(A/N: Hello, I have a rule in all my books (honestly just this one and the other one😂) I like describing the characters I make, and I'll post pictures of what I envision in my own mind's eye, but I want you all to come up with your own things as well. I will post a picture of what the character looks like to me, but I am 100% ok with you doing the same! Please post your pictures of what you imagine Maximus, Raxor, and Sebastian look like!
===Maximus===
As he carried Lyra's limp body in his arms, he walked towards the group of guards that ran towards him.
Nira had fallen over out of fear of the tank and the loud noises that had followed. But now, as the Astartes approached, she got to her feet and ran over towards him as well.
She said nothing as she stopped in front of the massive Space Marine, his shadow enveloping her as she looked up at him.
His red optics usually made those that saw him cower in fear, but this young girl looked up at him in hope. Hope, and curiosity.
The guards finally made it to where he stood, and stopped before one man broke from their group and approached him.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you for saving Lyra." He said, holding his arms out to take her.
Maximus looked down to the young woman in his arms, and felt a spark of something he had lost over hundreds of wars, over seeing countless worlds destroyed. Over his long two hundred years of service in the Imperium.
He felt a spark of compassion. A spark of his humanity.
"No." His deep distorted voice said.
"I will carry her."
The guard was taken by surprise, but decided to let the massive man do what he wanted.
"Very well." He said before stepping back.
"You have room for these two in the palace?" Maximus asked, beginning to walk past the guards towards the palace.
"We do, but it'll be cramped." The smaller man answered.
Maximus said nothing as he continued to walk, and after passing the pillars into the massive door that led into the palace, the man whom Maximus would come to know as Captain Panaka led him through the winding halls towards a room filled with people and stretchers.
Panaka led him to an empty stretcher, and watched as the Astartes gently placed the woman down on it before standing up.
"Come with me." Panaka said as he began walking from the room before looking back, and watching as Maximus knelt down next to the small child who had clung to his leg.
"Don't leave mama." She said with tears in her eyes as she looked up into his helmet.
Maximus knelt, his weight seeming to shake the room as he did.
"Worry not young one. Your mother will be fine." He said before reaching up and removing his helmet.
The young girl went wide eyed as she saw his face. He was bald, and had a wide set jaw. His face was a mass of scars and stitches, while four silver studs were embedded onto the left side of his forehead.
A massive scar ran through his right eye, though he was lucky enough to have kept his vision.
(Imagine here)
"Where I come from, we have a saying. It helps us be brave in moments of fear. Would you like to know it?" He asked. Nira shyly nodded, and his face hardened.
"I do not say these words lightly. So be sure to hold them in high regard. When my brothers and I are going into battle, we say the phrase "COURAGE AND HONOR!"" He said while gently bringing his right fist up, and tapping his chest plate.
"Honor these words child. Do you understand me?" He asked in a tone that broke no disobedience.
She nodded so hard he thought her neck would break, but a sliver of a smile came to his lips as he stood, and put his plumed helmet under his arm before nodding to her, and walking away.
Nira watched him go, and soon returned to her mother. She sat on the bed next to her stretcher, her little legs swaying back and forth as she looked to her mother who had lost consciousness.
===Padmé Amidala===
The moment the ships had appeared in orbit above Naboo, Padmé hadn't left the false Queen's side. Sabé had been performing her role impeccably, and no one had suspected a thing.
Suddenly the doors of the throne room were thrown open, and Captain Panaka walked in flanked by the largest man she had ever seen.
He wore blue armor with golden accents. He held his helmet which had a red and white plumed crest on it under his left arm. Scattered across his armor were multiple things she would come to know as purity seals, with some that were so long they reached his waist from their places atop his shoulders or chest.
(Image here)
On his left hip was a metal sword with teeth, while below it was what she mistakenly took for a blaster rifle.
His face was a mass of scars and metal implants, but she saw a hint of something more beneath the mean looking exterior. Duty, and a determination to do anything possible to achieve his goal.
Captain Panaka stopped before the decoy Queen before lowering his head and motioning towards Maximus, who stood tall.
"This brave man was instrumental in giving our citizens time to make it to the palace. I wish to introduce him to you." He said before motioning Maximus forward.
The Queen shifted on her throne to stare up into the man's eyes, though Padme could tell she was a bit intimidated.
"I am Lieutenant Maximus of the Ultramarines. My ship was attacked during a voyage through the Warp, and I was left stranded here on this planet. I saw many of the citizens being attacked by those automata, and decided to step in to help." He said.
"Well, thank you for your help, but I must ask, what is an Ultramarine? And what is the Warp?" Sabé asked, clearly confused.
"Do you not know of the Imperium of Man?" Maximus asked, rethinking his earlier assessment of this planet. He had initially thought that this was a planet the Imperium had not reached yet, but that had surely known of the Imperiums existence. But now maybe he needed to rethink everything.
"Imperium of Man…" Sabé said, thinking. She then shook her head, and answered.
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of such an Imperium."
