Chereads / STAR WARS: The Jaeger Saga / Chapter 31 - The Duel of Sons

Chapter 31 - The Duel of Sons

William stood still, tightly gripping the hilt of the blade, watching every motion the drone made. The figure slowly entered the hangar, his form becoming more clear and visible. The plating itself was pitch black, similar to what Vader wore when they first met. The droid had numerous areas where there was no plating, the inner mechanism being a greyish color. William guessed that the skeleton of the droid he was looking at was standard, made to have the shape of a human, but this shell was distinctively shaped to look like Vader.

"Before we get started, would you mind explaining to me what exactly you are? What am I looking at right now?" William slowly shifted his stance, his gaze not leaving Vader's figure for one moment. Vader's head tilted, and then he gave William a nod.

"I suppose I could enlighten you in your last moments." Vader said, William able to catch the slight hum of his electronic voice, making it seem that he was speaking through a hologram. Vader's stance eased and he raised his arms up; he was allowing William to see all of him. As William studied him once more, he confirmed that this indeed was a robot; the light from outside revealed what laid beneath the mask, showing a robotic facial structure. While being more human than other droids he had encountered, it was still a droid.

"I had a very loyal servant construct this along side those droids you decimated." Vader gestured to wards the scattered Dark troopers, sparks surging out from the openings William had created. "It was just a small experiment. A remotely piloted robot from a safe location which would allow me to scout ahead and assess the situation. If it could be dealt with simply, use the droid. If it required a..." Vader paused, looking to the robot's hand, forming the hand into a fist repeatedly, "..more special touch, then I would go there personally." Vader's head then looked back towards William. "But seeing that you are nothing more than a minor annoyance, That won't be necessary."

William scoffed, looking back outside. "Really? Would you call two lost Star Destroyers and at least a regiment's worth of troopers a minor annoyance? I don't think the Emperor would be very pleased that you lost any forces dealing with me." William angrily grinned, hoping that he struck a nerve with the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, he only infuriated himself when the Vader robot shook his head.

"This small force was nothing. The Emperor has much more ambitious goals and could never be bothered with something as frivolous as a rebellious child." The robot seemed to relax, his grip on the saber loosening. "It is a shame you will not be able to see it, William. Galactic Peace with a single station. A station that will ensure no one else will get ridiculous ideas such as rebellion and will remain loyal to The Empire for eons to come." And before William could come up with a retort, the robot leaped towards William, saber raised in the air prepared to strike down.

William reflexively raised his cybernetic arm, deflecting the saber with the beskar plating. Vader landed a few feet away from William, but not letting up the assault, leaped forward, this time thrusting the saber forward. This time, William raised the beskar blade in a defensive manner, deflecting the Dark Lord once again. William barely managed to block that last hit, being pushed back due to the robots sheer force. It may have looked light, but it sure packed a punch. William barely had any time to recover and quickly locked blades with Vader, the red light saber grinding against the beskar sword, red sparks shooting from where the two connected.

"You are holding up rather well for someone who has never used a blade before. Perhaps that pesky Mandalorian toyed with your mind more than we had anticipated." Vader's voice sounded strained, which shouldn't have been the case since he was currently controlling a robot. William had no time to try and think about it when the robot's free arm grabbed the beskar blade and tried to remove it from the equation, allowing him to drive the light saber through William. In response, William grabbed Vader's saber, mirroring his movement. The two were now locked once more, sword in one hand, blade in the other. The two struggled to get the upper hand over the other, locked in a stalemate. "It matters not. You will die this day."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." William retorts, lifting his left leg in preparation to kick Vader. That is what Vader thinks as he prepares to block it, but is surprised when the entire world shifts as William uses his boosters to bring the robot into the air. Then, William used his might to throw Vader back onto the floor, the robot destroying the floor as he made impact. Vader had barely any time to react, still shocked by what had just occurred, to block William's quickly approaching blade. Vader raised the light saber and blocked the thrust, throwing William off balance and sending him to the floor.

Both struggled to get back onto their feet, William groaning as he thinks he broke something with that fall. Vader's left arm begins to give off sparks, malfunctioning. Vader cursed, obviously Gideon had not made this robot for such damages. William held his side, sharp pain flowing through his abdomen. The two looked to one another and quickly raised their weapons. Neither make a move and for a moment, they just stare one another down. Blood begins to slowly drip from William's armor, and liquid soon seeped from the malfunctioning arm. Both parties knew that this was nearing the end. William, seeing no other option and quickly loosing strength, he knelt, head hung low.

Vader uttered a low laugh, slowly approaching the defeated William. He cut the useless arm off, the dismembered limb twitching away as it ran out of power. The robot's joints whined as the damaged robot moved forward. "It is good that you have given up. It will be simpler that prolonging this inevitability."

Suddenly, two panels on William's shoulders slid open, and a soft green light began to grow. William looked up, a portion of his visor broken, revealing his green eye, which seemed to glow brighter with the weapon. "Who said I was giving up?"

----------------------------

Gideon watched from his Star Destroyer as a small green light came into existence on the surface of the planet, and just as soon as the light brightened, it faded away. Gideon sighed, not for the loss of the troops, and the failure to confirm the elimination of the rebellious Jaeger, but for the loss of his prototypes. Luckily, he had saved two of the Dark Troopers, and he had gathered much information regarding what upgrades could be applied to his drones. "Return to base. We are done here." Gideon sharply commanded, staring out into the vast emptiness as the planet of Mygeeto disappeared from his vision.

Once Gideon's vessel had jumped into hyperspace, there was a deafening silence.