A Speedster on Ilum
The second Avenger to arrive in the Galaxy was Pietro Maximoff, Quicksilver. On the ice world of Ilum, home to the largest deposit of kyber crystals in the Universe. It was there that he met my then Grandmaster Yoda, the one who trained me. He also saved the life of my mother, Padme Amidala. Though that has been heavily debated for years. Regardless, it does not change the fact that they developed a friendship that would change both their lives.
-An excerpt from The Fight for Justice, by Luke Skywalker
Pietro groaned in pain. His whole body hurt. It was like he was thrown from a great distance. He was also really cold. Maximoff opened his eyes and realized he was in the snow. He was in the middle of a blizzard. There were mountains everywhere as well.
“Where the hell am I? Sokovia?” Then the Avenger remembered where the destination of Ulton’s Bifrost. The Sokovian shouted a string of curses in his native tongue. He tried calling the others, “Wanda? Wanda?! Anybody?” Nothing. “I have to find civilization. It’s my only hope of getting back.”
The speedster put on his headphones to calm himself. He played the songs he’d downloaded, and ran in a random direction at super speed.
A massive benefit of having immeasurable speed was that the wind could not touch him. Granted, he’d already gotten used to the cold from growing up in Sokovia, which was in Winter for most of the year. But not having to feel the cold wind was much better.
After about an hour of running, he’d crossed hundreds of miles (or kilometers for any non American readers) at that point, Pietr saw smoke close by. He smiled and charged as fast as he could in that direction.
What he saw though, was not something he expected.
Master Yoda had finally found the Temple. Smoke was coming from the entrance. Master Unduli and Padawan Offee were alive, he knew that for certain, and we would rescue them. But the Temple had been destroyed. It would be a while before the Gathering could happen again. And younglings would not be able to build their lightsabers.
Yoda’s heart sank at that thought. He remembered when he found his kyber crystal. It was an important moment in his training. To overcome one’s own fears is essential for their growth not just as a Jedi, but as an individual.
As the Grandmaster overlooked the temple from a cliff, he sensed danger from behind him and ignited his lightsaber. A moment passed before he dashed in that direction, moving in a zigzag pattern, striking thin air. But each strike revealed a Chameleon Droid that toppled over after Yoda’s attack.
Yoda kept his guard up. He knew there were more.
With great force, one droid attempted to squish the Jedi Master with its full body weight. It looked down to find nothing. The droid spun around in all directions, not noticing that the little green alien was perched on its back. Yoda sliced off its head. He jumped off the droid as it exploded.
The Jedi landed in the snow, as his enemies decloaked, revealing themselves. He was surrounded by at least thirty Chameleon Droids.
Yoda stared them down for a moment. He was about to strike the closest one when a silver blur did it for him. The next thing he knew, he was standing before the Temple entrance.
Pietro watched as the little green alien fought the invisible robots. They were tall, about two meters, had four pincer legs, a cylindrical body, three guns on their chests, and were light brown in color. Pietro didn’t know why, maybe the robots reminded him of Ultron, but he charged at them with his super speed to aid the small alien.
As the world moved slowly around him, he reached the top of the cliff, and ran straight through the robots closest to him and the alien. He grabbed hold of the little guy and carried him down to the entrance of a large structure.
Once that was done, Pietro ran back up the cliff and finished the robots off. Then he rejoined the alien.
The Sokovian and the Jedi stared at each other. It was at this point that Pietro took in the alien’s appearance. He was small, green with pointy ears, and wore beige robes and a dark brown cloak, the hood over his head. It was strange for Pierto to be seeing an alien. The Battle of New York had proven they’d existed, and he’d seen Chitauri corpses at HYDRA, but this was something else.
As for Yoda, this man was a complete mystery. He hummed with energy, the Jedi could feel it. But he could also feel that he was not force sensitive. He moved at incredible speeds, greater than perhaps any Jedi or Sith alike. It was strange to see such power that was not of the Force.
“Grateful for your help I am. But attend to other matters I must. More droids there are. In danger a friend is. Help her you will?”
It took Pietro a second to realize what the alien was saying, but he nodded and responded, “I will. Where is she right now?”
Padme searched for Master Yoda in the distance using a pair of electrobinoculars, but there was no sign of him. Padme’s fear for the Jedi grew.
“I have a bad feeling about this. Master Yoda has been gone far too long. I should have never let him go alone.” the young Senator stated.