Maximus' augmented brain flew into overdrive, thinking of any possibilities of what was happening. He then decided to think of it later, and continue trying to get more information.
After a brief conversation of him trying to figure out exactly where he was, the Queen asked Captain Panaka to show him their maps later, and moved on to more pressing matters.
"Again, I'm not sure of who or what you are, but you helped my people when they needed it the most. What would it take for you to continue helping us in our time of need?" Sabé asked.
"Firstly, it is my duty to protect humanity from all that threatens it. Whether that be the Alien, the Mutant, or the Heretic. But I will require to know exactly where I am. Until then, I will do what my duty requires of me. I would like the young woman and child I came in with to receive the care they need however." He answered plainly.
"I see." Sabé answered.
"We will see they are taken care of, and we will leave you be then. Please, take what you need from the palace. Just keep my citizens safe." She asked.
He said nothing, only turning and walking away as he placed his helmet back onto his head, and walked back towards the battlefield.
===One Week Later - Padmé===
She sat on her throne in disbelief. The giant metal man had been fighting for one week straight with no food or rest. After he had left the first time a week ago, he had gone through the whole city, and destroyed every single federation droid he saw.
The initial attack hadn't been that bad, but as time went on more and more droids poured into the city, only to be ripped apart by Maximus.
He fought night and day every single day for the last week, and was still, to this moment, out there running her streets.
He was a monster. And this monster had said he was part of a group called the Ultramarines. If he was here, where are the others?
Over this last week, she had been able to send a message asking for help to Chancellor Valorum, who assured her he would send her help after dealing with a situation with the Jedi.
She had come to find out that another massive metal Droid had appeared in the Jedi temple and after slaughtering the Jedi it could find, it mysteriously disappeared into the city after the crisis.
She had learned that not even the top masters of the Jedi could stop this behemoth, which reminded her of her own metal giant roaming her city even now.
She decided she would ask Maximus about this later, as she didnt want to do anything that might take him away from her city.
Her people had begun to suffer due to the blockade, but with Maximus running around, they were at least safe in their homes.
The Ultramarine in question came walking into the throne room, covered in oil and dust from his time in the city, and carrying a massive box on his left shoulder. He set the box down with a resounding 'THUD' and walked closer to the throne.
He reached up and removed his helmet, looking at the Queen sitting on her throne.
"I need rest." He said plainly.
She nodded, and motioned for Captain Panaka to take him to a room she had prepared for the man. But now she had to worry about what would happen to her city while he was resting.
Her worries were shattered however, when he next spoke.
"I only require a few hours of rest. I'll be back after that." He said before turning and walking from the room, nodding to Lyra as he did.
"And you say your daughter found him wandering the streets?" She asked Lyra, who was seated next to her with a bandage around her leg.
The woman had proven to be an invaluable asset in terms of her economic knowledge, and diplomatic solutions. Not only that, but she was incredibly easy to talk to, and get along with. As such, Padmé had decided to bring the woman into her service.
Lyra's daughter, Nira, had shown an incredible aptitude for mechanical work, and practically stuck to an engineer's side when not talking about how she was the one to find who she calls "The Big Droid Man".
A messenger soon walked into the room, and informed her about a call that had requested her presence, to which she promptly stood up, and followed.
Her entourage followed her into a room where they all stood behind her as she walked to the table in the center of the room.
A hologram flickered into existence to show her world's assailant, Viceroy Nute Gunray.
"Viceroy. What do you want?" She asked in a tone which clearly showed she was trying to keep her anger under control.
"Queen Amidala. I've been trying to establish contact with you for the past week, but all my ambassadors have been killed. What do you have to say about these atrocities?" He asked in mock rage.
"Atrocities!?" Padmé almost screamed.
"You send an army of battle droids into my city as ambassadors!? Tanks!?" She yelled, slapping her hands against the table before pointing her finger at the Viceroy.
"How dare you say that I've been killing your ambassadors when you've literally trying to subjugate my world! My people are running out of their food, and you have the gall to complain about some droids!?" She raged.
"That was no army, Queen Amidala. And if you don't start cooperating, I will show you an actual army." Viceroy said, his tone taking on a harder tone.
"The Chancellor will hear about this. Do you understand me?" She asked.
"Indeed he will. And when he hears that you've been killing my ambassadors?" He said, leaving the question open before Disconnecting the hologram.
Padmé angrily stood straight, and walked from the room before her entourage followed her moments later.
===Maximus===
Having left the throne room, Maximus followed Captain Panaka through the massive palace, and soon came to a room inside one of the spires he had seen when overlooking the city.
The room was plain, but he didn't expect much. He had known the inhabitants of the palace had done everything they could to find him a bed that would match his enormous size.
Captain Panaka bowed his head, and left Maximus to be alone.
He set his helmet onto one of the tables that had been prepared for him, and looked at the bed.
It was far too small, but he didn't mind much. In his long life, he had slept on the ground more times than not, and did not mind doing so now.
He also didn't want to remove his armor, as he wanted to be ready for anything at a moment's notice.
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