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The figure was massive, made entirely of metal and wiring strung together in an impressive feat of engineering. Even through the busted up mess of bent sheet metal and oozing pink something, it was clear to even the most untrained eye that this was something special. It was a tad longer than a ARC-170 in length and its “wings”, if Anakin had to call them something, were laying out of the ground, if up they would be about at the height of a LAATI. Dimensions and scaling were difficult with the odd positioning the thing had landed in.
Its face was tilted to the side, chest partially buried in the earth, that much they were certain of. A hulking arm was in front of its face and the other stretching behind it. Its massive wings fell to one side behind it. There was damage littering its body. Its legs were wide and powerful, Anakin could make out some sort of thrusters embedded in the feet. Whoever made this made interesting decisions with the layout. Impractical ones.
Still, there was something that pulled at the force with this machine. It echoed and pulsed strongly, swirling the force around it as though it was alive. It was possible that something organic was inside piloting the machine.
“Thoughts General?”
Anakin turned back to Rex, taking a step back from the machine. “I’d like to find out who designed this. Its design is odd.” Rex nodded, already taking notes for the report of the next Skywalker Adventure that would give him a headache. “Something sentient is in there though. Strongly present. See if you can get Obi-wan here to help me roll this thing over.”
Rex nodded as he raised his hand to his comm. With that taken care of, Anakin moved back over to the figure. There was something so odd about it. Its presence was so strong in the force. It was akin to standing deep inside of Ilum. That strength and ancient feeling was there.
Anakin took a slow stroll with R2, Rex, and Jesse around the machine. The clones were cataloging specs and taking pictures for their report and R2 was providing helpful commentary as usual. Anakin was focused on pinpointing where the alien was hiding inside of this machine and how to get to it. There seemed to be no access hatch in the lower limbs or back, so that just left the chest. However, if they were in the chest, why did they not try to land with their back to the ground? And how are they still alive after taking such damage? There was still a rumbling hum from an engine chugging and a warmth emitted softly. The machine still had power.
It wasn’t until he was inspecting the machine from a distance that he realized the force emitted strongly from the entire machine. Could the machine be the source of the force? Its possible a kyber crystal is powering it.
“What have you found now, Anakin?”
Obi-wan sighed as he stopped next to Anakin, seemingly unphased by the giant. “Trying to figure that out, Master. You’re help would be appreciated. Especially since you are the one technically leading this mission.”
Obi-wan smiled as they began to walk closer, “Oh Anakin. Don't you know that once you find something, it's your mission? Otherwise I’d be like poor Rex. Drowning in insanity and reports.”
Anakin rolled his eyes, “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”
Obi-wan went for the beings outstretched hand. The hand alone would be able to carry him comfortably. Obi-wan seemed to go through the same motions as Anakin had. Based on the look on his face and the stroking of his beard, Obi-wan also came to the same conclusions.
Cody stood a few feet away as the two Jedi spoke about logistics. Flipping the thing wouldn’t be difficult but it would take special care of where they applied pressure. They didn’t want to break it any more than it was already broken.
“We are ready Generals.”
The two jedi nodded and stepped back. The clones had set up tarps and netting to roll the machine onto then carry back to the 501st’s Venator. No easy feat given that there was still a battle going on. The 104th would have to do the heavy lifting until then, with Ahsoka and the rest of the men aiding where they could.
With an all clear from the clones on the other side, Anakin and Obi-wan began to push. The shoulders and the thighs tilted and creaked as they began to lift. There was a sharp whine and whirring that had them pause. A creaking groan emitting from somewhere sounded like metal straining not to break. They put it back down gently.
Rolling was out of the question but they’d need more jedi to lift it directly. Anakin caught a glimmer of light shine from the head and made his way over.
Now that he stood an arms length away from the machine’s face, it struck Anakin how lively it seemed. It’s skin, or something similar to it, was smooth under the dirt and specks of pink. Its lips and nose were sloped gently. If something sentient had such features, they would be quite the looker. As he moved towards its eyes, he saw that small flicker of red again.
A small sliver of light at the bottom of the giant lens flickered. There was a loud sharp groan as something behind him moved. He heard the men shouting, Obi-wan barking orders as clones rushed to complete them. It was only for a moment before everything went quiet.
