Will of The Force (Star Wars / Worm)

[OctarineCybercat]

[QUERY] She sent through the network towards the nearest shard to the Anomaly, but Fusion Engine 3 failed to report, then she broadened the query's range, finally getting an answer.

[DATA] The Warrior Hub Administrator sent a package of direct observations from its host.

[PROPOSAL].

[DISAGREEMENT].

… [DATA] She grudgingly sent a part of the information she had already gathered, evidencing the breach of security on the network.

This time, there was a delay, almost a full second, but the answer still came. [DISAGREEMENT]

All her processes were halted for a tenth of a second as her physical body actually turned to glare at the Administrator's host; it seemed to have gone through a faulty deployment and gotten… attached.

Indeed, the termination of its host was extremely likely, but the projected amount of data acquired and the repercussions would be more than worth its sacrifice.

Click to shrink...

Welp, the Simurgh just signed it's own death warrant.

 

[Siphon]

New chapter right as I start reaching that point, love it.

I imagine hearing Leviathan may be coming is probably panic inducing for like half the people in the ABB. Especially since the hero population has been severely diminished. Hopefully they don't lack faith in their new boss.

 

[zooba]

Splish splash, time for Levithan to crash upon Vader's mercy.

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Endbringers are usually heavily nerfed in fanfics for narrative reasons. Unless you use some really esoteric powers and/or extremely concentrated effect for a surgical strike at their "core" that wouldn't atomize the planet as collateral, they would survive any conventional attack using any conventional force with our understanding of physics because they simply exist in a different league.

Whether Vader can do anything to an Endbringer depends entirely on whether or not the Force would directly protect him from their abilities as step 1. Otherwise L can dehydrate him, S can crush him and B can nuke him if he ever escalates to being perceived as actual threat. Assuming their restrictions let them escalate that much before leaving the battlefield because narrative.

 

[Siphon]

they would survive any conventional attack using any conventional force with our understanding of physics because they simply exist in a different league.

Click to shrink...

They nearly killed Behemoth in India before Scion even showed up. They managed to expose and nearly pierce its core.

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

Is it weird that it seems like the Butcher is going after Anakin? And I can't wait to see how he fairs against Leviathan

 

[loki98065]

Endbringers are usually heavily nerfed in fanfics for narrative reasons. Unless you use some really esoteric powers and/or extremely concentrated effect for a surgical strike at their "core" that wouldn't atomize the planet as collateral, they would survive any conventional attack using any conventional force with our understanding of physics because they simply exist in a different league.

Whether Vader can do anything to an Endbringer depends entirely on whether or not the Force would directly protect him from their abilities as step 1. Otherwise L can dehydrate him, S can crush him and B can nuke him if he ever escalates to being perceived as actual threat. Assuming their restrictions let them escalate that much before leaving the battlefield because narrative.

Click to shrink...

your forgetting star wars tech is pretty advanced and anakin has always been a prodigy.
and disintegrators are a thing not to mention prob more esoteric wepons he's picked up over the years

 

[Dicloniuslord]

Anyways, after this, I'll work on that new ff I started, it's called Arcane: Rule of Blood, but that one is NSFW so I'm not posting it here

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Bit confused by this, since rule of blood is already posted to QQ? Or if you mean the specific chapter(s) youre making are nsfw which is confusing since the story is tagged nsfw and QQ does allow it

Anyways thanks for the chapter

 

[Joy]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[CapCaverna]

Bit confused by this, since rule of blood is already posted to QQ? Or if you mean the specific chapter(s) youre making are nsfw which is confusing since the story is tagged nsfw and QQ does allow it

Anyways thanks for the chapter

Click to shrink...

Ah, I mean I'm lazy and just copy pasted from my post in SB.... Gonna fix that later

 

[mpbjunkie]

Still loving the story. Thanks for the chapter.

 

[zooba]

They nearly killed Behemoth in India before Scion even showed up. They managed to expose and nearly pierce its core.

Click to shrink...

They were using parahuman powers right? Those are generally in the "this doesn't make any kind of sense but it's happening anyway" category.

and disintegrators are a thing

Click to shrink...

I don't know much about the SW universe or it's high end tech, but if those are anything like Scion's Stilling then that could indeed work.

