short amount of time, he had to give her enough information to get an idea of what to expect when trouble would come for them. She hoped trouble would come sooner. Her tail swished behind her as she anticipated all the fun that would come from it.
Chaos Gacha:
Intermediate Mechanics (2.2 Rarity, 0.95% odds)
-Uncommon Skill-
You are a decent mechanic, you can fix most mundane appliances when given the right tools and have a good knowledge base of how most machines work and how to build basic machines.
