41 Preparations for Departure
Batman and the team loaded the cargo ship with supplies, scraps from the battle, two small fighters, and other equipment. Omega Sentinel and Dr. Nemesis worked on rebuilding the interior of the cargo ship. Doug helped with the software.
It's already been two months since Batman followed Master Devis and his padawan to Villor a busy planet with a large Jedi Temple. They have finished all of their preparation and Batman is preparing to leave.
"The navi-computer is loaded with the latest and most accurate hyperlane map of the galaxy. You won't have to worry about your friends. They will be safe with us here in the Temple," Master Devis assured Batman. He nodded his head at the friendly Master.
Once the loading was finished, Batman gathered his team.
"All of you know that we have come to a galaxy very different from the one we come from. In some ways, it is more chaotic, but in other ways, it is more orderly. Several of you are absorbing the potential to become force users.
I am not able to train you in this power, and there are four of our group who are missing. My time is better spent looking for them, while each of you is better off staying with Master Devis at the Temple and learning.
He and I have already worked out an arrangement. Ben and I have worked out a leadership structure for his team.
Ben is the team leader, and assisting him are Dr. Nemesis and Domino. I will leave the details up to Ben, and I expect each of you to listen to him as if you were listening to me. Do you understand?" Batman asked.
"Yes, sir," the group answered.
"Good, then Human Torch, Iceman, Hulk, Omega Sentinel, Darwin, and I will focus on recovering our missing teammates.
After we find Mr. Fantastic, we will focus on going home.
I know that the original mission was to prevent something like this from happening. I believed it was a safe mission, or I wouldn't have brought you kids with me. Things didn't go the way we hoped, and here we are. I won't apologize, this is how it is and we are going to get through it and go home. For that to happen I need everyone to follow orders," Batman looked at those gathered.
Ned was already dressing like a native of the galaxy, particularly like a native Jedi Padawan. The others were still wearing clothes they were used to. All of these clothes were their battle suits in disguise. After being unexpectedly blown through a portal into outer space, they were glad to have the suits. None of them felt comfortable not wearing their suits. It was a group trauma that showed that Batman wasn't paranoid, just prepared!
"Good, this is where we part ways for a time. If you aren't part of the search and rescue team then go about your duties,. The rest of you, it's time to board," Batman, still in his armor mode turned away and entered the ship.
The remainder of the team said their goodbyes.
"Hey, ya, kid, be careful out there," Ben said to Johnny.
"Keep these kids in line, good luck with getting help. You deserve it," Johnny said. In his younger years, he used to provoke Ben constantly. Johnny was just a kid when he met Ben and they were instantly close like family. Ben was like a big brother he never had. It was hard for Ben when he first became the Thing, but Johnny's antics kept him human.
The X-men said their goodbyes to one another while the Bat-Spider kids were disappointed that Batman didn't bother giving them much of a goodbye.
"That's just how Batman is," Ned said to the girls. If that wasn't an obvious statement what was?
The cargo ship lifted from the planet and shot out on its adventure into space.
In the ship, Bruce was sitting in the pilot chair while Johnny sat in the co-pilot chair. Bruce was the Captain, Karima was the engineer, Bobby and Johnny shared piloting duties with Bruce, and Armando was their ship's doctor. He along with the medical droid they brought along.
There were several droids the Jedi gave them for the ship. In the bay, they had an assortment of astromech droids numbering a dozen. There was one protocol droid and one medical droid.
The dozen astromechs were a combination of the T2 series and the D3 series. The D3 attached to a joint in the ceiling that allowed the D3s to move through the ship dangling from the ceiling to the floor. They had access to every part of the ship and were able to get out of the way of shipmates.
Five D3s took their position connecting to the ceiling. They received most of their orders directly from the ship's droid brain.
The T2 series looked like a kind of two-sided conical tube with two rolling spheres at each side and an expanded middle joining piece. The name of the T2 was part of the marketing since the droid could break at the center and become two droids and work independently of one another. It was "Too Too, or too much astromech for too little a price." The connecting joint held one droid brain each. The spheres at each end were its means of transportation.
When both joints were combined, its vertical length was 2.1 meters. Its diameter from its thinner point is 8.015cm to its thickest point 30.48cm. The rolling spheres had a diameter of 45.72cm. when split, the length of the droid was 1.05 meters.
They could work vertically, horizontally, as a single unit, or as two separate units at almost any angle.
These droids mostly worked on the outside of the ship, although they could help the D3s. Bruce took a liking to one of the T2s, T2-B8, or "Bait" as Batman called him. With Omega Sentinel's help he suped up Bait adding a secondary cosmic pen power source. This was Batman's mobile utility belt and could fight back if needed. He added lesser shields to each of the T2s using the "short-pin" tech that was powerful but not overly powerful. These little droids could tank several direct blasts from starships thanks to their auto-field force field.
He left the D3s alone since they lived or died with the ship. The protocol droid, however, also benefited from Omega Sentinel, Batman, and Dr. Nemesis' upgrades. The protocol droid started as a simple MT series, but after the three redesigned it, it wasn't so simple. It still looked like an MT series protocol droid, but it was reclassified as an MTL0 series or Metallo.
It was clear the three had a lot of fun redesigning this robot. With a combination of plans from Sentinels (Marvel) to Manhunters (DC) and everything in between this unthreatening-looking droid was anything but. Batman created a new engine that was powered by natural and synthetic Kybr crystals, synthetic Kryptonite, and a cosmic pin. It could blast energy from its eyes and had repulsor rays in its hands.
It could fly and move a superhuman speeds thanks to the Superman Robot technology. It also had Ivo's absorption cells. Batman was curious if this would allow the robot to replicate force powers.
They more or less through the body of the droid away and kept the droid brain. Making the body from a combination of an adamantium shell with carbonadium for the joints. Like the battlesuits Batman created, it had the ability to change its outward appearance and could also mimic the appearance of humanoid aliens around 2 to 3 meters in height.
It also had inbuilt spy tech, enhanced perceptive abilities, and hidden tools. Like Bait, it was also a walking utility belt thanks to various nano-tech from his universe. They were forced to create a "combat brain" using Kryptonian tech, otherwise, the standard MT series droid brain was incapable of utilizing its combat gear.
Dr. Nemesis utilized the old Human Torch android Tech. Instead of being covered in fire, the Metallo droid was covered in lightsaber blade energy.
The trio tested the Mettalo Droid against the Thing and the others. Even the Jedi had a try, but they were taken down pretty fast.
It was a beast of a machine.