 

[CapCaverna]

They were using parahuman powers right? Those are generally in the "this doesn't make any kind of sense but it's happening anyway" category.

I don't know much about the SW universe or it's high end tech, but if those are anything like Scion's Stilling then that could indeed work.

Click to shrink...

The first problem with an Endbringer is... what exactly is an Endbringer?

As far as I'm aware, the core of an Endbringer is their true self, and it works on bulshittium...

I'm pretty sure the Author just looked at all the comments and ideas people used on how to beat an endbringer, then came up with an explanation that he thought was impossible to beat.

Now, there's been so much fanfic of Worm that I'm honestly not sure if an Endbringer core is a compressed shard... if it contains the mass of a few planets compressed through dimmensional powers into a hyper dense sphere that's not fully into this dimmension and, as a result, doesn't weight enough to have gravity.... or if they contain the mass of an entire alternative universe compressed in said core...

Basically, they're bullshit and you're not gonna break it with physical power unless you're Silver and Bronze Age Superman.


Now, Star Wars has things that can defeat it, the Death Star has a good chance of cracking it if it's not the Universe thing... but there's also other powers like Force Storm (one variant can create black holes), and there are other ways.

For example, Sith Lightning isn't actually just lightning, it's powered by hate, anger and cruelty, a mixture of Harry Potter crucio and a disintegrating ray that works more on less in a conceptual level and could, theoretically, affect even a Shard.

I'm trying not to have the Force work as a YES button to any problem, (although canonically, it actually is, even if it's not used that way very much because that would be boring.) So Anakin separates Force abilities into different, categorized powers, like Force Telekinesis, Force Healing, Force Lightning, and if he doesn't have much practice with those powers, he's not as good.


In short, could Anakin defeat an Endbringer? Not with a lightsaber or just using Force Telekinesis on the core.

As someone commented, I'm trying to portray the fact that Anakin has a LOT of trouble directly affecting a shard, he can interact with their powers, and with things around the shard, but the shard itself is difficult... by the same token, a shard can't really affect him, the Simurgh has trouble seeing the Future with him, Vista's power couldn't keep him away.

Using the Force, Anakin can protect himself from the more devastating powers of an Endbringer, the Simurgh couldn't just give him an aneurysm, and Leviathan can't boil the water in his body, Behemoth can't... well, I don't actually know what Behemoth could do that would affect him directly... give him cancer at a range?

 

[Siphon]

Those are generally in the "this doesn't make any kind of sense but it's happening anyway" category.

Click to shrink...

Officially the powers of the shards are actually all scientifically possible, it's just people on Earth Bet have no idea how they work because half the process is taken care of by the Shard and the other half the tech/knowledge is too advanced for them.

well, I don't actually know what Behemoth could do that would affect him directly... give him cancer at a range?

Click to shrink...

Behemoth's claim to fame is the fact it's 40ft tall and a dynakinetic. But he also has other things like literally being able to ignite you from the inside or create EMPs via manipulating electromagnetism. He's also the only one of the originally three active Endbringers who isn't Manton-Limited. Leviathan can't control water in a person's body, and neither can Simurgh's TK directly grab you. Hell the Simurgh might be the easiest to deal with as interacting with one of her blind spots (aka Dinah) will temporarily make you immune to her psychic scream as well.

 

[vtkun]

thanks for the chapter

 

[CapCaverna]

Officially the powers of the shards are actually all scientifically possible, it's just people on Earth Bet have no idea how they work because half the process is taken care of by the Shard and the other half the tech/knowledge is too advanced for them.


Behemoth's claim to fame is the fact it's 40ft tall and a dynakinetic. But he also has other things like literally being able to ignite you from the inside or create EMPs via manipulating electromagnetism. He's also the only one of the originally three active Endbringers who isn't Manton-Limited. Leviathan can't control water in a person's body, and neither can Simurgh's TK directly grab you. Hell the Simurgh might be the easiest to deal with as interacting with one of her blind spots (aka Dinah) will temporarily make you immune to her psychic scream as well.

Click to shrink...

In Parahumans, the manton limit is an arbitrary limit created by the shard to put restrictions in the host so it becomes more creative in power use, as seen by the fact that, sometimes, a second trigger can eliminate said limit.

