Gabriel opened his eyes. Before him stretched a crimson, slightly grayish sky, and in it, there were... airplanes? How could there be airplanes in the game?! After a moment, he began to hear various cries of people and a strange noise resembling *pew-pew*. With a jump, he got to his feet, adjusting his long cloak with a hood that concealed his entire body.
"Damn..." he muttered.
Before him, a real battlefield unfolded between people in white suits and robots, with the robots ranging in size from normal human-sized to gigantic. They were all trying to kill each other with weapons that fired laser beams! It would take any normal person just a second to realize that he had landed in the world of Star Wars. Fortunately, Gabriel was one of them.
Surveying the barren, dry ground beneath his feet and the rocks, he concluded that he was now on the planet Geonosis. More precisely, in some part of the game "Ancient World" that closely resembled it. Of course, one could easily dismiss it as some kind of flash mob or event, except there was no firearms in the game! Well, there were pistols, but only Leon Volk could use them.
A vague sense of alarm tugged at Gabriel's thoughts, and following his intuition, he took flight using magic, releasing lightning bolts from his hands. The next moment, laser projectiles whizzed right beneath his feet, fired by the people in white armor. Everyone surrounding him, including the dense-headed robots, froze in astonishment.
"Let's talk..." His voice, muffled by the white mask covering his entire face, was slightly hoarse and even menacing.
"Sith!" shouted some incomprehensible creature with a blue laser... a lightsaber? And leaped right at Gabriel.
Without losing his composure, Gabriel jerked to the side, landing on the ground, and an electric wave emanated from his body upon impact, searing anyone standing near him.
"Oops..." Gabriel looked puzzled at the bodies of people and robots at his feet. "I didn't mean to..."
Gabriel was telling the truth. Usually, whenever he found himself plummeting into the midst of enemies like this, he used an electric field to deal damage to them. He had done it so often that it had become second nature to him, almost effortless. He could literally feel the dark armor, hidden beneath his long black cloak, snugly fitting against his body, and the slight, pleasant tingling sensation when he activated his lightning.
A strange green creature with tendrils instead of hair stared in astonishment at Gabriel's actions and then turned its alien eyes toward him before lunging straight at him. He extended his hand with an open palm and halted the laser blade a few millimeters away from his palm using telekinesis, a power unique to him in the game thanks to his special class.
The extraterrestrial being strained to push the hilt of the lightsaber, attempting to overcome the invisible barrier, but to no avail. Gabriel pointed his fingers from his other hand at the creature's chest, sending it flying into the distance. Again, his sense of unease served him well, allowing him to easily evade the laser shots by leaping to the side. This time, some skinny robots targeted him with their weapons, hoping to kill him. Gabriel drew twin short swords from their sheaths and effortlessly deflected the projectiles with them, then swiftly decapitated two droids and electrocuted the rest.
"Damn," muttered Gabriel, examining his swords.
With trepidation, he gazed at the bodies of people in identical white gear, then hesitantly approached them and removed a helmet from one of them. Before his eyes lay a real, dark-skinned man who was undoubtedly deceased. Gabriel removed a glove and stowed it in his inventory before touching the man's face. The warm, not-yet-cooled skin shocked him.
Such effects as temperature had never been in the game before, so Gabriel didn't think the developers had introduced such a feature. However, his panic didn't last long. He quickly regained his composure, put the glove back on, and stood up. Regardless of whether this was still a game or not, he had to get out of this chaos at all costs and think about everything later. In this situation, his life was the most valuable thing.
Setting his priorities, the young man breathed a little easier. First and foremost, he needed to leave the battlefield. He couldn't use lightning-powered flight, as it might attract unwanted attention, so...
"Son of a...!" he shouted, blocking a laser shot.
It was foolish to think he'd be allowed to think calmly on the battlefield. Gabriel raced among the individuals in white armor, likely clones, and the robots, commonly referred to as droids here. Each movement of his black blades took the life of a clone or simply deactivated a droid. He released a chain lightning from his hands, which struck one droid and then jumped to the next, and even hit a clone.
With each blocked shot, there was a trace left on the blades, which was replenished by the magical runes powered by Gabriel's mana. Yes, in the game, this metal was nearly indestructible, but there were still a few ways to easily break it, so he decided to incorporate a restoration rune into them.
Gabriel struck the ground beneath his feet with all his might, and the next moment, everything around him was sent flying in different directions. Taking advantage of a brief respite, he quickly surveyed his surroundings to decide which way to run. Huge tanks, some of which resembled walking spiders, and aircraft in the sky, colorful laser shots scattering all over the area—this is what Gabriel saw. In the distance, he spotted some cliffs where he could hide, so he decided to head in that direction.
