Star Wars: The Earthling Gamer

Chapter 12 - The Confrontation and Relocation

I froze and cursed, realizing I was alone in the room, and the only safe exit was blocked by an officer. The other two were probably detained or hurt downstairs, if they didn't escape. I hurriedly grab the few things we leave laying around, shove it in my inventory, and I'm about to open the window when I hear the door creak open.

I slam the window open when I hear the officer shout. "Hold on! We don't want to hurt you. We're not on their side." I'll admit, I froze. They sounded genuine, and the System didn't notify me of a lie. But this is a police officer, and pardon me if I'm paranoid, provided my experiences.

I turn to them, sitting on the windowsill. "Prove it, then." I reply simply. "Your friends are safe, and I'll surrender my weapons. I come independently, in peace, to extend an offer." The officer says, tossing her weapons onto the floor, at my feet. I pick up their weapons, and point the taser at them. If I do have to escape, the least I can do is just stun them, rather than just killing them, right?

"My apologies for aiming at you, however you may find I'm a bit paranoid of the police. I'm sure you're aware of my situation, since you sought me and my friends out, so surely you'd understand." I reason. The manager and officer both nod slowly, and sit on my bed, the two of them sitting by each other..

"First off, you sold us out, didn't you? We've been working hard for you so we can stay, and this is how we're repaid? Getting sold out to the Americans?" I inquire. I can't forget, their outlines are a burning red, but then again, mine is, too. I can't trust anyone with a red outline, for the most part.

"Correction. I sold you out to the Canadian government." He replied simply, looking strangely relaxed. I narrow my eyes, but the officer starts to explain. "The President of America reached out to our Prime Minister about you, and the minister wasn't exactly fond of what they've done regarding people like you. We know you've been on the run with your group, two American agents reporting that Canada was noted as a location to escape to." I groan. Of course. I slipped up. That's how we were found.

"Don't worry. America's not going to hear anything of us meeting. But suffice to say, the tensions are high right now between the two countries, because of your treatment. You've been chased because you're different. You're unique. You're powerful. You don't want to be controlled though, right?" At my nod, she continues.

"So let us help you. We can give the three of you homes together, kept a secret. You can be safe, you can be secure like you never were in the States." She insists. But there was a detail missing. "What does your government stand to gain from this?" I ask firmly. "I don't pretend to understand the goals of our minister, but I'm sure he doesn't want you hurt." She tries.

I, for one, think that's bullshit. However, I can tell the offer is genuine. Call it a hunch. "I know that's a lie, that you don't know. But I'll admit, there's merit in the offer, and it's very tempting. I almost can't help but accept." I admit. She raises a brow. "Almost?" She asks.

"I don't want peace. I want revenge for the wrongs they did to my family. I'm not going to sit by, and continue letting this abuse happen. Too long has America gone unchallenged. It is a stagnant beast that labors for breath, and it has for over a century now." I say darkly. The officer nods, a whisper of a smile on her face. "We can work with that." "Ding!"

Influence Gained: ???! 20/100

Wait wait wait. It can't tell me her name, but she's a major enough ally that I have an influence meter? What the fuck, System? Observe isn't even working on her!

Days later, we were still driving to some remote area, and I kept checking around us with Force Sight, only to see nothing more than usual. "When should we be arriving?" Kara asked the driver. "In another hour or two, depending on traffic, but we're nearly on base." He says gruffly. "So our mysterious location is on a military base?" I ask. He then goes silent.

The silence grows thick again, and unbearably so, until we finally arrive. "Welcome to CFB Suffield, our esteemed guests!" I flicker on Force Sight, and don't see anyone else, then I realize seconds later that it was something obvious. There's a hologram sitting in front of us. Duh, I definitely knew Canada had the tech to do that.

"Suffield, then? With all due respect, wouldn't it be kinda obvious if we hid on a military base, ma'am?" Hazel points out. "But that's the thing. You won't be on the base." Says the hologram of the officer we met back at that hotel. I narrowed my eyes at her in realization. "Underground? Are you kidding? That screams 'trap.'" I criticize.

"Secret bunkers can exist." She replies. "You have a point. But if it even starts to seem like a trap, I'll crush you like a hydraulic press crushes a cracker, even if it kills me." I promptly ignore the increase in Dark Side Points I got from that. "Loud and clear. Anyways, you should be coming up on the bunker... now." She says, looking at her watch.

"I don't see anything yet." I replied. "Not now, you don't. You will be seeing something pretty quick, though." She says boredly. Then something incredible happened. The road in front of us opened like a reverse drawbridge, letting us in. The car drove to the bottom, and into the bunker, and they closed the road back up, sealing us in.

We pulled to a stop, and we all stepped out, looking around in wonder at the vast space we were in. It went as far as I could see with shops, arcades, even a cinema. Name something, and this place probably had it. It was like a much better version of the mall over by the MARC central train station in DC. "Oh my gods." I breathed.

"This is just the level for the VIPs, mostly just retired folks or people of higher ranks. We have a whole society for them down here. But if it's a safe place you need..." The officer starts, leading us to an elevator. "Here we are. Take this elevator, and use these keycards to go to the third floor from the bottom, and boom." She says, revealing another surprise.

In front of us were replicas of our homes. At least, I could only assume that on Kara's part, since there's my home, from before I left, and Hazel's home, and a third house I failed to recognize, leading me to believe it was Kara's. But I was stunned. Hazel's house was much nicer than mine, and mine was pretty nice, too. But Kara's? Hers put our homes to shame. It was huge, and just screamed rich kid alert!

I smiled reassuringly at Kara. Surely she was nervous about the reveal that apparently her family was incredibly well-off. But I didn't care. She wasn't treated well in her home, by her own blood, so the class her blood family comes from is irrelevant in my mind. Before we could go off and explore, though, we're interrupted again.

"I also got word from your former manager that you three snuck off to train, and even found things used to forge items in your room. The last two floors are a training arena and a forge, respectively. If you need any supplies for the forge, or have any questions, it shouldn't be too hard to find me." She says cryptically.

"It might be nice to get your name, too, as I'm realizing I keep referring to you as just 'the officer' in my head." I mentioned. She laughs a little. "That'd be a good idea, huh? First off, junior officer. I'm unfortunately not qualified enough yet, nor am I old enough. Call me Mana. I don't like my name, so just that, please." She explains.

"Hear ya loud and clear. But before you go, I do have one question." I add. At her arched brow, I continue. "Do you folks have a lens strong enough to focus concentrated light and energy? Let's say, for instance, a focusing lens for a lightsaber?" I ask hopefully.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we did. If we don't, though, ask Calo, the merchant, on the next floor up to keep an eye out. It'll cost a little more, but we'll cover it." Mana answers, her eyes scanning me, almost as if reading a book. I narrow my eyes, but she just arches a brow, and we seem to come to an understanding, the pieces clicking together. Observe not working. Her name is hidden from me. She showed up to make the deal on her own.

"You're like me." I realized. Mana nods slowly at my statement. The only thought in my brain is just Oh fuck.

~~~

Releasing one last chapter before a short hiatus so I can get a few more chapters written, because I had chapter 17 in the works before I published chapter 6, and I like having 10 written in advance, and I'm stuck on 17 as it is, and we're edging ever closer to that.

Anyways, have a great day/afternoon/evening/night, wherever and whenever you may be reading this!