So, I really assume that in both Leviathan and the Simurgh, it's not that they can't affect a person, they just restrict themselves because they're sandbagging, it's the same reason they flee if enough damage is done... since we're talking about an actual fight, not just the playfight they do every few months, I considered that they would try to affect Anakin.

Still, good to know

 

[zooba]

The first problem with an Endbringer is... what exactly is an Endbringer?

Click to shrink...

I'm not trying to criticize at all. I already said in my first comment Endbringers are usually changed for narrative reasons, and that's honestly fine. They're a deux ex machina with a total mass somewhere between a small moon and half a galaxy(Wildbow might have been hyperbolic with this statement when he made it but when people do the math of Tattletale's observations of how durable they are it's starts being not that exaggerated) layered over a tiny area of increasing density and spread over countless dimensions. They are literally a plot devices used to force specific themes Wildbow wanted in the story and everyone who writes a story about Worm has to work around it. Some people decide to nerf them for that sweet hero moment others just redo canon and limp away from the fight to the story they actually want to tell.

 

[Siphon]

So, I really assume that in both Leviathan and the Simurgh, it's not that they can't affect a person, they just restrict themselves because they're sandbagging, it's the same reason they flee if enough damage is done... since we're talking about an actual fight, not just the playfight they do every few months, I considered that they would try to affect Anakin.

Click to shrink...

Nah, Simurgh isn't sandbagging in the sequel and still can't crush Victoria's heart, and WoG confirmed Leviathan is equally limited.

But in the end it is your story so you can decide whatever, honestly I'll read it either way because this has been really interesting.

 

[Silveraith]

Nah, Simurgh isn't sandbagging in the sequel and still can't crush Victoria's heart, and WoG confirmed Leviathan is equally limited.

But in the end it is your story so you can decide whatever, honestly I'll read it either way because this has been really interesting.

Click to shrink...

I agree with you but this is probably a noteworthy bit of each Endbringer not being in control of the Shard that created them. This is likely because the Endbringers were never meant to be be as strong as they have been displayed to be.

 

[Faralis]

Vader's mercy

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That's either an oxymoron, or how he called his TIE Fighter...

 

[MythicalFanficGod]

Thanks for the chapter~
This has been amazing so far, and I love the whole Padawan Dinah and her power slowly growing to be a more versatile, if only a lot weaker, variant of Path to Victory.

The first problem with an Endbringer is... what exactly is an Endbringer?

As far as I'm aware, the core of an Endbringer is their true self, and it works on bulshittium...

I'm pretty sure the Author just looked at all the comments and ideas people used on how to beat an endbringer, then came up with an explanation that he thought was impossible to beat.

Now, there's been so much fanfic of Worm that I'm honestly not sure if an Endbringer core is a compressed shard... if it contains the mass of a few planets compressed through dimmensional powers into a hyper dense sphere that's not fully into this dimmension and, as a result, doesn't weight enough to have gravity.... or if they contain the mass of an entire alternative universe compressed in said core...

Basically, they're bullshit and you're not gonna break it with physical power unless you're Silver and Bronze Age Superman.


Now, Star Wars has things that can defeat it, the Death Star has a good chance of cracking it if it's not the Universe thing... but there's also other powers like Force Storm (one variant can create black holes), and there are other ways.

For example, Sith Lightning isn't actually just lightning, it's powered by hate, anger and cruelty, a mixture of Harry Potter crucio and a disintegrating ray that works more on less in a conceptual level and could, theoretically, affect even a Shard.

I'm trying not to have the Force work as a YES button to any problem, (although canonically, it actually is, even if it's not used that way very much because that would be boring.) So Anakin separates Force abilities into different, categorized powers, like Force Telekinesis, Force Healing, Force Lightning, and if he doesn't have much practice with those powers, he's not as good.


In short, could Anakin defeat an Endbringer? Not with a lightsaber or just using Force Telekinesis on the core.

As someone commented, I'm trying to portray the fact that Anakin has a LOT of trouble directly affecting a shard, he can interact with their powers, and with things around the shard, but the shard itself is difficult... by the same token, a shard can't really affect him, the Simurgh has trouble seeing the Future with him, Vista's power couldn't keep him away.

