“How is this even possible…” Revan’s breath came short and tight, stitched behind the tension in her muscles. Dan floated in a lotus position above a mighty orb of water, eyes closed as he directed massive rivers into the ground below. “He’s not using the Force at all… just a field of life force that acts like a fifth limb.”
“All of our people eventually awaken a similar biofield,” May smiled at Revan’s shock. She placed a hand on the former Sith Lord's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Mine isn’t far from activating, but Dan can already shift planets around pretty well!”
“Planets…” Revan shook her head. Such power was… beyond her expectations. A single member of this species was as big a threat as the empires in the dark. “What are you, a race of gods?”
“We’re not really divine… at least I don’t think so?” May tilted her head. Dan had explained the bloodline in their veins, but the description was vague enough that it could include some obscure Kryptonian god. “Definitely a race of immortals though, old age isn’t a problem for us at all!”
Revan’s face tightened. An ageless race of godly beings… Dan was right, how could she - or anyone for that matter - hope to keep the Starforge from them. Dan’s offer to destroy the hidden Sith was no longer laughable in her mind. What could Tenebrae do, if this freakish couple pushed his planets into their parent stars?
“Why are you interested in the Starforge?” Revan shook her head. Today had been a full one and the mental strain weighed on her shoulders. “With power like yours, even its manufacturing abilities are relatively meaningless…”
“So far we haven't encountered a species that rivals our biological strength, but the creators of the Starforge are beyond our people technologically,” May shrugged as she pulled them both toward Dan. The young man had almost finished his task, the orb of water now nearly gone. “The advances we can gain from the study of the Celestials' works will improve the future of our people and their allies.”
“Allies…” Revan sighed as she stared at the back of May’s head, framed by the suns of Tatooine. She had set aside her allegiances to create a force she’d thought necessary, but now a pair of children were set to accomplish her life's goals with ease. “You and your husband’s existence has turned everything I know upside down… why did you save me and the others?” Revan tugged on May’s hand until the younger woman faced her. “What was the point of gathering allies like me or the Twi-lek back on Taris?”
“Dan and I want to create a better world,” May flashed Revan a bright smile. “We can’t do everything ourselves, but we can collect the right people to help keep the future on the right track!”
“May is right,” Dan opened his eyes and descended from his lotus position in the sky. Eyes still focused on the land below - as if he tracked the water he’d pumped underground - he drifted to his Wife’s side. “All the power in the world won’t build what we’re trying to create… for that we need enough like minded loyalists to the cause, believers in a shared dream that form the glue of any lasting Empire.”
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The young Kryptonian finally let his eyes leave the ground, apparently satisfied with his work. He reached out and grasped May’s hand, a gentle pull that led them toward the planet’s surface.
“You could be one of those allies, if you’re willing to put aside your desire to sit at the very top,” Dan’s blue eyes locked to Revan’s, a fire in their depths. “Your skill in war is invaluable, none of the other force users in our camp have anything like your experiences.”
Revan hesitated. The shadow of the Sith she had been rankled at the thought of service to another, but that part of her had also failed to carry her to her goal. Her only concern remained the destruction of Tenebrae and his threat to the galaxy at large.
“If you keep your promise and destroy the hidden Sith, I’ll be willing to join you, but not before,” Revan made her choice. She would place her pride below the completion of her task. “Until then I’m willing to help you, but I won’t consider our deal done until Tenebrae’s head is in my hands.”
“Fair enough!” Dan laughed, unconcerned with the task she’d set at his feet. “You’ll have a bit of a wait, the next five or six years will be pretty low key after we’ve collected a few more companions.”
Dan lowered the angle of their flight, aimed toward a settlement on the surface below. Anchorhead, the largest settlement on the desert world, currently in an age of expansion due to the Cerka Corporation's mining operation.
“Who would we find on this barren waste?” Revan wrinkled her nose as they landed on the outskirts of town. Few beings would choose to live on this planet, especially if they had the talents to escape. “Tatooine isn’t exactly a plethora of talent…”
“The brother of Mission Vao is skulking about somewhere in town, if he hasn’t been captured by sand people already,” Dan shook his head and laughed at Revan’s assessment of the desert planet. “Other than that, an old… friend… of yours is currently held against his will.” The symbiote under the kryptonian’s skin rippled out to cover his face. “We’ll need a bit of cash to free him without violence, so we’ll visit Cerka and Mission’s brother first, to make a withdrawal.”
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“Griff?” The disdainful Cerka receptionist looked down her nose at Dan and his group. She shook her head and returned to her datapad, as if they didn’t exist. “That idiot vanished several days ago, I’d check the local jails, that Twi-lek is nothing but a small-time scammer.”
“Thanks,” Dan rolled his eyes at the indifferent woman and led the way out of Cerka’s offices. Once they cleared the building, he tapped his chest and questioned Venom. “How much did you get?”
“We have cleared ALL corporate accounts connected to this branch office's mainframe,” Venom released a laugh that rippled across Dan’s suit. “Funds will not be an issue for some time.”
“Good,” Dan smiled. Cerka was the perfect representation of what happened when corporations were free to rule themselves, a bloated nightmare that believed the lie of exponential financial growth. “We’ll visit a few more branches on other worlds as well, just to pad out our wallets.”
Now, it was time to buy himself a droid and head into the dune sea. Griff was likely already in the hands of the sand people, not locked in a cell for his petty crime. They would gather him up and leave this planet for good. His addition of water to Tattoine’s ecosystem had already charged his system enough for him to return alone.
Combined with the destruction of the lifeless resource world of Endor, he had discovered a new, low effort way to prepare a return trip. Fate was easier to change in a universe where he knew the original plot. He would make enough tweeks to the destiny of this galaxy to bring back all the allies he planned to collect, alongside the bulky Starforge.
“How much money do you need?” Revan shook her head. “This branch office alone would have had billions of credits in its accounts…”
“We’ll need enough resources to support the Kryptonians and keep ourselves comfortable for years, and Cerka is the first contributor to the cause!” Dan laughed and motioned for May and Revan to follow. “Now, let’s go see a man about a droid…”