However, three Jedi stood before him—two humans and one alien, to be precise, an alien with red skin and...
"White horns? Appendages?.." he thought.
"Shaak..." He seemed to remember this individual. "Ti?"
Hearing her name, the Togruta woman clearly expressed surprise, as did her companions. Perhaps they would have engaged in dialogue if they weren't on a battlefield where any inaction was punishable by death. Sensing danger once again, the young man leaped forward, evading a stray projectile, which marked the beginning of the battle between the Jedi and the not-so-ordinary guy.
The trio of Jedi quickly encircled Gabriel, increasing their advantage. However, Gabriel himself couldn't care less. He brilliantly deflected all of the Jedi's attacks, leaving no openings in his defense. But there was one problem—his swords wouldn't hold out for long. While the Light Side users probed his defenses, Gabriel seized the perfect moment and delivered a powerful kick straight to the human man's abdomen. Considering that he had infused this strike with Telekinesis magic, it was quite powerful—the Jedi was sent flying far back, taking droids and clones with him. Dodging the next lightsaber swing by sitting down, Gabriel immediately counterattacked, thrusting his open palm into the third Jedi's stomach, infusing the attack with Telekinesis, causing the third Jedi to be hurled away by the force of Gabriel's power.
The tip of the lightsaber passed just inches from the young man's mask, but fortunately, he managed to leap backward in time. In mid-air, he extended both hands forward, sending a telekinetic wave at Shaak Ti. However, unlike her comrades, the Togruta only took a few steps back and plopped down onto the ground, visibly trembling from the wave of force that had struck her.
"Wow, that was unexpected," the young man said aloud.
"Heh..." Shaak Ti breathed heavily, visibly affected by the surge of power. "Who are you, Sith?"
"I'm not..." But he didn't have a chance to finish his sentence because the droids opened fire on him.
The young man deflected the projectiles with his swords and quickly returned them to their sheaths on his belt. He then spread his arms wide, and a moment later, the lightsabers of the Jedi who had accompanied Shaak Ti flew towards him. With a couple of precise movements, he redirected the next laser beams right back at their senders, hitting them squarely in the heads.
"Whoa! I can swing lightsabers too?" Gabriel thought to himself as he examined his new toys.
He didn't know for sure, but it was probably because he had leveled up his skill in dual-wielding, which made him proficient with lightsabers. This brief delay was enough for Shaak Ti to regain her composure and attack Gabriel with renewed vigor.
"Shaak Ti," Gabriel menacingly pronounced, looking her directly in the eyes during the lightsaber clash. She could see her distorted reflection in his white mirrored mask, which was cracked and created intricate patterns. "Damn, I'm infatuated."
"What are you mumbling over there?" She pushed the young man back and launched another attack.
Gabriel effortlessly parried her strikes and then launched his own offensive. The poor Togruta could barely keep up with the relentless onslaught of her opponent. She didn't understand what form the unknown masked figure was using—so technical and ferocious yet displaying a "patient" fighting style she had never seen before.
When Shaak Ti's defense was nearly broken under the relentless pressure, her opponent unexpectedly jumped back, giving her a momentary respite. He tilted his head to the side and simply watched the battle between the droids and the clones.
"I should already accept this... It all looks too real," he said, hiding his hands along with the deactivated lightsabers under his cloak, which concealed his entire body, and then looked up.
Her rest didn't last long because the unknown Sith once again glanced at her, raised his hands up, revealing his previously concealed armor, and then quickly brought them down. A shockwave literally slammed the Jedi Master into the ground, knocking the breath out of her lungs.
"Telekinetic hammer..." the Sith croaked. "Damn, why did I say that?"
The impact was so powerful that it hurt Shaak Ti even to move. She could have minimized the damage if she had been more focused. She didn't want to admit it, but she had relaxed for a second while trying to analyze the words of the unknown. After this attack, he extended his hand with an open palm in front of him and pulled it towards himself. The Togruta felt an invisible force pulling her towards him, and in the next moment, she was flying straight at him. When Shaak Ti found herself next to the person in the mask, he delivered a powerful elbow strike to her face, causing her to lose consciousness.
Gabriel hoisted Shaak Ti's body onto his shoulder and ran forward, sweeping everyone in his path aside with a wave of his free hand, heading toward the dropship from which clones were disembarking. Using telekinesis, he propelled himself off the ground, leaving huge cracks in his wake, and soared into the air. The young man flew straight into the open troop compartment, and before the two pilots could react, he dropped Shaak Ti onto the floor and used "Telekinetic Grip" to eject one of the pilots from the ship.
"Get me out of here as far as you can," Gabriel activated one of his lightsabers and pointed it at Shaak Ti. "Otherwise, she'll die."