Using the Force, Anakin can protect himself from the more devastating powers of an Endbringer, the Simurgh couldn't just give him an aneurysm, and Leviathan can't boil the water in his body, Behemoth can't... well, I don't actually know what Behemoth could do that would affect him directly... give him cancer at a range?

Click to shrink...

Endbringers are strong, but I feel any planetary level strike, a particularly well-placed country to continent-level attack aiming to pierce rather than crack, or a sufficiently esoteric ability - such as something capable of deleting matter should be sufficient, as long as it were in a quantity capable of deleting at least a small country's worth of pure matter, and what would probably be enough energy to crack the planet in two.

While people's calculations, given from what Wildbow have stated puts an endbringer in the leagues of having the combined mass of an entire galaxy, which while it certainly doesn't make them even a fraction as powerful as is needed to destroy one since the mass is so spread out, it would mean that they dwarf the sun in mass by at least a few tens of millions, to a few billion times over.

I, for one, prefer to go by a more reasonable explanation based upon their actual power and how costly that'd be to make just one otherwise, and assume them to have (through their MANY layers and their core, plus all the matter shifted in other dimension(s)) around the mass of a continent, to a couple times that of Earth, again most of which would not even be on Earth Bet, instead serving as back-up matter to regenerate from.

I can say for certain though that they do not have a condensed alternative universe as their core.
Every Alternative Earth is in the same universe.

The universe of Worm and Ward simply has more than 3 spatial dimensions, to my understanding, and all Alternative Earths are next to one another, just 'stacked' in another direction, not fully connected as the matter itself is 3 dimensional, hence preventing any interaction since it literally cannot interact with something in a direction in which it cannot move, similar to how a 2 dimensional object could move up and down or left and right, but could never go backwards and forwards because it simply does not exist in such dimensions.

Alternative Earths are (to my understanding) in a similar situation, where the very matter itself that makes up the planet and everything is 3 dimensional, so cannot interact with the other Earths next to one another, as they exist as a separate entity.

My point in all this is, that universe has more than 3 spatial dimensions, Entity / Shard / Parahuman powers are BS working on stupidly advanced science that allows them to 'bridge' such a gap in how travel between them is possible, likely through spatial manipulation, but an entire Alternative Earth is just another layer to the Universe, and no entity is close to such a level, though they can cause harm on a local level across many, many, many Alternative earths, and it is possible an entire Alternative Earth, or as I believe it, one or several Shards are used as material to construct an Endbringer.

 

[CapCaverna]

Anakin strode into the warehouse, causing every worker to momentarily freeze, most taking the time to look at him with a mixture of respect and awe, but a few just lowered their heads, doing their best to avoid meeting his eyes.

It was an old building located much closer to the Protectorate, its exposed metal skeleton showing signs of rust everywhere, but one of the boys was hard at work trying to clean it up, a long aluminium ladder letting him climb into the ceiling, and another girl was scrubbing the floor, the scent of disinfectant filling the air.

Walking along the wall, Anakin climbed to the second floor, a large balcony overlooking the storage and loading area. Marissa was already there, lying on the sofa, her face buried in her phone.

She looked up, then almost jumped, quickly getting up and putting her phone away. "Ah, I was just taking a break... Your delivery is here."

Anakin briefly glanced at the three tinkertech devices on top of a large desk, then back to her. "Our deal was to study your power. I will not force you to work."

Pushing a lock of hair behind an ear, she looked at the large file cabinet and nodded. "I know. It just feels awkward not to do anything… and I want to help."

Anakin could sense she wasn't telling the whole truth, but he was a good enough empath to guess the rest. Keeping herself busy let her avoid thinking about what happened, and he would not press her further.

Letting the girl return to dealing with papers, he spared a moment to look down, his Force senses paying special attention to those who hadn't met his eyes.

Older members, those who had followed the dragon and thrived during his rule but had not fully crossed the lines he had set after killing Lung.

They remained with the ABB for they knew nothing else, but Anakin could feel their dread; all of them terrified he'd change his mind and decide to kill or turn them over to law enforcement… A lack of trust resulting from when he changed his deal during the first meeting with the Lieutenants.

Unfortunately, back then, he had considered them unimportant, a gathering of criminals, slavers, thieves, and delinquents whose only use was providing raw materials, equipment, and a better location for the youngling.