“General, maybe you shouldn’t stand so close.”
Anakin waved Rex off.
“Anakin, this is a bad idea.”
He reached up to brush some of the dirt off its face. His prosthetic stopped an inch from its skin as a small shock had him jerking back. Static electricity jumping between the two metals in a small arc. He winced and looked at his hand, flexing it to make sure it wasn’t hurt.
Everything had gotten quiet. A wave of tension filled the force as a shiver climbed his spine. His hair stood on edge as he looked back at the machine.
The red light of an optic greeted him. Orange irises made of pixels were solely focused on him. It tracked his movement smoothly, watching as Anakin took slow steps backward. There was a startling realization that the sentient feeling wasn’t from something inside the machine. The sentient creature was the machine.
Shrieking metal on metal cut through the air as the alien began to move. Large hands shifted to press onto the earth and lift. They could see the machinery at work, pumps and joints shifting to rise up, wiring stretch and plating shift as it attempted to sit up.
They were all quick to back up and aim their blasters at it, Obi-wan still calling Anakin to back up further. Anakin was too absorbed in figuring out how it worked to back up further. How could he miss such a revelation?
The alien machine thing raised his chest off the ground with its hands. The groaning of metal and the sharp snap of something sent it back into the ground. It tried again, putting its fist into the ground and pulling its legs up. It stuttered once before it was fully seated.
“Hello, can you understand me?”
The look on its face said no, a mix of confusion and annoyance scrunching its beautiful features into something scathing. It opened its mouth and released a series of clicks and engine rumbles in a pattern that suggested language. When Anakin’s face mimicked its own confusion, it looked away, disregarding him entirely.
It tried to fully stand. Failing as roots embedded in his joints kept them pinned down. Anakin took a risk and stepped forward to use his lightsaber to cut them. While the legs got free, the searing heat of the saber and unexpectedness of his movements made the alien flinch and nick itself. With a sharp jerk, it ripped its leg away and took a swat above his head. The gust of wind was enough to make Anakin fall back and for everyone else to re-aim their blasters on it.
It stood tall. It's a towering figure casting a large shadow over them. The wings hiked high and wide like something regal even as it held its side with one arm. Anakin finally backed up with the rest of the group, his saber held out in front.
The act of defense didn’t seem to phase it at all. In a swift motion that would shift their perceptions of possible alien life in the outer rim; the alien held up its hand at them and watched as plating folded smoothly, fingers and hand folded away as the barrel of something was brought front and center.
R2 whirred something, beeping cutting through the tense quiet as it angrily shouted at the alien. In something even more astonishing, the alien seemed to understand that R2 was cursing it out!
“R2, you can understand it?”
An affirmative beeping of binary was spat out. The approximation of ‘yes, it’s speaking weird binary.’
Obi-wan turned his head to the small droid next to them, “Tell it, we don’t mean any harm and if it would kindly lower its weapon, we will too.”
As the stream of binary went off from R2, Rex called for a translator droid to be brought down. The clicking of a response flashed by just as quick. There was an exchange of conversation between the droids, with only R2’s half being understandable. The alien eventually lowered its arm, folding away its weapon. R2 looked to the jedi expectantly despite not even having an actual eye.
The clone’s guns lowered and the lightsabers were put away. Obi-wan went to address R2 again with another message when they saw the droid rolling over to the alien. Jesse went out to grab it, but the rumbling growl and angry glare of the alien above stopped him.
The alien kneeled down, lowering its free arm further to the ground. A slot in its wrist opened revealing a series of plugs and ports that were much too big for anything they had. That didn’t seem to deter either of the machines as R2 still attempted to jack into the smallest port available. The adapter didn’t fit but something happened that had R2 whirr in success. The droid backed up and waited.
The alien above was waiting for something. Then it began clicking again. It reached for its throat and tilted its head, mouth moving and opening like it was adjusting or feeling for a muscle ache. As it opened its mouth, sharp static was spat out. It frowned at this and continued to roll his head and adjust its throat. Eventually, the static faded and the sounds began to turn more intelligible. With a final clearing of its throat, it looked down at them with something like curiosity and a bit of dread.
“My designation is Starscream. What are you?”