“He’s a Jedi Master, my Lady. He’s quite capable of handling whatever may be out there,” Captain Typho said.
“Master Yoda did assure you he would contact you if he required help” 3PO said.
R2 let out a bunch of beeps and whistles noises.
“Traveling alone in a blizzard on an uncharted planet is commonplace for a Jedi, but not a Senator. Miss Padme is safer where she is,” the service droid responded to the astromech.
The cylindrical droid made a few beeping sounds in response.
“3PO is right, R2,” Padme said.
“I’ll run a diagnostic on the communication array. This weather has been giving us some low band interference,” the bodyguard said as he entered the nubian ship.
With the Captain inside, Padme made her move. “R2, does this weather affect your sensors?”
R2 let out a few chirps.
“Not in the slightest. Or, so he says.”
The Senator stared into the distance, determination etched across her face. “Good. I’m going to look for Master Yoda.” Padme began to walk into the blizzard.
“Alone?”
She turned around with a smirk, “No, you two will accompany me.,” and resumed walking.
R2 whistled and followed her.
“Oh dear,” 3PO said with despair.
The three had been walking for a while, or rolling in R2’s case, when the little droid stopped all of a sudden.
“What is it, R2?”
“Oh my. It seems there are multiple objects approaching from that direction,” 3PO translated for the droid. They all looked in said direction.
“Where?”
Her question was soon answered, as multiple blaster bolts flew towards them. The three ran for cover behind a large rock.
“Ah! Oh I knew this was a bad idea!” 3PO screamed in terror. He kept screaming until Padme pulled him into cover.
The blaster fire soon stopped. Padme pulled out her own blaster, ready to fire back. The trouble was she couldn’t see the attackers. She looked down at her coat and beamed with realization. She threw her coat and it landed in the open. One of the invisible enemies shot in the coat’s direction. The Nubian fired two shots at the point of origin. They met their mark and the Chameleon droid uncloaked right before it fell on its side.
“Gotcha.”
R2 let out a few whistles.
“R2 says there are two more still out there!” the droid said with fear.
“Two more?” Another idea soon struck her. “Uh 3PO, could you get my coat?” she said innocently.
“Of course, Miss Padme.”
3PO marched towards the coat. As he picked it up, the enemy droids fired in his direction.
“Ah! Ahhh! I must be out of my circuits!”
The two droids decloaked in front of 3PO. Before Padme could take them out, a silver blur did it for her. After the fast moving object ran through its targets, they both exploded. 3PO fell in the snow, screaming about being buried alive. The silver blur stopped moving, and in its place was a young man no older than Padme.
Shaking off her surprise, the Senator walked towards her service droid and recovered her coat. “Thanks 3PO.”
“Oh-oh, it was a pleasure, Miss Padme.”
The Nubian then turned to this newcomer. “Who are you,” she said with genuine curiosity.
“My name is Pietro Maximoff. My codename is Quicksilver. I’m an Avenger. And I’m the guy that just saved your life.”
Padme raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I had that covered.”
Before Pierto could respond, R2 let out a few beeps.
“What is it, R2? More droids?”
Padme՛ aimed her blaster in the direction R2 was facing. Pietro got ready to run. 3PO screamed in terror again. Their concern was for nothing though, as they saw three robed figures emerging from the mist. One was the small old alien Pietro helped earlier. The other two were female, green skinned humanoids. They also had black diamond markings on their faces.
“Master Yoda!” Padme ran to the Jedi Master, kneeling down to hold his hands. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“Successful my mission was. Safe the Jedi are,” Yoda said looking at the two Mirialans. His good mood soured as he remembered the rest. “But pained my heart is.”
“What troubles you Master Yoda,” Padme՛ asked, her voice and eyes showing nothing but compassion for her old friend.
“Nearly destroyed the Temple was. Revealed its secret location is. But by who, I know not.” As he said this, R2 moved towards one of the destroyed droids. He accessed the droid’s memory banks and a hologram came out of the astromech. The hologram showed the Jedi Master turned Sith Lord, Count Dooku. Everyone watched with rapt attention.
“You will find the Temple on Ilum. Destroy it.”
Yoda’s eyes narrowed at his former apprentice. “Dooku.”
The young Padawan stared at the stranger curiously. “There is an energy coming from you. But it is not of the Force. Who are you?”
The Jedi, droids, and Senator turned to the Sokovian.
“We have a lot to talk about.”