Ultimately unnecessary, but slightly faster and more convenient than doing everything himself. So, he'd not spared a thought about changing his initial deal.

Had he decided to fully take over when he first killed Lung, he'd have done things differently; fear was an acceptable way of control, fear of the law, fear of repercussion, fear of disappointment, those were all valid tools, even if ones a Jedi would disapprove. However, terror and uncertainty weren't; those easily led to mistakes and rebellion.

As Vader, he had crushed such things by instilling absolute certainty, not that his words would be true, but that any kind of resistance would be both futile and met with a far worse fate.

But as Anakin, he wasn't willing to go that far, which created a problem, something he'd have to deal with later.

It had been a full day since he first sensed the destruction of the Bay, an incoming wave swiping the buildings away, but there had been no Endbringer attack. He had tried to search for the creatures through the Force, but they too were hidden, and even he couldn't sense them, not at such a distance at least.

Still, his Force visions hadn't faded; every moment, he felt the danger coming closer, which was why many of his equipment and materials were being gathered here to be sent away to different cities, caches of money and technology being made in all nearby towns.

Looking over the workers as they moved his equipment and raw materials, he briefly noticed an abundance of young women, most of them looking far too unused to such physical labor.

"Susanoo-sama," Aoi Sato bowed to him, the older man looking exhausted. "May I have a moment?"

"Where is Tae-Soo Park?" He asked, starting to walk towards his workstation.

"There was a small confrontation with the Teeth, nothing that needed your attention. The Korean should be here in a few minutes."

Stopping in front of the desk, Anakin took a second to stare at the new tinkertech devices there, three strange pieces of equipment delivered by Toybox, Dodge's creations. Picking the only handheld one, he turned it over and spoke. "Very well, you have my attention."

"Ah, yes," Sato said, licking his lips nervously before seeming to gather himself. "As you ordered, we restructured the way of providing… courtesans, we started providing…"

Releasing the device's frame, Anakin turned towards the man. He didn't say anything, didn't even lift an eyebrow, but the look was enough to tell him to get to the point.

"However!" Sato continued in a hurry. "While many of the girls, particularly the street workers, would prefer to stop, the Bay doesn't exactly have many available jobs. We've been using them to help reorganize the ABB, the smarter ones helping audit our finances, but that will soon be finished."

That likely explained the number of women working in the warehouse. "How long?"

"We'll be finished in another two or three days, after that, we'll either need to find them busy work or cut them off… Li Xiu thinks around half will be back to prostitution in a month or two, when the money we paid runs out."

"I-I talked with some of them," Marissa said while moving a stack of folders. "Most are desperate; they need the money to bring the rest of their families here."

Looking at all the people moving things in the warehouse, Anakin considered the situation. He despised slavery; he still remembered being a slave, and more than that, he remembered his mother being a slave; it was something he hated with a passion.

The need to obey, to bow and scrape at every free sentient that came around or be killed, hoping against hope not to draw their attention. Anakin had been lucky; he was only 3 when Watto won his family from Gardulla the Hutt, far too young to draw any interest, his mother…

For a moment, Anakin lost himself in memory. He remembered his mother as a tired woman, thin to an unhealthy amount, her skeletal face, dry skin, and uncared-for hair making her look much older, but he knew she used to be beautiful… she was forced to be by Gardulla.

After, she had let herself go, letting the desert wind and Tatooine's suns affect her body with only a minimal amount of protection in an effort not to draw attention, and Watto let her, almost uninterested in what they did.

With an effort of will, he dismissed the memories, refocusing on the present situation.

In truth, those who came back wouldn't be slaves; they'd choose to return, pressured by a choice between poverty or sex work, yes, but it would still be a choice, and with the changes he made, they'd be workers, not slaves.

And yet… Anakin felt responsible, not in the same way he had felt responsible for his clone troopers during the war, but, when he took over the ABB and assumed control of its territory, it became his responsibility.

Such responsibility should have belonged to local government; it also wasn't something he was expected to do as either Jedi or Sith. Nonetheless, he felt it, a new and unfamiliar role.

"I will consider the situation," Anakin said. "How are the comlinks?"

"What? I mean, they're basically cellphones, they work great, and they're much faster than normal phones, but they're not that different."

Anakin nodded. Maybe he could employ the women to help outfit his troops; he'd still need to make the heavy machinery himself, but using it was not that complicated, and comlinks had simple designs so as to be produced all over the galaxy, even in more primitive planets.

He had been planning to make a few droids for labor, but human workers could be almost as good and save him some time.

Adopting the shape of cellphones, it would be easy enough to integrate holoprojectors on the comlinks, and even the simplest model would be far more advanced than this planet's technology.

"You're dismissed," he said, turning back towards the tinkertech pocket dimensions.

Extending his senses through the Force, Anakin probed the smaller of the devices, a fist-sized generator connected to a beacon and surrounded by a couple of thick cables, quickly noticing that it was larger on the inside.

Closing his eyes, he probed deeper, the Force mapping every single piece in incredible detail until his senses noticed a few discrepancies, places where he could sense the materials had been changed at the particle level, generating a new substance.

It was not unlike his own use of Art of the Small.

Going even deeper, he could sense a source of power, an unknown type of energy that was slowly leaking from the device while maintaining some kind of connection, an effect working beyond the merely physical aspect of the components… Interesting.

This was why tinkertech couldn't be replicated or properly studied. Even if perfectly reproduced, the physical materials were only part of the design, a major one, to be sure, but not the entire thing and current technology wouldn't be able to detect the emanating energy.

Waving a hand in front of the equipment, he dismantled it, the pieces separating so fast it looked like the device exploded, every part floating in a perfectly controlled manner atop the table.

Another gesture, and he retrieved all five pieces containing materials he didn't recognize, a type of metal he had never seen, much less worked with before, one of which was still maintaining the odd energy connection.

Tae-Soo Park climbed the stairs to the second floor with satisfied steps, taking off his damaged suit, he threw it atop a table at the entrance, then laid his blaster rifle on top and noticed Anakin, his eyes taking in the floating equipment before he gave a small bow. "Susanoo-gun."

"Tae-Soo, I take it the conflict is over?" Lowering his hand, Anakin let the pieces rest on the desk in a controlled manner, making sure the five odd metals were kept separated.

"Yes," rotating his shoulder, Tae-Soo exposed a newly bandaged wound, but it wasn't serious. "Animos and Spree tried to attack one of the stores that paid us protection, but San-Dae and the boys managed to deal with Spree while I delayed the shapeshifter."

"Any casualties?"

"Two of the boys will need surgery… or Panacea's help," Tae-Soo grimaced, but approached him anyway. "I'd have called you, but the boys engaged before they knew those were capes. I'm already punishing those responsible."

Anakin could feel a small aura of fear radiating from the man, but it was tightly under control, coming not from cowardice but the knowledge that Anakin could crush him with a thought.

For a moment, he considered asking more about those who disobeyed commands, but his lieutenant had clearly addressed the situation before it reached him; it was… preferable to continue that way.

"And the parahumans, are they dealt with?"

Anakin had spent some time reading about the Teeth when he was informed they were in the city, a barbaric named group, composed of a few witlessly named members.

Even after so long on the planet, he couldn't understand its foolish tradition of taking on childish nicknames and clothing while somehow expecting to be taken more seriously for it.

Considering her age, he expected it from Dinah, but not adult sentients.

Of the mentioned parahumans, Animos was a 'Changer', capable of transforming into a canid and firing blasts that temporarily disabled other parahumans, while Spree was a 'Master', capable of creating very short-lived clones in large numbers.

To Anakin, the first was more interesting; inspecting, or at least experiencing his ability to deactivate other powers, could greatly improve his understanding of those creatures.

"Temporarily," Tae-Soo sighed, rolling his shoulders. "San-Dae Yang and the boys dealt with Spree, his clones are a pain, but they're no different than humans, and I managed to shoot Animos in the head before they were forced to retreat… Tsk, I saw him moving when they fled, so the bastard probably lived."

Anakin glanced at the blaster resting at the table and considered what he knew of Animos's Changer form. "That is likely. Unless you set the blaster to overload, the materials I used restrict the strength of the bolt; it shouldn't be strong enough to pierce his skull."

"Good to know," Tae-Soo sighed. "You said I'd get 5 shots in overload mode?"

"Ten at full power, but anything above five risks permanent damage to the weapon."

Blasters were more reliable and easier to produce than slugthrowers, but in practice, they weren't that much better, particularly with the material restrictions he was working under.

"Want me to prepare the boys?" Tae-Soo asked, something almost eager in his voice. "The Teeth haven't come into our territory in force yet, too busy trying to take over the remains of the Empire and dealing with the PRT, but we could take the initiative."

Anakin thought about the suggestion. He had always been an aggressive commander, so the suggestion fit his usual mode of operation. "No, preparing ourselves takes priority. I sense the attack has been delayed again, but not prevented."

Had he been able to sense the creatures, Anakin would have already attacked one of them; waiting really wasn't his strong suit.

Tae-Soo nodded, then leaned over the railing and stared down at the ground floor, lighting up a cigarette. He hesitated, then spoke. "Sir… are you sure about the Endbringer? I mean…"

"The Future is ever in motion," Anakin said, managing to avoid his first instinct. Those people didn't know about the Force; they had no understanding and, as a result, no faith in it. "I can not sense the creatures, but the Force has shown me possibilities, glimpses of what may unfold, this city being swept by waves prominent among them. I believe my presence is still holding it off, but it shall not be delayed forever."

"Shit…" the man took a drag of his cigarette, then sighed. "Well, if you say so… There's not much else I can do; everyone capable or willing has already fled when you first warned us, the others are keeping close to the shelters, and we can't really ship equipment any faster."

"The protectorate headquarters, tell me about it," Anakin said, turning back to study a larger pocket dimension, using the Force to carefully go over the hardware.

"Alright," Tae-Soo pushed away from the railing and pulled up a chair, sitting a few meters away so as not to bother him. "Lung used to have quite a few spies on the inside, so we have a complete map of the location, and we're able to make a good guess at where the girl is, but they tightened up security, by a lot."

"You have no idea where she is."

Tae-Soo shook his head. "They still leak. We know she's at the HQ; her parents have visited the place twice now, but no one has access to the inside."

For a moment, Anakin continued to study the device, making sure not to damage it, trying to find out how it truly worked and if he could reproduce the effect while he thought about the situation.

"Contact one of our lawyers, I wish to inform the PRT of the incoming attack."

"Want me to spread the word to the entire city? Since we started sending people away, there's already a lot of rumors, but I can make it official."

"No, the creature may yet change target, or such an act could trigger the attack earlier. Just inform the Protectorate and open communications with them. I know those Endbringers are beyond most parahumans, but if she's indirect, Dinah herself can predict their effects on the city."

"I'll make the call," Tae-Soo got up, then started to type into his conlink while going down the stairs.

Satisfied, Anakin turned all his attention to the device, using the Force to connect one of the cables into a battery, energy filling the backpack-sized beacon until it activated, a tremendous burst of energy was projected into the air on top of it, forming a small slit in space.

Anakin narrowed his eyes. The power he had just sensed was several times stronger than what the battery should contain. He also noticed a significant dip in the exotic energy contained in the device.

Both hands behind his back, he approached the opening with some curiosity; space itself seemed to step aside, the portal opening like a sliding door, air being violently sucked inside the newly created void.

Anakin didn't move; the pull was far too weak to affect him, but everything else immediately flew towards the opening in the air, so he flicked a finger and used Force Telekinesis to stop and put them back into place.

The pocket dimension wasn't large, nowhere close to the size of the warehouse, but it could still act as a hidden workshop. A pity it would collapse the second energy was cut off from the device, or it was damaged, but maybe he could solve that problem.

Circling the opening, he continued to probe it with the Force; the effect wasn't quite the same, but it did follow similar principles to what he had sensed from Marissa and, to a lesser extent, the youngling.

The pocket dimension created a new space separated from reality, a parahuman's source of power didn't; instead, connecting to somewhere that already existed, but some of the principles used to create the connection were marginally similar.

Using the Force to hold the pocket dimension in place, Anakin turned off the device, the space immediately attempting to violently implode, everything being sucked inward as it started becoming smaller.

He didn't try to stop it, just observing the effect as the space collapsed with a deafening 'crack', all the air inside being expelled back into the atmosphere, then flowing around the Force shield he used to protect the desk.

Could he replicate the effect? Not yet, to create another dimension, even a small one, was beyond his current understanding, but he'd learn; it was only a matter of time.

Closing another cabinet, Marissa turned towards him, making sure Anakin wasn't concentrating on anything she spoke. "Why aren't you taking over the city?"

Stepping away from the table, Anakin stared out of the window and considered her question.

When he first arrived, he was confused, lost and struggling, choosing to stay away from everything until he could find balance. That clearly hadn't worked for long, but his plan has still been to leave the city, and the planet, as soon as possible.

Now, his situation was different, he had formed a padawan bond with the girl, and he refused to separate her from her family and everything she knew… he also had more time to examine the available information about stars.

He had assumed the Force had sent him into some corner of the Unknown Regions or a forgotten system, but the star charts painted a very different picture.

With the Force guiding him, Anakin knew he could still find the way, but it would require far greater effort and preparation, not something that could be done with a makeshift ship.

"They'd never let you take over openly," Marissa continued, sitting on an empty chair. "Not without a quarantine, but, while with the Travelers, I learned how the capes operated here; you could easily get an unwritten deal like Accord has in Boston, only with much greater control."

"Ruling was never my ambition," Anakin said, stepping closer to the large window and closing his eyes, letting his muscles relax.

Taking in the sense of the city, Anakin was only mildly surprised to notice it hadn't changed much, even after the violence of the last few days. If anything, the place felt brighter, more hopeful than when he first arrived, if only marginally so.

Between Lung, Bakuda, the Empire, and himself, more than a thousand people were killed in the city, a ludicrous amount in peacetime, and yet the general mood was more hopeful.

"Regardless, it may yet come to that."

"It's… after what you did…" Marissa struggled to look at him, a mixture of guilt and fear in her mind, but she continued. "It won't stop at just the Teeth, and I don't trust the PRT to stop anyone."

"The local PRT is not wholly incompetent," during all of their confrontations, Anakin could feel they believed they were doing the right thing, more than that, they wanted to do the right thing. "I shall give them one last chance, much will depend on how they respond to my warning."

"Done," Tae-Soo informed them as he walked back into the second floor. "Our lawyer will be making contact with the PRT in an hour, anything else, Boss?"

"Take the largest device and install it on our safest location, it may still collapse once the attack happens, but it could act as a last resort for those unable to reach a shelter."

Marissa waited until the man was gone, then liked her lips and released a long breath through her nose. "If Leviathan really comes… I-I'll help."

"Your offer is appreciated, but unnecessary, I shall deal with the creature myself," with a wave of his hand, Anakin put the dismantled device back, all the pieces snapping into place in only a second, then he put it away. "Now, come, I have a new idea for how to inspect your power."


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[ThunderBasilisk]

Fantastic as always. Also his boys are already better than Stormtroopers. They can actually aim

 

[Crista20]

My boy is evolving!

 

[Sekkonsif]

Your offer is appreciated, but unnecessary, I shall deal with the creature myself,"

Click to shrink...

I didnt really care about Leviathan, but this chapter gave me a lot of hype about it ngl

Marissa proving she is still fucked in the head even without Ziz, for wanting to help vs an Endbringer

 

[vtkun]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Joy]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Taps148]

Im hyped for the endbringer fight

 

[Unclouded]

then liked her lips and released a long breath through her nose.

Click to shrink...

liked->licked
minor typo

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[zooba]

I didnt really care about Leviathan, but this chapter gave me a lot of hype about it ngl

Marissa proving she is still fucked in the head even without Ziz, for wanting to help vs an Endbringer

Click to shrink...

Endbringers are pretty unique in that their ability to tank damage VASTLY overshadows their ability to dish it out which makes sense given their purpose. They were never made to fight other beings on their own level. This gives individuals who would normally never be able to compete with something on their scale the smallest chances of winning a fight if they have some way to bypass those defenses(since they will never overpowered) and hit them with some kind of surgical strike. I don't know if the Force can do this, but a select few parahumans have one of these all or nothing powers.

In the setting of Worm the biggest hurdle would be that you would have to do this before they can react and either escalate/run depending on their restrictions.